Island Times

So 1.6 hit last week, and I’ve been spending time on EI, getting all kinds of goodies, and getting killed…a lot. Trion seems to have tuned the zone more towards players who have done raiding, as opposed to those who haven’t. They say that it’s for levels 48-50, but I pity anyone below 50 who goes there.
First off, the zone is huge, no I mean it’s freaking gigantic. I’ve found 5 different portal stones on the island so far, and my god does it help getting around. The map shows you roads, but good luck trying to find them in game, at mist they’re a small series of clearings covered with mobs.
Speaking of mobs, did I mention that they are all level 52, and are a royal pain in the butt kill? High HP, and they hit hard. In Stillmoore, me and Fluffy could easily handle 2 or 3 mobs at once, and invasion groups without any problems. Not on EI though, 2 or more means a dead pet and usually a dead, or almost dead, me. I really think they tuned the zone a little on the high side, I know they didn’t want anything too easy, but a fresh 50 without any epics, or raid gear, or token gear is in for a world of hurt.

Fighting Back The Onslaught
Onslaughts are a new feature on EI also. Beautiful, fast paced, lotsa fun, a great way to gain AA experience, and planarite. I ran one over the weekend, and I had a blast doing it. Onslaughts are a daily quest, and I know of 2 so far. The great thing about them is they form impromptu raids. Yep, you don’t have to start the event or even have the quest to run em. You just show up, join up, and let the fun begin. Not only will you get all kinds of goodies from the invaders, but if you have the daily you’ll get a bag of items that can include an item that you can use to gain a crap ton of AA experience. Speaking of AAs, between the higher level mobs, invaders, and XP items you will be getting AAs fast. After about 2 hours of play I had gotten 3 AA points faster and easier than doing anything else so far.
So if you haven’t tried EI yet, I highly recommend it, the island is a beautiful, dangerous place with lots of great rewards.

Special New Friends
I’ve started running the Firelands dailies again this weekend also. I’m slowly working my way through the first set of dailies, and I should be on to the next set within the week, if all go right.
Now while I’ve been back in Mt. Hyjal, I’ve run across 2 of the new ghost animal rare hunter pets. The cat that eats you if you have armor on, and the damn bird that you have to stand on top of the tree for. I ended not getting either, for different reasons. The cat wasn’t that hard, but there was another hunter there, who showed up after I did, and he ended up taming him before I did.
Now for that bird, that annoying bird. That evil green glowy owl. I have to stand on the very top of a tree that I have to dismount above before I can even try to tame it. WTF. Seriously after several tries and falling to my death, and being rezzed up there I died again. The other hunter who already had him, and was trying to help me forgot to tell me I needed to set a freeze trap for it, so it couldn’t spam fire me to death in 5 seconds. So after spending 30 minutes, at least, I gave up.
The owl will be there again, and so will the cat. I’m not in a rush to get them, and if I do, I do. If I don’t, then I don’t.

Lil Wolfie
After running the FL dailies and dying trying to get the pets, I decided to take a break and work on Fuzz the Worgen warrior. I have to admit, playing a fury warrior werewolf is a blast, things die faster than I can pull them. I can take on 3 or more mobs, AoE them down and heal myself back to almost full by the end of the fight.

Wonderful World Events Abound
Right now you have your pick of world events in WoW and Rift. Both have started the holiday blitz of events. WoW just finished up the Pilgram’s Bounty event, which got halfway through but didn’t get a chance to finish…again. They’re going to be starting Winter Veil in a few weeks also. Now I’m kinda meh about WV this year. I have all the achievements, and pets they’ve pit out so far. So the only thing that I’m looking forward to, is seeing what’s going to be in the boxes under the tree this year.
On the other hand, Rift is having it’s first ever holiday based event. The Fae Yule has begun! I like it so far, there seems to be a good mix of your standard close rifts, kill elemental mobs, gather x items, and special holiday quests. And there is a boat load of rewards for this holiday too. Everything from augments, to pets, to mounts, to vanity items. You can pick and choose what you want to get, because it’s a looong event. It’s running from the end of November to the beginning of January, so even I should be able to get all that I want.

