Hunter Strategy

The Hunter

he children of a thousand ideas, Hunters are one of the most versatile classes. They are meant to solo, and that is what they do. It is rare that you will even find having a party member is more helpful, either. You can act as the healer when your pet gets low in hp and your pet can act as the warrior to keep aggro from you. Hunters are even a decent dps class.

Their main roll in a group is to fill whatever role the situation calls for. If you have an extra mob there that the warrior is having trouble holding, you can easily use your pet to hold the aggro. If you have a bunch of non-elites mixed in with the elites, you are able to draw a few of them onto you and your pet so the tank doesn't have to worry about them. You can even set up a safe spot for your healer to step back to if they catch any aggro using a frost trap. We are survivors, damage dealers, and situational disablers.

Basic Hunter Information

Allowed races: Dwarf, Night Elf, Orc, Troll, Tauren

Standard Bars: Health/Mana

Pet Bars: Health/Focus

Equipment: Cloth, Leather, Mail (at lvl 40)

Weapons: Thrown, Bows, Crossbows, Guns, 1-handed Swords, 2-handed Swords, 1-handed Axes, 2-handed Axes, Daggers and Fist Weapons

Strengths

Warrior-like aggro management
Steady long range damage
Pet keeps you out of harm's way
Various disabling skills, including traps
A few DPS increasing skills

Weaknesses

Not quite the secondary tank the Shaman is
Pets cannot hold multiple target aggro
DPS is marginally lower than other DPS classes
Much higher melee miss chance than other classes
Very reliant on food and ammo

Traps

Traps are very tricky to use. Most hunters will use the Immolation Trap at some point in their career, but there is more than just the one. Traps can only be placed one at a time, and can only be placed out of combat. This means that you must plan what you're going to do before you even start the battle. Every trap you get has a use, from the single target damage of the Immolation Trap to the slowing effect of the Freezing Trap. They do become somewhat less effective as you get higher in levels, but they will still be a major help in many situations.

Aspects

Every Hunter knows what Aspects are. They are the similar to Paladin auras but don't affect the group, except for two. These are absolutely necessary for a hunter to stay effective. From Aspect of the Monkey, used mostly by low levels, to Aspect of the Hawk which adds quite a bit of ranged attack power. There are even two party effecting Aspects, Aspect of the Pack which increases everyone's movement speed by 30%, and Aspect of the Wild which increases everyone's resistance to nature attacks. Aspects let the Hunter adapt to any situation quite easily.

Stings

Yet another group of skills the Hunter can't do without; Stings are varied and are useful in many different situations. The main effect of Stings is disabling or dealing minor damage. There are only three Stings, Serpent Sting, Viper Sting, and Scorpid Sting. Each has a different effect, from added damage over time (dot), mana draining, and stat reduction. There is something left to be desired in these stings, but they all serve a purpose. Draining mana or stat reduction may seem worthless but in a battle against a low mana class (Hunter/Shaman/Paladin) or against a strength/agility class (Warrior/Rogue) they can be a life saver. Serpent Sting serves an all around purpose, working on almost everything.

Tracking

Tracking is one of the most notable skills a hunter has. A few other classes also have Tracking skills, and Dwarves even get the natural ability to track treasure, but no other class has as many Tracking abilities. The things you can track ranges from beasts to hidden enemies. You can even track Dragonkin and Giants, something that comes in handy when looking for certain quest mobs. Tracking is quite possibly the best set of skills a Hunter gets, because it can mean the difference between wandering around for a few hours looking for a mob and finding it in the first 5 minutes.

Pets

Pets are not Hunter exclusive, but there are a number things about them that are. Hunter Pets use Focus which is essentially Energy with a different name. Hunter Pets can be tamed from nearly any beast in the game. Hunter Pets are the only type that you can name as well. Their skills are currently pretty lack luster; two of them are damage skills, two of them are speed increasing skills, and two of them are aggro increase/reduction skills. They are also the only Pet you have to feed, and the only one that has happiness. All of that aside, they do fit their main role very well. They are there to make sure you can stand back and shoot. They are able to hold aggro even after you get up to 3 critical hits in a row, which at 60 can be 1400 to 1800 damage in 6 seconds. They are going to be your best friend through out the game; even a warrior can have trouble out aggroing a pet.

