49 Hunter Guide

Schildkröte

Legend
Nux’ 49 Hunter Guide​
 ... in progress

This Guide is Property and Copyright of TwinkInfo.com



If you feel that I've missed something important that you feel needs to be included, feel free to post here or send me a PM.



Thanks to:

Wowhead: You haven't found the secret title yet.

www.chardev.com

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Contents

1. Introduction

2. Why Hunter?

3. Race choices!

4. Gear and Talents!

5. Pets!

6. UI/Addons/Macros

7. Gear List

8. Stuff



- 1. Introduction

Welcome to my 49 Hunter Guide. I‘m Nux, and I mostly play a Hunter in the 40-49 bracket. This guide aims to get you started on gearing and playing your Hunter and to provide tips and tricks where possible in your everyday play.



My primary spec (currently) for WSG is MM 0/37/0 which is based on high damage and reasonable survivability. I generally play a MM/SV spec in Arena 0/28/12 which brings more control to the table.

My Armory -> Nukesay



- 2. Why a Hunter at 49?

40-49 is widely considered one of the most bursty twink brackets. Geared and specced right, a Hunter can be at the pinnacle of damage or survivability as you choose. You can focus a lot of single target damage but with Volley and Explosive Traps you can also provide raid wide damage in large fights as well as keeping multiple targets controlled with your traps and shots for a long time and with Disengage and Feign Death you can survive a good while too!



Each Hunter tree is greatly different at 49 and each spec requires a different style of play. Once you get going, Hunter isn’t a class you’ll get bored with at 49.





Why MM for WSG?

I originally used to play my 0/28/12 build in WSG however after trying MM I’ve not gone back. Often in WSG I’m sat at 1.2k+ RAP with buffs on and the damage you can produce is intimidating. Since I specced MM I regularly come top damage across both teams and still maintain a top 5 position when I’m in Defence. Not only does MM bring this heavy damage to the table but you also still bring some general control as a Hunter - Frost Trap being a prime example.



Why MM/SV for Arena?

Although the damage from MM is great in WSG, generally in arena - talking 2v2 and 3v3 here - I find the extra control that Scatter Shot and talents such as Entrapment bring essential to the smaller team play. Your damage is still quite high yet the extra survivability from Entrapment, Surefooted etc. is really noticeable in arena at 49.



Misconceptions about Hunters

There are a lot of misconceptions regarding the Hunter class, many people see the stereotypical “huntard” as a drooling back-pedalling fool who “can’t play a proper class” however, in good hands a Hunter can be an unstoppable force in both WSG and Arena.



Hunters are generally consider a "stand and shoot" class who hide behind stumps in WSG, killing everything in side and run when things go bad, leaving their pet behind. Yes, a lot of Hunters are like this, however they’re really not getting the true potential out of the class! (I tend to be right in the fray, spamming Wing Clip on everyone and laying down Traps before a timely disengage). People often see Hunters as a “3 button class” but when played right, we’re far from that.





~~~ Pros: ~~~

- High RAP and damage increasing talents is a lot of damage to put out on single and multiple targets as MM.

- General control of the other team with Frost Traps (Readiness for another trap elsewhere is great)

- Explosive Trap and Volley causes disruption among the enemy healers.

- MM/SV provides even more control with Scatter Shot and Entrapment.

- Great escape tools with Disengage and Feign Death.



~~~ Cons: ~~~

- When CDs are down, escaping is harder.

- When your pet dies you lose damage and some control, I.e. pet stun.

- Weaker to most physical DPS classes



Read more below!
 
- 3. Choosing your Race



Alliance:



Draenei: [Gift of the Naaru]

-Heroic Presence - Increases chance to hit with all spells and attacks by 1% for you and all party members within 30 yards.

-Shadow Resistance - Reduces the chance you will be hit by Shadow spells by 2%.

