World of Warcraft- Hunter Guide (The Real Deal) (walkthrough)
World of Warcraft- Hunter Guide (The Real Deal)
V0.6
10/29/05 OK, It's Saturday and I just added a fatty update to the guide. You
will find that section 4 is now available; this is a section devoted entirely
on how to equip your hunter in every aspect. I will be adding a Fire Resist
setup to that list soon for those of you having a hard time finding that FR
gear for MC. Enjoy.
Ok, after reading the current hunter guide that is in place; I decided I would
write a more informative guide based on what you really need to know to
survive as a hunter in World of Warcraft.
1. Introduction to Hunters
So you've chosen a hunter. Good choice. You've also chosen one of the 3 most
skill-based classes to play in the game, but in my opinion by far the most
fun. By "skill-based" I mean reliant upon your knowledge and experience in the
game. Hunters are a secondary class. To break it down; the primary and
secondary classes in the game are....
Primary:
Mage
Rogue
Priest PRIMARY SECONDARY
Warrior Mage Priest 00 Hunter Druid Paladin
<--|------|------|-----|------||------|------|-----|-----|-----|-->
Secondary: Rogue Warrior Warlock Shaman
Hunter
Warlock
Paladin
Shaman
Druid
Hunters lie very close to the primary section; but aren't quite there, much
like Warlocks. Secondary classes often have multiple purposes that are not
based on talent specification (we'll get into that later). For example; a
druid, by himself, uses his multiple animal forms (typically) to beat his foe;
however, when he is part of a group, his role is to heal, not do damage.
The same could be construed for a Paladin and a Shaman. Hunters and Warlocks
have the goal of doing damage. The reason they are not primary is because when
by themselves, Hunters and Warlocks rely upon their pets to "tank" mobs. The
reason for this is because Hunters and Warlocks do lots of damage by
themselves; but have a very hard time defending themselves when fighting gets
up close and personal (for the most part). Blizzard's "threat" system (enemies
doing more damage to the targeted creature eventually aggrivate the target
creature enough so that it attacks those other enemies rather than the "tank")
balances out our class's extreme damage abilities by giving our pets an
effective but limited capacity to "tank" enemy creatures or "mobs". When in a
group, the management of our threat or "aggro" is easier, and allows us to
open up with more damage. Also; Blizzard has given us a limited mana pool. By
doing so, it does not allow us to be the un-tiring machines of destruction
that many hold rogues to be, but we also do not take near as much damage as
our melee counterparts, making us a more efficient source of damage. That's
basically the idea behind the hunter as a secondary class.
Primary classes are more along the lines of very well defined extremes. A
Priest's purpose is to be able to heal, and be able to heal lots with their
large mana pools and high spirit. A Warrior's goal is to do damage or hold
aggro using their massive armor, hit points, and strength. A rogue's goal is
to do as much melee damage as possible without letting the enemy hit him, thus
his high dodge rate and vast array of skills to stun and disorient his enemy.
A mage's goal is to do vast amounts of elemental damage and slow his enemies;
thus his array of frost, fire, and arcane spells and significant mana pool.
This is the basic ideology behind the game's class setup.
2. HUNTERS: 101
A. YOUR SKILLS
A hunter has many, many useful skills, but we also have some relatively
specialized and generally useless ones as well. We come in 3 parts like every
other class; your skill trees include...
I.) Beast Mastery- Skills relating to your pet or "Aspects" (later)
are located in this tree.
II.) Marksmanship- Skills associated with special shots and ranged
weapon abilities are in this tree.
III.) Survial- Skills associated with melee combat, tracking, and
traps are to be found here.
STUFF YOU WILL ACTUALLY USE... (NOT including talent skills)
GENERAL:
Auto-Shot: A hunter-only skill, this just allows you to keep shooting
your ranged weapon at the enemy as fast as is humanly possible; it can be
activated and deactived like an aura; but you cannot set it up so you pick
when to shoot each shot. The speed at which you fire depends on your weapon.
Hunters and all ranged-weapon enabled classes do have an 8 yard minimum range
for all their ranged weapons; you must be at least 8 yards away from your
target to shoot at it with your gun/bow/crossbow; this is where your pet comes
in.
BEAST MASTERY:
Aspects: You will always have an "Aspect" active; it is much like an
aura, in that it has no set duration, but it only affects you (typically). You
will most often have Aspect of the Hawk, Monkey, or Cheetah active. Hawk
increases your ranged damage, Monkey increases your dodge rate, and Cheetah
increases your run speed. There are other aspects (3 more to be exact) but
one is a nature resistance aura and the other is a version of aspect of the
cheetah that affects your entire party. Another makes you untrackable on
radar.
Mend Pet: Heals your pet with a channeled spell; you will use it often
when soloing on your own.
Other than that; there is little in the beast mastery tree you will
use often unless you become a beast mastery hunter. (I will go over
this later)
MARKSMANSHIP:
Shots: You have numerous shots at your command. I will list the most
commonly used ones. (That are not part of talents)
Arcane Shot: Fires a bullet that does Arcane damage instantly, can be
used at any time with a 6 second cooldown.
Concussive Shot: Fires a bullet that slows the enemy, has a 12 second
cooldown.
Multi-Shot: Fires UP TO 3 bullets at 3 seperate targets near each
other, also gives each shot a significant bonus to damage, 10 sec. cooldown.
These will be your mainstays, you will get so tired of pressing these
buttons that there will be grooves on your keyboard where the hotkeys
are.
Stings: Stings are de-buff effects; you put these on your target and
it lasts anywhere from 8 to 20 seconds. You can only have one sting on
a single mob.
Serpent Sting- Does a set amount of Nature damage every 3 seconds for 15 secs.
Always useful
Scorpid Sting- Lowers the enemy's agility and strength, relatively useless,
unless you are fighting a rogue.
Viper Sting- Drains mana from the enemy, very useful when fighting other
players.
SURVIVAL:
Melee Skills: You have a variety of melee skills, actually only 3.
Raptor Strike- Adds damage to your next melee attack.
