sockets might not match the demand of the Meta Gem. For example, the Beast
Lord Armor set consists of red and blue sockets, plus one Meta Gem socket, but
the Swift Skyfire Diamond requires that you have at least two yellow gems. So
how do you get the benefit of the Meta Gem without sacrificing your socket
bonuses? That’s where the dual-color gems come in.
Because dual-color gems count as two colors, it can fulfill both the Meta Gem
and the socket bonus requirements. In the case mentioned above, you can use
either an orange gem in a red slot, or a green gem in a blue slot. All of the
colors will be recognized accordingly.
===============================================================================
-------------------------[ VIII. Playing As A Hunter ]-------------------------
===============================================================================
This chapter will cover the basic play styles and tactics that a Hunter will
typically use when going solo, in a group, or in PvP. These are mostly tactics
that I use, however. Many players will fight differently, depending on their
Talent builds, preferences, and play styles. This chapter will serve you as a
guideline as to how to play but as you grow, you’ll develop your own style.
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a. Solo Play
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most of the time, you’re going to be on your own, picking away at whatever
quests you have in your log, or killing mobs for a personal profit. Here are
some tactics for solo play.
----------------------
Setting Up Your Attack
----------------------
Every Hunter develops a specific setup routine before they begin attacking.
If you’ve just recently started playing a Hunter, you won’t have access to
fancy things like Trap until later on, but once you do obtain your core
abilities, you’ll develop your setup. The most common setup that you’ll see
is this:
1. Cast Hunter’s Mark on target.
2. Set Immolation or Freezing Trap.
3. Command pet to attack target.
4. Fire your Arcane Shot (or Aimed Shot).
5. Fire your Serpent Sting.
6. Repeat Arcane Shot until target dies.
The most typical mobs usually die so quickly that oftentimes, a Trap isn’t
necessary, but depending on the situation, you may or may not need one.
-------------
Shot Rotation
-------------
Every Hunter also develops a cycle of attacks that is commonly referred to as
a shot rotation. The rotation for most kills are very simple, consisting of
nothing more than:
1. Fire Arcane Shot.
2. Reapply Serpent Sting when needed.
3. Repeat.
However, your rotation is going to change, depending on the situation. If you
want to spice things up a bit, you may want to throw Multi-Shot into the mix.
You’ll do that very often in PvP. Depending on your talent points, you may
end up throwing in a Wyvern Sting, or a Silencing Shot, or Intimidation.
Eventually, you’ll find yourself developing your own personal routine.
------------------
Adding Steady Shot
------------------
Things are going to get a little more complicated once you pick up Steady
Shot. It’s an excellent ability, but it’ll take some time for you to get used
to it. The idea behind Steady Shot is that it’s a quick shot that you weave
between your Auto-Shots, which means that you have to pay careful attention to
your Auto-Shots. This is what you’ll be looking for in a rotation that
includes Steady Shot:
1. Fire Auto-Shot.
2. Fire Steady Shot.
3. Fire Auto-Shot.
4. Fire Steady Shot.
5. Repeat.
The key to this shot is knowing when to use the shot. Keep an eye on your Auto-
Shots, and time your Steady Shots. With a little practice, you’ll be able to
adjust to having a new Shot in your rotation.
Of course, you can’t just rely on Steady Shot alone. The beauty behind the shot
is that it’s very flexible in any shot rotation, thanks to its extremely short
charging time. Its placement in your rotation will also depend on the speed of
your ranged weapon as well. For example, with a faster weapon, you may notice
that as you fire other Shots and Stings, you will fire more Auto-Shots during
global cooldowns than with a slower weapon:
1. Auto-Shot 1. Arcane Shot 1. Aimed Shot
2. Steady Shot 2. Auto-Shot 2. Arcane Shot
3. Arcane Shot 3. Steady Shot 3. Steady Shot
4. Auto-Shot 4. Auto Shot 4. Auto-Shot
5. Steady Shot 5. Multi-Shot 5. Steady Shot
6. Repeat 6. Auto-Shot 6. Arcane Shot
7. Repeat 7. Repeat
Mix and match, and create your own pattern with Steady Shot. However, don’t
feel that you have to constantly use it every chance you get. Leave some space
in your rotation for Stings and whatnot.
--------------
Defensive Play
--------------
Most of the time, you’ll want the mob to not pay attention to you but if an
enemy decides that it wants to take a swing at you, there are ways to
help protect yourself.
Feign Death and Disengage are your two ways to control your aggro.
Feigning will completely wipe you clean of all aggro, whereas Disengage will
brush off a bit of it. Feign is ideally your best method of keeping enemies
away but keep in mind that it has a long cooldown. Sometimes, a single Dis-
engage is all it takes to keep a mob away.
The other tactic is to set a Trap before the start of the fight so that if an
enemy goes your way, the Trap will give you the upper hand. Freezing and Frost
Traps are good for keeping enemies at bay, whereas Immolation and Explosive
Traps are good if you prefer to tack on extra damage instead.
