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World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade PC Hunter Guide
WORLD OF WARCRAFT
THE BURNING CRUSADE
Hunter Guide
Systems: PC, Mac
Author: UltimaZER0 (ultimazer0@msn.com, Jonathan Wong)
On Eredar Server: Eldrethor, Lv.70 Dwarf Hunter
Initial Release: 04/25/06
Current Release: 05/08/08
Current Version: 3.04.0
===============================================================================
----------------------------------[ UPDATES ]----------------------------------
===============================================================================
Version 3.04.0 – 05/08/08
- Miscellaneous has been updated to reflect the fact that Unstable Mana
Potions are no longer rewarded to players that complete the quest.
- Updated tooltip entries for changes made to abilities in Patch 2.4.2.
- Information on Season 4 Arena gear has been added. Information on previous
Seasons have been updated to reflect changes in vendors.
- The Talent Specialization chapter has been revised significantly.
> Sample templates have been redone to feature viable talent builds. Each
one now includes a description of the build’s intents.
> Each section now has general information on how to use each build for
raiding and for PvP.
Version 3.03.0 – 04/19/08
- The Equipment section has been renamed to Gear Management. Weapons and armor
sets have been moved to a new cataloging chapter called Weapons & Armor.
- Minor updates to texts to reflect changes made in Patch 2.4.
- A new Raiding section has been added to address the concerns of players who
are planning on raiding.
- Many commentaries on talents and abilities have been rewritten.
- Several articles have either been revamped or rewritten entirely.
Version 3.02.0 – 01/29/08
- Tooltip for all abilities as of Patch 2.3.2 have been updated.
- Chapter A has been removed.
- Some sections have received minor updates to reflect some in-game changes.
- Some new items such as ammo containers and set armors have been added.
Version 3.01.0 – 11/16/07
- Tooltip for all abilities as of Patch 2.3.2 have been updated.
- Added a Chapter A, which will address recent Patch changes and what they
mean for you.
- Some new items such as ammo containers and set armors have been added.
Version 3.00.0 – 09/18/07
- Massive rewriting of the entire guide. Although Version 2.00 and later kept
raw data up to date, many articles and commentaries were never updated to
accommodate the major changes in gameplay. Some overviews that were felt to
be too lenient on weak talents and abilities have been readjusted. All
sections are now up to date and are more user-friendly.
- Permission granted for www.stvsweets.com to host this guide.
- Much of the item data has been reorganized into charts.
- Chapter A has been removed. The details of the 2.01 Patch are now under the
new Milestones chapter, which lists abilities and mechanics of yesteryear.
- Added a Miscellaneous section under Equipment.
- All sections under Playing As A Hunter have been completely reorganized and
revamped to accommodate players of different skill levels.
- The Updates log has reached the point where it is excessively long. Listings
that date back to Version 2.XX and older have been removed.
- Added a new Chapter called Talent Specialization.
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---------------------------[ TABLE OF CONTENTS ]-------------------------------
===============================================================================
I. Introduction
II. Legal Information
III. Combat Basics
a. About The Hunter
b. Choosing Your Race
c. Choosing Your Professions
IV. Hunter Abilities
a. Marksmanship
b. Survival
c. Beast Mastery
V. Hunter Talents
a. Marksmanship
b. Survival
c. Beast Mastery
d. Choosing Your Specialization
VI. Talent Specialization
a. The Marksman
b. The Survivalist
c. The Beast Master
VII. Pets
a. Pet Taming & Care
b. Available Pets
c. Pet Abilities
d. Building Your Pet
VIII. Gear Management
a. Basics of Gear Selection
b. Technical Issues
c. Melee Weapons
d. Ammunition
e. Ammo Storage
f. Scopes
g. Gear Enhancements
h. Gems
i. Miscellaneous
IX. Playing As A Hunter
a. Hunter 101: The Basics
b. Hunter 201: Intermediate
c. Hunter 301: Advanced Tactics
d. Player Versus Player
e. Raiding
X. Weapons & Armor
a. PvE Armor Sets
b. PvP Armor Sets
c. Uncommon Ranged Weapons
d. Rare Ranged Weapons
e. Epic Ranged Weapons
XI. Future Plans
XII. Milestones
XIII. Credits
===============================================================================
------------------------------[ I. Introduction ]------------------------------
===============================================================================
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.
===============================================================================
---------------------------[ II. Legal Information ]---------------------------
===============================================================================
This document is Copyright ultimazer0@msn.com. All rights reserved. This
document may not be altered or used for profit without the written consent of
its original author. As of the nineteenth of April, year two thousand and
eight, the following establishments have my permission to host their guide on
their websites or publications under said conditions:
GameFAQs.com
1Up.com
SuperCheats.com
GamersGuides.com
Gameabolic.com
Gamerstemple.com
DLH.net
s13.invisionfree.com/Ehgeiz/
(www.randomactsguild.net)
Orderofarcane.com
www.honestgamers.com
Fatal Legacy (www.fatallegacy.org)
WoW Newsletter from “Melissa” of Topvideogameguides.com [Title Pending]
www.world-of-warcraft-tipps.de
www.hunterftw.com
www.gamertales.com
www.stvsweets.com
www.curse.com, www.curse-gaming.com
www.GamersHell.com
If you bought this guide from auctioneers, such as Beinc777 from eBay, you’ve
been ripped off. This guide is primarily hosted on GameFAQs for free.
===============================================================================
----------------------------[ III. Getting Started ]---------------------------
===============================================================================
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
a. About The Hunter
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So what does a Hunter have to offer? Here is what you need to know...
-------------
Ranged Damage
-------------
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.
----
Pets
----
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.
-------------
Survivability
-------------
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.
-------
Utility
-------
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. Choosing Your Race
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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.
====================================================================
| 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 |
====================================================================
-----
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: Your chance to critically hit with Guns is increased by 1%.
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
---------
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
-------
Draenei
-------
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
---
Orc
---
23 Strength Health: 76
20 Agility Mana: 82
23 Stamina Armor: 42
17 Intellect
24 Spirit
Racial Traits:
Axe Specialization: Expertise with Axes and Two-Handed Axes increased by 5.
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: Your chance to critically hit with Throwing Weapons is
increased by 1%.
Bow Specialization: Your chance to critically hit with Bows is increased by 1%.
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
------
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
---------
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
-------------------
The Choice Is Yours
-------------------
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.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
c. Choosing Your Professions
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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:
-------------------------
Leatherworking + Skinning
-------------------------
BENEFITS
Mail Armor Patterns
Ammo Containers
Leg Patches
Drums
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
your own ammo pouches and quivers, which is a nice plus for players that prefer
to craft their own goods.
One major perk of being a leatherworker is the series of drums that you can
make, which cause different area effects. The two most notable effects are the
Haste and attack power bonuses from the Drums of War and Drums of Battle. Since
they affect all party members, they are perfect for groups.
And on a side note, Comfortable Insoles do absolutely nothing.
--------------------
Engineering + Mining
--------------------
BENEFITS
Epic Mail Helm Pattern
Crafted Guns & Ammo
Jumper Cables & Repair Bots
Lots of Fun Toys
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 in stores.
You can also craft an excellent epic helm called the Surestrike Goggles v2.0,
which do not require obscenely rare materials.
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 usually worth the effort.
-------------------
Alchemy + Herbalism
-------------------
BENEFITS
Potions & Elixirs
Transmutations
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.
Alchemy branches off into two specializations: Potion and Elixir. Depending on
which of the two you have, you can learn various kinds of endgame consumables
such as Flasks.
--------------
Enchanting + ?
--------------
BENEFITS
Do-It-Yourself Enchants
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
Auction House for items but that can cost you a fortune.
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.
----------------------
Jewelcrafting + Mining
----------------------
BENEFITS
Crafted Rings, Necks, & Trinkets
Cut Your Own Gems
Cut Exclusive Epic Gems
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 big kicker to taking Jewelcrafting over simply asking another player to cut
your gems is the fact that some very potent gems are exclusive to whoever
crafts them. For example, the Crimson Sun is a red gem that gives +24 Attack
Power but becomes bound to whoever cuts the gem.
----------------------
Blacksmithing + Mining
----------------------
BENEFITS
Some Upgradeable Endgame Weapons
Some Mail Armor Patterns
The weapons, armor, and other materials that come from Blacksmithing caters
mostly to Warriors and Paladins. 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.
---------------------
Secondary Professions
---------------------
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.
===============================================================================
--------------------------[ IV. Hunter Abilities ]-----------------------------
===============================================================================
This section will give you a full analysis of each of your abilities. As a
Hunter, you will have many abilities to work with, which will easily take up
most of your action bars. The Trackers already account for eight of your slots.
I recommend that you enable all of your action bars and set hotkeys to them.
Some players assign their Function keys to their top-left action bar. I prefer
to use my Shift-number keys instead.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
a. Marksmanship
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This branch of abilities makes up the core prowess of every Hunter. These
abilities are associated with your ranged weapon, and will provide the majority
of the damage you inflict. The bulk of your Shots and Stings are in this area.
----------
Aimed Shot
----------
ACTION: An aimed shot that increases ranged damage by 70 and reduces healing
done to that target by 50%. Lasts 10 sec.
RANGE: 5-35 yards
CASTING TIME: 3.0 sec.
COOLDOWN: Weapon Speed +6 sec.
NOTE: This move is accessible only through its respective talent.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
20 1 75 Ranged damage bonus starts at 70.
28 2 115 Ranged damage bonus increased to 125.
36 3 160 Ranged damage bonus increased to 200.
44 4 210 Ranged damage bonus increased to 330.
52 5 260 Ranged damage bonus increased to 460.
60 6 310 Ranged damage bonus increased to 600.
70 7 370 Ranged damage bonus increased to 870.
OVERVIEW: This ability works by allowing your first shot to be a heavy hitter.
What sets this Shot apart from the others is that it resets your Auto-Shot
timer, which means that in timing your shots, you have to treat an Aimed Shot
as though you had just fired a single Auto-Shot. Because of this and its long
casting time, using it within a regular shot rotation not recommended.
However, the reduced healing effect can be useful in situations where healing
can be an issue. This also applies to PvP but keep in mind that enemy players
can interrupt its cast or move out of your line of sight.
-----------
Arcane Shot
-----------
ACTION: An instant shot that causes 15 Arcane damage plus 15% of your ranged
attack power.
RANGE: 5-35 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 6 sec.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
6 1 25 Base Arcane damage equals 15.
12 2 35 Base Arcane damage equals 23.
20 3 50 Base Arcane damage equals 36.
28 4 80 Base Arcane damage equals 65.
36 5 105 Base Arcane damage equals 91.
44 6 135 Base Arcane damage equals 125. Dispels one Magic effect.
52 7 160 Base Arcane damage equals 158. Dispels one Magic effect.
60 8 190 Base Arcane damage equals 200. Dispels one Magic effect.
68 9 230 Base Arcane damage equals 273. Dispels one Magic effect.
OVERVIEW: This is your primary Shot ability, which you will use very often in
your shot rotation until Steady Shot comes into play. You can also fire it
while jumping or running, making it a vital tool for kiting. Curiously, magic
shields cannot reflect the damage back to you, but anything that is immune to
Arcane damage will not take damage from this Shot.
---------
Auto-Shot
---------
ACTION: Automatically fire your ranged weapon at the target until cancelled.
RANGE: 5-35 yards
CASTING TIME: Roughly 0.25 sec.
COOLDOWN: Based on Weapon
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
1 n/a n/a n/a
OVERVIEW: This is your basic auto-attack but with a ranged weapon. As a Hunter,
the T key by default serves as your Auto-Shot when in firing range, which
means that there is no need to keep this slotted in an ActionBar unless you
have trouble knowing when your Auto-Shot is active. Note that unlike melee
weapons, Auto-Shot has a very slight casting time. Therefore, you have to be
standing still in order for you to fire a shot. With a little practice, you
can time your Auto-Shots so that you can do hit-and-run tactics with it.
---------------
Concussive Shot
---------------
ACTION: Dazes the target, slowing movement speed by 50% for 4 sec.
RANGE: 5-35 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 12 sec.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
8 n/a 8% n/a
OVERVIEW: Concussive Shot serves both an offensive and defensive purpose. You
can use it to either catch targets that are trying to flee, or slow down an
enemy that’s trying to get near you. It also serves as a setup for Steady
Shot’s bonus damage, though most shot rotations do better without it due to
the global cooldown and the mana used by this Shot.
----------------
Distracting Shot
----------------
ACTION: Distract the target, causing threat.
RANGE: 5-35 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 8 sec.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
12 1 20 Increases your threat.
20 2 30 Causes more threat than Rank 1.
30 3 50 Causes more threat than Rank 2.
40 4 70 Causes more threat than Rank 3.
50 5 90 Causes more threat than Rank 4.
60 6 110 Causes more threat than Rank 5.
70 7 140 Causes more threat than Rank 6.
OVERVIEW: Usually you would want to keep your aggro as low as possible but
there are those times when you need to draw attention to yourself to keep
someone else alive. This causes no damage but it should draw a mob’s attention
to you when stacked on top of your other shots. It can also be used with
Misdirection. Note that this ability is classified as an Arcane effect, which
means that it has no effect against enemies that are immune to Arcane damage.
-----
Flare
-----
ACTION: Exposes all hidden and invisible enemies within 10 yards of the
targeted area for 20 sec.
RANGE: 30 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 20 sec.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
32 n/a 50 n/a
OVERVIEW: Flare is good for spotting hidden mobs and players early but it is
always a hit or miss. If you don’t catch your target the first time, you will
either have to wait for a second Flare or hope that something walks into it.
Of course, most Rogues and Druids will not step into the Flare once it has
landed, and the craftiest players will catch you off-guard by the time your
Flare spots them. So while it does have its uses, it’s a bit limited.
-------------
Hunter’s Mark
-------------
ACTION: Places the Hunter's Mark on the target, increasing the ranged attack
power of all attackers against that target by 20 and by an additional 2 each
time they are struck by a ranged attack, up to a maximum of 80. In addition,
the target of this ability can always be seen by the hunter whether it
stealths or turns invisible. The target also appears on the mini-map. Lasts
for 2 min.
RANGE: 100 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
6 1 15 Base power set to 20. Increases by 2, up to 80.
22 2 30 Base power set to 45. Increases by 4, up to 180.
40 3 45 Base power set to 75. Increases by 7, up to 300.
58 4 60 Base power set to 110. Increases by 11, up to 440.
OVERVIEW: Many Hunters overlook the importance of this ability, and with its
stacking effect, it’s not an ability that should go ignored. You need to shoot
your target thirty times to reach the top of the stack. In most cases, enemies
die so quickly that you’ll never get that high, but against bosses, you have a
better chance of getting there. This effect also makes faster weapons much
more useful, as it would mean reaching the top of the stack in a shorter
amount of time.
----------
Multi-Shot
----------
ACTION: Fires several missiles, hitting 3 targets. Higher ranks cause bonus
damage.
RANGE: 5-35 yards
CASTING TIME: 0.5 sec.
COOLDOWN: 10 sec.
NOTE: Rank 5 is only available through a book that teaches it.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
18 1 100 No bonus damage.
30 2 140 Increases ranged damage by 40.
42 3 175 Increases ranged damage by 80.
54 4 210 Increases ranged damage by 110.
60 5 230 Increases ranged damage by 150.
67 6 275 Increases ranged damage by 205.
OVERVIEW: Despite its high mana cost, Multi-Shot is extremely potent. It can
hit three targets at once, and can be boosted with two powerful talents. The
key to knowing what targets the Shot will hit is knowing that Multi-Shot will
hit up to two targets that are within 8 yards of your first target. With that
in mind, you can judge when it is safe to use it without breaking any nearby
crowd control.
----------
Rapid Fire
----------
ACTION: Increases ranged attack speed by 40% for 15 seconds.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 5 min
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
26 n/a 100 n/a
OVERVIEW: Rapid Fire is your trump card for those moments when you need a
little extra push in firepower. It also reduces the casting time on Aimed Shot
and Steady Shot so it doesn’t interfere with the Auto-Shot timer as much as
you would think. Rapid Fire goes great with any effects that increase ranged
attack power.
------------
Scatter Shot
------------
ACTION: A short-range shot that deals 50% weapon damage and disorients the
target for 4 sec. Any damage caused will remove the effect. Turns off your
attack when used.
RANGE: 15 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 30 sec.
NOTE: This move is accessible only through its respective talent.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
30 n/a 6% n/a
OVERVIEW: What makes Scatter Shot such an excellent ability is the fact that it
can interrupt spells from as close as melee range, and you can use the dazed
time to your advantage. You can use that time to either plant a trap or get
away from your target. The short cooldown also allows you to use it more
liberally than many of the other talent-based abilities that the class has to
offer.
-------------
Scorpid Sting
-------------
ACTION: Stings the target, reducing chance to hit with melee and ranged attacks
by 5% for 20 sec. Only one Sting per Hunter can be active on any one target.
RANGE: 5-35 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
22 n/a 8% Chance to hit reduced by 5%.
OVERVIEW: A 5% reduction in hit rate equals to a 5% reduction in damage output
but it’s not very useful for short battles. Against bosses, however, this
Sting truly shines. The longer the fight goes on, the more mileage you’ll get
from this Sting. Also, if you happen to accidentally use Serpent Sting on a
target that’s being crowd-controlled, this Sting will safely overwrite the
target without breaking whatever control is in place.
-------------
Serpent Sting
-------------
ACTION: Stings the target, causing 20 Nature damage plus 10% of your ranged
attack power over 15 sec. Only one Sting per Hunter can be active on any one
target.
RANGE: 5-35 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 15 sec.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
4 1 15 Base damage dealt starts 20.
10 2 30 Base damage dealt increased to 40.
18 3 50 Base damage dealt increased to 80.
26 4 80 Base damage dealt increased to 140.
34 5 115 Base damage dealt increased to 210.
42 6 150 Base damage dealt increased to 290.
50 7 190 Base damage dealt increased to 385.
58 8 230 Base damage dealt increased to 490.
60 9 250 Base damage dealt increased to 555.
66 10 275 Base damage dealt increased to 660.
OVERVIEW: This is a Hunter’s primary damage-over-time ability, which causes
damage every three seconds for a total of five ticks. At the time you learn
it, the damage comes in handy since you have little else to work with at that
level, but as you grow, its uses become much more limited, mostly due to its
lack of mana efficiency. This is further confounded by the mana-friendly
Steady Shot at level 62. Even with the scaling damage bonus, the total damage
is lackluster compared to all the other abilities you have. Still, if nothing
else, it can take up an empty debuff slot on your target.
--------------
Silencing Shot
--------------
ACTION: Deals 50% weapon damage and silences the target for 3 seconds.
RANGE: 5-35 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 20 sec.
NOTE: This move is accessible only through its respective talent.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
51 n/a 6% n/a
OVERVIEW: Silencing Shot can be devastating because of your ability to hit
casters from as far as 41 yards away. It’s great for mobs that like to stand
in one place and cast spells. The best time to use it is just near the end of
a spell, which is when you can interrupt it but be sure to time the shot
carefully. The only downside to this Shot is that most bosses are immune to
its silencing effect, though the damage portion still takes effect.
-----------
Steady Shot
-----------
ACTION: Inflicts 150 damage plus 20% of your ranged attack power. If the target
is dazed, the ability inflicts an additional 175 damage.
RANGE: 6-25 yards
CASTING TIME: 1.5 sec
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
62 1 110 Base damage set to 150, dazed +175.
OVERVIEW: Steady Shot is basically a smaller Aimed Shot but it has no exclusive
cooldown, and does not reset your Auto-Shot timer. Its short casting time also
makes it easily compatible with ranged weapons of any speed, and the casting
time is affected by any Haste bonuses, including the speed bonus from your
ammo pouch or quiver. Once you get this Shot, it will become a vital part of
your shot cycle, as you will frequently use this alongside Arcane Shot. In
some cases, it replaces it entirely. The bonus damage that you can get from
dazing your target is great but your only real source of daze effects is
Concussive Shot, and you would usually fair better without having it in a
shot rotation.
------------------
Tranquilizing Shot
------------------
ACTION: Removes one Frenzy effect from the target.
RANGE: 5-35 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 20 sec
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
60 n/a 12% n/a
OVERVIEW: Note that this Shot only removes Frenzy effects, and not Enrage
effects. In the olden days, this played a key role versus specific raid bosses
at level 60. In Outland, there are very few situations where this Shot may
come in handy.
-------------
Trueshot Aura
-------------
ACTION: Increases the attack power of party members within 45 yards by 50.
Lasts 30 min.
RANGE: 45 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
NOTE: This move is accessible only through its respective talent.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
40 1 0 Attack power bonus starts at 50.
50 2 0 Attack power bonus increased to 75.
60 3 0 Attack power bonus increased to 100.
70 4 0 Attack power bonus increased to 125.
OVERVIEW: Trueshot Aura was once one of the handiest buffs that a Hunter could
have, but this ability scales poorly with level. Not that it’s a bad ability.
125 attack power is still a sizeable amount of force but intervals of 25 just
don’t cut it by the time you hit 70. Regardless, it’s still a decent ability
for both you and any party members that use attack power.
-----------
Viper Sting
-----------
ACTION: Stings the target, draining 616 mana over 8 sec. Only one Sting per
Hunter can be active on any one target.
RANGE: 5-35 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 15 sec.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
36 1 135 Total mana drained starts at 616.
46 2 175 Total mana drained increased to 848.
56 3 215 Total mana drained increased to 1108.
66 4 270 Total mana drained increased to 1368.
OVERVIEW: Most caster mobs have such little health and armor that most of the
time, you will kill it before it ever runs out of mana, but this ability is
valuable in PvP, especially when backed up with Improved Stings, which makes
it tougher to dispel and boosts a Rank 4 Sting from 1368 to 1778.
------
Volley
------
ACTION: Continuously fires a volley of ammo at the target area, causing 50
Arcane damage to enemy targets within 8 yards every second for 6 sec.
RANGE: 5-35 yards
CASTING TIME: 0.5 sec cast, 6-sec channel
COOLDOWN: 1 min.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
40 1 350 Damage dealt per second starts at 50.
50 2 420 Damage dealt per second increased to 65.
58 3 490 Damage dealt per second increased to 80.
67 4 585 Damage dealt per second increased to 105.
OVERVIEW: This is your ranged area damage ability. It doesn’t cause much damage
but it can be reinforced with Barrage and Improved Volley. You can cause much
more damage if you pair it with Explosive Trap.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. Survival
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Survival consists of a variety of supportive and defensive abilities, which
includes traps, melee abilities, Trackers, and more.
-------------
Counterattack
-------------
ACTION: A strike that becomes active after parrying an opponent's attack. This
attack deals 40 damage and immobilizes the target for 5 sec. Counterattack
cannot be blocked, dodged, or parried.
RANGE: 5 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 5 sec.
NOTE: This move is accessible only through its respective talent.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
30 1 45 Damage dealt starts at 40.
42 2 65 Damage dealt increased to 70.
54 3 85 Damage dealt increased to 110.
OVERVIEW: For what it does, Counterattack is a great ability but you don’t get
many chances to use it because of your low Parry chance, which has a base of
roughly 5%. If you offset this with Deterrence and Deflection, it becomes your
ticket to freedom, allowing you to run away from an enemy that gets too close
for comfort.
----------
Deterrence
----------
ACTION: When activated, increases your Dodge and Parry chance by 25% for 10 sec.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 5 min.
NOTE: This move is accessible only through its respective talent.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
20 n/a 0 n/a
OVERVIEW: Deterrence is your trump card for those occasions when something mean
wants to take a swing at you. Combined with Aspect of the Monkey, it can help
fend off melee attacks until you get a chance to make an escape. The cooldown
is rather long but that can be offset with Readiness if you have it.
---------
Disengage
---------
ACTION: Attempts to disengage from the target, reducing threat. Character
exits combat mode.
RANGE: 5 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 5 sec.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
20 1 50 Reduces your aggro.
34 2 100 Reduces more aggro than Rank 1.
48 3 150 Reduces more aggro than Rank 2.
62 4 205 Reduces more aggro than Rank 3.
OVERVIEW: The tooltip is very confusing for most players. Disengage does not
actually cause you to exit combat. Instead, it reduces your threat and turns
off your auto-attack. Many players disregard this ability because of the way
Feign Death completely wipes you clean of all threat but Feigning may not
always work, which leaves you with this ability. The threat reduction is low
but it can be enough to save you from being stomped into hamburger meat.
--------------
Explosive Trap
--------------
ACTION: Place a fire trap that explodes when an enemy approaches, causing 100
to 130 Fire damage plus 10% of your ranged attack power and 150 additional
Fire damage over 20 sec to all within 10 yards. Trap will exist for 1 min.
Only one trap can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 30 sec.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
34 1 275 Inflicts 104-135 damage with 150 area damage.
44 2 395 Inflicts 145-193 damage with 240 area damage.
54 3 520 Inflicts 208-265 damage with 330 area damage.
61 4 650 Inflicts 263-337 damage with 450 area damage.
OVERVIEW: Unlike Immolation Trap, this trap causes instant damage along with a
damage-over-time component. Because of the high mana cost and the nature of
the effect, it’s best used against entire packs of mobs that will stay in one
place while the trap ticks.
-----------
Feign Death
-----------
ACTION: Feign death which may trick enemies into ignoring you.
Lasts up to 6 min.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 30 sec.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
30 n/a 80 n/a
OVERVIEW: Feign Death wipes you clean of all threat and takes you out of
combat, allowing you to escape from dangerous mobs. Be aware that even though
a mob will not target you, you can still get hit with area effects, and
disorienting and fear effects will cancel Feign Death by causing you to stand
up. In PvP, this ability can cancel a spell while it is being cast, and will
cause enemies to un-target you.
-------------
Freezing Trap
-------------
ACTION: Place a frost trap that freezes the first enemy that approaches,
preventing all action for up to 10 sec. Any damage caused will break the ice.
Trap will exist for 1 min. Only one trap can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 30 sec.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
20 1 50 Freeze time starts at 10 sec.
40 2 75 Freeze time increased to 15 sec.
60 3 100 Freeze time increased to 20 sec.
OVERVIEW: Freezing Trap is a very handy form of crowd control because it’s not
limited to specific subtypes, and with Clever Traps, Rank 3 will grant you a
total of 26 seconds. At that point, you can easily keep a single mob under
control for a long time. The only problem is that it has a cooldown, which
means that if it breaks, you may have to wait a while before you can set
another trap.
----------
Frost Trap
----------
ACTION: Place a frost trap that creates an ice slick around itself for 30 sec
when the first enemy approaches it. All enemies within 10 yards will be
slowed by 60% while in the area of effect. Trap will exist for 1 min. Only one
trap can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 30 sec
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
28 n/a 60 n/a
OVERVIEW: Frost Traps are extremely handy in situations where you need to slow
an army down by a lot. It’s especially handy in PvP but it’s also a good way
to slow down a mob that’s chasing you. Tanks will also find this trap useful,
as it means not having to chase mobs very far if someone pulls aggro.
---------------
Immolation Trap
---------------
ACTION: Place a fire trap that will burn the first enemy to approach for 105
Fire damage plus 10% of your ranged attack power over 15 sec. Trap will exist
for 1 min. Only one trap can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 30 sec.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
16 1 50 Total damage starts at 105.
26 2 90 Total damage increased to 215.
36 3 135 Total damage increased to 340.
46 4 190 Total damage increased to 510.
56 5 245 Total damage increased to 690.
65 6 305 Total damage increased to 985.
OVERVIEW: This trap is the strongest damage-over-time ability in your arsenal,
and can help you quickly tear down a mob when paired with Serpent Sting or
Wyvern Sting. With Clever Traps, Rank 6 will cause a solid 1280 base damage.
------------
Misdirection
------------
ACTION: Threat caused by your next 3 attacks is redirected to the target raid
member. Caster and target can only be affected by one Misdirection spell at a
time. Effect lasts 30 sec.
RANGE: 100 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 2 min.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
70 n/a 9% n/a
OVERVIEW: With the amount of threat that Hunters can cause, Misdirection is a
great way to keep enemies glued to your tanks, especially bosses. Of course,
it’s also a great way to turn your least favorite party member into an aggro
magnet. This is a vital ability for endgame encounters.
-------------
Mongoose Bite
-------------
ACTION: Counterattack the enemy for 25 damage plus 20% of your attack power.
Can only be performed after you dodge.
RANGE: 5 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 5 sec.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
16 1 30 Base damage starts at 25.
30 2 40 Base damage increased to 45.
44 3 50 Base damage increased to 75.
58 4 65 Base damage increased to 115.
70 5 80 Base damage increased to 150.
OVERVIEW: Mongoose Bite is a bit weak but it can help you turn the tables when
fighting in melee range. When bolstered with Aspect of the Monkey, Deterrence,
and Savage Strikes, you can do quite a bit of damage between this and Raptor
Strike.
-------------
Raptor Strike
-------------
ACTION: A strong attack that increases melee damage by 5.
RANGE: 5 yards
CASTING TIME: Next Melee Swing
COOLDOWN: 6 sec.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
1 1 15 Damage dealt starts at 5.
8 2 25 Damage dealt increased to 11.
16 3 35 Damage dealt increased to 21.
24 4 45 Damage dealt increased to 34.
32 5 55 Damage dealt increased to 50.
40 6 70 Damage dealt increased to 80.
48 7 85 Damage dealt increased to 110.
56 8 100 Damage dealt increased to 140.
63 9 120 Damage dealt increased to 170.
OVERVIEW: This is your primary melee ability, which simply gives your next
swing some extra force. It doesn’t do much else but it gets the job done,
especially if it lands as a critical strike.
---------
Readiness
---------
ACTION: When activated, this ability immediately finishes the cooldown on your
other Hunter abilities.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 5 min.
NOTE: This move is accessible only through its respective talent.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
50 n/a 0 n/a
OVERVIEW: It’s hard to appreciate this ability if you’ve never used it before.
On the defensive, Readiness is basically an emergency switch that you can hit
if you happen to need an ability that’s cooling off. It helps to alleviate
long cooldown timers from abilities such as Deterrence and Wyvern Sting. On
the offensive, you can use it to buy yourself a second Rapid Fire, another
Volley, or maybe even another Multi-Shot. Whatever the case is, Readiness is
a very handy ability to have.
----------
Snake Trap
----------
ACTION: Place a trap that will release several venomous snakes to attack the
first enemy to approach. The snakes will die after 15 sec. Trap will exist
for 1 min. Only one trap can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 30 sec.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
68 n/a 305 n/a
OVERVIEW: What makes Snake Trap so potent is the fact that they are a huge
annoyance to whatever the snakes are attacking. They have three different
poisons: one causes damage over time, another slows spell casts, the third
slows movement speed. A simply area effect can obliterate the snakes but once
the poisons are applied, removing them one by one can become tedious.
------------
Track Beasts
------------
ACTION: Shows the location of all nearby beasts on the minimap. Only one form
of tracking can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
1 n/a 0 n/a
OVERVIEW: This is the first of a handful of Trackers that you will learn as a
Hunter, and it’s quite a handy one, especially if you’re looking for a
specific beast to tame.
------------
Track Demons
------------
ACTION: Shows the location of all nearby demons on the minimap. Only one form
of tracking can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
32 n/a 0 n/a
OVERVIEW: This is just as handy as the other trackers, but the game’s demon
population resides mostly within Kalimdor. They are not very common throughout
the Eastern Kingdoms. Seeing how the Burning Legion has such a large role in
Outland, demons are more abundant once you step foot into Hellfire Peninsula.
---------------
Track Dragonkin
---------------
ACTION: Shows the location of all nearby dragonkin on the minimap. Only one
form of tracking can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
50 n/a 0 n/a
OVERVIEW: Dragonkin are a very territorial breed of creatures. They reside in
specific regions of the world, and tend to stay near other dragons of their
respective colors.
----------------
Track Elementals
----------------
ACTION: Shows the location of all nearby beasts on the minimap. Only one form
of tracking can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
26 n/a 0 n/a
OVERVIEW: Being that elementals are a prominent source of Primals, Essences,
and other materials vital to various crafts, they are often sought out and
hunted regularly. This ability gives you the upper hand by allowing you to see
them on your radar.
------------
Track Giants
------------
ACTION: Shows the location of all nearby beasts on the minimap. Only one form
of tracking can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
40 n/a 0 n/a
OVERVIEW: This ability exists despite the fact that giants are arguably the
rarest of the different subspecies that exist throughout the world.
------------
Track Hidden
------------
ACTION: Greatly increases stealth detection and shows hidden units within
detection range on the minimap. Only one form of tracking can be active at a
time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
24 n/a 0 n/a
OVERVIEW: This is used more for its stealth detection than its actual tracking
since invisible units will only appear on the minimap if they’re visible to
you. This ability is easily thwarted by talents that reduce stealth detection,
but against stealthy enemies, it is still a handy option for your radar.
