The Problems of a Solo Hunter in Classic WOW

The Solo MMO Player says that hunters and their pets have a lot of moving parts in Classic WOW.  Petopia explains it best.  This page is particularly helpful as it explains how to tame wild pets, learn their abilities and transfer those to other pets.
https://www.wow-petopia.com/classic/differences.php

Basically you have to tame a pet that is your level or lower, then feed and level it.  You have to train it in the abilities you've chosen by spending training points, and those abilities must be leveled in rank as your pet levels.  Fortunately you can only have three pets in Classic or you would lose your mind trying to keep it all straight.  Follow the links in Petopia above to help you figure this all out.

WOWhead also has charts that tell you what your pet will eat, and organizes pets by whether they are better at offense or defense or whether they do ok in both.
https://classic.wowhead.com/guides/classic-wow-hunter-pets

Icy Veins has a great chart that compares DPS among the various pet types.
https://www.icy-veins.com/wow-classic/hunter-dps-pets-guide

Good luck and happy hunting!

P.S.  If you are an experienced hunter, these BBB articles are for you.
https://thebigbearbutt.com/2007/08/30/kitty-burst-dps-and-you/

https://thebigbearbutt.com/2007/08/24/from-the-mailbag-mangle/

https://thebigbearbutt.com/2007/08/18/so-should-i-get-cranky-in-my-first-post/

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Interview with Big Bear Butt

Pot interviews BBB about the state of the game and Cataclysm.
http://www.mmomeltingpot.com/2010/11/trade-chats-interview-with-big-bear-butt/

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BlizzCon: The Obvious Question UPDATED

Let's ask the obvious question based on what is being released about Cataclysm at BlizzCon--Why is there not more info about the game being released in less than 8 weeks? The only thing the Blizzard developers have talked about there are patches that will hit after Cataclysm releases.  The raid they showed was staged, not in-game.  Is anyone there able to play Cataclysm except for selected raids?

I think the reason there is no real Cataclysm info is folks are working on the game trying to get Patch 4.0.1 bugs fixed and make Cataclysm playable. They dare not show off what only a few folks on the Cataclysm beta have seen.

The lack of info is a very disturbing sign.  This game is going to be released before it is ready.   That's why players now are esseentially doing beta testing during Patch 4.0.1 which they have to pay for.

Anyone else seeing bugs, screen freezes, missing or excess honor and justice points, or being killed for no reason?

UPDATE:  BBB talks Patch 4.0.1 and asks questions of his own.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/10/23/inverted-expectations/

Ditto Coldbear
http://coldbear.wordpress.com/2010/10/23/cataclysm-the-death-of-immersion/

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Patch 4.0.1 Bugs and Problems

There are some real problems with Patch 4.0.1.  The alchemy gem transmute recipes have disappeared so that leveling Alchemists can't get them, and Blizzard is pretending this isn't happening.  BBB, Blizzard has more important things to worry about right now--they just blew up their game in a Bet-the-Company move.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/10/16/alchemy-gem-transmute-recipes-gone-in-4-0-1/

The Major League Gaming Pro Circuit is having their tournament this weekend.  It may be the last as their client won't work with Patch 4.0.1 so this PvP is under the old system.
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/16/mlg-dc-starts-tonight-for-wow/

Blizzard has deployed a hot fix to the Violet Proto Drake/Master Riding problem.
http://www.wowhead.com/blog=171256

Arcane mage Prime glyphs has been mislabeled as major glyphs and cannot be placed in Prime slots. This may be the case for fire and frost configs also, but the Solo MMO Player has not checked this.   No word on when this will be fixed.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=27187853045&sid=1

The Addon Developer Kit no longer automatically extracts code with Patch 4.0.1.  You have to go to a new developer's site to download this.

http://www.wowhead.com/blog=170877

Warlocks have missing minions and demons, and the ones they have are renamed for them.  This is supposed to be fixed next maintenance day if it hasn't been already.

http://cynwise.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/blizzard-killed-my-dog/

There is mixed reaction to Patch 4.0.1's nerfing of Auction House addons.  Blacksen thinks this will keep the amateur sellers away and consolidate power in the hands of professional goblins.

http://blacksen.com/archives/687

WOW Insider has a list of "current" bugs but it does not look updated to me.
http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/10/13/status-update-on-current-patch-4-0-1-issues/

