For an updated, complete guide to the Hunter, check out our Hunter Class Guide Overview and its associated pages.
Introduction to LotRO's Versatile Hunter:
The hunter is arguably one of the most iconic archetypes in the fantasy
genre, the details change as needed, but the image of the hunter is
universal. In Middle Earth, there is a distinction between
the
Ranger and the Hunter. The Rangers were secretive groups of
the Dunedain. They had keen senses and the ability to
understand the language of the animals. While they were
hunters, hunters were not always Rangers. In LotRO, there is
no more versatile character to play, they are skilled with many forms
of combat, both ranged and melee, they manipulate the natural energies
to resist poison and they use their keen senses to travel faster and
more efficiently than any one else. If they could lay claim
to one form of expertise, it would be with the bow. Hunters
are deadly with their bows. Able to let loose a flurry of
arrows against their foes, they make excellent "artillery support"
and crowd control.
Now, I've been known to throw the dice every once in a while, and I've
played a few MMOs in my time and my favorite experiences in each game
has been playing the ranger/ hunter class (so forgive my obvious bias
towards them). During LotRO's alpha and beta tests, I've
spent the most time playing the hunter, and I absolutely love the
versatility, the tactics and the flexibility of the hunter.
Creating Your Hunter:
alt="LotRO's Hunter Whomping a Bear"
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/ScreenShot00016.sized.jpg"
hspace="10"> When you first start to create your
hunter, the very first choice you
have to make is your race. Humans, Elves, Dwarves and Hobbits
can all be Hunters, this is one of the few classes that don't have any
racial restrictions. In order to, balance the styles
and choices, and to insure a varied play style, each race has different
bonuses and plusses. The main stat for the hunter is agility.
This is the stat that determines the amount of damage you do
with your ranged weapons. The elf has the highest agility,
however, they are much weaker when it comes to morale. This
really makes it hard for the min/ maxers. There's no "best"
race for the hunter, however, if you know how you play, then there can
be a race that best reflects your personal style. If you
mainly want to be ranged support, and DPS, then the elf is a good
choice. However, if you like getting into the thick of battle
and placing your sword into the neck of an Uruk-Hai, then you might
want to consider a human or a hobbit. During this process of
creation, there is nothing else you really need to do. Once
you pick the race and class, the rest of the process is customizing how
your new hunter looks.
Each race has different starting attributes according to which class
they take. A human hunter will have slightly different
attributes than a human lore-master. So, to quantify the
attributes, here's the list by race:
Racial Attributes of the
Hunter Class:
border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
valign="undefined">1.4%
valign="undefined">2.9
valign="undefined">2.1
valign="undefined">2.1
valign="undefined">2.5
valign="undefined">2.3
valign="undefined">1.1
valign="undefined">2.2
valign="undefined">1.5
valign="undefined">1.5
valign="undefined">2.3
valign="undefined">2.3
valign="undefined">1.6
valign="undefined">2.5
Again, there's no "best" race for the hunter. If
you know how you like to play and you know what you like playing, each
race will provide different and unique play styles based upon these
stats.
Getting the Sharp End to the Right Place - Combat Skills:
alt="Looking at the wrong end of the bow"
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/ScreenShot00063.sized.jpg"
hspace="10">The hunter excels at ranged combat, with an
arsenal of maneuvers with their bow, they give their targets pain from
a distance. However, there are times when mere bow-work wont
finish off the beast from afar. This is where the hunter
draws their melee weapons and gets her hands dirty.
The skills the hunter has can be organized into three categories;
Combat:
- Ranged
- Melee
Combat Multiplier:
- Buffs
- Crowd Control
Non-Combat
- Heightened Senses
The Hunter's Combat Skills:
border="1" bordercolor="#000000" cellpadding="7" cellspacing="0">
Ranged
Combat Skills
Description/
Strategy
Level
Recovery
Time
Focus
(+/-)
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/quick_shot.thumb.jpg">
Quick Shot
releases one arrow very quickly, then refreshes quickly. It's
best used when the other specials are recovering. While it
doesn't do a lot of damage, it causes more damage than the auto-shot,
and it adds to the hunter's overall focus.
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/barbed_arrow.jpg">
Barbed Arrow
fairly low damage shot,
it sticks a bleed on the target and has the potential to slow the enemy
for a short while. You'll notice the bleed/ slow icon on the
enemy's health bar. Watch this one and reapply when the bleed
goes away.
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/swift_bow.thumb.jpg">
Swift Bow
powerful basic shot. This attack releases two arrows in rapid
succession for significant damage. While it takes a bit
longer to
recover, this is by far, the most common attack the hunter has in her
arsenal.