Stables exist in all major and many minor cities, allowing you to put one pet away so you can hunt with or tame another. It's benefitial to tame different pet types because by hunting with them you gain the ability to teach another pet the skills they have. Not all pets can learn all skills, but they can all gain more than what they initially have through this method.

Attributes

Every class has 5 attributes that make up their character. Each attribute helps each class differently. Let's look at how each of the stats affects Hunters:

Strength: Adds to your Melee Attack Power, Damage-Per-Second (DPS). Strength does not affect Critical Hit chances at all. Strength does not improve your chance to block, but rather the amount blocked when you succeed. This amount is determined in part by Strength (and the other part by your shield).

Strength is the #5 stat for Hunters. You do not need to be fighting up close; you have a pet to make sure you never have to get close. Only worth investing in for those times when your pet has died or you're fighting too many for your pet to tank alone.

Stamina: Increases Health points.

This is the #2 stat for Hunters. It is not uncommon for you to end up tanking, especially in instances with multiple non-elite mobs. In an instance such as Lower Blackrock Spire it can be absolutely necessary you have a lot of Health Points. This also makes you a better soloer, letting you tank one mob while your pet tanks two.

Intellect: Increases Mana points as well as chance to Critical Hit with magic spells. Intellect also grants a higher chance to increase your defense/weapon skills. (It does not affect trade skills though.)

Intellect is the #3 stat for Hunters. It isn't very essential since most hunter skills are fairly low mana, but it is necessary to put at least some points into Intellect to help reduce downtime. Intellect does shine in one way, and that is using your pet to draw away those pesky healers from instance boss mobs such as in Diremaul and Blackrock Depths in which you use your pet to tank as you constantly heal it.

Spirit: Increases Health and Mana regeneration. Spirit affects all characters' mana and Hit Point regeneration rates in and out of combat. Spirit also increases your chance to 'proc' with weapons.

Spirit is the #4 attribute for Hunters. It helps, but you don't have to worry about combat mana regeneration very much, and since you use so little Mana in combat you normally can regenerate going between battles. Hunters also should not be using weapons with 'procs', since most guns/bows don't have any and you rarely fight with a melee weapon.

Agility: Ranged damage increases with Agility. It also increases all characters' chance to Critical Hit and to Dodge. Agility adds directly to Defense.

This is the #1 Hunter attribute. They need this to increase both their critical chance and their ranged damage. It is not unusual to have 300+ agility at level 60. This attribute can make a huge difference, though it isn't quite as huge a difference as with Rogues. Focusing on any other attribute over Agility can be suicide.

Hunter Skills

The Hunter has 3 talent trees which make up the class: Beast Mastery. Marksmanship, and Survival

Beast Mastery focuses on Aspects and various Pet related skills. This tree is very common among people that solo a lot but is often respecced for end-game content.

The second tree is Marksmanship which focuses on your ranged attack skills as well as a few buffs. This tree is the most common tree that Hunters spec end game since you are unlikely to solo Stratholme and live without it.

The third tree is Survival which is a hybrid tree that helps most areas equally. This is a common secondary tree for end-game Hunters even though most of the talents feel half done.

General Skills

Beast Training

This skill stores all the skills you learn that can be taught to your pet. There is a plethora of skills to teach your pet. Some of the skills can only be obtained from taming new beasts that already know the skills.

