Hunter

Hunter
The Longeye, a troll hunter.
Favored by	Blood elf  Dwarf  Draenei  Forsaken  Goblin  Human  Night elf  Pandaren  Tauren  Troll  Worgen
Role(s)	Ranged DPS
Specializations	Beast Mastery, Marksmanship, Survival
Resource(s)	Focus
Primary attribute	Agility
Weapon proficiency	Bow, Gun, Crossbow
Armor proficiency	Cloth, Leather, Mail
Skill(s)	Can tame pets, set various traps, [Feign Death], [Disengage], Stampede

Classes
Class races	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	Ev	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Quests	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	Evuid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Abilities	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	Evuid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Trainers	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	-	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Armor sets	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	Evuid	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Useful macros	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	-	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior
Class Halls	Death Knight	Demon Hunter	Druid	-	Hunter	Mage	Monk	Paladin	Priest	Rogue	Shaman	Warlock	Warrior

The hunter is a ranged damage dealing class. Master marksmen, hunters use a plethora of different shots to take down their prey, from venomous barbs and magical projectiles to explosive volleys and penetrating powershots. Hunters are also masters of survival, and their familiarity with traps and misdirection can allow them to manipulate their quarry's attentions, leading them into deadly ambushes or camouflaging themselves so well that even the sharpest-eyed of foes cannot fix their aim upon them. True to their name, hunters are also skilled huntsmen, capable of tracking even the stealthiest of targets with incredible accuracy.

Hunters have a powerful connection to the wild, and an uncanny ability to befriend even the wildest of beasts. Hunters form a deep bond with their pets, and are rarely to be found without a fierce companion at their side, ready to leap into battle at the hunter's command. Hunters can even call wild beasts and flocks of birds to assail their enemies, and in times of great need can summon a Stampede of faithful friends to their aid. Hunters do not use their pets only to deal ferocious damage to their foes, but can also draw strength and healing from their bond, regaining focus and inspiring their companions to surprising new heights. The powerful and intelligent animals commanded by hunters are themselves capable of a huge range of skilful and breath-taking moves, with each type of pet boasting its own selection of special abilities. Hunters are also capable of using their connection to the Aspects of various animals to empower themselves and their allies, augmenting their abilities according to the needs of the situation.

Hunters start wearing leather and advance to mail armor later on. They use agility and cunning to stay out of reach of melee attackers, commanding their pets to attack while they launch devastating volleys from afar. Hunters are at a disadvantage when their foes close in, and may use an array of traps and snares to slow and disorient attackers who threaten to draw too close for comfort. Hunters can also send their pets to taunt and distract enemies, overwhelming targets with a snarling attacker that demands their full attention, leaving them too busy to notice the deadly shot being carefully aimed at them.

Hunters expend focus for their most powerful abilities, while many others have no cost. Focus is capped at 100 (120 for Beast Mastery hunters) and regenerates slowly, but can also be regained through the use of numerous abilities. Hunter pets also use focus to fuel their most powerful attacks.

The hunter is a pure DPS class, meaning that all its specializations focus primarily on dealing damage. However, each type of hunter has its own strengths and priorities: Beast Mastery hunters are masters of the wild boasting a powerful synergy with their companions, bringing numerous enhancements to both their own and their pets' abilities; Marksmanship hunters are skilled sharpshooters, focusing on defeating opponents through unique and additionally empowered ranged attacks; and Survival hunters are rugged trackers favouring traps and venoms to overcome their prey.

Hunters are perhaps the most involved companion class of all. Hunters can track, tame, name and train a huge range of animals throughout the world, with a number of special rare beasts existing solely for hunters to discover, hidden from the eyes of any other class. Hunters will rarely find themselves fighting alone, and can count on the presence of their trusty companions at their side. The combination of hunters' powerful ranged damage capabilities and their pets' aggro management makes hunters an excellent soloing class, essentially a two-man team capable of tackling enemies far beyond the abilities of many other classes. A potent damage dealer with enviable abilities in kiting and crowd control, the hunter is a class that is easy to learn, but difficult to master.

Class overview

From an early age the call of the wild draws some adventurers from the comfort of their homes into the unforgiving primal world outside. Those who endure become hunters. As masters of their environment, hunters are able to slip like ghosts through the trees and lay traps in the paths of their enemies. These expert marksmen drop foes dead in their tracks with flawless shots from a bow, crossbow or rifle. With the ability to wield two weapons simultaneously, hunters can unleash a flurry of blows against anyone unfortunate enough to stumble into close combat with them.

