WotLK Classic Hunter Guide

Welcome to the Wrath of the Lich King Classic Hunter’s guide! We’ll try to help you learn about what’s new in the class since the last expansion, and improve your knowledge of the various specialization of this class, so you can take on some of the toughest dungeon and raid bosses or Arena/Battleground fights in Wrath of the Lich King Classic.

In this guide, you’ll learn the different sides of the class to enhance your Hunter experience. So, let’s analyze talents and talent builds, BiS gear choice, stat priorities, consumables, gems, enchantments, various tips, features, and macros.

WotLK Classic Hunter Overview

The play style of the Hunter class varies depending on the specialization you choose. The Survival branch is based on traps, the Marksmanship aims to increase your shooting damage, and the Beast Mastery specialization gives you an ultra-strong pet. You will need to change them depending on the tactics of the battle and the situation in which you are. There is a certain meta that determines which specialization will be best suited for raiding or PvP in the current expansion or phase. We will tell you more in this guide.

Hunter specialization choice

So, Hunter has only DPS specializations, but with its own unique features which we’ll talk about below.

Beast Mastery

Throughout the phases of this expansion, this specialization is inferior in strength to the next two due to the fact that very high damage rates are achieved only in short-term battles and low in long-term battles.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Gives useful raid buff Ferocious Inspiration which increases 3% of all damage done; Extremely strong leveling potential due to pet survival possibility and damage.	Lack of single target DPS in long fights; If you lose your pet during the fight will lower your DPS worse than it already is; It is in the “D” tier throughout all phases of the expansion and your only raid buff can be replaced by another more useful class.

Survival

In Wrath of the Lich King, Survival Hunter has received a significant damage boost that competes with the MM specialization and is already at the “A” tier in the first phase. Unfortunately, in the later phases of this expansion, it will be significantly inferior to the competing specialization and you will need to reconsider your choice in favor of the MM talent tree.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Interesting playstyle by using traps combined with high damage abilities; Sufficiently high damage from Explosive Trap and Volley; Excellent control of the movement of opponents due to Frost Trap and Freezing Trap.	Significant raid damage drop in later phases; Expose Weakness is no longer a debuff on your target, but a personal buff; Worst leveling specialization of the three possible.

Marksmanship

In Wrath of the Lich King, Marksmanship Hunters will be quite good throughout all phases of this expansion, although they have low damage at the beginning due to the lack of some characteristics from things, they will still remain in the “A” tier.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Have a useful raid buff Trueshot Aura, although it can be replaced by a buff from another class; Deals noticeably high damage both on single targets and in AOE using a talent-enhanced Volley.	It is very dependent on such a characteristic as armor penetration, which, unfortunately, in the first phase will not be enough for your significant increase in damage; You need to constantly make sure that the pet does not die, as it gives you a sufficient increase in damage; To be at the top of the raid, you need to make an effort and be able to use the rotation correctly.

WotLK Classic Hunter Changes

At first, let’s see the general changes not tied to specialization:

• Changed the mechanics of Auto Shot, you no longer need to manage the auto shot timer;
• The Steady Shot has been nerfed and is a filler in the rotation;
• Aspect of the Viper now restores your mana based on the damage you dealt, and also reduces the damage you deal;
• Deterrence is now available in all 3 specializations;
• Distracting Shot now has taunt mechanics like tanks;
• Kill Shot new execute phase ability with extremely huge damage;
• Misdirection now redirects your threat for 4 seconds instead of just 3 hits;
• Aspect of the Dragonhawk is a new aspect that combines Aspect of the Hawk and Aspect of the Monkey;
• Volley now is a powerful AOE ability that now scaling of your attack power;
• Disengage now useful ability for your mobility in fights;
• Call Stabled Pet new ability, no more traveling to stable in the city! 

Also, we have some changes for every Hunter specialization.

Beast Mastery	Survival	Marksmanship
Bestial Wrath duration nerfed from 18 seconds to 10 seconds; Beast Mastery new talent which allows you to tame elite beasts.	Expose Weakness now is the personal buff instead of target debuff for raid group; Black Arrow is a new key rotation ability that shares a cooldown with traps; Explosive Shot new main ability with huge damage while proc lock and load.	Chimera Shot new main ability which gives huge damage done in conjunction with Serpent Sting ability; Aimed Shot now instant cast ability and sharing cooldown with Multi-Shot.

WotLK Classic Leveling!

Get any level you want!

WotLK Classic Hunter Leveling

There are two suitable Hunter specs for leveling, so let’s check them.

Beast Mastery

Beast Mastery build [55/16/0]: standard talents and sequence of talents choosing.

Beast Mastery pet build [20/0/0]: the best leveling talents for your loyal friend.

