Together with a well thought out talent build for you and your pet, Hunter's are one of the most interesting and complex classes in WoW.



If I'm preaching to the converted, that's great, because I'm going to tell you a few things about Hunters, such as what build you want for PvE, what build you want for raids, and what you want to use in PvP.

But first, do you have a goal for this Hunter you've built?

Do you want to be a gladiator in the PvP end game? Maybe even go to the arena?

Perhaps you're just leveling an alt and want to get to level 80 as fast as humanly possible?

Or if you'd like to do some dungeons and get into raiding, I've got some thoughts for you too.

So lets begin!

PvE, or leveling builds as they're sometimes known, are where the Hunter class shines more than any other. Famous leveling guide authors and companies use the Hunter almost exclusively to streak through the game in record times, and you can benefit from the Hunter's leveling speeds too.

What build is best for leveling a Hunter? While they really are all excellent, the Beastmaster (BM build) or Marksmanship (MM build) are commonly thought of as the best.

Advice: Choose one tree and stick to it until you have the most powerful talent at level 60. Dabbling in various trees can be interesting, but if your goal is to level fast, don't do it!

When choosing your talents, choose damage output above all others. This is because the hunter is one of the most resilient classes when your pet is taken into account. If your pet is about to die, you can see it coming, and you can run out of there.

Also be sure to pick utility talents that increase running speed. Traveling in "vanilla WoW" as its sometimes called is painstaking and slow, so any talent you choose which gives you a bonus should be taken immediately.

PvP builds are another popular hang out for Marksmanship builds. while you will see some BM builds in PvP, MM is the most popular due to the large amount of damage you can do in a short period of time.

This is commonly called "burst" damage, and its something pets can struggle with on their own, even in heavy BM builds. But for Marksmanship builds? Work your way to Chimera Shot as quickly as possible! You'll do some massive burst damage when you combine it with Serpent Sting.

Survival is a good spec, but is best taken only as a support to a MM build for PvP. The first two rows have some excellent options for you. I like Hawkeye for the extra range, and Savage Strikes can really surprise an enemy that expects a squishy pushover of a Hunter in close combat.

Survival Instincts and Entrapment are also excellent talents from the survival tree that can root enemies in place, or give you a better chance of causing high damage critical strikes.

Beast Mastery builds are ok for PvP, and can be great for harassing probing attackers, or for hunting down squishy cloth users, but otherwise, the burst damage isn't good enough for hard core PvP players.

If you do like using a BM build for PvP, keep an eye out for "clothers" and send your pet to hunt them down relentlessly! Choosing pet talents which increase attack speed (even at a loss to damage) is great for interrupting their casts as they attempt to make their escape or deal one last blow before they're finished off.

One last thing if you want to do PvP as a BM Hunter - choose a DPS pet! Cats and Raptors are good examples - you don't need a taunting tank pet for PvP, you just need damage.

Raiding and Dungeon builds are the most flexible aspect of Hunters.

You can choose any tree you like to spec in, and you'll be effective in raids if you choose the right talents from your tree.

To this end, here are a few highlights from each tree which you want to look out for as you level up if you want to be effective in groups.

Beast master talents:

Ferocious inspiration: whenever your pet scores a critical strike (make sure you spec your pet for crits, too!) your raid gains 3% extra damage and your arcane shot gets a 9% damage boost.

Cobra Strikes: basically just leverages your Ferocious Inspiration talent by making your pet cause two automatic criticals - good for your own damage output, and good for your raids'!

Marksmanship talents:

Trueshot Aura is a very easy talent to use - an instant cast, lasts till canceled spell which increases the attack power of the whole raid. A no brainer and an essential talent for the MM raider.

While this is the only raid specific talent you have, don't despair, your role really is that of ranged DPS, and all your talents from the MM tree will help you cause lots of damage to assist your group.

Survival talents:

Hunting party is the caster's best friend. Triggering whenever a critical strike is made, your mana using friends will thank you when they gain 15 seconds worth of increased mana regeneration!

These are just some general guidelines for players who want an effective Hunter talent build -- but remember, you don't need to fret and worry about the perfect build for your Hunter unless you're working towards hardcore raiding or just want to be the best of the best.

Just enjoy yourself and the range of interesting talents you have!