Oh, and before I go, I hope you’ve all seen the new WoW commercial that aired last week. Once again Blizzard has proven that hunters are the greatest class in WoW. Why do you ask? Simple. We found out that the man, the myth, the legend Chuck Norris is a hunter.

So until next time don’t forget to reload, so you don’t run out of ammo.

Welcome to the Isle

So I went to lunch today, and hopped on the computer to check the Rift forums. Lo and behold, what do I see on the Rift homepage, but the banner for 1.6 doesn’t say coming soon any more. Intrigued I schlepped on over to forums and saw that 1.6 went live today.

Yep, we’re off to the islands, and I didn’t finish getting everything I wanted from the world event, Doh! Who knows though, I might have enough quests that can’t be completed anymore that will autocomplete so I can at least get one more thing from it.

So I’m hoping when I get home I’ll have enough time to hop on and take a tour of the new zone tonight, but we’ll see.

So until next time don’t forget to reload, so you don’t run out of ammo.

The End of the End

Lots of things are happening in both WoW and Rift right now. Both are gearing up for major content updates very soon. I actually had some free time this week, and I finally got my Ash Strider lizard-bird mount! As much as I like my green turtle, I really like graphics for the thunder chicken better lol.
on the WoW side of things, I’ve been kinda slacking. I’m short on time, so I’m limited to what I can do. Not enough time to run heroics, or to do archeology. I barely have time to run the Firelands dailies, so I haven’t done much really.

1.6 Time To Go To the Isles
The world event from 1.5 is almost over. We’ve been on phase 3 for almost two weeks now, and I doubt that I’ll get everything done that I want to. I need 1500 tokens to get the pet, aura thingy, and the 24 slot bag. Right now I have 265. Heh, I should be able to get one or two of the three by the end of the event, but I doubt I’ll get all three.
However, the new zone is about to open. I can’t wait for it to get here. Ember Isle is gonna be huge, about twice the size of Stillmoore. Rift Junkies has some good maps, videos, and articles about Ember Isle. New gear, new raids, and a ginormous new dungeon with 11, yes 11, bosses await us for when we get there.

Winter Is Coming
Trion is also going to be hopping on the in game holiday event train too. That’s right, we are going to be getting our first ever holiday world event, the Fae Yule. Christmas is coming to Telara. I know that some people hate it when they put events in games that coincide with the real world, but not me. These events are a fun distraction and a good time killer, that can provide us with all kinds of fun little things. From mounts, to pets, to cosmetic items, it’s all in the name of fun.

An End to the End
It looks like Deathwing’s fun time is coming to an end soon. Patch 4.3 is coming soon, very soon. I’ve seen the videos of the Deathwing fight, and it looks intense. I haven’t raided since WotLK, and this fight has me wanting to start raiding again. But, I doubt I’ll get the chance, I don’t have the time to gear up as it is lol.
Besides that, the other big release for 4.3 is the Darkmoon Faire is getting its’ own zone. Yep they have finally settled down, and have expanded. New games, rewards, gear, mounts, and pets, the DMF is going to be worth going to again. Between the the achievements, two new mounts, and three new pets, I have a reason to actually go there now.

It’s A Stampede!
The other news that caught my eye in WoW related news was the talk of a new hunter ability in the works called Stampede. What it would do is allow us to summon all 5 pets in our at once to attack our target for a short period of time, with a long cool down (about 5 minutes). If it makes it in to MoP that would rock. If it makes it in so it would show all 5 of our own pets, and not a generic pack of 5, that would rock also. Now if it makes it in, with our 5 pets, and it’s not a watered down gimped version with 5 random pet types, where it would actually be useful, that would be unbelievably awesome in whole new huntering ways. So much potential, let’s hope it doesn’t end up as weak as camo turned out to be.