Mongoose Bite- If you dodge an attack, you strike the enemy back for free for
a set amount of the damage.
Wing Clip- Slows your enemy, seems like a waste, just wait until you start
fighting other players, or stuff your pet can't tank for very long.
Tracking: You can track almost everything in the game, humanoids,
beasts, elementals, giants, dragons... You name it you can probably
put it on your radar. Unless you're a miner, you should always have a
tracking ability on, this makes your life very easy when looking for
hard to find enemies.
Traps: You have 4 traps, all with particular uses. You set them down
on the ground, they have no cast time, but can only be laid out of
combat.
Freeze Trap- Freezes the enemy for a set amount of time, they can't get out of
it unless they're an ice mage or a paladin, your number one tool when fighting
other players.
Frost Trap- Produces a big area of effect slowing effect, chilling everything
that comes inside its large and icy radius.
Immolation Trap- First enemy to walk on this thing takes a nasty damage over
time effect.
Explosive Trap- Blows up everything within a 10 yard radius of the trap, does
decent instant damage followed by some damage over time.
FEIGN DEATH (READ)- Feign Death sets us hunters apart from every other
class, every 30 seconds we can press a button and just escape our
battles by falling over. It doesn't work on other players really, and
it can be resisted by mobs, but overall, it works extremely well and
allows you to escape almost any situation. You will be using it very
often. It also (important) erases the "aggro" to you from the enemy;
making it a very good skill to use in conjuction with your pet.
B. YOUR PET
A hunter's pet allows him to shoot at enemies uninterrupted by the loveably
named "dead zone" (the area in which you are inside the minimum range of your
weapon, 8 yards, and cannot fire at the enemy). Pets can ONLY be beasts; sorry
folks but Dragons are not beasts.
Taming your pet: The game will guide you through this with a quest around
level 8; telling you to train different animals and get a feel for the taming
ability. I won't go into this because the game does a fine job. Just one note:
use a freezing trap whenever taming a new pet.
Picking a pet: There are many types of animals out there; picking the right
is largely a stylistic choice unless you choose the Beast Mastery tree as your
primary talent specification. I will attempt to give a quick breakdown of some
basic pets. There are different types of pets; with the differences being
mostly cosmetic, but some minor differences in armor, health, and damage are
present.
Cats, Raptors, Wolves: These all fall under the high damage class; cats and
wolves run particularly fast; while raptors have more armor than their furry
counterparts.
Turtles, Bears, Scorpions, Crabs: These guys fall under the high armor/hp
category. Turtles, Crabs and Scorpions have large amount of physical
protection, while Bears have lots of health. Turtles and Crabs do low damage,
Bears and Scorpions do medium amounts.
Bats, Owls: These two fall under the high damage, low armor category. They
have decent health, but their armor is weak. Their quick movement makes them
desirable.
Pet Skills: Your pet, just like you, learns skills in the game. Growl is the
universal pet skill; it draws aggro to your pet on a 5 second cooldown so the
enemy creature does not attack you. Pet skills cost training points, and these
points are gained by pet loyalty and pet level. Pet loyalty is gained by
keeping your pet happy (feeding it) and killing enemies. Your pet levels
substantially easier than you; but its level can never surpass your own. At
level 60 with level 6 loyalty, your pet has 300 training points. Growl is the
only free skill, it does not cost any training points.
Claw: Learned from cats, this can be taught to raptors, owls, bats and cats.
It takes 25% of your pet's focus (energy, like rogues) to use claw on a 1
second cooldown.
Bite: Learned from wolves and other dogs, this skill does instant damage and
costs 35 focus to your pet on a 10 second cooldown. It can be learned by
wolves, raptors, cats, bears, and scorpions.
Sprint/Dive: Learnable by Wolves/Cats and Bats/Owls. Gives your pet a huge
burst of speed for a set amount of time.
There is one other useless pet skill, cower, which reduces your pet's aggro
and can be learned by all creatures.
Trained Skills: The pet trainer can teach you 3 additional skills. Great
Stamina, Natural Armor, and Resistances. Great Stamina gives your pet more HP,
natural armor gives it more armor. You have a choice to train your pet in 5
schools of resistance; Shadow, Ice, Fire, Nature, Arcane. These increase your
pet's ability to resist spells and decrease damage from those types of spells.
Think of resistance as spell armor with a chance to block. These skills all
cost training points.
Tips:
1. Make sure your pet always has the newest rank of growl, as well as the
newest rank of Great Stamina. Natural Armor or Resistances can help too. If
your pet is a high-damage type, make sure you train it in claw. If you cannot
train it in claw, use Bite. These skills help your pet do more damage and hold
aggro better against enemies.
2. Bears make good starting pets; their high health, medium armor and damage
make the best combination for lower level hunters. They make it much easier to
kill enemies on your own, and they will eat almost any food. High-damage pets
should be avoided until level 40+; as while they do make good tanks, higher
level and elite mobs will crush them. At level 40 or so; your pet becomes much
less useful in instance dungeons; UNLESS YOU GO BEAST MASTERY TALENT BUILD.
C. YOUR TALENTS
Hunters like all classes have three talent "trees". You gain your first of 51
talent points at level 10 and progress from there. Our three trees are Beast
Mastery, Marksmanship, and Survival.
Beast Mastery: Nearly all of these talents relate to your pet; if you want to
make your pet extremely powerful at the cost of your own damage, this is the
tree for you.
Marksmanship: If you want to gain a large advantage in ranged combat this tree
will help you achieve that goal.
Survival: If you wish to gain skill in the use of traps, melee abilities, and
Player versus Player combat, this tree will serve you well.