Beast Mastery Skills

This is how you get your pets. It's fairly simple, but it can also be fairly complex at the same time. It requires that you hold the mob's attention for 10 seconds, and that you are able to channel the entire time. There are many mobs out there that have a stun skill or a kick-like skill which will interrupt this. After a certain point this skill is no longer that useful since you won't need a new pet or the skills they may carry.	Tame Beast
This skill is used to call your pet. It is fairly straight forward. You use this, and if your pet isn't currently summoned it shows up next to you. It costs no mana, and it is instant.	Call Pet
It is inevitable; your pet will one day die. When you use this skill, you begin a 10 second channeling spell that revives your pet, but it leaves it with very little HP. This skill is often followed up by Mend Pet.	Revive Pet
You will be using this skill quite a bit. To keep your pet happy and effective, you need to feed it whenever it hits yellow on its happiness icon. This skill requires a food your pet eats which you can check by clicking on the pet tab on the Character window and then hovering over the pet window's happiness icon. This skill is the main reason you should always carry 2 stacks of food.	Feed Pet
This skill may seem useless, but it actually very useful. Pets do not path with you when you jump from a ledge. Instead, they take the long way around to you. The number one cause of instance wipe seems to be the fool hardy Hunter that didn't dismiss before the jump.	Dismiss Pet
Increases your chance to dodge by 8%. This skill is very useful up until level 10 when you get a pet, but after that it is better to use Aspect of the Hawk.	Aspect of the Monkey
Increases your ranged attack power. This skill is the most commonly used Aspect, and it is easy to see why. The additional damage added by this skill can be very helpful.	Aspect of the Hawk
Increases your movement speed by 30%. This is the Hunter's movement buff skill, and it can be very helpful, even after you get a mount. The fact that you can use it both indoors and outdoors gives you an advantage over Shaman and Druids who can only use their forms outdoors. The only drawback is if you are hit, you are instantly dazed which not only slows you down, it negates the bonus from the skill as well.	Aspect of the Cheetah
An awesome skill which can be extremely helpful. It is essentially an Aspect of the cheetah skill that affects the whole party. This skill is quickly negated by mounts, but in an instance when you need to move fast it is very useful.	Aspect of the Pack
This is the least used Aspect in the game. It makes you unable to be tracked, which generally isn't too useful versus the other Aspects. It can help you escape another Hunter, or to set up an ambush on another Hunter, but it really isn't going to do a whole lot.	Aspect of the Beast
This is one of two skills the hunter has that affects all members of the party, giving them all an increased resistance to nature. Quite a few mobs use nature skills, normally lightning, so using this when fighting those troublesome casters can help shift the way a battle would go.	Aspect of the Wild
This skill can seem useless, but is helpful in various situations. There are often times in both the wild and in instances that it can be helpful to know things about various animals. Though it may seem trivial to know how much HP a mob has or what it eats, it can help you develop a strategy. It may change the way you fight a battle entirely.	Beast Lore
This skill is quite possibly the most useful hunter skill in the game. If your pet dies, chances are your next, so keeping it alive is essential to you staying alive. This is a 5 second channeling spell that heals your pet every second for quite a bit of HP.	Mend Pet
A scouting skill that is very rarely used by Hunters. This lets you take direct control of your pet, which you can then use to scout ahead. Unfortunately, pets have an aggro radius and will draw in mobs. The most common use for this skill is in an instance when you want to bring in mobs without sacrificing the tank.	Eyes of the Beast
Another scouting skill that can only be used outdoors. It lets you see around an area as if you were there without being there. This is fairly useful for seeing beyond the fog (Fog is a common term used for the line of sight cut off point) and to see the levels and statuses of upcoming mobs not visible through tracking skills.	Eagle Eye
Think fear that only works on animals. When training up a new pet, this can be an awesome skill since you can do what warlocks do and DoT the mob then send it fleeing. This skill, like fear, diminishes in effectiveness when used on the same mob constantly. There is also the chance that the feared mob will bring friends back.	Scare Beast
Intimidation is one of the better skills you get in the Beast Mastery tree. Not only does your pet's next attack cause more aggro, it also stuns the target for 3 seconds. This talent is invaluable for both PvP and PvE. If you go Beast Mastery, you will want this.	Intimidation (TALENT)
Spirit Bond is pretty much a way to restore your health and your pet's health over time. When activated, it restores a % of you and your pet's HP every 10 seconds. This can be a lifesaver in a tricky situation.	Spirit Bond (TALENT)
Bestial Wrath is the ultimate talent of the Beast Mastery tree. When activated, it increases your pet's damage by 100% for 15 seconds. Mixed with your regular damage, this can give you a dps that Rogues would envy.	Bestial Wrath (TALENT)

Marksmanship Skills

Auto-Shot	This is the skill used to fire your gun. The Hunter is the only class in the whole game that can shoot on automatic. All other classes have to manually use their shoot/throw skills again.
Arcane Shot	This is your damage adding shot. It avoids armor, dealing arcane damage, making it a solid damage skill against even the heaviest armored mobs. This skill stays useful throughout the game.
Aimed Shot (TALENT)	This skill is obtained by putting a talent point into it. It is an effective skill which can triple or even quadruple your damage. This skill also has what I like to call a killer critical, which averages 1500 damage and can knock off 10% of some instance boss mobs' HP. This skill shares a cooldown with Arcane Shot.
Concussive Shot	A skill used almost exclusively to slow down runners either going away from you or coming at you. This skill slows a target's movement speed to 50% for 4 seconds, more than long enough to kill a mob running away and giving you extra time to let your pet draw aggro back onto itself. This skill is one of the Hunter's best skills.
Distracting Shot	A seemingly useless skill until you get into an instance. This skill will let you pull aggro off of your healer and onto yourself, quite possibly saving the party even if it means you die. This can also be used to save your pet from dieing.
Multi-Shot	Though it's generally a bad idea to hit multiple targets, since that can often end with you drawing unwanted aggro it is not a bad skill since after using it you can always feign death to lose the aggro. This skill is also useful against a single target since it adds additional damage. Be wary though; you don't have to have the target engaged to hit it with Multi-Shot.
Hunter's Mark	Yet another skill used to increase your DPS. Not only does it add ranged attack power, but it also prevents the target from stealthing and lets you track it for some distance. This is a great skill for figuring out how a mob patrols, giving you good knowledge of what it does. Also useful to mark a target that stealths, feign death, and then attack it from a range.
Flare	Used to reveal invisible targets in an area. You have to either be really good at guessing where the target is or already know where it is. This skill isn't a bad skill; it just has very little general use.
Rapid Fire	A truly awesome skill, but it has a major drawback. By using this skill, you increase your attack speed by 45% for 15 seconds, letting you deal a LOT more damage, but by doing so you are very likely to catch aggro and have 5 to 10 seconds of wasted time with this skill. You can always feign death to lose the aggro before it gets anywhere near you, but sometimes that can be resisted.
Volley	A semi-useful AoE skill. It is a last resort skill that works exceedingly well on the 1 hp spawns that come from some mobs after death, such as the Swarmers in Tanaris. The cooldown of one minute cooldown confirms its last ditch effort purpose.
Serpent Sting	The main sting used by Hunters throughout most of the game. This skill works on most mobs the other stings don't work on. This makes it an all around useful skill. It also does quite a bit of damage for a 15 second DoT, making it a reliable choice in most situations.
Scorpid Sting	This sting can be very hard to judge as far as usefulness. Against a Rogue you are able to hamper them, but against a Mage you will find it to be ineffective. This is effective in instances though, since it drops a mob's damage and crit chance, leaving your tank with more HP.
Viper Sting	This sting, like the Scorpid Sting, is very situational. Useless against Warriors and Rogues, this skill is meant largely to drain the mana of those low mana classes, such as other Hunters. In an instance this can stop a caster from casting an additional spell, but it is unlikely that the mob will ever expend enough mana to empty its bar. This skill is useful for non-elite caster mobs and dueling.
Scatter Shot	This skill confuses the target, causing them to wander in a very small area for 4 seconds. A useful skill in PvP to give you a few additional seconds for some skills to become useable again or to interrupt casting.
True-Shot Aura (TALENT)	This skill will probably be remembered by many Warcraft 3 players. Unlike the Warcraft 3 version, this one increases both ranged and melee damage. The added attack power feels small, but with every other point you get from other skills you really shouldn't be worrying about it too much. This skill affects the whole party.
Tranquilizing Shot (BOOK)	Tranquilizing Shot has 1 use; to get the enraged effect off mobs. It is learned from a book that drops in Molten Core, and is used on the boss after the boss you get the book from. Without this skill, it is very likely that you will be unable to complete Molten Core.

