Previous Editions
The Hunter Dance – Part I (Misdirect)
The Hunter Dance – Part II (Shot CD)
Upcoming Editions
Pet Control
How to Pull
Trap Selection and Use
First thing I should note, is that I’m not an SV hunter – I’m a BM hunter. Thus this is on effective use of traps in various cases, rather than using it as an integral part of your DPS and doing a dance to keep them down all the time. No Trap Mastery here, for example, just phat skillz at knowing when to toss trap down. Quick lowdown for the non-hunters:
6 choices, only 1 can be used at a time. Knowing that most of the other shots are going to do lots of damage really quick whereas these are DoT’s, or not even DPS related, you have to ask why even bother? Well here we go!
How to use them
Freezing Trap – This is our CC. This is our only CC (Aside from Freezing Arrow, but it’s essentially the same thing). Pre-fight, you can use this to CC a mob. It is most effective as CC when you drop one, wait for the CD, then start the fight – that way you can chain CC. If done right, you can actually keep a mob CC’d through a total of 3-4 traps, but that is assuming you: Drop trap 1, wait for CD, pull mobs & freeze 1. Drop trap 2 instantly (somewhere between you and CC’d mob, not too close to the mob or he’ll re-freeze and kill your CD’s for chain trapping) and let the mob retrap on their own time while you DPS and wait for the CD. As soon as your CD is up, drop trap 3 because the mob will be coming after you again soon. Depending on the length of the fight and how well you trapped, you may be able to repeat for trap 4.
Other than using as chain CC or expected CC, you can also use Frost Trap for the “oh crap, he’s coming after me/healer/otherDPS”. Though more than likely, it won’t be you because you know how to manage your threat… Thus the better option is the next one.
Huntard note – a huntard will chain freeze by setting the trap at his feet and not moving. That refreezes and kills the chain trap concept. They’ll also freeze one, move, and drop the next at their feet. That means the mob can hit you before being frozen… You need to drop the trap and move away from it so it is between you and the mob – that’s the only way to ensure they freeze before hitting you needlessly.
Freezing Arrow – So far, I have only really found 1 use for this, other than messing w/ the tank. The “Oh crap, he’s going after the healer/mage/etc.”. Why? Because you don’t have to move, it takes very little time to find the spell, aim it and shoot, and it’ll stop the mob from taking out the healer. However – yell “I GOT HIM DON’T HIT HIM DON’T HIT HIM DON’T HIT HIM” because otherwise your heroic efforts will be wasted when someone either hits him w/ a DoT right before he freezes, or smacks him right after he freezes.
Use 2 – messing w/ the tank. Just like it’s fun to MD the healer, it’s also fun to toss one of these babies right under the guy the tank is going after.
Use 3 – to find out you need to just leave that PuG… Or educate a party/raid leader on the mechanics of traps… No, there is no reason in the world to pull with this other than just for fun. Yes, I know that means that one of the guys is trapped instantly. No, you cannot chain trap once you’ve done that. And no, you cannot rescue the healer mid-fight if you’ve blown your CD on Freezing Arrow already! It is far more effective to use a Freezing Trap and pull a mob over it than to use this to pull. Hunters have threat and they (should) know how to use it – it’s not hard to pick a mob and make him run over your trap. Besides, if you’ve read the other parts of The Hunter Dance, then you know that this would likely place the trapped mob downrange of you. Aka no multi-shot for you... One of the later editions will be on how to pull, so look for more on this subject there.
Frost Trap – Good for testing out someone’s video card, or just for slowing things down a little. Tank going down just that little too fast for the healer? Can’t quite take them down fast enough? Slow it down, chill dude. Or if you’re between healer and tank and are the one assigned to picking off the adds (that just love to run straight for the healer), drop this between you and them. Gives you extra time to slaughter them before they close range on you. Lastly? Don’t like the color of the floor…
Immolation Trap – This one is good for extra, random DPS. I’ll caution you on the threat of this guy, but if it’s a fight that involves the group and mobs moving around the room – you might want to drop one of these guys periodically. Just be certain you’re keeping an eye on agro because if you’re not careful, a mob could walk through this and run at you instead of the tank. Speaking of which, this is another way to help prevent them from going after the healer. Not as effective, but if they’ve got DoT’s or your fellow DPS aren’t smart enough to not melt the big ice block, this may be safer. Is it worth it to run in to the boss, drop this, then Disengage out? Probably not. Unless you’re an SV, you can most likely crank out more DPS by staying back and shooting.
Explosive Trap – No, we’re not an AoE class. Yes lots of fights are better/easier/faster if you AoE. So combine this w/ Volley and you’re golden. That’s about as AoE as we get. Soon as there’s only 3 mobs left though, DE out and Multi-Shot.
Snake Trap – Can anyone say Shade? They don’t put out too much DPS, but they do toss a nice little poison around. I’ve certainly killed people after I’ve died b/c of these little friendlies. But more important than that, is if you have a boss that targets random people in the group for his nasty spells. It doesn’t work on all of them, but if suddenly there’s 10 additional members in the party and he does target one of them instead of you? Great! If the boss has an AoE though… Don’t set it down when he’s going to AoE because they seriously have like 10 health a piece.
Maximize Efficiency
Though they are instant cast, it appears to take a second or so to actually arm. I have had mobs run over them in the past because I didn’t give a second for it to arm. I believe that’s supposed to tie in with the animation of setting a trap, but I always kill the animation. I don’t want to waste the time of kneeling and setting up a trap if all I have to do is tap in a direction (just bump backwards) and continue shooting. It’s seriously a waste of time and you could be doing DPS during it!
What does it mean?
Traps are unique to hunters. No other class has anything that functions the same. They can be useful, but only if used properly. Because of their mechanics, it takes time to practice and learn which ones to use for which instances, and even more time for it to become second nature. But I can tell you – it’s worth it. But even better than just being awesome with them, is having a flexible group that knows how to utilize them. Because you can be totally on your game, and other party members can destroy your good work. Or, you can slip with a key and make a mistake that does the same. But if the group knows how they function, they will better be able to adapt. Like when the wrong one ends up trapped, someone breaks your trap, you lay down the wrong one on accident, etc.
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