I'll list the specific skills that you can gain out of each trees. (Skills
being usable; NOT passive abilities and effects, look to the game for each
individual talent; this is a guide, not a database)
BEAST MASTERY:
Intimidation: Lets your pet stun the enemy for 2 seconds and causes high
amounts of aggro if you are fighting a mob. (20 Point Talent)
Bestial Wrath: Increases your pet's damage 100% and makes it completely
unstoppable by any means short of death. (30 Point Talent)
MARKSMANSHIP:
Aimed Shot: Adds 3 seconds to your ranged attack speed but adds a massive
additional amount of damage to the next shot; it shares a cooldown timer with
arcane shot. (10 Point Talent)
Scatter Shot: Confuses your enemy for 4 seconds and causes half of your normal
ranged weapon damage. Confuse is not the same as stun and is immediately
broken by any source of damage. (20 Point Talent)
Trueshot Aura: Gives you and everyone in your party within 45 yards an aura
which grants a set amount of additional melee and ranged attack power. (30
point talent)
SURVIVAL:
Deterrance: Increases your dodge and parry rate 25% each for 10 seconds; on a
5 minute cooldown. (10 Points)
Counter-Attack: Whenever you parry an oppponent's attack you can strike them
back for a set amount of damage and immobilize them for 5 seconds. (20 points)
Wyvern Sting: Puts the target to sleep for a set amount of time then causes
massive nature damage over time when they awake. ONLY USABLE OUT OF COMBAT!
(30 points)
Tips: Typical talent builds...
It is best not to try to evenly spread your talent points, as this will result
in a fairly luke-warm setup that has no particularly great abilities or
purpose. It is always best to have at least 31 (THIRTY-ONE) talent points in
a particular tree; as hunters do arguably have the best array of end-tree
talents in the game. Here are some typical talent setups at level 60 for you
to work for.
PvE Marksman:
You have several choices in the PvE marksman category; but most meet to the
same ends. (Format: Beast Mastery/Marksmanship/Survival, and unless noted
otherwise, all talents named have the maximum number of points invested in
them)
5/31/15: My build, this is a mixture of PvP survivability with a PvE marksman
focus. Imp AotH in beast mastery, in marksmanship i have efficiency, 2 points
in imp concussive shot, full lethal shots, aimed shot, hawk eye, mortal shots,
scatter shot, barrage, ranged weapon specialization, and finally trueshot
aura. In survival I have monstery slaying, humanoid slaying, 2 points in
deflection, savage strikes, and full survivalist.
6/39/6: The new "pure" PvE marksman setup; this build has an extreme focus on
nothing but pure ranged efficiency. Beast Mastery has imp AotH and 1 point in
improved revived pet (because this talent provides the most effect for that 1
extra talent point left over). In marksmanship, you have imp concussive shot,
effiency, improved hunter's mark, lethal shots, aimed shot, hawk eye, mortal
shots, scatter shot, barrage, ranged weapon specialization and finally
trueshot aura. In survival you have humanoid slaying and monster slaying.
PvP Marksman:
0/31/20: A good solid PvP build, it definitely will make you capable of some
fairly interesting player versus player combat. Marksman you have imp CC, 2 in
efficiency, full lethal shots, aimed shot, hawk eye, mortal shots, scatter
shot, barrage, ranged weapon specialization and trueshot aura. In survival you
have humanoid slaying, 2 in deflection, full improved wing clip, 1 in savage
strikes, full survivalist, deterrance, and surefooted.
PvP survival:
I'll only be listing the most common one, there are tons of ways to tinker
with survival.
0/20/31: A powerful survival PvP build; its focus is on agility and critical
strike chance; making it somewhat specialized but still effective. Its focus
is still definitely ranged combat. You'll have improved concussive shot, 1 in
effiency, full lethal shots, aimed shot, hawk eye, and mortal shots. In
survival you'll have humanoid slaying, 2 in deflection, full savage strikes,
improved wing clip, survivalist, deterrance, surefooted, killer instinct,
counterattack, lightning reflexes, and wyvern sting.
PvP Beast Mastery:
A growing build; but in my opinion relatively underpowered, it's still a lot
fun to play with. There are many, many variations on it.
31/17/3: Specializing in pet damage with a bit of marksmanship and a touch of
survival, the point of this build it get maximum pet damage while still
retaining aimed shot, lethal shots, and improved concussive shot. Beast
Mastery, endurance training, thick hide, improved revive pet, bestial
swiftness, unleashed fury, ferocity, spirit bond, intimidation, 1 in bestial
discipline, full frenzy, and bestial wrath. In marksman you have improved
concussive shot, 3 in effiency, full lethal shots, aimed shot, and hawk eye.
In survival you will have 3 in humanoid slaying.
3. PLAYING THE HUNTER CLASS
So, so far I've told you about what you need to do to setup a successful
hunter, but I have yet to say anything on the subject of actually playing the
class in the game. I'm going to go over strategies for soloing, instancing,
and PvP'ing.
A. SOLOING
Generally hunters probably have it easiest in the soloing capacity.
We use our pets to distract our enemies while we chip away at their health
from a distance, with no damage to us. This is a fairly normal strategy. On
90% of enemies you simply set your pet to AUTO CAST GROWL, send it in to
attack, let it growl once, then open up with your assault. If the enemy
becomes aggro to you, FEIGN DEATH. If you have already feigned death recently
and it is still on cooldown, use your DISENGAGE skill to reduce your aggro. If
you come across a mob your pet cannot tank long enough for you to kill (and
you will), a different strategy known as "kiting" must be used. To do this,
assume your pet is dead. Activate Aspect of the Monkey. Pull your enemy with
Aimed Shot if you have it, or start out with Arcane Shot if you don't. Then
use concussive shot on the enemy, followed by multi-shot, then scatter-shot,
run away, arcane shot. If you don't have scatter shot, after multi-shot cast
serpent sting on your enemy. The strategies converge here; charge your enemy
with raptor strike set to engage on the next melee attack, and as soon you
hit your enemy with the raptor strike (or miss) IMMEDIATELY use wing clip and
run away from your enemy. Once you are at a fair distance, use Arcane Shot,
then Multi-shot, serpent sting. Rinse and repeat. Have your pet doing damage
the whole time if possible. For caster classes your pet cannot tank, spam as
much damage as quickly as you can; use scatter shot to interrupt spellcasting.