The art of survival is central to the isolated life of a hunter. Hunters track beasts with ease and enhance their own abilities by attuning themselves to the feral aspects of various creatures. Hunters are known for the lifelong bonds they form with animals of the wild, training great hawks, cats, bears, and many other beasts to fight alongside them.

Background

File:BlessingsOfTheHeavens.jpg

A night elf hunter.

Note: The term "hunter" can refer to the combat class, as well as to those who go hunting as a profession, hobby, or survival skill. The two are not identical, as not all that hunt are a hunter class. The below lore refers only to the specific class.

This section contains information from the Warcraft RPG which is considered non-canon.

The hunter is a stalker in the wilds, living on his knowledge of survival and skill with a bow or rifle. He is deeply in tune with nature, and some of its mightiest beasts are his allies. Of Azeroth's many creatures, few can resist the hunter's call, and fewer can survive his fury. Hunters are as varied as the world's many climates, but they are universally renowned for their amazing abilities to find their prey and bring it down. They come from any race (players are restricted to twelve races, see below), though certain races naturally excel at the hunter's profession. Most hunters seek to aid the balance of nature along with their druidic allies. Elven rangers are not alone in their mastery of the wilderness. While an elven ranger prefers the bow, the hunter would rather get up close. A hunter is skilled in stealth, slipping through the woods like a ghost. Orcs of the Horde first learned the ways of the hunter from forest trolls on Lordaeron and tauren have been masters of the hunt since the dawn of the world. Like the shaman of the Horde, hunters call upon the spirits of the land, wind, and fire to aid them in their hunts and tasks. Their spells focus on the elements and the land.

A dwarven hunter shoots from the hip.

This section concerns content related to the original World of Warcraft.

The hunter is one of the oldest classes in history. They represent a deep connection between man and beast, and the hunters of Warcraft are not merely individuals who track animals and slay them for food, but custodians of balance. They understand the natural circle of life and death, and the part they must play in maintaining it not simply as researchers, but as active participants. The "Hunt" is venerated, and the prey they choose to stalk is given as much respect as the predators hunters choose to learn from and embody. All hunters create lifelong friendships with animal companions, who are also often their best and only friends, if the stereotype of the reclusive huntsman is to be believed. Hunters come in all shapes, forms, sizes and specialties, but in World of Warcraft, all hunters specialize to be marksmen (however, not all hunters choose the Marksmanship specialization). Hunters are a curious mix of mysticism and rough wilderness know-how. They can learn to mystically align themselves with the aspects of various animals to assist them: the spryness of a monkey, the sharp eyes of a hawk, and the swiftness of a cheetah; they gift themselves with a higher resistance against the dangers of the most important thing of all in the rites of a hunter — the very Wilds he and his prey live in. Hunters also derive a system of hand-to-hand combat inspired by the attacks and counterattacks of various animals, and use magically empowered traps to maim and snare their prey. They have various shots imbued with magic or explosives to snare, poison, handicap and disorient their targets. They can even hold their breath and slow their heartbeat to a highly infrequent, inconsequential tap to give their pursuers the impression that they are dead.

The hunter is the choice of life for those who reject societies that oppress the natural role as prey and hunter, and also reject the druidic stance that we should be healers and observers rather than active participants in the "Great Hunt". They follow a life of reverence for nature complimenting their tradition and willingness to use man-made tools. We are all tool-using creatures after all, and it is only natural to use that advantage afforded by nature to be better hunters. There are however also those hunters who prefer a more direct approach to tracking and hunting.

Horde

• Vol'jin (alive)
• Halduron Brightwing
• Nathanos Blightcaller (undead)
• Rexxar (alive)
• Sylvanas Windrunner (undead)

Alliance

• Alleria Windrunner
• Vereesa Windrunner
• Shandris Feathermoon
• Tyrathan Khort

Other

• Hemet Nesingwary

Races

Marksman Boriz, a draenei hunter.

Scout Kurgo, an orc hunter.