So until next time don’t forget to reload, so you don’t run out of ammo.

Working On It

Happy Day of the Dead, Halloween, Hallow’s End and other things. So I’ve been busy in game and in real life this past month. I got all the pets from Hallow’s End in WoW, and I also finished off the 24 masks achievement. I’ve been kinda slacking in doing my Firelands dailies, but meh I’ll get it done eventually.
I picked up a pack of the Throne of Tides TCG over the weekend, and surprise I got an interesting loot card. The Throwing Starfish. It’s 2/3, so it’s not the common pet one, so I was excited to find it. So off I went to visit good ol Landro to get my shiny new toy. I get there and to my surprise, ToT isn’t listed, so I do what any gamer would do. I opened a ticket. After speaking to an awesome GM, I found out that ToT cards can’t be redeemed until 4.3 comes out. Doh!
Meanwhile back in Telara, I’ve almost finished getting my raptor mount. I think I only need less than 10 now, so I should have it by the end of the week. After that I need 1000 more magma opals to get the pet and the thing that makes you all glowy.
I just found out that Trion is going to release a new semi kinda solo group type thing. It looks kinda cool, and I can’t wait to try it.
So I’m slowly getting things done in both games, and it’s just a matter of time till I get everything done. So until next time don’t forget to reload, so you don’t run out of ammo.

Blizzcon, Rift, and Pandas, Oh My

So where to begin. Right now I feel like my brain is in overdrive. Between Rift, WoW, and Blizzcon, I am going in to gaming info overload.

Rift
So, let’s start with Rift. The world event is going, slowly. I’m about half way through getting my raptor mount, and hoping to finish it soon. I’m still looking for a guild, but haven’t found one yet. Other than that, I’m enjoying the event so far.

Haunting For Pets
Meanwhile in Azeroth, Hallow’s Eve is progressing slowly. The event is almost halfway over, and I still don’t have enough tricky treats to get either pet, let alone both. I need to do more dailies, and finish hitting all the trick or treat pumpkins. If I end up getting only enough treats to get one of the two pets, it will definitely be the Halloween cat, I mean come on who can resist a black with a witch’s hat on a broom stick.

A Whole New World
So you probably heard about a little event that happened over the weekend, ya know Blizzcon, maybe you’ve heard of it.
Well, Wife once again proved how great she is. I wasn’t planning on ordering Blizzcon at first this year, so while I was out getting blood work done I was checking for updates about the opening ceremony when I saw they had announced the new expansion. Later on that day I mentioned it to her, and her response was “well did you order it yet, if not do it when you get home.” So I went ahead and ordered it when I got home.
So there were all kinds of awesomeness this year. We found out that the new expansion is going to be Mists of Pandera, and we will finally be able to play as those giant balls of fluff, the Panderans. You have no idea how excited I am about this. I have been wanting to roll a Panderan since WC3.

Not only that, but we will get to be Kung Fu masters. That’s right we will be getting the monk class, and from what I’ve seen we will be a cross between street fighter, Bruce Lee, and Jackie Chan. Every race but Worgen and Goblins can be a monk. I was a lil bummed that Worgen can’t monks, I would’ve loved to have a Kung Pow Wolf lol.

Goodbye Stat Sticks
MoP is bringing all kinds of changes with for us hunters. They are finally doing away with our minimum range. That’s right. We will no longer have a dead zone. We will be able to shoot at point blank range. We will be one step closer to finally getting pistols. Now on the flip side, we will no longer be able to use or equip melee weapons, and no other class will be able to equip ranged weapons either.

A New Tree to Bark Up
Then there’s the changes that are being made to the talent tree. They are scrapping the old talent tree system and are rolling out a new one. In the new system, you will get to choose one of three options every fifteen levels. They also rolled a lot of the old talents in to new class and tree abilities. It looks interesting, but I haven’t had a chance to play around it yet, so I’m not sure about how much it will allow us to customize our builds.

