Hunter guide for WoW Forever

The hunter is the physical ranged damage class: it shoots with a bow, gun or crossbow, uses mana for its shots and aspects and always brings a pet that tanks for it. In Classic it is the most comfortable class to level solo, and in Forever it still is: the pet holds, you shoot and you almost never stop. Its three trees are all damage trees, so the difference between them is style, not role.

Beast Mastery (damage)

The pet tree. Its talents make the animal hit harder, last longer and recover sooner. It is the safest spec to level with because the companion does half the work and survives pulls that would kill the other two trees.

Marksmanship (damage)

The bow tree. Aimed Shot and Lethal Shots turn every crit into full weapon damage, so ranged weapon DPS and crit are worth a bit more here. In Forever the Lone Wolf talent no longer penalises having a pet, which removes the only reason to play Marksmanship without a companion.

Survival (damage)

The melee and traps tree: Lightning Reflexes multiplies agility, and Forever's new talents, Lacerating Strikes and Strider Kick, push it towards a hit-and-run style with movement speed. It is the least direct of the three, but the most fun in PvP.

Six documented changes, and the two you will feel most are about the pet. Furious Howl, the wolf's attack power buff, loses 40% of its bonus: if you ran a wolf only for the howl, in Forever pet choice goes back to being a matter of taste. In exchange, bats gain Sonic Blast, a new ability that did not exist in Classic. And Tame Beast stops working on beasts above your level, which was beta behaviour rather than a design perk.

Among talents, Lone Wolf (Marksmanship) no longer removes 4% damage while the pet is active: it goes from a talent that forced you to choose between companion and damage to a free bonus. In Survival, Lacerating Strikes can now crit and Strider Kick grants 30% movement speed for 3 seconds, exactly what a hunter needs to get back to range.

Outside the class but relevant to it: ammunition consumption for guns and bows has been fixed, and pet happiness now decreases correctly at maximum loyalty. The Cooldown Manager does not track pet cooldowns yet, so do not rely on it for your companion.

Recommendation: Beast Mastery from 10 to 40, then Marksmanship if you want more damage in dungeons, or Beast Mastery to the end if you would rather never die. It is the classic route and in Forever it makes even more sense: the Furious Howl nerf does not touch the tree's talents, and a pet that holds is still the best leveling tool in the game. Survival is an option for anyone wanting a different style, but with the beta stopped at 20 we have not been able to see how Lacerating Strikes and Strider Kick perform at high levels.

Recommended order, broadly:

• From 10 to 20, Beast Mastery talents that raise the pet's health, armour and damage. You get the pet at level 10 and in Forever you cannot tame beasts above your level, so tame one at your level and raise it with you.
• The 16-point milestone arrives around level 25-26: keep putting those points into Beast Mastery so the pet keeps up with you.
• From 40, with the mount (which in Forever comes with the riding skill), spread into Marksmanship for Aimed Shot and Lethal Shots. Lone Wolf no longer forces you to dismiss the pet.
• Talent resets cost 1 silver in the beta: try Survival for a while and come back if it does not click.

Pacing:

• No level scaling: the hunter is the class that tolerates orange mobs best thanks to the pet, but do not push it: a three-mob pull is a three-mob pull.
• Ammunition: always buy extra. Consumption is fixed in this build and there are no shortcuts anymore.
• Use the campsite to sell greys, repair and receive the three one-hour buffs before entering the Deadmines or Wailing Caverns, your two key dungeons until 26.
• Legacy Points: each character spends them across three trees (Professions, Adventure and Resourcefulness). The only perk shown so far is Well Rested, more rested experience; we will not guess what the rest do.

The ranged weapon comes before any other piece: each point of bow, gun or crossbow DPS is worth about 14 ranged attack power, and slow weapons fit Aimed Shot and Multi-Shot better. Then agility (1 agility = 2 ranged attack power, plus crit and armour), crit and hit, which in Forever are separate stats from their spell counterparts. Intellect carries real weight because it fuels Arcane Shot and aspects, and the melee weapon is a stat stick: its DPS barely counts. The three trees share priorities; Marksmanship nudges crit up and Survival nudges agility.

At level 20 the hunter is, together with the rogue, the class that depends most on dungeons: all three trees equip the same six dungeon pieces and only two from Leatherworking. The Deadmines provides two (Blackened Defias Belt and the Impaling Harpoon, both from Captain Greenskin; VanCleef's Cruel Barb is also marked as BiS in the list below), Wailing Caverns two (Glowing Lizardscale Cloak from Skum and Gloves of the Fang), and Blackfathom Deeps and The Stockade one ring each.

On the way up, the stops with the most BiS pieces for the class are the Scarlet Monastery and Maraudon with three each, Razorfen Downs (Manslayer and Quillward Harness) and Blackrock Depths with two. The new beta dungeons, Hall of Thanes and Ruins of Lordaeron, do not have loot in our database yet; when they do, it will show up here automatically. The BiS per level and slot, with alternatives, is on the hunter BiS page.

Forever opens the hunter to humans, one of the six new combinations, and to the Skyborne of both factions, who start on Zephras Isle with their level 1 to 12 adventure and have two active and two passive racials not yet detailed in the notes. The Alliance keeps dwarves and night elves; the Horde keeps orcs, tauren and trolls. No racial change in this build touches the hunter directly, so choose by faction, by the pet you want to tame near your starting zone, and by looks.

Skinning + Leatherworking suits the hunter from level 1: the two crafted pieces in the level-20 BiS are Leatherworking, the pet leaves you a trail of corpses to skin, and Forever adds more than 600 new recipes and a passive bonus per profession. If you would rather make gold fast, Skinning + Mining sells everything you gather and leaves the recipes for later.

Cooking is almost mandatory: you feed the pet with what you hunt and crafted food gives a small experience bonus. First Aid for you; the companion heals itself. Each profession's leveling path is in the profession guides.

• Shooting in melee. The hunter has a minimum range: if the mob reaches you, step back and let the pet pick it up. Strider Kick in Survival exists for this.
• Choosing a pet for Furious Howl. In Forever the howl gives 40% less attack power; take the beast that holds best or the one you like most.
• Taming above your level. It no longer works. Tame beasts at your level or below.
• Carrying an old bow. It is by far the piece that gives you the most damage: always prioritise ranged weapon quest rewards and the Impaling Harpoon from the Deadmines.
• Forgetting pet food. Happiness now decreases properly at max loyalty; an unhappy pet hits for less.
• Running out of ammo or water. Buy extra before every dungeon; the campsite sets up vendors if you forget.
• Dismissing the pet as Marksmanship. Lone Wolf no longer penalises keeping it out; use it always.
• Trusting the Cooldown Manager with the companion. It does not track pet cooldowns yet; count them yourself.