LotRO - Hunter Class Guide Skills Overview

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HUNTER
SKILLS OVERVIEW

Hunters are perhaps the most
straightforward class in the
game. Their role in solo or group play is fairly
narrowly-defined:
ranged
single-target damage-per-second. They have almost no
buffs and a very limited capacity for self-heals, so their only real
option is to do as much damage as possible in the least amount of time.

RANGED
ATTACKS - This is the
primary
arsenal of the Hunter. Many Hunters work out a number
of standard shot rotations for different situations.

Swift
Bow - Two
shots in rapid succession. This is a heavy hitter that adds +2 to your
Focus.
At higher levels, this becomes Improved Swift Bow
and does
three shots. This skill has a lengthy induction.

Barbed
Arrow - An
induction shot that
does
moderate damage and applies a bleeding wound. Adds +1 to
Focus.

Quick
Shot - This
shot does slightly more damage
than an auto-attack and has a short induction. Depending on
stance, it can apply a slowing debuff, has a high crit chance or lowers
threat. Adds +1 to Focus.

Penetrating
Shot - An
instant,
powerful shot that bypasses
armor mitigation. This one burns 3 pips of Focus - you can
build up to this with 1 Swift Bow and 1 Quick Shot. When traited, it
can cost fewer Focus points and negate even more armor mitigation, thus
doing more damage.

Merciful
Shot - An instant
shot that costs 6 pips of Focus
and can only be used on mobs at half health or lower. It is
quite powerful, and when improved at higher levels removes corruptions.

Rain
of Arrows - An instant
area-effect shot that costs 3
pips of Focus. This one hits several enemies (up to 5) and
does good
damage, and it has a very high threat rating.

Heart-seeker
- A very
powerful shot with a long-ish induction.
It does not cost or build Focus. It adds a large
target reticle to the intended recipient, which lasts the duration of
the induction. When traited, it will remove the bleed from
Barbed Arrow to deal significantly more damage. 

Blood Arrow - This instant shot costs 3
pips of Focus, but costs morale instead of power. It does damage
comparable to Penetrating Shot on a regular hit, but closer to Merciful
Shot on a critical. Useful for long fights when power is an issue and
morale is not.

Shot
Rotation - Generally,
Hunters will want to work out a
standard pattern of shots for different situations. This will
be different in groups than it will be for soloing. While
soloing, it pays to open with a powerful shot like Swift Bow, followed
by Penetrating Shot. In a group, where threat is a constant
issue, it is generally wiser to
open with a string of Quick Shots and
save the heavy hitters for later on.

MELEE
ATTACKS
- "Plan B."
With power at a premium for Hunters, melee attacks offer poor
returns for the investment of power. On the other hand, they
are instant, and some of them have additional uses besides raw DPS.

Swift
Stroke - A basic melee
attack gained at character creation. Hit with
both
weapons for slightly more damage than an auto-attack. Adds
a
small
buff to defenses.

Scourging
Blow - Almost
the
same as above, but if the
target is affected by Barbed Arrow it does more damage and removes the
bleed.

Low
Cut - Frontal
area-effect swipe that can hit multiple
targets, affecting them with a slowing debuff. It can also apply a
bleed when used with certain LI legacies.

Blindside
- A
decently-powerful melee attack with a long
animation. Stab with an arrow, then a quick point-blank shot,
just like Legolas. This one adds 2 pips of Focus and interrupts enemy
inductions.

Agile
Rejoinder - A reactive
skill,
only available when a
melee blow is parried. It has a small chance
of applying a
small
self-heal.

STANCES
- These are toggled skills that
affect how your ranged skills work while active.

Strength
- This is
the first stance you get.
Shots do more damage, generate more threat and consume more
power. Quick Shot applies a slowing debuff in this stance.
Strength stance is most useful for soloing, less so in a
group. However, when applied judiciously, it can actually
help to use Strength stance in a group fight - e.g. if the Minstrel is
getting attacked and the tank is unable to pull the mobs off, the
Hunter can temporarily switch to Strength stance and fire off a Rain of
Arrows. The mobs will leave the Minnie and focus on the
Hunter, allowing the healer to heal more
effectively and keep everyone
standing.

