3.2.1 Basics
Hunters in the World of Warcraft are one of the easiest classes. A good Hunter can
level faster most any other class, die less frequently, and kill enemies faster. In groups,
hunters are the best pullers in the game (with the exception of rogues when fighting
humanoids), especially if they get the Hawk Eye talent.
Hunters wear leather armor, which means they can take damage, but not a lot.
Equipment focus should be on agility. Agility boosts your ranged and melee damage, as
well as dodge and critical hits. Your secondary stat would be stamina – unlike armor
class it also helps against casters. Strength only boosts melee damage so it’s only of
very limited use to hunters.
Your bow/gun weapons are your best friends. Make sure your ranged weapon is
upgraded above everything else. Hunters are not equipment heavy, so you can get
away with a lot as long as you have a good ranged weapon.
For your melee weapons you want to chose two one-handed weapons due to the better
stat bonus you get over a 2-handed weapon. Keep an eye out in the auction house for
cheap melee weapons, but don’t bother spending too much on a weapon you will rarely
use.
Combat is fairly simple: Send your pet at an enemy, let it build agro, and then start
attacking with your ranged weapon. Always have a quiver in one bag slot since it boosts
your ranged attack speed.
Groupability 4
Hunters don’t fill a super-important role in a group. They are good pullers, but groups
tend to take Mages over hunters because of the damage factor. Hunters deal less
damage than Mages, but have less downtime and more survivability, remind people of
this!
Fun Factor 6
Hunters kill and level fast, but combat can get tedious. Your pet will be absorbing most
of the damage, so you don’t need to watch your health meter much. Hunters get a
speed aspect which makes gameplay much easier.
There are not many builds for hunters. Talent builds mostly focus around getting
marksman abilities and mixing them with beasts.
3.2.2 Traps
A good hunter will be recognized by how and when she or he places traps. Use traps to
freeze your opponents in duels – a deadly strategy, especially against rogues and
warriors: Stand directly on the trap or behind it (when facing a warrior) or in front of it
(when facing a rogue). Use your feign death skill to get out of combat mode, allowing
you to place another trap. In groups traps can help with crowd control. Place a trap in the
pulling path when you expect more than one mob to attack you or when your group is
made up primarily of ranged attackers.
3.2.3 Pet Guide
1. Hunters have one factor other classes don’t, pet management. Pets can learn
abilities from other pets, but you can only have one pet at a time. How does this
work then? Stables.
2. You should have a primary creature and another one. Transfer the abilities from
the “meh” pet to the primary one, dump it, and repeat with another creature.
3. After you do your level 10 quest, you can tame some cool creatures. Use the
tame ability and take damage, when you stop channeling, you may gain the pet.
The best pet is a bear because it will eat virtually anything, so you may want to
consider taming a bear.
4. You need to feed pets to keep them happy. Most crave meat, which you can get
off almost any beast, so you may need to hunt once in a while to get food for
your pet.
5. Always keep food on hand, if not your pet may rebel. As your pet’s loyalty goes
up, he’ll need less food, so it’s a good idea to stick to a pet and not change
around too often.
3.2.4 Recommended Tradeskills:
Hunters have two professions they should consider focusing on, mining/engineering and
skinning/leatherworking.
? Engineering allows hunters to craft guns and gun ammo, useful for some
types of hunters. Engineering is also full of useful toys most players
would kill to have. Engineering is generally the best choice for gunhunters
and gives you a real advantage in PvP as most items you can
make can only be used by an engineer.
? Leatherworking can generate some good agility armors for hunters. On
top of that, leatherworking has some mail recipes at level 40, which
allows the tradeskill to still be useful to the hunter when he is able to
equip mail items. Leatherworking is also generally more profitable than
engineering. Leatherworking is also good because Hunters are often
busy killing beasts for their meat anyway. Why not skin them as well?
3.2.5 Spells and Abilities
Do’s
? Concussive Shot
? Hunters Mark
? Actually …every Marksmanship Ability
? Parry
? Every Tracking Ability
? Every Aspect
? Traps
Do Not’s
? Melee enhancements
Hunters are a great newbie class, but can also be fun for veteran players. Consider
playing a hunter if you are a casual gamer who wants to be able to keep up with others.
You’ll still need to play, but you’ll have an easier time leveling.
Dwarf Night Elf Orc Tauren Troll
Agility 19 28 23 18 25
Intelligence 19 20 17 15 16
Spirit 20 21 24 23 22
Stamina 24 20 20 23 22
Strength 22 17 20 25 21
Total 104 106 104 104 106
Useable Weapons: Axes, Daggers, Bows, Crossbows, Fist Weapons, Guns,
Polearms, Staves, Swords, Thrown, Two-Handed Axes, Two-Handed Swords
3.2.6 Tips:
?? When in a solo PvE situation, pull with the bow and send in the pet (have
him taunt the enemy). Once the pet holds some aggro, attack away with
arrows.
?? Try to keep just one pet, a loyal pet (one you’ve had for a while) requires
less food than others. Make up your mind and only swap when there is
something REALLY cool you want.
3.2.7 Suggested Items
Sandstalker Ankleguards – Feet – Level 46 - +6 Strength, +17 Agility, +3 Spirit.
Drops off Zerillis in Zul’Farrak.
Phytoskin Spaulders – Shoulders – Level 46 - +16 Agility, +10 Stamina, + 10
Nature Resist.
Drops off Razorlash in Maraudon.
Ragefury Eyepatch – Head – Level 52 - +6 Strength, +9 Stamina, Crit Strike
+2%.
Drops off Hurley Blackbreath in Blackrock Depths.
Truestrike Shoulders – Shoulders – Level 56 – Chance to hit +2%, +24 Attack
Power.
Drops off Pyroguard Emberseer in Blackrock Spire.