Hunter

Hunters are the only class that can use bows, crossbows, and guns as their primary weapons. Hunters can summon and command a variety of pet beasts to attack their enemies and aid their allies in battle. Traps and a variety of other crowd control abilities help the Hunter keep their enemies in check. For the rare occasion when an enemy does get too close, Hunters are equipped with several escape mechanisms to get out of harm’s way.

Pets are an integral part of the Hunter class, acting as a personal guardian that allows the Hunter to safely deal damage while the pet takes most of the incoming hits. Many classes are capable of summoning pets, but only Hunters can tame nearly any beast in the world as their personal pet, choosing from literally dozens of different families, colors, and species.

Since all three Hunter specializations fulfill the ranged DPS role, your choice in specialization and talents will be based on your desired playstyle and how much you want to integrate pets into your gameplay.

Boosting to 90

Your fresh new level 90 Hunter comes with a pet, but you shouldn’t let that stop you from going out into the world and taming more. Pets come in all shapes and sizes, and each family of beast brings different special abilities to the table. It’s normal for a pet to attack you when using Tame Beast, but you can avoid this by using a Freezing Trap prior to taming.

Keep a tight leash on your pets with the three different pet stances available on the pet bar. Use Assist or Passive stance to keep your pet from running wild in dungeons or raids. Be sure to check the pet spellbook for additional abilities not present on the pet bar.

The most important ability is each specialization’s signature shot: Chimaera Shot for marksmanship, Explosive Shot for survival, and Kill Command for beast mastery. These abilities have a cooldown and should always be cast when available.

Hunters are the only ranged DPS class capable of casting all of their DPS abilities while moving. Taking full advantage of this unique bonus is key to mastering the Hunter class.

As a Hunter, you’ll usually want monsters attacking your pet instead of you. If you’re having trouble with this, make sure Growl is toggled on for your pet. Misdirection can be used to redirect threat to your pet, or use Feign Death to drop threat entirely.

Class Abilities and Resources

Focus

Both Hunters and their pets use the Focus resource to activate their abilities. Focus regenerates slowly over time and can be regenerated rapidly by casting Steady Shot or Cobra Shot. The challenge is knowing when to spend Focus or generate Focus.

Hunters should always have Focus available to cast their signature shot when it finishes its cooldown, but never want to sit on a full Focus bar in combat. This delicate balance is managed with Focus generators (Steady Shot or Cobra Shot) and Focus spenders (Arcane Shot or Aimed Shot). The focus bar will fluctuate up and down during a fight, and various passive abilities and talents can also modify the Focus pool at a moment’s notice. The pet’s use of Focus is more automated, but some talents and abilities can also influence it.

Bestial Wrath (Beast Mastery)

Bestial Wrath is a 1-minute DPS cooldown only available to Beast Mastery hunters. It’s unique in that it affects both Hunter and pet. Casting it will send your pet into a rage, causing it to grow in size, turn red, and deal 20% additional damage for 10 seconds. The Hunter also receives 10% additional damage and has the Focus cost of all abilities reduced by 50%. Generally, this ability should be used as often as possible, but sometimes it is worth holding onto it for a special occasion. In PvP combat, casting Bestial Wrath also frees your pet from all crowd control effects.

Black Arrow (Survival)

Black Arrow is a damage over time ability available only to Survival Hunters. It ticks every 2 seconds for 20 seconds and has a 24-second cooldown. Every time Black Arrow ticks, it has a chance to grant 2 charges of Lock and Load, which lasts for 15 seconds. Lock and Load causes the next two Explosive Shots to not trigger a cooldown and cost no Focus. This gives the ability to fire several Explosive Shots in rapid succession. Always keep Black Arrow on your target.

Rapid Fire (Marksmanship)

Rapid Fire is a 2-minute cooldown only available to Marksmanship hunters. It increases haste by 40% for 15 seconds, which is ideal because most of Marksmanship’s shots have a cast time. Rapid Fire also activates Careful Aim, which increases the critical strike chance of Aimed Shot and Steady Shot by 60%. Aimed Shot critical strikes deal tremendous amounts of damage, making Rapid Fire one of the most potent abilities available to a Hunter.

