Hunter Class Guide — Class Guides · WoW Classic
A ranged fighter in leather, and later mail, who fights at a distance with a bow, gun or crossbow, tames beasts as pets and controls enemies with traps and stings.
- Roles
- Damage
- Specializations
- 3
- Popular builds
- 6
- Version
- WoW Classic
How the hunter plays
Hunters fight from range with a bow, gun or crossbow while their pet holds the enemy's attention. Auto Shot fires on its own, and your other shots (Arcane Shot, Multi-Shot, Aimed Shot) fit between Auto Shots. Hunters can't shoot enemies closer than 8 yards, so melee range calls for Raptor Strike, Wing Clip and stepping back out.
The pet is half of the class: it tanks while you level, adds steady damage and needs feeding to stay happy. Traps, Feign Death, Scatter Shot and Concussive Shot give hunters the best kiting and control of any physical damage class.
Shots cost mana, and Classic has no Aspect of the Viper, so hunters run dry in long fights. Intellect and mana per 5 seconds matter more for a Classic hunter than in later versions.
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- The fastest and safest solo leveling in Classic, with a pet that tanks for you.
- Strong ranged damage and control: traps, Scatter Shot and Concussive Shot.
- Feign Death drops threat and resets bad pulls.
- Tranquilizing Shot removes the frenzy from raid bosses.
Weaknesses
- The dead zone: enemies close to you but not in melee range are hard to hit.
- Ammunition and pet food take bag space and gold.
- Mana runs out in long fights.
- Your pet doesn't grow with your gear in Classic.
Specializations
The specs compared
Each spec rated from 1 to 5 at what it does in WoW Classic. Single and several targets mean damage for damage specs, healing for healers and threat for tanks; a spec's own guide names its ratings for its role.
| Rating |  Beast Mastery |  Marksmanship |  Survival |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single target | |||
| Several targets | |||
| Survivability | |||
| Utility | |||
| Solo and leveling | |||
| Ease of play |
- Beast Mastery
Damage · 2 builds
Pet-focused damage: a stronger, faster pet and Bestial Wrath. The easiest hunter to level and solo with.
Top talent:
Beast Mastery guide
Bestial Wrath - Marksmanship
Damage · 3 builds
Ranged damage from shots: Aimed Shot, more crit and more range.
Top talent:
Marksmanship guide
Trueshot Aura - Survival
Damage · 1 build
Agility, traps and survivability, with tools that keep enemies at range and talents that help in melee.
Top talent:
Survival guide
Wyvern Sting
Gear
- Leather until level 40, then mail.
- Agility above all: it gives hunters ranged attack power, crit and armour.
- A ranged weapon with high damage: slow bows and guns hit harder with Aimed Shot and Multi-Shot. Your melee weapon is mostly a carrier for Agility and attack power.
- A quiver or ammo pouch speeds up ranged attacks, and better ammunition adds damage.
Each spec guide ranks its stats and says what to look for on its gear.
Hunter class quests
The quests that unlock class abilities, by the level each route starts at.