A Fistfull of Arrows: Hunter course 101 (Kiting, Aggro-management, Helping the healer, When you do get aggro..., supplies.)

(This guide was created by Cutrean, level 70 Tauren hunter, of the server Baelgun. All credit is due to him for this wonderful guide. Date: 09/25/2007)

Considering there's a bunch of people who don't like hunters in groups, I put this together to give a decent breakdown of "need to know" skills and general know-how so we can keep telling those nubs who doubt us to go blow. As always, if you like it, bump it, if you have additions or comments, keep 'em coming! Cheers!

Hunter Levels or, How to Keep Getting Invited without being a Huntard.

Freshman Level

1. Kiting
2. Aggro-management
3. Helping the healer
4. When you do get aggro...
5. Supplies

1. Be able to kite. I can't stress this enough, we are a ranged / kiting class, this is our bread and butter, you need to be able to do this. Kiting is also a necessary skill for your epic bow quest, which I think we should all still do, but now...never will...sigh... Pre-Outland, Emberstrife and that giant grub in EPL (whatever his name is) are great mobs to have fun with. Emberstrife for the reason that you get used to interesting terrain and the grub for kiting through a zone full of things that want to eat you. In the Outlands, two of my favorite kites when I'm bored are the demon packs that roam the road by the Dark Portal (sorry Thrallmar and Honor Hold.....well, HH, not so much) and the Fel Overseers in Nagrand, and yes, you can bring these mobs all the way into Shatt City if you want, try it, it's fun. Once you do that a couple of times, controlling a loose mob in an instance or raid by kiting, is kinda anti-climatic, but one of our most valued abilities.

By the way, if you're going to be kiting a lot, get the meta gem that has a run speed increase, or put a Run Speed enchant on a spare pair of boots. It is important to relaize that run-speed enchants do not stack with cheetah.


2. Do not pull aggro. Do not go nuts with burst damage when there is 1 sunder on the mob. For !&$%'s sake, your DPS doesn’t have to be 98% of the theoretical upper limit as long as you don't wipe the raid. There are two decent threat-meters you can pick up, get either KTM or Omen and if you raid, chances are your guild will require it anyways, so get used to them. As a general rule, ranged DPS won't pull aggro untill our threat is 30% above the MT, since FD is used to completely wipe aggro, keep an eye on your threat and use accordingly.

Pulling aggro has been a bit harder since the expansion, even with me hitting my trinkets and popping rapid fire, but it still happens, just not a whole lot. Keep in mind your group’s make up and pace yourself accordingly. If your tank is under geared compared to you, chances are, your gonna pull aggro, and you’re going to have to tone down your DPS or make liberal use of misdirect. This also goes with a druid tank as they take a bit longer to gain aggro, giving them misdirect as often as possible will make your life and the groups much easier.

3. Don't suck up healing if you can avoid it. In fact, be prepared to get no heals, believe it or not, it happens quite frequently, the healers have more to worry about then keeping your ass alive. Outside of a few exceptions, expect this as the rule. There are lots and lots of obvious exceptions, but as a general rule, you shouldn't be taking much damage compared to the rest of the raid / group. You stand at range. Bring band aids and take care of your own damn health.

4. Die if you have to. Dead hunters deal no DPS, but they don't wipe raids or groups either. If you pull aggro and your FD resists, chances are you're taking one for the team. Run TOWARD the tank. Remember Disengage? Spam it and you might possibly live. If not, then learn to cope with the shame of your repair bill. You earned it.

Let me say it again, RUN TOWARDS THE FRIGGIN TANK!!!! If my FD fails, I always run towards the tank, all hunters should be doing the same.

There is an exception and an exception only. This is when you are given a mob to control. When you are given a mob to control, you do it until it's time for the mob to be taken on by the tank. Whether this is trapping, kiting, or a combination of both, you are functioning as dependable CC that can also DPS.

5. Repair and resupply. Do not show up for a raid or group with less than a full bag of ammo. Hell, sometimes we have to overstock our ammo, deal with it. Do not show up for a raid with less than 100% durability. Do not show up for a raid / group with no food for your pet or water for your mana. Do not show up without your supply of consumables; eg., stat food, mana potions, etc. If you fail to do so on a regular basis, don't expect to get invited back too often. Titan Bar will track durability and ammo, and it also has an add-on that prompts you to fix everything you're holding every time you visit a merchant. It also has a bunch of other assorted goodies, too.

A hunter shouldn't run out of ammo period, it's only happened to me once a long time ago, level 35 or so, but everyone's allowed a "oops" moment, just not a "oops" habit.