World Of Warcraft Discussion Thread

[RWBladewing]

Originally Posted by Xellos

. Haste is horrible for BM hunters and alright for MM/SV. It's going to be devalued even more once steady shot gets nerfed next patch.

And yet, Blizzard saw fit to put it on every single tier set piece. Purposely making some pieces subpar so that people will want to upgrade (no idea if they really do this or not, just what I have heard) is bad enough, but just blatantly throwing away itemization points like that is so unbelievably annoying. Although I think it'd be even worse if they just didn't realize how bad it was when they made it.

Hunters do just fine as solo, but DK have them beat. You'll never have to rest as a DK if you play it right. The increased run/mount speed, survivability, and AoE ability of Unholy is great for leveling.

Seriously. Hunter is ez-mode leveling but there were times when I had to almost be careful. On my DK I just run right through entire camps of mobs without even looking, and if I get dismounted I just kill them all while ending the fight with full health. In fact I get annoyed when quest mobs are reasonably spread apart just because it makes it that much harder to pull 8-10 at once.

[Mr Hat and Clogs]

Yeah at the moment Hunters are pretty much best DPS in raids, followed by FFB Mages (according to Blizz), HAT rogues, and DW DK's like Xellos said. BM spec is taking a bit of a hit next patch to tone the damage output down a bit, but in compensation Survival is being buffed and looks like it'll end up being the new Hunter FOTM, however BM and MM are still close to it in damage that you are still quite viable afaik. Female Troll IMO! Orc is best for BM though due to the pet racial (Or was that one changed? I dunno I don't care about Orcs).

DK's are an interesting class, they are fairly easy to play but difficult to master. They have 2 main resources in Runes and Runic Power (generated from using Rune abilities). As well as having to juggle cool downs a DK needs a lot of micromanagement and focus, a lot more then other classes. You can't just macro their abilities to one button and call it a day like other classes can. Anyway yeah, each tree is pretty viable at either Tank or DPS, and next patch will make them a little more even balanced (some Unholy nerf and Blood buffs), there is no set DPS or Tank tree like with other classes. Blood Elves make good (Horde) DK's the racials work well for it, but there are soooooo many Blood Elf DK's.

Mining is a great money maker, Saronite Basin hoooooooooooo.

[Mr Hat and Clogs]

Purposely making some pieces subpar so that people will want to upgrad

Yep, thats part of Blizzards itemization process. On items there is usually a primary stat (or two) and those are supplemented by 'B-stats'. These stats are usually ones that cost a shitload in the item budget, such as Haste, MP5, Parry and so on it changes from class type to class type. This basically means they deliberately sub-optimise gear to force people to upgrade and push for the next big thing.

Seriously. Hunter is ez-mode leveling but there were times when I had to almost be careful. On my DK I just run right through entire camps of mobs without even looking, and if I get dismounted I just kill them all while ending the fight with full health. In fact I get annoyed when quest mobs are reasonably spread apart just because it makes it that much harder to pull 8-10 at once.

I found the same thing, I wasn't happy unless I was killing 4 things minimum at a time on the DK. I loved those densely packed mob area's.

[Clarste]

Originally Posted by Sephi

I don't have my old account anymore. So it will really be a new start. I wasn't to convinced about the 10% spell dodge, i would personally rather have dodge against weapons. But that is just meh. As for enchating + 10. I use to do enchating on my old Shaman. It was quite good for money. The old +15agi on weapon things and other MC recipe that drop. I was lucky to receive some of them. How is enchating now for making money? Very dependent on rare recipe or?

They save all your account info even when you cancel. I know I canceled for a few years and got my old character back. Although if you don't wanna play shaman that's understandable (there's definitely a role for dps shaman, I would know, being elemental myself. They bring good buffs and do decent dps).

Enchanting... well they got rid of rare recipes in WotLK. You just buy them all all with shards now (which are super cheap because they forgot to make the enchants actually require shards... oops, fixing that next patch). So basically, any reasonably devoted enchanter will have all the recipes anyone could want. This of course drives the price down. Enchanting mats are super-expensive right now though, so you might be able to make a profit from that.

[Last Sinner]

@Blade: You managed to get to Arygos? Nice. I hope things go well with your new guild, man.

PS. I shall be getting my Hatsune Miku figure in the next couple of weeks. ^^ Followed by my Haruhi swimsuit figure, my CC body pillow, my 18+ Zero Miyama artbook and my Code Geass calendar.

