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. Lethal Attacks and Mortal Shots raise crit chance and crit damage, so ranged weapon DPS and crit are worth a bit more here. In Forever the Lone Wolf talent grants 20% more damage while you have no active pet, and unlearning it no longer leaves you with 4% less damage while the pet is out.

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.

On September 30 Blizzard opened its Forever class deep dives with the hunter and the druid. These are the changes you will notice most as a hunter, in our own words. Blizzard warned that abilities and talents could keep changing during the beta.

• Aimed Shot becomes a baseline ability every hunter learns at level 20. Arcane Shot no longer shares its cooldown, and Multi-Shot now does.
• Traps in combat: you can now lay them mid-fight, although their cooldown rises to 30 seconds. All traps share that same 30-second cooldown, and you still place them only at your own feet.
• Aspect of the Beast also grants melee attack power, Disengage removes twice as much threat and Scorpid Sting lowers the target's chance to hit by 2% instead of its strength and agility.
• Pets: their stats grow with your gear, but they no longer receive other players' buffs that raise stats. Every family now has one unique ability (the bat's Sonic Blast, the wolf's Furious Howl, a bear attack that hits 3 targets) and a new family arrives, foxes, with Trickster's Dance, which raises their dodge and attack speed for 12 seconds.
• Beast Mastery: Summon Hawk is the 16-point milestone talent (up to 2 hawks attacking your target, on a cooldown shared with Arcane Shot), Focused Fire raises your and your pet's damage while it is active, and Intimidation also gives the pet 100% more crit chance on its next attack.
• Marksmanship: Lone Wolf is the 11-point milestone talent (20% more damage with no active pet), Careful Aim turns part of your intellect into attack power, Trueshot Aura moves up from row 7 to row 4 and Sniper Shot is the 31-point milestone talent: a 4-second cast with 45 yards of range that also extends the range of your next 3 shots (10 more yards for 10 seconds, according to the October 1 notes).
• Survival becomes the melee and traps tree: Savage Strikes raises all your melee damage, Predator's Edge your melee crit damage and your off-hand damage when dual wielding, Counterattack is the 16-point talent, Strider Kick the 21-point one and Lacerating Strikes the 31-point one (your Mongoose Bite also leaves a bleed). Improved Tracking raises your damage against whatever creature type you are tracking.
• What stays the same: the hunter is still damage only, still has the longest range in the game and still cannot use its ranged attacks within 8 yards of the enemy; it has no stuns or interrupts either.

Talents, Legacy talents included, are changed at your class trainer in a capital city, and dual specialization arrives at level 40. Read our summary of the deep dive or Blizzard's official article.

Build 1.60.1.70170, from October 1, brings mostly adjustments. The most useful one for leveling: pets get Aggressive mode back, now found under the pet tab of your spellbook. Blizzard also fixed tameable beasts whose pet ability ranks were too high for their level; it warns that this could make your pet "forget" an ability, and that it should not happen again. In Marksmanship, Sniper Shot, the 31-point talent, reaches 45 yards and extends your next 3 shots by 10 yards for 10 seconds, and Improved Stings gets a more Vanilla-looking icon. In Survival, Deflection drops to 1/2/3/4/5% parry (was 2/4/6/8/10%) and Predator's Edge gets a new icon too.

In the previous build, 1.60.1.70009, there were 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, unlearning Lone Wolf (Marksmanship) no longer removes 4% damage while the pet is active: the talent still only pays its 20% without a pet, but dropping it no longer costs anything. 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: at level 30, the beta's last cap, you can already reach Strider Kick, the 21-point talent, if you put every point there, but Lacerating Strikes, the 31-point one, has to wait.

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 Lethal Attacks. Lone Wolf only adds damage with the pet dismissed, and unlearning it no longer leaves a penalty.
• Talent resets cost 1 silver in the beta; at launch, check what they cost at your trainer before you try Survival for a while.

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 has been fixed since build 70009 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, and later Razorfen Kraul and the Scarlet Monastery, where your level-30 pieces come from.
• Dungeon quests: since October 1 they give half the extra experience they used to give on top of a normal quest. Go in for the loot and the mobs, not just the quests.
• 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. In Forever hit is one stat for spells, melee and ranged, and so is crit (Blizzard's Deep Dive Panel Recap); Blizzard names traps as one of the tools that become more reliable with it. Intellect carries real weight because it fuels Arcane Shot and aspects, and with the new Careful Aim talent it also turns into attack power. If you play at range, the melee weapon is a stat stick and its DPS barely counts; if you run melee Survival with Strider Kick and Predator's Edge, the weapon matters again. The three trees share priorities; Marksmanship nudges crit up and Survival nudges agility.