Finally, if things do get rough and you’re required to duke it out, quickly
switch to Aspect of the Monkey and constantly use Raptor Strike and Mongoose
Bite whenever they’re available. An Immolation Trap is good for such
situations. If you can, Wing Clip the enemy and get some firing distance.
------
Kiting
------
One way to kill or manipulate an enemy is by running around while keeping its
attention on you. This tactic is called “kiting”. Run around the area while
using Concussive Shot to slow it down. Once in a while, stop and turn around
to fire a shot or fire an Arcane Shot to keep it focused on you. As you kite
it, you may use Serpent Sting or some other method to damage it. Most of the
time, a successful kite requires Aspect of the Cheetah.
One of the problems with kiting is that if you don’t consistently attack the
mob, it’ll eventually reset and return to its original position. One of the
ways to keep the mob focused is by shooting it every few seconds with Arcane
Shot.
-------------
Playing Smart
-------------
While you’ll be killing most mobs using the same attack pattern, always
remember to change your tactics for different situations. For example, if you
know that you’re going to be fighting two mobs, use a Freeze Trap to keep one
mob at bay. For fragile casters that can cause massive damage with their
spells, thrown in a Multi-Shot for extra damage, or Feign Death while it’s
casting to disrupt the spell.
Whatever talents you may have will also affect how you’ll play. For example,
against a caster, a Marksmanship Hunter will have Scatter Shot and Silencing
Shot at his disposal for spell interrupts. A Survival Hunter can use Wyvern
Sting and a Freezing Trap to put two mobs out of commission. Be sure to use
your talents to their fullest.
--------------
Learn To Melee
--------------
While it is true that you are most effective at killing things with your
ranged weapons, always remember to melee once in while. Your melee weapon
skills and Defense skill are just as important as your ranged weapon skills.
After all, Raptor Strike and Wing Clip are useless if your weapon skills are
too low for you to even make a dent. Once in a while, look for some easy mobs,
and spam Wing Clip. It gets slower and tougher in the later levels but keep at
it. The payoff is there.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
b. Group Play
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
There will be those times where you’ll find yourself in a five-man group that
wants to explore an instance. When you find yourself in that situation, you’ll
have to do things a little differently.
-----------
Tank Target
-----------
In a group, your primary role is damage output. Your goal is cause as much
damage as possible to the mobs, which will mostly be Elites. Focus fire on
whatever your Main Tank is targeting, but be smart about what you use in
combat. For example, Multi-Shot is an effective way to boost your damage
output but can drain your mana more quickly.
Because of your DPS, you’ll also cause a lot of aggro, which can be kept under
control by simply Feigning Death whenever possible or whenever needed. Even the
best tanks can have trouble holding aggro on a mob if you’re not controlling
your own aggro. If Feign Death is on cooldown, keep using Disengage until the
mob switches targets.
-------------------
Playing Defensively
-------------------
Just like when you’re solo, one of your goals is to not draw attention from
mobs, especially if the mobs are hard-hitting Elites. Remember to use Feign
Death to wipe off aggro whenever you need to. Some have even suggested Feign-
ing while the mob is still focused on the Tank just to keep the mob from even
considering moving a step in your direction.
Also, Freezing Trap is a form of crowd control that’s very handy due to its
ability to contain any kind of mob, and you may find moments where that Trap
could greatly help your group. After all, Elites tend to be hard hitters, and
having one frozen for twenty seconds can make a big difference. Set the Trap
away from the rest of the party and once your Main Tank gets aggro, use
Distracting Shot to lure the mob into the Trap.
Pets can also serve as effective Off-Tanks whenever needed, especially if it’s
one with high armor or health. If there’s a mob that’s running around, your pet
can keep it busy while you focus fire on the Main Tank’s target.
----------------
Watch Your Shots
----------------
As a Hunter, there are many ways to slip up in a dungeon, and the simplest
mistakes can result in the death of your party members. Here are some things
that you need to be careful with:
T-Key Auto-Shot
The T key normally enables auto-attack with a melee weapon, but for Hunters, it
triggers Auto-Shot, and that can result in accidental pulls. If you’re out of
firing range, or are running, you won’t know if your Auto-Shot is active, so
the moment you stand still, your gun could go off. If you have trouble keeping
track of when it’s active, keep the ability slotted on one of your ActionBars.
It will blink when it’s active, much like a turn signal on a car.
Multi-Shot
One of the biggest complaints from other players is how some Hunters are known
to break crowd control with Multi-Shot. However, there are ways to make use of
the ability without breaking anything. Multi-Shot can only hit targets within a
cone region, and it can’t hit anything that is within 8 yards of you. With the
right angle and distance, you can hit uncontrolled targets without breaking
crowd control. It will take some time to get a feel for it, but with a little
practice, it will come naturally to you.
Tab-Targeting
Using the Tab key to switch between several targets is very handy, but in some
cases, it can be hazardous. Veterans can remember days in Upper Blackrock Spire
when ranged classes would accidentally pull the mobs that stood on the balcony
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