Exactly how important is Claw (Rank 9)? Is it worth investing 29 Training Points in? I asked that question too and with the help of the handy addon Recount, I did a little experiment. In fact, the ending results were a bit more unexpected that I thought. On average, Claw (Rank 9) was near 25% of Stra’s damage (not including Kill Command).

The experiment went like this:

I wanted to find out how much damage and what percentage Stra was doing with Claw (Rank 9), so I flew over to Shadowmoon Valley. Since I was doing this solo, I decided to hunt for a mob at level 70. Raid bosses are to equivalent level 73, but I doubt Stra could hand such a beating with the experiment I had in mind. While flying over the Netherwing Ledge, I found some air elementals level 69-70. I flew down for the pickings.

EXPERIMENT ONE: 
Stra Alone w/ Claw and Growl
 

For my first experiment, I wanted to see how much Claw would be used if Growl was also being used. I knew Growl also uses focus, therefore Claw would have to share. Another factor in this experiment was the absence of myself. Without my aid, Stra didn’t benefit from the talent Go for the Throat. Without any focus, she wouldn’t be able to use Claw which leads to a lack of damage (because of a lack of cast). How much damage could Stra without the aid of myself?

As expect, Stra very quickly ran out of focus. Every few seconds she would regain a little, but not only was it used by Claw… it was also used by Growl. This led to a 16.4% of the overall damage.

 

EXPERIMENT TWO:
Stra Alone w/ Claw
 

For the next experiment, I wanted to see how much more damage Claw could do without Growl. Without Growl sucking up some of the focus, Claw would have the chance to be used more often. This experiment would be the first actual pure focus dump. However, as before, I would not aid Stra in battle. This again meant the talent Go for the Throat would no help her whatsoever. Once Stra uses up all the focus, she would have to wait until her next Claw.

Of course, that’s just what happened. Stra’s Claw drained all her focus and as it regenerated, it was depleted just as quickly. However, without sharing the focus with Growl, Claw was able to be used more often and presented 24.5% of her overall damage.

 

EXPERIMENT THREE:
Stra & Aidem w/ Claw & Growl
 

Stra was starting to get quite a beating. Fortunately for her, the experiment now called for my help. As seen before, Stra would do excellent until she ran out of focus. Without any help regenerating her focus, she was barely geting a Claw in. Especially with sharing focus with Growl, Claw was having a tough time. This experiment, I would aid Stra in combat with only my auto-shot. As I shoot, my crits would quickly regenerate Stra’s focus and hopefully she could Claw a lot more often. The real question with this experiment would be to see if sharing focus with Growl would still make a major impact.

The question was answered with a higher increase in damage from Claw. With focus being regenerated at a much higher rate, Stra was able to use Claw and Growl more often. Even though the two abilities shared focus, Claw ended up having a 27.9% of overall damage.

 

EXPERIMENT FOUR:
Stra & Aidem w/ Claw
 

The first two experiments showed that deactivated Growl caused Claw’s percentage of overall damage to raise and the third experiment showed that with the aid of myself, Stra’s Claw’s percentage of overall damage rose again. Would this mean that with my aid and Growl deactivated, Claw’s percentage would raise again once more? If so, by how much? Once again, this experiment called for myself to only use auto-shoot and have Stra only use Claw. The main worry about this experiment was having myself pull aggro off Stra, which would ruin the test run. I was already on a good test streak, I wouldn’t want to mess this up at the end.

Apparently my logic before was incorrect. Even with Growl deactivated and myself aiding Stra which kept the focus up, her Claw’s percentage of overall damage was at 28.0%, only .1% higher than the third experiment. In fact, Stra’s focus was never depleted with Claw and Growl both using it. There was nothing preventing Claw from being used and therefore had the same results as the experiment before.

 

CONCLUSION

How important is Claw (Rank 9)? If you think an 25% 33% increase in pet damage is important, than yes. According to the results of the four experiments, Claw is a very handy ability in need and should be trained. That’s if, you have a crab. Many other families have unique abilities which may out perform Claw and I would recommend using those also. However, if training your pet crab or any other pet that only comes with Claw, I would recommend spending 29 Training Points.

For the full benefit of Claw, the hunter must aid the pet in battle. The Go for the Throat ability is very important make Claw a very effective focus dump. Even with Growl taking some of the focus, Claw is still very effective. Does this mean Growl should be left on while in groups? In a sense, yes. However, there may be a chance for your pet to actually pull aggro and Claw is useless for a dead pet. If you’re pet is meant to be an off-tank, feel free to slap that Growl on auto-cast. Just be sure keep that Claw going at all times.

Stra & Aidem with Claw

Stra & Aidem with Claw & Growl

Stra with Claw

Stra with Claw & Growl