Survival Skills

This skill is learned from the Survival talent tree. When you parry an attack, this skill becomes useable, letting you deal additional damage and immobilizing the target for a while. This is a great skill if you want to go with the survival tree.	Counterattack (TALENT)
A skill learned from the Hunter Survival talent tree. This skill is very similar to the Rogue's Evasion skill, except it gives you 25% evasion and 25% parry. Parry is essential to some Hunter skills, so this skill can be a really helpful skill.	Deterrence (TALENT)
This skill is the Hunter's version of the Rogue's Feint. It reduces the aggro you have, and stops all your attacks. This skill has a chance to miss, since it is based on your melee hit chance.	Disengage
A trap that sometimes replaces Immolation Trap for hunters later in the game. Instead of being a DoT skill, its main power is in the initial damage it causes. It is also one of the few AoE skills a Hunter has. It can bring you unwanted aggro though.	Explosive Trap
Quite possibly the most useful skill a Hunter will ever get. Though it has a chance to be resisted, it can be used out of combat to allow an approaching patrol pass by. This skill also instantly breaks all aggro off of you, resetting it entirely. Be wary though, your pet stays active so in PvP this skill isn't that great.	Feign Death
This is the Hunter crowd control skill. It is similar to sap in that it only works outside of combat and the target can't be hit or the ice will break. It only lasts half the time though, meaning the target will be back much sooner. It is best to get the frozen target before the sapped one.	Freezing Trap
This skill has seemingly no use, but it is actually useful. In a PvP match this lets you kite your enemy much more easily. In PvE it is far less effective, since in PvE you are relying on your pet to keep the target where you want it.	Frost Trap
The Serpent Sting of the trap tree. This skill is used by many Hunters, even occasionally in instances, and it is easy to see why. When mixed with Serpent Sting this skill can do massive damage over 15 seconds. This takes a major bite out of some mobs, such as casters.	Immolation Trap
This is a very useful PVP skill. It allows you to slow your enemy, allowing you to run away and continue shooting them from elsewhere. It will be essential that you use this if you ever plan to do PvP.	Wing Clip
The Ultimate skill of the Hunter Survival talent tree. This is the only melee DoT you can get, but if you're going to go Survival it is very necessary. Any damage you can deal over time is great.	Lacerate
One of your first skills, and the first that requires a parry to be activated. Though it isn't an auto-cast skill, it can deal quite a bit of damage after a parry. The only drawback of this skill is that you have to be taking the hits for it to be activated.	Mongoose Bite
The main damage dealing skill for Hunters that want to fight up close and personal. This skill deals additional damage, but it is still subject to the armor check meaning it deals about 70% damage it says it does, though that can go up or down depending on the mob.	Raptor Strike
A skill that lets you track beasts on the minimap.	Track Beast
A skill that lets you track demons on the minimap.	Track Demon
A skill that lets you track dragonkin on the minimap.	Track Dragonkin
A skill that lets you track elementals on the minimap.	Track Elemental
A skill that lets you track giants on the minimap.	Track Giants
A skill that lets you track stealthed mobs/players on the minimap. This skill also increases your stealth detection radius.	Track Hidden
A skill that lets you track humanoids on the minimap.	Track Humanoid
A skill that lets you track undead on the minimap.	Track Undead
This is the ultimate talent of the Hunter Survival tree. When used, it puts the target to sleep for a short duration, and upon waking causes damage over time. This can be useful in some cases, though the DoT after the sleep effect makes it hard to CC the target again. This can be beaten by using Scorpid Sting, though.	Wyvern Sting (TALENT)

Opening/Starting a Fight and Combat

As a Hunter, your options in combat seem limited, but there are some variations.

Opener Number One

Send in your pet, and then fire your ranged weapon. It should draw the target, but not so close that if your pet loses aggro that you will be unable to continue to shoot it for at least a while. Fire off a Serpent Sting, and then an Arcane Shot, and keep using Auto-Shot and Arcane Shot as it recharges. If the battle lasts a while, use Serpent Sting again.
Opener Number Two

Lay an Immolation Trap, Shoot the target, let it get within melee range of you, and then use your pet. Disengage it, and then back up to a safe area to use your shooting skills. After this, hit it with Serpent Sting and Arcane Shot, and continue using Arcane Shot as it recharges. Refresh the Serpent sting if it wears out.
Ultimate Mob Holder Method

This can be extremely useful for getting those healer mobs away from the party. Shoot the target, and run far enough away that the target will follow you out of distance of healing its allies or doing AoE damage to your allies. When it is far enough away, set your pet on it and Disengage it. Now, when your pet starts taking damage, use Mend Pet to start healing it. Bandages may be good to use after Continue doing this and you should be able to hold the aggro of the target for long enough to allow your party to kill any other mobs.

Talents

Talents, which become available at level 10, are here to increase your effectiveness in a method that you choose. Every class has 3 talent trees, and each tree has a different idea in mind.

~Marksmanship Tree~

Tier 1

Improved Concussive Shot: 5 Points
Gives your Concussive Shot a 4% x talent points chance to stun the target for 3 sec.

Efficiency: 5 Points
Reduces the Mana cost of your Shots and Stings by 2% x talent points.

Tier 2

Improved Hunter's Mark: 5 Points
Increases the Ranged Attack Power bonus of your Hunter's Mark spell by 3% x talent points.

Lethal Shots: 5 Points
Increases your critical strike chance with ranged weapons by 1% x talent points.

Tier 3

Aimed Shot: 1 Point
Gives you the Aimed Shot skill.

Improved Arcane Shot: 5 Points
Reduces the cooldown of your Arcane Shot by 0.2 x talent points sec.

Hawk Eye: 3 Points
Increases the range of your ranged weapons by 2 x talent points yards.

Tier 4

Improved Serpent Sting: 5 Points
Increases the damage done by your Serpent Sting by 2% x talent points.

Mortal Shots: 5 Points
Increases your ranged weapon critical strike damage bonus by 6% x talent points.

Tier 5

Scatter Shot: 1 Point
Gives you the skill Scatter Shot.

Barrage: 3 Points
Increases the damage done by your Multi-Shot and Volley spells by 5% x talent points.

Improved Scorpid Sting: 3 Points
Reduces the Stamina of targets affected by your Scorpid Sting by 10% x talent points of the amount of Strength reduced.

Tier 6

Ranged Weapon Specialization: 5 Points
Increases the damage you deal with ranged weapons by 1% x talent points.

Tier 7

Trueshot Aura: 1 Point
Gives you the skill Trueshot Aura.

~Beast Mastery Tree~

Tier 1

Improved Aspect of the Hawk: 5 Points
While Aspect of the Hawk is active, all normal ranged attacks have a 1% x talent points chance of increasing ranged attack speed by 30% for 8 sec.

Endurance Training: 5 Points
Increases the Health of your pets by 3% x talent points.

Tier 2

Improved Eyes of the Beast: 2 Points
Increases the duration of your Eyes of the Beast by 30 x talent points sec.

Improved Aspect of the Monkey: 5 Points
Increases the Dodge bonus of your Aspect of the Monkey by 1% x talent points.

Thick Hide: 3 Points
Increases the Armor rating of your pets by 10% x talent points.

Improved Revive Pet: 2 Points
Revive Pet's casting time is reduced by 3 x talent points sec, mana cost is reduced by 20% x talent points, and increases the health your pet returns with by an additional 15% x talent points.

Tier 3

Bestial Swiftness: 1 Point
Increases the outdoor movement speed of your pets by 30%.

Unleashed Fury: 5 Points
Increases the damage done by your pets by 3% x talent points.

Pathfinding: 2 Points
Increases the speed bonus of your Aspect of the Cheetah and Aspect of the Pack by 3% x talent points.

Tier 4

Improved Mend Pet: 2 Points
Gives the Mend Pet spell a 15%/50% chance of cleansing 1 Curse, Disease, Magic or Poison effect from the pet each tick.

Ferocity: 5 Points
Increases the critical strike chance of your pets by 3% x talent points.

Tier 5

Spirit Bond: 2 Points
Gives you the skill Spirit Bond and upgrades it.

