Hunter: Esua's build and why ...

[Allanon]

Esua is a 5/31/15 build which you can find here. I am a marksman/surv build with about 23% to crit and +6 to hit. The other popular end game build is 0/20/31, also referred to as LR build which emphasis Lightning Reflexes and has a huge need for piles of agility. To see LR builds reach their max., they require another hunter's build like mine to leech their TSA (True Shot Aura) from. My +6 hit is still low and I am working on getting it to +9 while at the same time of getting %crit. Ideally my build is looking for %crit AND +hit on the same items.

Other gear of interest:
Guide: Multi-Shot V book which addes 30+ damage.
Guide: Serpent Sting IX which is an additional 65 damage over Rank 8 over 15 seconds.
3 piece DragonStalker bonus - Increase RAP from AofH by 20%

My pet is used only to provide a party buff called FURIOUS HOWL:

Party members within range receive an extra 45 to 57 damage to their next attack. Lasts 10 seconds. This includes Ranged attack.

* Increased +hit and added Multi Shot V book and Serpent Sting IX
* Updated to show 3 piece DS set bonus

 

[Xandar]

Xandar is.... well, everything Esua is, right down to the pet and the reason for it. My equipment is not quite as good, as he started raiding again, but I get more time over the next few weeks to raid so expect that to get better. I need some parts from MC to get that +3% hit scope, like Esua has. Its my next goal there, since I finished the Epic Bow.

To cover someting different, let me expain how I got here. I leveled to about 30 using an MM build, but my pet kept losing aggro. This was very frustrating as I was getting pounded a lot, and even my FD was getting resisted at this point (mobs generally +1 to +2). After reading a post on the hunter forum's I switched over to BM. Wow what a difference. For the next 30 lvls, the only time I could steal aggro from my pet was when I first got the purple Bow of Searing Arrows, and right before my pet got his next level in Growl. I always made it a point to get the best missile weapon I could afford and just take whatever other armor I could find or get through quests. I highly recommend this strategy.

At 60 I finally switched over to a MM/SV build, as my pet started to become left behind by gear quality. Soon, he was simply a damage buff machine, with a small role of peeling aggro off of squishies. This was especially apparent during my Strat Dead days (30+ times to get those Bone-Slicing Hatchets *UGH*). Nowadays, I generally forget to take him out unless requested to by someone who likes the buff he gives (namely a certain friendly teddy Tank, Hi Randy!).

I have made the decision that, prior to my next raid, I will be switching to the raid build mentioned by Adam above. Xandar rarely comes out to play anymore except in a raid, or to help someone else. I have known for a VERY long time that I would do this switch, but now it feels right. Until you mainly raid, I recommend keeping the 0/31/20 build, as with the raid build you lose improved FD and more resistant traps. Thes are REALLY nice to have if you mainly 5/10 man.

For comparison, my max nameplate dps when self buffed is now about 169. When raid buffed, its 192, and fully decked out (Mongoose potion, also adds 2% to crit) its near 200. To reach these numbers, I have an agility of about 410 (still need decent shoulders, BS shoulders could add about 21 Agil to this, ya, I accidently sold them about 6 months ago and never got them again), and my Rhok bow. Since my Druid makes thorium arrows, I use these on every boss or when soloing elites (otherwise use jagged arrows). Thorium adds 4.5 dps compared to jagged by the way. Finally, I recently aquired Aspect fo the Hawk (7) in AQ 20. This added a whopping 1 DPS to my nameplate!!! I later found out this sells for about 600g *doh*, but since it was a SGA run, it was the right thing to do to use the book as it benifits everyone, not just me.

Well, i guess I had something to say after all. hope this was interesting!

 

[Allanon]

It was for me I completely agree with the BM focus up to level 60. Your pet is a huge part of your solo ability. MM/SS (5/31/15) is great when you are done solo'ing and want to start raiding. I also wanted to say that if you like the SS/MM (0/20/31), you should consider having at least 450 base agility to make the leap. SS/MM has a huge dependency on agility while MM/SS is more crit based.