Non-Specialization Abilities

Name	Level	description
Call Pet 1	1	Calls your first pet to you.
Critical StrikesPassive	1	Increases your chance to critically strike by 10%.
Revive Pet	1	Revive your pet, returning it to life with 100% of its base health.
Steady Shot	3	A steady shot that causes Physical damage and generates 14 Focus. Useable while moving.
Track Beasts	4	Shows the location of all nearby beasts on the minimap.
Track Demons	4	Shows the location of all nearby demons on the minimap.
Track Dragonkin	4	Shows the location of all nearby dragonkin on the minimap.
Track Elementals	4	Shows the location of all nearby elementals on the minimap.
Track Giants	4	Shows the location of all nearby giants on the minimap.
Track Hidden	4	Greatly increases stealth detection and shows hidden units within detection range on the minimap.
Track Humanoids	4	Shows the location of all nearby humanoids on the minimap.
Track Undead	4	Shows the location of all nearby undead on the minimap.
Concussive Shot	8	Dazes the target, slowing movement speed by 50% for 6 sec.
Beast Lore	10	Gather information about the target beast. The tooltip will display damage, health, armor, diet, abilities, whether or not the creature is tameable, and if it is an exotic beast.
Call Pet 2	10	Summons your second pet to you.
Control PetPassive	10	Allows you to give commands to control your pet.
Dismiss Pet	10	Temporarily sends this pet away. You can call it back later.
Tame Beast	10	Tames a beast to be your companion. If you lose the beast’s attention for any reason, the taming process will fail. You must dismiss any active beast companions and have an empty Call Pet slot before you can begin taming a new beast.
Feed Pet	11	Feed your pet the selected item, instantly restoring 50% of its total health. Cannot be used while in combat.
Disengage	14	You leap backwards.
Eagle Eye	16	Changes the Hunter’s viewpoint to the targeted location. Only usable outdoors. Lasts 1 min.
Mend Pet	16	Heals your pet for 25% of its total health over 10 sec.
Counter Shot	22	Interrupts spellcasting, preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 3 sec.
Aspect of the Cheetah	24	The Hunter takes on the aspect of a cheetah, increasing movement speed by 30%. If the Hunter is hit by an attack, their movement will be slowed by 70% for 4 sec. Only one Aspect can be active at a time.
Multi-Shot	24	Fires several missiles, hitting your current target and all enemies within 8 yards for Physical damage.
Freezing TrapFrost Trap	28	Place a frost trap that freezes the first enemy that approaches, incapacitating them for up to 1 min. Any damage caused will break the ice. Only one target can be Freezing Trapped at a time. Trap will exist for 1 min.
Feign Death	32	Feign death, tricking enemies into ignoring you. Lasts up to 6 min.
Tranquilizing Shot	35	Removes 1 Enrage and 1 Magic effect from an enemy target.
Explosive TrapFire Trap	38	Place a fire trap that explodes when an enemy approaches, causing Fire damage and burning all enemies within 10 yards for additional Fire damage over 20 sec. Trap will exist for 1 min.
Flare	38	Exposes all hidden and invisible enemies within 10 yards of the targeted area for 20 sec.
Trueshot Aura	39	Grants 10% increased melee and ranged attack power to all party and raid members within 100 yards.
Mail	40	Allows you to equip Mail armor items.
Call Pet 3	42	Summons your third pet to you.
Misdirection	42	You misdirect threat to the targeted party or raid member. All threat caused by your attacks for the next 8 sec will be transferred to the target.
Ice TrapFrost Trap	46	Place a frost trap that creates an ice slick around itself for 30 sec when the first enemy approaches it. All enemies within 10 yards will be slowed by 50% while in the area of effect. Trap will exist for 1 min.
Trap Launcher	48	While active, your Traps are launched to a target location within 40 yards. Lasts until cancelled.
Distracting Shot	52	Distracts the target to attack you for 6 sec, and increases threat you generate for 6 sec.
Aspect of the Pack	56	Party and raid members within 40 yards take on the aspects of a pack of cheetahs, increasing movement speed by 30%. Anyone hit by an attack while in this aspect will move 70% slower for 4 sec. Only one Aspect can be active at a time.
Call Pet 4	62	Summons your fourth pet to you.
Master’s Call	74	Your pet removes all root and movement impairing effects from itself and its target, and grants immunity to all such effects for 4 sec.
Deterrence	78	You deflect all attacks and take 30% less damage for 5 sec, but you cannot attack.
Call Pet 5	82	Summons your fifth pet to you.
Aspect of the Fox	84	Party and raid members within 40 yards take on the aspects of a fox, allowing them to move while casting all spells and abilities for 6 sec. Only one Aspect can be active at a time.
Camouflage	85	You and your pet blend into your surroundings, becoming untargetable by ranged attacks. Reduces the range at which enemy creatures can detect you, and provides stealth while stationary. Traps can be used while camouflaged, but any damage done by you or your pet will cancel the effect. Lasts 1 min, or 6 sec if cast in combat.

Talents

Talent	Description	Notes
Level 15 Tier (Mobility)
Posthaste	Disengage also frees you from all movement impairing effects and increases your movement speed by 60% for 8 sec.	A good choice for PvP or moving around faster without having to mount.
Narrow Escape	Disengage also activates a web trap which immobilizes all targets within 8 yards for 8 sec.	Useful for escaping melee classes in PvP.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Chimaera	Reduces the cooldown of Disengage by 10 sec, and the cooldown of Deterrence by 60 sec.	This is the PvE talent of choice. Being able to cast Deterrence more often is big survivability increase in raids.
Level 30 Tier (Control)
Binding Shot	Fires a magical projectile, tethering the enemy and any other enemies within 5 yards for 10 sec, stunning them for 5 sec if they move more than 5 yards from the arrow. 45 second cooldown.	Some of the most potent AoE crowd control available. Great for stunning large groups of monsters.
Wyvern Sting	A stinging shot that puts the target to sleep, incapacitating them for 30 sec. Any damage will cancel the effect. 45 second cooldown.	Using this along with Freezing Trap will allow you to lock down 2 monsters for extended periods. The incapacitate effect only lasts for 6 seconds in PvP.
Intimidation	Command your pet to intimidate the target, stunning it for 3 sec. 1 minute cooldown.	Your pet must be in melee range of the target for this to work. Does not work when using the Lone Wolf talent.
Level 45 Tier (Survivability)
Exhilaration	Instantly heals you for 22% and your pet for 100% of max health. 2 minute cooldown.	It will save your life in a pinch, but it has a fairly long cooldown. In most cases, not recommended over Spirit Bond.
Iron Hawk	Reduces all damage taken by 10%.	A strong raiding talent. Preventing incoming damage makes the healer’s job easier.
Spirit Bond	While your pet is active, you and your pet will regenerate 2% of total health every 2 sec.	A great talent for almost every situation, these heals add up quickly. Does not work when using the level 100 Lone Wolf talent.
Level 60 Tier (Focus)
Steady Focus	Using Steady Shot or Cobra Shot twice in a row (or Focusing Shot once) increases your Focus Regeneration by 50% for 10 sec.	This talent only affects passive Focus regeneration. Over a long period of time, such as a boss fight, it can add up to a lot of extra Focus.
Dire Beast	Summons a powerful wild beast to attack your target for 15 sec. Each time the beast deals damage, you will gain 2 Focus. 30 second cooldown.	The favored talent for Beast Mastery as the summoned beast’s damage is affected by Master of Beasts.
Thrill of the Hunt	You have a 6% chance per 10 Focus spent on Focus-costing attacks to trigger Thrill of the Hunt.Thrill of the Hunt reduces the Focus cost of your next 3 Arcane Shots, Aimed Shots, or Multi-Shots by 20.	An excellent choice for Marksmanship as it reduces the high Focus cost of Aimed Shot and allows free-to-cast Multi-Shots in combination with Bombardment.
Level 75 Tier (Cooldowns)
A Murder of Crows	Summons a flock of crows to attack your target over the next 15 sec. If the target dies while under attack, the cooldown is reset. Costs 30 Focus. 1 minute cooldown.	Due to its relatively short cooldown, this should be used as often as possible. If the target dies with Crows active, the ability can be used again immediately.
Blink Strikes	Your pet’s Basic Attacks deal 50% increased damage, can now be used from 30 yards away, and will instantly teleport them behind their target.	An ideal talent for Beast Mastery to increase both pet damage and mobility, but the blink component can only happen once every 20 seconds. Does not work when using the Lone Wolf talent.
Stampede	Summons all of your pets to fight your current target for 20 sec. While in an Arena or Battleground, these pets deal only 25% of their normal damage.	Summons your other 4 active pets to fight with your primary pet. An extremely powerful burst damage cooldown, but the tradeoff is it can only be used once every 5 minutes.