Leveling tips: 

• Your use priority is always higher with the Aimed Shot;
• Always use Intimidation after the cooldown expires to help your pet get threat;
• Pet choice before getting Beast Mastery talent is: Wolf, Bear, Crocolisk;
• Suggested pet choice after getting Beast Mastery: Devilsaur.  

Marksmanship

Marksmanship build [0/62/5]: standard talents and sequence of talents choosing.

Marksmanship pet build [16/0/0]: the best leveling talents for your loyal friend.

Leveling tips: 

• If you are well geared you should prioritize Chimera Shot to 1-2 shot enemy. If your gear is no so good, you should cast Serpent Sting before using Chimera Shot;
• Don’t forget about Disengage and Deterrence keeps you alive in bad situations;
• Best pet choice: Wolf. 

WotLK Classic Hunter Talents and Glyphs

Below are the most popular WotLK Hunter talents that you can use to raid in WotLK Classic. Also, presenting you with a list of the best Wrath Hunter Glyphs for your specialization that are best suited for raiding.

Beast Mastery

Beast Mastery build [53/13/5]: this is one main WotLK BM Hunter build, it’s worth mentioning that if you haven’t reached the hit cap yet, then it’s worth using 3 talent points for Focused Aim instead of Careful Aim.

Beast Mastery pet build [20/0/0]: the best talents for your loyal friend.

The best pet choice is Wolf or Devilsaur.

Survival

Survival build [0/17/54]: this single target WotLK Surv Hunter build focused on early reached hit cap. Once you hit the hit cap with better items, feel free to replace Focused Aim by spending 3 points on Hunting Party and Resourcefulness talents.

Survival pet build [16/0/0]: the best talents for your loyal friend.

The best pet choice is Wolf. 

Marksmanship

Marksmanship basic build [7/57/7]: this is a standard WotLK MM Hunter build focused on Careful Aim 3/3 talent.

Survival pet build [16/0/0]: the best talents for your loyal friend.

Marksmanship alternative build [7/54/10]: this build is for “skilled” Hunters called “Trap Dancer” and used Trap Mastery 3/3 talent instead of Improved Arcane Shot, but this changes your rotation compared to the standard build.

Survival pet build [16/0/0]: the best talents for your loyal friend.

WotLK Classic Hunter Stats Priority

It is worth paying great attention to those characteristics that will increase your usefulness to a greater extent.

Beast Mastery	Survival	Marksmanship
Hit Rating – 263 (8%) or with Focused Aim 3/3 – 164 (5%) Attack Power Agility Critical Strike Rating Armor Penetration Intellect Haste	Hit Rating – 263 (8%) or with Focused Aim 3/3 – 164 (5%) Agility Critical Strike Rating Attack Power Armor Penetration Haste	Hit Rating – 263 (8%) or with Focused Aim 3/3 – 164 (5%) Agility Armor Penetration Critical Strike Rating Attack Power Haste

WotLK Classic Hunter Best Race

There are the best options for both factions.

Horde	Alliance
In first place is Orc with racial ability Blood Fury and passive damage increase for WotLK Hunter pets by Command; In second place is Troll with Berserking but haste is not so important for hunters and passive Bow Specialization but in WotLK, BiS lists mostly with crossbows and guns.	In first place is Draenei with passive racial Heroic Presence which is huge in PVE content and buffs only your group but not all raids; In second place is Night Elf with Shadowmeld which can help with different boss mechanics.

WotLK Classic Hunter Consumables, Chants & Gems

In the first phase of this expansion, we will not have all the top consumables, enchantments, and gems at our disposal. The list will change in the future.

it’s interesting, that all three specs have the one common BiS least for all these stuff.

Gems	Chants	Consumables
Meta – Relentless Earthsiege Diamond Red – Delicate Scarlet Ruby Yellow – Rigid Autumn’s Glow as a temporary option Orange – Glinting Monarch Topaz or Deadly Monarch Topaz Blue – Nightmare Tear or Enchanted Tear	Head – Arcanum of Torment Shoulders – Greater Inscription of the Axe or Master’s Inscription of the Axe Cloak – Enchant Cloak – Major Agility or Flexweave Underlay or Swordguard Embroidery Chest – Enchant Chest – Powerful Stats Bracer – Enchant Bracers – Greater Assault, Fur Lining – Attack Power Gloves – Enchant Gloves – Major Agility, Hyperspeed Accelerators, Enchant Gloves – Superior Agility, Enchant Gloves – Precision Waist – Frag Belt and Eternal Belt Buckle Legs – Icescale Leg Armor Boots – Enchant Boots – Icewalker, Enchant Boots – Superior Agility, Nitro Boosts Ring – Enchant Ring – Assault Weapon – Enchant Weapon – Superior Potency Ranged Weapon – Heartseeker Scope	Flask – Flask of Endless Rage Elixirs – Elixir of Mighty Agility + Elixir of Mighty Mageblood Food – Fish Feast or Mega Mammoth or Poached Northern Sculpin Pet food – Spiced Mammoth Treats Potions – Potion of Speed for (Marksmanship), Potion of Wild Magic for (Beast Mastery and Survival) / Runic Healing Potion / Heavy Frostweave Bandage Extra – Dark Rune If your profession is Engineer, also you can use Global Thermal Sapper Charge, Super Sapper Charge, or Saronite Bomb.

