How well would a hunter work in a 5 man mixed group in heroics?

[Slayde]

I just started a new mixed group (prot pally, elem shaman, balance druid, mage, disc priest) and am considering dropping one of the casters (likely the balance druid) for a hunter to diversify gear needs. Does anyone use a hunter in their 80 mixed teams in heroics? Do they work well with the casters? Does the pet cause issues with positioning or unintended pulls? Thanks for your input.

[Effex]

i have the exact same 5 box team at 80 and clearing most heroics with ease and Im lvling a hunter to replace the mage.

heres why Im droping the mage...

my boomkin and mage are around equel on dmg
boomkin offers 13% more magic dmg + haste + better buffs than a mage + in combat rezz + innervate + extra emergency healer
mage must be frost(worst dps spec) or youl drink every few pulls when doing heroics
best thing the mage brings is replensihment which the hunter gives anyway.
i use a portal maybe once a day if i play all day.
i drink maybe once an instance so free drinks arnt that big a deal
boomkin boe epics are seriosly cheap compared to cloth on AH
boomkin can take a few hits, mages just cant.

few tactics i couldnt use without a boomkin
tank dies - drop earth ele - in combat rez tank.
healer dies - heal with sham - incombat rez priest(innervate priest)
i have a great macro that takes over healing with boomkin (when u heal moonkin for drops, on non moonkin action bar in my spam dps spot is a spam heal macro so an almost seemless switch from nuking to healing with 1 button press)


And why Im subbing a hunter
still gives replenishment - non stop chain killing in heroics
gives a melle pet - this sounds like a small bonus but it has a few huge benefits. 1 i love is as the pet takes a bit of dmg it'll ping prayer of mending about, it'll eat those randon non-tank hits/fears etc.
takes all of the melle dps gear that goes to waste
i cant be 100% on this but Im pretty certain will well out dps the frost mage when in even gear

oh and if you do get a hunter up. check the wiki out is has a perfect dps macro up there Im just loving.

[Svpernova09]

a hunter would be a great addition for the reasons already stated, as well as you could create a setup where you're hunter MisDirect's your MT and pull, sending all the threat to your tank. Just an extra bonus for a hunter

[Slayde]

Great feedback guys. Thanks! I'm definately leaning towards replacing the mage now instead of the boomkin for the reasons you mentioned. It will also be great using all that leather and mail attackpower/agility, crit gear I always had to shard with my DK + 4x shaman team. :thumbsup:

[EaTCarbS]

Aspect of the Daze... er... Pack can be useful sometimes too :D

[Marathon]

Surviablity of the hunter ..

[moog]

I have a hunter in my mixed team and he is always top DPS unless we're AOEing stuff down.

Have gone with a Marksmanship build, so no exotic pet any more but the DPS more than makes up for it...
http://armory.wow-europe.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Argent+Dawn&n=Eckles

A month or so back he was deep Beastmaster spec and always bottom DPS, I was close to replacing him with another Warlock, but I spent time, did some research and spent a lot of time tweaking all the characters macros and am now very happy :)

[Mercurio]

Totally agree with the above. Hunters are great in heroics - I run three heroic mixed teams with hunters in them.

I'd recommend survival - not much of a DPS loss and everyone gets forever mana.

Here's one of mine if you'd like to check out the spec:
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Magtheridon&n=Vigil

[Slayde]

Thanks guys for the talent build suggestions. I started my new hunter last night and am working to catch him up to the rest of the group. :thumbup:

[Ualaa]

One hunter in a mixed group would work quite well, imo.

You have one serious drawback which all melee toons share.
Follow breaks when a toon enters melee combat.
Unfortunately for a hunter, you automatically switch to melee from range, when your target gets close enough.
Still, you can re-enable follow, or just be careful and park the hunter back with the caster types.

Aside from heroics, the pet can off-tank fairly reliably, especially if you're BM spec.
A hunter is fairly easy to macro their dps to a one button mashing.
If you have three dps buttons between your dps, you could put this hunter macro on all three keybinds.

Hunters bring strong single target dps.
There's the pet.
Some of the aspects are group usable including Nature Resistance and the Pack Travel.
Traps can be used to snare or crowd control.
Misdirect can help establish immediate threat on a boss or an add.

As long as you're aware of the follow breaking on melee, a hunter is a strong addition to a team.
The more classes you add the stronger and more diverse a team is, but the more it takes to play the team to its potential.

[Multibocks]

I see nothing wrong with hunter breaking follow on melee. Treat him just like your treat your casters. Park them and run your tank in to start tanking stuff. How is that any different? Unless you want to melee with your hunter, heh. I dont want follow working during combat as that screws up spell casting and positioning.

[Slayde]

Thanks again guys for the ideas and feedback on hunters. I'll just keep my hunter back with the casters on pulls so the follow breaking on melee won't be an issue for my group. My hunter is now caught up in level to the rest of the group so I'll begin questing with the group again this week. :thumbup: