Hunter

The hunter is a ranged fighter who shoots with a bow, gun or crossbow and fights beside a tamed animal companion. In Classic (patch 1.12) hunters were the easiest class to level, thanks to their pet, and in raids they brought steady ranged damage, an aura that boosted their group, and one shot that several bosses could not be beaten without. Five of the eight races could be hunters.

Role and identity

A hunter does most of its damage from range with Auto Shot, which fires its ranged weapon automatically, plus special shots on top. Each shot uses ammunition, arrows for bows and crossbows and bullets for guns, so a hunter must keep a quiver or ammo pouch stocked. Hunters also carry a melee weapon, but only for emergencies: they cannot shoot at an enemy closer than about eight yards, and the gap between melee reach and that range became known as the "dead zone".

The pet defines the class. From level 10 a hunter can tame almost any beast in the world with Tame Beast and keep it as a companion that fights, tanks and levels alongside its master. Pets have a happiness level, raised by feeding them the food they like, and gain loyalty over time. A hunter can also learn new pet abilities by taming beasts that know them and then teach them to its pet.

Hunters use aspects to change how they fight, keeping one active at a time: Aspect of the Hawk for ranged attack power, Aspect of the Monkey for dodging in melee, and Aspect of the Cheetah for faster travel.

Races

In Classic the hunter was open to dwarves and night elves on the Alliance and to orcs, tauren and trolls on the Horde. Dwarves have Gun Specialization and trolls Bow Specialization, each raising the hunter's skill with that weapon. A night elf's Shadowmeld and an orc's bonus to pet damage were also useful.

Talent trees

Hunters earn 51 talent points by level 60. They can be planned with our talent calculator.

• Beast Mastery makes the pet stronger and the hunter's aspects better. It has Intimidation, and its 31-point talent is Bestial Wrath, which sends the pet into a rage and makes it immune to crowd control.
• Marksmanship improves the hunter's own shots. It contains Aimed Shot, a slow, heavy shot, and Scatter Shot, a short disorient, and its top talent is Trueshot Aura, which raises the attack power of the hunter's whole party. This was the raid hunter's tree.
• Survival improves traps, melee and survivability. It has Deterrence, which deflects attacks for a few seconds, and its top talent is Wyvern Sting, a sting that puts the target to sleep.

Leveling

Hunters were widely considered the fastest and easiest class to level in Classic. The pet holds the monster's attention while the hunter shoots it from range, so the hunter takes little damage and needs little rest. Most leveled as Beast Mastery with a tough pet such as a bear or a boar, or a cat for damage. The main costs are ammunition and food for the pet. Ammunition fills a quiver for arrows or an ammo pouch for bullets, which takes one of the hunter's bag slots but also speeds up its ranged attacks, so hunters have less room for loot than other classes. A hunter that lets its pet go hungry for too long will see it grow unhappy, deal less damage and eventually run away.

Key abilities by level

Class quests

• Taming the Beast (level 10). A short chain such as Taming the Beast has the hunter tame three different beasts with a special rod, and then teaches Tame Beast. Training the Beast follows and teaches the hunter how to train a pet.
• The Green Drake (level 52). A chain starting with The Hunter's Charm ends with The Green Drake, fought in the Sunken Temple, and rewards a choice of hunter items.
• Rhok'delar (level 60). The hunter's epic bow begins with The Ancient Leaf, from an Ancient Petrified Leaf found in Molten Core. The hunter needs sinews from Azuregos and Onyxia, and in Stave of the Ancients must defeat four demons alone in Felwood. The reward is [Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers] or the staff [Lok'delar, Stave of the Ancient Keepers]. See Rhok'delar.

In raids

Hunters in Classic raids dealt solid ranged damage early on but fell behind other classes as gear improved, since their damage scaled less well. They remained useful for other reasons. Trueshot Aura boosted their group, Hunter's Mark raised everyone's ranged damage on a boss, and Feign Death let a hunter drop threat or pull a monster without the raid following.

Their key job was Tranquilizing Shot. Several bosses, including Magmadar in Molten Core, Flamegor and Chromaggus in Blackwing Lair, and [[forever:npc:15509]] in the Temple of Ahn'Qiraj, go into a frenzy that only Tranquilizing Shot removes. Its tome drops from Lucifron, the first boss of Molten Core, and raids took several hunters to every one of those fights.

In PvP

Hunters are dangerous at range and weak up close. A good hunter keeps enemies away with Concussive Shot, Wing Clip, Freezing Trap and Scatter Shot, and then lands Aimed Shot and Multi-Shot from a distance. Viper Sting drains a caster's mana, and the pet can harass healers. In battlegrounds such as Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin, hunters were also valued for their tracking and the speed of Aspect of the Pack.

Tier sets

See Tier Sets for how each set drops.

• Tier 0: Beaststalker Armor, such as [Beaststalker's Pants].
• Tier 1: Giantstalker Armor from Molten Core, such as [Giantstalker's Leggings].
• Tier 2: Dragonstalker Armor from Blackwing Lair, such as [Dragonstalker's Legguards].
• Tier 3: Cryptstalker Armor from Naxxramas, such as [[forever:item:22436]].

Trivia

• Some beasts were prized as pets because of their attacks or looks, such as Broken Tooth in the Badlands, a cat with an unusually fast attack speed, and the rare lion Humar the Pridelord in the Barrens.
• Because hunters can use so many weapon types, other players joked that they rolled "need" on everything; the joke became a lasting part of the class's reputation.
• Rexxar, the half-ogre beastmaster of Warcraft III, is the hunter's best-known hero in the lore.

Sources

• Hunter (Classic) on Warcraft Wiki
• Tranquilizing Shot on Warcraft Wiki