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  • href="#10">1-10
  • href="#20">11-20
  • href="#30">21-30
  • href="#40">31-40
  • href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter">Main
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The Hunter is one World
of Warcraft
's tough guys. With their wide assortment of
attacks and the added benefit of a pet, this class can handle most
challenges they face. However, the Hunter isn't without its weaknesses.
While they can solo better than most, the Hunter lacks the ability to
go toe to toe with many enemies alone, making their pet a very needed
asset in their battles. Every few levels you gain new skills with the
Hunter. I have broken these down into ten level segments. Each segment
will detail how you can fight successfully as a solo Hunter and what
key skills you will get between those levels.

id="10" name="10" />Levels 1-10

cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
At
level 10 the Hunter attack pattern is limited due to skills, but the
general method of attack is as follows.
  • Use Aspect
    of the Hawk
    to
    increase ranged attack damage
  • Cast Hunter's
    Mark
    on your
    target to increase ranged attack damage
  • Pull with Concussive
    Shot
    to
    slow the target's movement speed
  • Fire Serpent
    Sting
  • Fire Arcane
    Shot
  • Finish off the enemy with
    melee and Raptor Strike


From levels 1-10
you will use your melee skills as your primary source of combat. You
can use ranged weapons, but you will only get off one or two shots
before your enemy is in your face making you resort to the Gnomish
style of fighting (using your face to smash the fists of your
opponent). The first skill you begin with is called href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Raptor_Strike"
target="_blank">Raptor Strike,
but you can also train your first tracking skill at level 1 called href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Track_Beasts"
target="_blank">Track Beast.
For the first four levels these will be your primary tools of combat.

style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 119px; float: left;"
alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/63140">
From
levels 1-4 your
primary fight tactics will include pulling with your bow/gun and
fighting up close with melee. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Raptor_Strike"
target="_blank">Raptor Strike
will be your only special skill so make use of it every time the cool
down timer ends. The first four levels go really fast so it won't take
long. Just grab a few of the quests from your starter area and by the
time you finish them you'll be level 4. You can then train a new skill
that will help you avoid some of those hits to the face called href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Aspect_of_the_Monkey"
target="_blank">Aspect of the Monkey.
Once activated, this skill increases your chance to dodge attacks by
18% and gives you an overwhelming desire to eat bananas. You'll also
get href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Serpent_Sting"
target="_blank">Serpent Sting,
a new ranged attack that deals Nature damage over time, so you should
use this to pull since the enemies will be in melee range after a shot
or two. The damage will still hit them periodically until it ticks out.

At level 6
your combat tactics will change a bit. You'll gain two new skills
called href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Hunters_Mark"
target="_blank">Hunter's Mark
and href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Arcane_Shot"
target="_blank">Arcane Shot.
From here on you should first mark your target with href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Hunters_Mark"
target="_blank">Hunter's Mark,
pull with href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Arcane_Shot"
target="_blank">Arcane Shot,
fire off a round of href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Serpent_Sting"
target="_blank">Serpent Sting,
and then get ready to use href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Raptor_Strike"
target="_blank">Raptor Strike.
Sometimes this will down an enemy before they even reach you if you're
lucky with critical strikes, but more often than not you'll have a
short melee fight on your hands. At level 8
you'll get href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Concussive_Shot"
target="_blank">Concussive Shot
which slows an enemies movement speed for a few seconds. Use this as
your new pulling attack to buy yourself a few seconds to land some
additional ranged shots. This method of attack will easily defeat any
encounter you come across until you reach level 10
where you will earn your first pet.

