How to Play a Hunter in World of Warcraft

Choose what race you're going to play as., Choose Which Talent Tree You're Going To Use Marksmanship: A master archer or sharpshooter who excels in bringing down enemies from afar., Choose the right pet for your needs., Learn to command your pet...

4 Steps 4 min read Medium

Step-by-Step Guide

  1. Step 1: Choose what race you're going to play as.

    The following Alliance races can play as hunters:
    Dwarves, Night Elves, and Draenei.

    Among Horde races, orcs, Trolls, Tauren and Blood Elves can play as hunters.

    For more detailed information on the advantages of the various races, see the "Tips" section.
  2. Step 2: Choose Which Talent Tree You're Going To Use Marksmanship: A master archer or sharpshooter who excels in bringing down enemies from afar.

    The Marksmanship specification diminishes the importance of the hunter's pet, instead focusing on powerful ranged abilities to destroy enemies.

    Like the greatest snipers, Marksmanship hunters gain additional damage when they fire shots while standing still.

    You may want to check out this page for more information on the Marksmanship specification.

    Beast Mastery:
    A master of the wild who can tame a wide variety of beasts to assist her in combat.

    This talent tree focuses primarily on increasing the damage output and the tanking ability of your pet, while also unlocking the ability to tame powerful exotic beasts.

    This is one of the more popular talent trees for use when the hunter is leveling because it allows you pet to hold aggro well, tank, and deliver lethal damage.

    You may want to check out this page for more information on the Beast Mastery specification.

    Survival:
    A rugged tracker who favors using animal venom, explosives and traps as deadly weapons.

    Of all the specifications, Survival hunters utilize traps, DoTs (Damage over time effects), and other magical abilities the most.

    You may want to check out this page for more information on the Survival specification. , Your success at playing a Hunter in World of Warcraft also depends on the type of pet you choose.

    A good hunter will know the difference between the three types of pets, and when to use each one.

    A great hunter will not only know which pet to use, but how to use it.

    There are three different specifications of pets:
    Cunning, Ferocity, and Tenacity.

    When tamed, a pet will have a natural combat specification based on its family, but this can be changed at any time in the pet talent interface, provided that you and the pet are out of combat.

    Tenacity pets are mostly used for solo grinding and questing, or, if you've gone down the beast mastery tree, these pets can also be viable as backup tanks, or even main tanks in lower level instances.

    Ferocity pets are generally used for instances, raids, or PvP.

    Offensive or 'DPS' type pets deal the most raw damage of the three combat specifications.

    Cunning pets are a balance between the two, as a "jack of all trades" pet, and are often used in PvP (Player vs.

    Player) situations for their utility. , Whenever one of your pets is out a "pet bar" will appear above your normal action bar.

    This is your main interface for interacting with your pet.

    When you train your very first pet, there probably won't be very much on there besides the basic commands; Attack, Follow, Stop, and Aggressive, Defensive, and Passive.

    The first three commands are pretty self explanatory, so let's move on to the latter three.

    Aggressive Your pet will attack any hostile enemy within range.

    Mainly used for solo questing, or grinding, or when soloing instances.

    Defensive Your pet will attack anything that attacks you, or it first.

    This is the pet stance that you'll be using the most often Passive Your pet won't attack anything unless you target something and press the attack button.

    Mainly used when running instances or raids, to prevent accidents.

    Some pets have extra skills once you've tamed them; examples of these skills are prowl, dash, swoop, thunder stomp, and charge.

    These skills may also be added to the pet bar, and be be used manually by left clicking on them, or they can be set to auto-cast by right clicking the skill so that there is a bright dotted line surrounding it.
  3. Step 3: Choose the right pet for your needs.

  4. Step 4: Learn to command your pet effectively.

Detailed Guide

The following Alliance races can play as hunters:
Dwarves, Night Elves, and Draenei.

Among Horde races, orcs, Trolls, Tauren and Blood Elves can play as hunters.

For more detailed information on the advantages of the various races, see the "Tips" section.

The Marksmanship specification diminishes the importance of the hunter's pet, instead focusing on powerful ranged abilities to destroy enemies.

Like the greatest snipers, Marksmanship hunters gain additional damage when they fire shots while standing still.

You may want to check out this page for more information on the Marksmanship specification.

Beast Mastery:
A master of the wild who can tame a wide variety of beasts to assist her in combat.

This talent tree focuses primarily on increasing the damage output and the tanking ability of your pet, while also unlocking the ability to tame powerful exotic beasts.

This is one of the more popular talent trees for use when the hunter is leveling because it allows you pet to hold aggro well, tank, and deliver lethal damage.

You may want to check out this page for more information on the Beast Mastery specification.

Survival:
A rugged tracker who favors using animal venom, explosives and traps as deadly weapons.

Of all the specifications, Survival hunters utilize traps, DoTs (Damage over time effects), and other magical abilities the most.

You may want to check out this page for more information on the Survival specification. , Your success at playing a Hunter in World of Warcraft also depends on the type of pet you choose.

A good hunter will know the difference between the three types of pets, and when to use each one.

A great hunter will not only know which pet to use, but how to use it.

There are three different specifications of pets:
Cunning, Ferocity, and Tenacity.

When tamed, a pet will have a natural combat specification based on its family, but this can be changed at any time in the pet talent interface, provided that you and the pet are out of combat.

Tenacity pets are mostly used for solo grinding and questing, or, if you've gone down the beast mastery tree, these pets can also be viable as backup tanks, or even main tanks in lower level instances.

Ferocity pets are generally used for instances, raids, or PvP.

Offensive or 'DPS' type pets deal the most raw damage of the three combat specifications.

Cunning pets are a balance between the two, as a "jack of all trades" pet, and are often used in PvP (Player vs.

Player) situations for their utility. , Whenever one of your pets is out a "pet bar" will appear above your normal action bar.

This is your main interface for interacting with your pet.

When you train your very first pet, there probably won't be very much on there besides the basic commands; Attack, Follow, Stop, and Aggressive, Defensive, and Passive.

The first three commands are pretty self explanatory, so let's move on to the latter three.

Aggressive Your pet will attack any hostile enemy within range.

Mainly used for solo questing, or grinding, or when soloing instances.

Defensive Your pet will attack anything that attacks you, or it first.

This is the pet stance that you'll be using the most often Passive Your pet won't attack anything unless you target something and press the attack button.

Mainly used when running instances or raids, to prevent accidents.

Some pets have extra skills once you've tamed them; examples of these skills are prowl, dash, swoop, thunder stomp, and charge.

These skills may also be added to the pet bar, and be be used manually by left clicking on them, or they can be set to auto-cast by right clicking the skill so that there is a bright dotted line surrounding it.

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