Precision
- Shots do the
same amount of damage as they
would without an active stance, but are less likely to miss their
intended targets, resulting in higher DPS overall. Quick Shot has a
significantly-increased
critical chance in this stance. Precision stance works well
in groups with solid tanks, and it works just fine for soloing, too, as
it is much less power-hungry than Strength stance.

Endurance
- When power
consumption and aggro management are
critical, Endurance stance is your friend. Shots do less
damage than they would with no active stance, but consume less power
and generate significantly less threat. Quick Shot is
basically threat- and power-neutral while in Endurance stance. This
stance allows the hunter to unleash the big hitters without drawing a
lot of unwanted attention from the mobs, and is best used in groups
with "iffy" tanks.

FIGHTING
SMARTER
- These skills serve to
make you a more effective combatant. They allow you to use
more powerful skills faster, and keep you actively participating in the
fight for longer.

Intent
Concentration -
Instantly fill your Focus meter.
Usable in combat.

Focus
- Fills your focus
meter with a short induction.
Not usable in combat.

Needful
Haste - Inductions
are significantly reduced and
attacks execute quicker for 30 seconds. Costs 3 Focus.

Beneath
Notice - Drops a
huge amount of threat instantly.
At very high levels, this skill changes to Beneath Care, and
restores some power over time in addition to dumping aggro.

Purge
Poison - The only buff
Hunters have that can be used
to assist other people. This skill removes poisons and adds a
buff to poison resistance for 15 seconds. This skill is instant (no
cooldown) and single-target when used normally, but when traited in the
Trapper of Foes line, it has a brief cooldown and can affect the whole
fellowship.

Strength
of the Earth -
In-combat power
regeneration.
Stop fighting for a few precious seconds, watch the fighting,
eat some nachos, cheer for the home team, then get back in there fully
powered up.

Press
Onward - A legendary
skill attainable at level 39.
After a 5 second induction, instantly recover a big chunk of morale and
power. Not usable in combat, but it can be improved by
traiting at least 4 Huntsman line class traits, making it usable in
combat when the Hunter is not being attacked.

Fleetness - The old stance no
one used ever got overhauled and is now actually useful! This is now a
15-second buff instead of a stance, which reduces moving miss chance by
60%, increases run speed by 10% and prevents Focus loss from movement.
It costs 6 Focus to use this skill, which completely drains the
Hunter's Focus meter, but can be followed up with Intent Concentration
or a quickly-chugged Potion of Focus to rebuild. The legendary capstone
for the Huntsman line, Improved Fleetness, doubles the duration of this
stance, reduces Focus cost of Focus-based attacks and reduces attack
duration, making induction-based attacks execute quicker.

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href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/lotro/guides/classes/hunter/skills">SKILLS

CROWD
CONTROL - Sometimes raw
DPS simply
isn't enough.
Hunters have a tough time with long inductions
in prolonged fights against multiple mobs. That's when it's
time to lay the smack down in the form of good old-fashioned CC.

Bard's
Arrow - A legendary
skill attainable at level 39.
This shot does medium damage and applies a Fear effect to
evil targets for 15 seconds.  It adds 1 pip to Focus.

Distracting
Shot - Does no
damage, but dazes the enemy for
a short time.

Rain
of Thorns - Legendary
skill attainable at level 39.
 This is identical in most ways to Rain of Arrows, but will
trap up to 5 enemies in place.

Cry
of the Predator - A
fearsome howl that will apply a 10
second Fear effect to beasts, causing them to flee in panic.
In PvMP, this skill affects Warg Stalkers, rendering them
unable to attack. Ineffective against humanoid mobs

Dazing Blow - A double melee swipe that
stuns one enemy for 5 seconds. The improved version of this skill,
trainable at higher levels, will also remove up to 3 corruptions from
the target.