---------------
Track Humanoids
---------------
ACTION: Shows the location of all nearby humanoids on the minimap. Only one
form of tracking can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
10 n/a 0 n/a
OVERVIEW: Humanoids are everywhere. They are extremely common, all players
count as humanoids, and dungeons of all sizes are full of them. You will be
using this more often than any other tracking ability.
------------
Track Undead
------------
ACTION: Shows the location of all nearby undead on the minimap. Only one
form of tracking can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
18 n/a 0 n/a
OVERVIEW: Undead are very regional but if you see withered trees, broken ruins,
desolate houses, cemeteries, or undead buildings, then you are guaranteed to
run into them.
---------
Wing Clip
---------
ACTION: Inflicts 5 damage and reduces the enemy target's movement speed by 50%
for 10 sec.
RANGE: 5 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
12 1 40 Damage starts at 5, slows target to 50%.
28 2 60 Damage increased to 25, slows target to 45%.
60 3 80 Damage increased to 50, slows target to 40%.
OVERVIEW: Wing Clip is potent due to the fact that its speed reduction is
greater than that of most movement-impairing abilities in the game. Rank 3
shaves off 60% of your target’s speed, which gives you enough legroom to
outrun most mobs and enemy players if you happen to get snared.
------------
Wyvern Sting
------------
ACTION: A stinging shot that puts the target to sleep for 12 sec. Any damage
will cancel the effect. When the target wakes up, the Sting causes 300 Nature
damage over 12 sec. Only one Sting per Hunter can be active on the target at
a time.
RANGE: 5-35 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 2 min.
NOTE: This move is accessible only through its respective talent.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
40 1 115 Total damage dealt starts at 300.
50 2 155 Total damage dealt increased to 420.
60 3 205 Total damage dealt increased to 600.
70 4 255 Total damage dealt increased to 942.
OVERVIEW: This Sting acts as both a form of crowd control as well as a fast-
acting poison. Twelve seconds may not seem like a lot of time but in PvP, it’s
just enough time to hold an enemy player down. It’s also great for stopping
anything that may try to flee, including players on mounts. The only problem
is that anything that is immune to the sleep effect will not be inflicted with
the poison.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
c. Beast Mastery
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This set contains abilities that are related to your pet, as well as an
assortment of Aspects and several other support abilities.
-------------------
Aspect of the Beast
-------------------
ACTION: The hunter takes on the aspects of a beast, becoming untrackable.
Only one Aspect can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
30 n/a 50 n/a
OVERVIEW: This ability is so situational that you will almost never have to use
this. What it does is make you not appear on the minimap when someone is
tracking humanoids, which can be using if you happen to be hiding somewhere
and need a moment to recover.
---------------------
Aspect of the Cheetah
---------------------
ACTION: The hunter takes on the aspects of a cheetah, increasing movement speed
by 30%. If the hunter takes damage, he will be dazed for 4 sec. Only one
Aspect can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
20 n/a 40 n/a
OVERVIEW: This Aspect makes life without a mount much easier, and it’s also a
great way to quickly run through towns and dungeons. It’s also an important
part of kiting, as it allows you to stay ahead of a dangerous mob. Just be
careful not to get hit by anything while running around with this Aspect.
------------------
Aspect of the Hawk
------------------
ACTION: The hunter takes on the aspects of a hawk, increasing ranged attack
power by 20. Only one Aspect can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
10 1 20 Ranged attack power bonus starts at 20.
18 2 35 Ranged attack power bonus increased to 35.
28 3 50 Ranged attack power bonus increased to 50.
38 4 70 Ranged attack power bonus increased to 70.
48 5 90 Ranged attack power bonus increased to 90.
58 6 110 Ranged attack power bonus increased to 110.
60 7 120 Ranged attack power bonus increased to 120.
68 8 140 Ranged attack power bonus increased to 155.
OVERVIEW: This is your primary self-buff, which simply boosts your ranged
attack power. This is the one Aspect that you will be using the most often.
In fact, once you learn it, you will have it active nearly all the time.
--------------------
Aspect of the Monkey
--------------------
ACTION: The hunter takes on the aspects of a monkey, increasing chance to dodge
by 8%. Only one Aspect can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
4 n/a 20 n/a
OVERVIEW: This is the first of several Aspects that you will learn as you grow.
At level 4, it is a vital ability since you have to withstand melee attacks
with nothing that would help you get back into firing range. Once you have a
pet to soak up damage, however, Hawk becomes your most active Aspect. Still,
when you do have to go toe-to-toe with something, Monkey’s extra chance to
dodge is much more beneficial than Hawk’s ranged attack power bonus.
------------------
Aspect of the Pack
------------------
ACTION: The hunter and group members within 30 yards take on the aspects of a
pack of cheetahs, increasing movement speed by 30%. If a pack member takes
damage, they will be dazed for 4 sec. Only one Aspect can be active at a time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
40 n/a 100 n/a
OVERVIEW: This is basically Aspect of the Cheetah for the whole party. It’s
good for running a group through long indoor environments. Just remember to
turn it off when your party runs into a fight.
-------------------
Aspect of the Viper
-------------------
ACTION: The hunter takes on the aspects of a viper, regenerating mana equal to
up to 55% of his/her Intellect every 5 sec. The lower the hunter's current
mana, the more mana will be regenerated. Only one Aspect can be active at a
time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
64 n/a 40 n/a
OVERVIEW: Whenever max firepower isn’t needed, Viper is a good way to keep
going for longer periods of time without having to sit and drink. As the
tooltip indicates, it’s most effective when you’re low on mana, and works best
if you have the Intellect for it, but it also gives you a Mana Tick equal to
35% of your level. At 70, this means having an instant 25 Mana/5 sec.
------------------
Aspect of the Wild
------------------
ACTION: The hunter and group members within 30 yards take on the aspect of the
wild, increasing Nature resistance by 45. Only one Aspect can be active at a
time.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
46 1 90 Nature resist bonus starts at 45.
56 2 115 Nature resist bonus increased to 60.
68 3 150 Nature resist bonus increased to 70.
OVERVIEW: This works the same way as a Paladin aura. It helps during encounters
that require Nature resistance but that’s not very common. One major problem
with this Aspect is that its range is only 30 yards. With Hawk Eye, this is a
massive 11-yard difference.
----------
Beast Lore
----------
ACTION: Gather information about the target beast. The tooltip will display
damage, health, armor, any special resistances, and diet. In addition, Beast
Lore will reveal whether or not the creature is tameable and what abilities
the tamed creature has.
RANGE: 40 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
24 n/a 40 n/a
OVERVIEW: Beast Lore is more for fun than anything else, though it’s good for
finding out if a certain animal has pet abilities that you may need. Lasts
thirty seconds.
-------------
Bestial Wrath
-------------
ACTION: Send your pet into a rage causing 50% additional damage for 18 sec.
While enraged, the beast does not feel pity or remorse or fear and it cannot
be stopped unless killed.
RANGE: 100 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 2 min.
NOTE: This move is accessible only through its respective talent.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
40 n/a 12% n/a
OVERVIEW: This ability is scary, and not just because of the damage bonus. It’s
the fact that with several talents that increase your pet’s damage output,
Bestial Wrath can turn your pet into a killing machine that can’t be stunned,
feared, or crowd-controlled. It’s especially lethal when combined with
Intimidation.
---------
Eagle Eye
---------
ACTION: Zooms in the hunter's vision. Only usable outdoors. Lasts 1 min.
RANGE: 50,000 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
14 n/a 25 n/a
OVERVIEW: Eagle Eye is good for those times when you want to get a nice open
view of an area before you step into it, though it’s only useable outdoors.
For indoors, you can pick up an Ornate Spyglass.
-----------------
Eyes of the Beast
-----------------
ACTION: Take direct control of your pet and see through its eyes for 1 min.
RANGE: 50,000 yards
CASTING TIME: 2 sec.
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
14 n/a 20 n/a
OVERVIEW: This ability useful for scouting if you have a fast or stealthy pet.
It’s also a good way to dismiss your pet without having to lose Happiness
through Dismiss Pet.
--------
Feed Pet
--------
ACTION: Feed your pet the selected item. Feeding your pet increases happiness.
Using food close to the pet's level will have a better result.
RANGE: 10 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
NOTE: You receive this skill as a quest reward.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
10 n/a 0 n/a
OVERVIEW: Feeding your pet is important because its happiness affects loyalty
and base damage. Each time you use Feed Pet, it gives your pet a ten-second
buff that increases its happiness over time, maxing at 35 Happiness per tick.
However, if it takes damage, the buff goes away.
------------
Intimidation
------------
ACTION: Command your pet to intimidate the target on the next successful melee
attack, causing a high amount of threat and stunning the target for 3 sec.
RANGE: 100 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1 min.
NOTE: This move is accessible only through its respective talent.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
30 n/a 8% n/a
OVERVIEW: Use this as you would with an interrupt ability. The high threat is
nice but the real kicker is that stun that comes with it. Even though the
effect only occurs on the next melee attack, Cobra Reflexes and Serpent’s
Swiftness can help speed up the process.
------------
Kill Command
------------
ACTION: Give the command to kill, causing your pet to instantly attack for an
additional 127 damage. Can only be used after the Hunter lands a critical
strike on the target.
RANGE: 45 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 5 sec
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
66 1 75 Bonus damage set to 127.
OVERVIEW: From the moment you land a critical hit, you have five seconds to hit
the button. For what it is, Kill Command causes a decent amount of damage. It
also counts towards your pet’s damage, which means that whatever threat that
this ability causes is attributed to your pet. This is an especially important
ability if you are planning on building up on Beast Mastery talents. Note that
silencing effects will prevent you from using this.
--------
Mend Pet
--------
ACTION: Heals your pet for 125 health over 15 sec.
RANGE: 20 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec global
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
12 1 40 Total healing starts at 125.
20 2 70 Healing increased to 250.
28 3 100 Healing increased to 450.
36 4 130 Healing increased to 700.
44 5 165 Healing increased to 1000.
52 6 200 Healing increased to 1400.
60 7 250 Healing increased to 1825.
68 8 300 Healing increased to 2375.
OVERVIEW: This ability will help keep your pet alive during intensive fights,
and it heals for quite a bit. At Rank 8, it heals for a respectable 475 health
per tick. This spell is unaffected by healing bonuses.
----------
Revive Pet
----------
ACTION: Revive your pet, returning it to life with 15% of its health.
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: 10 sec
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
NOTE: You receive this skill as a quest reward.
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
10 n/a 80% n/a
OVERVIEW: This spell is very costly but that’s the price to pay for letting
your faithful companion die. Unlike Paladins and Priests, you can actually use
this ability while in combat. Not that I’d recommend it but if you really need
to do so, the option is there.
-----------
Scare Beast
-----------
ACTION: Scares a beast, causing it to run in fear for up to 10 sec. Damage
caused may interrupt the effect. Only one beast can be feared at a time.
RANGE: 30 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 30 sec
LEVEL RANK MANA CHANGE
14 1 35 Fear time starts at 10 sec.
30 2 50 Fear time increased to 15 sec.
45 3 75 Fear time increased to 20 sec.
OVERVIEW: Even though Scare Beast is only limited to beasts, there are enough
of them in the game to make this ability worthwhile. It also works wonders
against Druids.
===============================================================================
----------------------------[ V. Hunter Talents ]------------------------------
===============================================================================
What will set you apart from every other Hunter are the talents you invest in
your talent trees. These enhance your current moves and gives you access to
new ones based on whatever tree your talent points into. Here is a breakdown
of the Hunter’s available talents.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
a. Marksmanship
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These talents are mainly associated with your ranged attack abilities. The key
goal of this tree is to maximize your ranged attack power and the damage that
your Shots and Stings inflict.
------------------------
Improved Concussive Shot
------------------------
EFFECT: Gives your Concussive Shot a 4/8/12/16/20% chance to stun your
target for 3 seconds.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 1
OVERVIEW: This is one of those talents where the effect occurs when you least
expect it. Though when it does happen, you will be glad that it did. The stun
time can give you extra kiting distance or a few additional shots at your
target. With a bit of luck, it may even interrupt a spell.
------------
Lethal Shots
------------
EFFECT: Increases your chance to land a critical strike with your ranged
weapon by 1/2/3/4/5%.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 1
OVERVIEW: This is an increase in damage output that should not ever go
untouched. No matter how you distribute your talent points, be sure to leave
room for this.
----------------------
Improved Hunter’s Mark
----------------------
EFFECT: Cause 20/40/60/80/100% of your Hunter’s Mark ability’s base attack
power to apply to melee attack power as well.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 2
OVERVIEW: Many players tend to throw this talent aside due to the fact that it
does nothing for ranged damage, but it makes a difference in groups. 110
Attack Power comes nowhere near what Blessing of Might or Battle Shout has to
offer, but it still contributes to all melee damage, and can be refreshed for
an easy 60 mana. This also benefits your pet’s attacks as well.
----------
Efficiency
----------
EFFECT: Reduces the mana cost of your Shots and Stings by 2/4/6/8/10%.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 2
OVERVIEW: You can dry up your mana supply very quickly as a Hunter, especially
if your gear is lacking in Intellect. True to its namesake, this talent can
help offset that problem.
-----------------
Go For The Throat
-----------------
EFFECT: Your ranged critical hits cause your pet to generate 25/50 Focus.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 3
OVERVIEW: Pets don’t get much attention when it comes to managing Focus. Even
though they regain Focus quickly, they can use it up in only a few seconds.
This talent can help offset that a little bit.
----------
Aimed Shot
----------
EFFECT: Grants you access to the move Aimed Shot.
POINTS: 1/1
TIER: 3
OVERVIEW: Aimed Shot is no longer needed for maximizing your firepower as it
was the case years ago, but it is still a valuable ability to have. Plus it
also bridges the way to Mortal Shots.
--------------------
Improved Arcane Shot
--------------------
EFFECT: Reduces the cooldown of your Arcane Shot by 0.2/0.4/0.6/0.8/1.0
seconds.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 3
OVERVIEW: Five points for one second may sound like a waste but it actually
makes quite a difference in your overall firepower. If you are planning on
proceeding further down the tree, be sure to keep this talent in mind.
-------------
Rapid Killing
-------------
EFFECT: Reduces the cooldown of your Rapid Fire ability by 1/2 min. In
addition, after killing an opponent that yields experience or honor, your next
Aimed Shot, Arcane Shot, or Auto Shot causes 10%/20% additional damage. Lasts
20 sec.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 3
OVERVIEW: That quick boost to your shot is decent but the real kicker is the
reduction in Rapid Fire’s cooldown. By bringing it down to three minutes, it
allows you to be less conservative when using it, which means not having to
hold it back as an emergency button.
---------------
Improved Stings
---------------
EFFECT: Increases the damage done by your Serpent Sting and Wyvern Sting by
6/12/18/24/30%, increases the mana drained by your Viper Sting by
6/12/18/24/30%, and reduces the chance Stings will be dispelled by
6/12/18/24/30%.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 4
OVERVIEW: 30% is a sizeable number for your Stings, as you can tell from this
chart below:
NAME RANK PER TICK IMPROVED TICKS
Serpent Sting 10 132 171-172 5
Wyvern Sting 4 157 204-205 6
Viper Sting 4 342 444-445 4
Note that the increase in damage only affects base damage, not the scaled
damage. This talent always comes off as somewhat iffy. The nice thing about it
is that it makes Viper Sting that much tougher to remove in PvP. Aside from
that, it doesn’t really make your other Stings that much more mana efficient.
------------
Mortal Shots
------------
EFFECT: Increases your ranged weapon critical strike damage bonus by
6/12/18/24/30%.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 4
NOTE: You need 1 point in Aimed Shot to gain access to this.
OVERVIEW: This talent is a staple for players wanting to invest their points in
Marksmanship. Be sure to make room for this.
------------------
Concussive Barrage
------------------
EFFECT: Your successful Auto Shot attacks have a 2/4/6% chance to Daze the
target for 4 sec.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 5
OVERVIEW: Basically, one out every seventeen Auto Shots becomes a free
Concussive Shot. This talent goes hand-in-hand with Steady Shot, especially if
you use a fast weapon, but you could do just fine without it.
------------
Scatter Shot
------------
EFFECT: Grants you access to Scatter Shot.
POINTS: 1/1
TIER: 5
OVERVIEW: Scatter Shot is undeniably one of the most useful abilities that a
Hunter can have. Its ability to interrupt spells and leave your target open to
traps while giving you time to keep your distance makes it a powerful counter
against mobs and players alike. Some players have even gone as far as skipping
key talents in their builds in favor of leaving room for Scatter Shot.
-------
Barrage
-------
EFFECT: Increase the damage done by your Multi-Shot and Volley by 4/8/12%.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 5
OVERVIEW: Barrage is one of the reasons why Hunters can rack up damage very
quickly against multiple targets. Even though it is generally not very useful
against single targets, it is a very good talent to have for when you do have
to attack several enemies at once. Improved Barrage, on the other hand, is
open to debate.
-----------------
Combat Experience
-----------------
EFFECT: Increases your total Agility by 1/2% and your total Intellect by 3/6%.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 6
OVERVIEW: It’s a shame that this talent gives such a small bonus because the
concept is actually quite good. For every 100 Agility and 100 Intellect, you
get an additional 2 Agility and 6 Intellect. There are so many better talents
to choose from that it is hard to justify investing two points in this.
----------------------------
Ranged Weapon Specialization
----------------------------
EFFECT: Increase the damage you deal with ranged weapons by 1/2/3/4/5%.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 6
OVERVIEW: This is yet another important staple to the Marksmanship tree. No
reason to pass this one by. Be sure to include it.
-----------
Careful Aim
-----------
EFFECT: Increases your ranged attack power by an amount equal to 15/30/45%
of your total Intellect.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 7
OVERVIEW: Intellect is usually hard to come by when looking for new weapons and
armor, but much of the Hunter-oriented gear that you will find late in the
game has enough of it to make it worthwhile. Give this talent some thought
when mapping out your tree.
-------------
Trueshot Aura
-------------
EFFECT: Grants you access to Trueshot Aura.
POINTS: 1/1
TIER: 7
NOTE: While it is true that this ability scales poorly to level 70, Trueshot
Aura is still worth having. As a standalone buff, you get 125 Attack Power for
one point.
----------------
Improved Barrage
----------------
EFFECT: Increases the critical strike chance of your Multi-Shot ability by
4/8/12% and gives you a 33/66/100% chance to avoid interruption caused by
damage while channeling Volley.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 7
NOTE: You need 3 points in Barrage to gain access to this.
OVERVIEW: This talent can allow you to score some flashy numbers in PvP, but
with Steady Shot becoming a major key player in your shot rotation, you will
find that there are not many situations in PvE where you would need to
repeatedly use Multi-Shot or Volley.
---------------
Master Marksman
---------------
EFFECT: Increases your ranged attack power by 2/4/6/8/10%.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 8
OVERVIEW: This talent is one of the reasons why players that path down this
tree tend to have such high Ranged Attack Power. Unless you are creating a
hybrid build, be sure to invest your points in this.
--------------
Silencing Shot
--------------
EFFECT: Grants you access to Silencing Shot.
POINTS: 1/1
TIER: 9
OVERVIEW: While it looks unusually simple for a 41-point talent, few can deny
its potency: just ask any caster what they think of it.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. Survival
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The talents in this tree are geared towards bolstering your defense by reducing
your intake of damage, and giving you much more utility when in melee range.
---------------
Monster Slaying
---------------
EFFECT: Increases all damage caused against Beast, Giant, and Dragonkin targets
by 1/2/3% and increases critical damage caused against Beast, Giant, and
Dragonkin targets by 1/2/3%.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 1
OVERVIEW: This mainly targets the game’s beast population since dragonkin tend
to be rare, and giants even rarer. It comes in handy when questing in the wild
but many endgame dungeons contain few of these three species. Still, it makes
a great filler for whatever your talent build may be.
----------------
Humanoid Slaying
----------------
EFFECT: Increases all damage caused against Humanoid targets by 1/2/3% and
increases critical damage caused against Humanoid targets by 1/2/3%.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 1
OVERVIEW: Although this talent only covers one specie as opposed to Monster
Slaying’s three, the game is heavily populated with humanoids. Nearly every
zone and dungeon is full of them, and this doubles as a PvP staple since all
players count as humanoids as well.
--------
Hawk Eye
--------
EFFECT: Increases the range of your ranged weapons by 2/4/6 yards.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 1
OVERVIEW: Six yards may not seem like a lot but having that extra shooting
distance means being able to stay farther away from deadly area damage spells,
and it gives you more distance to work with when kiting. You can make do
without it but it definitely comes in handy often.
--------------
Savage Strikes
--------------
EFFECT: Increases the critical strike chance of Raptor Strike and Mongoose
Bite by 10/20%.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 1
OVERVIEW: Even though most of your firepower comes from your ranged attacks,
this talent is what makes some hard-hitting melee weapons worth using from
time to time. In some cases, this makes Raptor Strike worth having in your
shot cycle if you can manage shooting from near melee range.
----------
Entrapment
----------
EFFECT: Gives your Immolation Trap, Frost Trap, Explosive Trap, and Snake Trap
a 8/16/25% chance to entrap the target, preventing them from moving for 5 sec.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 2
OVERVIEW: This talent works with four different traps but it truly shines when
paired with Frost Trap. Think of it as putting a giant sheet of sticky paper
on the floor. Especially great for narrow passageways and pathways in
Battlegrounds and arena matches.
----------
Deflection
----------
EFFECT: Increases your chance to parry by 1/2/3/4/5%.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 2
OVERVIEW: This talent makes the most out of Deterrence and Counterattack, but
it is hard to justify putting five points into this talent when you are not
even in melee range most of the time. Unless you plan on experimenting with a
melee-oriented build, there are more favorable talents to choose from.
------------------
Improved Wing Clip
------------------
EFFECT: Gives your Wing Clip a 7/14/20% chance to immobilize your target for
5 sec.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 2
OVERVIEW: This talent can let you land a few free potshots on a kited mob but
it especially counts in PvP. Against other players, Wing Clip’s ability to cut
your target’s speed to 40% gives you a lot of leeway but if they have snares
of their own, it can make escaping melee range very difficult. This talent
will you a better chance of running back into firing range. You can also keep
Clipping your target until the effect triggers.
------------
Clever Traps
------------
EFFECT: Increase the duration of Freezing and Frost Trap effects by 15/30% and
the damage of Immolation and Explosive Trap effects by 15/30%, and the number
of snakes summoned from Snake Traps by 15/30%.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 3
OVERVIEW: More snakes, bigger fires, and longer-lasting ice. What more could
you want? This talent does a lot for all of your traps, and is worth having
regardless of your preferred tree. The extended Frost and Freezing Trap times
are especially a key highlight for this talent. The only problem is that it
stretches far enough down the Survival tree that not everyone is able to
afford it.
-----------
Survivalist
-----------
EFFECT: Increases total health by 2/4/6/8/10%.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 3
OVERVIEW: This talent is usually overlooked in favor of the more offensive
talents that the Survival tree has to offer. You can usually do without the
extra Health in PvE but it can give you a bit more staying power in PvP,
especially if you are collecting PvP rewards, which have a lot of Stamina,
Armor, and Resilience.
----------
Deterrence
----------
EFFECT: Grants you access to Deterrence.
POINTS: 1/1
TIER: 3
OVERVIEW: This move is one of the Survival tree’s emergency switches that you
can hit when the going gets rough, and it paves the way to another handy
talent. Be sure to drop a point in this on the way down the tree.
------------
Trap Mastery
------------
EFFECT: Decreases the chance enemies will resist trap effects by 5/10%.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 4
OVERVIEW: At 10%, your traps will become nearly irresistible, but traps don’t
get resisted very often so it is hard to decide if this talent is worth
putting your points into.
----------
Surefooted
----------
EFFECT: Increases hit chance by 1/2/3% and increases the chance movement-
impairing effects will be resisted by 5/10/15%.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 4
OVERVIEW: For players who are trying to raise their Hit rating, this talent
shortens that base 5% Miss rate by a lot. The greater resistance to snares is
alright to have in PvE, but it is priceless in PvP. No matter how you play
your game, be sure to put three points into this talent on the way down.
--------------------
Improved Feign Death
--------------------
EFFECT: Reduces the chance that your Feign Death will be resisted by 2/4%.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 4
OVERVIEW: Feign Death will not fail you very often but when it does, it is
usually when you are up against something that is higher than you in level,
namely raid bosses. It can be a lifesaver but if you watch your aggro
carefully and can get far away before Feigning, you will not need this talent.
------------------
Survival Instincts
------------------
EFFECT: Reduces all damage taken by 2/4% and increases attack power by 2/4%.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 5
OVERVIEW: This talent gives you more of a fighting chance in close-range
combat. 4% more attack power is decent but 4% damage reduction is a lot. Be
sure to consider investing your points into this one.
---------------
Killer Instinct
---------------
EFFECT: Increases your critical strike chance with all attacks by 1/2/3%.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 5
OVERVIEW: There may be fewer points in this talent than the tier-1 Lethal Shots
talent in the Marksmanship tree but this 3% conveniently counts towards your
melee attacks as well as your ranged attacks. That can be very important when
having to deal with close encounters.
-------------
Counterattack
-------------
EFFECT: Grants you access to Counterattack.
POINTS: 1/1
TIER: 5
NOTE: You must have 1 point in Deterrence to access this talent.
OVERVIEW: Counterattack is one of those abilities that can turn the tides for
you when the going gets rough, and although its uses can be limited, you
shouldn’t pass up on this ability, especially if you’ve gone this far down the
tree.
---------------
Resourcefulness
---------------
EFFECT: Reduces the mana cost of all traps and melee abilities by 20/40/60%
and reduces the cooldown of all traps by 2/4/6 sec.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 6
OVERVIEW: With lower mana costs on traps and melee abilities, you can go for
longer without having to drink a mana potion, but the real winning element to
this talent is its reduced cooldown on all traps. Traps are very powerful but
are limited only by their long cooldown duration. With this talent, it gives
you more of a chance to have the next trap ready to be set. It especially
makes a difference for Freezing Trap. Combined with Clever Traps, there is no
gap between the moment your trap thaws and the moment your cooldown finishes.
------------------
Lightning Reflexes
------------------
EFFECT: Increases your agility by 3/6/9/12/15%.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 6
OVERVIEW: This talent is one of the reasons why Agility is such a vital stat
for Survivalists. Be sure to drop your points into this talent when you have
access to it.
------------------
Thrill of the Hunt
------------------
EFFECT: Gives you a 33/66/100% chance to regain 40% of the mana cost of any
shot when it critically hits.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 7
OVERVIEW: Hunters can exhaust their mana supply very quickly but this talent
can help you last longer by retaining some of that mana spent. With the high
critical strike rate that Survivalists tend to have, this can be a great asset
to you.
------------
Wyvern Sting
------------
EFFECT: Grants you access to Wyvern Sting.
POINTS: 1/1
TIER: 7
NOTE: You must have 3 points in Killer Instinct to access this talent.
OVERVIEW: Wyvern Sting’s crowd-control effect and fast-acting damage ticks make
it one of the most powerful abilities in your arsenal. If you have come this
far down the Survival tree, be sure to learn this handy Sting.
---------------
Expose Weakness
---------------
EFFECT: Your ranged criticals have a 33/66/100% chance to apply an Expose
Weakness effect to the target. Expose Weakness increases the attack power of
all attackers against that target by 25% of your Agility for 7 sec.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 7
NOTE: You must have 5 points in Lightning Reflexes to access this talent.
OVERVIEW: Expose Weakness is yet another reason why Agility is such a vital
stat for Survivalists. This is a very powerful talent whose potency goes hand
in hand with Lightning Reflexes. Even though it has a short duration, a high
enough critical strike chance can keep it going for a long time. In raids, you
can especially do this by having a Feral Druid with you in the party with the
Leader of the Pack buff, which grants you +5% critical strike chance.
----------------
Master Tactician
----------------
EFFECT: Your successful ranged attacks have a 6% chance to increase your
critical strike chance with all attacks by 2/4/6/8/10% for 8 sec.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 8
OVERVIEW: This talent’s usefulness is usually open to debate. It seldom
triggers whenever you need it to during short battles, and even though it can
be more useful in long fights, the eight-second window of opportunity seems a
bit short considering that you need a whole five talent points to make the
most out of this. The iffy nature of this talent is the reason why few Hunters
ever invest their points beyond tier-7. However, it is still needed to reach
Readiness.
---------
Readiness
---------
EFFECT: Grants you access to Readiness.
POINTS: 1/1
TIER: 9
OVERVIEW: This is the ultimate emergency switch: a reset button for all of your
abilities, including ones with long cooldown timers like Rapid Fire and
Deterrence. Some turn it down in favor of other talents, particularly Scatter
Shot. The choice is yours but Readiness is the pinnacle of what the Survival
tree offers you: being able to endure and survive the worst that the game has
to throw at you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
c. Beast Mastery
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
These talents are associated with boosting the effects of your Aspects while
strengthening your pet’s offensive and defensive capabilities.
---------------------------
Improved Aspect of the Hawk
---------------------------
EFFECT: While Aspect of the Hawk is active, all normal ranged attacks have a
10% chance of increasing ranged attack speed by 3/6/9/12/15% for 12 sec.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 1
OVERVIEW: No matter how you look at it, this talent hastens your casting times
and gives you an overall boost in damage output, but most mob battles and PvP
matches are too short for the effect to truly make a difference. In fact, you
will often find it triggering when it least matters. This talent truly shines
in long battles, which makes this a valuable asset in raids and against
bosses.
------------------
Endurance Training
------------------
EFFECT: Increase the Health of your pets by 2/4/6/8/10% and your total Health
by 1/2/3/4/5%.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 1
OVERVIEW: More Health is never a bad thing, especially since your pet is always
within range of area damage spells. That and players in PvP will know to kill
your pet just in case you happen to have Bestial Wrath. This is also the
better choice over Improved Aspect of the Hawk if you find yourself using
other Aspects often, namely Viper.
------------
Focused Fire
------------
EFFECT: All damage caused by you is increased by 1/2% while your pet is active
and the critical strike chance of your Kill Command ability is increased by
10/20%.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 2
OVERVIEW: Early in the game, the bonus to Kill Command is of no use to you, but
the 2% extra damage for simply having your pet around is always a good thing.
Once you do get Kill Command, the 20% plays a significant role in your overall
damage output, making it a valuable talent for any talent build.
-----------------------------
Improved Aspect of the Monkey
-----------------------------
EFFECT: Increase the Dodge bonus of your Aspect of the Monkey by 2/4/6%.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 2
OVERVIEW: 6% is a solid boost to this Aspect but there are few occasions when
you would actually need Monkey to begin with, making it an iffy investment.
Against Warriors and Rogues, you have a better chance of survival with Frost
Trap and Wing Clip than you do by going toe-to-toe. Regardless, it makes a
good filler if you have nothing else.
----------
Thick Hide
----------
EFFECT: Increases the armor rating of your pets by 7/14/20% and your armor
contribution from items by 4/7/10%.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 2
OVERVIEW: The extra armor that you pet receives as a result of this talent
gives it roughly 3-4% in damage reduction, depending on the diminishing
returns that come with armor. It can be very useful for any outdoor encounters
but unless you plan on using your pet for some serious tanking, you could get
away with not having it.
-------------------
Improved Revive Pet
-------------------
EFFECT: Revive Pet's casting time is reduced by 3/6 sec, mana cost is reduced
by 20/40%, and increases the health your pet returns with by an additional
15/30%.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 2
OVERVIEW: This talent greatly alleviates the downside from reviving your pet
but if you can keep your pet alive, then you can do without this talent.
-----------
Pathfinding
-----------
EFFECT: Increase the speed bonus of your Aspect of the Cheetah and Pack by
4/8%.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 3
OVERVIEW: At 8%, it’s a decent increase in speed, but the Aspect’s current
speed bonus of 30% is usually enough. Your mount makes this talent obsolete
outdoors, and you won’t find many situations indoors where you really need an
additional 8%. As for kiting, you will usually outrun most mobs at 30%, and
38% is usually not enough to outrun anything that can catch you at 30%.
-----------------
Bestial Swiftness
-----------------
EFFECT: Increase the outdoor movement speed of your pet by 30%.
POINTS: 1/1
TIER: 3
OVERVIEW: This ability is excellent if you do a lot of outdoor PvP, which
applies to all four Battlegrounds. Otherwise, you can easily build a Beast
Master without having to touch this talent. An extra 30% will not speed up
your grinding speed by all that much.
--------------
Unleashed Fury
--------------
EFFECT: Increase the damage done by your pets by 4/8/12/16/20%.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 3
OVERVIEW: This component is vital to a Beast Master. Be sure to invest in this
talent as soon as you have access to it.