Traps are also a part of soloing difficult mobs, a well placed freeze trap can
make a fight significantly easier, and allow you to get off a very large
of ranged damage before you have to start. Lay a freezing trap, mark your
enemy, proceed to at this point to aimed shot your enemy, followed by
concussive shot then multi-shot. Do NOT sting it. Once it is in the freezing
trap, run to maximum range, do not feign death (it will reset the enemy) and
aimed shot it again, concuss again, multi-shot again. At this point you use
the charge and clip strategy. This is known as "kiting", acting as though you
are pulling your enemy around on a string by slowing its movement. This
prevents you from having to melee and thus sustaining considerably larger (and
doing much less) damage.
B. INSTANCING
Blizzard's ingenius 5-man instance dungeoning system manages to change every
classe's role while participating in said instance run. Our goal remains the
same, with some minor modifications.
I.) Your pet- It's a nuisance and has mapping issues (runs the wrong
way) in many instances; also "Elite" (strong mobs meant to be killed
by groups) mobs will barely feel any of the damage your pet does.
Unless you are dead set on going beast mastery as a talent setup; put
it away, it'll only cause you grief and get you accused of aggroing
things. If you are using your pet, make sure growl is OFF of auto-cast
and do NOT use intimidation.
II.) Damage- Your role in an instance is to do damage and take as
little as possible. This is why you are useful. Early on, Rogues and
Warriors will out-damage you, but take MUCH more damage; that is, if
you play smart. When fighting enemies in an instance group be sure not
to do too much damage at once, if you get 3 critical strikes in a row,
unless you're on a boss who has already taken a lot of damage, feign
death or stop shooting for a few seconds. If you end up drawing the
enemy toward you AND feign death fails, USE DISENGAGE. It will almost
*always* get the mob back off of you; even bosses.
III.) Crowd Control- When some dumbo warrior or rogue accidently pulls
3 big bad enemies and the mage can only take care of one; it is your
job to at least make an attempt at freezing any loose enemies. Feign
death and wait to get out of combat, lay down a freeze trap, and use
distracting or arcane shot to pull the loose enemy back towards you
and onto your trap; your group will be like "OMG NICE" and love you,
assuming you don't wipe, anyways.
These strategies apply in ALL (Yes, ALL) non 40-man instances and an
experienced group will expect you to know these things. While you may not be
busting out a lot freeze traps for extra mobs in Deadmines; it's always good
practice to learn your role through experience; rather than the yelling of a
party leader because he thinks he knows hunters better than you.
C. PvP
It depends on your talent build, I will be going over the generic marksmanship
setup.
Marksmanship (MY BUILD)- As you may notice; my build does not have improved
wing clip or deterrance. Any half-decent hunter does not need these in PvP,
your alliance trinket is the only crutch you should ever need when fighting
other classes.
EASY CLASSES (To defeat)
1. Warlocks
2. Rogues
MEDIUM CLASSES
1. Mages
2. Priests
HARD CLASSES
1. Paladins
2. Shaman
3. Warriors
4. Druids
Rogues- Lay a freeze trap and stand in front of it if you know a rogue is
coming to get you. If he disarms it, have your hand on that freeze trap button
because you have about 1 second to lay another. Once he is trapped, MARK HIM,
run away to max-range, aimed shot, concussive shot, multi-shot, scatter-shot,
charge with raptor strike and wing clip. By scatter-shotting him before
charging, he has NO chance to hit you when you do your quick melee charge.
This means he won't be able to stun, poison, or gouge you. If he blinds you,
Dwarves can stoneform out of it (as well as poisons). If not; you might have
a problem at this point. He can't stealth out of sight; but he can stealth to
use his stealth-only skills on you, or just bandage up. However, blind has a
5-minute cooldown and it is unlikely in normal PvP combat this will happen. If
you make it to the point where he is wing clipped; run away from him. If he
sprints at you; turn on Aspect of the Cheetah and sick your pet on him.
ALWAYS, ALWAYS HAVE YOUR PET ON PASSIVE IN PVP. IT WILL BREAK YOUR TRAP EVERY
TIME ON DEFENSIVE. At this point he should nearly be dead anyways, just keep
tossing arcane shots on him, and if scatter-shot comes back up, use that in
conjunction with concussive shot and multi-shot. If the rogue starts by
sapping you, tough cookies, you're probably going to lose.
Warriors- Very similar to the rogue strategy, but stand behind your trap, wait
for them to charge, hunter's mark, aimed shot, concussive, multi-shot. When he
intercepts you; wing clip, scatter shot, and alliance trinket. It's really the
only way to escape. If he doesn't hamstring you; then you're lucky, just kite
him the rest of the way and it should be a turkey shoot. Serpent sting will
help you with some un-reduced damage. Once clipped and lacking intercept;
warriors have no way of catching you. If you don't have your alliance trinket
equipped; you are likely to lose. Hamstring lasts 15 seconds compared to Wing
Clip's 10, and while it does not slow as much, the warrior won't have major
issues catching you. Scatter shot will buy you time, use it to get as far
away as possible from the warrior. Another possible strategy is to just wing
clip and raptor strike, then, when his hamstring is 3-5 seconds from expiring,
scatter shot him, and you'll have a greater chance of escaping. You'll also
take a lot of damage in the process.
Warlocks- Your major enemy here is seduce and fear. He wil often fear your pet
and seduce you; curse you, then pop off a big soul fire followed by immolate
and shadowbolt. They're still easy though. Warlocks require extreme pet
specialization to beat hunters; and most warlocks are affliction or
destruction builds. They do significant damage; but generally they take a lot
too. If he doesn't fear your pet, immediately send it to attack the warlock,
when he breaks your seduction open up with arcane shot, serpent sting, and
multi-shot. Charge him with a scatter shot when your multi shot cooldown
finishes; followed by a raptor strike and a wing clip. Wheel back around and
perform another full round of arcane shot and multi-shot. Even a couple lucky
critical strikes will severely weaken him. You will take lots of damage in
this fight; but the warlock has no way to kite you or any decent burst damage
spells. His health will wane quickly under your unrestricted fire. If he is
using a voidwalker; you may want to be more cautious and use up a rapid fire,
often the voidwalker means he is a demonology warlock using sacrifice, cutting
his damage taken in half by giving it to his voidwalker. But generally
Warlocks will not try to use the "dead zone" against you, so it's just a
matter of out-damaging them. Note: The new death coil may really screw us over
on warlocks; as it is viable every battle. But it is only 470 damage; so don't
get too scared of them yet.