*My opinion*

Best choice for an Alliance Hunter, the 1% hit helps in WSG where some people rely on having a Draenei in the team to cap their hit and the 2% Shadow Resistance is handy if a Warlock or Priest misses that fear! Gift of the Naaru is a very nice racial and is extremely useful in Arena.



Night Elf: [Shadowmeld]

-Quickness - Reduces the chance that melee and ranged attackers will hit you by 2%.

-Nature Resistance - Reduces the chance you will be hit by Nature spells by 2%.

*My opinion*

2nd best Alliance race imo - Shadowmeld when used correctly can stop a caster in his tracks momentarily giving you the upper hand however it's not as good compared to Gift of the Naaru. Quickness is quite nice as a Rogue missing a Gouge etc. can change the game and I'd say Nature Resistance is slightly worse than Shadow.



Dwarf: [Stoneform]

-Frost Resistance - Reduces the chance you will be hit by Frost spells by 2%.

-Gun Specialization - Your chance to critically hit with Guns is increased by 1%.

*My opinion*

The racials are really nothing on Draenei or Night Elf. Stoneform is handy for removing bleeds/poison but most of the time you can time a bandage anyway. Frost Resistance is strong against Mages, a missed Frost Nova is great for you, however Gun Specialization is fairly worthless as you'll be using a Bow as your Ranged.



Horde:



Troll: [Berserking]

-Bow Specialization - Your chance to critically hit with Bows is increased by 1%.

-Da Voodoo Shuffle - Reduces the duration of all movement impairing effects by 15%. Trolls be flippin' out mon!

-Regeneration - Health regeneration rate increased by 10%. 10% of total Health regeneration may continue during combat.

-Beast Slaying - Damage dealt versus Beasts increased by 5%.

*My Opinion*

Trolls are the strongest Horde Race in my opinion. Bow Specialization provides a nice 1% crit which never goes amiss and Beast Slaying helps somewhat against other Hunters pets. However trolls really shine with Berserking which is a flat 20% Haste on demand which provides great burst dps and also Da Voodoo Shuffle coupled with Surefooted in the Survival Tree gives you 45% total reduced time on movement slows etc.



Blood Elf: [Arcane Torrent]

-Magic Resistance - Reduces the chance you will be hit by spells by 2%.

*My Opinion*

The extra silence from Arcane Torrent is often underestimated. Naturally as a Hunter you won't be going in close often, but in a tight situation, the silence along with pet stun and Scatter Shot if you're an MM/SV build is invaluable.



Orc: [Blood Fury]

-Hardiness - Duration of Stun effects reduced by an additional 15%.

-Command - Damage dealt by Death Knight, Hunter and Warlock pets increased by 5%.

*My Opinion*

Blood Fury and Command provides with you both an overall and Burst Damage increase and Hardiness helps against both Rogues and Ret Paladins to some extent - a decent choice.



Taurenl: [War Stomp]

-Endurance - Base health increased by 5%.

-Nature Resistance - Reduces the chance you will be hit by Nature spells by 2%.

*My opinion*

War Stomp is an okay racial in certain situations but I don't think it has anything on the other horde races. 5% base health is barely noticable really however the Nature Resistance is neat - worst horde race for Hunter imo. MOO
 
- 4. Chardevs - Including Talents and Glyphs!



Some Notes:

-I. I'm assuming you have [Toughness] and [Lifeblood] from Mining and Herbalism respectively.

-II. I am including [item]Dark Iron Ring[/item] and [ITEM]Fire Opal Necklace[/ITEM], I'll post alternatives lower down.

-III. The talent builds I'm including are generic and have a certain degree of flexibility.

-IV. I will include Beast Mastery however I strongly recommend you go MM or MM/SV.

-V. I'm not including a Flag Carrying build as from experience in 49 locked BGs in EU, both sides generally have dedicated FCs or plate users which are better suited anyway.



