Vyvenem's F2P Marksman Hunter Guide
- Thread starter Vyvenem
- Start date
Dragonstormy
Member
Hey Vyvenem, I played f2p Hunter since long, and finally joined the forum, seeing another pure f2p fighting his way through Azeroth made me proud. Your guide helped me improve myself much. However I got some questions. ^_^
I'm struggling with soloing the dungeons for gear. How do you handle crowds with like 5 or more mobs?
If I use ice trap, send the pet trying to tank 2, but somehow I can't handle the situation if there are like 2 or 3 mobs more coming for me. Do you just trying to take them down 1 by 1 with retreat?
I always die in the dragkin waves before epoch hunter, I think the second or 3rd one. The waves make it harder, I can't regain my health and focus. Sometimes I even already die at the early waves near Durnholde Keep.
Did you got any tricks or should I just do more training?
I saw that your equipment includes also an amount of versatility and haste, you sloted a versatility cogwheel and despite bows with higher agility you took one with crit and haste. Is a small amount of versatility or haste needed? Because you could also go for 0%vers. 0%haste (I'm close to that but don't know if that's stupid) I'm asking because I don't know what to slot the third cogwheel of the dragonling. Another crit? or versatility? Btw aren't weps with 12 agility and 1 secondary stat better in terms of dps? I got High-Strung Bow (don't know how to link yet xD) with 12 agility and 14 crit. Because even a bow with 1 gem would only give you 9 agi.
I'm struggling with soloing the dungeons for gear. How do you handle crowds with like 5 or more mobs?
If I use ice trap, send the pet trying to tank 2, but somehow I can't handle the situation if there are like 2 or 3 mobs more coming for me. Do you just trying to take them down 1 by 1 with retreat?
I always die in the dragkin waves before epoch hunter, I think the second or 3rd one. The waves make it harder, I can't regain my health and focus. Sometimes I even already die at the early waves near Durnholde Keep.
Did you got any tricks or should I just do more training?
I saw that your equipment includes also an amount of versatility and haste, you sloted a versatility cogwheel and despite bows with higher agility you took one with crit and haste. Is a small amount of versatility or haste needed? Because you could also go for 0%vers. 0%haste (I'm close to that but don't know if that's stupid) I'm asking because I don't know what to slot the third cogwheel of the dragonling. Another crit? or versatility? Btw aren't weps with 12 agility and 1 secondary stat better in terms of dps? I got High-Strung Bow (don't know how to link yet xD) with 12 agility and 14 crit. Because even a bow with 1 gem would only give you 9 agi.
OP
OP
Vyvenem
Member
I'm glad this guide has helped you!
Sadly, I can no longer give any advice past what the guide says. Between not playing for months and memory loss, I've pretty much forgotten everything I've done in game. I still check out the forums maybe once a week though since I have it bookmarked.
Good luck to you and all future hunters carrying the torch through the F2P world!
Last edited:
Dragpz
Grandfathered
I'm not Vyv, but here are some important tips:
1. Order your pet to attack mobs to gain aggro- manually send your pets to attack mobs so that they take aggro off of you, then focus down the adds which are still attacking you, you can kite with Concussive Shot if you need to
2. or Feign Death to drop aggro from yourself, this might fail sometimes, so #1 is better to follow
3. You can use Revive Pet while under Aspect of the Turtle
4. For soloing, you will be using Revive Pet/Mend Pet alot, so make sure you get ready to trap mobs and tank some damage while rezzing your pet.
5. Old Hillsbrad/Escape from Durnholde is kinda a hard dungeon to solo, but Thrall (NPC) keeps the last boss (Epoch Hunter) in combat, so even if you die, you can come back to finish him off.
Your bow is good, but if you want to solo, you will want to have some stam, get this bow: https://www.wowhead.com/item=39487/dragon-slayers-shortbow?bonus=0
Also, go BM and pickup this talent https://www.wowhead.com/spell=267116/animal-companion
Get a tanky leech pet - https://www.wow-petopia.com/family.php?id=scalehide
I got kinda lucky when soloing Durnholde, so maybe some people here can give you better tips
Last edited:
Beastwrath
New Member
Against big crowd of mobs I will use Ice Trap for 1, use burst dmg to down at least 1-2,
FD + pet play dead. Reset and kill the rest.