@Hat: FFB Mages are still very good dps, it's not a rumour. It just requires putting everything into gemming for spell power while getting enough hit gear and maximising crit. But I'm confused as to why Warlocks aren't in that top end according to Blizzard. I've seen Affliction and some Destro match their raid DPS with FFB Mages easily.

@Sephi: If you're going to go Hunter as your main (hopefully your alt one is still in existence), some things you need to know:

- The 51 BM talent now allows you to tame Exotic pets. So things like Devilsaurs, Core Hounds and other things that couldn't previously be tamed are now able to be tamed.
- Pets now have their own talent trees. So you may want to check up on Wowhead as to which pet you want to roll with as they differ in a few crucial points.
- TBC XP bars for levelling have been cut down to ~50% of what they used to be. So getting from 60 to 70 is MUCH faster!
- Leatherworking has received a considerable buff in Lich King. You may seriously want to pick this up. The BoP enchancement of 114 attack power to bracers is awesome. As is the MUCH CHEAPER mats for the legs enchancement. Plus Leatherworking mats sell for a lot. However, similar to the way Enchanting works, the later rounds of LK recipes are bought with a Blue BoE form of Leather called Arctic Fur, which you have a chance to skin from anything skinnable. The epic Mail and Leather you can craft is very good and will last you a fair while.
- In Northrend you lose flying until Level 77. Just so you're sure on how it works:
- Initial Flying Skill (Outlands) = 800g, Basic Flying Mount = 100g
- Cold Weather Flying (Northrend) = 1000g, available at Level 77 either at the FP in Dalaran or at the FP in Sholazar Basin.
- Epic Flying Skill = 5000g, Epic Mount = 200g. However, you don't need this to be able to fly in Northrend. Still, since Northrend is so very big, you will need it at some point. So start saving!
- To get to Dalaran for the first time as a non-Mage, you need to use the Port Crystal in the western area of Crystalsong Forest.
- Hunter DPS is awesome in PvE. However, they're not having a good time of it in the current Arena season.
- There are several Northrend Factions that offer epic 80 Hunter gear at Exalted as well as some decent blues at Reverred which are usable at 78. I would advise checking the Northrend Factions and figuring out what you need.
- In Sholazar Basin, there is an eventual choice of going Frenzyheart (wolvar tribe) or Oracles (gorloc tribe). I would say Oracles because they have chance to get you an epic Green-Proto Drake via their Eggs from Revered, plus their dailies are more fun (turning into a panther to own Frenzyheart, using crystals to generate lasers to blow up Frenzyheart, using a didgeridoo to awaken Crystals to cause sudden plant growth, turning into a water and wind spirit to own other Elementals, using special dirt to cause tree growth, treasure hunting, summoning evil Hydras and owning them). Whereas the Frenzyheart only offer a chance to obtain a flask that turns you into a wolvar for 30 minutes.
- Your first chance to get a good Hunter weapon is from a chain in Borean Tundra.


As for me - I've had a very interesting development these last few days. I will have an awesome new very well specced computer that will play WoW very smoothly, within the next couple of weeks. Also making the move to NakedADSL2+ with Internode. So I looked at what times I could raid and what guilds would fit in with that. Only one could - the #1 Alliance guild on my server. Then they posted a message saying that they desperately wanted 5 new raiders immediately, particularly a Resto Druid, a Resto/Elemental Shaman, a Shadow Priest, a Warlock and a Hunter. Since they mentioned 4 DPS and that they would consider other classes if they looked good enough and sounded like they were up to it, I decided to take a gamble and applied. After a day of sweating and waiting for someone to reply, I got some extremely positive responses. They thought my application was very decent and really appreciated my effort and being serious about it. One of their leaders has asked to speak to me in-game to discuss things when I can. I'll be getting a game card tomorrow so I can speak to him for a bit. *crosses fingers* I've wanted to get into this guild since 2006. If I can finally make it in, I will be so stoked!

[Clarste]

Originally Posted by Last Sinner

- To get to Dalaran for the first time as a non-Mage, you need to use the Port Crystal in the western area of Crystalsong Forest.

Not entirely true; there's at least one NPC in Dragonblight who will teleport you there after completing a quest chain.