-----------------
Improved Mend Pet
-----------------
EFFECT: Gives Mend Pet a 25/50% chance of cleansing one Curse, Disease, Magic,
or Poison effect from your pet each tick.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 4
OVERVIEW: Since your pet has a mob’s attention most of the time, your loyal
companion will be the one that takes the bulk of a mob’s debuffs. This talent
covers just about every debuff type except for Bleed but Mend Pet is enough to
take care of that.
--------
Ferocity
--------
EFFECT: Increase the critical strike chance of your pets by 3/6/9/12/15%.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 4
OVERVIEW: Excellent talent. That boost in critical strike chance is vital to a
Beast Master not just because of the extra damage. It’s the key to triggering
Ferocious Inspiration more often. Be sure to invest a full five points into
this talent.
-----------
Spirit Bond
-----------
EFFECT: While your pet is active, you and your pet recover 1/2% of your health
every 10 seconds.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 5
OVERVIEW: Free Health recovery isn’t a bad thing but 2% Health every 10 seconds
seems awfully low. At 8000 Health, this talent would tick for a meager 160
Health. The fact that your pet vanishes whenever you mount up also means that
once you get your mount, you will not get the benefit of this while traveling.
You may have to do some heavy thinking before investing your points into this
one.
------------
Intimidation
------------
EFFECT: Grants you access to Intimidation.
POINTS: 1/1
TIER: 5
OVERVIEW: Always a good talent to have around. Not only is Intimidation a
great ability for both PvE and PvP, it also bridges into Bestial Wrath and
The Beast Within.
------------------
Bestial Discipline
------------------
EFFECT: Increase your pet’s Focus regeneration by 50/100%.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 5
OVERVIEW: Even though Focus generates quickly, your pet’s abilities are very
taxing on it. By doubling the rate, it gives your pet much more Focus to work
with, which is always a good thing.
--------------
Animal Handler
--------------
EFFECT: Increases your speed while mounted by 4/8% and your pet's chance to hit
by 2/4%. The mounted movement speed increase does not stack with other
effects.
POINTS: 2/2
TIER: 6
OVERVIEW: An 8% boost to your mount speed is nice but the real winning
component to this talent is the +4% chance to hit. This is the only way to
reduce your pet’s Miss rate, and notching it down to 1% certainly makes a
big difference.
------
Frenzy
------
EFFECT: Gives your pet a 20/40/60/80/100% chance to gain a 30% attack speed
bonus for 8 seconds after inflicting a critical strike.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 6
NOTE: You must have 5 points in Ferocity to access this talent.
OVERVIEW: This is one of the many reasons why Beast Master pets are so deadly.
That extra speed means more damage and more spell interrupts. It’s especially
lethal when chained with Ferocious Inspiration, Cobra Reflexes, Serpent’s
Swiftness, and a Drums of Battle.
---------------------
Ferocious Inspiration
---------------------
EFFECT: When your pet scores a critical hit, all party members have all damage
increased by 1/2/3% for 10 sec.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 7
OVERVIEW: What makes this talent so good is the fact that the bonus benefits
any class, and can trigger repeatedly in combat, thanks to all of those
talents that support it such as Focused Fire, Ferocity, Frenzy, and Serpent’s
Swiftness. If you really want to milk this talent for all it’s worth, be sure
to pick up a pet with Gore, an ability that has a whopping 50% critical strike
chance.
-------------
Bestial Wrath
-------------
EFFECT: Grants you access to Bestial Wrath.
POINTS: 1/1
TIER: 7
NOTE: You must have 1 point in Intimidation to access this talent.
OVERVIEW: No Beast Master is complete without this talent. Along with all of
the attack-boosting talents on the higher parts of the tree, Bestial Wrath
turns your pet into a unstoppable killing machine.
----------------
Catlike Reflexes
----------------
EFFECT: Increases your chance to dodge by 1/2/3% and your pet's chance to dodge
by an additional 3/6/9%.
POINTS: 3/3
TIER: 7
OVERVIEW: Think of this as an Advanced Improved Aspect of the Monkey. While the
extra Dodge isn’t healthy versus a Warrior’s Improved Overpower, it’s still a
valuable asset to your pet for those times when you need it for tanking.
-------------------
Serpent’s Swiftness
-------------------
EFFECT: Increases ranged combat attack speed by 4/8/12/16/20% and your pet's
melee attack speed by 4/8/12/16/20%.
POINTS: 5/5
TIER: 8
OVERVIEW: For going this far down the tree, both you and your pet get this as
a special treat: a delightful 20% boost to attack speed. Be sure to pick this
one up as soon as you can.
----------------
The Beast Within
----------------
EFFECT: When your pet is under the effects of Bestial Wrath, you also go into
a rage causing 10% additional damage and reducing mana costs of all spells by
20% for 18 sec. While enraged, you do not feel pity or remorse or fear and you
cannot be stopped unless killed.
POINTS: 1/1
TIER: 9
NOTE: You must have 1 point in Bestial Wrath to access this talent.
OVERVIEW: Cloth wearers already lament the thought of being torn to shreds by
a Beast Master’s pet. This allows you to share in the fun. This is a must-have
for any Beast Mastery Hunter.
===============================================================================
-------------------------[ VI. Talent Specialization ]-------------------------
===============================================================================
Having three talents trees gives you a lot in the way of customization but
sometimes, it’s hard to truly get an idea of what to expect from each tree.
This chapter will cover the benefits and downsides of each tree. Each section
will cover specific highlights, as well as detailed strategies on how to get
the most out of your talents.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
a. The Marksman
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Marksman is a specialist in ranged combat. With unmatched firepower, his
shots pierce through his targets like bolts of lightning through a tree.
---------------
Sample Template
---------------
===============================================================================
| Primary: Marksmanship | Secondary: Survival |
===============================================================================
| 5/5 Lethal Shots | 3/3 Monster Slaying |
| 5/5 Improved Hunter’s Mark | 3/3 Humanoid Slaying |
| 5/5 Improved Arcane Shot | 3/3 Hawk Eye |
| 1/1 Aimed Shot | 2/2 Savage Strikes |
| 5/5 Mortal Shots | 2/2 Clever Traps |
| 1/1 Scatter Shot | 1/2 Savage Strikes |
| 3/3 Barrage =====================================
| 5/5 Ranged Weapon Specialization | Tertiary: Beast Mastery |
| 3/3 Careful Aim =====================================
| 1/1 Trueshot Aura | 5/5 Improved Aspect of the Hawk |
| 5/5 Master Marksman | 2/2 Focused Fire |
| 1/1 Silencing Shot | |
===============================================================================
NOTES
This template maximizes your firepower while giving party members a boost in
attack power. Note that I’ve made room for Clever Traps in this build. This
gives you a very high degree of crowd control and kiting capability when
combined with Scatter Shot and Silencing Shot.
---------------
Design Function
---------------
Benefits
- High ranged attack power and Auto-Shot damage.
- Greatly boosts ranged weapon firepower.
- Scatter Shot and Silencing Shot give you a high degree of utility.
- Trueshot Aura and Improved Hunter’s Mark benefits party members.
- Higher Serpent Sting and Immolation Trap damages.
Downsides
- Snare effects can severely hamper your damage output.
- Few offensive options when fighting at melee range.
- Little in the way of mana efficiency.
The idea behind the Marksmanship tree is to increase your ranged damage output
by increasing the damage of your Shots and Stings, and boosting your ranged
attack power to its maximum potential. A Marksman will always have much higher
ranged attack power than a Survivalist or a Beast Master wearing the same gear.
This means that each of your bullets and arrows will hit hard. Your Arcane Shot
and Steady Shot damages are significantly higher than those of other talent
builds, and your Auto-Shot benefits greatly from all of that ranged attack
power that you get from Trueshot Aura, Master Marksman, and Careful Aim.
The tree also gives you quite a bit of utility for both you and your party
members. While Trueshot Aura and Improved Hunter’s Mark gives everyone a boost
in physical damage, Scatter Shot and Silencing Shot can disrupt your enemies
from a distance. Silencing Shot is especially great for shutting down mobs that
insist on standing in one place to cast spells rather than running after you.
-------------
Disadvantages
-------------
The biggest downside to being a Marksman is that melee range is your weakness.
Even though Agility and Attack Power conveniently apply to your melee weapons,
you are significantly weaker without your gun or bow, and have very few
abilities to handle mobs or enemy players at that range. This forces you to do
whatever it takes to get back into firing range. Against mobs, that might not
be too hard but against other players, a snare or a slow effect could be the
end of you.
Another downside is your mana inefficiency. This isn’t a major problem while
questing and running instances, but it gets troublesome when you suddenly find
yourself scraping for mana in raids. Although the Efficiency talent helps cut
mana costs, it can’t hold a candle to what other builds have to offer. Beast
Masters save mana by relying solely on Steady Shot and Kill Command for the
bulk of their damage, while Survivalists can retain mana with Thrill of the
Hunt.
---------------------
Playing As A Marksman
---------------------
As a Marksman, you have it easy. Since all of your power comes from your ranged
weapon, it’s really just taking what the Hunter does best and enhancing it. The
inclusion of Aimed Shot gives you the option of starting a battle with a hard-
hitting attack but remember that its long casting time and Auto-Shot reset
makes it unviable to use within a normal shot cycle. Remember to keep Trueshot
Aura up at all times.
Scatter Shot and Silencing Shot may take some time to get used to. You need to
get accustomed to knowing when to use each one. Silencing Shot is simple: time
it so that you will silence a caster just as it is about to finish casting a
spell. A healer is especially an important target to silence. You may also use
it to silence a player just as they are about to flee. A Mage cannot Blink
their way to safety if you hit them with this Shot, though keep in mind that
unlike Shield Bash or Kick, your Shot does not lock out schools of magic, and
does not count as a spell counter.
As for Scatter Shot, it serves a defensive purpose, as you can tell from the
fact that it can be used at short range. It can be used to disrupt a spell near
the end of its casting time but more importantly, the daze time allows you to
safely freeze your target in a Freezing Trap. Four seconds is enough time for
you to spring it open. If you already have one set, keep in mind that as you
pull a mob into the trap, that daze time also allows Freezing Trap’s cooldown
to run down.
---------------------
Raiding As A Marksman
---------------------
As a Marksman, you need to push for as much damage as possible. The Steady-
Arcane-Auto Shot trio is your most effective attack pattern. Serpent’s Sting is
generally unwanted because its overall damage is weaker than that of other
classes, and it uses up a debuff slot that could otherwise be filled with let’s
say a Warlock’s Corruption spell. Although you have Multi-Shot and Aimed Shot
at your disposal, both of them cost a lot of mana, and are therefore not
recommended unless you are Misdirecting threat to a tank. Be sure to use Rapid
Fire and whatever other power-boosting abilities whenever they are available.
A Marksman can bring a lot of personal firepower to any raid. Once you get
enough gear, you can cause some hefty damage. However, this build is currently
the least favored of the three. This is mainly because it is comparatively not
as beneficial to a raid as the other two builds. Here are some key problems
that players have noticed:
1. Trueshot Aura. 125 Attack Power to your group is decent but it pales in
comparison to what Ferocious Inspiration and Expose Weakness has to offer.
Whereas the latter two scale with endgame content, the static bonus that
this Aura gives does not, thereby making it the least beneficial of the
three.
2. Mana inefficiency. Compared to the first two builds, a Marksman will burn
through his mana supply very quickly, and this is mainly because of Arcane
Shot. Beast Masters can do without it, and Survivalists can compensate
with Thrill of the Hunt. Even with Efficiency, your mana will not last
long without some way to replenish it.
For all of the firepower that a Marksman can bring, a Beast Master can achieve
just as high a damage output but for less mana, and can bring a better raid
buff to his group, thereby making Marksmanship the least favored of the three
trees.
-----------------
PvP As A Marksman
-----------------
With Scatter Shot and Silencing Shot at your disposal, you can quickly shut
down caster classes, especially healers. Priests in particular loathe Hunters
due to the fact that there is little they can do against your abilities. Not
only are your talent-exclusive Shots disruptive to their bigger heal spells,
your Viper Sting counts as a poison, which they are incapable of removing.
That and Arcane Shot has a chance to remove their most protective spells such
as Pain Suppression and Power Word: Shield. If you happen to have armor
mitigation bonuses on your gear, that also has a significant impact on anything
that wears cloth.
The classes that are a cause for concern are melee-oriented. As a Marksman, you
are extremely vulnerable at melee range. Though Wing Clip and Scatter Shot can
help you escape, there is little you can do if you get Hamstrung or Frost
Shocked. If you’re in a Battleground or an Arena, keep your distance and stay
close to your teammates.
------------------------
Marksmanship Itemization
------------------------
To get the most out of Marksmanship, you need an ample supply of Attack Power
from your gear but the key to building a successful Marksman is finding a
balance between base damage and critical strike percentage. In the way of
armor, a good example would be a Beast Lord Cuirass with this configuration:
Beast Lord Cuirass
652 Armor
+20 Agility
+30 Stamina
+24 Intellect
[o] Red Socket: Bright Living Ruby (+16 Attack Power)
[o] Red Socket: Bright Living Ruby (+16 Attack Power)
[o] Blue Socket: Balanced Nightseye (+8 Attack Power, +6 Stamina)
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Agility
EQUIP: +40 Attack Power
EQUIP: +4 Mana/5 sec.
ENCHANT: +6 Stats
You can also try this setup if you prefer more critical hits:
Beast Lord Cuirass
652 Armor
+20 Agility
+30 Stamina
+24 Intellect
[o] Red Socket: Delicate Living Ruby (+8 Agility)
[o] Red Socket: Delicate Living Ruby (+8 Agility)
[o] Blue Socket: Shifting Nightseye (+4 Agility, +6 Stamina)
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Agility
EQUIP: +40 Attack Power
EQUIP: +4 Mana/5 sec.
ENCHANT: +6 Stats
A Marksman has a lot of flexibility when choosing gear. Attack Power is just as
beneficial to you as Agility. However, raiding requires that you stack more
heavily on Agility. More on this in Chapter IX.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. The Survivalist
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Survivalist is a skilled tactician who prefers to fight defensively. With
traps in hand and a bag full of tricks, he is always prepared to survive worst-
possible scenarios.
---------------
Sample Template
---------------
===============================================================================
| Primary: Survival | Secondary: Marksmanship |
===============================================================================
| 3/3 Monster Slaying | 5/5 Lethal Shots |
| 3/3 Humanoid Slaying | 5/5 Hunter’s Mark |
| 3/3 Hawk Eye | 1/1 Aimed Shot |
| 2/2 Savage Strikes | 2/2 Rapid Killing |
| 3/3 Improved Wing Clip | 2/2 Go For The Throat |
| 2/2 Clever Traps | 5/5 Mortal Shots |
| 1/1 Deterrence | |
| 3/3 Surefooted | |
| 2/2 Survival Instincts | |
| 1/1 Counterattack | |
| 5/5 Lightning Reflexes | |
| 1/1 Wyvern Sting | |
| 3/3 Expose Weakness | |
| 5/5 Master Tactician | |
| 1/1 Readiness | |
===============================================================================
Though not ideal, this template dabbles with the Survival tree’s best talents,
and is good for anyone who wants a full taste of what the tree has to offer.
For questing and instances, it’s a workable template. However, prospective
raiders require a few modifications in the setup.
---------------
Design Function
---------------
Benefits
- Excellent crowd control capabilities.
- High critical strike chance.
- Has methods of resisting snares and escaping from melee range.
- Is capable of enduring and surviving close encounters if needed.
Downsides
- Very difficult specialization to master.
- Leveling with Survival is considerably slower than with other trees.
- Significantly weaker damage output than what other trees have to offer.
Whereas Beast Masters and Marksmen focus on offense, being a Survivalist means
that you will tactically stay on the defense. Talents such as Wyvern Sting,
Clever Traps, and Resourcefulness allow you to carefully keep your enemies
detained for as long as possible with an unmatched level of crowd control. At
the same time, Deterrence and Deflection allow you to stay alive in melee
range. If worse comes to worst, you have abilities that can help you escape
from your enemies by rooting them to the ground. You have a remarkable amount
of staying power, and can outlast your enemies.
Playing as a Survivalist is not an easy task because what you are doing is
trying to maximize your offense as a specialist in defense. Against your
average mob, your basic shot rotation will suffice. Elites from small dungeons
give you a little more legroom for damage. In that case, Wyvern Sting and
Immolation Trap will cause a lot of damage over time, though remember that
Wyvern Sting is useless against anything that is immune to the initial sleep
effect.
Against enemy players, you have a very good of beating them with what you have.
Most players will always try to get within melee range so that you cannot use
your ranged weapon but notice how many of your talents affect your melee
capabilities. Any Survival talent that boosts your ranged attack damage also
enhance your melee weapon damage. You also have the benefit of Wyvern Sting and
Clever Traps to help wear your opponent down, and with your high Agility and
The optional Improved Aspect of the Monkey, you can dodge attacks very often.
With the support of Exposed Weakness, Master Tactician, and Improved Hunter’s
Mark, you can go quite far with a melee weapon.
-------------
Disadvantages
-------------
A Survivalist is not an easy job to get accustomed to. The abilities that you
gain from that talent build are very situational. Counterattack and Deterrence
are only good when something decides to take a swing at you. In most PvE
scenarios, that usually does not happen, and it should never happen in a raid
encounter.
Wyvern Sting causes a healthy dose of damage over time but the downside is that
the damage effect only occurs if the target awakens from the sleep effect. That
means that if anything is immune to that sleep portion, the damage will not
occur. Tragically, this means that it is nearly useless in raids and against
some heroic dungeon elites.
Finally, Readiness is an excellent ability but deciding when to use it can be a
complicated process. On the offense, it’s great for double Rapid Fires, Wyvern
Stings, and Traps, but the five-minute cooldown prevents you from using it
often. Ideally, it seems to serve best as a defensive option. You can save it
until you really need. If a Freezing Trap gets resisted, or if happen to
quickly need a Wyvern Sting, it serves as your Second Chance button.
------------------------
Playing As A Survivalist
------------------------
Even though you are built for defense, you still have enough in your arsenal to
push a strong offense. Against your typical mob, your shot rotation will do
just fine but keep in mind that Raptor Strike is a potent source of damage.
With Savage Strikes, its critical strike chance exceeds that of your ranged
weapon, and if you have a strong 2H weapon, the result can be devastating. Keep
in mind that your melee attacks share many of the same talent bonuses as your
ranged attacks as well.
Because dungeon elites take longer to kill, they give you much more room for
you to cause damage. Wyvern Sting and a Clever Immolation Trap together can
wear an elite down, as would having double Rapid Fires with the help of
Readiness. These same tactics can also be used against players as well, though
you will need to find a way to convince them to step into your trap without
them seeing it. You can use Raptor Strike as a source of damage as well but
against heroic elites, that could be very risky.
On the defense, you will not use Deterrence against mobs very often. The time
that you usually use it is when you are either swarmed by multiple mobs or
elites. In that case, it becomes your escape button. In those ten seconds, you
have Wing Clip, Freezing Trap, and Counterattack at your disposal. You might
even be able to squeeze in a Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite before making a
run for it. If the situation really gets dire, you still have Readiness, which
can give you one extra Wyvern Sting, another trap, and more Deterrence. That
can occur if you just happened to get ambushed by mobs while all three are
still cooling down.
------------------------
Raiding As A Survivalist
------------------------
Even with all of the damage bonuses that you get with Survival talents, you
will never cause anywhere as much damage as a Marksman or a Beast Master, but
what you lack in firepower, you compensate with the utility that you can bring
to a raid. Survivalists are wanted for one thing: Expose Weakness. This talent
benefits anything in the raid that causes physical damage, but making the most
out of it means having to stack as much Agility as possible. With the right
selection of gems, enchants, and buffs, Lightning Reflexes can raise that stat
to staggering numbers.
A key talent that I had not listed in the sample template is Thrill of the
Hunt, which restores mana whenever your Shots critically hit. Without it, you
will burn through your mana supply very quickly. Making room for it means
cutting down on mana potion consumption.
--------------------
PvP As A Survivalist
--------------------
Survivalists are fun to play with in PvP because of all of the handy abilities
that you have at your fingertips. Melee-oriented classes will find you a little
tougher to kill because of all of the snare effects that you have in your
arsenal, including Entrapment, Improved Wing Clip, and Counterattack, though
you will still want to keep your distance as much as possible.
There is actually a very nice crowd control trick that you can use if you’re
careful. Use Wyvern Sting to shut your enemy down, preferably one that has a
poison-cleansing feature. When the effect is about to wear off, plant a
Freezing Trap under his feet and quickly replace the Wyvern Sting with Scorpid
Sting. This should buy you additional control time. If you want to push it even
further, you can also quickly hit Readiness and do it all over again.
--------------------
Survival Itemization
--------------------
As a Survivalist, you need to be a bit more careful when you look for weapons
and armor. While Beast Masters and Marksmen can be a little more lenient in
their choice of gear, you need a lot Agility to make the most out of your
build, which leaves the Desolation Armor set out of the question. Agility
contributes to your armor, chance to dodge, and critical strike chance. You
could take the Beast Lord Cuirass mentioned above and simply replace the two
Bright Living Rubies with Delicate Living Rubies, which add +8 Agility each.
Conveniently, the PvP set armor is a solid choice for a Survivalist, thanks to
the high Stamina, Resilience, and the inclusion of red and yellow sockets.
Consider this configuration:
Gladiator’s Chain Armor
866 Armor
+27 Agility
+51 Stamina
+17 Intellect
[o] Red Socket: Delicate Living Ruby (+8 Agility)
[o] Red Socket: Delicate Living Ruby (+8 Agility)
[o] Yellow Socket: Glinting Noble Topaz (+4 Agility, +4 Crit Rating)
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +12 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +16 Resilience
EQUIP: +12 Attack Power
ENCHANT: +6 Stats
In the way of neckpieces and rings, be aware that most jewelry that has Agility
comes with Attack Power. There are few, if any, rings and neckpieces that have
strictly Agility. As for enchants, you need Agility on whatever pieces of armor
can receive it. Weapons should be enchanted with either +20 Agility or +35
Agility, depending on whether it’s one-handed or a two-handed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
c. The Beast Master
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Beast Master relies on his loyal animal companion to fight by his side. By
the breath of his command, a tamed beast can become a destructive force. As
they fight, their spiritual bond allows one to feel the rage of the other.
---------------
Sample Template
---------------
===============================================================================
| Primary: Beast Mastery | Secondary: Marksmanship |
===============================================================================
| 5/5 Improved Aspect of the Hawk | 5/5 Lethal Shots |
| 2/2 Focused Fire | 5/5 Improved Hunter’s Mark |
| 3/3 Thick Hide | 1/1 Aimed Shot |
| 5/5 Unleashed Fury | 2/2 Go For The Throat |
| 2/2 Improved Mend Pet | 5/5 Mortal Shots |
| 5/5 Ferocity | |
| 1/1 Intimidation | |
| 2/2 Bestial Discipline | |
| 1/2 Animal Handler | |
| 5/5 Frenzy | |
| 3/3 Ferocious Inspiration | |
| 1/1 Bestial Wrath | |
| 5/5 Serpent’s Swiftness | |
| 1/1 The Beast Within | |
===============================================================================
A powerful setup of talents that maximizes both you and your pet’s firepower.
Though it’s not enough to create a viable tanking pet, it allows you to cause a
lot of damage in instances and raids. Your pet will almost never have any
problem with Focus, thanks to Bestial Discipline and Go For The Throat.
---------------
Design Function
---------------
Benefits
- Pet’s offensive power greatly increases.
- The right pet can tank well if properly built.
- Both you and your pet attack much faster.
- Ferocious Inspiration benefits all classes, and effect can be sustained.
- Total damage contribution from both you and your pet is very high.
- May allow for a high dodge chance.
- A bit more lenient in the way of gear dependency than other builds.
Downsides
- Lower damage output without pet.
- Fewer options for handling melee range combat.
- Fewer crowd control features.
Beast Masters have the ability to cause heaping tons of damage, thanks to
talents that augment a pet’s offensive power. Unleashed Fury, Serpent’s
Swiftness, and Ferocity greatly increase your pet’s damage output, while your
pet’s critical strikes trigger Frenzy and Ferocious Inspiration. By throwing
Bestial Wrath into the mix, your pet becomes powerful enough to shred your
target to pieces. At the same time, talents that boost your pet’s Health and
armor may allow your pet to turn into a viable tank.
Note that as your pet grows more powerful, you are not excluded. Several of the
tree’s talents boost your damage output as well. In addition to Improved Aspect
of the Hawk and Focused Fire, you gain benefits from Ferocious Inspiration and
Serpent’s Swiftness. Once you get The Beast Within at the bottom of the tree,
that’s additional damage for you as well.
-------------------------
Playing As A Beast Master
-------------------------
As a Beast Master, you need to be able to control your pet with precision. The
best way to do so is by getting used to using your Ctrl key with the numbers
near the top of your keyboard. These correspond to the commands on your pet’s
action bar. Since your pet is a vital source of damage, you need to be able to
quickly direct it towards whatever you are targeting. You can just as easily
click the buttons on the action bar but that delay time can be avoided by
practicing with the Ctrl key. If using it is problem, you can also change the
Key Bindings, preferably to F1 through F9. Look for the Secondary Action Bar
bindings.
Beast Masters are very straightforward when it comes to their abilities. Thanks
to the haste bonuses from Serpent’s Swiftness and Improved Aspect of the Hawk,
Steady Shot quickly replaces Arcane Shot in your rotation. You can get away
with nothing more than a back-and-forth rotation between Steady and Auto-Shot
and still do incredibly amounts of damage, hitting Arcane Shot only when
running or dispelling a buff.
Your other ability is Intimidation, which should be used defensively. The high
threat is nice but the kicker is the stun effect, which can be used to
interrupt spells. The stun time also gives you enough time to drop a trap if
needed. Because the effect occurs on the next melee attack, be sure to watch
your timing. Use it early if you have to. Try enhancing your pet with Cobra
Reflexes and Serpent’s Swiftness to brings it attack speed to 1.27.
----------------------
Building The Right Pet
----------------------
Because your pet is such an important factor to you as a Beast Master, you have
to choose your pet and its abilities more carefully than a Marksman or a
Survivalist. To maximize your damage output, you will want an offense-oriented
pet, which has high attack damage in exchange for Health or Armor. You will
especially want one to get the most out of Kill Command. Cats are a popular
choice because of their high damage and ability to Dash and Prowl. Be sure to
also teach it Cobra Reflexes. When combined with Serpent’s Swiftness, your
pet’s attack speed will reach 1.27, even higher if Frenzy kicks in.
If you prefer a tanking pet, you will need an animal with naturally high
Stamina and armor. Bears have a decent mix of both but if you truly want a
sturdy pet for elites, you need a turtle for its high armor and Shell Shield
ability.
-------------------------
Raiding As A Beast Master
-------------------------
Raids will want you for two reasons. One would be your firepower. For your
damage output, you simply need to do nothing more than use your Steady-Auto
Shot rotation, remembering to use Rapid Fire and Bestial Wrath whenever they’re
both active. If you happen to be a leatherworker, you can also throw Drums of
Battle into the mix. Mana is usually not an issue due to Steady Shot’s
economically low mana cost. The only exception is if you wear a lot of PvP
gear, which could affect your mana pool without a supply of mana potions to
refuel it.
The other reason would be Ferocious Inspiration. It affects all sources of
damage from everyone in your group, and it stacks. Throw five Beast Masters
into a group, and you’re looking at 15% more damage for all five of you. To get
the most out of it, your pet needs to land critical strikes as often as
possible, and there are several ways to do just that. Focused Fire and Ferocity
both give your pet an increased critical strike chance, while the haste bonuses
from Cobra Reflexes, Frenzy, and Serpent’s Swiftness increases your pet’s
chance of landing that key hit. Drums of Battle helps as well.
---------------------
PvP As A Beast Master
---------------------
Cloth wearers will hate you for being what you are. Bestial Wrath allows you to
quickly put an end to anything that has low armor. Both you and your pet has
such a high attack speed that it will easily interrupt spells that have a
casting time. Intimidation leaves an enemy player open for several seconds
while you fire away. Of course, there is always Arcane Shot for those moments
when you need to snipe off protective buffs.
Higher-armored players, on the other hand, is a different story. Your damage
output is still absurdly high but most classes that have high armor tend to be
classes that fight you at melee range, where your Steady Shot is useless. You
will want to keep your distance, remembering to drop a Freezing or Frost Trap
to slow down anything that tries to get near you. If needed, use Intimidation
to pin your enemy down for a moment.
-------------------------
Beast Mastery Itemization
-------------------------
Since your pet gains a portion of your Ranged Attack Power, you will need to
focus on Attack Power as your main stat. The configuration for Beast Lord
Cuirass in the Marksman section is ideal for a Beast Master. Generally,
whatever works for Marksmanship will work for this tree as well. There are some
pieces of armor that specifically cater to your pet such as the Leggings of
Beast Mastery, which boosts your pet’s Attack Power, armor, and Stamina, but
such specific gear is very hard to come by.
Once you find yourself raiding, you will need to switch over to Agility. While
it’s true that your pet would benefit more from you having more Attack Power,
your overall damage output in raids will be higher as a result of your higher
rate of critical hits. More on this in chapter IX.
--------------------------
Managing Your Attack Speed
--------------------------
Because of all of the haste bonuses that you can get, your ranged weapon can
reach speeds well below 2.00, and the casting time of your Steady Shot is
significantly lessened. What you will want to do is achieve a 1:1 speed ratio
between Auto-Shot’s cooldown and Steady Shot’s casting time, meaning that you
would ideally want to get as close as possible to a 1.50 attack speed. Ranged
weapons whose speeds vary from 2.60 to 2.80 are most ideal for reaching that
point. It gets a bit trickier for weapons that are 2.90 and up.
===============================================================================
--------------------------------[ VII. Pets ]----------------------------------
===============================================================================
Pets are extremely important to a Hunter. They serve as your personal companion
in battle, and are a key factor in a Hunter’s utility. This chapter will teach
you the mechanics of pet care, and will cover the different species that are
available in the game, as well as abilities that you can teach your pets.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
a. Pet Taming & Care
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At the beginning of the game, you are on your own. Your quest to earning your
pet abilities begins at level 10, at which your local Hunter Trainer will tell
you to go tame a few beasts with an item. Once you have completed the quest
chain, you will gain a lineup of pet-based abilities, including Tame Beast,
which you will use to obtain your pet.
------------------
The Taming Process
------------------
Once you have your abilities, it’s now time to look for a suitable pet. When
you use Tame Beast, make sure that you are at full health and have plenty of
food for your new pet. For 20 seconds, your armor will drop to 0, and you will
have to take hits until the spell finishes channeling. If successful, the beast
will go from hostile to friendly, and you will notice that your newfound pet
will have its own health meter and action bar. Congratulations!
One of the perks of being a Hunter is that you can name your pet. Simply right-
click on its portrait and the option will show itself. You may also abandon it
if you prefer something else but remember that you can have up to three pets,
two of which can stay with the local Stable Master.
-------------------
The Feeding Process
-------------------
Once you have your pet, you may notice a tiny red square next to its health
meter, indicating that it’s unhappy with you. The happiness of a pet affects
its damage output, which is why it’s important to keep your pet happy at all
times. Happiness goes through three difference states:
Happy (Green): Pet inflicts 125% damage and gains loyalty with you.
Content (Yellow): Pet inflicts 100% damage and gains loyalty with you.
Unhappy (Red): Pet inflicts 75% damage and loses loyalty with you.
To cheer up your pet, use the Feed Pet ability on the food in your inventory.
Your pet will gain a buff, which will raise its Happiness over time. Don’t give
it a second serving until it’s done with the first one. Keep feeding it until
the Happiness indicator is green.
If you look in your Combat Log, you will notice Feed Pet taking effect. Any
foods that are near your pet’s level will grant 35 Happiness per tick. Anything
lower will give smaller amounts. As your pet grows, it will need higher-level
foods. The best thing to do is to keep a stack of food in your bag just for
your pet.
One final note: pets have a very picky diet. If you look at its profile, mouse
over the Happiness indicator. It tell you exactly what kinds of foods your pet
will eat. Most predators eat meat and fish, while the more docile creatures eat
fruit, bread, fungus, and cheese. Bears are very lenient when it comes to
eating. They will eat just about anything you have in your inventory.
-------------
Loyalty Level
-------------
You may also notice that on your pet tab, your pet has a loyalty level. At
lower loyalty levels, it may lose Happiness more quickly, which means more
feeding. As your pet gains loyalty with you, it will increase in loyalty level,
which reduces the amount of Happiness that depletes over time. Loyalty goes
through six stages:
Level 1: Rebellious
Level 2: Unruly
Level 3: Submissive
Level 4: Dependable
Level 5: Faithful
Level 6: Best Friend
At level 6, your pet requires the least amount of food to stay happy. As an
added bonus, with each jump in loyalty level, your pet gains a few training
points.
