Chain trappin'

OK, I forgot, I did take out Rysteranch on Saturday to help out a level 50 guildie hunter. He needed his mallet for ZF made into a sacred mallet for summoning Gahzrilla. So that meant a trip to the elite troll area in The Hinderlands and fighting lvl 46-51 elites. I soloed this (and Saving Sharpbeak) with my hunter when he was level 51, so I knew he'd be able to survive with minimal assistance.

Now, there are two things that I will not do for guildies:
1. Give them gold. I'll send them crafted items, dropped items, mats, and a whole host of other items. Just not gold.
2. Run them through instances. In order for me to go with a group into a low level instance, there must be some redeeming value for me or the guild, and that would be.....training.

So, with that in mind, I smelled an opportunity to help out a new guild hunter with sharpening or learning a skill that hunters are known for sucking at: Chain trapping.

The first thing that I want when teaching this skill is mobs that can kill the trainee. This adds urgency to the situation and helps sharpen their focus. I will then demonstrate how to chain trap. This training session, the guildie was on Vent, and I just explained over Vent what I was doing and tips/tricks of the skill.
1. Place a freezing trap out of the way of combat and back up from it.
2. Wait for the trap cooldown and make sure the trap is between you and the mob.
3. Hit the mob with a shot (not scorpid sting) and deselect the mob.
4. Watch the mob make a beeline for you and get frozen in the trap.
5. Immediately, run to another out of combat area that is a significant distance from the frozen mob and place another freezing trap.
6. Repeat steps 2-5 as necessary.

Sometimes you will end up tanking the mob while the trap is on cooldown. Remember, hunters wear mail armor, so they can take a couple of shots. Also, make sure your pet is on passive to avoid breaking your trap. Deselecting the mob and backing away from the trap also ensures that YOU don't break your trap.

Some other tips to give you some time for the trap cooldown include using Concussive Shot if the trap breaks early , tanking with your pet, and using wing clip.

So, after a little bit, he's got it down pat and we proceed on to the altar to get what we come for. During that time, I observed his play style and saw that he could use some basic hunter tips. So I suggested some things like Hunter's Mark prefight, sending pet next and following up with Serpent Sting (the one that poisons it). Also, I noticed that his poor piggy was getting a beating, so I encouraged him to slap a Mend Pet on it. Of course, these were elites we were taking on, so he may not have ever had to mend his pet during his regular playing.

So, by the end of the session, we had gotten his mallet sacredized, his chain trapping up to speed, and his game play noticeably improved. In fact, he took on a level 49 elite by himself and not only lived to tell about it, but was at full health and half mana. I then had him take on two lvl 48s and, while he and his piggy died (I didn't intervene soon enough), he almost killed them both. And his confidence is much higher now!

And now, I have at least one hunter in the guild that may some day save Dax's squishy butt! It was very rewarding to see his improvement and know that I've helped him become a better player. Woot!