Dealing with the waves of dragonkins before Epoch Hunter, by now you should know where they will spawn, get in position early and Ice Trap the caster, don’t let pet auto growl, use growl manually when your pet lost aggro on the mob coming towards you.
Dragonstormy
Member
Thanks for the tips, I'm going to try them! I already do 70% of what is mentioned but I think it also has to do with a bit learning & training.
I understand know that it's better to have to bow with stamina, but why the dragon bow and not the bfa socket one? This one gives also 10 stam while giving 3 agi with socket. Would be better for dps.
Or is the haste on the dragon bow important? I'm asking because I see many hunters not maxing crit or mastery but keeping an fair amount of verse and haste, like up to 10%. Is this smart or useful? Or done by accident?
Because I can't decide what to slot into the third cogwheel of my dragonling xD
I understand know that it's better to have to bow with stamina, but why the dragon bow and not the bfa socket one? This one gives also 10 stam while giving 3 agi with socket. Would be better for dps.
Or is the haste on the dragon bow important? I'm asking because I see many hunters not maxing crit or mastery but keeping an fair amount of verse and haste, like up to 10%. Is this smart or useful? Or done by accident?
Because I can't decide what to slot into the third cogwheel of my dragonling xD
Sil
Member
If I could recommend something, it would be to make, like, 4 different dragonling trinkets while you already have the mining and engineering at the max level. This way you can make a few different combos of stats and you won't have to do the multiple-hour grind in order to make another one / change a socket if you decide on a different stat combo in the future. Making your first trinket is the hardest. Making a few more is the easy part haha
Dragonstormy
Member
Yeah thanks for the tips! I made multiple dragonlings now (idk why i didn't think about it earlier) and am also trying to get the rod of ambershaping as it will help me much!
I waited with the answer because I wanted to show the success of looting it, but hey the rare mob is always killed when I get there and I'm too lazy to wait, so nothing till now xD.
Am still wondering tho why most hunters in armory prefer the tarren mill belt with 9 vers over the 6 crit girdle of living flame as I thought crit is preferable than vers...
Am atm stuck at trying to get marks of honor for gems, since bg queue takes some time, then we lose ofc 70% of the time because only 50% are fighting, and if we win its another low chance to get Marks of Honor... xD. Am trying to get my class hall champions a bit higher for mark of honor missions but yea it will take some time since legion assaults and world quests aren't available for pure f2p right? There isn't any other way right?
I waited with the answer because I wanted to show the success of looting it, but hey the rare mob is always killed when I get there and I'm too lazy to wait, so nothing till now xD.
Am still wondering tho why most hunters in armory prefer the tarren mill belt with 9 vers over the 6 crit girdle of living flame as I thought crit is preferable than vers...
Am atm stuck at trying to get marks of honor for gems, since bg queue takes some time, then we lose ofc 70% of the time because only 50% are fighting, and if we win its another low chance to get Marks of Honor... xD. Am trying to get my class hall champions a bit higher for mark of honor missions but yea it will take some time since legion assaults and world quests aren't available for pure f2p right? There isn't any other way right?
Dragpz
Grandfathered
Wrath JC, but that'll require you to keep Northrend JC and Northrend Alchemy maxed for about 20 or so days while you make your gems. You'll probably also end up farming 800 or so Saronite ore, Wintergrasp is decent for this ore - https://xpoff.com/threads/lvl-20-f2p-gems-and-jewelcrafting-guide.95274/ (under Wrath JC)
The belt from Tarren Mill is not only easier to get, Vers is usually the preferred "PVP stat" because it reduces damage taken, but im sure the 9 vers from the belt would end up doing more damage than the 6 crit. Quite a few twinks keep several sets anyway
Dragonstormy
Member
How many agi, mastery, haste and vers do you guys have? I'm asking because I just don't get the feeling of how much i should aim for. and what is enough. Many people say haste is important too, but it needs like already 6% for reducing aimshot from 2.4s to 2.3 and other stats suffer from that.