- In Sholazar Basin, there is an eventual choice of going Frenzyheart (wolvar tribe) or Oracles (gorloc tribe). I would say Oracles because they have chance to get you an epic Green-Proto Drake via their Eggs from Revered, plus their dailies are more fun (turning into a panther to own Frenzyheart, using crystals to generate lasers to blow up Frenzyheart, using a didgeridoo to awaken Crystals to cause sudden plant growth, turning into a water and wind spirit to own other Elementals, using special dirt to cause tree growth, treasure hunting, summoning evil Hydras and owning them). Whereas the Frenzyheart only offer a chance to obtain a flask that turns you into a wolvar for 30 minutes.

You can switch between them at any time and the there's an achievement for getting exalted with both. Also, I've found the Wolvar quests to be far less annoying overall, especially chicken hunting vs treasure hunting, which is the only one you do every day. The monkey is also far more useful than the cat, as a transformation. I agree that the Oracle rewards are better though.

[Xacual]

Yeah you need to be portal'd to Dalaran or wait for level 74 to do the quest where the Kirin Tor npc teleports you to the city.

[Last Sinner]

@Clarste: The treasure hunting isn't that hard, really. If you patrol the area north and east of the Oracles base, you can get the 6 treasures very quickly. It's a problem if you do it too soon after a daily reset, as there will be competition. But it's not that hard. But as you said, Oracle rewards are better - the mount and the 4 BoE pets. You could make some good money off those. I know you can switch but I'm not going to, I don't care about that achievement. I like The Oracles too much to switch.

As for the Dalaran port, strange...All my non-Mage friends told me they had to use the crystal...How did you get up to Dalaran? Since I was a Mage, I had a three-part quest from a Kirin Tor NPC at Star's Rest in Dragonblight to get attuned, then she taught me the Teleport: Dalaran spell.

[Clarste]

Originally Posted by Last Sinner

@Clarste: The treasure hunting isn't that hard, really. If you patrol the area north and east of the Oracles base, you can get the 6 treasures very quickly. It's a problem if you do it too soon after a daily reset, as there will be competition. But it's not that hard. But as you said, Oracle rewards are better - the mount and the 4 BoE pets. You could make some good money off those. I know you can switch but I'm not going to, I don't care about that achievement. I like The Oracles too much to switch.

I never said it was hard, just annoying. It takes like 5 times as long as the chickens, even if you get a perfect situation, just from the time spent walking, looting, and waiting for him to dig, not to mention the random bugs and rabbits that pop up fairly often. Plus they force you to carry around one of those items to summon the guys, which either means you waste a bag slot or have to talk to the quest giver twice every day. Overall, it just bugs me, a lot, especially after switching to them from Frenzyheart, where the chickens were a complete freebie that took less than a minute.

[Ithekro]

There is also a Cold Weather Flying Trainer in The Storm Peaks (a goblin in K3).

Typically the first time you will go to Dalaran is a quest from either the Tundra or Howling at 74. A mage in the main faction city will teleport you there with a short quest chain to learn the use the crystal below the city to get back up to it (since it is floating high over the Crystalsong Forest). Since I tend to use flight points...I don't think I've ever used the crystal outside of that quest. Maybe if there was something to do in Crystalsong.....

As for Warlocks...I've not done any End Game raids. I'm impressed by the potental of Destruction with Chaos Bolt, Immolate/Incinerate/Conflagrate, plus curse and probably Corruption for Molten Core's Fire Damage bonus. I have a little less than 1,500 spell power with Fel Armor up, about 15% crit and 200 hit (and I think 78 haste). Even now I can get 6,000+ crits with Chaos Bolt, and the next patch may provide more to the base damage. My other direct damage spells do damage in the 2,000s easily (Netherwing rep daily quests are kind of fun at 80...I can one shot some level 70 mobs with Chaos Bolt).

We may not have gotten "Green Fire" and "lost" our epic mount quests...but Chaos Bolt, as a level 51 talent, is fine too.

[Xacual]

You can't use the crystal underneath the city until you've been portal'd into the city either by the npc at 74 or my mage sooner.

[RWBladewing]

Originally Posted by Last Sinner

@Blade: You managed to get to Arygos? Nice. I hope things go well with your new guild, man.

PS. I shall be getting my Hatsune Miku figure in the next couple of weeks. ^^ Followed by my Haruhi swimsuit figure, my CC body pillow, my 18+ Zero Miyama artbook and my Code Geass calendar.