At level 10
you will advance the quest chain "The Hunter's Path"
to "Taming the Beast." At the end of this quest
you will gain the ability to tame your own pets. You will need to speak
with one of the class trainers in your area to receive the quest. This
is a must do quest for every Hunter.

colspan="3">
Alliance
Quest Giver
Race
Location
Huntress Kella Nightbow
Draenei
Azuremyst Isle
Grif Wildheart
Dwarf
Dun Morogh
Dazalar
Night Elf
Dolanaar

 

colspan="3">
Horde
Quest Giver
Race
Location
Lieutenant Dawnrunner
Blood Elf
Farstrider Retreat
Thotar
Orc
Razor Hill
Yaw Sharpmane
Tauren
Bloodhoof Village

 

id="20" name="20" />Levels 11-20

By now you should have your first pet tamed, fed, and happy. Keep some
food on hand because they are ungrateful little bastages. Your pet will
often start to slip into unhappiness and require food to keep them
appeased. Keep them well fed and they'll get an attack bonus. The good
news is that from here on your fighting style will change somewhat.
With a new skill called href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Aspect_of_the_Hawk">Aspect
of the Hawk
you can enhance your ranged attack
damage and with a pet you'll move away from melee combat and more
towards ranged attacks. You will also be able to start earning talent
points after level 10. You should invest those in whatever tree you
choose to focus on and avoid splitting them up too much, but that's href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/talents"
target="_blank">a story for another guide.


From levels 10-12
you should use your pet to tank enemies and attack with your ranged
skills. Your early pets are a bit weak and will take a fair bit of
damage. There will be times when they end up getting blasted into
fertilizer. Luckily, at level 12
you will get your first pet healing skill called href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Mend_Pet"
target="_blank">Mend Pet.
Once you have that in your arsenal you will be better equipped to keep
your pet alive.

style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 143px; float: right;"
alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/63141">
Your
DPS will get a nice boost with your pet by your side, but early pets
aren't great at keeping aggro. Many times they will lose it and force
you back into melee battle. Certain talents of the href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/talents"
target="_blank">Beast Mastery
tree and pet talents can help make your pet a walking aggro beast, but
until then you'll need to rely on damage moderation and other skills to
allow your pet to keep aggro. The alternative is to blast away and try
to kite enemies around while firing off ranged attacks, or switch to
melee once they come running. You can stand your own in a normal melee
battle, but if you get adds, you'll need to use your pet for off
tanking or to take one for the team. Trying to melee two or more mobs
as a lower level Hunter usually href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVN1lZzqINw"
target="_blank">ends badly.

At level 16
and 20 you will earn
two valuable tools of combat with your first traps. At level 16
you'll get href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Immolation_Trap"
target="_blank">Immolation.
This allows you to set a stationary trap that will activate when an
enemy approaches dealing fire damage over time. You can plant these
when you begin a battle or creep up on an enemy while your pet has its
attention and plant it right under him. Either way you can boost your
dps with this little helper.

At level 20
you gain your first crowd control trap called href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Freezing_Trap"
target="_blank">Freezing Trap
that can freeze an enemy in place and prevent them from attacking for a
short time. This trap is very useful if you over pull or just need to
make a run for it. Use this to put an enemy on ice. It can also be used
as a great tool for taming beasts as it gives you a few seconds to
advance your tame before they start beating on you. It's also an
effective tool for covering your escape. Sometimes you will lose your
pet and need to make a run for it and this trap can be all that stops
you from getting an enemies foot firmly planted between
your muffins.

There are several places you can choose to level, but you'll
need to master your skills as a Hunter to survive. Luckily, as a
Hunter, you can solo many creatures alone and often times up to five
levels higher than yourself if you play smart.

colspan="2">
Areas to Level in
the Eastern Kingdoms
Zone
Primary Faction
Ghostlands
Horde
Loch Modan
Alliance
Silverpine Forest
Horde
Westfall
Alliance
Redridge Mountains
Alliance/Horde

 

colspan="2">
Areas to Level in
Kalimdor
Zone
Primary Faction
Settlements
Bloodmyst Isle
Alliance
Darkshore
Alliance
The Barrens
Horde/Neutral