I try to build on mastery for damage but the range increase is literally nothing, if I use armored tusk, wich gives a 13% mastery boost, i can maybe do 1 or 2 more steps backwards for max range.
I don't know if I should go for necklace of the deep for example with 2 sockets, giving me a total of 10 agi, or some necklace with like 3 agi 15 mastery and 9 vers/haste. Same with socket rings compared to high secundary stat rings. Do many people sacrifice the agility to get more secondaries?
And some other questions:
Does anyone know where the best place is to farm the classic BoE Precisely Caliberated Boomstick?
And are the green 7 agi + 10 mastery + socket trinkets grandfathered? I see them on some chars in armory.
I try to build on mastery for damage but the range increase is literally nothing, if I use armored tusk, wich gives a 13% mastery boost, i can maybe do 1 or 2 more steps backwards for max range.
I don't know if I should go for necklace of the deep for example with 2 sockets, giving me a total of 10 agi, or some necklace with like 3 agi 15 mastery and 9 vers/haste. Same with socket rings compared to high secundary stat rings. Do many people sacrifice the agility to get more secondaries?
And some other questions:
Does anyone know where the best place is to farm the classic BoE Precisely Caliberated Boomstick?
And are the green 7 agi + 10 mastery + socket trinkets grandfathered? I see them on some chars in armory.
Bop
Remember the Treeline
Your stat allocation will vary based on what type of content you want to do - and to a lesser degree, should also vary based on playstyle.
Note that haste applies linearly. Going from 2.4 to 2.3 is a feelsgood moment, but going from 5% to 6% haste is exactly the same as going from 6% to 7%. That extra percentage point gives the same benefit, even if it doesn't reduce the rounded cast time by 0.1s
Last I checked for MM, Mastery was the best point for point damage increase secondary stat. Maybe Crit does more in PvE, but you'll overcap on Crit quite easily (cap is 30% for crit, at which point your crit rating starts to lose some of its value with each additional point).
The range aspect of Mastery doesn't seem particularly game-breaking in PvE, but there are almost certainly some fights where it matters. At the very least, it gives you slightly more time to kite mobs from your initial pull.
Much like in PvP, I would hesitate a guess that the extra healing - albeit small - from BoA necklace is probably worth the increased damage. Could be wrong here as I don't solo PvE content often on a hunter. But you can sort of calculate the ~350 healing as being roughly 30 stamina or so. If you have a total max health in any given encounter, factoring in your exhilaration / bandages / health potions, etc, then increasing your healing by 350 is equivalent to increasing your stamina by the same amount. There might be some shared cooldowns or what not, so keep that in mind.
I don't have the exact data for Agi : secondaries for MM, but I would hesitate a guess that Agility is at least twice as good as any secondary for pure damage purposes. For many classes, primary stats are 4x as good as secondaries - that's the general rule.
There are guides for how to farm PCB on this very forum. In fact, one was released recently - you can use the search feature for BoE farming compendium. @zazzyfraz has a guide that includes farming data for PCB.
Enzi
Grandfathered
Dragonstormy
Member
Thanks for the advice!
And @Enzi I already got it, but thanks xD, helps me much tho.
I've read the BoE guides and why.... why did i level up to 20 before knowing this... WHY
That means i can continue to grind years on my main without ever reaching the good BoE stuff, since you need literally lvl 18 at the most ones... Dude that hits hard...
Was all my grind on this toon for nothing?
Chops
Soccer Dad
None of that stuff is even remotely worth worrying about. Don't despair. You didnt build your toon for nothing.
Bop
Remember the Treeline
No, dude.
You have a couple of options. Bear in mind that if you log on your F2P hunter after getting gametime, you will level up because of banked xp.
