World of Warcraft at Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMOG Gamers to the Next Level!

[ Soloing 1-40 | Soloing 41-60 | Soloing 61-80 ]

If you're reading this guide chances are you have reached level 60 and are on the home stretch to level 80. Congratulations! All you have to do now is grind out the last 20 levels. If you enjoy soloing you will be happy to know that you can get there alone. From 60 to 80 you get to enjoy the glorious lands of Outland and Northrend!

A Hunter's two most important weapons are his pet and ranged weapon.

Gear
As always the Hunters most important piece of gear is his ranged weapon. There are a lot of options you can choose from in this area and many sources to obtain a good one. At this level you should be using nothing less than a rare weapon with high damage. You can get some good stuff through quests, dungeon runs, and the ever so expensive auction house. As always, focus the rest of your stats on gear that will boost your agility, stamina, and intellect. Agility being the most important as it adds to your attack power and armor. Think of agility as a sledge hammer. The more agility you have, the bigger the sledge hammer. That hammer incidently will be attached to the end of your arrows or bullets. That will either be a painful attack or good comedic fodder for a cartoon. Either way it should be fun.

Aspects
You have one major change with your Aspects at level 74 when you gain Aspect of the Dragonhawk. This new Aspect is a combination of Aspect of the Hawk and Aspect of the Monkey providing both an attack and dodge bonus. Most Hunters will find this useful for combat. However, Beast Mastery Hunters may still choose to use Aspect of the Beast to aid their pet damage and aggro skills, but switching between those two and using Aspect of the Viper when needed.

Some flying mounts are quest related, but they add a nice bit of humor none the less.

As I explained in the last guide, if you have chosen to build your First Aid skill you can use bandages and Aspect of the Viper during fights to almost completely eliminate downtime. Just bandage up and juggle your Beast/Hawk/Dragonhawk Aspects with your Aspect of the Viper during fights and you won't have to stop much.

Mounts
At level 70 you can buy your first flying mount and thus eliminate some of that tough terrain travel. The only downside is you can only use them in Outland, but you can learn to use them in Northrend if you train in Cold Weather Flying (1000 Gold). Flying Mounts can save you a lot of time and get you to some places you might otherwise can't reach such as the Alliance and Horde skyships that circle above Icecrown in Northrend.

Where to go Levels 60-80

You will spend your time leveling from 70-80 in Northrend.

A vast majority of your time leveling from 60-70 will be spent in Outland. The content there is keyed for levels 58 to about 70. You'll start off in Hellfire Peninsula and expand out as you level. Be careful when you enter Outland through the giant green portal not to make the same mistake I did first time in and run past the guards in the lull of combat. You'll know if you have as within a matter of seconds a small army of the Burning Crusade will charge the ramp. You'll have just enough time to see how screwed you are and the last thing likely to go through your mind will probably be some portion of your arse.

Outland will provide you with a huge landscape of solo hunting grounds and even some PvP if you're interested. Once you reach 70 make sure to pick up your flying mount so you can travel the lands much more quickly and avoid some of those natural barriers.

 

 

Once you hit level 70 make your way to Northrend. This will be where you spend the last 10 levels on your way to 80. Make sure you have 1000 gold handy when you get there and get over to Dalaran, the neutral city in Crystalsong Forest, and train Weather Flying so that your flying mount can take to the skies of Northrend.

 

Facing Normal and Elite Enemies
You get four new notable new skills between 60 and 70 and those are Snake Trap, Tranquilizing Shot, Kill Command, and Deterrence. Each one has a use when dealing with various encounters.

Normal
As always your general attack rotation should begin with Hunter's Mark. I choose to pull with Concussive Shot with an immediate follow up attack of Steady Shot to take advantage of the daze bonus. They work well as a combination pull attack. By this time your pet should be having a bite of rump roast. If you are a Beast Mastery Hunter you should cast Bestial Wrath and Kill Command to boost your pet's damage and start following up your own attacks with Arcane Shot, and your choice of sting. I prefer Serpent Sting for normal encounters as it provides a nice damage over time attack. Use Kill Shot when your enemy is at 20% and he will likely be dead after that. If you want a little extra damage drop an Immolation Trap on your target, but chances are that a normal encounter will not last very long regardless what you do. These not quite ready for prime time fighters are little more than fodder.

 

Elite
Hunters are one of the better classes you can have for facing an elite enemy one on one. Approaching a level 70-80ish elite encounter (preferably of even level with yourself) can be a challenge, but a skilled hunter can make it through alive and have some loot to show for it.

A Hunter's two most important weapons are his pet and ranged weapon.

I like to use Aspect of the Dragonhawk at this level as it provides a good damage and dodge bonus. Juggle this with Aspect of the Viper when you get low on mana. Begin as you always do by using Hunter's Mark on your target. Pull with Concussive Shot and follow it up with Steady Shot. Every extra point of damage helps. Fire Scorpid Sting and keep this on your target to reduce his damage output. This will help a lot in the long run of the battle. If you're a Beast Mastery Hunter use Bestial Wrath and Kill Command now and each time as they refresh until the end of battle. Lay an Immolation or Snake Trap (Snake Traps can reduce casting speed by 50% so it's good to use for casters) on your enemy to add a little extra damage or slow casting speed, and cast a Mend Pet on your pet to keep him in the fight. Use your standard attacks of Arcane Shot, the Concussive Shot/Steady Shot combination and anything else in your arsenal. If your pet looses aggro try to use Intimidation if you have it. Try to save Feign Death if possible. When the enemy is at 20% use Kill Shot each time it refreshes as it will deal a very high damage attack against the elite. You will probably land a couple of these before it dies but this attack can speed the last few moments of the battle along drastically. If you run into an enemy that enrages or uses magical effects fire your Tranquilizing Shot skill to remove it.

High level elites can deal a lot of damage and there is a good chance that your pet is going to die at least once during the fight. The best thing to do in this case is to cast Revive Pet as soon as he dies. You'll take a few hits from the enemy while it casts but your pet should be back in the fight again before you take your third or fourth hit (Assuming you invested in the talent Improved Revive Pet). Once your pet is up and nipping at the enemies ankles cast Mend Pet to heal him and immediately use Deterrence. This will allow you to parry all attacks for five seconds. This allows your pet to heal to almost full before Deterrence drops. As soon as Deterrence is down Feign Death to dump aggro and get back up as soon as your pet has the enemy's attention. Repeat these steps as needed and you can take down just about any even leveled elite.

For tactics on multiple enemy fights see my last guide.

 

The road to level 80 is a long one, but the Hunter is one of the best equipped classes to get there alone. Fight smart and learn how to use your skills effectively and there isn't a lot you can't do.