(Ratchet is a neutral town accessible by both Horde and Alliance)
Stonetalon Mountains
Alliance/Horde

id="30" name="30" />Levels 21-30

cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
At
level 20 the Hunter has quite a few new skills and can have the
added benefit of a pet. Therefore the attack method changes.
  • Use Aspect
    of the Hawk
    to
    increase ranged attack damage
  • Cast Hunter's
    Mark
    on your
    target to increase ranged attack damage
  • Pull with Concussive
    Shot
    to
    slow the target's movement speed
  • Send in your pet to tank and
    hold aggro
  • Use Mend
    Pet
    often to heal
    your pet
  • Fire Serpent
    Sting
    and Arcane
    Shot
  • Use a Freeze
    Trap
    for crowd
    control if needed
  • Optional:
    Plant an Immolation
    Trap
    for additional damage
  • Optional:
    Use Aspect of the
    Viper
    if your mana gets low


style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 134px; float: left;"
alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/63142">
You
will get more of your class defining skills between levels 21-30. One
in particular is href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Feign_Death"
target="_blank">Feign Death
which can be your saving grace in many situations. This will allow you
to drop aggro from attacking enemies unless it's resisted and it's your
answer to dealing with bad pulls. The only problem is that your pet can
create an issue as it doesn't lose aggro, and if you choose to move
once you have used it rather than wait out the fight for your pet to
die you can get aggro all over again. Given that href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Feign_Death"
target="_blank">Feign Death
has a pretty lengthy cool down this can prove to be a fatal move. So
the best way to lose aggro if your pet has it is to either dismiss him
before you use it, or try to run out of range forcing your pet to
despawn.

At level 20 you will get href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Aspect_of_the_Viper"
target="_blank">Aspect of the Viper
which is a great skill to keep your mana in good supply. You'll be
using mana fast so this will be very useful as it provides a mana
regeneration buff while active and allows you to regain a portion of
your mana when you deal damage. This is best used by juggling it
between your damage boosting aspects as needed.

Generally from here out you will use similar fight tactics to
deal with most standard one on one encounters. Pull with href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Concussive_Shot"
target="_blank">Concussive Shot
or your pet and then deal damage with your ranged attacks. Traps can
either be used to boost dps or contain any unwanted company. You'll
gain additional skills that can enhance your range attack damage such
as href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Rapid_Fire"
target="_blank">Rapid Fire
and a new aspect that can enhance pet and melee damage called href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Aspect_of_the_Beast"
target="_blank">Aspect of the Beast.

With a fresh new set of skills and a few levels on your pet
you can move on to one of the following areas.

colspan="2">
Areas to Level in
Kalimdor
Zone
Primary Faction
Settlements
Ashenvale
Alliance/Horde
Thousand Needles
Horde
Stonetalon Mountains
Alliance/Horde
The Barrens
Horde/Neutral

(Ratchet is a neutral town accessible by both Horde and Alliance)

 

colspan="2">
Areas to Level in
the Eastern Kingdoms
Zone
Primary Faction
Redridge Mountains
Alliance/Horde
Duskwood
Alliance
Hillsbrad Foothills
Alliance/Horde
Wetlands
Alliance

 

id="40" name="40" />Levels 31-40

cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
Level
30 provides you with a lot of new skills and survivability
options.
  • Use Aspect
    of the Beast
    to
    increase pet damage
  • Cast Hunter's
    Mark
    on your
    target to increase ranged attack damage
  • Pull with Concussive
    Shot
    to
    slow the target's movement speed
  • Send in your pet to tank and
    hold aggro
  • Fire Serpent
    Sting
    and Arcane
    Shot
  • Use Rapid
    Fire
    to increase
    attack speed
  • Use a Freeze
    Trap
    for crowd
    control if needed
  • Use Feign
    Death
    if things get
    out of hand and you need to drop enemy aggro in a hurry
  • Use Mend
    Pet
    often to heal
    your pet
  • Optional:
    Use Frost Trap
    to
    slow enemy movement speeds
  • Optional:
    Plant an Immolation
    Trap
    for additional damage
  • Optional:
    Use Aspect of the
    Viper
    if your mana gets low