Priests- Priests are tough; while definitely not impossible, a shadow priest
puts up a damned good fight; and if he knows he's doing, can defeat you fairly
handily if given the opporutunity. Always freeze a priest, whether at the
beginning of a battle or in the middle when he is about to fear you; that trap
is a lifesaver. If you don't freeze him at the beginning, start out with
scatter shot and QUICKLY spam aimed shot till it engages; follow up with
concussive and multi-shot, that should draw him into your freeze trap. Once
frozen, mark him, run away to max range, and open fire with aimed shot,
concussive shot and multi-shot. At this point he is hell bent on fearing you.
Your scatter shot SHOULD be cooled down, when he gets within range of it, fire
away, take a few steps back, arcane and multi shot him followed by concussive.
Hopefully he's dead. If not he's probably a holy priest and has been healing
himself. Holy priests are much more difficult for us than shadow priests
because our burst damage can still be relatively accounted for with healing.
They do have low HP though; and a couple lucky critical strikes can end any
priest's day. If it's a holy priest, do everything you can to keep him from
fearing you. Mana drain can help along with a high-damage pet keeping his
casting interrupted; as well as making him waste his fear.
Druids- Unless you've got some unusual upper-hand; druids will typically tear
you apart. There are three situations in which you can beat a druid. One, he
does not have feral charge, which immobilizes you. Two, he is low on mana and
won't be able to heal himself. Three, you get off an aimed shot crit or a big
multi-shot crit while he is in caster form. Otherwise, it's a long, drawn out
slaughter. He will start with a starfire/moonfire combo, followed by a quick
shift into bearform and feral charge, then proceed to beat on you. He will
either sleep or roots your pet. Aspect of the Wild can increase your chances
of victory, but they are already slim at best. If you use your alliance/horde
trinket while feral charged, he will probably feral bash you and stun you. If
you use it while rooted, he will probably jump into bear form and feral charge
you. They have too many immobilizing abilities for us to effectively counter.
If you have talent points in Surefooted you always have a chance to resist
this stuff; but don't count on it. Generally you will be forced to
continuously wing clip him until he has to go out of bear form to heal, when
he does this, try and get off a scatter shot and a big volley of damage. You
probably won't kill him, but a few lucky crits might spell victory. Don't
enter a fight with a druid with high expectations, though.
Mages- Depending on his build, a mage can be ridiculously easy or
frustertatingly difficult. Fire mages lack ice block; and if you can freeze
trap them; it's over. A big volley of damage, even without crits, spells the
end for any mage. If he is an ice mage, he will ice block out of your trap. IF
HE DOES THIS, IMMEDIATELY FEIGN DEATH AND LAY ANOTHER TRAP. He has cold snap,
but it can't be used while he's frozen. This will allow you to get off an
aimed shot. If you can't freeze him, he will probably sheep you and blast off
a big fireball, followed by blink and frost nova, then blast wave. Use a wing
clip+raptor strike combo followed by scatter shot to counter his rush. If you
get far enough away, just open up on him. Arcane, multi, and concussive shot
will hurt him bad, as will everything in between. But sometimes he just gets
lucky and gets a fireball crit or frostbite and there's nothing you can do.
Generally I don't have problems with mages; but beating them is always a big
if. Fights with them will be very quick.
Paladins- Don't bother. You can spam viper sting and wing clip to the end of
time, he'll just cleanse and blessing of freedom. Any half-decent paladin will
tear a hunter to shreds, it just takes a long ass time.
Shaman- Use the same strategy as a paladin; you can kite them but frostshock
will hurt you bad. Aspect of the Wild to resist some of that earthshock. If
you can freeze them, get far away, aimed shot, concussive shot, multi-shot,
viper sting. Destroy any totems they have, sick your pet on them. Raptor
strike and wing clip him when he gets too close, but do not use scatter shot.
DO NOT. Use it when he's about to heal; if you see a big natury flash, he has
just used nature's swiftness; scatter shot IMMEDIATELY and pull off an aimed
shot. (assuming he doesn't have viper sting on him) You'll still probably
lose, but shaman like paladins wait till they have less than 30% health to
really do a hardcore heal; a lucky aimed shot crit will kill him.
Hunter- Trap his pet and shoot at him. It's a gear war. Feign death to make
him lose his target, and really piss him off. Bust out everything you have,
Dwarves use stoneform, toss out a serpent sting, and just spam arcane and
multi-shot with everything you've got. Rapid fire is always advisable for a
quick if cheap victory.
This is all one on one world pvp strategy; in battlegrounds hunters and rogues
have it THE EASIEST. Hunters, just stand back and shoot everything you can,
bust out those critical strikes and watch the HK's roll in. Let the melee and
caster classes take the brunt of the damage. Always have a freeze trap to
stand on for those pesky rogues and warriors. PvP trinket is handy as well.
4. Equipping Your Hunter
The primary dilemna when equipping a hunter (at level 60) is whether to make a
PvP Agility focus, a PvE balance focus, or a PvP critical strike focus. There
is also the dilemna as to which gear the player has access to; this FAQ does
not include items from Zul'Gurub. There may also be more than one item per
slot. I will not list where these items come from unless they are a PvP or
reputation/quest reward. Use a site with item listings like Thottbot or
Alakhazam. DO NOT CONTACT ME REGARDING WHERE TO FIND THESE ITEMS. All of the
items I have listed here are within ANY player's ability to attain regardless
of profession or guild. I will not list PvP RANK items, as sometimes people
do not PvP, on the converse I will list battleground reward items, but not
make them the exclusive item to any slot. Many slots have multiple items;
on this note they are in no particular order. The numbers next to them
indicate a few things. The first number indicates on a scale of 1-3 how
desirable an item is. 1 being least desirable, 3 being most. As this is all on
a comparative scale, there are bound to be lots of 1's and 3's and just 3's.