Intimidation: 1 Point
Gives you the skill Intimidation.

Bestial Discipline: 2 Points
Increases the Focus regeneration of your pets by 10% x talent points.

Tier 6

Frenzy: 5 Points
Requires 5 points in Ferocity. Gives your pet a 20% x talent points chance to gain a 30% attack speed increase for 8 sec after dealing a critical strike.

Tier 7

Bestial Wrath: 1 Point
Requires 1 point in Intimidation. Gives you the skill Bestial Wrath.

~Survival Tree~

Tier 1

Deflection: 5 Points
Increases your Parry chance by 1% x talent points.

Monster Slaying: 3 Points
Increases all damage caused against Beast, Giants and Dragonkin targets by 1% x talent points and increases critical damage caused against Beast Giants and Dragonkin targets by an additional 1% x talent points.

Humanoid Slaying: 3 Points
Increases all damage caused against Humanoid targets by 1% x talent points and increases critical damage caused against Humanoid targets by an additional 1% x talent points.

Tier 2

Entrapment: 5 Points
Gives your Immolation Trap, Frost Trap, and Explosive Trap a 5% x talent points chance to entrap the target, preventing them from moving for 5 sec.

Savage Strikes: 2 Points
Increases the critical strike chance of Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite by 10% x talent points.
Improved Wing Clip: 5 Points
Gives your Wing Clip ability a 4% x talent points chance to immobilize the target for 5 sec.

Tier 3

Trap Efficiency: 2 Points
Increases the duration of Freezing and Frost trap effects by 15% x talent points and the damage of Immolation and Explosive trap effects by 15% x talent points.

Survivalist: 5 Points
Increases total health by 2%.

Deterrence: 1 Point
Gives you the skill Deterrence.

Tier 4

Trap Mastery: 2 Points
Decreases the chance enemies will resist trap effects by 5% x talent points.

Surefooted: 3 Points
Increases hit chance by 1% x talent points and increases the chance movement impairing effects will be resisted by 5% x talent points.

Improved Feign Death: 2 Points
Reduces the chance your Feign Death ability will be resisted by 2% x talent points.

Tier 6

Killer Instinct: 3 Points
Increases your critical strike chance with all attacks by 1% x talent points.

Counterattack: 1 Point
Requires 1 point in Deterrence. Gives you the skill Counterattack.

Tier 6

Lightning Reflexes: 5 Points
Increases your Agility by 3% x talent points.

Tier 7

Wyvern Sting: 1 Point
Requires 3 in Killer Instinct. Gives you the skill Wyvern Sting.

Talent Builds

You can build your Talents in numerous ways. Here are some samples of builds others have used to some success.

~Marksman/Beast Build~

Marksman Talents (31 points)

Concussive Shot - 2/5 points
Gives your Concussive Shot a 8% chance to stun the target for 3 sec. Efficiency - 5/5 points Reduces the Mana cost of your Shots and Stings by 10%.

Lethal Shots - 5/5 points
Increases your critical strike chance with ranged weapons by 5%.

Aimed Shot - 1/1 points
Gives you the skill Aimed Shot. Hawk Eye- 3/3 points
Increases the range of your ranged weapons by 6 yards.

Mortal Shots - 5/5 points
Increases your ranged weapon critical strike damage bonus by 30%.

Scatter Shot - 1/1 points
Gives you the skill Scatter Shot.

Barrage - 3/3 points
Increases the damage done by your Multi-Shot and Volley spells by 15%.

Ranged Weapon Specialization - 5/5 points
Increases the damage you deal with ranged weapons by 5%.

Trueshot Aura - 1/1 points
Gives you the skill Trueshot Aura.

Beast Mastery (20 points)

Improved Aspect of the Hawk - 5/5 points
While Aspect of the Hawk is active, all normal ranged attacks have a 5% chance of increasing ranged attack speed by 30% for 8 sec.

Endurance Training - 5/5 points
Increases the Health of your pets by 15%.

Thick Hide - 3/3 points
Increases the Armor rating of your pets by 30%.