FULL MM



MM - WSG Damage/Longevity

This build is the best in my eyes for WSG. Extremely high mana and HP along with 930AP and 17% crit before buffs means you can keep on trucking after the enemy EFC and his healers for a hell of a long time before you need to switch to Aspect of the Viper. You're slightly over-capped on Hit Rating but there's always talents like Heightened Senses to take into account!

*Note* You may prefer taking the last 3 talent points in MM and putting them into 6 yards increased range.



MM - Arena/Crit

This build is higher crit orientated and would be better suited in Arena where fights at 49 are often quick and bursty. You have a 42% crit chance with Aimed Shot so the higher mana isn't needed from 2 30 intellect weapons in my eyes.

*Note* Again, you may prefer the 6 yard range talent and I'll also recommend that while this build is fun, an MM/SV is still better suited in Arena.



MM/Survival + Survival



MM/SV - WSG

This is an Aimed Shot/Lock n Load build which is best suited for being a general pain in the ass in WSG with an MS effect, better Traps, hard hitting, free Arcane Shots (yay ignores armor) and extra CC from Scatter Shot. It takes more skill to pull off this spec however the effect can be devastating. This spec is also decent against rogues with Counterattack and 50% reduced disarm time.



SV - Arena

This build is more arena orientated than for WSG. Geared for higher Stamina and Crit as opposed to Mana, played correctly you can get a fast kill in between the control that Wyvern Sting, Scatter Shot, Traps and your Pet give you while having the stamina to survive yourself should things go pear-shaped (1 point in Thrill of the Hunt ensures slight mana regen anyway).



Beast Mastery



BM

Not sure if Hurricane is still the best ranged weapon for BM as I believe pushbacks were changed a while back. I wouldn't recommend going BM at all, it's terrible compared to all the above builds.
 
- 5. Pets!



As a Hunter you have 3 main classes of pet to choose from: Cunning, Ferocity and Tenacity. I'd personally recommend a Cunning pet for every spec and maybe a Ferocity should you go BM.



My Favourite Pets:



- Ravager: High DPS, can spend talent points to get Dash and "Boar's Speed". The stun is invaluable in both WSG and Arena, coupled with your other hunter abilities, timed right it can guarantee you a kill.



- Bat: Decent DPS, can spend talent points to get Dash and "Boar's Speed". The stun is ranged for Bats however it costs a lot more focus so you need to manage your pet more to ensure you can actually use it. Another thing to note is that since it's ranged you can quickly interrupt a heal that would be out of melee range, it also can't be avoided like the Ravagers Stun.



- Spider: Decent DPS, can spend talent points to get Dash and "Boar's Speed". Spiders don't have stuns, they do however have an unavoidable (in theory) root which is on a 30 yard range and has no cost. Whilst good against melee, it isn't worthy compared to Ravager/Bat stuns on casters.



For a full list of pets see here.



Also a small tip, players can't use their [ITEM]Arena Grand Master[/ITEM] while stunned obviously so you can save your stun and unload some burst during it before they get chance to use it.
 
- 6. UI/Addons/Macro's



2yl614o.jpg




My User Interface ^ (Yes, I play in Windowed Mode D: )



This UI is what works for me, I find it simple and pretty clean and yes I have my binds hidden while I play (I feel if I need to look at them I'm not doing a very good job).



Some things to note about it. Not shown in the picture above but I actually use a macro to reposition my target and focus frames (Will add one later) to a lower position. Furthermore in arena I use the addon Gladius for tracking Cooldowns people have used such as PvP trinkets and it's also easy to quickly right click and keep shifting your focus target.



Addons I use:



Bartender - This is the addon that I use to organise and resize my bars, I use it on most characters.

SexyMap - Purely for the looks!

Gladius - As mentioned above.

DrDamage - This shows how much damage on average an attack will do if it lasts full duration.



And that's it! At this point I must stress you don't need to do anything like I do, I'm just saying what works for me - you might find it awkward and prefer a completely different setup!