Gotta Catch Em All
The next, in my option, big announcement was the non combat pet battle system. That’s right kids, Pokemon has come to Azeroth. All kidding aside though, I’m interested in seeing how PokeWoW works out. I mean, hell, even Wife perked up over this announcement. I think it’s going to be a fun way to kill time, and just take a break from the grind.

Diablo 3 For Free
The final announcement was they are starting the WoW annual plan thingy. It’s actually kinda cool. All you have to do is sign up for a one contract. You don’t pay anything extra. So, you’re probably wondering what do you get in exchange for signing this contract you ask? Well, you get three great things. First you get a bad ass BoA mount, that looks sweet. Secondly you get a guaranteed invite in to the next WoW expansion beta. Finally, you get a free digital copy of Diablo 3 the day it gets released. That’s right three great FREE items for agreeing to pay for a game you play, and would be paying for any ways, for just signing a contract that is shorter than most cell phone contracts.

So all in all Blizzcon was a blast to watch again this year, and who knows, maybe I’ll get to go next year. So until next time don’t forget to reload, so you don’t run out if ammo.

Great Deal on a New Set of Legs

So 1.5 The Ashes of History world event started up last week. New dailies, new gear, new pets, a new level 50 zone, and new mounts. All kinds of stuff to do, and not much time to do it in. It amazes me how quickly Trion is able to pump out new content and events. The story line is interesting, and the rewards look pretty good so far. I can’t wait to see how it plays out.

Back Home Again
About a month ago, I left Shadefallen to join the Player Vs Rift guild on another server. Well I logged on on Saturday to find out that the guild had moved to a new server. Now transferring servers wouldn’t be that big of a deal, except they went to a PvP server. Ugh. I hate PvP. I rolled on a PvP server once in WoW, and that didn’t last long at all. I don’t have that much time to be online, so when I’m on and running quests, I don’t want to deal with the extra crap of jacktards ganking me when I’m not looking.
So back I go to Shadefallen. It’s not all bad news about heading back, Wife’s toons are still there, and I have a bunch of alts there to help run dailies to get the raptor mount. So now all I have to do is find a new guild for my toons.

New Legs
So the 1.5 world event started this week, and it’s brought some tasty new goodies. New gear, and a new pet for us to collect, but more importantly, we have access to 2, yes, 2 new mounts.

The ember raptor, and the spindrel, are our newest rides, are now available to us. The raptor is obtained just like the mossy tartagen was obtained. You buy an egg with special event currency, then either buy the essences that you need to grow it, with the same currency, or go earth and fire rift hunting, and hope that the essence drops. The biggest difference is the amount that you need. The turtle needed fifty essences, while the raptor only needs thirty five. That makes the raptor faster, and slightly easier, to get. Now the spindrel is a different story all together. You have to buy the Ashes of History upgrade to get it. Now before you start having flashbacks of WoW, and paying $25 to get just a mount only, it’s not that bad. You aren’t buying a mount. You are buying an account upgrade, just like the collector’s edition is an account upgrade. The upgrade costs $10, and it includes the spindrel, a personal banker that you can summon, and faction based tabards. So for less than half the price of a mount in WoW, you get a mount, a banker, and a new shirt. Not too shabby if you ask me.

So until next time don’t forget to reload, so you don’t run out of ammo.

Do the Wave

One more day. That’s right, just one more day till patch 1.3 comes out. The Spoils of War event, if you can call it that, is almost over. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ve been enjoying the 1.2 events, but it was kind of lackluster. I was able to get lots of blue and green artifacts, and crafting tokens along with a bunch of crafting plaques. So it wasn’t a total let down. Now here’s what I’m trying to figure out. 1.2 was supposed to a prelude to something that seemed to be earth and fire related. 1.3 is all about water and death though. So my question is, is 1.4 going to be the major event that 1.2 was the prelude to, or are we never going to see what it was leading up to. My only complaint about 1.2 would be the level requirement to be able to have gotten the gritty kitty pet, I didn’t get to 45 in time to try to get it, which kinda stinks.
So I finally hit 40 over the weekend and got my copper “steam punk pony”! Good bye slow poke mutant turtle, you served me well. I have to admit I really do love the quasi-steam punk look of the Defiant.
Speaking of steam punk, I wonder if there’s a certain combination of gear I could set up under the wardrobe to give me a steam punk look. I’m gonna have to look in to that this weekend, it could be something fun to do with a feature that I don’t use that often.
Oh, and yes I am also still working on Druid and Elemental Summoner portions for the class guide, so don’t worry. So until next time don’t forget to reload, so you don’t run out of ammo.

There’s A Pet For That, or The Ranger

Pets. Versatile, always there, never complaining, fighting beside us, fighting in front of us, taking the bullet for us, and looking good. Our pets are the main draw of playing a Ranger. Need a tank while questing? We  gotcha covered. Need someone to lower the chance of the mob smacking you? We gotcha covered. Need someone to rip the mobs to shreds, while healing themselves? We gotcha covered there too.  Our pets give us a range of flexibility that few, if any, other class has. So Lets take a look at the talent tree, and see what we have that will boost up Fluffy, and us, to greater glories.

Root Abilities
Call Razorbeast 0 pts in Ranger: Summons a Razorbeast to your aid. Here’s your tank pet guys. Big, ugly, and smelly lol. He’s actually a pretty decent tank for soloing.
Rejuvenate 4 pts in Ranger: Heals your pet over 8 seconds. One of your most important abilities. Ever. Period. Remember how I said to not count on your healer to keep Fluffy alive? This is how YOU keep Fluffy alive.
Divert Rage 8 pts in Ranger: All threat generated for the next 10 seconds is transferred to your pet.
Call Dire Wolf 10 pts in Ranger: Summons a Dire Wolf to aid you in battle. This your first DPS pet, plain and simple. He does more damage than the pig, but he can’t hold aggro.
Call Greater Dire Wolf 22 pts in Ranger: Summons a Greater Dire Wolf to aid you in battle. The GDW does more damage and has more abilities than the regular Dire Wolf. This will be your final DPS pet if you don’t go at least 31 points in to the Ranger soul.
Call Greater Razor Beast 24 pts in Ranger: Summons a Greater Razor Beast to aid you in battle. The GRB has more abilities than the regular RB. He is going to be your final solo tanking pet.
Diffuse 44 pts in Ranger: All incoming damage is transferred to your pet for 10 seconds. When you need someone to catch a bullet for you, this is the one for you.
Feral Aggression 51 pts in Ranger: increases your pet’s crit chance by 100% and makes it immune to fear and confusion for 15 seconds. Fluffy gets big and angry for 15 seconds. All of his hits hit big and bloody.
Tying it together
Now most of our root abilities are focused on summoning our little friends. 4 of our 5 pets come from our root abilities. That’s it. Really we only get 3 talents from our roots that effect our pet. Those not pet abilities, are extremely powerful and important thou. They can save our hides, or push us over the top for burning mobs down super fast. So now that we’ve covered the roots, let’s look up in the branches.