Yeah, finally made it over there yesterday after waiting a week and spending several hours sorting mail from my bank alt to avoid having it deleted. Have not done much so far since they seem to have finished everything already this week, should begin shortly though. Everyone is really friendly but I can tell that behind the scenes they will be watching me like hawks. I kind of like that though, I have no way to get better if people aren't criticizing me or if I am the only not terrible player in the guild like my last one. Sounds like your situation is similar, sweating it out for a day and then being very happy they liked your app. Good luck to you too on that.

Oh and the cushion didn't come today, hopefully tomorrow. It's actually my second one though, I bought 2 to make sure I have one in mint condition. Also looking forward to next month when my Nagisa and Kotomi body pillows are released.

[Ithekro]

A three-some between Tomoya's childhood friends and girlfriend?

And welcome to Arygos. Don't let the flood of Death Knights disturb you.

[Mr Hat and Clogs]

lol.. Blood Elf welcoming party? Or a Night Elf?

Finally collapsed and got Bleach: HtS 5 the other day myself. Should be here next week some time I guess, according to Play-Asia anyway. Should be a lot of fun, the DS one my friend had was a lot of fun when I got to play it. Pity I cant use my favorite character either, unless I get a save game of #4 to unlock it.

[Ithekro]

Gnomes....thousands of undead Gnomes....with spiked hair....

Actually probably more human, undead, and various elf death knights than anything else...but I do see troll and tauren death knights...and a few Draenei and dwarves..maybe an orc here and there.

Lots of undead night elf mohawks running around.

[Last Sinner]

@Blade: GL, man. Hope it goes well. As for my C.C. pillow, I ain't using it. I'll seal it and put it somewhere in my room so I can have her watching over me. I would never have the nerve to defile C.C. with sweat and grime.

@Ithekro: Interesting. On Blackrock there is an absolute overload of Blood Elves and Undead for any non-DK class. Almost any Horde DK is Blood Elf aside from a few Orcs and Taurens. As for Alliance DKs, they seem to be evenly spread over any race except Dwarves. For general classes, Human and Night Elves are more common than the others.

[Ithekro]

Arygos has probably 3-1 Alliance right now. Mostly you see Blood Elves, Undead and Orcs, but I've noticed several Tauren and Trolls as well. I mostly see Troll Rogues and Tauren Warriors and Hunters (well and Druids). Most Horde mages I see are Blood Elves...and of course the Paladins. Any time I see a Horde Warlock he's an orc. But I'll have to pay more attention next time I log on with one of my Horde alts. In the starting area, most DKs were Blood Elf and Orc (I was Undead), but while my warlock was working on Netherwing rep I kept seeing Orc, Troll, and several Tauren DKs. (I finished that last night).

I tend to see humans and night elves mostly, but recently there seems to be more dwarves and gnomes than before, plus some draenei (usual shaman, but not always). I mostly notice the Gnome DKs, mages, and warriors.

Actually started to see more human warlocks than gnomes recently...before the expansion I didn't see many other human warlocks...just gnomes on flaming horses.

[Last Sinner]

Gnomes always do the splits when on mounts. They're pretty resilient to put up with that.

[Sephi]

Originally Posted by RWBladewing

Hunters are very viable in end game raiding, they're one of if not the highest dps. There is a pretty big nerf coming soon, though I don't think it'll make them anywhere near useless.

Blood Elf and Tauren are the 2 worst races for hunters. Yes, the Blood Elf racial is pretty much as useless as you think for hunter, can get back a very small amount of mana or silence someone in pvp (at melee range which is not that great either) but that's about it. Same for Tauren pretty much. Warstomp won't help you in raids; it's decent in PvP but that doesn't sound like it's your focus.

You really should be Orc or Troll if you want to be as effective as possible, as both races have 2 racials that are good/great for hunters as opposed to 0 for BE and Tauren. Orc has +pet damage and an attack power boost cooldown, and Troll has extra bow crit and Berserking to increase attack speed. Orcs and Trolls also have reduced stun duration and reduced movement impairing effect duration, respectively, so they are not weak in PvP either.

It's really up to you whether you want to roll your character based on cosmetics or gameplay effectiveness. (Also as far as cosmetics go I would never roll a Blood Elf, I think Tauren hunters look incredibly goofy, and I consider Orcs 100% pure awesome, but hey, that's just me.)