The second number indicates on a scale of 1-3 how difficult it is to obtain. 1
being very easy and or common, 2 meaning it requires some work, 3 being
exceptionally difficult. A score of 4 will go to any item that is above and
beyond a normal player's capacity to obtain without investing a lot of time
and effort, and with adequate reward. For example...
Head: 3 2 Backwood Helm
3 2 Beaststalker's Cap
A. ARMOR/MELEE EQUIPMENT SETUPS
PvP Agility Focus- This is a new build that comes along with the talents in
the revamped survival tree; its side effects are high critical strike chance
and high attack power. Usually HP takes some sacrifice in the process.
Head: 3 2 Backwood Helm (+21 Agi, +13 Sta, +9 Int, +1% Critical Strike)
3 2 Beastalker's Cap (+20 Agi, +20 Sta, +10 int)
Neck: 3 3 Sentinel's Medallion (Rep rwd Warsong Gulch, +15 Agi, +10 Sta)
3 4 Amulet of the Darkmoon (Dmoon Faire, +10 Str, +19 agi, +10 Sta)
1 2 Evil Eye Pendant (+15 Agi, +7 Def)
Shldr: 3 2 Bone Golem Shoulders (+19 Agi, +9 Sta, +9 Int)
2 3 Stratholme Militia Shoulderguard (+22 Agi, +9 Sta)
3 4 Highlander's Chain Pauldrons (AB RepRwd, +20 Agi, +19 Sta +18 int)
Cape: 3 2 Cape of the Black Baron (+15 Agi, +20 Atk Pwr)
Chest: 3 2 Ogre Forged Hauberk (+8 Str, +20 Agi, +13 Sta, +8 Int, +1% Crit)
3 2 Beaststalker's Tunic (+5 Str, +21 Agi, +16 Sta, +13 Int)
Bracer: 3 2 Beaststalker's Bindings (+15 Agi, +7 Sta)
Gloves: 2 2 Beastsalker's Gloves (+14 Agi, +9 Sta, +9 Int)
3 3 Desertstalker's Gauntlets (Silithus Qst +16 Agi, +15 Sta, +10 Int)
Belt: 3 1 Warpwood Binding (+14 Agi, +6 Sta, +9 Int, 1% Crit)
3 1 Stormpike Mail Girdle (AV Rep Rwd +12 Agi, +12 Sta, +12 Int)
Pants: 2 2 Beaststalker's Pants (+6 Str, +26 Agi, +6 Sta)
Boots: 3 1 Beaststalker's Boots (+21 Agi, +9 Sta)
Rings: 2 1 Tarnished Elven Ring (+15 Agi, +1% Hit)
3 1 Mason's Fraternity Ring (Zul'Farak Quest, 13 Agi, 8 Sta)
3 3 Innervating Band (+15 Agi, +9 Sta)
Trnkt: 3 2 Blackhand's Breadth (UBRS Quest, +2% Critical Strike)
3 2 Royal Seal of Eldre'Thelas (DM Class Book, +48 Atk Pwr)
Melee: Bone Slicing Hatchet x2 (+13 Agi, +5 Sta)
Setup for PvE Balance: The PvE "balance" setup focuses on attaining the
maximum amount of all the 3 base attributes of the Hunter class. Agility,
Stamina, and Intellect. This gear setup is good for instancing, questing, and
increases your PvP endurance substantially. It also does not distinguish
between attack power and agility, 2 Atk Pwr = 1 Agi essentially, just without
the extra dodge, armor, and critical strike chance. It focuses less on
critical strike chance and extreme agility and more on balancing health and
mana with damage.
Head: 3 2 Beaststalker's Cap (+20 Agi, +20 Sta, +10 Int)
3 2 Backwood Helm (+21 Agi, +13 Sta, +9 Int, +1% Critical)
Neck: 3 2 Will of the Martyr (Quest Stratholme +10 Sta, +30 Atk Pwr)
2 2 Star of Mystaria (+7 Agi, +9 Sta, +9 Int)
3 3 Sentinal's Medallion (+15 Agi, +10 Sta)
3 4 Amulet of the Darkmoon (+10 Str, +19 Agi, +10 Sta)
Shldr: 3 2 Bone Golem Shoulders (+19 Agi, +9 Sta, +9 Int)
2 2 Beaststalker's Mantle (+11 Agi, +17 Sta, +11 Int)
3 4 Highlander's Chain Pauldrons (AB RepRwd, +20 Agi, +19 Sta +18 Int)
Cape: 3 2 Cape of the Black Baron (+15 Agi, +20 Atk Pwr)
2 2 The Emperor's New Cape (+6 Agi, +17 Sta)
3 3 Stonekin Gargoyle Cape (+7 Str, +8 Agi, +14 Sta)
2 1 Stormpike Soldier's Cloak (AV PvP Rwd, +10 Sta +24 Atkpwr)
Chest: 3 2 Beaststalker's Tunic (+5 Str, +21 Agi, +16 Sta, +13 Int)
Bracer: 3 2 Beaststalker's Bindings (+15 Agi, +7 Sta)
Gloves: 3 2 Beaststalker's Gloves (+14 Agi, +9 Sta, +9 Int)
3 3 Sandstalker's Gloves (Silithus Quest +16 Agi, +15 Sta, +10 Int)
Belt: 3 1 Stormpike Mail Girdle (AV Rep Rwd +12 Agi, +12 Sta, +12 Int)
2 1 Warpwood Binding (+14 Agi, +9 Int, +6 Sta, +1% Crit)
Pants: 3 2 Leggings of Destruction (+14 Agi, +20 Sta, +13 Int)
Boots: 3 1 Beaststalker's Boots (+21 Agi, +9 Sta)
Rings: 3 1 Mason's Fraternity Ring (Zul'Farak Quest, +13 Agi, +8 Sta)
3 2 Painweaver Band (+7 Sta, +16 Atk Pwr, +1% Critical)
3 3 Don Julio's Band (AV Rep Rwd +11 Sta, +16 Atk, +1% Hit, +1% Crit)
3 3 Innervating Band (+15 Agi, +9 Sta)
Trnkt: 3 2 Blackhand's Breadth (UBRS Quest, +2% Critical)
3 2 Royal Seal of Eldre'Thalas (DM Class Book, +48 Atk Pwr)
Melee: 3 2 Bone Slicing Hatchet x2 (+13 Agi +5 Sta)
2 2 Barbarous Blade (+60 Atk Pwr, +1% Critical)
2 2 Lord Alexander's Battle Axe (+17 Str, +16 Agi, +16 Sta)
3 2 Ice Barbed Spear (AV Quest Rwd +13 Str, +21 Agi, +20 Sta)
2 2 Peacemaker (+56 Atk Pwr, +1% Critical)
Setup for Critical Strike Build (PURE): This is a PURE critical strike setup;
meaning every item you can possible get within reason wil be on here. It may
sometimes even include leather items; as rogue items tend to have good
critical strike statistics. This setup puts an EXTREME compromise on Intellect
and a medium compromise on Agility. By using leather items you sacrifice
armor, which, while not a huge deal for a hunter, does carry some degree of
ridicule and also decreases your ability to take physical damage.