Level 90 Tier (Heavy Artillery)
Glaive Toss	You hurl two glaives toward a target, each dealing damage to each enemy struck and reducing movement speed by 30% for 3 sec. The primary target will take 4 times as much damage from each strike. The Glaives will return back to you, damaging and snaring targets again as they return. Costs 15 Focus. 15 second cooldown.	The most versatile of all the level 90 talents. This can be used to your advantage by putting as many targets as possible between yourself and your primary target so they are all hit by the glaives.
Powershot	A powerful shot which deals 450% weapon damage to the target and 225% weapon damage to all enemies between you and the target. All enemies hit are knocked back. Costs 15 Focus. 45 second cooldown.	Deals a lot of damage, but the knockback component makes it not the best choice for group PvE content. It’s a fun talent to use in PvP.
Barrage	Rapidly fires a spray of shots for 3 sec, dealing a total of 960% weapon damage to the enemy target and an average of 480% weapon damage to each other enemy target in front of you. Useable while moving. Costs 60 Focus. 20 second cooldown.	The strongest AoE talent by a wide margin. Everything in a large cone in front of the hunter will take damage. Due to its high Focus cost, it is beneficial to save extra Focus shortly before its cooldown is finished.
Level 100 Tier (Class Enhancements)
Exotic Munitions	Allows you to modify your ranged weapon to use exotic munitions.Only one exotic munition can be active at one time.	Modifies your ammunition to suit any situation. Recommended choices are Incendiary for AoE damage, Poisoned for single target damage, and Frozen for PvP. The ammo type can be changed at any time.
Incendiary Ammo	Arms your ranged weapon with exotic ammunition that lasts for 1 hour. Each autoshot deals 20% additional weapon damage as Fire to all enemies within 8 yards of the initial target.
Poisoned Ammo	Arms your ranged weapon with exotic ammunition that lasts for 1 hour. Each autoshot deals additional Nature damage over 16 sec. When this effect is refreshed, the remaining damage will be added to the new effect.
Frozen Ammo	Arms your ranged weapon with exotic ammunition that lasts for 1 hour. Each autoshot deals 20% additional weapon damage as Frost and reduces the target’s movement speed by 50% for 4 sec.
Focusing Shot	Carefully line up a shot at the target that deals 120% weapon damage and focuses you, generating 50 Focus. Cannot be cast while moving. Replaces Steady Shot and Cobra Shot.	Has a longer cast time than normal Focus generators, but generates a lot more Focus per cast. Requires a high skill level in order to get the most out of it.
Lone Wolf (Survival, Marksmanship)	While you don’t have a pet active, your damage dealt with Auto Shot, Arcane Shot, Aimed Shot, Black Arrow, Explosive Shot, and Chimaera Shot is increased by 30% and you are able to provide one of several beneficial effects to your party and raid.	A good choice for Hunters who do not enjoy playing with a pet. There is a significant damage bonus to make up for the loss of the pet, but some abilities and talents will no longer be available to use without a pet. Does not increase the damage of any talents or AoE abilities such as Multi-Shot.
Adaptation (Beast Mastery)	Increases the effect of your pet’s Combat Experience to 85% increased damage. Your pet now gains the following abilities, regardless of its active spec: Spiked Collar, Roar of Sacrifice, Cornered, Boar’s Speed, Last Stand, Blood of the Rhino, Great Stamina.	Your pet will deal significantly more damage, gain a large survivability increase, and will receive almost all of the abilities from all three pet specializations. If you’ve dreamt of having the most powerful pet possible, this is your talent.

