So I herd sum things. The melee hunter isn't viable, eh?
Please, if we haven't met yet, let me introduce myself. My name's Gweryc. I'm a melee-only hunter, and have been from level 1 all the way up to level 70. Not once in my life have I fired a ranged weapon. Don't believe me? Check out my weapon skills in the armory!
Not viable, they say. Hmm. Not viable for what? Levelling? Scratch that -- I made it to 70.
Not viable for grouping? No... I didn't solo my way to the Choker of Bloodied Feathers and the Delicate Green Poncho.
Not viable for instancing? No, that can't be right, or I couldn't be wearing a quest reward from Hellfire Ramparts. I'd never have gone to Zul'Farrak at 47 with an all-peer group and gotten my Carrot on a Stick. I can chain trap with the best of them, AoE with fire traps and bombs, AoE CC with ice grenades. Thanks to engineering, I can even do a traditional "ranged" pull with Misdirection and my Goblin Rocket Launcher to set mobs on the tank. And in fact, I usually end up off-tanking! I'm at 11k health and climbing, and I'm working on becoming uncrittable. Don't think I'll make it? Well, I'll bet a lot of you wouldn't have believed a melee-only hunter would make it to 70, either.
Not viable for reputation farming? Nuh-uh. The Kurenai were happy to hand me a Far Seer's Helm when I reached Exalted with them.
Not viable in PvP? I can't tell you how many times I captured the flag this weekend in EoS, and consistently came in on the middle of the "damage dealt" column. But you'll have to take my word for that one since I don't have "Justicar" over my head... yet.
Not viable for having fun? Let me tell you guys. I'm not a min/maxer, as you might have guessed. I'm not one of the hardcore, nor do I really aspire to be "elite". As I said at the start of this project, I get my kicks from stretching the game to its limits. And I've honestly had a blast with this character.
It's a challenge playing this way, it really is. And that's exactly what I love about it. This way of playing isn't for everybody! That's okay! Some people enjoy raiding, some enjoy crafting or fishing, some like PvP. To each their own. For my part, I'll keep on looking for ways to do things just a little different, to make it work, and to have fun with it as I go.
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14 comments:
Congrats! I love to see someone prove "conventional wisdom" wrong.
I wish you could write some sort of walkthrough, I would really appreciate it.
You know, I'm one of those people who like to push things forward ;)
Gratz!
http://znodis.wordpress.com/2007/07/05/ur-duin-eet-rong/
i just wanted to say congrats man,
i just sat here for the last hour and read your entire blog from post #1 until this one right here and i must say you have done some amazing things. i admire the fact that you put this much time into your character, and now i want to switch to your server LOL so i can meet you!!!
have fun being level 70!
Ok interesting...
What kind of DPS can you generate over an extended fight?
I'm wondering how viable this really is since hunters don't have a lot of talents or special attacks to bump white damage up to high DPS levels (although I guess the pet kinda counts).
Grats man! I love it when people go off the beaten path with their characters.
I can't even imagine how much gold you've saved by not having to worry about bows, arrows, guns, ammo pouches, etc. Those things start to add up fast!
nice!
just read through your blog, its good!
Awesome, tho you are a dwarf :D
Want to hear form you, some other unusual leveling stories.
heh you did the complete opposite of me i leveled 100% marksman and i thought i did a pretty good job without ever going beastmastery but compared to me your a god when it comes to going against conventional wisdom congrats :)
Congrats on LVL70! Stumbled upon your blog, out of box FTW.
"I didn't solo my way to the Choker of Bloodied Feathers and the Delicate Green Poncho."
I solo'd those on my hunter, non-melee kind.
Just because you can get to 70 using unconventional methods doesn't make them viable. Getting to 70 is very easy in this game.
You know, Evaldas, you're not the first to say that. Here's my take on it. The Skettis Offensive is a level 65 group quest. Bring Me The Egg is a level 66 group quest. I did both around the suggested levels.
It may be that you and others are exceptional players, possessing the sheer skill to solo group quests while they're still yellow. But the spirit in which you and others insist "ranged hunters can solo these group quests" leaves no doubt in my mind that you're telling me I'm a fool for playing this way, and that all hunters worth their salt should be able to solo these group quests before they're green.
If a class can consistently solo group quests before they grow stale, that class is overpowered. And I don't think hunters are. So either you're not giving yourself enough credit for being an exceptional player (which you've implied you're not), you waited until 70 to finish the quest (yawn), or you're just making things up in an effort to make me look ridiculous.
Hi Gweryc,
Congrats on your build. You picked an idea, stuck with it, and made it viable. Did you also happen to make the different dragonlings and gnomish chicken, as well as the compact harvest reaper kits?
I love engineering, and am slowly changing most of the characters on my Horde account to have engineering as one of their professions. My new Ally account has no problem with that, as I started them all with the premise of being engineers.
This build kind of reminds me of the IUV (Intentionally Underpowered Variants) that I used to make on Diablo 2. I created the crushplosive build that lets ANY character use the Kukoshakaku bow (explosive arrows) and a high level of Crushing Blow items to be viable in Hell difficulty. I also came up with builds using the Passion Runeword, that let any class use the Zeal multi-hit attack.
So yeah, I can definitely appreciate variant builds. :)
Good job on the site. Hmmm, what about a warlock that has a shaking disease that prevents him from making the mystic signs in the air to cast offensive spells, but he can still use the DOT spells since they're just spoken? He picks up a sword/staff and starts fighting alongside his minion.
This is amazing, you do dps, you tank, you CC, I DARE anyone to say your build isnt working for you. And to make it even better, I looked at your armory link and was amazed, you're on my server! Maybe some time ill have the honor of doing a dungeon or something with you :)
-Bellord
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