-----------
Caster Pets
-----------
You have heard this term once before. It refers to an animal that previously
had a mana bar before it was tamed. Such pets have noticeably more Intellect
and Spirit but less armor, Health, and damage. Since Intellect and Spirit are
useless to pets, the end result is a pet that is weaker than it should be. At
lower levels, the stats between a normal pet and a caster pet are close, but
that gap grows wider with levels. Fortunately, beasts with mana bars are not
that common in the game.
-----------------
Benefits From You
-----------------
Your pets gain stat bonuses from your own stats. After doing some math, I found
some rough estimates as to what your pet benefits from. These are the
percentages that I found from examining my own gear. These numbers could vary,
depending on level and other possible factors.
Attack Power: About 22% of your Ranged Attack Power
Spell Damage: About 12.8% of your Ranged Attack Power
Armor: About 35% of your Armor
Stamina: About 30% of your Stamina
Resistances: 40% of your Resistances
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. Available Pets
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
With up to three stable slots, you can have three pets in your reserve. Here is
a list of the different species that are available to you. Each listing shows
an animal’s abilities, diet, and any modifiers it has to its damage, armor,
and health.
---
Bat
---
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Claw, Screech, Dive
DIET: Fruit, Fungus
DAMAGE: +7%
ARMOR: Normal
HEALTH: Normal
OVERVIEW: Bats are one of two animals that can learn Screech, the other being
the owl. They are a popular choice because of their intimidating appearance.
Anyone looking for bat country early on should go to Tirisfal Glades.
----
Bear
----
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Claw
DIET: Bread, Cheese, Meat, Fish, Fruit, Fungus
DAMAGE: -9%
ARMOR: +5%
HEALTH: +8%
OVERVIEW: Bears make great companions because of their ability to soak up
damage well and will eat anything you give it. There are also lots of bears
all over the world.
----
Boar
----
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Gore, Dash, Charge
DIET: Bread, Cheese, Fish, Fruit, Fungus, Meat
DAMAGE: -10%
ARMOR: +9%
HEALTH: +4%
OVERVIEW: Boars are plentiful in Azeroth, and will eat just about anything.
They are also great at holding single-target aggro, thanks to the high amount
of threat that their Charge ability causes.
------------
Carrion Bird
------------
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Claw, Dive
DIET: Meat, Fish
DAMAGE: Normal
ARMOR: +5%
HEALTH: Normal
OVERVIEW: This is the general name for the game’s variety of buzzards, rocs,
vultures, and condors. You will find them in barren areas, such as the
Badlands and Tanaris.
---
Cat
---
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Claw, Prowl, Dash
DIET: Meat, Fish
DAMAGE: +10%
ARMOR: Normal
HEALTH: -2%
OVERVIEW: Cats are great for offense because of their high damage and Dash
ability. Their Prowl ability also makes them great for recon. There is also a
huge variety of them all over the place.
----
Crab
----
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Claw
DIET: Bread, Fish, Fruit, Fungus
DAMAGE: -5%
ARMOR: +13%
HEALTH: -4%
OVERVIEW: Crabs are not very popular among Hunters, probably because they are
not very common in most parts of the world. They make great tanking pets
because of their innately high armor, which rivals that of turtles. Crabs can
be found along beaches and shorelines.
---------
Crocolisk
---------
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite
DIET: Meat, Fish
DAMAGE: Normal
ARMOR: +10%
HEALTH: -5%
OVERVIEW: Crocolisks are a cross between a crocodile and a basilisk, which does
not explain why they have six legs. They can be found in marshes, swamps, and
wetlands, though players can confuse them with real basilisks.
-----------
Dragon Hawk
-----------
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Dive, Fire Breath
DIET: Fish, Fruit, Meat, Raw Fish, Raw Meat
DAMAGE: Normal
ARMOR: Normal
HEALTH: Normal
OVERVIEW: Dragon Hawks may not have any outstanding stats in particular but
they have a unique cone-area spell called Fire Breath, which scales with
level. They also look very elegant, and for Blood Elf Hunters, taming one is
very easy. For Alliance Hunters, they have only two options: they can either
make the dangerous trip to Quel’thalas, and tame one early, or wait until they
reach the higher-level areas of Outland.
-------
Gorilla
-------
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Thunderstomp
DIET: Fungus, Fruit
DAMAGE: +2%
ARMOR: Normal
HEALTH: +4%
OVERVIEW: Gorillas are the owners of Thunderstomp, which is one of few area
damage abilities that a pet can have. They can be mostly found in jungle
habitats such as Stranglethorn Vale and Feralas.
-----
Hyena
-----
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Dash
DIET: Meat, Fruit
DAMAGE: Normal
ARMOR: +5%
HEALTH: Normal
OVERVIEW: Hyenas are not favored by most players for some reason. Whatever the
case may be, the majority of the hyenas reside in parts of Kalimdor but there
are some in the Blasted Lands.
----------
Nether Ray
----------
MOVES: Growl, Bite, Cower, Dive
DIET: Meat, Raw Meat
DAMAGE: +3%
ARMOR: -10%
HEALTH: +10%
OVERVIEW: Nether Rays look like warped manta rays with teeth, and are found
only in Outland. They have a mana bar, which fills as it drains your mana.
This technically makes them a caster pet.
---
Owl
---
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Claw, Screech, Dive
DIET: Meat
DAMAGE: +7%
ARMOR: Normal
HEALTH: Normal
OVERVIEW: Owls are built for offense, and are one of two animals that can learn
Screech. They also look very elegant, especially the ones that are found in
Winterspring.
------
Raptor
------
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Claw
DIET: Meat
DAMAGE: +10%
ARMOR: +3%
HEALTH: -5%
OVERVIEW: Raptors are the only dinosaurs that can be tamed. They come in a wide
range of colors, and can be found in jungles, though one specie of raptors
exists in Outland.
-------
Ravager
-------
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Dash, Gore
DIET: Meat, Raw Meat
DAMAGE: +10%
ARMOR: +5%
HEALTH: -7%
OVERVIEW: Ravagers are great for offense. They have high damage, can Dash, and
have Gore. This makes them a popular choice for PvP. At low levels, you can
find them around Azuremyst and Bloodmyst Isles, which gives Alliance Hunters
easy access to them early on. They can also be found in Hellfire Peninsula
and other areas of Outland.
-------
Scorpid
-------
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Claw, Scorpid Poison
DIET: Meat
DAMAGE: -6%
ARMOR: +10%
HEALTH: Normal
OVERVIEW: Scorpids are really just giant scorpions. They have high armor and
the exclusive Scorpid Poison, the only pet ability with a stacking effect.
-------
Serpent
-------
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Poison Spit
DIET: Fish, Meat, Raw Fish, Raw Meat
DAMAGE: Normal
ARMOR: Normal
HEALTH: Normal
OVERVIEW: Serpents are fun because of their ranged Poison Spit and their
fearsome appearances. The only downside is that finding one is not an easy
task. Most of the serpent population resides within dungeons.
------
Spider
------
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite
DIET: Meat
DAMAGE: +7%
ARMOR: Normal
HEALTH: Normal
OVERVIEW: Spiders may not have much in the way of abilities but they come in a
huge assortment of colors and skins, and can be found everywhere.
--------
Sporebat
--------
MOVES: Growl, Cower
DIET: Bread, Cheese, Fruit, Fungus
DAMAGE: Normal
ARMOR: Normal
HEALTH: Normal
OVERVIEW: Sporebats have an odd appeal to them but are plain and boring. No
special abilities, no major stat differences. There isn’t much fun in that.
-----------
Tallstrider
-----------
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Dash
DIET: Cheese, Fungus, Fruit
DAMAGE: Normal
ARMOR: Normal
HEALTH: +5%
OVERVIEW: Tallstriders are like small ostriches. They can be found in parts of
Kalimdor but are pretty much nonexistent beyond the early levels. Two popular
locations are Darkshore and Mulgore.
------
Turtle
------
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Shell Shield
DIET: Fungus, Fruit
DAMAGE: -10%
ARMOR: +13%
HEALTH: Normal
OVERVIEW: Turtles make incredibly sturdy tanks, thanks to their thick armor and
Shell Shield ability. There aren’t many of them in the world but the majority
of them can be found along beaches and shorelines. Try the Hillsbrad Foothills
and Tanaris.
------------
Warp Stalker
------------
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Claw, Warp
DIET: Fish, Fruit, Raw Fish
DAMAGE: -6%
ARMOR: +5%
HEALTH: Normal
OVERVIEW: Warp Stalkers are like giant komodo dragons and are native to
Terrokar Forest. Tracking one down is easy but they tend to fade in and out of
sight, allowing them to ambush you when you least expect them.
------------
Wind Serpent
------------
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Dive, Lightning Breath
DIET: Bread, Cheese, Fish
DAMAGE: +7%
ARMOR: Normal
HEALTH: Normal
OVERVIEW: The best way to describe wind serpents is snakes with wings. They
look amazing and are the only creatures that can learn Lightning Breath.
----
Wolf
----
MOVES: Growl, Cower, Bite, Growl, Furious Howl
DIET: Meat
DAMAGE: Normal
ARMOR: +5%
HEALTH: Normal
OVERVIEW: Wolves are great for groups because of their Furious Howl ability,
which gives everyone a damage bonus to their next attack. The world is also
full of them.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
c. Pet Abilities
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What will make one pet stand out from the others are the abilities that you
teach it. You can learn abilities from your local Pet Trainer and teach them to
your pet. Doing so requires training points, which your pet gains as it grows
in level and loyalty. Some abilities can only be learned by taming animals that
come with it. Once you use the ability a few times, you will automatically
learn it, allowing you to teach it to other pets.
-----
Focus
-----
Pets use Focus to fuel their abilities, which works the same way as a Rogue’s
Energy. You pet starts with 100 Focus and it regenerates as your pet uses its
abilities. Your pet gains back Focus much more quickly than you do with mana
but it always gets used up right away. You can always offset this with your
talents if your build allows for it.
-----------------
Arcane Resistance
-----------------
EFFECT: Increase your pet’s Arcane Resistance by 30.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
20 1 5 Resistance starts at 30.
30 2 15 Resistance increased to 60.
40 3 45 Resistance increased to 90.
50 4 90 Resistance increased to 120.
60 5 105 Resistance increased to 150.
OVERVIEW: Arcane damage isn’t very common for most of your leveling in Azeroth,
but you’ll see it a lot in Outland. A minimum of Rank 1 would be nice to have.
---------
Avoidance
---------
EFFECT: Reduces the damage your pet takes from area of effect attacks by an
additional 25%.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
30 1 15 Damage reduction set to 25%.
60 2 25 Damage reduction increased to 50%.
OVERVIEW: Most mobs and bosses will always have their attention on the tank in
a party but that isn’t going to stop area damage attacks from harming your
pet. This is an extremely valuable ability.
----
Bite
----
ACTION: Bite the enemy, causing 7 to 9 damage.
FOCUS: 35
RANGE: 5 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 10 sec.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
1 1 1 Damage starts at 7 to 9.
8 2 4 Damage increased to 16 to 18.
16 3 7 Damage increased to 24 to 28.
24 4 10 Damage increased to 31 to 37.
32 5 13 Damage increased to 40 to 48.
40 6 17 Damage increased to 49 to 59.
48 7 21 Damage increased to 66 to 80.
56 8 25 Damage increased to 81 to 99.
64 9 29 Damage increased to 108 to 132.
OVERVIEW: Bite is a very basic physical attack. There isn’t much to it but the
extra bit of damage is always good to have. It’s also very easy to find beasts
with higher ranks.
------
Charge
------
ACTION: Charges an enemy, immobilizes it for 1 sec, and adds 50 melee attack
power to the boar's next attack.
FOCUS: 35
RANGE: 8-25 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 25 sec.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
1 1 5 Attack power bonus starts at 50.
12 2 9 Attack power bonus increased to 100.
24 3 13 Attack power bonus increased to 180.
36 4 17 Attack power bonus increased to 250.
48 5 25 Attack power bonus increased to 390.
60 6 29 Attack power bonus increased to 550.
OVERVIEW: Charge is good for either catching someone by surprise or stopping a
runner from getting too far ahead of you. One second may not seem like a lot
but it can help you catch up to a fleeing mob or player.
----
Claw
----
ACTION: Claw the enemy, causing 8 to 12 damage.
FOCUS: 25
RANGE: 5 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec global
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
1 1 1 Damage starts at 4 to 6.
8 2 4 Damage increased to 8 to 12.
16 3 7 Damage increased to 12 to 16.
24 4 10 Damage increased to 16 to 22.
32 5 13 Damage increased to 21 to 29.
40 6 17 Damage increased to 26 to 36.
48 7 21 Damage increased to 25 to 49.
56 8 25 Damage increased to 43 to 59.
64 9 29 Damage increased to 54 to 76.
OVERVIEW: If you prefer quick doses of damage as opposed to Bite’s slow bursts,
then Claw is your solution. Like Bite, higher ranks of Claw are also easy to
find in the wild.
--------------
Cobra Reflexes
--------------
EFFECT: Attack speed increased by 30%, but damage done is reduced.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
30 n/a 15 Attack speed increased by 30%.
OVERVIEW: With this ability, your pet’s 2.00 attack speed will increase to
1.54. If you’re a Beast Mastery Hunter, that speed jumps to 1.28, and when
that pet gets Frenzied, it rises to 0.99. Although your pet’s base damage
drops, the overall increase is roughly 12%. A lower base damage means that
Kill Command’s damage will be lessened, but the plus side is that the faster
attack speed helps in maintaining Ferocious Inspiration.
-----
Cower
-----
ACTION: Cower, causing no damage but lowering your threat, making the enemy
less likely to attack you.
FOCUS: 15
RANGE: 5 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 5 sec.
LEVEL RANK FOCUS CHANGE
5 1 8 Reduces threat.
15 2 10 Reduces more threat than Rank 1.
25 3 12 Reduces more threat than Rank 2.
35 4 14 Reduces more threat than Rank 3.
45 5 16 Reduces more threat than Rank 4.
55 6 18 Reduces more threat than Rank 5.
65 7 21 Reduces more threat than Rank 6.
OVERVIEW: Cower is arguably a waste of an ability slot. Pets make up a
significant part of your damage output but unless Growl is set to auto-cast,
they cause much less threat than any human player would. Even with Bestial
Wrath and several other Beast Mastery talents, the only way that they can pull
aggro is if a nearby tank is doing a terrible job at maintaining threat on
your target.
----
Dash
----
ACTION: Increases movement speed by 40% for 15 sec.
FOCUS: 20
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 30 sec.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
30 1 15 Speed bonus starts at 40%.
40 2 20 Speed bonus increased to 60%.
50 3 25 Speed bonus increased to 80%.
OVERVIEW: Dash is a great ability for chasing down targets or for times when
you need to lure a mob towards you. It’s especially useful in PvP.
----
Dive
----
ACTION: Increases movement speed by 40% for 15 sec.
FOCUS: 20
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 30 sec.
LEVEL RANK FOCUS CHANGE
30 1 15 Speed bonus starts at 40%.
40 2 20 Speed bonus increased to 60%.
50 3 25 Speed bonus increased to 80%.
OVERVIEW: Dive is basically Dash for flying animals.
-----------
Fire Breath
-----------
ACTION: Targets in a cone in front of the caster take 6 Fire damage
over 2 sec.
FOCUS: 50
RANGE: 10 yards
CASTING TIME: 2 sec. channeled
COOLDOWN: 10 sec.
LEVEL RANK FOCUS CHANGE
1 1 5 Fire damage set to 6.
60 2 25 Fire damage set to 111.
OVERVIEW: Fire Breath inflicts quite a bit of damage for a pet ability, and
like most magic spells, its base damage increases with level. The downside to
Fire Breath is its ability to break crowd control easily because of its cone.
---------------
Fire Resistance
---------------
EFFECT: Increase your pet’s Fire Resistance by 30.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
20 1 5 Resistance starts at 30.
30 2 15 Resistance increased to 60.
40 3 45 Resistance increased to 90.
50 4 90 Resistance increased to 120.
60 5 105 Resistance increased to 150.
OVERVIEW: Fire damage at level 70 is not as prominent as it was at level 60 but
a minimum of Rank 1 would be very beneficial to your pet.
----------------
Frost Resistance
----------------
EFFECT: Increase your pet’s Frost Resistance by 30.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
20 1 5 Resistance starts at 30.
30 2 15 Resistance increased to 60.
40 3 45 Resistance increased to 90.
50 4 90 Resistance increased to 120.
60 5 105 Resistance increased to 150.
OVERVIEW: Frost damage can usually be found in cold-themed places, such as
Winterspring, but water elementals will almost always cause Frost damage with
each of their melee attacks. Like the other resistances, you should give you
pet Rank 1 at the very least.
------------
Furious Howl
------------
ACTION: Party members within 15 yards of the wolf receive an extra 9 to 11
damage to their next Physical attack. Lasts 10 sec.
FOCUS: 60
RANGE: 15 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 10 sec.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
10 1 10 Damage bonus starts at 9 to 11.
24 2 15 Damage bonus increased to 18 to 22.
40 3 20 Damage bonus increased to 28 to 34.
56 4 25 Damage bonus increased to 45 to 57.
OVERVIEW: This ability is what makes wolves such great companions for just
about any situation but most players often never stand close enough to their
pet for this to affect them. If you need to stay at a distance, simply keep
your pet by your side and manually use Furious Howl whenever it is active. Be
sure to also conserve your pet’s Focus. Without talents, your pet cannot
regain a full 60 Focus within the 10 seconds it takes for the ability to cool.
----
Gore
----
ACTION: Gores the enemy, causing 3 to 5 damage. This attack has a 50%
chance to inflict double damage.
FOCUS: 25
RANGE: 5 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: none
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
1 1 1 Damage set to 3 to 5.
8 2 4 Damage increased to 6 to 10.
16 3 7 Damage increased to 9 to 13.
24 4 10 Damage increased to 12 to 18.
32 5 13 Damage increased to 15 to 23.
40 6 17 Damage increased to 18 to 30.
48 7 21 Damage increased to 24 to 40.
56 8 25 Damage increased to 30 to 48.
63 9 29 Damage increased to 37 to 61.
OVERVIEW: Gore can be a rocky ability to work with but when it works, the
payoff is there. At Rank 9, you are basically looking at 74 to 122 damage for
25 Focus. This is part of what makes ravagers such favorable pets for offense.
-------------
Great Stamina
-------------
EFFECT: Increases your pet’s stamina by 3.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
10 1 5 Stamina bonus starts at 3.
12 2 10 Stamina bonus increased to 5.
18 3 15 Stamina bonus increased to 7.
24 4 25 Stamina bonus increased to 10.
30 5 50 Stamina bonus increased to 13.
36 6 75 Stamina bonus increased to 17.
42 7 100 Stamina bonus increased to 21.
48 8 125 Stamina bonus increased to 26.
54 9 150 Stamina bonus increased to 32.
60 10 185 Stamina bonus increased to 40.
70 11 215 Stamina bonus increased to 64.
OVERVIEW: Stamina is always good for survivability. For pets that are built for
offense, I prefer it over Natural Armor. The way I see it is that damage
mitigation is not really needed if your pet is not taking most of the hits.
-----
Growl
-----
ACTION: Taunt the target, increasing the likelihood the creature will focus
attacks on you.
FOCUS: 15
RANGE: 5 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 15 sec.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
1 1 0 Causes threat.
10 2 0 Causes more threat than Rank 1.
20 3 0 Causes more threat than Rank 2.
30 4 0 Causes more threat than Rank 3.
40 5 0 Causes more threat than Rank 4.
50 6 0 Causes more threat than Rank 5.
60 7 0 Causes more threat than Rank 6.
OVERVIEW: A pet’s attacks alone will never hold aggro. Growl is what keeps mobs
glued to your companion. Keep it on auto-cast when your pet is tanking but
disable it when there is already a tank doing his job.
----------------
Lightning Breath
----------------
ACTION: Breathes lightning, instantly dealing 11 to 13 Nature damage to a
single target.
FOCUS: 50
RANGE: 20 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
1 1 1 Damage starts at 11 to 13.
12 2 5 Damage increased to 21 to 23.
24 3 10 Damage increased to 36 to 40.
36 4 15 Damage increased to 51 to 59.
48 5 20 Damage increased to 78 to 90.
60 6 25 Damage increased to 99 to 113.
OVERVIEW: This is the only single-target spell attack that a pet is capable of
learning. It is quite potent despite its high Focus cost, which can be offset
with certain talents.
-------------
Natural Armor
-------------
EFFECT: Increases your pet’s armor count by 50.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
10 1 1 Armor bonus starts at 50.
12 2 5 Armor bonus increased to 100.
18 3 10 Armor bonus increased to 160.
24 4 15 Armor bonus increased to 240.
30 5 25 Armor bonus increased to 330.
36 6 50 Armor bonus increased to 430.
42 7 75 Armor bonus increased to 550.
48 8 100 Armor bonus increased to 675.
54 9 125 Armor bonus increased to 810.
60 10 150 Armor bonus increased to 1000.
70 11 175 Armor bonus increased to 1600.
OVERVIEW: Giving your pet more armor is very important if you are planning on
using it to soak up physical damage. At 1600 Armor, that equals to roughly
3-4% damage mitigation.
-----------------
Nature Resistance
-----------------
EFFECT: Increase your pet’s Nature Resistance by 30.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
20 1 5 Resistance starts at 30.
30 2 15 Resistance increased to 60.
40 3 45 Resistance increased to 90.
50 4 90 Resistance increased to 120.
60 5 105 Resistance increased to 150.
OVERVIEW: Nature damage is most common with tribal and shamanistic creatures
such as furbolgs. Like the other four resistances, your pet should at least
have Rank 1.
-----------
Poison Spit
-----------
ACTION: Spits poison at an enemy, dealing 20 Nature damage over 8 sec.
FOCUS: 35
RANGE: 30 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 10 sec.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
15 1 5 Nature damage set to 20.
45 2 20 Nature damage increased to 72.
60 3 25 Nature damage increased to 96.
OVERVIEW: Poison Spit is amazing because of its massive 30-yard range, and it
sinks in quickly at two seconds every tick.
-----
Prowl
-----
ACTION: Puts your pet in stealth mode, but slows its movement speed by 50%.
The first attack from stealth receives a 120% bonus to damage.
Lasts until cancelled.
FOCUS: 40
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 10 sec.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
30 1 15 Speed reduced by 50%. Damage bonus at 120%.
40 2 20 Speed reduced by 45%. Damage bonus raised to 135%.
50 3 25 Speed reduced by 40%. Damage bonus raised to 150%.
OVERVIEW: Prowl is great for keeping your cat hidden from enemies but it also
works well for times when you need to scout with Eyes of the Beast.
--------------
Scorpid Poison
--------------
ACTION: Inflicts 10 Nature damage over 10 sec. Effect can stack up to 5 times
on a single target.
FOCUS: 30
RANGE: 5 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 4 sec.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
8 1 10 Total damage starts at 10.
24 2 15 Total damage increased to 15.
40 3 20 Total damage increased to 30.
56 4 25 Total damage increased to 40.
64 5 29 Total damage increased to 55.
OVERVIEW: Scorpid Poison is a good ability but most mobs will die before you
will ever get a full stack. Against bosses, that full stack is entirely
possible and is deadly. A full stack will cause 275 damage per tick for a
total of 1375. This is also before you apply spell damage bonuses, which means
that this poison can go much higher.
-------
Screech
-------
ACTION: Blasts a single enemy for 7 to 9 damage and lowers the melee attack
power of all enemies in melee range by 25. Effect lasts 4 sec.
FOCUS: 20
RANGE: 5 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1.5 sec. global
LEVEL RANK FOCUS CHANGE
8 1 10 Damage at 7 to 9. Attack power reduced by 25.
24 2 15 Damage at 12 to 16. Attack power reduced by 50.
48 3 20 Damage at 19 to 25. Attack power reduced by 75.
56 4 25 Damage at 26 to 46. Attack power reduced by 100.
64 5 29 Damage at 33 to 61. Attack power reduced by 210.
OVERVIEW: Screech’s damage is low but its attack power reduction is excellent.
It can also cause quite a bit of threat against several mobs at once, which
makes it a great way to hold aggro against several targets.
-----------------
Shadow Resistance
-----------------
EFFECT: Increase your pet’s Shadow Resistance by 30.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
20 1 5 Resistance starts at 30.
30 2 15 Resistance increased to 60.
40 3 45 Resistance increased to 90.
50 4 90 Resistance increased to 120.
60 5 105 Resistance increased to 150.
OVERVIEW: Shadow damage is very common in any area that features some kind of
corruption or dark magic, which is quite common in this game. Give you pet a
minimum of Rank 1.
------------
Shell Shield
------------
ACTION: Reduces all damage your pet takes by 50%, but increases the time
between your pet's attacks by 43%. Lasts 12 sec.
FOCUS: 10
RANGE: n/a
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 3 min.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
20 1 10 Damage reduction at 50%, attack speed decreased by 43%.
OVERVIEW: Shell Shield is basically a lesser Shield Wall for your turtle. The
great thing about it is that it works against both magic and physical damage.
As for the speed reduction, it’s not as bad as you would think.
------------
Thunderstomp
------------
ACTION: Shakes the ground with thundering force, doing 67 to 77 Nature damage
to all enemies within 8 yards. This ability causes a moderate amount of
additional threat.
FOCUS: 60
RANGE: 8 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 1 min.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
30 1 15 Damage set to 67 to 77.
40 2 20 Damage increased to 87 to 99.
50 3 25 Damage increased to 115 to 133.
60 4 29 Damage increased to 153 to 177.
OVERVIEW: Thunderstomp is great for holding aggro on several mobs at once,
which is good for those times when you need to cause some area damage. The
only downside is its long cooldown.
----
Warp
----
ACTION: Teleports to an enemy up to 30 yards away and gives the pet a 50%
chance to avoid the next melee attack. Lasts 4 sec.
FOCUS: 25
RANGE: 30 yards
CASTING TIME: Instant
COOLDOWN: 15 sec.
LEVEL RANK TRAIN CHANGE
60 1 1 n/a
OVERVIEW: Warp is a handy way to quickly engage your pet in combat but it can
be particularly annoying in PvP to have a warp stalker magically teleport
behind its target. Nearly all trainable warp stalkers come with this ability.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
d. Building Your Pet
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When it comes to teaching your pet new abilities, you can customize them any
way you’d like, but sometimes it can be hard deciding on what abilities your
pet should have. This section will help you figure out how you should build
your pet.
------------
Prioritizing
------------
When your pet reaches level 70 and attains Loyalty Level 6 (Best Friend), you
will have a total of 350 Training Points to work with. To get the most out of
your pet’s training, you need to prioritize your points. Train the abilities
that are most important to you first. I personally go in this order:
1. Active Abilities (Growl, Bite, Charge, etc.).
2. Cobra Reflexes and Avoidance.
3. Magical Resistances (Rank 1 of each is preferable).
4. Greater Stamina for offense pet. Natural Armor for defense pet.
5. Some Natural Armor for offense pet. Some Greater Stamina for defense pet.
-------------------
Going Down The List
-------------------
First, train whatever active abilities your pet is capable of learning. The
only ability that I would not recommend is Cower. There are so many other ways
to manage threat that you can do without it. For pets that can learn both Bite
and Claw, train only one of the two. Unless you have Go For The Throat or
Bestial Discipline, most pets will not be able to generate enough Focus to make
having both worthwhile.
Second, train Cobra Reflexes and Avoidance. While one increases your pet’s
overall damage output, the other cuts area damage attacks in half. Both of
these abilities are extremely valuable everywhere you go and should not be left
untouched.
Third, train Rank 1 of each magic resistance. Having one of each will give your
pet some protection against any magic attacks that will come your way.
Fourth, train the highest rank of Natural Armor for a defensive pet, and Great
Stamina for an offensive pet. The idea is that if your pet is going to be a
damage sponge, you it needs to be sturdy. Having more armor will also make Mend
Pet more effective in terms of the amount of damage it has to heal. For an
offensive pet, you will want more Stamina. A pet on offense will most likely
not have aggro in a group, and in PvP, most enemy players will go after you
instead of your pet, which defeats the purpose of having more armor.
Finally, with whatever points you have left, train whatever rank of Great
Stamina you can get for a defensive pet, and Natural Armor for an offensive
pet.
--------------
Making Changes
--------------
You don’t have to strictly train abilities in the order that I have listed
above. Depending on your situation, you might want more of one thing and less
of the other. For example, if you are building a pet specifically for Karazhan,
you may want to train higher ranks of Arcane Resistance to protect your pet
against the high amounts of arcane damage. There are lots of ways to customize
your pet. Mix and match abilities and see where it goes. After all, you can
always pay a little cash to redo everything.
===============================================================================
--------------------------[ VIII. Gear Management ]----------------------------
===============================================================================
Although Hunters are not as gear-dependent as other classes, they still need a
good selection of weapons and armor to make the most out of their abilities.
This chapter will help you understand your stats, and will cover the equipment
that you will need on the road to level 70 and beyond.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
a. Basics of Gear Selection
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
All weapons and armor come in seven levels of item quality. Its rarity is
marked by the color of the lettering used in its name. Most players refer to
item rarity by these colors up until purple. People tend to refer to purples
and oranges as “epics” and “legendaries.” It’s more appropriate if you think
about it.
Poor (Gray)
Common (White)
Uncommon (Green)
Rare (Blue)
Epic (Purple)
Legendary (Orange)
Artifact (Gold)
The gear quality gets progressively better as you advance further into the
game. Grays and whites will make up the majority of your gear until about
level 20, which is when greens becomes much easier to find. Most quests at that
point offer greens gear as rewards. On your way to level 70, you will wear
mostly greens with the occasional blues from dungeons. Once you reach that
level, it’s time to replace your greens with blues from endgame dungeons. After
that, you will need heroic and raid dungeons for epics.
In the way of legendaries, the only weapon that you have access to is the
level-60 Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker. It is actually not all
that great for Hunters, and since few guilds go to the old raid dungeons these
days, your chances of getting the sword are very low.
As for artifacts, you have no chance of getting them. Game-breaking
weapons like the Martin Thunder are reserved for game developers.
------------------------
Understanding Your Stats
------------------------
As a Hunter, the three most important stats to you are:
Agility: increases your attack damage and critical strike chance.
Stamina: increases your total Health.
Intellect: increases your total mana.
Strength only increases your melee attack damage, and you have no abilities or
talents that can properly make full use of Spirit. The three stats mentioned
above are very common up until level 60, which is when you begin to see weapons
and armor with other stats. Here are some of those other stats that will become
important to you:
Attack Power: increases your attack damage.
Crit Rating: increases critical strike chance.
Hit Rating: increase chance to hit.
Mana Tick: regenerates mana every 5 sec.
Dodge Rating: increases your chance to dodge.
Haste Rating: increases your attack speed.
Most greens will have two or three stats, whereas blues may have a balanced mix
of several stats, which is why you are often encouraged to run through dungeons
for gear. As you grow in level, you also need higher stats to make up certain
percentages such as your critical strike chance. At level 10, it might take
only about 5 Agility to raise that chance by 1% but at level 70, it takes 40
Agility to make up that 1%.
To give you an idea of what your stats are doing for you, here is a conversion
table of stats, numbers, and percentages for a level 70 Hunter. Certain numbers
have been rounded up to make gear planning easier.
=========================================================
| STAT | CONVERSION |
=========================================================
| 14 Attack Power | 1 Damage Per Sec. |
| 1 Agility | 1 Attack Power |
| 1 Agility | 2 Armor |
| 25 Agility | 1% dodge rate |
| 40 Agility | 1% critical strike chance |
| 23 Crit Rating | 1% critical strike chance |
| 1 Stamina | 10 Health |
| 1 Intellect | 15 Mana |
| 16 Hit Rating | 1% to hit |
| 11 Haste Rating | 1% attack speed |
| 19 Dodge Rating | 1% chance to dodge |
| 11 Haste Rating | 1% Haste |
| 32 Parry Rating | 1% Parry |
| 1 Strength | 1 melee Attack Power |
| 5 Spirit | 1 mana/5 sec. |
| 1 Expertise | 0.25% reduced Dodge/Parry |
| 4 Expertise | 1% reduced Dodge/Parry |
=========================================================
---------------
Hit Percentages
---------------
As you know, there is a base miss rate of 5% for any kind of attack, which can
be reduced with Hit Rating. With enough of it, your shots will stop missing
against mobs at certain levels. Listed below are the Hit Ratings needed for a
level-70 player to reach perfect accuracy against mobs at four different
levels:
=========================
| LV. | HIT% | RATING | Since raid bosses count as level 73, and endgame
========================= mobs go no higher than that, you will need no more
| 70 | 5.00% | 80 Hit | than 144 Hit Rating for perfect accuracy. At 9% to
| 71 | 5.50% | 88 Hit | Hit, you will never miss a single shot against
| 72 | 6.00% | 96 Hit | any target. Shots can still be blocked, however.
| 73 | 9.00% | 142 Hit | Of course, a shield would be needed for that.