Branch Talents
Enduring Spirit T1 5/5: Increases your pet’s health by 25%, and your health by 5%. This is a straight up HP buff, plain and simple.
Blood Rage T3 3/3: When your target has a bleed effect, increases your pet’s damage by 15% for 10 seconds. A healthy boost to Fluffy’s DPS. This talent is the reason you always want to keep serrated arrow on your target.
Bestial Fury T3 2/2: Headshot has a 100% chance to gain Bestial Fury, which increases damage by 5%. Lasts 12 seconds per combo point. Yet another boost to our DPS. With a full 5 points, this buff lasts for a nice long time at a minute.
Prey on the Weak T5 3/3: When your pet deals a crit, you have a 100% chance to increase your damage by 15% for 20 seconds. This is why crit is important for you and Fluffy.
King of the Jungle T5 1 pt in Ranger: increases your pet’s damage by 10%, and decreases damages the amount of AOE damage your pet takes by 65%. For each point in the Ranger soul beyond 21, the damage bonus is increased by 3%, and AOE damage is reduced by 1%. This is one of the biggest talents for us. The damage reduction is huge now, the damage bonus is well minimum if you are only going, say 24 points in to get the GRB.
Hasten Call T6 1 pt: Your next call spell is free, with no casting cost. 2 minute cool down. This is a must if you are going at least 31 points in. This will give you an instant pet, at no cost if Fluffy suddenly dies. This coupled with Divert Rage, will almost instantly have Fluffy grabbing aggro back in almost no time flat.
Master Huntsman T6 5/5 pts: Your Dire Wolf’s maul reduces healing on the target by 30% for 10 seconds. Your Razor Beast’s quill cool down is reduced by 5 seconds. Your Blood Raptor’s bloodied blow has a 25% chance to double attack. This is a flat-out boost to Fluffy’s utility/DPS abilities.
Call Blood Raptor T7 1pt: Summons a Blood Raptor to fight for you. The BR is your highest DPS pet. He has an AOE attack, and a self-heal.
Pulling It All Together
The Ranger soul tree offers a lot of diversity, flexibility, and challenges. The right ability at the right time can save your hide. Hasten Call plus Call Greater Razorbeast plus Divert Rage equals Fluffy building fast aggro after he died the first time. Splinter shot is another important ability that you need to keep on the mob to maximize DPS.
Soul Pairings
The Ranger soul pairs up great with the other rogue souls, but it really shines with several. Bard, Marksman, and Nightblade are the ones for your second soul. I’ve found that different pets work best with different souls. The Razorbeasts work best with Marksman and Nightblade, because of its’ shear ability to hold aggro, while you do the majority of the DPS. However, as a Bard, I think the Raptor is a much better choice. Our pets are an amazing lot that can change the way we play based on our situation, play style, and what souls we take. So choose wisely, and remember the choices you make will affect how you play also. So until next time don’t forget to reload, so you don’t run out of ammo.

There’s A Pet For That, or The Ranger

Pets. Versatile, always there, never complaining, fighting beside us, fighting in front of us, taking the bullet for us, and looking good. Our pets are the main draw of playing a Ranger. Need a tank while questing? We gotcha covered. Need someone to lower the chance of the mob smacking you? We gotcha covered. Need someone to rip the mobs to shreds, while healing themselves? We gotcha covered there too. Our pets give us a range of flexibility that few, if any, other class has. So Lets take a look at the talent tree, and see what we have that will boost up Fluffy, and us, to greater glories.

Root Abilities
Call Razorbeast 0 pts in Ranger: Summons a Razorbeast to your aid. Here’s your tank pet guys. Big, ugly, and smelly lol. He’s actually a pretty decent tank for soloing.
Rejuvenate 4 pts in Ranger: Heals your pet over 8 seconds. One of your most important abilities. Ever. Period. Remember how I said to not count on your healer to keep Fluffy alive? This is how YOU keep Fluffy alive.
Divert Rage 8 pts in Ranger: All threat generated for the next 10 seconds is transferred to your pet.
Call Dire Wolf 10 pts in Ranger: Summons a Dire Wolf to aid you in battle. This your first DPS pet, plain and simple. He does more damage than the pig, but he can’t hold aggro.
Call Greater Dire Wolf 22 pts in Ranger: Summons a Greater Dire Wolf to aid you in battle. The GDW does more damage and has more abilities than the regular Dire Wolf. This will be your final DPS pet if you don’t go at least 31 points in to the Ranger soul.
Call Greater Razor Beast 24 pts in Ranger: Summons a Greater Razor Beast to aid you in battle. The GRB has more abilities than the regular RB. He is going to be your final solo tanking pet.
Diffuse 44 pts in Ranger: All incoming damage is transferred to your pet for 10 seconds. When you need someone to catch a bullet for you, this is the one for you.
Feral Aggression 51 pts in Ranger: increases your pet’s crit chance by 100% and makes it immune to fear and confusion for 15 seconds. Fluffy gets big and angry for 15 seconds. All of his hits hit big and bloody.
Tying it together
Now most of our root abilities are focused on summoning our little friends. 4 of our 5 pets come from our root abilities. That’s it. Really we only get 3 talents from our roots that effect our pet. Those not pet abilities, are extremely powerful and important thou. They can save our hides, or push us over the top for burning mobs down super fast. So now that we’ve covered the roots, let’s look up in the branches.

