12-07-2004, 07:25 PM
Wow, thatâs a nice start. This guide would have done me a world of good a few days ago â I just bought the game last Thursday, and hit level 20 with my first character (a night elf hunter) last night. Heh! Oh well. But I think Iâve learned enough so far to offer a few insights to others who want to try the class â¦
Equipment
Your most important equipment pieces, in priority order, are a ranged weapon, then stat-enhancing armor, then defensive armor, then melee weapon. Prior to level 10, however, all items are roughly equal in importance.
For your ranged weapon, you can use either a bow or a gun. Guns seem to be easier to work with later on. Youâre of course looking for the highest dps possible. Given the choice, I prefer a weapon that has a slow rate of fire and high damage over one that has rapid-fire and low damage, because it seems that I draw more aggro away from my pet with a rapid-fire weapon. This may just be my imagination, but Iâve been testing this recently and it seems that with the rapid-fire, I have to let the pet do more damage to the mob before firing, or he loses the aggro and I get charged.
Your armor should always be the best possible â but remember youâre not a melee fighter. After level 10, defense is secondary. Attribute enhancers are more important than defense because youâll be fighting at range most of the time.
Your melee weapon is mostly irrelevant â if youâre a skilled Hunter, you wonât be in hand-to-hand very often, except to land the killing blow. I personally use a one-hand weapon, because I like to use items in my off-hand that add life or mana.
Taming
Any experienced hunter will admit, after you acknowledge how cool-looking their rare pet is, that there is little discernable difference between pet types â the key factors are level, loyalty, and abilities learned. So just pick a beast to your preference. Some have slightly higher life, or better armor, or higher damage. I prefer bears, because they can tank and their diets are easy to cater to, which allows you to stay in the field longer.
Taming involves staying put and taking the damage. Pick a pet at your own level if you can withstand the process. You can use a freeze trap if need be. The problem with larger beasts, however, is that a knockdown attack cancels the taming process, and then you usually have to run or die. For this reason, I usually do my taming near a body of water so I can shake off the beast, flee, and heal and try again if I have to.
Buy the most expensive appropriate food you can to keep your pet happy quickly. Better yet, cook your own. Fishing can also help but is less important. Macro your pet feeding, to keep your pet happy as long as possible and increase training points.
I prefer to have Growl on auto-cast and to use a high-life, high-armor pet. I deal far more damage than my pet ever could. Since the hunter is primarily a ranged character, this allows me to keep the prey at range and maximize my pace of advancement.
Adventuring
Iâve been shocked to see that few hunters are using tracking yet. Beast and humanoid tracking are essential skills. They will make you kill faster with fewer deaths. So, use tracking at all times â pick your fights, specialize in hunting beasts whenever youâre not questing or item hunting, and use leatherworking and skinning to maximize your profit and efficiency. Tracking is also the best way to avoid ambushes, limit kills, and to avoid adds during an engagement.
Concerning Aspects, you should always have one up. I recommend using Aspect of Hawk at all times when fighting at range, and Aspect of Monkey when in melee. I personally have these hot-keyed on - and +.
The general process is as follows â use tracking to isolate a high-level mob. Once youâve selected your prey, you can either set a trap and stand behind it, set a trap and advance (to fall back to the trap if need be), or send your pet and run in. I recommend standing behind your traps until you get used to the technique. Setting and advancing, then falling back works great, but remember that you canât fire normal arrows while moving, and you might stumble into another mob while moving backwards, which can be disastrous. This is especially likely to happen when youâre in high-density areas that have both beasts and humanoids, since you canât track both at the same time. Sending and running is recommended for low-level mobs where youâll be cleaning up very quickly.
If youâve set a trap, send your pet immediately afterwards. You can even issue the command while youâre still in the process of setting the trap. Put a Hunterâs Mark on the prey. This can be cast on the run if need be. Start off with Serpent Sting (which can be used while moving), follow with Arcane, and then keep using autoshot and then Arcane as it recharges. Later, add concussion and multishot to the mix.
Melee should be uncommon, unless youâre tormenting low-level mobs and rushing without even bothering with traps. Put both Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite on the hotkey bar immediately below your character, so you can easily see the flashes without taking your eye off the battle. That allows you to maximize your special abilities while still maneuvering if need be. (Sometimes a melee has to be moved a bit away from the starting point to avoid adding another wandering mob.)
After the fight, if you and your pet are in good shape, send your pet to engage another mob while you skin the kill.