Main article: Hunter races

The hunter class can be played by the following races:

			Strength	Agility	Stamina	Intellect	Spirit	Armor	Health	Starting Pet
Alliance	Draenei		21	20	21	20	23	40	56	Moth
	Dwarf		25	19	22	19	20	38	66	Bear
	Gnome		N/A							Mechanical
	Human		20	23	21	20	21	N/A	56	Wolf
	Night elf		16	27	21	20	21	54	56	Cat
	Worgen		23	25	21	16	20	N/A	56	Hound
	Void elf		N/A							Warp stalker
	Lightforged		N/A							Stag
	Dark Iron		N/A							Hound
	Kul Tiran		N/A							Bird of prey
	Mechagnome		N/A							Mechanical
Neutral	Pandaren		20	21	22	19	23	37	123	Turtle
Horde	Blood elf		17	25	21	23	19	50	56	Dragonhawk
	Goblin		17	25	21	23	19	49	56	Crab
	Orc		23	20	22	17	23	40	66	Boar
	Tauren		25	19	22	16	23	38	67	Tallstrider
	Troll		21	25	21	16	22	50	56	Raptor
	Undead		19	21	22	18	26	N/A	66	Spider
	Nightborne		N/A							Cat
	Highmountain		N/A							Bird of prey
	Mag'har		N/A							Wolf
	Zandalari		N/A							Direhorn
	Vulpera		N/A							Snake

Racial abilities

These are some relevant racial traits to hunters:

• Blood elves — [Arcane Torrent] provides a 2 second, area of effect silence as well as refilling focus.
• Draenei — [Heroic Presence] improves hit by 1% for the hunter and their pet. Their [Gift of the Naaru] ability also grants them a heal over time.
• Dwarves — [Crack Shot] increases expertise with ranged weapons by 1%.
• Goblins - [Time is Money] increases attack speed by 1%. [Rocket Barrage] sends a rocket towards the target, dealing fire damage. [Rocket Jump] can be used to propel the Hunter forwards, the same distance as [Disengage].
• Humans - Every Man for Himself frees the hunter from CC effects, which is useful in all PvP and some PvE situations. It effectively frees up a trinket slot usually reserved for the same effect in PvP.
• Night elves — [Shadowmeld] provides the hunter with a second aggro-dump (for when [Feign Death] is resisted). Also allows the hunter to enter a stealth state (which breaks on movement); can be very useful for surprising unsuspecting PvPers (especially with a Cat).
• Orcs — [Command] increases pet damage by 2%. [Blood Fury] acts as an extra trinket (boosting your attack power).
• Pandaren - [Epicurean] doubles the benefit of food buffs. [Quaking Palm] acts as a brief CC.
• Trolls — [Dead Eye] increases expertise with ranged weapons by 1%. [Berserking] acts as an extra trinket (boosting your attack speed).
• Tauren — [War Stomp] causes a short area-of-effect stun around the hunter, useful for getting out of melee range.
• Undead - [Cannibalize] allows the hunter to heal by consuming the corpse of a nearby humanoid or undead mob, though it must be channeled to gain the full benefit. [Touch of the Grave] gives each attack a chance to deal some shadow damage to the target and heal the hunter for a similar amount. [Will of the Forsaken] frees the hunter from all Charm, Fear and Sleep effects, which is useful in nearly any situation.
• Worgen — [Viciousness] increases critical strike chance by 1%. [Darkflight] provides a very useful temporary speed boost, for those situations when running just isn't fast enough.

Other racial attributes can also be useful, but may not be specifically relevant to hunters as a class. As always, research into all the racial traits of each race will make a player's decision better informed.

Overview

• Hunters tame the wild beasts of Kalimdor, Eastern Kingdoms, Outland, Northrend and Pandaria, training them to fight at their side. Hunters are one of five classes that can have controllable combat pets. However, they are the only ones that can name and assign talent points to their pets.
• Hunters excel in outdoor survival skills, such as tracking and laying traps.
• Hunters can wear cloth, leather and mail armor. They are unable to use shields or plate armor. At Level 50, hunters acquire [Mail Specialization], which gives bonuses when a hunter is wearing an entire set of mail armor.
• Hunters can equip all weapons except wands, maces, and two-handed maces.
• Hunters use many shots that either deal damage or apply a status effect that costs focus to use. Most other abilities are free to use such as [Mend Pet] or their Trap abilities.
• Hunters can take on various Animal Aspects that grant special abilities, such as improved run speed.

Abilities

For a full list of hunter abilities, see Hunter abilities.

Ranged fighting

File:E'sad.jpg

E'sad, a troll hunter

Ranged fighting requires a choice between a gun, bow, or a crossbow. When starting, this will depend on your race. Dwarves, tauren and worgen are given guns, draenei start with crossbows, and the other races get bows. Later on, you can train to use the ranged weapons that aren't inherent to your race. In general, crossbows are relatively slow, but hit harder and are favored for increasing burst damage, while guns are relatively fast and good for steady grinding. Bows have moderate attack speed and are favored for sustained DPS. Initially, weapon speed will be inconsequential since the only available abilities consist of Auto-Shot and various instant casts. Guns can be crafted by engineers, but there are no craftable bows or crossbows, so most ranged upgrades will come from mob drops and quest rewards. There are also a small amount of crafted weapons other than guns.

For further information see the hunter tactics page.

Stings and venoms

Hunters have stings and venoms, which are specialized debuffs they can apply to targets to help them address specific situations. Only one sting and one venom per hunter can be active on any one target. [Viper Sting] and [Scorpid Sting] were removed in 4.0.1 which leaves hunters only one sting, the Damage Over Time sting known as [Serpent Sting]. Also, they have been given one "Venom", called [Widow Venom], which reduces healing taken by the afflicted target. While not usually worth the focus cost in PvP, it is useful in some PvE applications where heals are unavoidable. Certain abilities refresh the duration of stings. Depending on your specialization, they are [Cobra Shot], or [Steady Shot].

Shots

A night elf hunter in art.

Hunters also make heavy use of special shots to supplement their DPS and provide utility to their groups. The bulk of a hunter's damage and utility will come from the use of these shots. Survival hunters use [Explosive Shot], marksmen use [Chimera Shot], and beast masters (while technically not a shot) use [Kill Command] as their signature ability.

Since Patch 5.1.0, any shot, be it auto or cast-time, can be fired on the move, without any penalty. However, prior to Patch 3.0, the hunter could not move or fire their Auto Shot if they were casting another spell at the same time. The Auto Shot swing timer was still counting but would not fire over another shot. This was called "clipping Auto Shot" and would greatly reduce DPS. This mechanic was at first countered with [Aspect of the Fox], and later removed entirely.

In the past weapon speed was often critical to maximising dps output, but the standardisation of weapon speeds and disuse of shot rotations means that hunters should now simply use the weapon with the best dps and stats, regardless of speed. Previously, due to clipping consideration, weapon speed was crucial to maximizing dps with shot rotation, and a hunter would aim to choose a ranged weapon of an appropriate speed (2.7 for beast masters, 3-3.1 for survivalists and marksmen) to fit neatly between the cooldowns of their more powerful abilities. These days, however, all weapons have the same speed, and since shot rotations are not used, speed is no longer important.

Melee combat

Hunters do not have any melee attacks (although their pets do), but can use their ranged attacks to deal damage even at point-blank range. Hunters are able to equip melee weapons in their main hand and offhand slots, and are capable of using them to auto-attack, but have no special abilities to make use of them, and require a ranged weapon to be equipped in order to use their many ranged attacks.

Prior to Mists of Pandaria, hunters had a few melee abilities and notably, an 8-yard zone immediately beyond the hunter's melee range where ranged weapons couldn't be used. This "Dead Zone" was done away with in Patch 2.3. Previous melee abilities included [Raptor Strike], [Mongoose Bite], [Wing Clip], and the talented [Counterattack]. Hunter melee combat was essentially removed with Patch 5.0.4, along with the minimum range, making hunters always capable of firing their ranged weapon even if on top of the target.

Combat pets

Main article: Hunter pet

A dwarf hunter and his pet bear

Pets are the most important tools in the hands of a hunter. They serve as aggro-management, additional DPS, and as tanks. The pet is essential to all specs, dealing anywhere from 10% of total damage for a marksman to 50% for a beast master. Formerly, pets had anemic damage potential and weak AI that often made them more of a danger to a raid than an asset. But improved AI - pets now always attack from the back of a monster - and an innate 90% damage avoidance has made this no longer a concern.

Many beast-type mobs can be tamed, and each offer a set of unique active skills (there are special abilities just for wolves, just for cats, etc). In addition, certain pet types are tanking-oriented (such as bears and turtles), and others are DPS-oriented (such as cats and owls). Combined with the diversity of armor, stamina and resistance buffs, pets are allowed a great deal of customization. Many hunters have dedicated pets for specific instances, PvP, tanking, and so on. Combat pets can be trained to enhance their abilities.

A troll hunter is crouching with his white wolf.

Hunters start with a pet at level 1 and can tame pets at level 10. They are able to control the pet through various commands. Although hunters can have only one active pet at a time, they have immediate access to 4 additional pets using [Call Pet] and they can house up to 20 pets in the stable.

In addition to regular animals, a number of special targets have been introduced into the game world specifically for hunters to track and tame. These beasts present a Taming Challenge and require special tactics to ready them for taming, much like the original epic bow quest in Vanilla World of Warcraft. While some of these are simply hard to find (and even harder to tame) those introduced in Mists of Pandaria are fully invisible beasts, able to be revealed only by hunters using [Flare], who must first find them by seeking out their subtle and elusive tracks. See Taming Challenge for a list.

Traps

Hunters have five different types of traps available for use. Some traps are a type of Crowd Control; others are a source of damage. Traps exist for 1 minute, and have separate 30 second cooldown categories: Fire ( [Explosive Trap] and [Black Arrow]), Frost ( [Freezing Trap], [Ice Trap]) and Nature [Snake Trap]. A hunter can have one trap of each category placed at one time. Traps are within the domain of the survival sub-school, although trained by hunters of any spec.

• Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28):
  • [Immolation Trap] is removed
    

Aspects

Amongst many different aspects, two main variants remained in game.

Damage increasing Aspects:

• [Aspect of the Hawk]: The hunter takes on the characteristics of a hawk, increasing Ranged Attack Power by X.
• Aspect of the Iron Hawk is a talented version of Aspect of the Hawk providing damage reduction.

Speed increasing Aspects:

• [Aspect of the Cheetah]: The hunter takes on the characteristics of a cheetah, increasing movement speed by 30%. If the hunter takes damage, he will be dazed for 4 sec.

 [Glyph of Aspect of the Cheetah], can get rid of the [Dazed] part, has a drawback though.

• [Aspect of the Pack]: The hunter's group (including the hunter) takes on the characteristics of a pack of cheetahs, increasing all their movement speeds by 30%. If a pack member takes damage, that member will be dazed for 4 sec.

and

• [Aspect of the Beast] returns as a Minor Glyph, but it only retains the untrackable part.

Tracking

Hunters are the only class that can track any type of creature individually, or simultaniously over the minimap.

Specializations

Kalnuf Eagleheart, a tauren hunter.

For a full list of specialization abilities, see Hunter abilities

Beast Mastery

A master of the wild who can tame a wide variety of beasts to assist <him/her> in combat.

While all hunters value the assistance of their animal companions, Beast Mastery hunters have the closest bonds of all with their pets. Beast Mastery (BM) hunters place far more importance on the pet, dealing an increased amount of damage through the addition of numerous active and passive abilities, as well as through their mastery Master of Beasts. The pets of BM hunters deal more damage, regenerate focus more quickly, can use their special attacks more often and benefit from bonus crits, splash damage and haste procs. BM hunters and their pets have the most focus of any hunters, with their animal bond contributing [Invigoration] to both parties. BM hunters are also the only hunters sufficiently attuned to the animal kingdom to be capable of taming [Exotic Beasts], allowing them to gain some of the most impressive and exciting pets in the game.

Marksmanship

A master archer or sharpshooter who excels in bringing down enemies from afar.

Masters of ranged weaponry, Marksmanship hunters focus on honing their skills with the gun or bow. The standard hunter's repertoire of shots is significantly improved for Marksmanship hunters, with new types of shots and additional effects added to others. The powerful Marksmanship abilities [Aimed Shot] and [Chimera Shot] are augmented along with [Steady Shot] and [Multi-Shot] to build to a devastating synergy of ranged attacks, dealing swift and explosive damage while granting disorients, bleeds and even self-healing. Marksmanship hunters' potent damage output is increased by their mastery [Wild Quiver], regularly granting free bonus shots.

Survival

A rugged tracker who favors using animal venom, explosives and traps as deadly weapons.

Survival hunters focus on the more miscellaneous areas of the hunter's repertoire, benefiting from improved traps and increased magical damage. Survival hunters gain several improvements to their [Serpent Sting], increasing its damage and duration, and spreading it automatically to targets hit by [Multi-Shot]. Survival hunters also gain some additional attacks ( [Black Arrow], [Explosive Shot]) with additional synergy from other effects such as [Lock and Load]. Survival hunters' traps are also improved both in power and effect, while the Survival mastery Essence of the Viper improves many of the Survival hunter's most powerful attacks.

Gear

Armor

Hunters can initially only wear cloth and leather, but at level 40 are able to equip mail, with the level 50 [Mail Specialization] rewarding them for doing so. See hunter sets for a list of hunter armor sets.

Weapons

Hunters can use bows, guns, and crossbows. Usable melee weapons are daggers, axes, fist weapons, swords, polearms and staves. However, while hunters are able to equip melee weapons, they can only use them to auto attack, making them practically useless. The only weapons hunters cannot use are wands and maces.

Upon reaching level 20, hunters can learn the Dual Wield skill. This allows them to wield two one-handed weapons at the same time.

Before Mists of Pandaria, hunters could equip melee weapons at the same time as their ranged weapons. Polearms were generaly considered the best melee weapon for hunters, due to disinterest from other classes, slow attack speed, and stats that could be utilized for ranged abilities. Thus, polearms tended to have stats for hunters. The slow attack speed ensured that the few swings the hunter may have to make maximized the damage possible for each swing. Another factor was looks, as the melee weapon was the only weapon that would regularly show on the hunter, while the ranged weapon would only show up while in use. Prior to Cataclysm, hunters were able to wield thrown items, and in the beta even had shields.

Attribute conversions

In mordern World of Warcraft, most attributes are affected by Dimminishing Returns, making it impossible to assign absolute values to each attribute. The general priority of importance however, can be assumed below.

Level 90 Hunter PVE	Special notes
Weapon DPS: The damage displayed on a weapon.
Agility: Increases attack power and critical strike rating with ranged weapons. 1 Agility = 2 Attack Power
Expertise: Reduces the targets chance to dodge an attack. 2550 Rating (or 7.5%) are needed to cap for raidbosses.	Trolls/Dwarves only need 2,210 rating (6.5%)
Hit: Increases the players chance to hit a target with an attack. 2550 Rating (or 7.5%) are needed to cap for raidbosses.	Draenei only need 2,210 rate (6.5%)
Critical strike: Doubles the players attack if successful. A theoretical 104.7% are needed to cap this stat.
Haste: Increases the ammount of shots fired, focus regained and pet focus regained.
Mastery: Increases your damage depending on your specialization via:Master of Beasts, [Wild Quiver], or Essence of the Viper

• • For exact figures of ones personal exact stat priorities and values, please do consult addons or sites such as femalefwarf.com.

End-game expectations

A hunter's primary responsibility in nearly all raid encounters is to sustainably generate high DPS. They should know when to use [Feign Death] to get rid of aggro before they gain more aggro than the raid's primary tank, and then continue dealing damage. They will also need to monitor their focus usage and regen using [Steady Shot], or [Cobra Shot].

You will almost never be asked to trap during raids, but you might be asked during 5man groups and heroics. Trapping is a form of Crowd Control. This is typically done by using [Trap Launcher] & [Freezing Trap],to throw at the target to control. At lower levels or special occasions laying down a [Freezing Trap] in front of you, works just as fine. [Distracting Shot] and [Concussive Shot] can also help at this task. The generally accepted raid symbol for a trap is a blue square, although it is very important to confirm this beforehand. The tank or off-tank will usually be responsible for taking aggro off of you when the group is ready to deal with the mob. A skilled hunter of any spec should be able to keep at least one target controlled indefinitely. [Scatter Shot] helps kill time between trap cool downs. All specs can use [Concussive Shot], pet tanking/ [Misdirection]/sacrificing to buy time while keeping a mob occupied.

A trap that hasn't been tripped will exist for 60 seconds, but comes off of cooldown after only 30 seconds. With the new wrath patch, hunters are able to drop three types of trap at one time(snake,ice,dps), but it is possible to lay a trap before the pull, wait 30 seconds to let the cooldown, trap a mob, and then move away a small distance and lay another trap. Whenever the first trap's effect wears off, the mob will usually run for you, and right into another freeze trap. This is called chain-trapping a mob. The 2-piece set bonus of Beast Lord Armor reduces the cooldown on your traps by 4 seconds, and some raiders gain only two pieces and equip them only for special boss fights were it is highly important Crowd Control, such as the Moroes fight in Karazhan.

When trapping in anything heroic level and beyond, if you know [Misdirection] will not be required on a tank in the next 30 seconds, it can be very useful to trap casters (such as the Spell Shades in Karazhan). This is accomplished by posting the pet out of line of sight or far enough away that a trap can be placed such that the caster will have to run into it before the pet is in its range. Once the mob is trapped, the pet can be sent into combat and a new trap placed on the other side. This is also very useful, such as with the spell shades, when dealing with mobs that constantly resist traps, as the pet will already be tanking the mob (most likely dying in the process). Still, this is much better than the hunter having initial aggro when things go wrong.

In some cases you will be asked to Kite one or more creatures that either cannot or should not be killed during a specific encounter, allowing the rest of the raid to focus on other needs in order defeat the objective. Kiting is a skill that is best accomplished by hunters because of their Aspect of the Cheetah, pets, and armor rating (mages are quite skilled at snare/root kiting, but few instances require such a technique and is intense in its use of mana) and requires a lot of practice). While kiting, you will need to shoot your target with instant abilities, and often use speed boosts (such as the movement speed enchantment for foot gear, speed potions, and/or using [Aspect of the Cheetah]). Kiting, for most hunters, is the hardest skill to learn, yet is considered by many to be the most important skill.

PvP

Hunters wishing to participate in end-game PvP will find any of the talent trees help them towards their goals of massive player destruction! In beast mastery, a PvP hunter will find the skills of [Intimidation], [Bestial Wrath] (to include [The Beast Within]), and a deadly pet worthy of causing constant havoc (especially to casters); a beast mastery hunter would be considered ill-equipped in PvP without them. Bestial Wrath primarily enables beast mastery to be the hunter's primary anti-caster spec, although it can have more difficulty against the melee classes (warrior, rogue, paladin).

The marksman tree skills of [Improved Concussive Shot], [Mortal Shots], [Barrage], [Improved Barrage], [Concussive Barrage] are all excellent in a PvP setting, with the skills of [Lethal Shots], and [Silencing Shot] being considered "must haves" within the tree. These talents in the tree enables the hunter to inflict immense Burst damage. In terms of targets, marksmanship can to some extent deal with either casters or melee equally well, but does not specialise against either.

Finally, the survival hunter has many tricks that allow them to escape the deadzone (Note: The deadzone was done away with in Patch 2.3, much to the dismay of mages using [Frost Nova].) as well as dish out the pain, with such skill as [Humanoid Slaying], [Savage Strikes], [Deterrence] & [Counterattack], and [Master Tactician], followed by the "can't do without" skills of [Hawk Eye], [Improved Wing Clip], [Entrapment], [Survivalist], [Killer Instinct], [Wyvern Sting] and [Scatter Shot]. As beast mastery is designed to deal most effectively with the caster classes, so survival is specialised, conversely, towards the melee classes, and likewise also has somewhat more difficulty against casters.

Some of these skills are considered universal abilities that should be in any PvP hunter talent build, no matter which tree you put the majority of your points into. These include [Hawk Eye], which allows you to do damage from farther away, as well as [Entrapment], which used with [Frost Trap], can turn the tide of an entire battle if used strategically, and [Lethal Shots], which provides a sizable increase to your critical hit rate for only 5 points into marksmanship.

Hunters excel at taking out soft targets like warlocks, priests, and mages from a distance, and should do so before moving on to hard targets such as warriors and paladins, though if a rogue is observed it is the hunter who is best equipped to track and expose the rogue by marking him with Hunter's Mark. Hunter's pets can also break an unseen rogue's stealth if he is close and the pet is on aggressive.

You may also want to look at getting a lot of stamina enchants so you will have more health to face a warrior or carry a flag in Warsong Gulch.

Notes

• Hunters are the third most played class according to Warcraft Realms.
• The "OMG HUNTER LOOT" / "That's a hunter weapon!" : joke is derived from a time when some classes carried a ranged weapon and a melee weapon. Prior to the Cataclysm expansion, hunters could dual-wield daggers, axes, and swords as well as equip two-handed swords, polearms, axes, and staves as 'stat sticks'. Warriors and Rogues could equip ranged weapons, leading to hunters laying claim on many items and vice-versa. As noted, though, the joke lacks relevance as ranged weapons have been limited to guns, crossbows, and bows and are only usable by hunters. All melee weapons are no longer usable by hunters, and itemization of both reflects these changes.
• While the hunter is an easy class to play at a superficial level, it can be a highly challenging class to play well. People will consistently tell you that damage is the only reason for a hunter's existence; in raids, and possibly in soloing that might be true, but in five man instances and battleground pvp in particular, it isn't. You can use traps as a form of crowd control, and you need to monitor your pet to ensure that it does not cause problems.
• In addition, in most MMORPGs, the hunter or ranger class variant is usually recognized as the ideal ranged puller in a group. World of Warcraft is somewhat unique in that within its culture, ranged pulling is generally not considered a hunter's responsibility, to the point where hunters in groups will actually be expressly forbidden from doing so. This is true despite the fact that, as with other games, in WoW Blizzard has equipped the hunter with numerous unique abilities (Disengage, Feign Death, Tracking) to assist them in the accomplishment of that task. The advent of [Misdirection] has changed this a bit, with tanks often requesting that a hunter "MD that mob to me." In combat, hunters have the ability to quickly remove all threat they have generated on a target via [Feign Death]. This ability does not remove you from combat when fighting raid bosses.
• Originally Survival hunters were intented to engage mostly in melee, and they had many talents to support this. Afterwards Survival was changed to be a ranged dps tree. However, one relic from those days survived up until Mists of Pandaria: [Counterattack].
• The Survival tree was initially named Outdoormanship.
• The hunter (prestige class) was replaced with the hunter (core class) in the World of Warcraft RPG.

Videos

• Official Crash Course: Level 90 Hunter (Survival)
• Level 85 Beast Mastery Hunter DPS (Cataclysm) - TGN
• Level 85 Marksmanship Hunter DPS (Cataclysm) - TGN
• Level 85 Survival Hunter DPS (Cataclysm) - TGN

Twinking

• Level 19 hunter twinking guide
• Level 29 hunter twinking guide
• Level 60 hunter twinking guide

Patch changes

• Patch 5.3.0 (2013-05-21): Hunters now have 50 pet stable slots, up from 20.
  
• Patch 5.0.4 (2012-08-28):
  • Minimum range removed.
  • Main hand slot is being changed to equip ranged weapons for hunters. Melee weapons can still be placed in this slot, however, they'll have no abilities that use them.
  • Hunters now benefit from Expertise as their ranged attacks can be dodged.
  • Any type of pet can now choose any specialization (Ferocity, Tenacity, or Cunning).
    
• Patch 4.0.1 (2010-10-12):
  • Focus has replaced mana as a new resource.
  • Ammo has been removed from the game. Quivers and ammo pouches have also been removed.
  • Up to five pets can now be stored with the hunter at all times (depending on how many "ranks" of the [Call Pet] ability have been trained). Any one of these five pets can be summoned via the [Call Pet] ability.
  • Hunters now start with a pet at level 1, rather than acquiring the ability to tame their first pet at level 10.
    
• Patch 3.2.0 (2009-08-04): Traps now have separate 30 second cooldown categories: Fire (Immolation Trap, Explosive Trap and Black Arrow), Frost (Freezing Trap, Frost Trap) and Nature (Snake Trap). A hunter can have one trap of each category placed at one time. Also, the time that traps will exist in the world after being put down has been reduced to 30 seconds, down from 1 minute.
  
• Patch 3.0.2 (2008-10-14): Pets now have their own talent trees. These can be accessed via the talent panel. Hunter pets can learn talents in one of three trees depending on family. Pets gain talent points starting at level 20 and earn an extra talent point every 4 levels.
  
• Patch 2.3.0 (2007-11-13): Untalented firing range of 5-35 yards, eliminating the dead zone.
  
• Patch 2.0.1 (2006-12-05): Traps can now be set while in combat, but require a 2 second arming time.
  
• Patch 1.6.0 (2005-07-12): Fixed race condition allowing hunters to control a charmed unit and a pet at the same time.
  

External links

World of Warcraft Official Game Guide - Hunter

[1] Hunter forums (US)

[2] Hunter forums (EU)

Warcraft Hunters Union Site for hunters on how to best play the class (includes best gems, specs, enchants, etc.)

Petopia Hunter Pet Information

WowInsider Scattered Shots — non-raid hunter weekly feature at WoW Insider

WowInsider Hunter guides at WoW Insider

Hunter Loot A guide to loot for different hunter specs

Hunter DPS Analyzer Web-based Hunter DPS spreadsheet

Icy Veins Beast Mastery, Marksmanship, and Survival Hunter Raiding Guides (Mists of Pandaria)

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