Edit: In simple terms, DK has a "presence" that it switches to for tanking that increases armor and health by a significant amount as opposed to a shield, as well as a high parry rating and some really powerful damage-reducing cooldowns.

I didn't consider the Tauren a very bad choice. 5% hp and warstomp is quite nice. But i agree about the bloodelf racial. It's

Makes it hard for me to decide on what class to roll. I definitely won't be rolling Orc or Troll. I made fun of so many of them when i was still playing. I can't possibly roll one myself now

I think i'll go for cosmetics. I'm that kind of sucker

Originally Posted by Xellos

BM hunters with the 50/21/0 are top dps in raids now aside from HaT specced rogues (bug) and DW DKs. Granted hunters will see the nerf stick next patch, but I'm sure they'll still remain competitive dps. As RW said, Orc and Troll are best for hunter although I'd give the nod to Orc. Haste is horrible for BM hunters and alright for MM/SV. It's going to be devalued even more once steady shot gets nerfed next patch. More AP from Blood Fury is always useful no matter what spec you are. The same goes for increased pet damage. All that being said, race only matters if you care about min/maxing. You can do just fine as any race.
Hunters do just fine as solo, but DK have them beat. You'll never have to rest as a DK if you play it right. The increased run/mount speed, survivability, and AoE ability of Unholy is great for leveling.

As for money making professions, I'd go mining and JC. JC isn't as bad as it used to be with regard to leveling and you can make decent gold once you get it lvled. Additionally, it has those lovely prismatic gems. Mining supplements JC nicely as it gives you mats to level JC as well as ore to prospect. After you max JC, you could probably just buy ore from the AH to prospect for profit and drop mining for something else if you so desire. For absolute min/maxing, I'd go with BS and JC.

Finally, DKs are dps and tanks. DKs compensate for not being able to use a shield by Frost Presence. It increases the contribution of armor from items by 60%, increases health by 10%, and reduces spell damage by 5%. Next patch it will be buffed to 80% increased contribution of armor from items and 15% less spell damage. Health buff will remain the same.

Haven't looked in to JC yet, but looks interesting the combination. Enchanting doesn't sound to profitable anymore. I'll put more thoughts in to a profession later.

DK sounds imba. Some powerful dps and being tank. How does the other classes fare against them in PVP ?

Originally Posted by Clarste

They save all your account info even when you cancel. I know I canceled for a few years and got my old character back. Although if you don't wanna play shaman that's understandable (there's definitely a role for dps shaman, I would know, being elemental myself. They bring good buffs and do decent dps).

Enchanting... well they got rid of rare recipes in WotLK. You just buy them all all with shards now (which are super cheap because they forgot to make the enchants actually require shards... oops, fixing that next patch). So basically, any reasonably devoted enchanter will have all the recipes anyone could want. This of course drives the price down. Enchanting mats are super-expensive right now though, so you might be able to make a profit from that.

Let's say my account was given to some one else, and i got something in return for it

So i don't have it anymore.

So being useful as enchanter is only by disenchants? Doesn't sound to bad, and disenchanting doesn't really require a lot of work. It's just clicking a button, unlike mining where you have to run around and unmount to mine. But i'll have to think a bit more about profession. I'm still not sure what class/race to roll.

Originally Posted by Last Sinner

@Sephi: If you're going to go Hunter as your main (hopefully your alt one is still in existence), some things you need to know:

- The 51 BM talent now allows you to tame Exotic pets. So things like Devilsaurs, Core Hounds and other things that couldn't previously be tamed are now able to be tamed.
- Pets now have their own talent trees. So you may want to check up on Wowhead as to which pet you want to roll with as they differ in a few crucial points.
- TBC XP bars for levelling have been cut down to ~50% of what they used to be. So getting from 60 to 70 is MUCH faster!
- Leatherworking has received a considerable buff in Lich King. You may seriously want to pick this up. The BoP enchancement of 114 attack power to bracers is awesome. As is the MUCH CHEAPER mats for the legs enchancement. Plus Leatherworking mats sell for a lot. However, similar to the way Enchanting works, the later rounds of LK recipes are bought with a Blue BoE form of Leather called Arctic Fur, which you have a chance to skin from anything skinnable. The epic Mail and Leather you can craft is very good and will last you a fair while.
- In Northrend you lose flying until Level 77. Just so you're sure on how it works:
- Initial Flying Skill (Outlands) = 800g, Basic Flying Mount = 100g
- Cold Weather Flying (Northrend) = 1000g, available at Level 77 either at the FP in Dalaran or at the FP in Sholazar Basin.
- Epic Flying Skill = 5000g, Epic Mount = 200g. However, you don't need this to be able to fly in Northrend. Still, since Northrend is so very big, you will need it at some point. So start saving!
- To get to Dalaran for the first time as a non-Mage, you need to use the Port Crystal in the western area of Crystalsong Forest.
- Hunter DPS is awesome in PvE. However, they're not having a good time of it in the current Arena season.
- There are several Northrend Factions that offer epic 80 Hunter gear at Exalted as well as some decent blues at Reverred which are usable at 78. I would advise checking the Northrend Factions and figuring out what you need.
- In Sholazar Basin, there is an eventual choice of going Frenzyheart (wolvar tribe) or Oracles (gorloc tribe). I would say Oracles because they have chance to get you an epic Green-Proto Drake via their Eggs from Revered, plus their dailies are more fun (turning into a panther to own Frenzyheart, using crystals to generate lasers to blow up Frenzyheart, using a didgeridoo to awaken Crystals to cause sudden plant growth, turning into a water and wind spirit to own other Elementals, using special dirt to cause tree growth, treasure hunting, summoning evil Hydras and owning them). Whereas the Frenzyheart only offer a chance to obtain a flask that turns you into a wolvar for 30 minutes.
- Your first chance to get a good Hunter weapon is from a chain in Borean Tundra.


As for me - I've had a very interesting development these last few days. I will have an awesome new very well specced computer that will play WoW very smoothly, within the next couple of weeks. Also making the move to NakedADSL2+ with Internode. So I looked at what times I could raid and what guilds would fit in with that. Only one could - the #1 Alliance guild on my server. Then they posted a message saying that they desperately wanted 5 new raiders immediately, particularly a Resto Druid, a Resto/Elemental Shaman, a Shadow Priest, a Warlock and a Hunter. Since they mentioned 4 DPS and that they would consider other classes if they looked good enough and sounded like they were up to it, I decided to take a gamble and applied. After a day of sweating and waiting for someone to reply, I got some extremely positive responses. They thought my application was very decent and really appreciated my effort and being serious about it. One of their leaders has asked to speak to me in-game to discuss things when I can. I'll be getting a game card tomorrow so I can speak to him for a bit. *crosses fingers* I've wanted to get into this guild since 2006. If I can finally make it in, I will be so stoked!

Yes i heard a lot has changed, i'm considering letting a friend use the "reqruit a friend" so i get 300% exp to speed up leveling.

And what happened with the prices OO 5k!! I use to be quite rich(3k) back in WoW days, but i never had 5k... Though i also heard making money has become a lot easier.

As for your development last days.

I remember having a crap P4 with awful videocard to play WoW. I don't know how i lasted through all those raids. But i somehow did. Now i got a kickass pc, but no games that i want to play much >.<

Good luck with getting in the new guild

Beside Hunter, any other classes that can be considered good solo leveling class? And still maintaining some use in dungeons/raids? Btw I'm starting with WoW battlechest (WoW + TBC) I won't get WoTLK. Atleast not so soon. There is no point getting it until i hit a high level right?

And much thanks everyone for the help

[RWBladewing]

Originally Posted by Sephi

I didn't consider the Tauren a very bad choice. 5% hp and warstomp is quite nice. But i agree about the bloodelf racial. It's

Makes it hard for me to decide on what class to roll. I definitely won't be rolling Orc or Troll. I made fun of so many of them when i was still playing. I can't possibly roll one myself now

I think i'll go for cosmetics. I'm that kind of sucker

5% hp is basically useless for hunter. If you're getting hit, you're doing it wrong. Not to mention, the 5% is of your base health, which is what you'd have at your level with no gear on. It comes out to be really insignificant. It wasn't that way in the past but they nerfed it because of the massive stamina on gear in WotLK that would have made Tauren by far the best tanks, severely limiting other races' usefulness in that role.

If you're adamant on Tauren/BE and going for cosmetics I definitely suggest BE. While I absolutely hate the way they look, the whole agile elf thing fits the hunter image a lot better than a big lumbering cow imo.