#1 Ask a GM for gametime
- This will likely be slow since your account has never had a subscription before. But some Pure Accounts have gotten free days in the past. You will get declined a lot. This is the only Free Option, and it still runs into the same huge downside of dealing with banked xp. See below.
#2 Ask a GM to lock your experience, then subscribe.
- Theoretically this should be possible. You will likely get declined a good bit - but depending on how you word your ticket, you may get some success. This obviously costs $15 up front, but it is the only option (that I am aware of) that deals with the banked experience issue.
#3 Subscribe, log in to your hunter, ask a GM to de-level.
- This has been done successfully in the past. There is precedent for it - and the GM who performed the de-leveling wasn't apprehensive about it at all. It is not the normal "un-level my level 21 plz
" ticket that GMs receive. We're talking about a level 30 Hunter. Nonetheless, this is the riskiest route but it is likely resolved much faster than the other 2.A potential fourth option that I hadn't considered is to subscribe and then have your gametime transferred before you log on your hunter. I've never heard of anyone doing this - but it may be something others have experience with. Theoretically, you would become a vet character once your subscription ran out and your banked experience would disappear... but it's also possible that, even as a vet, you may level up after logging in.
Either way, you can basically get by indefinitely only ever having paid $15 to Blizzard one time. You just need to sparingly ask GMs for game time when you really need it. Be honest with them when you're asking for a day or two, also.
EDIT BECAUSE CHOPS SMART --> Also, you don't need to pay for the game to enjoy it. There is a lot of merit to enduring the challenges as a f2p. If you want maximum omega jeebus Best in Slot gear, then yeah you will need to pay at some point. Otherwise, you'll be 95% as geared as other hunters if you just put in the work first. Skill > Gear, anyway.
Dragonstormy
Member
Yeah i did overreact a bit because i was obsessed with the boomstick xDNo, dude.
You have a couple of options. Bear in mind that if you log on your F2P hunter after getting gametime, you will level up because of banked xp.
#1 Ask a GM for gametime
- This will likely be slow since your account has never had a subscription before. But some Pure Accounts have gotten free days in the past. You will get declined a lot. This is the only Free Option, and it still runs into the same huge downside of dealing with banked xp. See below.
#2 Ask a GM to lock your experience, then subscribe.
- Theoretically this should be possible. You will likely get declined a good bit - but depending on how you word your ticket, you may get some success. This obviously costs $15 up front, but it is the only option (that I am aware of) that deals with the banked experience issue.
#3 Subscribe, log in to your hunter, ask a GM to de-level.
- This has been done successfully in the past. There is precedent for it - and the GM who performed the de-leveling wasn't apprehensive about it at all. It is not the normal "un-level my level 21 plz
A potential fourth option that I hadn't considered is to subscribe and then have your gametime transferred before you log on your hunter. I've never heard of anyone doing this - but it may be something others have experience with. Theoretically, you would become a vet character once your subscription ran out and your banked experience would disappear... but it's also possible that, even as a vet, you may level up after logging in.
Either way, you can basically get by indefinitely only ever having paid $15 to Blizzard one time. You just need to sparingly ask GMs for game time when you really need it. Be honest with them when you're asking for a day or two, also.
EDIT BECAUSE CHOPS SMART --> Also, you don't need to pay for the game to enjoy it. There is a lot of merit to enduring the challenges as a f2p. If you want maximum omega jeebus Best in Slot gear, then yeah you will need to pay at some point. Otherwise, you'll be 95% as geared as other hunters if you just put in the work first. Skill > Gear, anyway.
As for the Gametime stuff i think I'll stay f2p, as it's more of a challenge and in my personal opinion more fun.
But something I was curious about is that some people say you can lose your toon if you get sub after f2p and do something wrong. What exactly could go wrong? Just asking because you brought up the GM stuff.
Bop
Remember the Treeline
I explained it a bit - you bank experience as a pure free to play. When you subscribe and log in to that character, all that banked experience hits you at once. @sevenslacks7 has his level 30 achievement on his warrior - but was thankfully able to get it deleveled.