Traps
- Set Trap lays a big
red circle on the ground.
 Any mob passing into this circle is held in place for 30
seconds unless attacked. Set Snare lays a big yellow circle
on the ground. Any mob passing into this circle is slowed and
takes damage over time.

The
"Root Pull" - This is a
Hunter specialty, used when
faced with a large group of trash mobs that are potentially very
dangerous when fighting all of them at once. This is really
only effective against melee mobs, as ranged mobs can still shoot while
rooted or trapped. The Hunter will creep forward while the
rest of the group stays a safe distance back. Hunter targets
the group and unleashes Rain of Thorns, rooting 5 of the mobs in place.
If there are more than 5 mobs, the untrapped ones will
immediately rush the Hunter, who runs back to the group and allows the
tank to pull the pursuing mobs off his fleeing back. After 30
seconds, the trapped mobs are freed and will seek out the Hunter unless
challenged by the group's tank. This is also usable in solo
situations where the Hunter only wishes to fight one mob at a time but
must pass through a group.

PANIC
BUTTON - Sometimes,
fights go badly.
Whether attributable to bad luck or miscalculations, everyone
will face a situation where they need a quick escape or a sudden burst
of awesome.

Desperate
Flight - Known
colloquially as DF or "Ditch
Friends," the Hunter instantly bails to a safe location. In
wilderness areas, the Hunter is ported to the nearest rez
circle. In instances, he is ported to just inside the
entrance.

Improved
Press Onward - This
is the improved version of the
legendary trait Press Onward, available when the Hunter slots at least
4 Huntsman line class traits. When not being attacked, The
Hunter can pause for a short induction and instantly recover 3000
morale and 3000 power. It may be necessary to dump aggro
first by using Beneath Notice/Beneath Care and switching to Endurance
stance, and moving out of the way of frontal area-effect attacks.

Burn
Hot - Boosts damage of ranged attacks by 20% and reduces
power cost by 10%, for 20 seconds. The capstone legendary trait, Cool
Burn, further increases ranged damage by 20% (total 40%) and reduces
power cost by another 50% (total 60%), and reduces the cooldown by 3
minutes. This is no longer really a "panic button"
skill and can be used much more frequently now that the Hunter is not
left "zeroed out" on power when it expires. Keep in mind, however, that
the skill itself does have a significant power cost, which may not
offset the power cost reduction of subsequent ranged attacks.

Camouflage
- This skill is
less useful on the PvE side of
things. It can be used to set ambushes for and hide from
pathing mobs, but otherwise is of limited utility as it can only be
used out of combat and breaks when the Hunter moves. In PvMP,
however, it is much more useful. Creeps in the Ettenmoors
don't have a limited kiting range, and this skill can be used when the
Hunter is out of combat for 10 seconds. A Hunter in the
'Moors can kite mobs long enough to drop out of combat and then
disappear from sight. As long as the Hunter doesn't move from
that spot, he can chug potions and DF out and live to fight another day.

NON-COMBAT
SKILLS
- The Hunter lives by
his wits, relying on keen senses and knowledge of nature.
When not actively engaged in
shooting things to death, the
Hunter is able to find more things to shoot, or prepare for yet more
shooting after a brief respite.

Passage
of Nature - This
skill tracks beasts, insects,
drakes and other natural multi-legged beasties.  At higher
levels, creatures being tracked by Hunters can be seen on the radar by
other members of that group. These tracking skills can be improved by
the use of the trait Heightened Senses, which allows the tracking of
stealthed enemies.

Passage
of Foes - Track men,
orcs, goblins and other
two-legged foes.

Passage
of Shadow - Track
undead, wights and ancient evil.

Bright
Campfire - Setting a
campfire increases non-combat
morale and power regeneration, and doubles as a crafting implement for
cooks to make trail food.

GETTING
AROUND
- When you
absolutely,
positively have to get there immediately, accept no substitutes.

Find
The Path - +15%
out-of-combat run speed.
This is a toggle skill, and most Hunters usually keep it on
all the time. Can be improved with Legendary Item legacies up to +21%,
but does not stack with other speed-boost skills.