So I looked at Blizzard Customer Service's Twitter feed and found a link to what they say is the current bug list.
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=27188062708&sid=1

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Cataclysm Changes Alert

BBB just learned that when Cataclysm hits, Zul'Gurub (a 20 man raid in Vanilla WOW) will disappear.  Some mage Polymorth spells can be gotten here and there are rare mounts, too.  No one knows if these items will be moved to another portion of the game, so if you are interested, read the two links below.

http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/09/01/oh-noes-zulgurub-going-going-gone/

http://almostevil.blogspot.com/2009/02/farming-zulgurub.html

By the way, there have been changes to the UI in the beta that have a nice Eclipse bar.   Druids may want to check out the photos here.

http://www.restokin.com/2010/09/new-cata-eclipse-bar-pictures/

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BBB's Cooldown Management Strategies

The Big Bear Butt lays out how he manages cooldowns and asks for Comments.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/08/24/managing-cooldowns/

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BBB and the Midsummer Fire Festival

Dammed with faint praise.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/06/24/yes-yes-the-ice-stone-has-melted-whatever/

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Tanks and Healers in Raids (and Hunters, too)

Obviously today's the day someone turned on the tank/healer neon sign because all over the Blog-o-sphere folks are talking about types of tanks and healers and what their main jobs are.  Big Bear Butt has a very definite idea of what a tank does.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/06/08/team-talk-for-all-players-from-a-tired-tank/

Here's a reply to his article, focused on what makes a good raiding hunter.
http://looking4more.wordpress.com/2010/06/08/being-a-team-player-hunter/

Anna sees different types of healers and tanks as she raids.  Here is her humorous definition of tanks, and
http://toomanyannas.com/feature/differing-species-of-tanks/

here is how she sees healers.
http://toomanyannas.com/feature/differing-species-of-healers/

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BBB Speaks: Before Tanking and During Tanking

Big Bear Butt lists things to think about  before you tank.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/06/01/things-to-think-about-before-tanking/

And how a tank should act.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/06/02/the-role-of-the-tank-in-a-group/

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Big Bear Butt Explains Holding Aggro

BBB talks about pulling aggro and holding aggro, and talks about addons that help you understand what is going on whether you are a tank or your role is DPS.  The comments section has a lot of helpful information and further details.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/04/21/chasing-bear-aggro/

Sadly, I don't think Big Bear Butt is kidding when he says he's thinking about giving up blogging.

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BBB And the AOE Visualization Guide

Brokentree has written a very useful guide to figuring out each tank's AOE ability so you can avoid drawing aggro.  It's the second link below.  The first link is Big Bear Butt's additional comments on the article.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/04/15/a-visual-indication-of-aoe/

http://waywardinitiative.wordpress.com/2010/04/15/wait-for-it/

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Big Bear Butt Analyses Cataclysm's Druid Changes

Analysis of the planned Cataclysm changes coming to druids by BBB.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/04/11/so-about-these-proposed-druid-changes/

By the way, Druid Heal is keeping a list of all Cataclysm changes to resto druids if you want to bookmark one place to keep up with things.  As far as I can tell, DH updates this frequently.
http://druidheal.com/?page_id=682

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People Watching in Dungeon Finder

Big Bear Butt writes about his experiences in dungeon finder and the characters he's run into there.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/03/18/lfd-its-making-me-a-people-watcher/

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Big Bear Butt's Healing Priorities

BBB lists the order in which he heals.  It's a humorous and rational list.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/03/14/healing-priorities/

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Should Bears Gem for Agility or for Stamina?

Big Bear Butt answers a reader's question about whether a bear tank needs to gem for agility or whether stamina is more inportant.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/03/04/gemming-question-stam-or-agility/

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Cataclysm Stat and System Changes (by Class)

Blizzard has announced what they call Stat and System Changes for Cataclysm on the official WOW forum.  MMO Champion has reposted this in a slightly easier to read form.
http://blue.mmo-champion.com/1/23425636414-cataclysm-stat--system-changes.html

WOW Insider has a series about the planned major changes in Cataclysm.  Here's the introduction.  Class information will be listed here as it is published.
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/01/the-daily-blues-special-cataclysm-report/

Mastery Bonuses to Encourage Sticking to the Right Gear
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/01/mastery-bonus-in-cataclysm-to-encourage-proper-gear-choices/