At level 30, the beta's last cap, all three hunter trees share almost everything. The Scarlet Monastery provides the Ebon Vise and Ironspine's Eye, plus the Ghostshard Talisman for Beast Mastery and Marksmanship, and Razorfen Kraul the Ferine Leggings. Only two pieces are Leatherworking (the brawler's helm and the Dusky Leather Armor). The belt, boots, trinkets and melee weapons come mostly from the battleground supply officers; our list mixes both factions' versions, so get the one for yours. The ranged weapon on the list, the Booty Bay Bruiser's Buckshot, has no known source in our database yet.

On the way, the hunter is, together with the rogue, the class that depends most on dungeons: at level 20 all three trees equipped six dungeon pieces, among them the Blackened Defias Belt and the Impaling Harpoon from The Deadmines and the Glowing Lizardscale Cloak and Gloves of the Fang from Wailing Caverns, plus a ring from Blackfathom Deeps and another from The Stockade.

Higher up, the stops with the most BiS pieces for the class are the Scarlet Monastery and Maraudon with three each, and Razorfen Downs (Manslayer and Quillward Harness) and Blackrock Depths with two. Forever's new dungeons that are already playable (Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron and Excavation Site) have no BiS-marked loot for the hunter in our data yet. The BiS per level and slot, with alternatives, is on the hunter BiS page.

What it can wield. In Classic the hunter's melee options are daggers, fist weapons, one- and two-handed axes and swords, polearms and staves, but no maces and no shield; it learns dual wield at level 20, and the types it does not start with from a weapon master. At range it uses bows, crossbows and guns, and it can also use thrown weapons. Blizzard has not announced any change to this for Forever. As in Classic, every weapon type has its own skill, which rises with use up to 5 points per character level, the bow or gun included: if you switch ranged weapon type, you will miss more shots for a while.

What our lists score. The types our hunter lists score are one-handed axes and swords, fist weapons and daggers; two-handed axes, polearms, two-handed swords and staves; and at range, bows, guns and crossbows. Thrown weapons are not in the lists. All three trees compare a two-hander against two one-handers, but the melee weapon weighs very little next to the ranged one, which is what matters. The weapon skill points some items carry add nothing to our score.

What changes in Forever. According to Blizzard's Deep Dive Panel Recap, weapon skill works as it always has, but items that grant it give less per piece so they are not always the obvious pick. The hunter-specific part is in the class deep dive: Survival becomes the melee and traps tree, with Predator's Edge (more melee crit damage and more off-hand damage while dual wielding) and Strider Kick, an instant weapon damage attack. If you play that way, your melee weapon matters again, and our lists, which score it low in all three trees, fall short for that style.

Racials. In Classic, weapon racials were 5 points of skill with that weapon type; in Forever they are critical strike chance while you have it equipped, and they count for spells too. Several of them touch the hunter:

• Dwarf: loses Gun Specialization. Its new Mace Specialization does nothing for you, because hunters do not use maces.
• Troll: loses Bow Specialization and Throwing Specialization.
• Human, a new combination in Forever: Sword Specialization gives 2% crit with all spells and attacks while a one- or two-handed sword is equipped.
• Orc: Axe Specialization gives 1% crit with all spells and abilities while a one- or two-handed axe is equipped.

The text of those last two does not separate melee from ranged, so read literally, the sword or axe in your hands would also raise the crit of your shots; we have not checked it in the beta. Night elves, tauren and the Skyborne have no weapon racial. The full comparison is in the best race for a hunter.

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. The racial changes in the beta that touch you most are the weapon ones: dwarves and trolls lose their gun and bow specializations, all covered in Weapons and weapon skill. Beyond that, 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, and the two in the level-30 one too, 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.
• Taking Lone Wolf and keeping the pet out. Its 20% extra damage only applies without an active pet.
• Trusting the Cooldown Manager with the companion. It does not track pet cooldowns yet; count them yourself.
• Forgetting Aggressive mode, or overusing it. It is back since October 1, under the pet tab of your spellbook. As in Classic, an aggressive pet attacks whatever comes close: use it carefully near other groups of mobs.