Beast Mastery

Beast Mastery Hunters rely on their pets more than the other Hunter specializations. They are known for their strong burst damage with hard hitting combos like Bestial Wrath and Kill Command, along with powerful passives such as Beast Cleave. Beast Mastery Hunters have access to Exotic pet families, which are pets that come with three special abilities instead of the standard one ability other pets have.

Specialization Abilities

name	Level	description
Arcane Shot	1	An instant shot that causes 100% Arcane damage.
Kill Command	10	Give the command to kill, causing your pet to instantly inflict damage to its target. 25 yard range.
Beast Cleave	24	After you Multi-Shot, your pet’s melee attacks and their multistrikes also strike all other nearby enemy targets for 75% as much for the next 4 sec.
Focus Fire	32	Your pet’s Basic Attacks have a 40% chance to trigger Frenzy, granting 4% increased attack speed for 30 sec, stacking up to 5 times.Focus Fire consumes all your pet’s Frenzy, restoring 6 Focus to your pet and increasing your haste by 6% per Frenzy application consumed. Lasts for 20 sec.
Kill Shot	35	You attempt to finish off a wounded target, dealing Physical damage. Only useable on enemies with less than 20% health. If the target dies, the Hunter will regain 15% of maximum health. If Kill Shot fails to kill the target, the cooldown is reset.
Bestial Wrath	40	Sends you and your pet into a rage for 10 sec. Your pet deals 20% additional damage and breaks all loss of control effects. You deal 10% more damage and your shots cost 50% less Focus.
Cobra Strikes	43	Your successful Arcane Shots have a 15% chance to grant you 2 charges of Cobra Strikes. Each charge causes 1 of your pet’s Basic Attacks to critically hit. Max 6 charges.
Kindred Spirits	58	Increases your maximum Focus and your pet’s maximum Focus by 20.
Invigoration	63	Your pet’s successful Basic Attacks have a 15% chance to grant you 20 Focus, and your auto-shot critical strikes grant your pet 15 Focus.
Exotic Beasts	69	You master the art of beast training, teaching you the ability to tame Exotic pets.
Mastery: Master of Beasts	80	Increases the damage done by your pets by 16%.
Cobra Shot	81	Deals Nature damage and generates 14 Focus. Useable while moving.
Animal Handler	90	You gain 5% more of the Mastery stat from all sources.

Draenor Perks

Draenor perks are powerful passive abilities awarded at levels 92, 94, 96, and 98. A random perk will unlock each level, and by level 98 all will be unlocked. Perks for the other two specializations are also unlocked in the background.

Perk	Description
Enhanced Basic Attacks	Your pet’s basic attacks have a 15% chance to reset the basic attack cooldown and make the next basic attack free.
Enhanced Camouflage	You heal 3% of your maximum health every 1 sec while Camouflage is active.
Improved Beast Cleave	Your pet’s attacks strike nearby enemy targets for an additional 25% of damage done while Beast Cleave is active.
Improved Focus Fire	Focus Fire now also grants 2% increase to attack power per Frenzy stack consumed.

Rotation

Hunters use a priority-based system rather than a set-in-stone rotation. In simplest terms, cast the first ability available from the rotation list below. If the first ability cannot be cast, keep drilling down the list until something can be cast, and then restart from the top for each subsequent cast. To maximize damage, always be casting something on every global cooldown.

Cast Kill Shot when available.
Cast Bestial Wrath when available.
Cast Kill Command when available.
Cast Focus Fire when it reaches 5 stacks (the button will glow).
Cast Arcane Shot to spend excess focus (but leave enough for your next Kill Command).
Cast Multi-Shot in place of Arcane Shot when facing multiple enemies.
Cast Cobra Shot to regenerate Focus.

Group Play

The pet’s Growl ability should always be turned off inside dungeons and raids. Use Freezing Trap in combination with Trap Launcher to help crowd control monsters on difficult pulls. Since the pet does a large portion of your damage, always remember to keep an eye on its health and use Mend Pet if it gets low.

Group Buffs

Hunters provide the 10% attack power buff with Trueshot Aura. Beast Mastery Hunters can bring Exotic Pets to their group to provide up to two additional group buffs.

Preparing for High-End Content

Beast Mastery Hunters favor the Mastery stat above all others because of the Animal Handler passive, which grants a 5% boost to all sources of Mastery. Come prepared to raids with Agility flasks and Mastery buff food, and enchant gear with Mastery when possible. One of the benefits of being a Hunter is the ability to provide any buff that your raid’s composition may be missing. It’s worthwhile to take some time and tame at least one pet for each of the available raid buffs to be prepared and help your raid group as best as possible. Remember to pay special attention to your pet’s status at all times because it’s responsible for about half of your damage. Don’t let it stop attacking and don’t let it die.

Survival

Survival Hunters are the only Hunter specialization with an array of DoTs at their disposal, giving them an edge in sustained damage over burst damage. Living up to their name, Survival Hunters are also the heartiest, with passives like Survivalist and Enhanced Camouflage to keep them alive longer. Survival Hunters can use their traps more often and to greater effect, giving them extra control over their enemies.