WORLD OF WARCRAFT
THE BURNING CRUSADE

Hunter Guide
Systems: PC, Mac
Author: UltimaZER0 (ultimazer0@msn.com, Jonathan Wong)
On Eredar Server: Eldrethor, Lv.60 Dwarf Hunter
Initial Release: 04/25/06
Current Release: 06/25/07
Current Version: 2.06.0

The objective of this guide is to teach you what the Hunter class is all about. You will learn about its strengths and weaknesses, gear selection, and how you can improve yourself as a Hunter. You will also learn strategies on the different uses for each of your abilities, as well as find answers to some of the most popularly asked questions regarding this class.

Since I’ve played mostly Alliance, I know little to nothing about Horde questsand locations so bear with me if I generalize certain things between the two factions.

So what is being a Hunter all about? Here is what you need to know...

About The Hunter

The Hunter is the leather-armored Ranger/Archer of an RPG, a specialist in guns, bows, and crossbows with a ton of extras thrown in to spice things up. Here are the common ups and downs of being a Hunter:

Ranged Damage

Hunters excel in ranged physical damage, and can provide a group or raid with a constant stream of DPS, even when their mana is low. Unlike other classes,they can also unleash a high amount of burst damage, while keeping their aggro extremely low, thanks to their aggro-reducing abilities. Just ask any Hunter what it’s like to launch a Multi-Shot that critically hits three targets for well over 1,000 damage each, or plant an Explosive Trap on a group of mobs, followed by a Volley, only to simply Feign Death and wipe away all aggro.

Pets

One of the perks of being a Hunter is the ability to tame an animal and own
it as your personal pet, which is treated as a separate entity. You can name it
and teach it abilities, and it gains experience and levels. There are a wide
variety of creatures to choose from. There are your typical wildlife
animals, such as bears and cats, but there is also an assortment of exotic creatures such as wind serpents and ravagers. Many of these animals also come in a variety of shapes and colors, depending on their locations.

Reduced Damage Intake

Since you’re fighting from a distance most of the time, you will not receive
much damage from most enemies. Your pet also plays a crucial role in keeping
aggro away from you, so even when you’re not fighting alongside a Warrior,
you still have a viable tank to keep mobs at bay. Once you reach level 40, you
may also wear Mail armor, which will cause your average damage reduction to jump from 20%-25% to 30%-35%.

Radar Tracking

Hunters get the most out of the game’s minimap, thanks to their wide
assortment of trackers, which allow them to see the locations of players and mobs as red dots. If a mob has a subcategory such as Humanoid or Beast, there’s a tracker for it. Well, except for Mechanical mobs. Then you’re on your own.

Limited Melee

If anything gets within eight yards of you, your only option is to pull out
your trusty one- or two-hander and start swinging, and you don’t have many
abilities at your disposal. However, whatever melee abilities you get pack a
punch and can help you regain shooting distance. Also, you get an extremely
wide variety of weapons to choose from. In fact, you can equip practically
anything but maces, which is where the “Hunter weapon” joke originates from.
As an added bonus, you may even dual-wield at level 20.

Exiting Combat

Thanks to their Feign Death ability, Hunters are the only class that can
completely exit combat on their own without a reagent or a long cooldown.
Although area-of-effect spells and multi-targeting effects can still hit
you, mobs will simply assume that you are dead, and most will reset normally in
the event that your party or raid gets killed. This will save you countless
times throughout your journeys.

The full wow hunter guide contains:

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. Pets
     a. Pet Taming & Care
     b. Available Pets
     c. Pet Abilities
     d. Building Your Pet
VII. Equipment
     a. Basic Gear
     b. Armor Sets
     c. Weapons
     d. Ammunition
     e. Storage
     f. Scopes
     g. Enchants, Books, & Librams
     h. Gems
VIII. Playing As A Hunter
     a. Solo Play
     b. Group Play
     c. PvP
     d. Advanced Hunter Techniques
     e. Survival Tactics
     f. Building Your Hunter
     g. Class Arguments
IX. Future Plans
X. Credits

At this point, this guide is pretty much complete. As Blizzard continues to
add new content, I’ll keep this guide as up-to-date as possible.

Read the full WoW hunter guide