Level 40 brings a big change for the Hunter as you gain the
ability to wear Mail armors. After 40
levels of getting monkey stomped in leather you will appreciate the
change. However, the ability to wear Mail armors isn't the only perk
you receive between levels 31-40. You'll also get href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Volley"
target="_blank">Volley
and href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Explosive_Trap"
target="_blank">Explosive Trap.
These two skills are both area of effects attacks and can be a great
asset to your soloing endeavors. By now, if you have chosen the href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/talents"
target="_blank">Beast Mastery
path, your pet will be able to hold aggro well and you can put both of
these skills to use by pulling two and sometimes three mobs at a time.
The trick is having your pet hit each target a few times to get aggro.
Once your pet has the enemies attention you need to plant an href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Explosive_Trap"
target="_blank">Explosive Trap
near them. It will periodically deal a burst of damage to all enemies
within range. Next, pour on the damage with href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Volley"
target="_blank">Volley
and switch your pet's target as needed to maintain aggro. This works
great with normal mobs, but if you try this trick with elites they'll
be scraping Hunter parts off the surrounding area with a spatula.

Firing href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Volley"
target="_blank">Volley
is costly in mana so another little trick you can use is to put on href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Aspect_of_the_Viper"
target="_blank">Aspect of the Viper
while doing this. You will almost always have mana for another shot,
but the trade off is it cuts your DPS down. The method I use is to
start with href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Aspect_of_the_Beast"
target="_blank">Aspect of the Beast
and then switch to href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Aspect_of_the_Viper"
target="_blank">Aspect of the Viper
when the mana bar gets low. That way you can keep blasting without
interruption.

You have a nice list of hunting grounds to choose from for
these levels.

colspan="2">
Areas to Level in
Kalimdor
Zone
Primary Faction
Settlements
Desolace
Alliance/Horde
Thousand Needles
Horde
Dustwallow Marsh
Alliance/Horde
The Barrens
Horde/Neutral

(Ratchet is a neutral town accessible by both Horde and Alliance)
colspan="2">
Areas to Level in
the Eastern Kingdoms
Zone
Primary Faction
Alterac Mountains
Contested
Arathi Highlands
Alliance/Horde
Stranglethorn Vale
Alliance/Horde
Badlands
Horde

 

cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
Fighting
single enemies:
  • Use Aspect
    of the Beast
    to
    increase pet damage and aggro
  • Cast Hunter's
    Mark
    on your
    target to increase ranged attack damage
  • Pull with Concussive
    Shot
    to
    slow the target's movement speed
  • Send in your pet to tank and
    hold aggro
  • Fire Serpent
    Sting
    and Arcane
    Shot
  • Use Rapid
    Fire
    to increase
    attack speed
  • Use a Freeze
    Trap
    for crowd
    control if needed
  • Use Feign
    Death
    if things get
    out of hand and you need to drop enemy aggro in a hurry
  • Optional:
    Use Frost Trap
    to
    slow enemy movement speeds
  • Optional:
    Plant an Immolation
    Trap
    for additional damage
  • Optional:
    Use Aspect of the
    Viper
    if your mana gets low

cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
Fighting
multiple enemies
  • Use Aspect
    of the Beast
    to
    increase pet damage and aggro
  • Cast Hunter's
    Mark
    on a target
    to increase ranged attack damage
  • Pull with Concussive
    Shot
    to
    slow the target's movement speed
  • Send in your pet to tank and
    hold aggro. Switch between targets to keep them on the pet
  • Use Mend
    Pet
    often to heal
    your pet
  • Use Serpent Sting for extra damage
  • Use Rapid
    Fire
    to increase
    attack speed
  • Use Volley
    to deal damage to a
    cluster of enemies
  • Plant an Explosive
    Trap
    for additional damage near the enemies and keep them
    together
  • Use Feign
    Death
    if things get
    out of hand and you need to drop enemy aggro in a hurry
  • Toggle Aspect
    of the Viper
    if
    your mana gets low
  • Use a Freeze
    Trap
    for crowd
    control if needed