=========================
Note that this is for your ranged weapon shots. For melee weapons, your target
can still block, dodge, or parry the swing.
--------------
Uncommon Armor
--------------
For most of your trip to level 70, greens will make up the bulk of your gear.
They have a high drop rate, can easily be found at the local Auction House for
decent prices, and most quests reward you with greens. Some will have unique
names but most will have a suffix at the end. That suffix decides what stats
are on that piece of armor. Here is a handy chart of suffixes:
===================================================================
| SUFFIX | BONUSES |
===================================================================
| of the Monkey | Agility, Stamina |
| of the Falcon | Agility, Intellect |
| of the Tiger | Agility, Strength |
| of the Wolf | Agility, Spirit |
| of the Eagle | Intellect, Stamina |
| of the Gorilla | Intellect, Strength |
| of the Bear | Strength, Stamina |
| of the Whale | Spirit, Stamina |
| of the Boar | Spirit, Strength |
| of the Owl | Spirit, Intellect |
===================================================================
The chart below features the suffixes that were in place at the time of the
release of The Burning Crusade. These suffixes feature three stats instead of
two. Note that some of the stat combinations occur twice. This is because some
of those suffixes are exclusive to blues. Presented in alphabetical order:
===================================================================
| EXPANSION | BONUSES |
===================================================================
| of Blocking | Block Rating, Strength |
| of the Ancestor | Strength, Crit Rating, Stamina |
| of the Bandit | Agility, Stamina, Attack Power |
| of the Battle | Strength, Stamina, Crit Rating |
| of the Beast | Strength, Agility, Stamina |
| of the Champion | Strength, Stamina, Defense |
| of the Crusade | Spell Damage, Intellect, Defense |
| of the Elder | Stamina, Intellect, Mana Regen |
| of the Grove | Strength, Agility, Stamina |
| of the Hunt | Attack Power, Agility, Intellect |
| of the Hierophant | Stamina, Spirit, Healing |
| of the Invoker | Intellect, Spell Damage, Spell Crit |
| of the Knight | Stamina, Spell Damage, Defense |
| of the Mind | Spell Damage, Spell Crit, Intellect |
| of the Nightmare | Shadow Damage, Stamina, Intellect |
| of the Physician | Stamina, Intellect, Healing |
| of the Prophet | Intellect, Spirit, Healing |
| of the Shadow | Attack Power, Agility, Stamina |
| of the Soldier | Strength, Stamina, Crit Rating |
| of the Sorcerer | Stamina, Intellect, Spell Damage |
| of the Sun | Spell Damage, Stamina, Intellect |
| of the Vision | Spell Damage, Intellect, Stamina |
| of the Wild | Attack Power, Stamina, Agility |
===================================================================
Other suffixes exist but all of these are the ones that you will see most
often. The ones that you will want to get your hands on are:
of the Monkey
of the Falcon
of the Hunt
of the Shadow
of the Wild
Single-stat suffixes like “of Agility” are nice but the total number of points
on that kind of armor is always lower than that of a dual-stat or triple-stat
item of the same level. Here is an example:
Mail Bracers of Agility: +20 Agility
Mail Bracers of the Monkey: +14 Agility, +13 Stamina
This is just a rough comparison but it is more or less what you would see
if you were to find two of the same bracers with those suffixes.
----------
Rare Armor
----------
Whereas greens usually have two or three stats, blues can have a whole wide
range of them. As you grow, you will find that the blues you find will
progressively become more complex. Here is your old level-60 dungeon set chest
armor, compared with your level-70 equivalent:
Beaststalker’s Tunic Beast Lord Cuirass
Chest Chest
370 Armor 652 Armor
+6 Spirit +20 Agility
+14 Agility +30 Stamina
+13 Intellect +24 Intellect
+5 Strength [ ] Red Socket
+16 Stamina [ ] Red Socket
EQUIP: +28 Attack Power [ ] Blue Socket
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Agility
EQUIP: +40 Attack Power
EQUIP: +4 mana/5 sec.
Ignore the Spirit and Strength on the Tunic. The gem slots make the comparison
a bit skewed but you get the idea. No matter what, blues are very rewarding and
are superior to greens of the same level. Finding them, however, might not be
an easy task. Blues are found mostly from bosses in 5-man dungeons but there
are some group quests and outdoor encounters that offer them as rewards.
Occasionally, you may get lucky and get a blue item on an easy kill but the
chances of that happening are slim.
------------------
Epic Quality Items
------------------
The next step up from blues are epics. Items with that level of quality are
amazing for their given level and many have their own unique graphics but are
very hard to obtain without having to go through great lengths to get them. A
few epics are simply random world drops that can appear when you least expect
them but the two most common sources are raids and crafting. Both require a lot
of time, dedication, and patience.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. Technical Issues
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There are a lot of technical issues that have been argued over the years over
Hunter gear, what works, and what fails. This section catalogs and summarizes
some of the larger discussions that players have had.
---------------
Hit Versus Crit
---------------
Whenever you find new weapons and armor with sockets, you can choose to put
either Hit Rating or Crit Rating gems in them. Both will increase your damage
output but in two different ways. On paper, they are about equal but to
understand how it works, you must first understand what goes into an attack.
The game uses a table of outcomes and the chances of each one occurring to
decide what will happen when you make an attack. Everything adds up to 100%
and can go no higher. When an increase in one outcome occurs, there has to be a
decrease somewhere else.
Let’s assume the following. You fire your ranged weapon at a mob:
1. You have a 20% chance to score a critical hit.
2. You are fighting a mob of equal level. Therefore, 5% base miss chance.
3. The mob has no shield. Therefore, it cannot block.
Here is your attack table:
=======================
| OUTCOME | ODDS | Note that the order of these outcomes is listed in a
======================= certain way. An event at one entry here precedes the
| Miss | 5% | one beneath it. When the random rolls occur, the
| Block | 0% | chance to miss is determined first. If it does not
| Critical Hit | 20% | miss, then the chance to block is determined next.
| Normal Hit | 75% | This keeps going until one outcome occurs. Otherwise,
======================= the end result is a Normal Hit.
Let’s say that you have just equipped some new gear. Below are two more tables.
Table 1 features +5% Hit. Table 2 features +5% Crit:
Table 1: +5% Hit Table 2: +5% Crit
======================= =======================
| OUTCOME | ODDS | | OUTCOME | ODDS |
======================= =======================
| Miss | 0% | | Miss | 5% |
| Block | 0% | | Block | 0% |
| Critical Hit | 20% | | Critical Hit | 25% |
| Normal Hit | 75% | | Normal Hit | 70% |
======================= =======================
Note how each stat works. +5% Hit simply reduces your chance of missing, while
+5% Crit shifts your Normal Hit percentage into Critical Hit. You may also
notice that there is a certain limit to each of the two stats. Anything higher
than 5% Hit in this case does nothing.
The limits of Hit is obvious here but the same cannot be said for Crit. So
let’s assume that the mob indeed does have a shield with a 15% chance to block.
Table 3 features the table with shield in place. Table 4 features that same
shield along with Shield Block, which gives it +75% Block.
Table 3: +25% Block Table 4: Shield Block
======================= =======================
| OUTCOME | ODDS | | OUTCOME | ODDS |
======================= =======================
| Miss | 5% | | Miss | 5% |
| Block | 25% | | Block | 90% |
| Critical Hit | 20% | | Critical Hit | 5% |
| Normal Hit | 50% | | Normal Hit | 0% |
======================= =======================
Since Shield Block has caused the mob’s Block to jump to 90%, something has to
give way to maintain 100%. The 5% Miss rate stays untouched so that leaves
Normal Hit. However, that only makes up 60%. That means that you have to take
away 15% from Critical Hit to make up that 90% Block.
So what does this mean for you? Both Hit and Crit are great but each are
affected by the limitations of the attack table. Hit will allow you to make
more consistent shots, whereas Crit will increase your chances of scoring
double damage before it becomes a normal hit. Build your character according to
what you need. For raiding, you may want +9% Hit to knock out the Miss rate
against level-73 targets. On the other hand, if you are a Survivalist, you may
need that Crit for talents that rely on it such as Expose Weakness and Thrill
of the Hunt.
Of course, the tables above only refer to your ranged attacks, which cannot be
parried, dodged, or become a glancing blow. For melee attacks, where all of
that can occur, the table gets a little bigger. Let’s assume the following:
1. You have 15% Critical Hit, 15% Dodge, 5% Parry.
2. The mob has 5% Critical Hit, 5% Dodge, 5% Parry, and 5% Block.
Table 5 is your attack table against your target. Table 6 is your mob’s attack
table against you:
Table 5: Your Swings Table 6: Mob’s Swings
======================== ========================
| OUTCOME | ODDS | | OUTCOME | ODDS |
======================== ========================
| Miss | 5% | | Miss | 5% |
| Dodge | 5% | | Dodge | 15% |
| Parry | 5% | | Parry | 5% |
| Glancing Blow | 0% | | Glancing Blow | 0% |
| Block | 5% | | Block | 0% |
| Critical Hit | 15% | | Critical Hit | 5% |
| Normal Hit | 65% | | Crushing Blow | 0% |
======================== | Normal Hit | 70% |
========================
Note that you are not capable of Crushing Blows, nor are mobs capable of
Glancing Blows. More on this in Chapter IX.
------------------------------------
Slower Weapons Versus Faster Weapons
------------------------------------
One of the most common questions that players ask is whether slower or faster
ranged weapons are better for a Hunter. The answer to this question depends on
what you are looking at. The following are affected by your choice in weapon
speed:
1. Aimed Shot & Multi-Shot
The only three Shots that are affected by weapon speed are these two plus
Auto-Shot. Having done some math with several ranged weapons and the 2.8
speed normalization in mind, slower weapons will always cause more damage
due to their higher base damages, but these two Shots tend to be used only
in certain situations. Their costs and casting times make them difficult to
use in a regular shot rotation. Arcane Shot and Steady Shot are based
entirely off of your Ranged Attack Power so they are unaffected by speed.
2. Shot Rotation
Until you get Steady Shot, speed matters very little. After you learn it at
level 62, trying to carefully fit its casting time into the mix gets
tricky. As you reach closer to 1.5 speed, the global cooldown from Arcane
Shot actually hampers your firepower but conveniently leaves plenty of room
for Steady Shot and Auto-Shot. This is why Beast Masters tend to use the
Steady/Auto combo for most encounters. Players generally refer to it as the
golden 1:1 ratio.
3. Haste Bonuses
There are quite an assortment of items that are rich in this stuff. Your
ammo container, the Quel’Danas Heroic Badge rewards, various trinkets, and
Rapid Fire among other things can give you one massive boost in attack and
casting speed, but this can only go so far. Your attack speed will never
fall below 0.99 seconds, and if the rules that apply to casters apply to
Hunters as well, then Steady Shot’s casting time will be limited by the
fact that the global cooldown cannot fall below one second.
Fortunately, most ranged weapons past level 60 fall within the 2.6 to 3.0
range, and most of the best endgame ranged weapons do not fall anywhere below
that range. Only a select few are 2.0 or faster.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
c. Melee Weapons
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ranged weapons are not too hard to pick out but finding the right melee weapons
can be a challenge. This section will help you look for a weapon that will suit
you.
Before we start, note that you have a wide range of weapons that you can use.
You start out with only a few weapon skills but you can acquire more by
training at the Weapon Masters in each major city. Here are the weapons that
you can use:
Sword
Two-Handed Sword
Axe
Two-Handed Axe
Dagger
Staff
Polearm
Fist
Bow
Crossbow
Gun
Throwing
So basically, you can learn to use anything but wands and maces.
--------------------------------
Supporting Your Ranged Firepower
--------------------------------
Ideally, you will want a melee weapon whose stat bonuses will support your
ranged weapons. You will not be swinging your melee weapons a lot so the base
damage of the weapon itself is not quite as important as the bonuses it has to
offer. Look for weapons with plenty of Agility and Attack Power. Here are two
level-70 endgame weapons that are excellent for Hunters:
Stellaris
One-Hand, Axe
94-177 Damage, 1.90 Speed
(71.6 DPS)
+21 Agility
+12 Stamina
EQUIP: +22 Attack Power
This drops off of Nethermancer Sepethrea. She is an incredibly annoying boss
but as you can see, the reward is excellent. Note that it is labeled One-Hand
and not Main Hand. While a One-Hand weapon can be equipped in either hand, a
Main Hand weapon can only be equipped in your main hand.
Sonic Spear
Two-Hand, Polearm
261-392 Damage, 3.50 Speed
(93.3 DPS)
+35 Agility
+30 Stamina
EQUIP: +24 Hit Rating
EQUIP: +62 Attack Power
This is a drop from Murmur, the last boss of the Shadow Labyrinth. This is the
best two-handed weapon that you can obtain before going to raid dungeons.
---------------------------
The Mechanics of Dual Wield
---------------------------
At level 20, you get the ability to dual wield but most players who are new to
the game do not fully understand how it works. Here is the science behind it:
Whenever you wield a single weapon, it will always inflict whatever damage is
indicated with a base 5% miss rate. When you add an off-hand weapon, however,
the numbers change. While the main-hand weapon’s damage is unchanged, the
off-hand weapon only inflicts half its normal damage. Dual-wielding also gives
you a base 19% miss rate for either hand.
So why the massive handicap? If you were to remove the damage and miss rate
penalties, you would be way too powerful. Two Stellaris axes would cause a
total of 143.2 DPS as opposed to Sonic Spear’s 93.3 DPS. With the penalties in
place, the overall DPS of the axes are brought down to the Spear’s DPS.
--------------------------
Calculating Dual Wield DPS
--------------------------
Even though melee damage is not a major concern for you, there may be times
when you will have a two-hander equipped and are wondering if a pair of one-
handers will yield higher melee DPS than what you already have. Here is how
you can get a rough estimate of how much DPS your weapons are giving you:
1. Take whatever weapon will go in your off-hand, and divide the indicated
DPS in half.
2. Add the resulting number to your main-hand weapon’s DPS.
3. Take the sum and multiply it by 0.86.
Why 0.86? To give you an accurate comparison to a two-hander, 0.86 is taking
into account 19% Miss rate for dual-wielding but is setting aside 5% of that to
make up for the base 5% Miss rate that does not get calculated into your two-
handed weapon DPS indicated in your character tab.
The end result is the rough total DPS of your two weapons. It will give an
accurate idea of where your 2H melee damage stands when shopping around for
one-handers.
-----------------------------
Dual Wield Versus Two-Handing
-----------------------------
One of the most popular questions that arise is which of the two is better, and
the answer is neither. Both have their own benefits as well as their downsides.
Here is what players have said over the years.
Players in support of two-handing argue that as a Hunter, you will not stay in
melee range long enough for dual wield to take its course. What you will do is
throw as hard a Raptor Strike as possible before Wing Clipping and running back
into shooting range. A two-handed weapon is slow enough that the high base
damage will allow you to score that knockout punch, especially if you have
Savage Strikes.
On the other hand, players in support of dual wield argue that if the first
swing with a two-handed weapon misses, you will have to wait several seconds
before you can get a second chance, which you may not get if your plan is to
Wing Clip and run back into shooting range. The faster attack speed also means
less of a delay between an auto-attack and a following Raptor Strike. Dual
wield also allows you to cleverly enchant both of your weapons with +30
Intellect, which has been found to be very useful in raids.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
d. Ammunition
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Needless to say, ammo is important. Your bows always need arrows, and your guns
will never fire without bullets. This section will cover ammunition. All ammo
comes in stacks of 200.
------------------
General Goods Ammo
------------------
These bullets and arrows are the ones found at your local General Goods store.
This is the cheapest kind of ammo that money can buy, and it gets the job done
when there is nothing better.
======================================================
| BULLETS | DPS | LEVEL | COST |
======================================================
| Light Shot | 1.5 | 5 | 9c |
| Heavy Shot | 3.5 | 10 | 50c |
| Solid Shot | 7.5 | 25 | 3s |
| Accurate Slug | 13.0 | 40 | 9s |
| Impact Shot | 22.0 | 55 | 14s |
| Ironbite Shell | 32.0 | 65 | 30s |
======================================================
======================================================
| ARROWS | DPS | LEVEL | COST |
======================================================
| Rough Arrow | 1.5 | 5 | 9c |
| Sharp Arrow | 3.5 | 10 | 50c |
| Razor Arrow | 7.5 | 25 | 3s |
| Jagged Arrow | 13.0 | 40 | 9s |
| Wicked Arrow | 22.0 | 55 | 14s |
| Blackflight Arrow | 32.0 | 65 | 30s |
======================================================
------------
Crafted Ammo
------------
Engineers have the opportunity to craft their own bullets. Even though you have
to find your own materials, these bullets are stronger than store-bought
shells, and have lower level requirements to boot. Thorium Shells can be traded
in for Thorium Headed Arrows at your local city.
===============================================
| BULLETS | DPS | LEVEL |
===============================================
| Crafted Light Shot | 2.0 | 5 |
| Crafted Heavy Shot | 4.5 | 15 |
| Crafted Solid Shot | 8.5 | 30 |
| Hi-Impact Mithril Slugs | 12.5 | 42 |
| Mithril Gyro-Shot | 15.0 | 44 |
| Thorium Shells | 17.5 | 52 |
| Fel Iron Shells | 26.0 | 57 |
| Adamantite Shells | 37.0 | 62 |
===============================================
----------------------
Faction-Exclusive Ammo
----------------------
There are several kinds of arrows and bullets that can be bought from exclusive
factions. Most require that your reputation with them be at a certain level,
usually Honored at the very least.
===============================================================================
| BULLETS | FACTION | REP | DPS | LV. | COST |
===============================================================================
| Ice Threaded Bullet | Stormpike/Frostwolf | Honored | 16.5 | 54 | 54s |
| Felbane Slugs | Honor Hold | Revered | 37.0 | 68 | 50s |
| Hellfire Shot | Thrallmar | Revered | 37.0 | 68 | 50s |
| Halaani Grimshot | [Halaa, Nagrand] | n/a | 38.5 | 66 | 60s |
| Mysterious Arrow | The Violet Eye | Revered | 46.5 | 70 | 80s |
| Timeless Shell | The Scale of the Sands | Honored | 53.0 | 70 | 2g |
===============================================================================
===============================================================================
| ARROWS | FACTION | REP | DPS | LV. | COST |
===============================================================================
| Ice Threaded Arrow | Stormpike/Frostwolf | Honored | 16.5 | 54 | 54s |
| Scout’s Arrow | Cenarion Expedition | Honored | 26.0 | 61 | 20s |
| Warden’s Arrow | Cenarion Expedition | Revered | 37.0 | 68 | 50s |
| Halaani Razorshaft | [Halaa, Nagrand] | n/a | 38.5 | 66 | 60s |
| Mysterious Arrow | The Violet Eye | Revered | 46.5 | 70 | 80s |
| Timeless Arrow | The Scale of the Sands | Honored | 53.0 | 70 | 2g |
===============================================================================
------------------
Miscellaneous Ammo
------------------
The rest of the ammo can be found either as drops from bosses or quest rewards.
===============================================================================
| AMMO | SOURCE | TYPE | DPS | LEVEL |
===============================================================================
| Flash Pellet | Quest: Sharing The Land | Bullet | 2.0 | 7 |
| Smooth Pebble | Drop: Var. Darkshore Mobs | Bullet | 4.0 | 13 |
| Precision Arrow | Drop: Baelog (Uldaman) | Arrow | 11.5 | 35 |
| Feathered Arrow | Quest: Stealing Supplies | Arrow | 9.5 | n/a |
| Exploding Shot | Quest: Stealing Supplies | Bullet | 9.5 | n/a |
| Rockshard Pellets | Drop: Lord Roccor (BRD) | Bullet | 18.0 | 47 |
| Doomshot | Drop: Shad Hunt Vash’gajin | Arrow | 20.0 | 54 |
| Miniature Cannon Balls | Drop: Cannon Master Willey | Bullet | 20.5 | 56 |
===============================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
e. Ammo Storage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ammo pouches and quivers do a lot more than store your ammo. They also add to
your ranged attack speed, which is why they are such an important asset to you.
This section will help you locate upgrades to your current ammo containers.
As an added visual bonus for bow users, whenever you have your bow actively in
your hand, your quiver will appear strapped to your back.
-----------------------
The Local Hunting Store
-----------------------
Apparently, the locals have a thing with not keeping up with the latest trends.
These are containers that can be bought from a hunting shop at a major city
near you but you may quickly outgrow them.
==============================================================
| AMMO POUCH | LEVEL | SLOTS | ATK.SPD | COST |
==============================================================
| Small Ammo Pouch | none | 6 | +10% | 4c |
| Small Shot Pouch | none | 8 | +10% | 1s |
| Medium Shot Pouch | 10 | 10 | +10% | 10s |
==============================================================
==============================================================
| AMMO POUCH | LEVEL | SLOTS | ATK.SPD | COST |
==============================================================
| Light Quiver | none | 6 | +10% | 4c |
| Small Quiver | none | 8 | +10% | 1s |
| Medium Quiver | 10 | 10 | +10% | 10s |
==============================================================
------------------
Crafted Containers
------------------
Leatherworkers can craft their own ammo pouches and quivers. The benefit to
this is that it makes it easier for them to upgrade from one container to the
next.
===========================================================
| AMMO POUCH | LEVEL | SLOTS | ATK.SPD |
===========================================================
| Small Leather Ammo Pouch | none | 8 | +10% |
| Heavy Leather Ammo Pouch | 30 | 14 | +12% |
| Thick Leather Ammo Pouch | 40 | 16 | +13% |
| Knothide Ammo Pouch | 60 | 20 | +15% |
| Netherscale Ammo Pouch | 70 | 24 | +15% |
===========================================================
===========================================================
| QUIVER | LEVEL | SLOTS | ATK.SPD |
===========================================================
| Light Leather Quiver | none | 8 | +10% |
| Heavy Quiver | 30 | 14 | +12% |
| Quickdraw Quiver | 40 | 16 | +13% |
| Knothide Quiver | 60 | 20 | +15% |
| Quiver of a Thousand Feathers | 70 | 24 | +15% |
===========================================================
------------------
Dungeon Containers
------------------
Ribbly Screwspigot, one of the regulars at the bar in Blackrock Depths, is the
proud owner of his own containers. Put an end to him and you just might walk
away with a brand new ammo pouch or quiver.
=======================================================
| CONTAINER | LEVEL | SLOTS | ATK.SPD |
=======================================================
| Ribbly’s Bandolier | 50 | 16 | +14% |
| Ribbly’s Quiver | 50 | 16 | +14% |
=======================================================
---------------------------
Battleground PvP Containers
---------------------------
Once you are revered with either the Stormpike or Frostwolf factions, you have
the chance to buy the best possible container that you can get before walking
into Outland. Try one of these out for the low price 10 Alterac Valley Marks of
Honor and 2250 Honor Points.
=======================================================
| CONTAINER | LEVEL | SLOTS | ATK.SPD |
=======================================================
| Gnoll Skin Bandolier | 55 | 16 | +15% |
| Harpy Hide Quiver | 55 | 16 | +15% |
=======================================================
----------------------------
Faction-Exclusive Containers
----------------------------
The two Nagrand factions and the Consortium both feature their own containers,
which you can obtain once you are honored with either of them. Their ammo pouch
and quiver are currently the best ones in the game, standing at 18 slots and
+15% ranged attack speed.
===============================================================================
| CONTAINER | FACTION | ATK.SPD | LV. | SLOTS | COST |
===============================================================================
| Smuggler’s Ammo Pouch | The Consortium | +15% | 68 | 18 | 10g |
| Worg Hide Quiver | Kurenai (Alliance) | +15% | 68 | 18 | 10g |
| Clefthoof Hide Quiver | The Mag’har (Horde) | +15% | 68 | 18 | 10g |
===============================================================================
The best quiver and ammo pouch in the game are currently the Netherscale Ammo
Pouch and the Quiver of a Thousand Feathers, both of which can be crafted by
your local leatherworker.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
f. Scopes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
While melee weapons can be enhanced with the help of enchanters, ranged weapons
can receive similar treatment with the help of an Engineer. They can craft a
variety of scopes that can be attached to any ranged weapon, though it will
never show on your weapon’s graphic. Here are the kinds of scopes that an
engineer can craft:
===========================================================================
| NAME | LV.REQ | QUALITY | EFFECT |
===========================================================================
| Crude Scope | 5 | Common | +1 Weapon Damage |
| Standard Scope | 10 | Common | +2 Weapon Damage |
| Accurate Scope | 20 | Common | +3 Weapon Damage |
| Deadly Scope | 30 | Common | +5 Weapon Damage |
| Sniper Scope | 40 | Common | +7 Weapon Damage |
| Biznicks 247x128 Accurascope | 50 | Rare | +30 Ranged Hit Rating |
| Adamantite Scope | 55 | Uncomm | +10 Weapon Damage |
| Khorium Scope | 55 | Rare | +12 Weapon Damage |
| Stabilized Eternium Scope | 60 | Rare | +28 Crit Rating |
===========================================================================
Since Blizzard is always adding new content to the game, you will never know
what other kinds of scopes will show up next.
------------------------------------------
Khorium Scope or Stabilized Eternium Scope
------------------------------------------
One of the most critical pieces of equipment is the scope that you put on your
ranged weapon. Once you reach level 70, you have two choices: the Khorium
Scope’s +12 damage or the Stabilized Eternium Scope’s +28 Crit Rating. On the
surface, it looks seemingly equal; choose Khorium for consistent damage, and
Eternium for burst damage. However, it gets a lot more complicated than that.
The Khorium Scope is about as basic as scopes get: increase the base damage by
12 and that’s that. The problem with this, however, is that it does nothing for
abilities that don’t factor in weapon damage. Aimed Shot, Auto-Shot, and Multi-
Shot will benefit from this but Steady Shot and Arcane Shot will not. The
latter two are affected by your total Ranged Attack Power.
On the other hand, the +1.27% critical hit percentage from the Eternium Scope
affects all four of these Shots. This is especially handy for raids because the
bulk of your damage will come from three of them: Auto-Shot, Steady Shot, and
Arcane Shot. Note that the latter two are the ones that are unaffected by the
Khorium Scope.
That’s not to say that the Khorium Scope is necessarily useless. Keep in mind
that no matter what your server economy is like, the materials needed for
crafting an Eternium Scope cost more. The Khorium Scope is also exceptionally
good for players with fast attack speeds. Since most ranged weapons past level
60 tend to be no faster than 2.70, this requires a mix of haste bonuses,
talents, trinkets, and Rapid Fire. In that case, Khorium may have a slight edge
over Eternium.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
g. Gear Enhancements
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This section covers the various armor enchantments and book-based abilities
that you’ll encounter in the later parts of the game. Although they aren’t
cheap or easy to get by any means, they add very beneficial bonuses to your
stats. Listed below are the most ideal enchants for a Hunter.
---------------
Weapon Enchants
---------------
Enchant Weapon – Agility
EFFECT: Adds +15 Agility to your Weapon.
MATS: 6x Large Brilliant Shard
6x Greater Eternal Essence
4x Illusion Dust
2x Essence of Air
Enchant Weapon – Greater Agility
EFFECT: Adds +20 Agility to your Weapon.
MATS: 8x Arcane Dust
4x Greater Planar Essence
6x Large Prismatic Shard
2x Primal Air
Enchant 2H Weapon – Agility
EFFECT: Adds +25 Agility to your 2H Weapon.
MATS: 10x Large Brilliant Shard
6x Greater Eternal Essence
14x Illusion Dust
4x Essence of Air
Enchant 2H Weapon - Major Agility
EFFECT: Adds +35 Agility to your 2H Weapon.
MATS: 10x Large Prismatic Shard
6x Greater Planar Essence
20x Arcane Dust
Enchant 2H Weapon – Savagery
EFFECT: Adds +70 Attack Power to your 2H Weapon.
MATS: 4x Large Prismatic Shard
40x Arcane Dust
Enchant Weapon – Major Intellect
EFFECT: Adds +30 Intellect your Weapon.
MATS: 2x Large Prismatic Shard
10x Greater Planar Essence
-------------
Boot Enchants
-------------
Enchant Boots – Greater Agility
EFFECT: Adds +7 Agility to Boots.
MATS: 8x Greater Eternal Essence
Enchant Boots - Dexterity
EFFECT: Adds +12 Agility to Boots.
MATS: 8x Greater Planar Essence
8x Arcane Dust
--------------
Glove Enchants
--------------
Enchant Gloves – Greater Agility
EFFECT: Adds +7 Agility to Gloves.
MATS: 3x Lesser Eternal Essence
3x Illusion Dust
Enchant Gloves – Superior Agility
EFFECT: Adds +15 Agility to Gloves.
MATS: 3x Nexus Crystal
8x Large Brilliant Shard
4x Essence of Air
Enchant Gloves – Assault
EFFECT: Adds +26 Attack Power to Gloves.
MATS: 8x Arcane Dust
--------------
Cloak Enchants
--------------
Enchant Cloak – Lesser Agility
EFFECT: Adds +3 Agility to Cloak.
MATS: 2x Lesser Nether Essence
Enchant Cloak – Greater Agility
EFFECT: Adds +12 Agility to Cloak.
MATS: 1x Greater Planar Essence
4x Arcane Dust
1x Primal Air
--------------
Chest Enchants
--------------
Enchant Chest – Stats
EFFECT: Adds +3 to all Stats to Chest.
MATS: 1x Large Radiant Shard
3x Dream Dust
2x Greater Nether Essence
Enchant Chest – Greater Stats
EFFECT: Adds +4 to all Stats to Chest.
MATS: 4x Large Brilliant Shard
15x Illusion Dust
10x Greater Eternal Essence
Enchant Chest – Exceptional Stats
EFFECT: Adds +6 to all Stats to Chest.
MATS: 4x Large Prismatic Shard
4x Arcane Dust
4x Greater Planar Essence
---------------
Bracer Enchants
---------------
Enchant Bracers – Minor Agility
EFFECT: Adds +1 Aglity to Bracers.
MATS: 2x Strange Dust
1x Greater Magic Essence
Enchant Bracers – Assault
EFFECT: Adds +24 attack power to Bracer.
MATS: 6x Arcane Dust
-------------
Ring Enchants
-------------
Enchant Ring – Stats
EFFECT: Adds +4 to all Stats to Ring.
NOTE: Only useable on your own rings.
MATS: 6x Void Crystal
6x Large Prismatic Shard
----------------
Faction Enchants
----------------
Glyph of Ferocity
FACTION: Cenarion Expedition
REPUTATION: Revered
LEVEL: 70
COST: 90g
EFFECT: Permanently adds 34 attack power and 16 hit rating to a head slot item.
Does not stack with other enchantments for the selected equipment slot.
Inscription of Vengeance
FACTION: The Aldor
REPUTATION: Honored
LEVEL: 64
COST: 2x Holy Dust
EFFECT: Permanently adds 26 attack power to a shoulder slot item. Does not
stack with other enchantments for the selected equipment slot.
Greater Inscription of Vengeance
FACTION: The Aldor
REPUTATION: Honored
LEVEL: 70
COST: 8x Holy Dust
EFFECT: Permanently adds 30 attack power and 10 critical strike rating to a
shoulder slot item. Does not stack with other enchantments for the selected
equipment slot.
Inscription of the Blade
FACTION: The Scryers
REPUTATION: Honored
LEVEL: 64
COST: 2x Arcane Rune
EFFECT: Permanently adds 13 critical strike rating to a shoulder slot item.
Does not stack with other enchantments for the selected equipment slot.
Greater Inscription of the Blade
FACTION: The Scryers
REPUTATION: Exalted
LEVEL: 70
COST: 8x Arcane Rune
EFFECT: Permanently adds 15 critical strike rating and 20 attack power to a
shoulder slot item. Does not stack with other enchantments for the selected
equipment slot.
--------------------------
Leatherworking Leg Patches
--------------------------
Cobrahide Leg Armor
LEVEL: 60
MATS: 4x Heavy Knothide Leather
2x Cobra Scales
4x Primal Air
EFFECT: Permanently attach cobrahide armor onto pants to increase attack power
by 40 and critical strike rating by 10.
Nethercobra Leg Armor
LEVEL: 60
MATS: 4x Heavy Knothide Leather
4x Cobra Scales
8x Primal Air
1x Primal Nether
EFFECT: Permanently attach nethercobra armor onto pants to increase attack
power by 50 and critical strike rating by 12.
Clefthide Leg Armor
LEVEL: 60
MATS: 4x Heavy Knothide Leather
8x Thick Clefthoof Leather
4x Primal Earth
EFFECT: Permanently attach clefthide armor onto pants to increase stamina by 30
and agility by 10.