Wayfaring
- Every region in
Middle-Earth (except Misty
Mountains and Lothlorien) has at least one area that serves as a
Hunter's point of entry. Some of these "Guide To..." skills
are purchased from the class trainer, some are aquired via quests, and
some are purchased from reputation vendors. Hunters can
traverse Middle-Earth in an instant with only a few travel rations, and
can take their entire fellowships with them. Unlike Captain
summons and mustering horn summons, Hunter ports do not require
travelling rations for the rest of the group (though the Hunter does
require them). In addition to the plethora of set regional
destinations, the Hunter has one "moveable" skill that allows him to
bind to any camp site and carry his party there.

CLASS
TOOLS
- All classes have a few
specialized tools that only they can use. Hunters have the
most, and all of them can be made by Historians.

Class
book - This
scholar-crafted item goes in the class
item slot on the equipment page of the character journal.
There are two varieties to choose from, and five tiers of
each (level 20, 30, 40, 50, 60). The Whisper-Draw books
lower perceived threat, and the Wind-Rider books decrease power cost.
Currently, the best book available to Hunters is the Supreme
Tome of the Wind-Rider, usable at level 60, which reduces power costs
by 12% and adds +105 to max power.  The level 60 Whisper-draw
book adds morale instead of power, and greatly reduces threat. For
these books, "X
Book of
the Y" is the standard recipe,
and "X
Tome of the Y"
is the crit.

Bow
Chants - There are 3
varieties of these: Breach-Finder,
Foe-Finder and Shield-Bane. Each has 5 tiers: Minor (level
25), regular (level 35), Major (level 45), Greater (level 55) and
Supreme (level 65). Breach-finder scrolls make the Hunter's
shots bypass the target's ranged mitigation modifier, thus doing
potentially more damage per shot. Foe-finders reduce the
target's evade chance, and Shield-banes reduce the target's block
chance. These chants last 20 minutes and only apply to the
shots fired from the Hunter using them - they do not debuff the mobs.

Oils
- There are 3 kinds of
oils - Fire, Light and Oil
Wash. Fire oil , usable at level 20, causes most ranged
attacks to deal fire damage, and on a critical hit does additional fire
damage over time. Light oil, usable at level 30, causes most
ranged attacks to deal light damage, and on a critical hit will blind
the target. Oil Wash removes applied oils so the affected
weapon does its normal damage type. Fire and Light oils are
available in 4 tiers: Simple, regular, Refined and Pure. The
tier affects the amount of time the oil lasts, in 5 minute increments.

Potions of Focus - These are
single-use consumables crafted by scholars. These potions instantly add
several pips of Focus to the Hunter's Focus meter, and increase
Devastate Magnitude by varying amounts depending on the tier of the
potion. The most powerful version, Greater Supreme Potion of Focus, is
only usable at level 65. It adds 6 pips of Focus and increases
Devastate Magnitude by 25% (so Devastating Critical hits do 20% more
damage, which can add up to a lot) for 30 seconds. Lower tier potions
add fewer pips of Focus, have a shorter duration and a lower Devastate
Magnitude rating.

Crafted
Traps - There are a
lot of these. As with
the other class tools, these are available in multiple tiers, and the
tier affects the maximum level of mobs the traps are effective against.
Except where noted, they all function the same as the skill
Set Trap.

Bear
traps work more or
less the same as those laid by
the skill Set Trap, but they do more damage and last much
longer.

Quick
traps have no
induction and can be thrown down in
the middle of a fight.

Multi-traps
(double and
triple) can trap more than one
target and cover a larger area.

Strong
traps will hold
enemies firmly in place while they
take damage (all other traps break when the trapped creature takes
damage).

Lure
traps do not hold
enemies but act like an
aggro-spamming tackling dummy. Only effective against groups
of mobs, and then only until those mobs "caught" by it are attacked.
These are tricky to use but very rewarding.

Tripwires
will knock
an
enemy over and sometimes start a
Fellowship Manoeuver. This is the only option available to
Hunters to semi-reliably trigger FMs.

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