Macro's:



wsz0tgm4st-t.jpg




#showtooltip

/cast [nomod] Freezing Trap

/cast [mod:shift] Frost Trap
Click to expand...



Simply casts Freezing or Frost Trap based on the modifier.



#shopwtooltip

/cast [nomod] Immolation Trap

/cast [mod:ctrl] Explosive Trap
Click to expand...



Same thing, different traps.



Tracking



#shopwtooltip

/cast [nomod] Track Humanoids

/cast [mod:shift] Track Beasts

/cast [mod:ctrl] Track Hidden
Click to expand...



Different modifiers for different tracking!



2wg8za1.jpg




Focus Scatter Shot (MM/SV Spec)



#showtooltip Scatter Shot

/cast [target=focus] Scatter Shot
Click to expand...



Scatter Shots your focus target.



^ I also use various other focus macro's but you only need one to get the idea.
 
- 7. Gear List



Headpieces



  • [ITEM]Bloomsprout Headpiece[/ITEM] - Meshlok the Harvester (Rare Spawn Maraudon Purple)
  • [ITEM]Helm of Fire[/ITEM] - Leatherworking (Always use this when it's off CD)





Necklaces



  • [ITEM]Fire Opal Necklace[/ITEM] - Blackrock Depths (Relic Coffers - Very Rare)
  • [ITEM]Sentinel's Medallion[/ITEM] - Warsong Gulch Reward (300 Honor)





Shoulders

  • [ITEM]Champion Herod's Shoulder[/ITEM] - 40 [ITEM]Emblem of Heroism[/ITEM] or 60 [ITEM]Champion's Seal[/ITEM] (Requires a main)
  • [ITEM]Prized Beastmaster's Mantle[/ITEM] - 200 [ITEM]Stone Keeper's Shard[/ITEM] (Requires a main)
  • [ITEM]Rockshard Pauldrons[/ITEM] - Ancient Stone Keeper - Uldaman
  • [ITEM]Earthbound Shoulderguards[/ITEM] - [ITEM]Satchel of Helpful Goods[/ITEM] (Lvl35-44)



Cloaks

  • [ITEM]Grovekeeper's Drape[/ITEM] - Celebras the Cursed - Maraudon (Just before the Waterfall)





Chests

  • [ITEM]Champion's Deathdealer Breastplate[/ITEM] - 40 [ITEM]Emblem of Heroism[/ITEM] or 60 [ITEM]Champion's Seal[/ITEM] (Requires a main)
  • [ITEM]Honorguard Chestpiece[/ITEM] - Quest chain starting here, Horde only - check wowhead comments for details.
  • [ITEM]Atal'ai Breastplate[/ITEM] - Sunken Temple, low chance off any of the 6 troll "mini bosses".
  • [ITEM]Fungus Shroud Armor[/ITEM] - Meshlok the Harvester ((Rare spawn Maraudon purple), decent if it drops while you're farming head as alliance and are unlucky in ST (and no BoA access obviously).





Bracers

  • [ITEM]Bracers of the Stone Princess[/ITEM] - Princess Theredras (Last boss in Maraudon).
  • [ITEM]Earthbound Wristguards[/ITEM] - From [ITEM]Satchel of Helpful Goods[/ITEM]



Melee Weapon(s)

  • [ITEM]Ribsplitter[/ITEM] Low drop chance from Blackrock Depths trash - pretty expensive.
  • [ITEM]Axe of Rin'ji[/ITEM] - Cheap placeholder 'til them sweet splitters.
  • [ITEM]Enchanted Azsharite Felbane Sword[/ITEM] - Horde only, starts here - really just for messing around with WotLK enchants.
  • [ITEM]Sentinel's Blade[/ITEM] - WSG Reward, 700 Honor, again just a placeholder.





Ranged Weapon

  • [ITEM]Charmed Ancient Bone Bow[/ITEM] - 65 [ITEM]Emblem of Heroism[/ITEM] or 95 [ITEM]Champion's Seal[/ITEM] (Requires a main)
  • [ITEM]Verdant Keeper's Aim[/ITEM] - This quest in Maraudon.





