OutDPS!

Edit: The availability of A Treatise on Strategy has increased dramatically in 4.3.2 (and even drops from the new heroics now, I think), meaning that soloing for it is now probably not worth your time.

A Treatise on Strategy is probably the hardest to acquire quest item for the new Darkmoon Faire, in part because it only drops from particular heroic dungeon bosses.  According to WoW Insider the treatise sells for 20k or so on those rare occasions when it does show up at an auction house.  This means that players who want gold and players who want achievements both have a reason to want to get their hands on it.  An issue with the current loot system, though, is that anyone in a group can role on the treatise if it happens to drop in a Heroic.  Hunters, fortunately, have the option of soloing for it.

Grand Vizier Ertan is the first boss in the Vortex Pinnacle, is one of the bosses that drops A Treatise on Strategy on Heroic mode (it has dropped for me off him), and is definitely soloable by hunters.  The drop rate for the Treatise is apparently low, so don’t expect a guaranteed drop.  A whole run should take about six minutes, though, so a daily run will not consume much of your time.  As an added bonus, you get 70 Justice Points (77 with the guild perk) since you are killing Ertan on Heroic difficulty.

Preparation

• Talents: I went with an MM PVP build because that’s what I had on hand.  A raiding MM build should also suffice, but if you want to increase your odds of survival, make a custom MM build that takes both Hunter vs. Wild and Spirit Bond.  A possible alternative to an MM build is a BM+Spirt Beast approach, but I have not tried this myself.  In general, though, you want a build with self-healing, and that means MM or BM.
• Glyphs:  I glyphed Chimera Shot to increase the frequency of the heals.  I also used the Glyph of Mending to boost pet heals and Raptor Strike for the damage reduction.  If your DPS is high enough that you steal agro from your pet more than every 30 seconds, you may also wish to glyph Misdirection.
• Pet: For a blend of dps and suvivability, I recommend a cat with a custom build similar to this.  Ertan performs only nature spells (no melee attacks) and so you do not need a tenacity pet’s armor, dodge or crit immunity bonuses.  The only real advantage that a tenacity pet would have for this fight is the 40% bonus healing from Blood of the Rhino, but the damage is not so intense that you need it.
• Consumables: You take a fair amount of damage this fight, so I recommend consumables that boost your nature resistance and stamina.  I went with agi food, drum kings and a Prismatic Elixir.  You also want bandages.

The Run

1. Make sure to set the dungeon difficulty to Heroic before zoning in.  You can do this by right clicking on your character’s unit frame and changing the “Dungeon Difficulty” there.
2. When you zone in, dismiss your pet, hit Cheetah, Camouflage, and then run past all the trash on the way to Ertan (example).  If you take the inside of the spiral ramp and don’t stop, you should be able to make it all the way to Ertan in one Camouflage.  This is the primary reason why the run takes under six minutes for us.
3. At Ertan, use your consumables and activate Aspect of the Wild.  Its resist bonus is great for this fight, particularly for your pet since pets double dip on the resist bonus.
4. Have your pet run in first and then stand (1) on the opposite side of the boss from your pet and (2) as close as you can to the boss without min-ranging on him.  This is so that the Lurking Tempests that spawn stay collapsed because no matter where they are, they will see that they are within something’s field of vision (either yours or your pet’s).  If you do not keep the Tempests collapsed like this, they will pop up and start zapping you until you are dead.  One reason to stay as close as you can to the boss is so that the Tempests on the far side of the boss from you are within your `vision range’ for lack of a better term.  If you stay too far back they will pop up even if they are physically in front of you.
5. Do not use Intervene.  I know it sounds great, but it will cause your pet to change positions and ruin the 360° of coverage on Lurking Tempests that you need to not get zapped.  You take less damage by not using Intervene.
6. Use Mend Pet regularly and be ready to use Cower if necessary.
7. When the cyclones collapse, try to dance between them so that you do not get slowed.  However, do not move so much that you cause Lurkers to pop up.
8. Expect to take a bit of damage during the collapses.  Deterrence does work on the lightning that shoots at you.  With Readiness, you should be able to Deterrence at least three collapse phases.  It can also help to time your Readiness so that you can fire two Chimera Shots in a row.
9. It is easy to step in slightly, Raptor Strike, and then step out slightly during the collapse phases.  The glyph makes for a nice way to reduce incoming damage when you don’t have Deterrence.
10. Make sure to dodge between the cyclones again when the collapse phase ends.
11. Bandage as necessary after the collapse phases.  Try to use a bandage right after a Chimera Shot so that you do not delay any Chimera Shots.  CSs plus bandages should be enough healing to keep you alive.

That’s it.  The fight should take about four and a half minutes, varying with your dps of course.