Caster vs Melee Battles


When you engage an enemy in a melee fight you can
generally stand your own in a one on one battle. Unless of course, the
enemy is elite. If you intend to melee an elite enemy, just have your
Hunter take the first ride to Northrend and march him out onto the
battle field with a blind fold. Trust me, it's a quicker way to commit
suicide. As a Hunter, you can take out elites better than most, but you
need to do it smartly. Use your pet as a meat shield and you act as DPS
and healer. Should your pet die, or the enemy makes a break for you,
you'll need to use href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Disengage"
target="_blank">Disengage
or href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Feign_Death"
target="_blank">Feign Death
to drop aggro. If all else fails, lay a href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Freezing_Trap"
target="_blank">Freezing Trap
and make a run for it. Hunters are, if nothing else, well equipped to
make an escape.

Casters hurt in battle, so don't be afraid to utilize your pet
as a damage buffer. Let them tank and take the damage. The good thing
about fighting a caster is they can't take a lot of damage. Pour on the
damage and burn them down quick. Keep a few healing potions or bandages
on hand as a few shots from a caster can burn your health up pretty
quick. Try to keep aggro on your pet by using the skills at your
disposal, and if you have to run, lay a href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Freezing_Trap"
target="_blank">Freezing Trap
or Frost Trap
along the way or href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Feign_Death"
target="_blank">Feign Death.
Casters have a pretty good range and they can get an attack off if they
get within range. When dealing with a caster it's not a long walk from
BRB to BBQ.

Handling the "Bad Pulls"

style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 167px; float: left;"
alt="" src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/63143">
The
most skilled of pullers will eventually make a mistake and grab way
more than they can handle. From levels 1-30 there are only a few ways
to handle this mistake. You can try to fight it out and use your pet to
tank, but there's the possibility that the pull will be more than
either of you can handle. If it looks like your pet isn't going to make
it, cast a href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Mend_Pet"
target="_blank">Mend Pet
and start running. Just give Fippy Darkpaw a snausage when you revive
him later and he'll be happy all over again. While you're making your
getaway, make sure to drop a Frost or Freezing Trap to cover your
escape.

Once you reach level 30 things get a lot easier as you get href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow/guides/classes/hunter/spells1-40#Feign_Death"
target="_blank">Feign Death.
This is your best tool for dealing with a bad pull. Unless it gets
resisted you can drop all aggro immediately. At level 40 this can be
used with the Volley/Explosive
Trap method
I mentioned earlier in this guide
to help manage aggro and keep it on your pet.

Tracking


You will gain several tracking abilities as a Hunter that will allow
you to track undead, beasts, giants, humanoids, dragonkin, and many
more. These are all useful skills and key to fighting as a Hunter. Not
only will they allow you to find enemies easily, but through the
Survival talent tree you can enhance your tracking to give a damage
bonus to enemies you are tracking at the time.

Conclusion


Don't overlook the damage provided by your auto shot when attacking. It can provide a good portion of your dps, so take this into account when you work up a rotation. Using a skill and then allowing time to execute an auto shot can increase your dps greatly.

If you wanted a class that fits well with groups and can solo with the
best of them, the Hunter is for you. Once you have a pet there is
little the Hunter can't do on his own. They can take out several
enemies at once with skilled tactics and pet manipulation, or they can
take down an elite all alone and still be in good shape afterwards. A
skilled Hunter doesn't need a group, but they are an invaluable asset
to one and their solo skill ranks among the best.

 





To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our World of Warcraft Game Page.

Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Stacy "Martuk" Jones was a long-time news editor and community manager for many of our previous game sites, such as Age of Conan. Stacy has since moved on to become a masked super hero, battling demons in another dimension.

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