Mana Per Second and Spirit Changes
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/01/cataclysm-stat-and-system-changes-for-spirit-and-mp5/

Balance Druids
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/01/cataclysm-stats-and-system-changes-for-balance-druids/

DPS Death Knights
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/03/cataclysm-stat-and-system-changes-for-dps-death-knights/

Enhancement Shamans
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/02/cataclysm-stat-and-system-changes-for-enhancement-shaman/

Feral Druids (from Big Bear Butt)
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/03/01/cataclysm-stat-changes-early-warnings/

Feral Bears (from Big Bear Butt)
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/03/01/cataclysm-stat-changes-bear-edition/

DPS Warriors
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/01/cataclysm-stats-and-system-changes-for-dps-warriors/

Healing Priests
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/02/cataclysm-stat-and-system-changes-for-healing-priests/

Holy Paladins
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/02/cataclysm-stat-and-system-changes-for-holy-paladins/

Hunters
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/01/cataclysm-stat-and-system-changes-for-hunters/

Mages
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/01/cataclysm-stat-and-system-changes-for-mages/

Prot Warriors
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/01/cataclysm-and-warriors-tanking-edition/

Resto Shamans
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/02/cataclysm-stat-and-system-changes-for-resto-shaman/

Retribution Paladins
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/02/cataclysm-stat-and-system-changes-for-retribution-paladins/

Rogues
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/02/cataclysm-stat-and-system-changes-for-rogues/

Shadow Priests
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/02/cataclysm-stat-and-system-changes-for-shadow-priests/

Tanking Death Knights
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/03/cataclysm-stat-and-system-changes-for-tanking-death-knights/

Warlocks
http://www.wow.com/2010/03/02/cataclysm-stat-and-system-changes-for-warlocks/

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Big Bear Butt Compares Feral Druid and Paladin Tanks

BBB has played both classes and now that he has them geared up fairly evenly, he compared how they tank.

Part one (feral druids)
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/02/11/tanking-test-druid-vs-paladin-i/

Part two (paladins)
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/02/11/tanking-test-druid-vs-paladin-ii/

Part three (comparing aggro)
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2010/02/12/tanking-test-druid-vs-paladin-iii/

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All About Vuhdo (Healing Addon)

The best overall information I've found on setting up Vuhdo is on Hots & Dots.  This is an introduction dated October 2009 showcasing some of the things Vuhdo does with screenshots.
http://www.hotsdots.com/2009/10/improving-the-interface-using-addons-vuhdo-raid-frames/

Hots & Dots followed up in December 2009 with an article about the layout settings the author uses.  She plays a resto druid mainly.
http://www.hotsdots.com/2009/11/laths-vuhdo-layout/

Here is the Vuhdo wiki. It has a setup walkthrough, a FAQ page, and class specific tips.
http://vuhdo.ithato.com/tiki-index.php


A summary of Vuhdo (January 2010) which is an addon to track healing in raids.
http://www.wow.com/2010/01/30/addon-spotlight-vuhdo/

Big Bear Butt installed and tested Vuhdo in June of 2009 and really liked it.  However, there's been no followup posting on his blog about how it preforms over time.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2009/06/18/vuhdo-is-da-bomb-for-healing/

Rolling Hots installed Vuhdo in July of 2009, and writes about his experience here.
http://www.rollinghots.com/2009/07/21/that-vuhdo-that-you-do/

A PlusHeal (healers' forum) discussion of Vuhdo with comments from the creator, dated March 2009, which has some information about current and planned features.  PlusHeal helped beta test this addon.
http://www.plusheal.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1677

I also found PlusHeal forum Vuhdo setups for resto shamans dated October 2009.
http://www.plusheal.com/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=4555

An April 2009 interview with the creator of Vuhdo.
http://www.nostockui.com/2009/04/that-vuhdo-that-you-do/

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BBB Talks Bear Threat

Big Bear Butt contributes to bear theory crafting with a discussion on generating threat as a bear feral druid.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2009/12/31/some-discussion-about-bear-threat-and-faerie-fire/

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BBB's Lower Level Bear Tank Guide

Big Bear Butt has started a bear tanking guide for lower levels.  Here is the first part.  I would encourage all bear tanks to read this as BBB knows a great deal about feral druid tanking and gives great tips.
http://thebigbearbutt.com/2009/12/29/new-project-tanking-through-the-levels/

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