Improved Revive Pet - 2/2 points
Revive Pet's casting time is reduced by 6 sec, mana cost is reduced by 40%, and increases the health your pet returns with by an additional 30%.

Unleashed Fury - 5/5 points
Increases the damage done by your pets by 15%.

~Marksmanship/Survival Build~

Mortal Shots - 5/5 points
Increases your ranged weapon critical strike damage bonus by 30%.

Scatter Shot - 1/1 points
Gives you the skill Scatter Shot.

Survival Talents (30 points)

Monster Slaying - 3/3 points
Increases all damage caused against Beast, Giants and Dragonkin targets by 3% and increases critical damage caused against Beast Giants and Dragonkin targets by an additional 3%.

Humanoid Slaying - 3/3 points
Increases all damage caused against Humanoid targets by 3% and increases critical damage caused against Humanoid targets by an additional 3%.

Savage Strikes - 2/2 points
Increases the critical strike chance of Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite by 20%.

Improved Wing Clip - 5/5 points
Gives your Wing Clip ability a 20% chance to immobilize the target for 5 sec.

Survivalist - 5/5 points
Increases total health by 10%.

Deterrence - 1/1 point
Gives you the skill Deterrence.

Surefooted - 3/3 points
Increases hit chance by 3% and increases the chance movement impairing effects will be resisted by 15%.

Killer Instinct - 3/3 points
Increases your critical strike chance with all attacks by 3%.

Lightning Reflexes - 3/3 points
Increases your Agility by 15%.

~All-Around Build~

Marksman Talents (21 points)

Concussive Shot - 5/5 points
Gives your Concussive Shot a 4% chance to stun the target for 3 sec.

Efficiency - 1/5 points
Reduces the Mana cost of your Shots and Stings by 10%.

Lethal Shots - 5/5 points
Increases your critical strike chance with ranged weapons by 5%.

Aimed Shot - 1/1 points
Gives you the skill Aimed Shot.

Hawk Eye- 3/3 points
Increases the range of your ranged weapons by 6 yards.

Mortal Shots - 5/5 points
Increases your ranged weapon critical strike damage bonus by 30%.

Scatter Shot - 1/1 points
Gives you the skill Scatter Shot.

Survival Talents (6 points)

Monster Slaying - 3/3 points
Increases all damage caused against Beast, Giants and Dragonkin targets by 3% and increases critical damage caused against Beast Giants and Dragonkin targets by an additional 3%.

Humanoid Slaying - 3/3 points
Increases all damage caused against Humanoid targets by 3% and increases critical damage caused against Humanoid targets by an additional 3%.

Beast Mastery (24 points)

Improved Aspect of the Hawk - 5/5 points
While Aspect of the Hawk is active, all normal ranged attacks have a 5% chance of increasing ranged attack speed by 30% for 8 sec.

Endurance Training - 5/5 points
Increases the Health of your pets by 15%.

Thick Hide - 3/3 points
Increases the Armor rating of your pets by 30%.

Improved Revive Pet - 2/2 points
Revive Pet's casting time is reduced by 6 sec, mana cost is reduced by 40%, and increases the health your pet returns with by an additional 30%.

Bestial Swiftness - 5/5 points
Increases the outdoor movement speed of your pets by 30%.

Unleashed Fury - 5/5 points
Increases the damage done by your pets by 15%.

Improved Mend Pet - 2/2 points
Gives the Mend Pet spell a 50% chance of cleansing 1 Curse, Disease, Magic or Poison effect from the pet each tick.

Intimidation - 1/1 point
Gives you the skill Intimidation.

Glossary of Terms

Proc - Short for 'process', which describes an item's feature to deal extra damage based on chance. For example, a sword may have a proc on it that says "Has a chance to send out a bolt of fire, dealing 50-75 damage". That is classified as a proc. Proc can also be used as a verb. For example: My weapon procs almost every fight.
Solo'er - Refers to someone who can complete quests, kill monsters and go through content alone, without any help. A "Solo'er" is somebody who usually does quests on their own, and levels their character without the help of groups.

Written by Electromancer.
Custom Artwork by Xmetallium, and SamSuffy.