------------- Bait-Trapping -------------
Place your pet somewhere far away from where you’re currently standing, and place a Freezing Trap in front of it. Cast Misdirection on your pet, and attack a mob. It will run towards your pet and right into the trap. This is good for those times when you need to lure a single mob away from a party, and it also buys you several seconds worth of crowd control, as the mob will spend time running to the trap. As an extra tip, just as the mob is about to thaw out, use Eyes of the Beast to lure the mob even farther away.
---------- Aggro Dump ----------
Although the Misdirection ability makes it easy for a Hunter to dump aggro on a Warrior, there is still one additional way to dump even more of it. Supposedly, the way a warrior’s Taunt works is that it gives the warrior aggro equal to the player with the highest aggro plus 10% more. Apparently, Feigning Death immediately after a Warrior Taunts causes even more aggro to transfer to the Warrior. At the start of a fight, cause as much aggro as possible and then Feign Death just as the Warrior successfully Taunts. Of course, this only works if Feigning does not get resisted so if that happens, you might want to keep your finger on Disengage.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- e. Survival Tactics -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At certain times, you’re going to find yourself in a dire situation. You may have just ran out of mana, both you and your pet are on the verge of death against several mobs, and your Feign Death was resisted. So what do you do? Here are some pointers that will help you survive in the wild.
-------------- Know Thy Enemy --------------
Know what you’re up against. Are you fighting a melee or a caster mob? This question is important because it will help you decide on how you should handle the situation. Melee are simple; they will simply try to run up to you, and swing at you. Casters will behave differently, and will oftentimes stand in one place to cast a spell, rather than chase you down.
Are you in the wild or in an instance? Mobs in the wild will stop chasing you after a certain time and distance unless you continue to attack them. In an instance, however, mobs will chase you continually, and will not cease until you’re dead, which in that case, will either have you running until you Feign Death or escape out of the instance.
--------------------- Working With Low Mana ---------------------
If you’re low on mana, and Feigning and drinking is not an option, immediately switch to Aspect of Viper, and use Arcane Shot (Rank 1). Late in the game, the mana efficiency of Rank 1 will help you continue attacking. If you’re confident that you can kill it with whatever you’ve got, use Rapid Fire. If you don’t have Aspect of the Viper yet, switch to either Monkey or Cheetah, depending on whether or not you feel that you have a chance at killing. It won’t grant you a mana tick, but if things start to really go downhill, it’ll prepare you for either a resort to melee or a run for it.
-------------------- Spreading Out Damage --------------------
Your pet is designed to soak up damage, but too much damage isn’t going to help either. If you’re up against three mobs, where one is already Freeze Trapped, lure one mob towards you while attacking the one that is currently on your pet. If you have Scatter Shot, use it on the mob that’s attacking you, which will buy you four seconds of time. If you can’t take the hits, Wing Clip it and run around while continuing your attack.
------------------ Fooling The Caster ------------------
Caster mobs are incredibly powerful, and something as simple as a Fireball can be extremely lethal. However, such mobs are not very intelligent. Any mob that has an AoE effect will continue to channel it in a single area, even after you step out of its radius. They also don’t understand that you can step out of their casting range, which is usually about 41 yards for a typical Bolt spell. Even after you step out of their range, they will continue to cast the full duration of the spell. A caster will also continue casting as you step out of their line of sight. Use this to your advantage.
-------------------- Use Your Environment --------------------
Look around you. Your environment will play a key role in your survival. Large trees and walls can thwart a caster’s attempt to hit you with their spells, and most land animals will not chase you into a body of water. Although mobs can run up and down slopes and hillsides that aren’t possible for your two feet, they’re not smart enough to jump off ledges and bridges. In fact, many of them will try to walk their way around towards ramps and stairways.
------------------- Making A Run For It -------------------
If all else fails and you know for sure that you’re going to get killed, turn on Aspect of the Cheetah, and run for your life. Most mobs in the wild, as well as in smaller instances, will run at your Cheetah speed, but they’re also susceptible to Traps. Drop a Frost or Freezing Trap, and keep running. If you feel that you may be able to kite it to death, use jump shots and Arcane Shot (Rank 1) with Serpent Sting.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- f. Building Your Hunter -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Even with all that you’ve learned about the class, sometimes it’s not easy to decide upon how you should build your Hunter, especially nowadays with the wide variety of gear and talents to choose from. This section will help you make the right decisions when it comes to deciding what your Hunter should be wearing, and what talents should go with your choices.
