The Hunter Dance - Part IV (How to Pull)

Previous Editions
The Hunter Dance – Part I (Misdirect)
The Hunter Dance – Part II (Shot CD)
The Hunter Dance - Part III (Trap Usage)

Upcoming Editions
Pet Control
Survival – Feign Death
Trap Dancing / CC
Line of Sight
Where to Stand?
Macros

Abilities

First, the obvious – a Ranged Weapon. Point and click. Sure, when questing, this is the easiest, saves mana, but rather pointless in a group or an instance. You’d do much better to use something more like Steady Shot. Why not Arcane Shot or Concussive Shot? Because SS has a cast timer, the others are instant. So SS, CS, AS, SS is much more effective than CS, AS, SS… If you have a question on that, let me know and I’m happy to explain further. But anyway, in a group/instance/raid? Not really much point to these. At least not just one of them by themselves. Which leads me to…

The Choices
Next, unique to Hunters we have 2 choices – Misdirect & Freezing Arrow. I’ve already discussed Misdirect a little in an earlier edition, but that is generally the most common way to pull. Even when CC’ing… A good hunter can drop a Freezing Trap, move, Misdirect, SS, AS, Aimed Shot (or similar rotation), change target to CC mob, Distracting Shot, change target to skull, move, drop a Freezing Trap, move, DPS skull, etc. This is certainly the most effective, and it’s one main reason why people invite hunters to instances. Even a poor hunter can pull this one off. Though I am reminded of this one huntard…

So then onto FA… Don’t do it. I mean, I can see the extremely rare case that there’s a 4-pull and one of them is far off on the edge where an Avenger’s Shield won’t hit it… However, you could easily instead drop your Freezing Trap, get back to full mana, DPS the main 3 targets, DS the 4^th to you, and then chain CC if necessary. Much more DPS and an ability for chain CC just makes sense. Thus no, FA is not for pulling – it’s for saving the healer, another DPS, emergency CC, etc.

Then, of course, there’s the Warrior method – charge in and hit everything. Yeah, pretty much suicide, but you might just get off an Explosive Trap followed by a Volley, However, it’s a sure way to get yourself killed, be called Leeroy Jenkins, and never be invited back.

Warning
The biggest mistake hunters (and warlocks!) make, is poor pet control. As you can see at the top, that will be an entire section itself, but the short and dirty here is to make sure your pet goes after the right target, not a CC one. If you’re just learning, or unsure of your ability, put your pet on passive until you are ready to send them in to DPS the right target. Your group members would much rather you have slightly lower DPS at the start of the fight and pull correctly, than to break CC’s and wipe the group. Similarly, placement can mean a whole lot of difference. Don’t put your CC mob in range of the Tank’s AoE. Now if they pull the mobs into range of your CC and they AoE, that’s a different story. Just don’t blame them for breaking CC when it was your placement that is at fault.

Reminder
Each fight is different. I have explained the mechanics, but only practice will solidify it and make it second nature. Practice will help teach you where to place your traps, how far you need to move, where to stand, which ones to hit first, second, etc. Of course, you can also tune in to the next addition too for more advice (which you can feel free to take or throw out the window – your choice, lol).