MOGs N3RDCast 11 July, 2007: Druid versus Priest. Ready? FIGHT!
Posted by Kwip on July 11th, 2007 6 Comments 
Woody, Dr. Sexy and Kwip sit down (at a cookout) to discuss a specialized support class (such as a priest in WoW) versus a more versatile support class (such as a Druid in WoW). The choice of subject has absolutely NOTHING to do with the fact that Kwip started up in WoW again and is trying to decide which class to play…
I could probably go on in these sorts of conversations for days at a time. Granted, I was doing mostly nothing but listening, but still, I’m built for that sort of endurance (ie, I’m lazy). I’m curious to what others think of our discussion, though, so definitely feel free to post your thoughts. Especially if you’ve had experience running a heal-spec’d priest and/or druid.
July 11th, 2007 at 9:02 pm
Regarding the players killing you over and over again… you’re making the mistake of assuming they’re doing it for the honor. They’re doing it for the fun of totally screwing you. If they want honor, they go to BG’s.
July 12th, 2007 at 2:02 pm
Also, Dr Sexy, you mentioned your hunter’s pet is having issues holding aggro. Woody said you should switch to a defensive pet because they generate more aggro or something. I completely disagree because that’s just not true.
There isn’t a single defensive pet in the game with an aggro generating spell, and being a ‘defensive’ pet doesn’t mean they generate more aggro (like a warrior in defensive mode would). Being ‘defensive’ just means they have slightly higher armor / health and lower dps than an ‘offensive’ pet.
In fact, offensive pets hold aggro BETTER than defensive pets due to their damage output. They do more damage faster, therefore increasing the amount of aggro they generate.
Some things to try that DON’T involve switching your pet would be to make sure your pet is always getting to the monster first, doing damage before you fire. When he does his ‘growl’ attack, you’ll see the little icon pop up over his head showing it went off successfully. If you don’t see that icon, it was resisted. That’s a good signal that you need to scale WAY back on your own damage.
Another is to just scale back your damage. I don’t know how much you unload during your fights… Maybe you fire off an arcane shot and multi-shot every time the cooldown wears off, burning your mana as fast as possible. That’s going to get the monster’s attention aimed at you. Doing tons of damage super fast at the beginning but then having to run around or do slow melee damage to end the fight is counter-productive. Just scale back the special attacks and let your auto shot / stings do the work.
If you need to keep hitting ‘mend pet’ during the fights, that’s going to add a huge chunk to your hate list, pulling aggro off your pet. If you CAN, do that AFTER the monster dies, before the next fight.
If you’d like to try to switch pets, there are a couple high aggro generating options that the hunter population swears by:
Owls / Bats: An offensive pet with a Screech ability that does damage and lowers attack power. This screech ability has the added benefit of being an insane aggro generator. THE go-to pet for aggro generation.
Boars: Runner up for aggro-generation. The charge ability (which gets used once every other fight or so due to it’s cooldown) is a big boost for aggro generation.
If you’re into add-ons, there’s one called “KTM Threat Meter” on curse-gaming.com that was recommented for tracking how much aggro your pet generates. I’ve never tried it, cause I use an owl and don’t really have aggro issues. But it you don’t like bats or owls, this might be handy!
Also: http://petopia.brashendeavors.net/
Virtually everything you need to know about your pets!
I like hunters!
July 13th, 2007 at 3:38 am
Sorry this is so long, Kwip, but I gotta add my 2c
Go ahead and skip over it all if you want, but I figured I might be able to help, being a nerd and all 
All of the classes capable of healing excel at it in their own way. Let me set it out as best I can. Considering that you’re talking about -support- I’m going to focus on the heal specs. Below, I’m going to define “support” as the buffs they bring to a group.
Note: Shadowpriests, Feral Druids, and Boomkins are all excellent support in the right situation, but many people are stuck in the Hybrid
Rethorn, I don’t know what happened to your comments, but it wasn’t me (this time)!
Thanks for the Hunter info. Unfortunately, I need a couple of levels before I get an owl..but I want one real bad. Great advice…although…I’ve already switched to turtle…but I can switch back in a few levels when I can get the owl.
Thanks for the advice, I’ll have to try some of it.
Woody said that they had a better growl ability to keep and hold aggro. And honestly, switching to turtle did help a bit.
July 18th, 2007 at 10:58 am
Get a boar…. Trust the Level 70 hunter…. I went through all of the burning crusade pets and i like one… I recently got a boar from EPL (after training gore rank 9, from a ravager, which i can train to my boar at level 63). I have pulled aggro countless times, BUT, i wasn’t using growl, because i’m an idiot and forgot to open my training window. Since training growl (As soon as you tame a pet, train Growl. IT’S FREE!) I’ve pulled aggro maybe once or twice, if i fire when i send the pet. If i let the health of the mob get to 3/4 or lower, I’m fine. It also helps to not use the best gear when training a low level pet.
Yes, there’s a 10 level difference, but i’ve been fighting level 62 mobs in Hellfire… Still green to me, but the pet can handle the damage… He is at 4245 hit points and 5513 armor without having anything trained at 60… I SHOULD theoretically switch back to BM to train the pet, but… That’s a lot of money and I really like my spec(Which i tried to link but the armory is broken so you can have this instead and maybe one day, you can open the talents tab…
(Ten minutes later)Talent calculator! I’m currently 0/45/16, but i am going to take that plunge and switch to a very pet-heavy beast master 43/15/3.