Branch Talents
Enduring Spirit T1 5/5: Increases your pet’s health by 25%, and your health by 5%. This is a straight up HP buff, plain and simple.
Blood Rage T3 3/3: When your target has a bleed effect, increases your pet’s damage by 15% for 10 seconds. A healthy boost to Fluffy’s DPS. This talent is the reason you always want to keep serrated arrow on your target.
Bestial Fury T3 2/2: Headshot has a 100% chance to gain Bestial Fury, which increases damage by 5%. Lasts 12 seconds per combo point. Yet another boost to our DPS. With a full 5 points, this buff lasts for a nice long time at a minute.
Prey on the Weak T5 3/3: When your pet deals a crit, you have a 100% chance to increase your damage by 15% for 20 seconds. This is why crit is important for you and Fluffy.
King of the Jungle T5 1 pt in Ranger: increases your pet’s damage by 10%, and decreases damages the amount of AOE damage your pet takes by 65%. For each point in the Ranger soul beyond 21, the damage bonus is increased by 3%, and AOE damage is reduced by 1%. This is one of the biggest talents for us. The damage reduction is huge now, the damage bonus is well minimum if you are only going, say 24 points in to get the GRB.
Hasten Call T6 1 pt: Your next call spell is free, with no casting cost. 2 minute cool down. This is a must if you are going at least 31 points in. This will give you an instant pet, at no cost if Fluffy suddenly dies. This coupled with Divert Rage, will almost instantly have Fluffy grabbing aggro back in almost no time flat.
Master Huntsman T6 5/5 pts: Your Dire Wolf’s maul reduces healing on the target by 30% for 10 seconds. Your Razor Beast’s quill cool down is reduced by 5 seconds. Your Blood Raptor’s bloodied blow has a 25% chance to double attack. This is a flat-out boost to Fluffy’s utility/DPS abilities.
Call Blood Raptor T7 1pt: Summons a Blood Raptor to fight for you. The BR is your highest DPS pet. He has an AOE attack, and a self-heal.
Pulling It All Together
The Ranger soul tree offers a lot of diversity, flexibility, and challenges. The right ability at the right time can save your hide. Hasten Call plus Call Greater Razorbeast plus Divert Rage equals Fluffy building fast aggro after he died the first time. Splinter shot is another important ability that you need to keep on the mob to maximize DPS.
Soul Pairings
The Ranger soul pairs up great with the other rogue souls, but it really shines with several. Bard, Marksman, and Nightblade are the ones for your second soul. I’ve found that different pets work best with different souls. The Razorbeasts work best with Marksman and Nightblade, because of its’ shear ability to hold aggro, while you do the majority of the DPS. However, as a Bard, I think the Raptor is a much better choice. Our pets are an amazing lot that can change the way we play based on our situation, play style, and what souls we take. So choose wisely, and remember the choices you make will affect how you play also. So until next time don’t forget to reload, so you don’t run out of ammo.

Coin Locked While At Work… Umm Not Good…

So I checked my gmail this morning and what do I see? A message from Trion about….. getting coin locked…. Well…ummm…. yeah I was at work when they sent the email. So either Trion had a glitch in the matrix or… shudder I was HACKED again. Sigh I’m gonna have to grab the mobile authenticator I think, I just wish they had a hardware version if it out…