Helm: 3 2 Backwood Helm (+21 Agi, +13 Sta, +9 Int, +1% Critical)
Neck: 3 2 Mark of Fordring (EPL Quest, +28 Atk Pwr, +1% Critical)
2 2 Emberfury Talisman (+8 Sta, +1% Critical)
Shldr: 3 2 Stormshroud Shoulders (LEATHER, +10 Sta, +1% Crit, +1 Dodge)
Cape: 3 2 Cape of the Black Baron (+15 Agi, +20 Atk Pwr)
Chest: 3 2 Ogre Forged Hauberk (+21 Agi, +13 Sta, +8 Int, +1% Critical)
2 1 Deathdealer Breastplate (+8 Str, +8 Sta, +2% Critical)
3 4 Savage Gladiator Chain (+13 Sta, +13 Def, +2% Critical)
Bracer: 3 2 Beaststalker's Bindings (+15 Agi, +7 Sta)
Gloves: 2 1 Dragonscale Gauntlets (+7 Sta, +1% Critical)
3 2 Devilsaur Gauntlets (LEATHER, +9 Sta, +28 Atk Pwr, +1% Critical)
Belt: 3 1 Warpwood Binding (+14 Agi, +9 Int, +6 Sta, +1% Critical)
3 2 Highlander's Chain Girdle (+10 Sta, +34 Atk Pwr, +1% Critical)
Pants: 3 2 Leggings of Destruction (+14 Agi, +20 Sta, +13 Int, +1% Critical)
Boots: 3 1 Beaststalker's Boots (+21 Agi, +9 Sta)
Rings: 3 2 Painweaver Band (+7 Sta, +16 Atk Pwr, +1% Critical)
3 3 Don Julio's Band (AV RepRwd, +11 Sta, +16 Atk, +1% Hit, +1% Crit)
3 2 Magni's Will (ALLIANCE, +8 Sta, +8 Str, +1% Crit)
Trnkt: Same as all the others.
Melee: 2 1 Dawn's Edge (+1% Critical)
3 3 Krol Blade (+7 Str, +5 Sta, +1% Critical)
3 3 Dal'Rend's Sacred Charge (+4 Str, +1% Critical)
2 2 Assassination Blade (+3 Str, +1% Critical)
Alright; now I'm going to talk about the 2 non-epic hunter sets...
Beaststalker- 8 Pieces of beaststalker will get you a lot in the way of damage
compared to other setups. For example, my hunter with 5 pieces of Giantstalker
still has less character screen DP/S than someone using a lower quality ranged
weapon and full beaststalker. Full beaststalker will usually get you around
310-360 Agi depending on your gear. With a ranged weapon of around 30-31 DP/S
your character screen DP/S should end up around 170. The problem is that you
take extreme sacrifices in Stamina and Intellect compared to a more balanced
setup.
3 Pieces: +15 Attack Power against Beasts
5 Pieces: +4 Skill in Ranged Weapons
6 Pieces: +1% Critical Strike
7 Pieces: +20 Attack Power
8 Pieces: +60 Ranged Attack Power
Summative Stats of All Pieces (8)
+20 Str
+138 Agi
+90 Sta
+48 Int
+49 Spi
PvP Gear- Your full PvP set at Leiutenant Commander (or Leiutenant General for
Horde) will get you solid performance. You will have tons of Stamina and good
Agility. You mana pool will be EXTREMELY deprived in this setup, so try to
get a few piece of jewelry to make up for the deficiency. The set bonuses are
solid, but pale in comparison to Beaststalker. This set is good for PvP and
will increase your survivability noticeably; however in PvE you'll always be
running low on Mana; and I do mean always.
2 Pieces: +1% Parry
4 Pieces: -1 Second on Concussion Shot Cooldown
6 Pieces: +15 Stamina
Summative Stats All Pieces (*7 including (First) Sergeant's (Major) Armguards)
+0 Str
+80 Agi
+131 Sta*
+17 Int*
+2% Critical Strike
+50 Attack Power
+2% Dodge
I'd suggest throwing in a Highlander's Chain Girdle or Stormpike Mail Girdle
in with this setup, as there is no PvP rank reward belt.
The other set in the game that is viable to hunters is the Black Dragonscale
Set which provides fire resistance and some good set bonuses. However, the
Black Dragonscale Boots require a lot of thorium brotherhood reputation for
the Dragonscale Leatherworker making them, and also require materials from
Molten Core to be crafted, making them very expensive to those not in MC
capable guilds. The other sets are of course Giantstalker and Dragonstalker,
the first from MC entirely, the second from Onyxia/BWL and off of Ragnaros in
MC. These aren't items you'll have to worry about more than likely if you are
reading this FAQ.; at least not for a while.