Nethercleft Leg Armor
LEVEL: 60
MATS: 4x Heavy Knothide Leather
16x Thick Clefthoof Leather
8x Primal Earth
1x Primal Nether
EFFECT: Permanently attach clefthide armor onto pants to increase Stamina by 40
and Agility by 12.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
h. Gems
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sockets are a blessing in disguise. It can cost you a fortune to get the gems
it gives you a lot of room for customization. You can try to go by the colors,
and get the socket bonus. You can also ignore the colors and socket bonuses
entirely by putting in whatever gems you want. This section catalogs whatever
gems may be of use to you.
=============================================================================
| RED GEMS | QUALITY | BONUSES |
=============================================================================
| Bright Tourmaline | Common | +8 Attack Power |
| Bright Blood Garnet | Uncomm | +12 Attack Power |
| Mighty Blood Garnet | Rare | +14 Attack Power |
| Bright Living Ruby | Rare | +16 Attack Power |
| Bold Ornate Ruby | Epic | +20 Attack Power |
| Bright Crimson Spinel | Epic | +20 Attack Power |
| Delicate Tourmaline | Common | +4 Agility |
| Delicate Blood Garnet | Uncomm | +6 Agility |
| Delicate Living Ruby | Rare | +8 Agility |
| Delicate Crimson Spinel | Epic | +10 Agility |
| Flashing Living Ruby | Rare | +8 Parry Rating |
| Flashing Crimson Spinel | Epic | +10 Parry Rating |
| Subtle Living Ruby | Rare | +8 Dodge Rating |
| Subtle Crimson Spinel | Epic | +10 Dodge Rating |
=============================================================================
=============================================================================
| YELLOW GEMS | QUALITY | BONUSES |
=============================================================================
| Smooth Amber | Common | +4 Crit Rating |
| Smooth Golden Draenite | Uncomm | +6 Crit Rating |
| Smooth Dawnstone | Rare | +8 Crit Rating |
| Smooth Ornate Dawnstone | Epic | +10 Crit Rating |
| Smooth Lionseye | Epic | +10 Crit Rating |
| Rigid Amber | Common | +4 Hit Rating |
| Rigid Golden Draenite | Uncomm | +6 Hit Rating |
| Rigid Dawnstone | Rare | +8 Hit Rating |
| Rigid Lionseye | Epic | +10 Hit Rating |
| Brilliant Amber | Common | +4 Intellect |
| Brilliant Golden Draenite | Uncomm | +6 Intellect |
| Brilliant Dawnstone | Rare | +8 Intellect |
| Brilliant Lionseye | Epic | +10 Intellect |
| Sublime Mystic Dawnstone | Epic | +10 Resilence |
| Mystic Lionseye | Epic | +10 Resilience |
=============================================================================
=============================================================================
| BLUE GEMS | QUALITY | BONUSES |
=============================================================================
| Solid Zircon | Common | +6 Stamina |
| Solid Azure Moonstone | Uncomm | +9 Stamina |
| Solid Star of Elune | Rare | +12 Stamina |
| Solid Empyrean Sapphire | Epic | +15 Stamina |
| Lustrous Zircon | Common | +1 Mana/5 Sec. |
| Lustrous Azure Moonstone | Uncomm | +2 Mana/5 Sec. |
| Lustrous Star of Elune | Rare | +3 Mana/5 Sec. |
| Lustrous Empyrean Sapphire | Epic | +4 Mana/5 Sec. |
=============================================================================
=============================================================================
| ORANGE GEMS (RED/YELLOW) | QUALITY | BONUSES |
=============================================================================
| Wicked Flame Spessarite | Uncomm | +6 Attack Power, +3 Crit Rating |
| Unstable Citrine | Rare | +8 Attack Power, +4 Crit Rating |
| Wicked Noble Topaz | Rare | +8 Attack Power, +4 Crit Rating |
| Deadly Fire Opal | Epic | +8 Attack Power, +5 Crit Rating |
| Inscribed Ornate Topaz | Epic | +10 Attack Power, +5 Crit Rating |
| Wicked Pyrestone | Epic | +10 Attack Power, +5 Crit Rating |
| Pristine Fire Opal | Epic | +10 Attack Power, +4 Hit Rating |
| Empowered Fire Opal | Epic | +8 Attack Power, +5 Resilience |
| Glinting Flame Spessarite | Uncomm | +3 Hit Rating, +3 Agility |
| Glinting Noble Topaz | Rare | +4 Hit Rating, +4 Agility |
| Glinting Fire Opal | Epic | +5 Agility, +4 Hit Rating |
| Glinting Pyrestone | Epic | +5 Agility, +5 Hit Rating |
| Empowered Fire Opal | Epic | +8 Attack Power, +5 Resilience |
| Beaming Fire Opal | Epic | +5 Dodge Rating, +4 Resilience |
| Nimble Fire Opal | Epic | +5 Dodge Rating, +4 Hit Rating |
| Assassin’s Fire Opal | Epic | +5 Dodge Rating, +6 Crit Rating |
| Splendid Fire Opal | Epic | +5 Parry Rating, +4 Resilience |
=============================================================================
=============================================================================
| GREEN GEMS {YELLOW/BLUE} | QUALITY | BONUSES |
=============================================================================
| Jagged Deep Peridot | Uncomm | +3 Crit Rating, +4 Stamina |
| Barbed Deep Peridot | Rare | +4 Crit Rating, +3 Stamina |
| Jagged Talasite | Rare | +4 Crit Rating, +6 Stamina |
| Jagged Chrysoprase | Epic | +5 Crit Rating, +6 Stamina |
| Jagged Seaspray Emerald | Epic | +5 Crit Rating, +7 Stamina |
| Dazzling Deep Peridot | Uncomm | +3 Intellect, +1 Mana/5 Sec. |
| Dazzling Talasite | Rare | +4 Intellect, +2 Mana/5 Sec. |
| Dazzling Chrysoprase | Epic | +5 Intellect, +3 Mana/5 Sec. |
| Unstable Peridot | Rare | +4 Intellect, +6 Stamina |
| Timeless Chrysoprase | Epic | +5 Intellect, +6 Stamina |
| Steady Chrysoprase | Epic | +5 Resilience, +6 Stamina |
| Sundered Chrysoprase | Epic | +5 Crit Rating, +2 Mana/5 Sec. |
=============================================================================
=============================================================================
| PURPLE GEMS (RED/BLUE) | QUALITY | BONUSES |
=============================================================================
| Shifting Shadow Draenite | Uncomm | +3 Agility, +4 Stamina |
| Shifting Nightseye | Rare | +4 Agility, +6 Stamina |
| Shifting Shadowsong Ameth. | Epic | +5 Agility, +7 Stamina |
| Balanced Shadow Draenite | Uncomm | +6 Attack Power, +4 Stamina |
| Unstable Amethyst | Rare | +8 Attack Power, +6 Stamina |
| Balanced Nightseye | Rare | +8 Attack Power, +6 Stamina |
| Brutal Tanzanite | Epic | +10 Attack Power, +6 Stamina |
| Pulsing Amethyst | Epic | +10 Attack Power, +6 Stamina |
| Balanced Shadowsong Ameth. | Epic | +10 Attack Power, +7 Stamina |
| Regal Tanzanite | Epic | +5 Dodge Rating, +6 Stamina |
| Defender’s Tanzanite | Epic | +5 Parry Rating, +6 Stamina |
=============================================================================
=============================================================================
| CHROMATIC GEMS | QUALITY | BONUSES |
=============================================================================
| Prismatic Sphere | Epic | +3 All Resists |
| Void Sphere | Rare | +4 All Resists |
=============================================================================
---------
Meta Gems
---------
Meta gems have incredibly powerful stats and effects but will not come into
effect unless you fulfill specific requirements that are listed in the gem’s
text. Depending on your selection of gear, those requirements can be very easy
or very hard to work with. The majority of items that feature meta gem sockets
are set helms. Below is a list of the meta gems that you may find useful.
Enigmatic Skyfire Diamond
QUALITY: Rare
BONUS: +12 Crit Rating, +5% Snare and Root Resist
REQUIREMENT: Requires more red gems than yellow gems
Potent Unstable Diamond
QUALITY: Rare
BONUS: +24 Attack Power, +5% stun resistance
REQUIREMENT: Requires more blue gems than yellow gems
Powerful Earthstorm Diamond
QUALITY: Rare
BONUS: +18 Stamina, +5% stun resistance
REQUIREMENT: Requires at least 3 blue gems
Relentless Earthstorm Diamond
QUALITY: Rare
BONUS: +12 Agility, +3% critical strike damage
REQUIREMENT: Requires at least 2 red gems, 2 blue gems, 2 yellow gems
Swift Skyfire Diamond
QUALITY: Rare
BONUS: +24 Attack Power, Minor Run Speed
REQUIREMENT: Requires at least 2 yellow gems, 1 red gem
Swift Windfire Diamond
QUALITY: Rare
BONUS: +20 Attack Power, Minor Run Speed
REQUIREMENT: Requires at least 2 yellow gems, 1 red gem
Thundering Skyfire Diamond
QUALITY: Rare
BONUS: Chance to increase melee and ranged attack speed
REQUIREMENT: Requires at least 2 red gems, 2 blue gems, 2 yellow gems
----------------------------
Getting The Meta Gem To Work
----------------------------
Trying to fulfill both the meta gem’s requirements and the socket bonuses on
your weapons and armor is not an easy task. Fortunately, that is where the
dual-color gems come in handy. Orange, green, and purple gems each count for
two colors, which makes meta gems that require a minimum of certain colors much
easier to work with.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
i. Miscellaneous
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This section will cover some tools that will be very useful to you. Be sure to
keep an eye out for these items.
---------------
Ornate Spyglass
---------------
This little item is great for peeking into the distance beyond what your
computer is capable of rendering. Eagle Eye is superior to this but the fact
that it can be used indoors is a plus. There is no cooldown so it can be used
as often as you want.
The Ornate Spyglass can be crafted by engineers with 135 skill.
----------------------------
Everlasting Underspore Frond
----------------------------
This item creates 10x Underspore Pods with a 12-hour cooldown. The fact that it
restores Health and mana is nice but what makes it even neater is that it
serves as free food for any pets that eat fruit.
To get this item, you need to become neutral with Sporeggar and get a level-65
quest called “Oh, It’s On!” from T’shu in Sporeggar. It takes a 5-man trek
through the Underbog to complete it but the reward is well worth it.
---------------------
Bounty of the Harvest
---------------------
Around the fall season, there is a festival that takes place in Ironforge and
Orgrimmar that honors casualties of war. If you complete the holiday quest that
is available during that time, you will get this item, which conjures four
Harvest Breads but has a 12-hour cooldown. Like the Frond mentioned above, this
is another source of free food for both you and your pet.
-------------------------------
Sporeling Snack & Kibler’s Bits
-------------------------------
These fun little treats will buff your pet with either +20 Stamina or Strength
for 30 minutes. They also give an additional +20 Spirit but Spirit for pets is
never a priority.
Sporeling Snacks can be cooked up by anyone with 310 skill in cooking and the
recipe from Sporeggar. Kibler’s Bits required 300 skill but the recipe can only
be found from the crates that you receive as a reward for the daily cooking
quests in Lower City.
-------------------
Crystal Mana Potion
-------------------
Even with Aspect of the Viper, you will use up your mana very quickly, which is
why mana potions are essential when having to endure long battles. The
Consortium have only a limited supply of Super Mana Potions on sale, and
shopping at the Auction House can be costly. Thankfully, you have one easy
sources for replenishing your supply of potions.
Your key source is the ogres of Ogri’la. Once you are exalted with them, you
may purchase Crystal Mana Potions from their local quartermaster for 32 silver
and 50 Apexis Shards each. Each one gives you 1800 to 3000 mana, which is the
same as a Super Mana Potion. Since you gain a lot of reputation, money, and
Shards from doing their Daily quests, getting access to the potions is easy.
===============================================================================
--------------------------[ IX. Playing As A Hunter ]--------------------------
===============================================================================
This chapter will cover the basic play styles and tactics that a Hunter will
typically use when going solo, in a group, or in PvP. These are mostly tactics
that I use, however. Many players will fight differently, depending on their
Talent builds, preferences, and play styles. This chapter will serve you as a
guideline as to how to play but as you grow, you’ll develop your own style.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
a. Hunter 101: The Basics
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This section will teach you the basics of the shot rotation and how to get used
to using some of your abilities. Much of this caters to novice players from
levels 1 through 40 but it can serve as a refresher for experienced players as
well.
----------------------
Setting Up Your Attack
----------------------
Every Hunter develops a specific setup routine before they begin attacking. If
you have just recently started playing a Hunter, you are not going to have most
of your core abilities but once you have them, you will naturally develop your
own setup. Against a typical mob, the most common routine is this:
1. Cast Hunter’s Mark on target.
2. Command pet to attack target.
3. Begin your shot rotation.
You can add traps and Stings to this but most mobs die so quickly that neither
will really make a massive difference in the way you kill them. More on the
shot rotation below.
-------------
Shot Rotation
-------------
You may have heard other players using this term. The shot rotation refers to
your continuous pattern of shots, which you use in cycles against your target.
Setting up a good rotation is critical to establishing an effective damage
output. A very basic rotation against a single mob is usually:
1. Arcane Shot
2. Auto-Shot
3. Serpent Sting
4. Auto-Shot
5. Arcane Shot
As you start gathering more abilities and talents, the rotation is going to
change a lot. By level 60, a shot rotation versus an outdoor elite might look
like this:
0. Aimed Shot
1. Arcane Shot
2. Multi-Shot
3. Auto-Shot
4. Serpent Sting
Note that Aimed Shot here is intentionally labeled “0” to indicate it as an
opening shot and nothing more. A shot rotation can contain just about anything
but a guideline to remember is to not waste mana or abilities that take a while
to cool down if there is no need to do so. For example, Multi-Shot and Bestial
Wrath are great ways to increase your firepower but using them is costly.
-------------------------
Learning to Use Auto-Shot
-------------------------
Auto-Shot is your auto-attack with a ranged weapon. The concept is simple
enough but there is a whole lot that you can do with it. Learning how to make
full use of it will give you better control over your Hunter.
One of the biggest mistakes that Hunters make early on is their tendency
to use a Shot or a Sting as their way of enabling their Auto-Shot. Arcane
Shot is usually that trigger. The problem occurs when the Shot is still
cooling down after using it. Most players will either use another Shot or
Sting that might not be needed or wait for their key Shot to finish
cooling. Having Auto-Shot slotted to an action bar will let you freely
attack whenever you need to. It also serves as an indicator that flashes
whenever you have it active.
Another way to use your Auto-Shot is with the T key. For most classes, it
enables auto-attack with a melee weapon. For you, it does double duty. Near
melee range, you will pull out your melee weapon but at firing range, you use
automatically use Auto-Shot instead. Getting used to firing with the T key
means not having to use up a slot on your action bar. That would mean losing
the flashing indicator but if you can tell when you have Auto-Shot enabled,
that will not be problem.
-----------------------
The Importance of Melee
-----------------------
Once you obtain a pet, you will not be attacking with your melee weapons often
but raising your melee weapon skills is just as important as your ranged
skills. Wing Clip and Raptor Strike are useless if your skills are too low.
Remember to occasionally spend some time attacking weaker mobs with your melee
weapons. The last stretch to 350 is always the toughest but the most rewarding.
------------------
Escaping From Mobs
------------------
In the wild, whenever a mob decides to run after you, you only have to give
chase for several seconds before it gives up and runs back to its spot but what
many new players are not aware of is the fact that if you continuously attack
the mob as it chases you, it will not give up until either one of you is dead.
In fact, a single mob can chase you for miles across the continent until you
stop your assault.
If you are running away from a mob in the wild, be sure to not attack it. If
you want to minimize the damage, you can use Wing Clip and run away. Remember
to hit Aspect of the Cheetah once you reach a safe distance. Another method is
to have your pet distract it while you run. Eventually, your pet will safely
vanish due to it being too far away from you. If you are still in combat by the
time your pet’s portrait is gone, it can chase you all it wants but you will be
too far ahead.
------------------------------
Understanding Dungeon Behavior
------------------------------
Once in a while, you will want to run through dungeons with a 5-man group for
better loot. Dungeon elites are indeed stronger than anything in the wild but
they behave very differently as well. Here are a few things to keep in mind:
1. Dungeon elites will chase you to no end. Normal mobs will stop chasing you
after a while but these elites will chase you until you either die or run
out of the instance. You can run until your computer can no longer see
them but they know where you are and they will find you.
2. Elites tend to fight in packs. When you pull one, you will pull the others
regardless of how far apart they are. These packs will also either be
stationary or patrol certain areas.
3. Many elites are designed to handle groups. Many of them will have Cleaves,
Bolt Volleys, and other area damage effects.
4. Whereas most mobs of equal level are more or less the same in terms of
overall stats, the stats of elites can vary greatly. Elites that tend to
fight on their own are stronger than the ones that fight in packs.
5. In the wild, getting too close to a mob while another player attacks it
will usually not cause you to enter combat. In dungeons, it will.
Remember, most elites are still susceptible to most spells and effects. Stuns,
snares, and other crippling effects still work and are encouraged. Your Feign
Death will also cause mobs to stop chasing you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. Hunter 201: Intermediate
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This section goes more in-depth into some of the more complex aspects of what
you are capable of. This caters to players who have a firm grasp on the
mechanics of the class and have acquired most of their abilities.
------------------------
Adjusting to Steady Shot
------------------------
Once you reach level 62, you will get an ability called Steady Shot. After 61
levels without it, it will feel awkward using it but it is indeed one of the
most powerful tools in your arsenal. It has a low mana cost, increases your
firepower, does not interfere with the Auto-Shot timer, and has no cooldown.
It comes in handy in just about any situation you can think of.
Getting used to Steady Shot must first start with your ability to time your
Auto-Shots properly. Try this example rotation against a single mob:
1. Auto-Shot
2. Steady Shot
3. Auto-Shot
4. Steady Shot
5. Auto-Shot
The idea is to get a feel for how Steady Shot weaves between each Auto-Shot.
Once you are comfortable with this, start mixing in Arcane Shot into the
rotation. Eventually, your basic rotation should look like this:
1. Auto-Shot
2. Steady Shot
3. Arcane Shot
4. Auto-Shot
5. Steady Shot
If your ranged weapon speed is roughly 2.50 after applying the ammo container’s
haste bonus, the Auto-Shot should fire on its own after the Arcane Shot goes
off. However, it is possible to miss that Auto-Shot if you start recasting
Steady Shot too quickly.
Because of the Shot’s flexibility, you can safely remove Serpent Sting from
your rotation when you are up against a typical mob. Steady Shot’s low mana
cost makes it more efficient for mobs. The same can be said about Multi-Shot.
----------------------
Running With Auto-Shot
----------------------
As you probably already know, Auto-Shot only fires if you are not moving, even
if you have it enabled. From the moment you stop moving, it takes roughly half
of a second to fire your weapon. After that, your weapon speed accounts for
when the next shot fires. There are other options for whenever you have to be
on the move but with a little practice, you can learn to take potshots without
having to spend mana on the more mobile Arcane Shot.
The key to potshots is knowing when your next Auto-Shot will fire, which will
vary depending on weapon speed and Haste bonuses. The best way to practice this
is by letting your pet tank a single mob as you sidestep in circles, stopping
every few steps to fire your weapon. Once you get a feel for when the shot is
about to fire, it will also give you an idea of when it is okay to start moving
again without disrupting Auto-Shot. That will also vary depending on your lag.
------------------------------------
Using Freezing Trap As Crowd Control
------------------------------------
With Clever Traps, Freezing Trap will keep targets frozen for up to 26 seconds,
just 4 seconds shy of its cooldown. Since it is also useable against every
known species of mobs, that makes it one of the powerful crowd-control tools in
your arsenal. Pulling mobs into the trap itself is easy. Making full use of it,
however, requires a bit of extra know-how.
When trying to keep a mob frozen for as long as possible, your timing is
crucial. There are three things to take into consideration:
1. The cooldown of the trap itself is 30 seconds.
2. The freeze duration is 26 seconds.
3. The trap takes 2 seconds to arm.
From the time that your target is frozen, you need to have the next trap set
and ready by the time the first one thaws. There are two ways to keep the mob
in check as you prepare for the second trap:
1. Set your trap early. If you let the cooldown timer run before the first
pull, you will have the second trap ready immediately.
2. Use Concussive Shot or Scatter Shot as the mob is running towards the
trap. By slowing it down, you give your trap some time to let the cooldown
run.
You can keep a mob frozen for as long as you want. In fact, you can kill an
elite doing this by shooting it as you lure it into each trap.
------
Kiting
------
Kiting is when you attack a mob as it chases you. You will usually need to do
this when fighting a mob while your pet is not around.
The key to a successful kite is keeping your target from taking a swing at you.
As you fire away, keep moving, stopping only for an occasional Auto-Shot or
Steady Shot. Be sure to use Concussive Shot or Frost Trap to slow it down. If
you are not using Serpent Sting, you can even use Freezing Trap. If you have
Wyvern Sting or Scatter Shot, those will work nicely as well. Aspect of the
Cheetah is very useful for kiting but if you get dazed, there is little room
for recovery.
All of this is assuming that you are stopping every few seconds to shoot your
target. If you master jump shots, which is listed in the next section, you can
attack your target without losing any momentum on your run. That will be
important against elites.
--------------------------
More Control Over Your Pet
--------------------------
If you are like most players, you probably click the Attack, Follow, and Stay
commands on your pet’s action bar rather than use the shortcut keys. This is
actually the least effective way to give your pet commands because of the time
it takes for you to click those tiny buttons on the bottom-left corner of your
screen. To cut down on that response time, learning to give commands with
your hotkeys is highly recommended.
By default, the shortcut keys are Ctrl plus the corresponding command key. 1
would be Attack, 2 is Follow, 3 is Stay, and the rest are your pet’s actions.
Depending on the size and shape of your hand, hitting Ctrl and a number key
could be a bit tricky. You can always go to your Key Bindings settings and
change the Secondary Action Bar hotkeys. I suggest trying the F keys at the
top of your keyboard. F1 through F5 are normally used to target party members
but they conveniently correspond to the position of your pet’s action bar on
your screen.
You should also try to keep your pet set to Passive at all times. Defensive is
great for those moments when you get attacked by mobs or hostile players but it
can sometimes cause problems when you are trying to attack something without
having to cross paths with something nasty, in which case your pet will aid you
by running after your target. As for Aggressive, that is not recommended. It
might have some use in PvP but most of the time, it is best that you not use
that setting.
-------------------------------
The Mechanics of Threat & Aggro
-------------------------------
Every spell, attack, and ability that a player uses causes a certain amount of
threat against a mob. Some naturally cause high threat while most cause
relatively low threat. A few cause absolutely none at all. Even heals and buffs
cause threat. Abilities that cause high amounts of damage tend to cause a lot
of threat, especially if it critically hits. Unless there is something special
about the mob, it will always attack whoever has the highest amount of threat.
Aggro refers to that person sitting at the top of the threat count. When a
player says that you have aggro, that means that the mob is now targeting you.
As a Hunter, most of your threat is caused by quick bursts of critical hits,
which is easy to do with the right gear. Disengage is one way to reduce your
threat but the one surefire way to remove all of it is by Feigning Death.
Unless it is resisted, you will end up at the very bottom of the threat chain.
This is very important because in any given instance, if a tank loses aggro, it
can be hard for him to regain that aggro.
There are third-party add-ons available that will allow you to visually see how
much threat you cause when compared to other players. KTM is a popular add-on
that gauges the threat of all party or raid members with the same add-on. Many
raiding guilds highly recommend it.
-------------------------------
Crushing Blows & Glancing Blows
-------------------------------
As you already know, normal mobs that are within two levels of you are not too
tough to kill but when that gap expands to three or more levels, it takes much
more effort to kill them, almost to the point where they might as well be
elites. There is actually more to it than just the level difference. If you
look in your Combat Log after fighting an orange- or red-level mob, you will
notice two peculiar things: Crushing Blows and Glancing Blows.
A Crushing Blow is when a mob hits you for 150% damage. It only appears on its
attack table when its Weapon Skill is 15 more than your Defense, which is a
difference of three levels. To calculate the Crushing Blow chance, double the
difference between Weapon Skill and Defense, and subtract 15. To give you an
idea of what that number may be, here is a chart that assumes that you are
level 60. These are what the Crushing Blow percentages would be:
=================================
| YOUR LV. | MOB LV. | CRUSHING |
=================================
| 60 | 63 | 15% |
| 60 | 64 | 25% |
| 60 | 65 | 35% |
| 60 | 66 | 45% |
| 60 | 67 | 55% |
| 60 | 68 | 65% |
| 60 | 69 | 75% |
| 60 | 70 | 85% | Note that with a base 5% Miss chance, the
| 60 | 71+ | 95% | Crushing Blow percentage cannot exceed 95%.
=================================
A Glancing Blow is somewhat the opposite. It is when an attack made against a
higher-level mob is reduced in damage. There is still ongoing discussions as to
how the chances of a Glancing Blow are calculated and how much damage is
reduced when it occurs. All you need to know is that when you fight a mob that
is significantly higher in level than you, that mob has a chance to cause more
damage per attack, while you have a chance to cause less damage per attack.
Fortunately, Glancing Blows are not included in the attack table for ranged
attacks, which means that any shots that you make will never result in a
Glancing Blow. However, they can still miss, and that Miss chance against
higher-level mobs is significantly higher than the base 5%.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
c. Advanced Tactics
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This section contains some of the more difficult aspects of life as a Hunter.
Listed here are techniques that are extremely valuable to you but require
practice.
-------------
The Jump Shot
-------------
The jump shot is not an ability but is actually a technique in which you jump
and shoot your target with Arcane Shot while it is behind you. It is usually
done while running since it allows you to attack your target without stopping.
Making a 180 degree turn while on the ground will slow you down.
Getting this technique down will require practice with your control over the
direction you are facing. Note that the right mouse button controls whatever
direction you are facing. While you are in midair, what you want to do is turn
your character 180 degrees with the right mouse button so that you are facing
your target. At that point, fire Arcane Shot, and turn your mouse back the
other way so that when you land, you are still running in the same direction.
The best time to practice this is while kiting. Try to have the mob chase you
down a straight path. Use Rank 1 Arcane Shot as you turn in midair. When you
land on your feet, you should still be running along that same path. Your
biggest mistake at first will be running to the side of the path when you land
but as you get better at it, keeping on a straight course will get easier.
----------------
Mounted Reversal
----------------
Mount up and start charging towards your target. Once you are within firing
range, quickly turn around and leap back in the opposite direction while firing
your favorite Shot or Sting. If done correctly, you will dismount and fire but
the leap that you make while you are mounted will cause you to fly backward and
out of harm’s way.
This technique makes an excellent opener for arenas due to its ability to
quickly launch dispelling Arcane Shots or mana-zapping Viper Stings without
getting too close to your opponents.
----------------------
Double Freeze Trapping
----------------------
Most Hunters assume that because the tooltip says that only one trap can exist
at a time, you can only keep one target frozen at a time. This is only true if
the trap has not gone off. Once a target has become frozen, you can set a
second trap of any kind without causing your first trap to thaw. With this is
mind, you can keep up to two targets frozen at any given time.
To trap two targets, what you need to do is set the first Freezing Trap and let
the 30-second cooldown timer run. Now pull the first target into the trap. Once
the trap goes off, immediately set the second Freezing Trap and lure the other
mob into it. Remember to take into account the two-second trap delay.
If you have Readiness, you can use it to end the cooldown on Freezing Trap,
allowing you to freeze a third target.
---------------------------------
Using Your Pet As An Escape Decoy
---------------------------------
One of the advantages to being is a Hunter is that the game treats your pet as
a separate entity. Whenever a patrolling mob decides to attack your pet, note
that you yourself will not enter combat unless you interact with your pet in
some way. This includes commanding it to attack or healing it with Mend Pet.
With this in mind, your pet is a valuable tool in entering and exiting combat
with ease.
To see this for yourself, command your pet to attack to a mob. Notice that it
has caused you to enter combat. Now command your pet to come back to you. As it
comes running back, quickly Feign Death to exit combat and then stand back up.
Keep an eye on your level indicator beneath your portrait. You will notice that
the mob is still attacking your pet but you yourself are completely free to do
whatever you need to do outside of combat. Try eating, drinking, or mounting.
Keep in mind that if you get hit with any area damage effects while Feigning,
you will reenter combat, preventing you from doing what you need to do.
Fortunately, as long as you keep Feigning, the mob will leave you alone.
Remember that as you Feign Death, you will stay in combat if you do not command
your pet to stop attacking. Another thing to keep in mind is that once you stop
Feigning, dungeon elites can cause you to reenter combat if they get too close
to you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
d. Player Versus Player
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Also know as PvP. When you have to fight against another player, the rules of
engagement are very different. This section will help you prepare for
encounters against enemy players in arena, battlegrounds, and in the world.
------------------
A Much Smarter Foe
------------------
Mobs only behave in a certain way. They are designed to do little more than
attack you blindly and chase you on foot. Human players, on the other hand, are
much smarter than that. They will walk into a battle knowing what you are
capable of, and what your weaknesses are. They will run in circles to evade
your attacks, and will do whatever they can to cause as much damage as
possible.
Here is what they will know when they see you:
1. You are weakest at melee range.
2. You probably have a Freezing/Snake/Frost Trap ready somewhere near you.
3. They will judge you by looking at your gear. Your helm and shoulders are
most prominent.
4. They know what abilities you have in general.
5. If they inspect your buffs carefully, they can see your Trueshot Aura or
Spirit Bond, which gives away your talent build.
Here is what they do not know:
1. They cannot tell what spec you are until they get a taste of you.
2. They assume that you will probably not use consumables unless you have a
Warlock with you, in which case they would assume that you probably have a
Healthstone.
With what they know, most players will use the same strategies against you,
hoping to cause as much damage as possible while keeping you in melee range.
Most melee classes will try to snare you, while casters will try to burn you
down as quickly as possible at close range.
--------------
On The Offense
--------------
Keep Your Distance
Your chances of winning are usually best if you stay as far away as possible.
You may be wearing the second-best armor type in the game, but you can still
get demolished if you wander too far into the fray.
Judge Your Enemy
Sometimes you can get a feel for the overall gear level of a certain player.
Helms, shoulders, and robes are usually the most prominent part of a player’s
appearance. Also take note of how often you are landing critical hits and how
much damage those hits are causing. That can serve as an indicator of how much
Resilience that player has.
Disable The Healers
Put Viper Sting on any Paladins, Priests, or Druids that are evidently healing.
Even though it can be removed with a simple Cleanse, it can still leave its
mark before your enemy notices it. Plus removing it can be tough if there are
other debuffs alongside it.
Hit The Fragile Players
Be sure to deal with cloth-wearing casters first. You specialize in the one
category that they are weak against: ranged physical damage. If you happen to
have Aimed Shot, you can also use it to cripple their attempts at healing,
though you will need something to speed up its casting time such as Rapid Fire.
Otherwise, it is slow enough that anyone who notices you casting it will look
for safety.
Watch Yourself When Casting
Many players get themselves caught in a situation where they are in the middle
of a Steady Shot or Aimed Shot but being bombarded with so many hits that it
gets interrupted. Watch yourself carefully. If you are getting pelted with
attacks, lay off abilities that have a casting time unless you have something
that can speed it up.
--------------------
Use Your Environment
--------------------
As a hunter, your environment is everything, especially in Battlegrounds and
Arenas. Most players know that you can’t touch them as long as they are not
within your line of sight. They will look for corners and pillars to run
around, and you will not be able to give chase if you get snared.
At the same time, your environment is a great way to protect yourself from
enemy fire. Just as they can hide from your shots, you can do the same against
theirs. You can take position around the corner of a nearby doorway,
remembering to hide when needed.
-------------------
Using The Right Pet
-------------------
Your pet is a very important part of your prowess. Its damage output can’t come
close to yours but your choice of pets can make or break you. Here are some
pets that do well against other players:
Boar
The boar’s Charge ability can be a great way to stop an enemy player from
fleeing when used correctly. One second may not sound like a lot but it can be
enough for you to gain the upper hand on a runner.
Ravager
Nothing too fancy here. Thick armor, good offensive power, and the added bonus
of Gore and Dash make this one of the best pets to use against other players.
Scorpid
Even though most cleansing abilities target their debuffs randomly, Scorpid
Poison’s stacking effect makes it more difficult for healing classes to cleanse
off more potent poisons like Viper Sting.
----------------------------
The Importance of Resilience
----------------------------
The game’s typical mix of weapons and armor are undoubtedly great for PvP but
the one stat that makes a crucial difference against other players is
Resilience. It reduces your opponent’s chance of landing a critical hit, and
the amount of damage a critical hit and damage-over-time abilities cause.