2 Attacks:
Ranged Weapon +8 damage
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/penetrating_shot.jpg">
Penetrating Shot
shot goes through
the enemy's armor ignoring 10% mitigation and finds the "sweet spot" to
inflict high damage on
the target. Out in the wild, I usually fire in succession:
barbed
arrow > swift bow > penetrating shot. By then,
the target's
stepped in your trap, and you're ready to unleash another swift bow
attack on them. I almost feel sorry for them.
Ranged Weapon +10 damage
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/rain_of_arrows.thumb.jpg">
Rain of Arrows
rain of arrows looks
just like a literal rain of arrows. One of my favorite
attacks,
it has a dramatic animation that unleashes a high damage attack on up
to 5 enemies in a 10 meter radius. As with most AoE attacks,
use
this attack carefully to avoid unwanted aggro. Costing 4
focus
and recovering slowly, make sure you use this strategically and not as
a default attack.
Ranged Weapon +9
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/merciful_shot.jpg">
Merciful Shot
shot is one of
the best ranged attacks. When the enemy is below 50% health,
this
ranged attack causes a massive blow to the enemy. A fairly
expensive focus cost forces you to use this skill sparingly, however,
when used, it's incredibly powerful.
Ranged Weapon +33 damage
practiced aim, you prepare a shot to strike at your targets most vital
weak spot. This shot will not miss, nor can your target parry, block,
or evade it.
Ranged Weapon +106 damage
Strategy
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/swift_stroke.thumb.jpg">
Swift Stroke
is a quick melee
attack, not very powerful, but it recovers quickly and can provide some
necessary damage between other ranged or melee attacks.
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/scourging_blow.thumb.jpg">
Scourging Blow
blow is
a relatively powerful melee attack. If the enemy is bleeding
from
a barbed arrow, it causes more damage, but it stops the bleeding.
The good thing, is that you can re-apply the bleed and hit
them
again.
Main Hand Weapon +1
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/blindside.jpg">
Blindside
has one of the
coolest melee animations. It's the old "one-two".
The
hunter punches the enemy in the face, then rapidly hits them with a bow
attack. Does damage twice and can be very effective to
disrupt an
enemy's attack.
2 Attacks: 80% of Main Hand Weapon +1 damage
60% of Ranged Weapon +1 damage
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/low_cut.jpg">
Low Cut
melee attack
kneecaps two enemies in front of you, effectively slowing their
movement. It doesn't do a lot of damage, but it's an
effective
strategy for a mobile hunter.
Main Hand Weapon +1
Slows Movement speed by 50%
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/agile_rejoinder.jpg">
Agile Rejoinder
melee attack is
normally grayed out, however, once your hunter parries an attack, it
lights up for a short period of time. Once this happens,
you'll
be able to exploit that opening for a very powerful melee attack.
Main Hand Weapon +3
The Hunter's Combat Multiplier Skills:
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/ScreenShot00066.sized.jpg"
hspace="10">The
combat multiplier is any skill that enhances the ability of the hunter
without actually causing direct damage to the enemy. These
can be
combat buffs for herself or for her group, they can be de-buffs for
enemies or they can be skills that enhance a natural attribute of the
hunter or of the group.
The buffs are a part of the innate connection the hunter has with their
natural environment and with their expertise with their weapon of
choice. One type of these buffs are the hunters' stances.
They have the ability to toggle a skill according to the
combat
situation.
Stance - Strength
Stance - Precision
Stance - Endurance
Strength:
Increases your damage
and threat, great when solo, but in a group, it places a big target on
your head because not only do you do more damage to the enemy, your
threat level is increased. Both of these factors in
combination
essentially make you an attractive target for the enemy. This
stance is gained at level 4 and is very useful when soloing content.
When in a group and you have this stance toggled, make sure
you
have one of your fellowship mates pull the aggro off of you when you
invariably attract some unwelcome attention.
Precision:
This stance
increases your accuracy as well as the chance your Quick Shot skill
will land a critical hit on the target. One of the best
stances
for grouping, it has the sometimes unintentional effect of scoring so
many critical hits, the target may just decide that you're a threat and
proceed to focus on you
.
Endurance:
Probably the
best stance for grouping, this stance reduces the power cost associated
with your specials and reduces the threat level that you present.
If your fellowship has a guardian and a champion, the types
that
can handle a toe to toe battle with some of the bigger enemies, you can
stay in the back row and rain pointy death from afar.
Combat
Multipliers
Description
Level
of
Strength
increases the damage of your shots, while increasing the power cost and
draws the enemies attention to youtrself. While in Strength stance,
Quickshot will slow your enemies movements.
Increased Ranged skill damage by 10%
Increased power cost for bow skills by 15%
Increased threat generation by 15%
allows you to lay traps for enemies which can hold them in place. The
trap remains for 60s after being set and can easily be interupted.
rapidly increase your focus.Focus is required to use some combat bow
skills and is lost if you move.
Adds Focus point every 0.3s
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/cry_of_the_predator.jpg">
Cry of the Predator
years of studying
animal behavior finally pay off, when you're staring down the fanged
mouth of a predator, you can release your feral nature to cause them to
flee in fear. This only works with beasts.
Fears for up to 10s
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/passage_of_nature.jpg">
Passage of Nature
skill allows you to
track animals. When used, there will be a selection of
available
animals to choose from and once selected, a red arrow will point you in
the direction of the beast.
Find the Path
fellowship run speed
by 15%. You can also use it on yourself, but when you are
attacked or you attack an enemy, the buff instantly turns off.
+15% out of combat run speed.
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/purge_poison.jpg">
Purge Poison
will allow you to
negate the effects of poison on yourself or an ally. Very
useful
when facing the poisoned fangs of spiders or the poison arrows of the
enemy.
Removes up to 3 poison effects with a maximum
strength of 7 from the target.
+12.8% Posion Resist
enemy will avoid your shots. While in Precision, your Quickshot has an
increased chance to score a crit.
Lowers your targets chance to block or evade your
ranged attacks by 5%
Reduces the chance your shots will miss.
Adds 9 to Focus
Desperate Flight
nearly been
defeated, this skill will teleport you and the fellowship to a nearby
rally point. While it requires travel rations, the cost of a
consumable is preferable to a TPK (total party kill).
Michel Delving
will teleport you and your fellowship to Michel Delving in the Shire.
This skill is easily interupted and requires Travel Rations.
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/bright_campfire.jpg">
Bright Campfire
a campfire
allows you and your fellowship to have a short break, where your morale
and power will regenerate quickly. Chefs can also use this
fire
to make some food for the journey.
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/passage_of_foes.jpg">
Passage of Foes
can finally tell the difference between a warg and a goblin, or even a
brigand. You know how to track humanoids.
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/guide_to_thorins_hall.jpg">
Guide to Thorin's Hall
will teleport you and your fellowship to Thorin's Hall. This skill is
easily interupted and requires Travel Rations.
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/beneath_notice.jpg">
Beneath Notice
a particularly
useful skill when soloing, but in a group, this will reduce your threat
level by 60%. You'll be able to land multiple hits on enemies
with them barely noticing where its coming from.
one of the many camp sites across the world and then use this skill to
teleport your fellowship to it. This skill is easily interupted and
requires travel Rations.
decreases the power cost and reduces the chance that the enemies
attention will turn towards you. While in Endurance stance, your
Quickshot does not draw as much attention as it normally does.
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/passage_of_shadow.jpg">
Passage of Shadows
and evil forces are
no longer able to hide from your acute senses. You can track
fell
creatures, undead and shadowy minions.
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/guide_to_bree.jpg">
Guide to Bree
will teleport you and your fellowship to Bree. This skill is easily
interupted and requires Travel Rations.
of your Focus to make ranged attacks at a faster rate.
-0.3 Barbed Arrow induction time.
-0.3 Swift Bow induction time.
-25% Attack Duration
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/guide_to_esteldin.jpg">
Guide to Esteldin
will teleport you and your fellowship to Esteldin. This skill is easily
interupted and requires Travel Rations.
knowledge allows you to set a snare for your enemies that will slow
their movements and cause them damage over time. The trap remans for 60
seconds after being placed.This skill is easily interupted.
allow you to appear less threatening to enemies over a time.
-60% Perceived Threat
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/camouflage.jpg">
Camouflage
long as you stay
still, this will allow you to blend into your surroundings, making it
difficult for enemies to detect you.
+1 Stealth Level
land; devoting all your attention you can recover power swiftly in the
midst of conflict. this skill is easily interrupted.
Restores 3 power over 1 second.
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/guide_to_rivendell.jpg">
Guide to Rivendell
will teleport you and your fellowship to Rivendell. This skill is
easily interupted and requires Travel Rations.
The Hunter's Passive Skills and Certifications:
The hunter's passive skills include weapon and armor certifications,
modifications to their weapons, the use of more sophisticated traps and
other skills that dont fall into a combat category. They're
always on and they reflect the general knowledge the hunter's gained as
she progresses through the levels of training. With every
other
level, the hunter trainer will have certain active and passive skills
available to train.
border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
Armour
use of light armor
Range
15 meters to base range attack
use of bows
use of daggers
Handed Axe
use of a one handed axe
Handed Swords
use of a one handed sword
use of a clarinet
use of a lute
- Rank 1
+2%
- Rank 1
Hit +2%
Evade - Rank 1
Evade +8%
Armour
use of medium armour
- Rank 1
+2%
- Rank 1
amount
Evade - Rank 2
Evade +4%
wielding of a second weapon in the off hand.
Traps
Hand Wrought Traps
Wrought Traps
use of crafted traps
Handed Clubs
use of one handed clubs
Handed Hammers
use of one handed hammers
Handed Maces
use of one handed maced
- Rank 2
+1%
Evade - Rank 3
Evade +2%
- Rank 2
+1%
of Fire
use of fire oil on arrows
use of a spear
- Rank 2
Bonus
Evade - Rank 4
Evade +1%
Hit +2%
Hunter to employ ancient chants to empower their bow to different ends.
- Rank 3
Bonus
- Rank 3
+1%
- Rank 3
+1%
of Light
the use of light oil to arrows
use of crossbows
- Rank 4
Bonus
- Rank 3
Hit +2%
Hunter to share the location of his tracked target with his fellowship.
Only effective with Non-player characters.
- Rank 4
+1%
- Rank 4
Hit +1%
- Rank 4
+1%
The Hunter's Traits and Class Quests:
alt="Lotro's hunter against a clear blue sky"
src="http://media.tentonhammer.com/tth/gallery/albums/album270/lotro_hunter_tth.sized.jpg"
hspace="10">The
Hunter is initiated by several level based quests. And the
hunter's traits also come by using the skills themselves.
As you explore middle earth and defeat more enemies, you'll
find
that you'll unlock certain traits just by being a hunter.
The Hunter's Quests
Level 15 Quest: The
Hunter's Path
Once you've trained level 15 from your hunter trainer, you'll notice
that they'll have a quest available for you. This is a simple
quest. Simply go to Adso's camp west of Bree and speak to
Gytha Lainey. She'll tell you to kill a named elite wolf in
the Old Forest named Yellowfang. When you accept, you'll be
taken to an instance in the Olf Forest. There will be
several wolves there, none of them too difficult. To beat
this quest, track Yellowfang, fight your way there, and kill
Yellowfang. It's a good idea, since this old wolf is an elite
beast, to bring a few lesser potions of athelas, just in case.
Once you defeat Yellowfang, talk to Gytha Lainey and she'll
reward you with some silver, a Leather Helmet (Armor: 23/ +4 Agility/
+4 Will), 3 lesser Celebrant Salves and the trait Fast Draw.
Level 30 Quest: A
Hunter's Charge
The Hobbitses in the shire need your help. It seems that
they're tasty snacks for Wargs. Gytha Lainey wants your help
to stop the Wargs. She'll take you to an instance where
you'll have to talk to 4 of the Hobbits, there, you'll have to stop 5
Wargs. You'll have 2 Prowling Wargs, 2 Roaming Wargs and an
elite Warg named Laugzok. The best way to do this is to kill
Laugzok first and then mop up the remaining Wargs. For your
effort, you'll receive some Greater Celbrant Salves, the Trait Enduring
Precision and your choice from either a very nice Bow or Cross-Bow.
Level 45 Quest: Articles
of Discovery & Implements of the Hunter
This is a multi-level class quest. Once you reach level 45,
you'll get the quest from the hunter trainer called "The Swiftest Arrow
is Learning". Where you'll go back to where you started and
talk to Fenton Marshley in the Hunters' Lodge near Archet.
He'll tell you to get a bunch of stuff:
- Zorrgolug's Matted Hide
- Brimstone tinged Torkrip helmets x 5
Take them back to Fenton, then he'll tell you to go get:
- Glossy cave claw skins x 10
- Corroded Neeker breeker horns x 15
Take these back to Fenton and then he'll tell you to go get:
- Rune of Winged Dominance from Mormoz
- The Insignia of Battle from Sorkrank or Burzfil (Named
Uruk-Hai)
Take these back to Fenton and you'll get a new quest: "Implements of
the Hunt" where Fenton will tell you to go get:
- Driftclaw's razor sharp claw (From Driftclaw)
- Corrroded iron crown staves
Take these back to Fenton and he'll tell you to go get:
- Clouded worm eyes x 20
- Venomous dread turtle beaks x 5
- Putrid fingernails x 5
Take these back to Fenton and he'll tell you to go get:
- Medallion of Passage from Urro
- Putrid slime of Helchgam
Take these back to Fenton and he'll give you your final quest: "A
Lesson From Legolas".
- Talk to Legolas in Rivendell and he'll reward you with the
trait "Bow of the Righteous"
That's it. You're done with the Hunter's quests.
The Hunter's Traits
alt="" style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" height="0" width="0">
| face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Trait | face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Requirement | face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Description |
| Barbed Fury |
Barbed Arrow x 750 |
Ranged Offence Dmg +2% / DOT +5 seconds |
| Rapid Recovery |
Swift Stroke x 500 |
Melee Recovery Time -1.2 seconds/ Critical Hit +1% |
| Swift and True |
Swift Bow x 1000 |
Ranged Offense +2%/ Damage +8% |
| Deadly Precision |
Critical Bow Hit x 500 |
Focus +1 on Crit/ Barbed Arrow Induction -0.1 seconds/ Swift Bow Induction -0.1 seconds |
| Graceful Draw |
Bow Hits x 6000 |
Power Cost Reduced/ In combat power regen +0.3% |
| Sturdy Traps |
Use Traps x 350 |
Traps are more effective/ Critical Chance +1% |
| Strong Draw |
Penetrating Shot x 600 |
Focus cost for Penetrating shot -1/ In combat power regen +0.3% |
| True Shot |
Penetrating Shot x 1000 |
Ranged Offense +2%/ Target Mitigation -8% |
| Heightened Senses |
Tracking x 500 |
Tracking Effectiveness Increased/ Critical Hit +1% |
| Fast Draw |
Quest | Barbed Arrow Induction -0.1 seconds/ Swift Bow Induction -0.2 seconds |
| Deep Concentration |
Intent Concentration x 150 |
Intent Concentration restores power/ In combat power regen +0.3% per second |
| Hail of Arrows |
Rain of Arrows x 500 |
Ranged Offense Damage +2%/ Ranged Critical +25%/ Critical Hit Damage Multiplier +25% |
| Arrow Storm |
Rain of Arrows x 600 |
Focus Cost for Rain of Arrows -1/ In combat power regen +0.3% |
| Enduring Precision |
Quest | Focus +1 per 5 seconds in stance/ Barbed Arrow Induction -0.1 seconds/ Swift Bow Induction -0.1 seconds |
| Swift Recovery |
Needful Haste x 125 |
Needful Haste and Intent Concentration recovery -60 seconds/ Barbed Arrow Induction -0.1 seconds/ Swift Bow Induction -0.1 seconds |
| Stealthy Shot |
Beneath Notice x 150 |
Beneath Notice Effectiveness Increased/ Ranged Critical +1% |
Legendary Traits
Legendary Traits are started with books for every class
that drop randomly throughout level 39+ areas. You'll need to speak to
the hero for your class, in this case Legolas in Rivendell. After this
you'll begin "farming" pages in the locations listed, good luck. Be
sure to check the Auction House and watch the trade channel, sometimes
you can find a good deal.
|
The Way of the Hunter - Press Onwards: When the need is high, you can move on with |
|
|
Pages
|
Location
|
|
1, 3, 4, 8
|
Hillmen in Donnvail, Angmar |
|
17, 20, 21, 28
|
Orcs in East Angmar near Ongbishuk |
|
A Shot in the Dark - Bard's Arrow- You fire with the skill of Bard himself driving |
|
|
Pages
|
Location
|
|
5, 10, 14, 16
|
Wights in Trollshalls |
|
19, 22, 23, 25
|
Gabizalan Dwarves in Misty Mountains |
|
Furthest Charge - Rain of Thorns: You rain 5 thorn arrows down upon your |
|
|
Pages
|
Location
|
|
7, 9, 10, 14
|
These pages randomly drop from level 39+ Humanoid mobs,known drops from Hillmen, Donnvail, Angmar |
|
17, 18, 21, 24
|
|
Thanks to Fizen for use of his research.
Conclusion:
I hope you enjoyed the description of the skills and the tactics of the
Hunter in Lord of the Rings Online. It's truly my favorite
class
to play. I believe that it provides the flexibility, the
versatility and the fun of being in the thick of action, and a valuable
support player in a fellowship. If you've noticed anything
that
I've missed, or needs clarification, don't hesitate to post.
Thanks again to my Kinship, The Marauders of Minhiriath,
Methost
and the many others on the official forms for helping collect a lot of
this information.
-AgonThalia
href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=304">A
Guide to the Post-Book 10 Hunter
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