how to improve yourself as a Hunter?
Although the Hunter class is one of the simplest to pick up and is a very
popular choice when it comes to pure firepower, it has its share of
complexities that not everyone understands. This guide is designed to show you
what the class has to offer, how each ability is used, and how to improve
yourself as a Hunter.
This chapter will help you get started by introducing you to what the Hunter
has to offer, what each selectable race has to contribute to the class, and
what each profession has in store for you.
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a. About The Hunter
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So what does a Hunter have to offer? Here is what you need to know…
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Ranged Damage
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The Hunter is basically the Archer or Ranger archetype of a typical role-
playing game. As such, they excel in inflicting ranged physical damage using
bows, crossbows, and guns. They can attack their targets from as far as 41
yards away, which is beyond the reach of most other classes, and can utilize an
arsenal of Shots and Stings that cause a variety of effects.
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Pets
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What makes the Hunter so different from the traditional Archer/Ranger archetype
is the ability to have an animal companion by your side. It typically serves as
a tank that soaks up damage while you fire away at your target, though with the
proper molding, a pet can become a lethal predator. There are plenty of animals
to choose from, some of which have their own unique spells and abilities, and
many of them come in a variety of skins and colors.
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Survivability
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As a Hunter, you have a lot of protection against enemy fire. In addition to
attacking from a distance and having a pet for a damage sponge, you can wear
leather armor until level 40. Once you reach that point, you can train the
ability to wear mail. With a full set of pre-raiding armor from the local
endgame dungeons, you can have an average of 30% damage reduction. If all else
fails, the Feign Death ability can save you from a painful death by completely
removing you from combat. No other class has that kind of life-saving
capability.
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Utility
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As a Hunter, you can do much more than provide firepower for a group. Your
abilities give you a lot of unmatched utility. For example, you can turn your
minimap into a personal radar, thanks to your Tracking abilities. Along with
Eagle Eye, Flare, and Eyes of the Beast, and an Ornate Spyglass, you can
carefully observe and spot enemies from afar. Your Freezing Trap and Wyvern
Sting can also be used to keep most mobs under control when the situation calls
for it. As you can see, a Hunter can do a lot with the tools they have.
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b. Choosing Your Race
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At the start of the game, you’re given the choice of faction and race. While
faction affects your allegiance and communication with in-game characters, your
choice of race will affect mainly three things: your racial abilities, your
starting stats, and your location. Between the two factions, you have seven
races to choose from.
For convenience, here is quick Stats Comparison chart for each race.
Assume that these numbers are for a level 1 Hunter.
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| RACE | STR | AGL | STA | INT | SPR | ARMOR | HEALTH | MANA |
====================================================================
| Dwarf | 22 | 19 | 24 | 19 | 20 | 40 | 86 | 84 |
| Night Elf | 17 | 28 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 58 | 46 | 85 |
| Draenei | 21 | 20 | 20 | 21 | 23 | 42 | 46 | 100 |
| Orc | 23 | 20 | 23 | 17 | 24 | 42 | 76 | 82 |
| Troll | 21 | 25 | 22 | 16 | 22 | 52 | 66 | 81 |
| Tauren | 25 | 18 | 23 | 15 | 23 | 38 | 80 | 80 |
| Blood Elf | 17 | 25 | 19 | 24 | 20 | 54 | 45 | 145 |
====================================================================
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Dwarf
—–
22 Strength Health: 86
19 Agility Mana: 84
24 Stamina Armor: 40
19 Intellect
20 Spirit
Racial Traits:
Frost Resistance: +10 Frost Resist
Find Treasure: Activate to see treasure chests on mini map.
Gun Specialization: +5 Gun Skill
Racial Ability: Stoneform
EFFECT: While active, grants immunity to Bleed, Poison, and Disease effects.
In addition, Armor increased by 10%. Lasts 8 sec.
COOLDOWN: 3 min.
Racial Mount: Ram
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Night Elf
———
17 Strength Health: 46
28 Agility Mana: 85
20 Stamina Armor: 50
20 Intellect
21 Spirit
Racial Traits:
Nature Resistance: +10 Nature Resist
Quickness: +1% Dodge Rate
Wisp Spirit: Become a wisp when dead with movement speed increase of 50% (25%
faster than normal ghost).
Racial Ability: Shadowmeld
EFFECT: Activate while immobile and out of combat to enter stealth mode.
Lasts until canceled.
COOLDOWN: 10 sec.
Racial Mount: Nightsaber
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Draenei
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21 Strength Health: 46
20 Agility Mana: 100
20 Stamina Armor: 42
21 Intellect
23 Spirit
Racial Traits:
Shadow Resistance: +10 Shadow Resist
Gemcutting: +5 Jewelcrafting
Heroic Presence: Increases chance to hit by 1% for you and all party members
within 30 yards.
Racial Ability: Gift of the Naaru
EFFECT: Heals the target 50 + 15/Level over 15 seconds.
RANGE: 40 yards
CASTING TIME: 1.5 sec.
COOLDOWN: 3 min.
Racial Mount: Elekk
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Orc
—
23 Strength Health: 76
20 Agility Mana: 82
23 Stamina Armor: 42
17 Intellect
24 Spirit
Racial Traits:
Axe Specialization: +5 Axe Skill
Command: Pet melee damage increased by 5%.
Hardiness: +15% resistance to stun and knockout effects.
Racial Ability: Blood Fury
EFFECT: Increases attack power by about 4 per character level (282 at 70), but
reduces healing effects on you 50%. Lasts 15 sec.
COOLDOWN: 2 min.
Racial Mount: Wolf
—–
Troll
—–
21 Strength Health: 66
25 Agility Mana: 81
22 Stamina Armor: 52
16 Intellect
22 Spirit
Racial Traits:
Beast Slaying: +5% Damage Bonus to Beasts
Throwing Specialization: +5 Throwing Skill
Bow Specialization: +5 Bow Skill
Regeneration: 10% health regen bonus, 10% active in combat.
Racial Ability: Berserking
EFFECT: Increases your attack speed by 10% to 30%. At full health the speed
increase is 10% with a greater effect up to 30% if you are badly hurt when you
activate Berserking. Lasts 10 sec.
COST: 6% of Base Mana
COOLDOWN: 3 min.
Racial Mount: Raptor
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Tauren
——
25 Strength Health: 76
18 Agility Mana: 80
23 Stamina Armor: 38
15 Intellect
23 Spirit
Racial Traits:
Cultivation: +15 Herbalism Skill
Endurance: +5% Max Health
Nature Resistance: +10 Nature Resist
Racial Ability: War Stomp
EFFECT: Activate to stun up to 5 opponents within 8 yards. Lasts 2 sec.
COOLDOWN: 2 min.
Racial Mount: Kodo
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Blood Elf
———
17 Strength Health: 54
25 Agility Mana: 25
19 Stamina Armor: 54
24 Intellect
20 Spirit
Racial Traits:
Arcane Affinity: +10 Enchanting
Magic Resistance: +5 All Resists
Racial Ability: Mana Tap
EFFECT: Reduces target’s mana by 51 and charges you with Arcane energy For 10
min. This effect stacks up to 3 times. Amount of mana reduced is 50 + 1/Level.
RANGE: 30 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 30 sec.
Racial Ability: Arcane Torrent
EFFECT: Silences all enemies within 8 yards for 2 sec. In addition, you
gain 5 + 1/Level Mana restored per Mana Tap charge currently affecting
you.
RANGE: 8 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 2 min.
Racial Mount: Hawkstrider
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The Choice Is Yours
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There are lots of factors when it comes to deciding which race you want. Some
players choose their race based upon stats, racial bonuses, and abilities,
while others choose their race based upon their overall aesthetics. Others may
prefer the sleek finesse of the Blood Elves while others prefer the stalwart
composure of the Night Elves. In the end, what really matters is not which race
has what but how you apply your skills and knowledge to the game with whatever
abilities you may have. A character is only as good as its player.
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c. Choosing Your Professions
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Your profession will be a major helping hand to you in this game and choosing
the right ones will benefit you a lot. Here are your choices:
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Leatherworking + Skinning
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This combination allows you to skin the corpses of slain mobs and use their
leathers to craft leather armor. In the later levels, patterns for mail armor
becomes available. The gear is relatively limited for Hunters due to the fact
that there isn’t much in the way of Agility or Attack Power. In fact, most of
it easily caters to Shamans, though if you specialize in Dragonscale
Leatherworking, there are some very rewarding late-game patterns at your
disposal.
As a leatherworker, you may also craft a variety of armor kits, which can be
patched onto various parts of your armor. You also have the ability to craft
some ammo pouches and quivers early in the game, though you will find much
betters ones later on.
And on a side note, Comfortable Insoles do absolutely nothing.
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Engineering + Mining
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Engineering allows you to create a whole arsenal of gadgets and gizmos for you
to use at your disposal. You have target dummies, mechanical animals, explosive
sheep, shrink rays, teleporters, seaforium charges, goggles, and much more.
Some come in the form of one-time-use items while others are permanent
trinkets. As a Hunter, you can benefit greatly from being an engineer, thanks
to your ability to craft guns and bullets. While most of the uncommon guns are
easily replaced, the bullets that you can craft are significantly better than
the ones that are normally sold wow gold in stores.
The only downside to Engineering is that many of the best patterns require a
wide variety of materials and reagents that Mining alone cannot provide, though
the end results are undeniably beneficial.
Related:Shanghai Beijing Guangzhou Shenzhen Suzhou Chengdu Xi’an Qingdao Dalian Wenzhou Hangzhou Nanjing Tianjin Wuxi Shenyang Ningbo Wuhan Xiamen Kunming Chongqing——————
Alchemy + Herbalism
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With this combination, you can gather herbs and turn them into potions, and
this goes well beyond Health and Mana Potions. As an alchemist, you can create
potions that boost your stats, absorb magic damage, underwater breathing, make
you invisible, and much more. As you progress in skill, you can eventually
transmute metals, essences, primals, and gems into other materials of the same
type, though transmutes tend to have long cooldown timers.
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Enchanting + ?
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As an enchanter, you can disenchant items into powders, shards, and essences,
and use them to permanently apply buffs to your weapons and armor. It’s a very
rewarding profession but it’s also a costly one. Because the only source of
enchanting materials are weapons and armor, you must constantly find gear to
disenchant. Eventually, you can quickly run through low-level dungeons on your
own and walk away with bags full of items, but as you progress, you need
higher-level items, and those aren’t as easy to come by. You can try the local
(wow gold)Auction House for items but that can cost a pretty penny.
Since enchanting materials come from disenchanted items, you don’t need a
gathering profession to go with it, but some players recommend tailoring. Most
patterns only need cloth, which drop off of humanoid mobs, and you can
disenchant whatever armor you make. As an added bonus, being a tailor gives you
the opportunity to craft your own bags.
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Jewelcrafting + Mining
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Jewelcrafting allows you to create a variety of rings and neckpieces with the
minerals and gems found through mining, as well as statuettes that heal you.
Although gems can be rare, the Prospecting ability that comes with the
profession allows you to sift through ore to find the gems you need. At a
certain point, you will start finding patterns for figurines, which are
trinkets that come with different abilities. Once you reach Outland, you will
find gems that can be cut for use in sockets.
The speed at which your skill grows will depend on how lucky you are when it
comes to finding the right materials. Many mid-game patterns require rare gems
such as Jade and Lesser Moonstones, which are not easy to come by, and
depending on the economy on your server, the Auction House can be an expensive
source for those gems.
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Blacksmithing + Mining
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Blacksmithing caters mostly to Warriors and Paladins, since the profession has
you crafting mail and plate armor and melee weapons. However, there are a few
late-game patterns that may be useful to you as a Hunter. Armorsmithing
features a series of excellent mail armor for your chest such as the
Stormforged Hauberk. A few of the melee weapons also have stats that are
suitable for you. The problem with this route is that getting the materials can
be time-consuming, and most of the gear goes to waste on the way to 375. The
early mail armor is too weak to be worn at level 40, plate armor is worthless
to you, and the majority of the weapons are not well suited for Hunters.
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Secondary Professions
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First Aid
With First Aid, you can take plain cloth and turn it into bandages, which
recover a large amount of your health in just a few seconds. This is an
extremely important profession due to the fact that bandages can be used in
combat. There will be times when the healer in your group is either heavily
focused on other party members, or simply cannot reach you. When you find
yourself in such a situation, bandaging is the next best thing.
First Aid also allows you to make antitoxins, which remove poison effects, but
their uses are so situational that you can easily do without them.
Cooking
With Cooking, you can take the meats that you find from slain animals, and turn
them into edible goods. The big kicker to this is the buffs that certain foods
give, which show up as “Well Fed” on your list of buffs. The most basic form of
that buff gives you a boost to Stamina and Spirit, but certain foods will boost
your other stats as well. For example, the Warped Flesh from Warpstalkers can
be cooked into Warp Burgers, which give you 20 Agility and Spirit for 30
minutes. Although it’s tempting to feed your pet some of the raw meats that
drop, save them and work on this profession. Your pet can live off of vendor
foods.
Fishing
Fishing will yield raw fish, which can be cooked or used as reagents for
Alchemy recipes. Occasionally, you’ll find something funky, like a fish that
can be held in your off-hand. If you find little whirlpools or floating
wreckage, you can fish those areas to get some loot. It’s also something to do
while you’re waiting for a friend or a boat. The only problem with Fishing is
that it’s incredibly boring and it takes a lot of time to raise your skill.
Still, if you’re an alchemist, this is a must-have profession, and if you’re
not, it’s something to do when you have little else to do.