For every 100 Resilience, this is what you get:
- Chance for an enemy to land a critical strike reduced by 2.50%.
- Critical strike damage reduced by 5%.
- Damage from damage-over-time abilities reduced by 2.50%.
Resilience grows linearly, which means that at 400 Resilience:
- Chance for an enemy to land a critical strike reduced by 10%.
- Critical strike damage reduced by 20%.
- Damage from damage-over-time abilities reduced by 10%.
Let’s go back to the PvP Season 1 chest armor and compare it side-by-side with
the Tier-4 chest armor:
Gladiator’s Chain Armor Demon Stalker Harness
Chest Chest
866 Armor 846 Armor
+27 Agility +26 Agility
+51 Stamina +24 Stamina
+17 Intellect +35 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket [ ] Red Socket
[ ] Red Socket [ ] Blue Socket
[ ] Yellow Socket [ ] Blue Socket
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Crit Rating SOCKET BONUS: +8 Attack Power
EQUIP: +18 Crit Rating EQUIP: +70 Attack Power
EQUIP: +20 Resilience EQUIP: +6 Mana/5 Sec.
EQUIP: +26 Attack Power
While Resilience allows you to survive critical hits, the higher Armor and
Stamina allows you to soften the blows. This makes you very tough to kill, and
it is this high level of survivability that will give you the edge against
other players.
------------------
Fighting As A Team
------------------
Teamwork and communication is very important in PvP, especially if you are
fighting in Battlegrounds. Be sure to coordinate your attacks, and keep your
eyes and ears open for what your teammates have to say. The greater your
numbers are, the less likely your enemies are going to engage you head-on.
Be sure to keep a close eye on your healers. Enemy players will always go after
your healers first whenever possible. Keep them alive and they will do the same
for you.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
e. Raiding
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Raiding is no easy task. Raid dungeons feature vigorous demands that take into
account everything you have, including your personal skill, time, equipment,
and knowledge of each encounter. This section will help you make your
transition into a raid environment.
-------
Add-Ons
-------
I tend to not advocate add-ons but there are a few that are extremely helpful
to you when raiding. There are many websites that have them readily available.
Omen
USES: Tracks the threat and aggro gains of party and raid members.
Based on the popular KLH Threat Meter, this add-on charts out the
amount of threat you cause in form of a live bar graph. Because threat
management is such an important part of raiding, Omen allows you to keep an
eye on how close you are to getting a mob’s attention.
CalendarMod
USES: Schedules and manages guild events and signups.
This add-on is like an in-game secretary with built-in clock and date. Many
guilds use this as a clean and efficient way to organize and schedule raids.
DeadlyBossMod
USES: Provides in-game warnings when bosses perform special attacks.
This is a must-have for raid leaders. It warns players when bosses are about
to perform their signature attacks, who is affected by what spells, and keeps
track of how long a boss has before it Enrages. Although its timers are
sometimes off-sync, it is a valuable asset to you as a raider.
SWStats
USES: Keeps track of damage and healing statistics over time.
This add-on keeps track of how much damage a player is causing and receiving,
as well as how effective a player’s healing is. Since it tries to synchronize
itself with other players that have it installed, the information tends to be
very accurate. Although it is strenuous on computers with low resources, it is
a great way to keep track of a raid’s overall numerical progress, and it
allows you to see if anyone is slacking.
-------------
Communication
-------------
Communication is a key factor in any raiding team’s performance, and because of
the fast pace of many encounters, typing your messages to other players is not
enough to get your thoughts across to others. This is where voice chat comes
in. Depending on the quality of the microphones that you and your fellow
players use, those messages can vary in clarity, but voice chat is the fastest
way to speak your mind.
While the game has a built-in Voice Chat feature, most guilds prefer third-
party voice chat programs such as TeamSpeak and Ventrilo. Although running a
server requires that you pay a fee, players are generally happier with the
quality that these services provide.
----------
Attunement
----------
Unlike 5-man dungeons, raid dungeons may require some kind of attunement or
key, which is usually acquired through a long quest chain. Be sure to do your
homework and know how to get attuned for a particular dungeon.
----------
Gearing Up
----------
Because of the high health and damage that these elites cause, most raiding
groups require you to be as well-geared as possible before stepping in, and
this requirement increases in a step-by-step progression for each dungeon. For
example, for you to perform well in Black Temple and Mount Hyjal, you need
weapons and armor from Serpentshrine Cavern and Tempest Keep. Here is a general
tree outline of how you should progress in terms of gear, starting with the
endgame 5-man dungeons:
[ Steamvaults
[ Botanica/Mechanar/Arcatraz
Dungeon-3 -[ Shattered Halls
[ Shadow Labyrinth/Sethekk Halls
[ Black Morass
|
[ Karazhan -> Zul’Aman
Tier-4 -[ \ /
[ Gruul’s Lair -> Magtheridon’s Lair
\ /
Tier-5 -[ Serpentshrine Cavern
[ Tempest Keep
|
[ Battle For Mount Hyjal
[ |
Tier-6 -[ Black Temple
[ |
[ Sunwell Plateau
Check with Armor Sets in Chapter VIII to get an idea of what is available to
you. For you to be fully prepared to enter Karazhan, you will want to collect
Dungeon Sets A or B, and have a matching set of rare rings, neckpiece,
trinkets, and weapons. All of this can be found at the top of this tree. Once
you have the right gear, you can enter Karazhan and work with your raid to make
your way down.
-------------------------
Agility Over Attack Power
-------------------------
Once you make your way into the world of raiding, you will find that most
hunters prefer Agility over Attack Power, and will adjust their gear to stack
as much Agility as possible. This may seem odd due to the fact that the game
weighs 1 Agility as being equal to 2 Attack Power but once you reach that
point, your critical hit percentage becomes a key factor in your overall damage
output. That and if worse really comes to worst, the little bits of extra armor
and dodge rating could mean the difference between life and death. Agility also
scales with Blessing of Kings, which you will most likely have in the 25-man
big leagues. This makes Agility a superior raiding stat over pure Attack Power.
------------------------------
Tailoring PvP Gear For Raiding
------------------------------
PvP gear is generally not recommended for raiding because of the way the stats
are distributed. Although there is absolutely no shortage of Agility, the low
Attack Power and Intellect, and lack of Mana Ticks cripple your overall
firepower in raids. However, if you are like many players, then PvP gear is all
you really have. Fortunately, there are a few ways to compensate for this.
Although Agility is preferred over Attack Power in raids, you need to make up
for the lack of Attack Power. Bright Living Rubies give +16 Attack Power
apiece, and you can add Savagery to your 2H weapon for an additional +70.
Depending on where your raid is in terms of progression, some PvP gear is
en par or better for raiding than what is available to you. Let’s compare your
Tier-4 helm with its Season 3 equivalent:
Tier-4 Season 3
Demon Stalker Greathelm Vengeful Gladiator’s Chain Helm
Head Head
604 Armor 830 Armor
+35 Agility +33 Agility
+28 Stamina +61 Stamina
+27 Intellect +22 Intellect
[ ] Yellow Socket [ ] Meta Socket
[ ] Meta Socket [ ] Red Socket
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Agility SOCKET BONUS: +4 Resilience
EQUIP: +66 Attack Power EQUIP: +12 Hit Rating
EQUIP: +26 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +22 Resilience
EQUIP: +58 Attack Power
EQUIP: Your attacks ignore 84 of
your opponent’s armor.
Note that while the Tier-4 helm has slightly higher Agility and Attack Power,
the Season 3 helm outmatches it with its Hit and Crit Ratings and Armor
mitigation. The simple addition of an Attack Power gem can compensate for the
difference in net power loss. Generally, most of the gear from the Season 3
bracket is better than Tier-4 but not as well-rounded for raiding as Tier-5.
As for the low Intellect and lack of Mana Ticks, there isn’t much that you can
do to make up for it. Until you start acquiring PvE gear, bring an ample
supply of mana potions, and be sure to make full use of whatever sources of
mana you can get your hands on such as Aspect of the Viper, Blessing of Wisdom,
and your local Shadow Priest.
----------
Hit Rating
----------
Raid mobs are anywhere from levels 70 to 72, and bosses are technically level
73. Since you are only level 70, the chance for your shots to miss goes up.
Fortunately, Hit Rating bonuses can help offset this problem but deciding how
much of it to have can be an issue.
To have a 0% Miss rate against a raid boss, you need 142 Hit Rating, which
converts to about +9% to Hit. At the early stages of raiding, reaching that
number is a bit of a challenge but once you move into the Serpentshrine
Cavern/Tempest Keep bracket, you will find that much of the gear there is rich
in Hit Rating. Gems are a valuable source of Hit Rating but you can do without
with in favor of having more Agility or other stats.
--------------------
Bringing Consumables
--------------------
Consumables are an absolute staple of a raiding environment. Super Health and
Mana Potions and Netherweave Bandages are always needed but don’t forget some
of these other vital goods:
1. Elixir of Major Agility
Use: Increases your Agility by 35 and your critical strike rating by 20 for
1 hour. Battle Elixir.
2. Scroll of Agility V
Use: Increases the target's Agility by 20 for 30 min.
3. Ravager Dog
Use: Restores 4320 health over 30 sec. Must remain seated while eating. If
you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain
40 attack power and 20 Spirit for 30 min.
4. Warp Burger
Use: Restores 7500 health over 30 sec. Must remain seated while eating. If
you spend at least 10 seconds eating you will become well fed and gain
20 Agility and Spirit for 30 min.
5. Flask of Relentless Assault
Use: Increases attack power by 120 for 2 hrs. Counts as both a Battle and
Guardian elixir. This effect persists through death.
Remember, raids demand that you push your firepower to its limit, and such
consumables are one way to do just that. It also compensates for the loss in
firepower when switching from Aspect of the Hawk to Viper.
--------------------
Taking Out The Trash
--------------------
Like most 5-man dungeons, a raid dungeon’s elites are separated into packs that
can be pulled group by group. Commonly known as “trash,” they have a lot of
health and can chop you down in as little as two hits. Most of them also run
faster than you, and are immune to snare effects and crowd control.
Against any kind of trash, your job is to cause as much damage as possible,
taking care not to hit targets that are subdued by crowd control. Your three
primary attacks are Auto-Shot, Steady Shot, and Arcane Shot. Be sure to use
your trinkets and Rapid Fire whenever they are active. Of course, this is going
to cause a lot of threat so be sure to Feign Death whenever your threat comes
close to the tank’s threat. You can keep track of this with the Omen add-on.
--------------------
Area of Effect Pulls
--------------------
Occasionally, you may run into unusually large packs of ten to fifteen weaker
mobs, which most raids call “AoE packs,” referring to the need for area damage
to effectively kill them. For these, you will need a different strategy. Once
your tank has sufficient threat, use this pattern:
1. Run into the AoE pack and drop an Explosive Trap.
2. Fire a Multi-Shot and immediately Feign Death.
3. As soon as the Trap blows, use Volley.
4. As soon as Volley finishes, use Multi-Shot.
5. Fire into the crowd until they die.
This pattern will cause a lot of damage across the entire pack. It may not come
close to what a mage can do but it definitely contributes a lot. Chances are
good that Feign Death will fail because of the high number of elites but if
your tank is competent, then you should be able to safely do your job while
taking minimal damage.
---------------
Fighting A Boss
---------------
Generally, raid bosses are different from trash only in terms of health,
firepower, and abilities, but they have enough health to last for several
minutes, and successfully slaying one requires strategic planning and proper
execution. Here some are things to keep in mind when you are about to tackle a
boss:
Your Mana Supply
Unlike all previous encounters, the moment your tank pulls the boss, you stay
in combat for the duration of the fight. This means that while Feigning Death
can still save your life, drinking is not an option. Use your Auto/Arcane/
Steady Shot combo while refraining from wasting mana on costly abilities such
as Multi-Shot and Aimed Shot. Blessing of Wisdom is an absolute must. Keep an
ample supply of mana potions on hand, and know when to use them. Switch to
Aspect of the Viper when you’re running low on mana and can’t drink another
potion for some time.
Your Aggro Gain
Bosses move very quickly and hit very hard. Many bosses are immune to Taunt
effects, which means that it is very hard to recover once a tank loses aggro.
Even with Blessing of Salvation, you can cause a lot of threat, especially
early on when the tank still has to build threat on himself. Omen is very
helpful in keeping track of how close you are to getting the bosses attention.
Be sure to Feign Death if you see yourself accumulating too much threat.
--------------
Final Thoughts
--------------
Above all else, be patient. It takes time for a team to learn and adjust
themselves to each encounter in a dungeon. Until your team fully understands
how to handle each pull, the learning process can be frustrating and expensive.
With enough practice and dedication, everything will fall into place.
===============================================================================
---------------------------[ X. Weapons & Armor ]------------------------------
===============================================================================
This chapter catalogs and highlights the game’s assortment of equipment,
including the endgame armor sets and a plethora of weapons.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
a. PvE Armor Sets
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Listed here are the game’s variety of dungeon-found armor sets. Many of their
stats cater to the PvE aspect of the game, and are considered to be the game’s
standard faire of gear to attain at level 70. You will find that unlike the
original armor sets at level 60, the majority of these new sets feature only
five pieces but there are bracers, belts, and boots whose graphics and stats
match the rest of their sets.
--------------------------------
Dungeon Set 3A: Beast Lord Armor
--------------------------------
Beast Lord Cuirass Beast Lord Handguards
Chest Hands
652 Armor 407 Armor
+20 Agility +25 Agility
+30 Stamina +12 Stamina
+24 Intellect +17 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket [ ] Red Socket
[ ] Red Socket [ ] Blue Socket
[ ] Blue Socket SOCKET BONUS: +3 Hit Rating
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Agility EQUIP: +34 Attack Power
EQUIP: +40 Attack Power
EQUIP: +4 Mana/5 Sec.
Beast Lord Helm Beast Lord Leggings
Head Legs
520 Armor 570 Armor
+25 Agility +30 Agility
+21 Stamina +25 Stamina
+22 Intellect +19 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +52 Attack Power
[ ] Meta Socket EQUIP: +7 Mana/5 Sec.
SOCKET BONUS: +2 Mana/5 Sec.
EQUIP: +50 Attack Power
Beast Lord Mantle Girdle of Ferocity
Shoulders Waist
489 Armor 399 Armor
+25 Agility +27 Agility
+12 Intellect +19 Stamina
[ ] Yellow Socket +21 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +42 Attack Power
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Stamina EQUIP: +13 Hit Rating
EQUIP: +34 Attack Power
EQUIP: +5 Mana/5 Sec.
Boots of the Endless Hunt Bracers of the Hunt
Feet Wrist
488 Armor 311 Armor
+25 Agility +18 Agility
+18 Stamina +15 Stamina
+22 Intellect +16 Intellect
EQUIP: +46 Attack Power EQUIP: +34 Attack Power
EQUIP: +6 Mana/5 Sec. EQUIP: +4 Mana/5 Sec.
SET BONUSES
2: Reduces the cooldown on your traps by 4 sec.
4: Each time you use your Kill Command ability, your attacks ignore 600 of your
victim's armor for 15 sec.
LOCATIONS BOSS DROPS
The Mechanar Palatheon The Calculator Helm
The Botanica Warpsplinter Chest
The Steamvaults Warlord Kalithresh Shoulders, Legs
Shattered Halls Warchief Kargath Bladefist Gloves
Sethekk Halls (Heroic) Talon King Ikiss Bracers
Shadow Labyrinth (Heroic) Murmur Belt
The Botanica (Heroic) Warpsplinter Boots
OVERVIEW
This is your basic set armor for when you hit level 70. It has everything that
you would need as a Hunter. Lots of red and blue sockets means plenty of room
for basic stats such as Agility and Stamina, and the set bonuses are very good.
This set is perfect for any talent build, and the pieces are easy to find.
The only part of this set that is arguably underpowered is the leggings. The
stats are perfectly well-rounded for a Hunter but the raw power that comes from
this piece is a bit weaker than other leggings in the game.
--------------------------------
Dungeon Set 3B: Desolation Armor
--------------------------------
Hauberk of Desolation Gauntlets of Desolation
Chest Hands
652 Armor 407 Armor
+28 Stamina +25 Stamina
+25 Intellect +16 Intellect
[ ] Yellow Socket [ ] Red Socket
[ ] Yellow Socket [ ] Red Socket
[ ] Red Socket SOCKET BONUS: +3 Resilience
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Crit Rating EQUIP: +17 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +16 Crit Rating EQUIP: +32 Attack Power
EQUIP: +50 Attack Power
Helm of Desolation Greaves of Desolation
Head Legs
530 Armor 570 Armor
+21 Stamina +24 Stamina
+25 Intellect +33 Intellect
[ ] Yellow Socket EQUIP: +12 Hit Rating
[ ] Meta Socket EQUIP: +22 Crit Rating
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Hit Rating EQUIP: +66 Attack Power
EQUIP: +14 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +66 Attack Power
Pauldrons of Desolation Girdle of the Blasted Reaches
Shoulders Waist
489 Armor 367 Armor
+25 Agility +16 Agility
+16 Stamina +22 Stamina
+19 Intellect +20 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket [ ] Red Socket
[ ] Red Socket [ ] Red Socket
SOCKET BONUS: +3 Hit Rating SOCKET BONUS: +3 Intellect
EQUIP: +17 Hit Rating EQUIP: +30 Attack Power
Outland Striders
Feet
448 Armor
+18 Stamina
+24 Intellect
EQUIP: +21 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +50 Attack Power
SET BONUSES
2: Increases your hit rating by 35.
4: Your attacks have a chance to grant you 160 attack power for 15 sec.
LOCATIONS BOSS DROPS
The Black Morass Aeonus Helm
Old Hillsbrad (Heroic) The Epoch Hunter Chest
The Slave Pens (Heroic) Quagmirran Shoulders
Shattered Halls Warchief Kargath Bladefist Gloves
Sethekk Halls Talon King Ikiss Legs
Hellfire Ramparts (Heroic) Omor The Unscarred Belt
The Arcatraz Zereketh The Unbound Boots
OVERVIEW
This is the alternative to Beast Lord Armor, and is actually a golden recolor
of the set. Personally, I am not a fan of Desolation. The stats are fitting for
Hunters but some of the set pieces are very hard to get. Not only do you need
to run through heroic dungeons for your chest and shoulders, you must also
compete with Enhancement Shamans for them. The low Agility also makes it
unviable for Survivalists. Another big letdown is the fact that the four-piece
set bonus does not trigger off of ranged attacks, and you will never swing your
melee weapons enough to make it worthwhile.
In the way of boots, belt, and bracers, I didn’t find any matching bracers that
go with the set, though I did find a belt and boots whose graphics matches the
set perfectly.
---------------------------
Tier-4: Demon Stalker Armor
---------------------------
Demon Stalker Harness Demon Stalker Gauntlets
Chest Hands
846 Armor 528 Armor
+26 Agility +28 Agility
+24 Stamina +24 Stamina
+35 Intellect +24 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +58 Attack Power
[ ] Blue Socket EQUIP: +6 Mana/5 Sec.
[ ] Blue Socket
SOCKET BONUS: +8 Attack Power
EQUIP: +70 Attack Power
EQUIP: +6 Mana/5 Sec.
Demon Stalker Greathelm Demon Stalker Greaves
Head Legs
687 Armor 651 Armor
+35 Agility +40 Agility
+28 Stamina +30 Stamina
+27 Intellect +30 Intellect
[ ] Yellow Socket EQUIP: +15 Hit Rating
[ ] Meta Socket EQUIP: +82 Attack Power
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Agility
EQUIP: +66 Attack Power
Demon Stalker Shoulderguards Girdle of the Prowler
Shoulders Waist
558 Armor 457 Armor
+23 Stamina +25 Agility
+23 Intellect +21 Stamina
[ ] Red Socket +22 Intellect
[ ] Yellow Socket EQUIP: +17 Hit Rating
SOCKET BONUS: +3 Intellect EQUIP: +48 Attack Power
EQUIP: +19 Crit Rating EQUIP: +6 Mana/5 Sec.
EQUIP: +44 Attack Power
EQUIP: +5 Mana/5 Sec.
Fiend Slayer Boots Stalker’s War Bands
Feet Wrist
588 Armor 355 Armor
+26 Agility +21 Agility
+24 Stamina +18 Stamina
+16 Intellect +17 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +44 Attack Power
[ ] Blue Socket
SOCKET BONUS: +3 Agility
EQUIP: +17 Hit Rating
EQUIP: +34 Attack Power
SET BONUSES
2: Reduces the chance your Feign Death ability will be resisted by 5%.
4: Reduces the mana cost of your Multi-Shot ability by 10%.
LOCATIONS BOSS DROPS
Karazhan Prince Malchezaar Helm
Karazhan Attumen The Huntsman Bracers
Karazhan The Curator Gloves
Karazhan Terestian Illhoof Belt
Karazhan Gameroom Chest Reward Boots
Gruul’s Lair High King Maulgar Shoulders
Gruul’s Lair Gruul the Dragonkiller Legs
Magtheridon’s Lair Magtheridon Chest
OVERVIEW
Unlike its predecessors, the Demon Stalker set features no magic resistances in
favor of having more of the stats that you need such as Agility, Stamina, and
Intellect. The mana ticks on this set give you some much-needed sustaining
power for the more advanced raid dungeons.
Despite being an epic set, some of its pieces have been the target of scrutiny
from the Hunter community. The gloves have received negative feedback due to
the fact that the Beast Lord Handguards can yield a bit more firepower when
properly gemmed. The shoulder piece in this set is also arguably weaker than
the more easily acquirable Beastmaw Pauldrons, which has a more well-rounded
set of stats.
Regardless, the set is an overall upgrade over Beast Lord, and the stats are
vital for anyone seeking to attempt Serpentshrine Cavern or Tempest Keep.
--------------------------
Tier-5: Rift Stalker Armor
--------------------------
Rift Stalker Hauberk Rift Stalker Gauntlets
Chest Hands
934 Armor 583 Armor
+40 Agility +34 Agility
+40 Stamina +29 Stamina
+19 Intellect +20 Intellect
[ ] Blue Socket EQUIP: +19 Hit Rating
[ ] Yellow Socket EQUIP: +68 Attack Power
[ ] Yellow Socket
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Agility
EQUIP: +80 Attack Power
EQUIP: +7 Mana/5 Sec.
Rift Stalker Helm Rift Stalker Leggings
Head Legs
759 Armor 817 Armor
+40 Agility +40 Agility
+36 Stamina +39 Stamina
+25 Intellect +26 Intellect
[ ] Yellow Socket [ ] Red Socket
[ ] Meta Socket SOCKET BONUS: +2 Crit Rating
SOCKET BONUS: +6 Stamina EQUIP: +18 Hit Rating
EQUIP: +82 Attack Power EQUIP: +92 Attack Power
EQUIP: +10 Mana/5 Sec. EQUIP: +7 Mana/5 Sec.
Rift Stalker Mantle Belt of the Black Eagle
Shoulders Waist
700 Armor 506 Armor
+26 Agility +17 Agility
+26 Stamina +20 Stamina
+24 Intellect +23 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket [ ] Blue Socket
[ ] Red Socket [ ] Yellow Socket
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Stamina SOCKET BONUS: +3 Agility
EQUIP: +13 Hit Rating EQUIP: +17 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +52 Attack Power EQUIP: +66 Attack Power
Cobra-Lash Boots Bands of the Celestial Archer
Feet Wrist
665 Armor 394 Armor
+33 Agility +17 Agility
+25 Stamina +24 Intellect
+25 Intellect EQUIP: +17 Crit Rating
[ ] Blue Socket EQUIP: +48 Attack Power
[ ] Red Socket
SOCKET BONUS: +3 Agility
EQUIP: +66 Attack Power
SET BONUSES
2: Your pet's attacks have a chance to heal your pet for 172 to 198.
4: Your Steady Shot ability has 5% increased critical strike chance.
LOCATIONS BOSS DROPS
Serpentshrine Cavern Lady Vashj Helm
Serpentshrine Cavern Lady Vashj Boots
Serpentshrine Cavern Leotheras the Blind Gloves
Serpentshrine Cavern Fathom-Lord Krathress Legs
Tempest Keep Trash Mobs Bracers
Tempest Keep Void Reaver Shoulders
Tempest Keep Kael’thas Chest
OVERVIEW
Once you step foot into the two major 25-man raid dungeons, you are treated to
the Rift Stalker set. Unlike the jump from Beast Lord to Demon Stalker, the
jump to Tier-5 feels like an assured upgrade. The bosses from which each piece
drops are difficult, especially Vashj and Kael’thas, but are doable with a
well-coordinated raiding team. It is also interesting to note that Void Reaver
is surprisingly very easy. In fact, it is easier than many of the Tier-4
bosses.
The Cobra-Lash Boots are not the only boots with a matching set graphic. The
Star-Strider Boots from High Astromancer Solarian in Tempest Keep share the
exact same graphic. Both are more or less equal to one another.
----------------------------
Tier-6: Gronnstalker’s Armor
----------------------------
Gronnstalker’s Chestguard Gronnstalker’s Gloves
Chest Hands
1022 Armor 639 Armor
+40 Agility +35 Agility
+52 Stamina +31 Stamina
+37 Intellect +21 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket [ ] Red Socket
[ ] Yellow Socket SOCKET BONUS: +2 Crit Rating
[ ] Yellow Socket EQUIP: +13 Crit Rating
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Agility EQUIP: +62 Attack Power
EQUIP: +19 Crit Rating EQUIP: Your attacks ignore 140 of
EQUIP: +90 Attack Power your opponent’s armor.
Gronnstalker’s Helmet Gronnstalker’s Leggings
Head Legs
830 Armor 894 Armor
+45 Agility +37 Agility
+45 Stamina +43 Stamina
+29 Intellect +28 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket [ ] Red Socket
[ ] Meta Socket [ ] Blue Socket
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Crit Rating SOCKET BONUS: +2 Agility
EQUIP: +90 Attack Power EQUIP: +19 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +8 Mana/5 Sec. EQUIP: +106 Attack Power
EQUIP: +11 Mana/5 Sec.
Gronnstalker’s Spaulders Gronnstalker’s Belt
Shoulders Waist
766 Armor 556 Armor
+34 Agility +29 Agility
+39 Stamina +36 Stamina
+17 Intellect +17 Intellect
[ ] Yellow Socket [ ] Red Socket
[ ] Blue Socket SOCKET BONUS: +2 Crit Rating
SOCKET BONUS: +3 Crit Rating EQUIP: +25 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +68 Attack Power EQUIP: +86 Attack Power
EQUIP: Your attacks ignore 126 of EQUIP: Your attacks ignore 140 of
your opponent’s armor. your opponent’s armor.
Gronnstalker’s Boots Gronnstalker’s Bracers
Feet Wrist
679 Armor 432 Armor
+30 Agility +23 Agility
+30 Stamina +25 Stamina
+21 Intellect +16 Intellect
[ ] Yellow Socket [ ] Red Socket
SOCKET BONUS: +2 Agility SOCKET BONUS: +2 Agility
EQUIP: +28 Crit Rating EQUIP: +22 Haste Rating
EQUIP: +86 Attack Power EQUIP: +64 Attack Power
EQUIP: Your attacks ignore 98 of
your opponent’s armor.
SET BONUSES
2: Increases the mana you gain from your Aspect of the Viper by an additional
5% of your Intellect.
4: Increases the damage dealt by your Steady Shot ability by 10%.
LOCATIONS BOSS DROPS
Battle of Mount Hyjal Archimonde Helm
Battle of Mount Hyjal Azgalor Gloves
Black Temple Illidari Council Legs
Black Temple Mother Shahraz Shoulders
Black Temple Illidan Stormrage Chest
Sunwell Plateau Brutallus Belt
Sunwell Plateau Felmyst Boots
Sunwell Plateau Kalecgos Bracers
OVERVIEW
This set is the crème of the crop. Loaded with lots of the stats you need, plus
some armor mitigation, this set at level 70 is very powerful but also very
difficult to acquire. The pieces of this set are scattered across three
different instances, all of which are challenging to the unprepared.
It is interesting to note that this is the only true eight-piece set at level
70, a trend that has not been seen since the days of old, though the set
bonuses remain unchanged.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. PvP Armor Sets
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is the game’s collection of PvP armor sets, which are vastly different
from their PvE counterparts. Graphically, they are simply color variants of
their respective tiers but stats-wise, they are designed to give you more
staying power against other players. Unlike PvE gear, which are mainly found
in dungeons, PvP gear must be acquired by accumulating Arena Points and Honor
Points in Arena Matches and Battlegrounds.
Note that although these are four entirely different sets of armor, they are
interchangeable, allowing you to keep your set bonuses as you upgrade from one
set to the next.
----------------------------------------
PvP Rare Set: Stalker’s Chain Battlegear
----------------------------------------
Stalker’s Chain Armor Stalker’s Chain Gauntlets
Chest Hands
652 Armor 407 Armor
+42 Stamina +31 Stamina
+20 Agility +21 Agility
+15 Intellect +6 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +11 Crit Rating
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +14 Resilience
[ ] Yellow Socket EQUIP: +20 Attack Power
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Crit Rating EQUIP: +5 Multi-Shot Damage
EQUIP: +12 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +16 Resilience
EQUIP: +12 Attack Power
Stalker’s Chain Helm Stalker’s Chain Leggings
Head Legs
530 Armor 570 Armor
+30 Stamina +42 Stamina
+20 Agility +28 Agility
+14 Intellect +8 Intellect
[ ] Meta Socket EQUIP: +14 Crit Rating
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +25 Resilience
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Resilience EQUIP: +28 Attack Power
EQUIP: +14 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +15 Resilience
EQUIP: +28 Attack Power
Stalker’s Chain Spaulders
Shoulders
489 Armor
+31 Stamina
+14 Agility
+4 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket
[ ] Yellow Socket
SOCKET BONUS: +3 Resilience
EQUIP: +17 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +16 Resilience
EQUIP: +22 Attack Power
SET BONUSES
2: +35 Resilience.
4: Reduces the cooldown of your Multi-Shot by 1 sec.
FACTION REPUTATION PIECE
Honor Hold/Thrallmar Honored Gloves
Cenarion Expedition Revered Legs
The Sha’tar Honored Shoulders
Lower City Revered Helm
Keepers of Time Revered Chest
OVERVIEW
This entry-level armor set may not have the Resilience that Season 1 has but it
is a good place to start for players who have just turned 70 and are looking
forward to more PvP action. In terms of item level, it is roughly the same as
the Beast Lord set, though Intellect and Attack Power is reduced in exchange
for Resilience and Crit Rating.
Note that this set can be acquired from the various reputation vendors
throughout Outland and in the Caverns of Time.
---------------------------------------------
PvP Set - Arena Season 1: Gladiator’s Pursuit
---------------------------------------------
Gladiator’s Chain Armor Gladiator’s Chain Gauntlets
Chest Hands
812 Armor 486 Armor
+21 Agility +24 Agility
+48 Stamina +36 Stamina
+15 Intellect +8 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +12 Crit Rating
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +17 Resilience
[ ] Yellow Socket EQUIP: +24 Attack Power
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Crit Rating EQUIP: +5% Multi-Shot Damage
EQUIP: +16 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +16 Resilience
EQUIP: +20 Attack Power
Gladiator’s Chain Helm Gladiator’s Chain Leggings
Head Legs
632 Armor 681 Armor
+30 Agility +32 Agility
+44 Stamina +48 Stamina
+15 Intellect +10 Intellect
[ ] Meta Socket EQUIP: +16 Crit Rating
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +24 Resilience
SOCKET BONUS: +2 Resilience EQUIP: +34 Attack Power
EQUIP: +15 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +16 Resilience
EQUIP: +30 Attack Power
Gladiator’s Chain Spaulders
Shoulders
583 Armor
+24 Agility
+36 Stamina
+6 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket
[ ] Yellow Socket
SOCKET BONUS: +3 Resilience
EQUIP: +7 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +7 Resilience
EQUIP: +14 Attack Power
SET BONUSES
2: +35 Resilience.
4: Reduces the cooldown of your Multi-Shot by 1 sec.
OVERVIEW
As a counterpart to Demon Stalker, the stats on the Gladiator’s Pursuit set are
geared towards PvP. In exchange for less Intellect and Attack Power, this set
offers more Armor, Stamina, Crit Rating, and Resilience. This gives you greater
survivability against other players. Compared to their PvE equivalents, the
total net Attack Power may seem rather low but the more frequent critical
strikes themselves will make up for that. Due to the low amounts of Intellect
and mana ticks, this set is not as viable as Demon Stalker for raid instances.
Note that this set is only available through Karynna ,
and must be purchased with Tier-4 item tokens. The Marshal/General pieces that
matched this set have been discontinued.