So far, the class is very fun, but my experience with groups is limited. I recommend soloing to 20 anyway unless youâre social by nature. It gives you a great chance to maximize your hunts in ways that other players often donât really understand (tracking, skinning, leatherworking, etc.), and get to 20 as soon as possible.
:shuriken:
Equipment
Your most important equipment pieces, in priority order, are a ranged weapon, then stat-enhancing armor, then defensive armor, then melee weapon. Prior to level 10, however, all items are roughly equal in importance.
For your ranged weapon, you can use either a bow or a gun. Guns seem to be easier to work with later on. Youâre of course looking for the highest dps possible. Given the choice, I prefer a weapon that has a slow rate of fire and high damage over one that has rapid-fire and low damage, because it seems that I draw more aggro away from my pet with a rapid-fire weapon. This may just be my imagination, but Iâve been testing this recently and it seems that with the rapid-fire, I have to let the pet do more damage to the mob before firing, or he loses the aggro and I get charged.
Your armor should always be the best possible â but remember youâre not a melee fighter. After level 10, defense is secondary. Attribute enhancers are more important than defense because youâll be fighting at range most of the time.
Your melee weapon is mostly irrelevant â if youâre a skilled Hunter, you wonât be in hand-to-hand very often, except to land the killing blow. I personally use a one-hand weapon, because I like to use items in my off-hand that add life or mana.
Taming
Any experienced hunter will admit, after you acknowledge how cool-looking their rare pet is, that there is little discernable difference between pet types â the key factors are level, loyalty, and abilities learned. So just pick a beast to your preference. Some have slightly higher life, or better armor, or higher damage. I prefer bears, because they can tank and their diets are easy to cater to, which allows you to stay in the field longer.
Taming involves staying put and taking the damage. Pick a pet at your own level if you can withstand the process. You can use a freeze trap if need be. The problem with larger beasts, however, is that a knockdown attack cancels the taming process, and then you usually have to run or die. For this reason, I usually do my taming near a body of water so I can shake off the beast, flee, and heal and try again if I have to.
Buy the most expensive appropriate food you can to keep your pet happy quickly. Better yet, cook your own. Fishing can also help but is less important. Macro your pet feeding, to keep your pet happy as long as possible and increase training points.
I prefer to have Growl on auto-cast and to use a high-life, high-armor pet. I deal far more damage than my pet ever could. Since the hunter is primarily a ranged character, this allows me to keep the prey at range and maximize my pace of advancement.
Adventuring
Iâve been shocked to see that few hunters are using tracking yet. Beast and humanoid tracking are essential skills. They will make you kill faster with fewer deaths. So, use tracking at all times â pick your fights, specialize in hunting beasts whenever youâre not questing or item hunting, and use leatherworking and skinning to maximize your profit and efficiency. Tracking is also the best way to avoid ambushes, limit kills, and to avoid adds during an engagement.
Concerning Aspects, you should always have one up. I recommend using Aspect of Hawk at all times when fighting at range, and Aspect of Monkey when in melee. I personally have these hot-keyed on - and +.
The general process is as follows â use tracking to isolate a high-level mob. Once youâve selected your prey, you can either set a trap and stand behind it, set a trap and advance (to fall back to the trap if need be), or send your pet and run in. I recommend standing behind your traps until you get used to the technique. Setting and advancing, then falling back works great, but remember that you canât fire normal arrows while moving, and you might stumble into another mob while moving backwards, which can be disastrous. This is especially likely to happen when youâre in high-density areas that have both beasts and humanoids, since you canât track both at the same time. Sending and running is recommended for low-level mobs where youâll be cleaning up very quickly.
If youâve set a trap, send your pet immediately afterwards. You can even issue the command while youâre still in the process of setting the trap. Put a Hunterâs Mark on the prey. This can be cast on the run if need be. Start off with Serpent Sting (which can be used while moving), follow with Arcane, and then keep using autoshot and then Arcane as it recharges. Later, add concussion and multishot to the mix.
Melee should be uncommon, unless youâre tormenting low-level mobs and rushing without even bothering with traps. Put both Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite on the hotkey bar immediately below your character, so you can easily see the flashes without taking your eye off the battle. That allows you to maximize your special abilities while still maneuvering if need be. (Sometimes a melee has to be moved a bit away from the starting point to avoid adding another wandering mob.)
After the fight, if you and your pet are in good shape, send your pet to engage another mob while you skin the kill.
So far, the class is very fun, but my experience with groups is limited. I recommend soloing to 20 anyway unless youâre social by nature. It gives you a great chance to maximize your hunts in ways that other players often donât really understand (tracking, skinning, leatherworking, etc.), and get to 20 as soon as possible.
:shuriken: