Hunter (World of Warcraft)

Azeroth is home to a wide variety of beasts. From the new world of Lordaeron to the old world of Kalimdor, all manner of creatures can be found. Some are friendly, some are ferocious - yet they all have one thing in common. Each creature shares a special connection with Hunters. Hunters track, tame, and slay all manner of animals and beasts found in the wild. Whether they rely on bows or firearms, Hunters consider their weapons and pets to be their only true friends.

One of the easier characters to solo with, especially after lv 10 when one is able to charm a pet. This is ment to be a beginning, so any players that have had experiences with higher level ranged hunters, (rangers), (mine was only lv 23), feel free to add aditional info. Also do not be afraid to disagree on some of my impressions, point here being to give input about the class.

My experience is with a Hunter that focuses on ranged skills, (talent investment), with pet as a tank.

Skills I had experience with:

Outdoorsmanship

Raptor Strike - My main close combat skill, a last resort kinda thing if I drew too much aggro.

Beast mastery

Aspect of the Monkey - Main aspect when in close quarters, gives % to dodge.

Aspect of the Hawk - Main aspect when ranged skills. Increases ranged attack power.

Aspect of the Cheetah - Good when low lv for transportation. (For instance the trek from Darkshore to IF/SW).

Eagle Eye - Good for scouting crowded areas, to see which mobs one can pull. Drawback: Didn't find a way to shut it off, (lasted a tad too long for my taste).

Revive Pet, Feed Pet, Tame Beast, Beast Training - All these are mandatory if pet. Mend pet is IMHO optional, but necessary prereq for "Spirit Bond", (talent that tranfers pet hits to 20 life for it's master. (I didn't use it anyways)).

Scare Beast - As there are a lot of mobs of the beast class, this may be a useful skill if ones resources are wearing thin, and or one wants to finish off another first.

Ranged attacks

Scorpid Sting - Good vs. physical attackers, (bow/gun/melee). Decreases agility/str for 20 seconds.

Serpent Sting - DOT, (Nature dmg), usually my third attack after Aimed- and Concussive- Shot. Some monster classes were immune.

Aimed Shot - Usually my opening shot. Adds 70 dmg to base. (Gained from talent tree).

Arcane Shot - Usually my fourth attack. Deals additional arcane dmg.

Concussive Shot - Slows and stuns, (can add talent points to get 20% to stun).

Multi-Shot - Shoots up to three missilles. Demands tactical use to not draw too much attention to yourself. Not that vise to use solo.

Hunter's Mark - Great skill for party play! Shows which mob to pull next, (and adds ranged attack power).

Talents

IMHO this build will boil down to one of two choices: Either got for "Spiritual Bond" or "Hawkeye", for PvP I'd probably go for the extra yards from Hawkeye, but as of yet I dunno which route I'll go come retail launch.

Role in party:

- Hunters mark, pulling, Concussive Shot, draw aggro with pet, (Growl). In addition to general damage dealing of course.

Soloing:

I usually scout/check area thoroughly first, if sure I will not draw aggro from several I send my pet to draw aggro with Growl. Then as mentioned above use a sequence of shots. Some instances require one to pull first before engaging pet, usually it's vise not to use skills that causes great dmg then, so it is possible to derail aggro over to pet.

Next time around I'll also give the frost traps a go. I experimented some with immolation trap, and the range for it to spring was workable, so for crowd control it might be good.