-------------------------------------------------------
PvP Set - Arena Season 2: Merciless Gladiator’s Pursuit
-------------------------------------------------------
Merciless Gladiator’s Chain Armor Merciless Gladiator’s Chain Gauntlets
Chest Hands
954 Armor 596 Armor
+31 Agility +30 Agility
+57 Stamina +48 Stamina
+17 Intellect +13 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +17 Crit Rating
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +21 Resilience
[ ] Yellow Socket EQUIP: +34 Attack Power
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Crit Rating EQUIP: +5% Multi-Shot Damage
EQUIP: +21 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +21 Resilience
EQUIP: +32 Attack Power
Merciless Gladiator’s Chain Helm Merciless Gladiator’s Chain Leggings
Head Legs
775 Armor 835 Armor
+37 Agility +38 Agility
+55 Stamina +58 Stamina
+19 Intellect +15 Intellect
[ ] Meta Socket EQUIP: +21 Crit Rating
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +33 Resilience
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Resilience EQUIP: +52 Attack Power
EQUIP: +22 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +22 Resilience
EQUIP: +50 Attack Power
Merciless Gladiator’s Chain Spaulders Veteran’s Chain Girdle
Shoulders Waist
715 Armor 537 Armor
+32 Agility +30 Agility
+45 Stamina +45 Stamina
+10 Intellect +20 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +16 Crit Rating
[ ] Yellow Socket EQUIP: +21 Resilience
SOCKET BONUS: +3 Resilience EQUIP: +32 Attack Power
EQUIP: +14 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +21 Resilience
EQUIP: +24 Attack Power
Veteran’s Chain Sabatons Veteran’s Chain Bracers
Feet Wrist
656 Armor 388 Armor
+30 Agility +20 Agility
+45 Stamina +29 Stamina
+20 Intellect +10 Intellect
EQUIP: +16 Crit Rating [ ] Yellow Socket
EQUIP: +21 Resilience EQUIP: +8 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +32 Attack Power EQUIP: +13 Resilience
EQUIP: +18 Attack Power
SET BONUSES
2: +35 Resilience
4: Reduces the cooldown of your Multi-Shot by 1 sec.
OVERVIEW
For Season 2, it’s more of the same stat distribution as Season 1, including a
bit more Resilience. Note that while the main set pieces can be purchased with
Honor, the matching Veteran’s pieces must be purchased with Badges of Justice
from Kayri at Quel’Danas.
------------------------------------------------------
PvP Set - Arena Season 3: Vengeful Gladiator’s Pursuit
------------------------------------------------------
Vengeful Gladiator’s Chain Armor Vengeful Gladiator’s Chain Gauntlets
Chest Hands
1022 Armor 639 Armor
+27 Agility +33 Agility
+63 Stamina +52 Stamina
+21 Intellect +15 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +19 Crit Rating
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +21 Resilience
[ ] Yellow Socket EQUIP: +40 Attack Power
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Crit Rating EQUIP: +5% Multi-Shot Damage
EQUIP: +12 Hit Rating
EQUIP: +25 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +21 Resilience
EQUIP: +38 Attack Power
EQUIP: Your attacks ignore 84 of
your opponent’s armor.
Vengeful Gladiator’s Chain Helm Vengeful Gladiator’s Chain Leggings
Head Legs
830 Armor 894 Armor
+33 Agility +34 Agility
+61 Stamina +64 Stamina
+22 Intellect +18 Intellect
[ ] Meta Socket EQUIP: +12 Hit Rating
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +25 Crit Rating
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Resilience EQUIP: +33 Resilience
EQUIP: +12 Hit Rating EQUIP: +60 Attack Power
EQUIP: +26 Crit Rating EQUIP: Your attacks ignore 84 of
EQUIP: +22 Resilience your opponent’s armor.
EQUIP: +58 Attack Power
EQUIP: Your attacks ignore 84 of
your opponent’s armor.
Vengeful Gladiator’s Chain Spaulders Vindicator’s Chain Girdle
Shoulders Waist
766 Armor 575 Armor
+35 Agility +33 Agility
+49 Stamina +48 Stamina
+12 Intellect +23 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +18 Crit Rating
[ ] Yellow Socket EQUIP: +21 Resilience
SOCKET BONUS: +3 Resilience EQUIP: +38 Attack Power
EQUIP: +16 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +21 Resilience
EQUIP: +30 Attack Power
Vindicator’s Chain Sabatons Vindicator’s Chain Bracers
Feet Wrist
702 Armor 432 Armor
+33 Agility +23 Agility
+48 Stamina +33 Stamina
+23 Intellect +13 Intellect
EQUIP: +18 Crit Rating [ ] Yellow Socket
EQUIP: +21 Resilience SOCKET BONUS: +2 Resilience
EQUIP: +38 Attack Power EQUIP: +11 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +13 Resilience
EQUIP: +24 Attack Power
SET BONUSES
2: +35 Resilience
4: Reduces the cooldown of your Multi-Shot by 1 sec.
OVERVIEW
When you look at the numbers, Season 3 does not appear to be a very big upgrade
from the previous Season, but note the 252 armor mitigation in this set, and
the addition of Hit Rating. This makes up for the seemingly meager jump in
stats from Season 2, though note that there is no increase in Resilience.
----------------------------------------------------
PvP Set - Arena Season 4: Brutal Gladiator’s Pursuit
----------------------------------------------------
Brutal Gladiator’s Chain Armor Brutal Gladiator’s Chain Gauntlets
Chest Hands
1110 Armor 694 Armor
+32 Agility +37 Agility
+70 Stamina +56 Stamina
+25 Intellect +19 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +23 Crit Rating
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +21 Resilience
[ ] Yellow Socket EQUIP: +48 Attack Power
SOCKET BONUS: +4 Crit Rating EQUIP: +5% Multi-Shot Damage
EQUIP: +16 Hit Rating
EQUIP: +29 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +21 Resilience
EQUIP: +46 Attack Power
EQUIP: Your attacks ignore 84 of
your opponent’s armor.
Brutal Gladiator’s Chain Helm Brutal Gladiator’s Chain Leggings
Head Legs
902 Armor 971 Armor
+37 Agility +38 Agility
+67 Stamina +70 Stamina
+27 Intellect +23 Intellect
[ ] Meta Socket EQUIP: +17 Hit Rating
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +29 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +17 Hit Rating EQUIP: +33 Resilience
EQUIP: +30 Crit Rating EQUIP: +68 Attack Power
EQUIP: +22 Resilience EQUIP: Your attacks ignore 84 of
EQUIP: +66 Attack Power your opponent’s armor.
EQUIP: Your attacks ignore 84 of
your opponent’s armor.
Brutal Gladiator’s Chain Spaulders Guardian’s Chain Girdle
Shoulders Waist
832 Armor 624 Armor
+39 Agility +37 Agility
+53 Stamina +52 Stamina
+16 Intellect +27 Intellect
[ ] Red Socket EQUIP: +22 Crit Rating
[ ] Yellow Socket EQUIP: +21 Resilience
SOCKET BONUS: +3 Resilience EQUIP: +46 Attack Power
EQUIP: +20 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +21 Resilience
EQUIP: +38 Attack Power
Guardian’s Chain Sabatons Guardian’s Chain Bracers
Feet Wrist
763 Armor 471 Armor
+37 Agility +26 Agility
+52 Stamina +36 Stamina
+27 Intellect +15 Intellect
EQUIP: +22 Crit Rating [ ] Yellow Socket
EQUIP: +21 Resilience SOCKET BONUS: +2 Resilience
EQUIP: +46 Attack Power EQUIP: +14 Crit Rating
EQUIP: +13 Resilience
EQUIP: +30 Attack Power
SET BONUSES
2: +35 Resilience
4: Reduces the cooldown of your Multi-Shot by 1 sec.
OVERVIEW
This is as good as it gets before entering Wrath of the Lich King. While the
total Resilience and socket bonuses remain unchanged, you get a little more of
everything when upgrading from Season 3. Some Agility here, a bunch more
Stamina there. You get the idea.
SLOT RATING The only catch to all of this is that nearly every
Belt none piece in Season 4 has an Arena team rating requirement,
Gloves none including the pieces that are bought with Honor.
Legs 1550 Here are the ratings needed for each item:
Bracers 1575
Chest 1600
Boots 1700
Helm 1700
Shoulders 2200
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
c. Uncommon Ranged Weapons
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Asterisk (*) after the Level Requirement indicates additional stats that are
not listed here. Note that many of these will feature suffixed bonuses when
found in-game.
============================================================================
| UNCOMMON GUNS | BASE | SPEED | DPS | LV.REQ |
============================================================================
| Rough Boomstick | 10-19 | 2.30 | 6.3 | 5 |
| Compact Shotgun | 11-21 | 2.00 | 8.0 | 8 |
| Hunter’s Muzzle Loader | 13-25 | 1.80 | 10.6 | 14 |
| Deadly Blunderbuss | 21-31 | 2.60 | 11.5 | 16 |
| Lovingly Crafted Boomstick | 16-31 | 1.80 | 13.1 | 19 |
| Silver-Plated Shotgun | 27-50 | 2.70 | 15.3 | 21 |
| Moonsight Rifle | 19-35 | 1.70 | 15.9 | 24 |
| “Mage-Eye” Blunderbuss | 33-62 | 2.80 | 17.0 | 26 |
| BKP “Sparrow” Smallbore | 21-40 | 1.70 | 17.9 | 28 |
| Explosive Shotgun | 30-56 | 2.10 | 20.5 | 32 |
| Smoothbore Gun | 38-72 | 2.50 | 22.0 | 34 |
| Mithril Blunderbuss | 48-90 | 2.90 | 23.8 | 36* |
| Mithril Heavy-Bore Rifle | 53-99 | 2.90 | 26.2 | 39* |
| Sniper Rifle | 72-85 | 3.00 | 26.2 | 39 |
| Richochet Blunderbuss | 46-87 | 2.30 | 28.9 | 43 |
| Percussion Shotgun | 48-91 | 2.30 | 30.2 | 45 |
| Thorium Rifle | 55-102 | 2.50 | 31.4 | 47* |
| Burnside Rifle | 59-111 | 2.50 | 34.0 | 51 |
| Unsophisticated Hand Cannon | 63-118 | 2.50 | 36.2 | 55* |
| Sharpshooter Harquebus | 56-104 | 2.20 | 36.4 | 55 |
| Lead-Slug Shotgun | 84-156 | 2.70 | 44.4 | 57 |
| Longbeard Rifle | 86-160 | 2.70 | 45.6 | 58 |
| Gnomish Assault Rifle | 88-164 | 2.70 | 46.7 | 59 |
| Croc-Hunter’s Rifle | 90-168 | 2.70 | 47.8 | 60 |
| PC-54 Shotgun | 91-171 | 2.70 | 48.5 | 61 |
| Sawed-Off Shotgun | 93-173 | 2.70 | 49.3 | 62 |
| Fel Iron Musket | 99-185 | 2.80 | 50.7 | 63* |
| Cliffjumper Shotgun | 96-179 | 2.70 | 50.9 | 63 |
| Dragonbreath Musket | 99-184 | 2.70 | 52.4 | 64 |
| Tauren Runed Musket | 102-190 | 2.70 | 54.1 | 65 |
| Sporting Rifle | 104-195 | 2.70 | 55.4 | 66 |
| Nesingwary Longrifle | 107-200 | 2.70 | 56.9 | 67 |
| Sen’jin Longrifle | 110-206 | 2.70 | 58.5 | 68 |
| Game Hunter Musket | 113-211 | 2.70 | 60.0 | 69 |
| Adamantite Rifle | 126-234 | 3.00 | 60.0 | 69* |
| Big-Boar Battle Rifle | 115-215 | 2.70 | 61.1 | 70 |
============================================================================
============================================================================
| UNCOMMON GUNS | BASE | SPEED | DPS | LV.REQ |
============================================================================
| Hunting Bow | 12-24 | 2.60 | 6.9 | 6 |
| Heavy Shortbow | 15-29 | 2.50 | 8.8 | 10 |
| Fine Shortbow | 20-37 | 1.70 | 10.6 | 11 |
| Light Bow | 13-26 | 1.70 | 11.5 | 16 |
| Short Ash Bow | 16-31 | 1.90 | 12.4 | 18 |
| Naga Heartpiercer | 18-34 | 1.80 | 14.4 | 21 |
| Precision Bow | 27-51 | 2.60 | 15.0 | 22 |
| Long Battle Bow | 24-46 | 2.20 | 15.9 | 24 |
| Archer’s Longbow | 31-59 | 2.60 | 17.3 | 27 |
| Ravenwood Bow | 23-43 | 1.90 | 17.4 | 27 |
| Study Recurve | 27-50 | 2.20 | 17.5 | 27 |
| Whipwood Recurve Bow | 23-44 | 1.80 | 18.6 | 29 |
| Dense Shortbow | 25-47 | 1.90 | 18.9 | 30 |
| Long Redwood Bow | 37-70 | 2.80 | 19.1 | 30 |
| Trueshot Bow | 31-59 | 1.90 | 23.7 | 36 |
| Crusader Bow | 41-77 | 2.20 | 26.8 | 40 |
| Massive Longbow | 55-104 | 2.80 | 28.4 | 42 |
| Sylvan Shortbow | 41-77 | 2.00 | 29.5 | 44 |
| Harpy Needler | 58-108 | 2.70 | 30.7 | 46 |
| Siege Bow | 62-117 | 2.80 | 32.0 | 48 |
| Quillfire Bow | 53-100 | 2.30 | 33.3 | 50 |
| Voone’s Twitchbow | 40-76 | 1.60 | 36.2 | 55 |
| Ogre Toothpick Shooter | 80-80 | 2.20 | 36.4 | 55* |
| Blasthorn Bow | 67-125 | 2.60 | 36.9 | 56 |
| Azerothian Longbow | 84-156 | 2.70 | 44.4 | 57 |
| Hawkeye Bow | 45-84 | 1.70 | 37.9 | 58 |
| Ashenvale Longbow | 86-160 | 2.70 | 45.6 | 58 |
| Telaari Longbow | 88-164 | 2.70 | 46.7 | 59 |
| Archstrike Bow | 61-115 | 2.30 | 38.3 | 60 |
| Windtalker Bow | 90-168 | 2.70 | 47.8 | 60 |
| Viper Bow | 91-171 | 2.70 | 48.5 | 61 |
| Razorsong Bow | 93-173 | 2.70 | 49.3 | 62 |
| Thalassian Compound Bow | 96-179 | 2.70 | 50.9 | 63 |
| Expert’s Bow | 99-184 | 2.70 | 52.4 | 64 |
| Talbuk Hunting Bow | 102-190 | 2.70 | 54.1 | 65 |
| Ranger’s Recurved Bow | 104-195 | 2.70 | 55.4 | 66 |
| Rocslayer Longbow | 107-200 | 2.70 | 56.9 | 67 |
| Orc Flatbow | 110-206 | 2.70 | 58.5 | 68 |
| Windspear Longbow | 115-215 | 2.70 | 61.1 | 70 |
============================================================================
============================================================================
| UNCOMMON CROSSBOWS | BASE | SPEED | DPS | LV.REQ |
============================================================================
| Steelarrow Crossbow | 40-61 | 3.40 | 14.9 | 22 |
| Tower Crossbow | 84-156 | 2.70 | 44.4 | 57 |
| Ram’s Head Crossbow | 86-160 | 2.70 | 45.6 | 58 |
| Stronghold Crossbow | 88-164 | 2.70 | 46.7 | 59 |
| Citadel Crossbow | 90-168 | 2.70 | 47.8 | 60 |
| Repeater Crossbow | 91-171 | 2.70 | 48.5 | 61 |
| Collapsible Crossbow | 93-173 | 2.70 | 49.3 | 62 |
| Archer’s Crossbow | 96-179 | 2.70 | 50.9 | 63 |
| Mighty Crossbow | 99-184 | 2.70 | 52.4 | 64 |
| Battle Damaged Crossbow | 102-190 | 2.70 | 54.1 | 65 |
| Assassins’ Silent Crossbow | 104-195 | 2.70 | 55.4 | 66 |
| Pocket Ballista | 107-200 | 2.70 | 56.9 | 67 |
| Barreled Crossbow | 110-206 | 2.70 | 58.5 | 68 |
| Well-Balanced Crossbow | 113-211 | 2.70 | 60.0 | 69 |
| Rampant Crossbow | 115-215 | 2.70 | 61.1 | 70 |
============================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
d. Rare Ranged Weapons
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Asterisk (*) after the Level Requirement indicates additional stats that are
not listed here.
============================================================================
| RARE GUNS | BASE | SPEED | DPS | LV.REQ |
============================================================================
| Lil Timmy’s Peashooter | 26-48 | 2.60 | 14.2 | 16 |
| Double-Barreled Shotgun | 27-52 | 2.30 | 17.2 | 22 |
| Hi-Tech Supergun | 29-55 | 2.30 | 18.3 | 24 |
| Chesterfall Musket | 34-64 | 2.30 | 21.3 | 28 |
| Ironweaver | 40-75 | 2.60 | 22.1 | 29 |
| Glass Shooter | 46-87 | 2.90 | 22.9 | 30 |
| The Silencer | 55-103 | 2.80 | 28.2 | 37* |
| Shadowforge Bushmaster | 58-109 | 2.90 | 28.8 | 38* |
| Galgann’s Fireblaster | 56-106 | 2.60 | 31.2 | 42* |
| Guttbuster | 62-116 | 2.70 | 33.0 | 45* |
| Megashot Rifle | 41-77 | 1.70 | 34.7 | 48* |
| Houndmaster’s Rifle | 56-104 | 2.30 | 34.8 | 48* |
| Dark Iron Rifle | 68-127 | 2.70 | 36.1 | 50* |
| Burstshot Harquebus | 67-125 | 2.60 | 36.9 | 51* |
| Shell Launcher Shotgun | 61-114 | 2.30 | 38.0 | 53* |
| Flawless Arcanite Rifle | 83-155 | 3.00 | 39.7 | 56* |
| Willey’s Portable Howitzer | 80-150 | 2.90 | 39.7 | 56* |
| Xorothian Firestick | 73-137 | 2.60 | 40.4 | 57* |
| Crystal Slugthrower | 82-153 | 2.80 | 42.0 | 60* |
| Silithid Husked Launcher | 86-160 | 2.80 | 43.9 | 60* |
| Legion Blunderbuss | 110-205 | 3.00 | 52.5 | 61* |
| The Gunblade | 112-210 | 2.80 | 57.5 | 65* |
| Recoilless Rocket Ripper X-54 | 131-244 | 2.90 | 61.7 | 68* |
| Felsteel Boomstick | 104-194 | 2.40 | 62.1 | 70* |
| Wrathfire Hand Cannon | 90-168 | 2.00 | 64.5 | 70* |
| Telescopic Sharprifle | 139-259 | 3.00 | 66.3 | 70* |
| Ornate Khorium Rifle | 144-268 | 3.10 | 66.5 | 70* |
============================================================================
============================================================================
| RARE BOWS | BASE | SPEED | DPS | LV.REQ |
============================================================================
| Venomstrike | 26-50 | 2.40 | 15.8 | 19* |
| Ranger Bow | 30-57 | 2.70 | 16.1 | 20* |
| Nightstalker Bow | 24-45 | 1.70 | 20.3 | 27* |
| Harpyclaw Short Bow | 25-48 | 1.80 | 20.3 | 27* |
| Quillshooter | 49-93 | 2.80 | 25.4 | 33* |
| Skystriker Bow | 38-72 | 2.10 | 26.2 | 34* |
| Monolithic Bow | 52-97 | 2.70 | 27.6 | 36* |
| Stinging Bow | 45-85 | 2.10 | 31.0 | 42* |
| Needle Threader | 43-81 | 2.00 | 31.0 | 42* |
| Houndmaster’s Bow | 44-82 | 1.80 | 35.5 | 48* |
| Gryphonwing Long Bow | 68-127 | 2.70 | 36.1 | 50* |
| Satyr’s Bow | 64-119 | 2.40 | 38.1 | 53* |
| Riphook | 59-111 | 2.20 | 38.6 | 54* |
| Deep Strike Bow | 74-138 | 2.70 | 39.3 | 55* |
| Screeching Bow | 90-90 | 2.30 | 39.1 | 55* |
| Ancient Bone Bow | 78-145 | 2.80 | 39.8 | 56* |
| Malgen’s Long Bow | 80-150 | 2.90 | 39.7 | 56* |
| Eaglehorn Long Bow | 51-96 | 1.80 | 40.8 | 58* |
| Hoodoo Hunting Bow | 86-160 | 2.80 | 43.9 | 60* |
| Splintermark | 93-174 | 2.50 | 53.4 | 62* |
| Ethereal Warp-Bow | 120-181 | 2.70 | 55.9 | 64* |
| Skyfire Hawk-Bow | 108-202 | 2.40 | 64.6 | 68* |
| Melmorta’s Twilight Longbow | 135-252 | 3.00 | 64.5 | 68* |
| Starbolt Longbow | 130-242 | 2.80 | 66.4 | 70* |
| Valanos’ Longbow | 130-242 | 2.80 | 66.4 | 70* |
============================================================================
============================================================================
| RARE CROSSBOWS | BASE | SPEED | DPS | LV.REQ |
============================================================================
| Crystalpine Stinger | 46-69 | 2.80 | 20.5 | 27 |
| Swiftwind | 43-65 | 2.00 | 27.0 | 35* |
| Skull Splitting Crossbow | 66-99 | 2.60 | 31.7 | 43* |
| Heartseeking Crossbow | 91-137 | 3.10 | 36.8 | 51* |
| Blackcrow | 99-149 | 3.20 | 38.8 | 54* |
| Carapace Spine Crossbow | 105-158 | 3.30 | 39.8 | 56* |
| Stoneshatter | 93-141 | 2.90 | 40.3 | 57* |
| Coilfang Needler | 124-187 | 2.90 | 53.6 | 62* |
| Adamantine Repeater | 159-239 | 3.00 | 66.3 | 70* |
| Emberhawk Crossbow | 159-239 | 3.00 | 66.3 | 70* |
| Truestrike Crossbow | 138-207 | 2.60 | 66.3 | 70* |
============================================================================
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
e. Epic Ranged Weapons
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An Asterisk (*) after the Level Requirement indicates additional stats that are
not listed here.
============================================================================
| EPIC GUNS | BASE | SPEED | DPS | LV.REQ |
============================================================================
| Precisely Calibrate Boomstick | 48-56 | 1.50 | 34.7 | 43* |
| Dwarven Hand Cannon | 83-155 | 2.90 | 41.0 | 53* |
| The Purifier | 89-165 | 3.00 | 42.3 | 60* |
| Core Marksman Rifle | 79-148 | 2.50 | 45.4 | 60* |
| Gurubashi Dwarf Destroyer | 93-174 | 2.80 | 47.7 | 60* |
| Blastershot Launcher | 89-167 | 2.60 | 49.2 | 60* |
| Dragonbreath Hand Cannon | 104-194 | 2.80 | 53.2 | 60* |
| Grand Marshal’s Hand Cannon | 129-195 | 2.90 | 55.9 | 60* |
| High Warlord’s Street Sweeper | 129-195 | 2.90 | 55.9 | 60* |
| Blessed Qiraji Musket | 103-192 | 2.60 | 56.7 | 60* |
| Toxic Injector | 82-153 | 2.00 | 58.8 | 60* |
| Larvae of the Great Worm | 123-229 | 3.00 | 58.7 | 60* |
| Don Santos’ Famous Hunting Rifle | 136-253 | 2.70 | 72.0 | 70* |
| Veteran’s Musket | 136-253 | 2.70 | 72.0 | 70* |
| Wolfslayer Sniper Rifle | 139-259 | 2.70 | 73.7 | 70* |
| Gyro-Balanced Khorium Destroyer | 148-275 | 2.80 | 75.5 | 70* |
| Barrel-Blade Longrifle | 137-256 | 2.60 | 75.6 | 70* |
| Arcanite Steam-Pistol | 171-319 | 2.90 | 84.5 | 70* |
| Tuskbreaker | 175-326 | 2.90 | 86.4 | 70* |
| Rifle of the Stoic Guardian | 120-224 | 1.90 | 90.5 | 70* |
| Vengeful Gladiator’s Rifle | 223-336 | 3.00 | 93.2 | 70* |
============================================================================
============================================================================
| EPIC BOWS | BASE | SPEED | DPS | LV.REQ |
============================================================================
| Bow of Searing Arrows | 58-109 | 2.70 | 30.9 | 37* |
| Hurricane | 42-79 | 1.60 | 37.8 | 48* |
| Mandokir’s Sting | 84-157 | 2.60 | 43.3 | 60* |
| Bow of Taut Sinew | 73-137 | 2.20 | 47.7 | 60* |
| Striker’s Mark | 84-158 | 2.50 | 48.4 | 60* |
| Heartstriker | 97-180 | 2.60 | 53.3 | 60* |
| Grand Marshal’s Bullseye | 80-121 | 1.80 | 55.8 | 60* |
| High Warlord’s Recurve | 80-121 | 1.80 | 55.8 | 60* |
| Huhuran’s Stinger | 105-196 | 2.70 | 55.7 | 60* |
| Soulsting | 123-229 | 2.90 | 60.7 | 60* |
| Sunfury Bow of the Phoenix | 157-292 | 2.90 | 77.4 | 70* |
| Marksman’s Bow | 206-207 | 2.80 | 73.8 | 70* |
| Wrathtide Longbow | 151-281 | 3.00 | 72.0 | 70* |
| Sunfury Bow of the Phoenix | 169-314 | 2.90 | 83.3 | 70* |
| Ancient Sin’dorei Longbow | 181-337 | 3.00 | 86.3 | 70* |
| Serpent Spine Longbow | 214-321 | 3.00 | 89.2 | 70* |
| Vengeful Gladiator’s Longbow | 223-336 | 3.00 | 93.2 | 70* |
| Bristleblitz Striker | 201-374 | 3.00 | 95.8 | 70* |
| Black Bow of the Betrayer | 201-374 | 3.00 | 95.8 | 70* |
============================================================================
============================================================================
| EPIC CROSSBOWS | BASE | SPEED | DPS | LV.REQ |
============================================================================
| Polished Ironwood Crossbow | 124-186 | 3.10 | 50.0 | 60* |
| Crossbow of Imminent Doom | 126-189 | 3.10 | 50.8 | 60* |
| Ashjre’thul, Crossbow of Smiting | 149-225 | 3.40 | 55.0 | 60* |
| Grand Marshal’s Repeater | 129-195 | 2.90 | 55.9 | 60* |
| High Warlord’s Crossbow | 129-195 | 2.90 | 55.9 | 60* |
| Steelhawk Crossbow | 144-269 | 2.80 | 73.8 | 70* |
| Gladiator’s Heavy Crossbow | 202-304 | 3.20 | 79.1 | 70* |
| Merc. Glad’s Crossbow of the Phoenix | 211-318 | 3.00 | 88.2 | 70* |
| Legionkiller | 184-342 | 2.90 | 90.7 | 70* |
| Crossbow of Relentless Strikes | 182-339 | 2.80 | 93.0 | 70* |
| Vengeful Gladiator’s Heavy Crossbow | 223-336 | 3.00 | 93.2 | 70* |
============================================================================
As more content is released, more weapons will be added to these charts.
===============================================================================
-----------------------------[ XI. Future Plans ]------------------------------
===============================================================================
More cleanup is in the works.
===============================================================================
-----------------------------[ XII. Milestones ]-------------------------------
===============================================================================
Many of today’s new players missed out on the many different changes that the
game has gone through over the years, and the Hunter class of today is
certainly not the same as it was in the game’s earlier years. This section
stands as a reminder to all players of what the class went through since the
time of the game’s initial release.
--------
Lacerate
--------
The 31-point Survival talent Wyvern Sting wasn’t always there. Before the
Hunter talent review in Patch 1.7, an entirely different ability stood in its
place: Lacerate. It was a melee bleed effect whose total damage was so
incredibly poor that few could ever consider it to be more than just a joke.
At Rank 3, it inflicted a miserable total of 133 damage for 95 mana. To add
insult to injury, this was its total damage at level 60.
-----------
Black Arrow
-----------
Before the release of the game, the Hunter had an interesting ability in its
arsenal of shots and stings. Known as the Black Arrow, it was basically a
combination of Concussive Shot, Serpent Sting, and Viper Sting. This shot would
slow the target's movement speed by 70% and cause 150 Shadow damage while
draining 150 mana over 30 seconds. Although the spell never received additional
Ranks, the ability was deemed too powerful and was removed from the game before
its initial release.
------------------------------------------
Rhok’delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers
------------------------------------------
Hunters were once treated to an epic quest line, which began with the Ancient
Petrified Leaf from Molten Core. You had to go kill four demons, all of which
were disguised as humanoids. You had to fight each of them alone, without your
pet to assist you. Your raid would also take you to Onyxia’s Lair in hopes of
coming home with a Mature Black Dragon Sinew. Once you had gathered all of the
materials, your final reward was an amazing epic bow.
Today, you can still get your hands on the Leaf but finding a group that is
willing to do Molten Core and Onyxia may not be an easy task.
----------------------
The Version 2.00 Patch
----------------------
On 12.05.06, Blizzard released a patch that would pave the way for their
Burning Crusade expansion. This patch drastically changed Hunter mechanics,
ultimately changing the way the class is played. So what was the game like
before the big changes? Here’s how life once was:
- 1 Agility = 2 Ranged Attack Power. You needed 56 Agility for 1% Crit. All of
the old Hunter set armors had only Agility before this was changed.
- Talent were limited to 31-point trees, ending with Spirit Bond, Trueshot
Aura, and Lacerate. After the Hunter talent review, Bestial Wrath and Wyvern
Sting took their place as last-tier talents.
- Aimed Shot’s casting time used to be 3.0 seconds but always had a 6-second
cooldown. It also wouldn’t reset the Auto-Shot timer so Hunters would use it
over Arcane Shot.
- Arcane Shot was pretty weak back in the day. It would cause base damage
without the bonus from ranged attack power.
- Viper Sting never had a cooldown, which meant that you could hit every caster
you saw with it.
- Scorpid Sting used to reduce Strength and Agility rather than Hit chance.
- Pets were bland when the most they had were Growl, Cower, Bite, and Claw.
Their Growl ability was also weak. It wouldn’t take more than a few shots
to pull aggro off your pet.
- Traps had a 15-second cooldown but could only be set out of combat. For the
Double Trapping effect to work, a Hunter would have to Feign Death before he
could plant the second trap.
- Wyvern Sting couldn’t be used while in combat.
- Ranged weapons were relatively weak back then. The great Rhok’delar was only
44.0 DPS before the 2.00 Patch upped it to 53.3.
- Hit and Crit percentages were once stats, not just the result of Hit and Crit
Ratings. When a weapon said +1% Crit, it was an absolute +1% Crit.
------------
The Deadzone
------------
For over two years after the game’s initial release, all Shots and Stings were
limited to a 8-35 yard range. Melee range is roughly 5 yards. This left a
troubling 3-yard area in which a Hunter could not cause any damage. This made
Hunters easy prey for nearly every other class in the game, and this was
especially bad in Arenas where an enemy could simply immobilize you and stand
within your deadzone. Blizzard finally made the decision to close the gap in
Patch 2.3 by increasing the minimum range of all Shots and Stings to 5 yards.
While this has weakened the usefulness of some of the Survival tree’s talents,
this was a welcome change for the Hunter community.
===============================================================================
------------------------------[ XIII. Credits ]--------------------------------
===============================================================================
I give thanks to the following people:
CJayC (Jeff Veasey)
- If it weren't for you and GameFAQs, I would never have had the opportunity
to even consider writing this FAQ. Thanks Jeff Veasey.
DJellybean (Dingo Jellybean)
- It was you who came up with the style of borders that I use now for my
FAQ's. Thanks Dingo!
Aaron Wright
- Thanks for providing me the formulas to how weapon speed affects a Hunter’s
overall DPS.
Samuel Meder
- Thanks for notifying me of the Burning Crusade enchants.
You, The Reader
- I’ve received a lot of e-mail from you guys and I must say that I’m grateful
for all of your feedback. Thank you for your support of my guide!
A very special thanks to the kind and loving folks at !
Phoebus Nehalennia Lorillus Surion
Rize Zelos Spook Jkealy
Euripades Fuqua Graphico Ainvar
Demodocus Joonho Flan Taiju
Blowy Leith Masterofone Nickademus
Ismaela Fuzukuraki Villar Boram
Derjager Aachor Raithen Lennex
Taelar Warbeard Minionite Trogdornator
Barristan Ainvar Manthoray Darkdrizzt
Davidmelech Riodon Kw Lelania
(There’s a lot more but that’s all I can
remember off the top of my head right now!)
I also give thanks to the many fine folks who have hung up their tabards and
have moved on to greener pastures. I hope you guys do well in wherever life
takes you!
END
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