Trinkets

  • [ITEM]Arena Grand Master[/ITEM] - Reward for collecting 12 [ITEM]Arena Master[/ITEM] trinkets which in turn are rewards from the chest spawning in Gurubashi Arena at 3 hourly intervals - 12/3/6/9/12 and so forth.
  • [ITEM]Inherited Insignia of the Alliance[/ITEM] - 250 [ITEM]Stone Keeper's Shard[/ITEM] (Requires a main)
  • [ITEM]Insignia of the Alliance[/ITEM] - 2805 Honor, Stormwind or Orgrimmar PvP vendors.
  • [ITEM]High-Powered Flashlight[/ITEM] - Made by engineers. (Mats)
  • [ITEM]Tidal Charm[/ITEM] - Drops from Prince Nazjak, see comments for details.
  • [ITEM]Rune of the Guard Captain[/ITEM] - Horde only, starts here.
  • [ITEM]Mark of the Chosen[/ITEM] - Starts here.
  • [ITEM]Defender of the Timbermaw[/ITEM] Exalted reputation.
  • [ITEM]Nifty Stopwatch[/ITEM] See here.
  • Various Engineering Trinkets

    And more...





Rings

  • [ITEM]Dark Iron Ring[/ITEM] - Rare drop from Relic Coffers in Blackrock Depths. (really rare:()
  • [ITEM]Blackstone Ring[/ITEM] - Princess Theredras, final boss in Maraudon.
  • [ITEM]Tumultuous Ring[/ITEM] - [ITEM]Satchel of Helpful Goods[/ITEM] 35-44 version
  • [ITEM]Aquamarine Signet[/ITEM] - Made by Jewelcrafters.





Boots

  • [ITEM]Earthbound Boots[/ITEM] - [ITEM]Satchel of Helpful Goods[/ITEM]
  • [ITEM]Defiler's Mail Greaves[/ITEM]
  • [ITEM]Atal'ai Boots[/ITEM] - Sunken Temple, low chance off any of the 6 troll "mini bosses".
  • [ITEM]Bloodshot Greaves[/ITEM] - Sunken Temple, Hakkar boss.
  • [ITEM]Fleetfoot Greaves[/ITEM] - Blackrock Depths, Houndmaster Grebmar.





Legs

  • [ITEM]Searingscale Leggings[/ITEM] - Pyromancer Loregrain in Blackrock Depths.
  • [ITEM]Dragonstrike Leggings[/ITEM] - Leatherworking only.
  • [ITEM]Windforged Leggings[/ITEM] - Blacksmithing only.





Belts

  • [ITEM]Defiler's Mail Girdle[/ITEM] - 400 Honor, Arathi Basin vendor.
  • [ITEM]Defiler's Chain Girdle[/ITEM] - 400 Honor, Arathi Basin vendor.





Gloves

[ITEM]Battlecaller Gauntlets[/ITEM] - World Drop, fairly cheap from AH.

[ITEM]Rockgrip Gauntlets[/ITEM] - Maraudon, drops from Landslide.



If I haven't included how to obtain an item or you want more detail then generally if you click the link to the wowhead page you should find more than adequate information in the >Comments< section.
 
I think that's everything I wanted to include in the guide, a lot of this is subject to change in Cataclysm (also a deciding factor to not post strategies) and when it comes around the guide will be updated accordingly. For now, if you notice anything I've missed or have any recommendations for the guide then please leave a post here. Also, if you do want to ask about tips or anything then feel free to ask here as well - I'll try and answer as best I can.



- Nux out.
 
Kore nametooshort said:
So, how's this guide coming along? Get it finished up and i can move it to a more appropriate and prestigious section :)
Click to expand...



I think it's finished now to the extent I was planning on until Cataclysm rolls around.
 
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