------------------- Knowing The Numbers -------------------
This game has its share of complex formulas and numbers, which can get very complicated at times, and sometimes, it’s hard to keep track of the numbers. Here is a table of conversions for various percentages and numbers such as Attack Power and Dodge.
Basic Conversions: 1 Agility = 1 Ranged Attack Power 1 Agility = 1 Melee Attack Power 1 Agility = 2 Armor 14 Attack Power = 1.0 DPS 1 Stamina = 10 Health 1 Intellect = 15 Mana 1 Strength = 1 Melee Attack Power 1 Spirit = 5 Mana Per Tick
At level 60: 33 Agility = 1% Critical Strike 14 Crit Rating = 1% Critical Strike 10 Hit Rating = 1% Hit 20 Agility = 1% Dodge 12 Dodge Rating = 1% Dodge
At level 70: 40 Agility = 1% Critical Strike 22 Crit Rating = 1% Critical Strike 16 Hit Rating = 1% Hit 25 Agility = 1% Dodge 19 Dodge Rating = 1% Dodge
Weighed Value: 1 Agility = 2 Attack Power
Most of these numbers are rounded up for the sake of simplicity. The actual values can be broken down into decimals, but that’s not something the average player should need.
----------------------- Agility Or Attack Power -----------------------
What you must first decide is whether you want to specialize in Agility or Attack Power. This choice will greatly affect the kind of talents, enchants, and gear that you’ll be investing your time into. Although you can potentially invest your time and effort into a mix of both, you’ll ideally be stronger if you specialize in one. The sections below will address these two stats.
------------------- In Favor Of Agility -------------------
PROS Higher Critical Strike percentage. Higher Dodge percentage. Higher Armor.
CONS Lower base damage; lower Ranged Attack Power. Lower Arcane and Steady Shot damages. Lower Mongoose Bite damage.
TALENTS Most Agility-based Hunters favor Survival talents, since many of the tree’s later talents use Agility, and the featured defensive talents compliment the Armor and Dodge percentage that come with it. The tree also has features several talents that boost Critical Strike percentages, and does especially well when paired with Lethal Shots from the Marksmanship tree.
MAJOR CHOICES When it’s time to choose your faction in Shattrath City, you will want to choose The Scryers so that you’ll have access to the Inscription of the Blade, which mainly adds Crit Rating to your Shoulders. You’ll also want Enchants that add Agility to your gear, as well as matching gems.
OVERVIEW Agility favors players who enjoy burst damage. What they lack in base weapon damage, they make up for with their more frequent critical strikes, and the higher Armor and Dodge percentage helps them endure close-range encounters. Agility is the stat of choice for PvP enthusiasts.
------------------------ In Favor Of Attack Power ------------------------
PROS Higher base damage; higher Ranged Attack Power. Higher Arcane and Steady Shot damages. Higher Mongoose Bite damage.
CONS Lower Critical Strike percentage. Lower Dodge percentage. Lower Armor.
TALENTS Hunters that invest in Attack Power prefer Marksmanship for its RAP-boosting talents. The majority of that tree emphasizes enhancements to base damage, which goes hand-in-hand with Attack Power, and talents such as Ranged Weapon Specialization and Master Marksman do best when there is a sizable pool of RAP to work with.
MAJOR CHOICES When it’s time to pick your allegiance in Shattrath City, you will want to go with The Aldor for the Inscription of Vengeance, which adds Attack Power to your Shoulders. You’ll also want to have your gear enchanted with as much Attack Power bonuses as possible, though there are only Agility enchants available for certain item slots, as in Cloaks and Boots. Also, look for gems that adds to your Attack Power instead of Agility.
OVERVIEW Attack Power favors those who prefer having a steady DPS with high base damage. Although you don’t get the Armor, Dodge, and Critical Strike perks that come with Agility, you can be sure that each of your shots will count, especially with the higher base damages for Arcane Shot and Steady Shot. Attack Power is the preferred stat for PvE players.
------------- Beast Mastery -------------
So if Marksmanship works well with Attack Power, and Survival does the same with Agility, you’re probably left wondering where Beast Mastery stands. That’s a tough one. In a tree that focuses on enhancing your pet, it could go either way. None of the tree’s talents direct you towards either stat, and once you’ve placed 41 talent points into that tree, you’ll never have enough points left to reach the other trees’ key talents such as Master Marksman and Lightning Reflexes.
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