B. CHOOSING A GUN/[CROSS]BOW
There are a lot of Guns/Bows/Crossbows to choose from in the game. While the
"choice" part is more illusionary until you get to level 60; there are
certain items to shoot for. I'll try to provide you ways to keep up your
ranged weapon with the rest of your gear. The BEST way to do this is be an
engineer; till about Level 36 it will provide you with the best guns and
ranged weapons in general you'll find. Some may be costly to more frugal
players, but generally they are easy to make. If you are not an engineer; hook
up with someone who is and see if you can get them made at materials cost.
This is the BEST way to keep up ranged weapons to level 40 or so. I'm going to
start at level 16; since you really don't need anything fancy till about then.
THE BIG Q....
Gun, Bow or Crossbow??? Unless you're a Dwarf; this doesn't make a difference.
Dwarves get +5 to Gun skill so it makes guns a more practical choice for them.
Otherwise; it's about your personal taste and exactly what is available to you
at your level.
Level 16-20: Deadly Boomstick (8.3 DP/S) Made from Engineering.
Level 19-23: Silver Plated Shotgun (10.4 DP/S) Made from Engineering.
Level 24-28: Moonsight Rifle (11.8 DP/S) Made from Engineering.
Level 29-31: ??? This is a difficult time to have a good gun, you can buy a
Mage-Eye Blunderbuss or a BKP "Sparrow" Smallbore from the Auction House if
you're lucky, if not, you'll just have to tough it out.
Level 32-35: Explosive Shotgun (15.2 DP/S) This you'll have to buy or find off
of a random mob, they drop A LOT and you will most likely find one at a cheap
price on the auction house.
Level 36-41: Mithril Blunderbuss (17.9 DP/S +5 Agi) Made from Engineering.
Level 42-47: Galgann's Fireblaster (25.4 DP/S) This is an awesome gun for the
level requirement. It drops in Uldaman off of Galgann (whoda thunk it) pretty
regularly; and will keep you good to go till about level 48-50.
Level 48-56: Megashot Rifle (27.4 DP/S) This gun drops off Gizlock in Maraudon
and again has a pretty high drop rate. It will serve you well. AN ALTERNATIVE
is the Verdant Keeper's Arm (28.2 DP/S) which is a quest reward from Maraudon
(where the gun drops) and works just as well if not a little better.
Alright, at this point you're stepping into the "high-end" instance weapons;
and while their level requirements are low, you have to be at LEAST level 57
to get into a group to obtain them. There are alternatives though; even if
somewhat expensive.
Level 53-60: Shell Launcher Shotgun (30.9 DP/S) You'll have to find or buy
this, but it's worth it if you're aching for some more damage. (20-50g
depending on your server)
Level 48-60: Hurricane (32.2 DP/S) An excellent alternative to farming
Maraudon or buying a Shell Launcher, the epic Hurricane will be a bit more
expensive (140-300g Depending on your server) but will last you to hell and
back (meaning until you get something from Molten Core) and is a solid
investment. Be warned; it shoots very fast and eats through lots and lots of
arrows. I had one of these for a long time, and I loved it.
Level 53-60: Dwarven Hand Cannon (34.8 DP/S) This is a real top notch weapon
considering even for the price it will run you. It is of course an epic BoE
and you'll usually find one or five on your local auction house depending on
the server. (250-800g depending on server)
Level 60: Core Marksman Rifle (36.8 DP/S) I love this gun, if you are in an
MC guild it is a cheaper, better alternative to Dwarven Hand Cannon, even if
it does look like a giant super-soaker. It will run you about 160-300g in
Arcanite Bars (8 of them) depending on your server, and it does require some
Molten Core materials, and if you are not in an MC guild these will be very,
very expensive, if you can obtain them at all. This is the best non-MC/ZG drop
weapon you can get (Well technically it is an MC drop since that's where the
schematic comes from).
Now, for the Level 57+ BoP Weapons
Level 60: Bloodseeker (32.3 DP/S +8 Str +7 Agi) A reward from a quest in
Alterac Valley, this crossbow is easy to obtain compared to any other weapon
in its damage class. I highly reccomend it to the lazier of us.
For the rest of these, I'll list their Location and name, but not DP/S, I will
tell you they all fall within 31.0-31.7 DP/S, so it's basically a matter of
luck and stat buffs.
Willey's Portable Howitzer (Scarlet Bastion in Stratholme +9 Sta)
Ancient Bone Bow (Scholomance +11 Agi)
Xorothian Firestick (Dire Maul +4 Agi +6 Sta)
Stoneshatter (Dire Maul Crossbow Skill +4)
Carapace Spine Crossbow (Undead side of Stratholme +9 Sta +4 Agi)
My PERSONAL reccomendation of those 5 is Carapace Spin Crossbow, it has an
extremely slow attack speed so you'll do very high-damage critical strikes.
Not to mention it has the best stat buffs, and it also drops very often.
C. AMMUNITION
This will be a quick section. Buy your ammunition from vendors unless you are
an engineer with a surplus of whatever metal and stone you need to make
ammunition that is better than what the vendor sells. Otherwise, you're just
wasting perfectly good materials. Accurate Slugs / Razor Arrows are the best
vendor ammunition for Gun / Bows+Crossbows, and require level 45 I believe.
Otherwise, ammunition is a low cost issue, and hopefully won't subtract
greatly from your funds. Thorium Shells should only be used in instances like
Molten Core or maybe Zul'Gurub.
D. QUIVER / AMMO POUCH
Buy one on the auction house from a leatherworker. You'll start out with one,
DO NOT THROW IT AWAY UNTIL YOU GET A BETTER ONE. The ammo pouch / quiver may
use a bag slot, but it gives you a *HUGE* boost in ranged attack speed and is
absolutely vital to your survival. When you reach higher levels, you can
purchase good quivers / ammo pouches from leatherworkers. I, however, use
Ribbly's Bandolier, which drops off of Ribbly in BRD, it offers a slightly
higher ranged speed boost than crafted ammo pouches. There are a few quivers
which are drops in the game as well.
10/29/05