WotLK Classic Hunter Best Professions

BiS profession for all 3 specs is Engineering with grenades and enchants such as:

• Global Thermal Sapper Charge, Super Sapper Charge, and Saronite Grenade
• Nitro Boosts
• Flexweave Underlay
• Frag Belt
• Hyperspeed Accelerators

Jewelcrafting with 3 possible gems Bright Dragon’s Eye or Delicate Dragon’s Eye is also a suitable option for WotLK Hunter.

WotLK Classic Hunter Rotation

Faceroll is always a great method for every class, but the rotations below can provide you with bigger DPS.

Beast Mastery

Single-target	AoE
Kill Shot – spam it on execute phase. Multi-Shot – use it if you have enough mana. Serpent Sting – cast after Multi-Shot or renew it on movement phases on boss fights. Arcane Shot – cast following Multi-Shot and Serpent Sting. Steady Shot – cast Steady Shot until either Kill Shot or Multi-Shot come off cooldown or if you have not enough mana to cast Multi-Shot as we said.	Explosive Trap – at the beginning.  Volley – when it’s possible to cast. Multi-Shot – if not possible cast Volley immediately.

Survival

Single-target

AoE

Kill Shot – spam it on execute phase. Explosive Shot – high priority ability before execute phase, always use on cooldown. Serpent Sting – cast after Explosive Shot. Keep it on boss all the fight. Black Arrow or Explosive Trap – after Serpent Sting you have two options. In fights with movement phases or a bad boss hitbox use Black Arrow. In other cases, Explosive Trap is the better choice. Aimed Shot – use it after Black Arrow or Explosive Trap. Steady Shot – steady Shot is now a “filler” for the rotation when all other abilities are on cooldown.

Explosive Trap – at the beginning.  Volley – when it’s possible to cast.

Marksmanship

Single-target

AoE

At the start of fighting use your burst cooldown macro to cast all of your cooldowns (Potion, Call of the Wild, Trinkets, Rapid Fire).  Serpent Sting – cast immediately at the start of every fight as your first ability. Chimera Shot – cast straight after serpent sting. Aimed Shot – next thing you cast after the chimera shot. Readiness – quick cooldown reset your chimera shot, aimed shot, rapid fire. Chimera Shot – after Readiness you recast Chimera Shot. Aimed Shot –  use it after the chimera shot and follow the main rotation/priority list as normal. Then back to main rotation like: Kill Shot – Spam it on execute phase Serpent Sting – The duration will be refreshed by Chimera Shot so, you don’t need to re-cast it every time. Chimera Shot – Cast after serpent Sting.  Aimed Shot Arcane Shot Steady Shot – Steady Shot is now a “filler” for the rotation. Depending on your haste you can use it 3-4 times before the cooldown Chimera shot.

Explosive Trap – at the beginning. Volley – when it’s possible to cast.

WotLK Classic Hunter Phase 1 BiS List

Below you can find the lists of items that make you much more epic and improve your performances.

Pre-Raid BiS

Beast Mastery	Survival	Marksmanship
Truesight Ice Blinders Pendant of the Outcast Hero Massive Spaulders of the Jormungar Cloak of the Gushing Wound Heroes’ Cryptstalker Tunic Interwoven Scale Bracers Heroes’ Cryptstalker Handguards Sovereign’s Belt Leggings of the Stone Halls Dragon Slayer’s Sabatons Titanium Impact Band Mobius Band Darkmoon Card: Greatness Mirror of Truth Runeblade of Demonstrable Power Drake-Mounted Crossbow	Truesight Ice Blinders Pendant of the Outcast Hero Massive Spaulders of the Jormungar Cloak of the Gushing Wound Heroes’ Cryptstalker Tunic Interwoven Scale Bracers Heroes’ Cryptstalker Handguards Sovereign’s Belt Leggings of the Stone Halls Dragon Slayer’s Sabatons Titanium Impact Band Mobius Band Darkmoon Card: Greatness Mirror of Truth Runeblade of Demonstrable Power Drake-Mounted Crossbow	Truesight Ice Blinders Pendant of the Outcast Hero Massive Spaulders of the Jormungar Ice Striker’s Cloak Heroes’ Cryptstalker Tunic Interwoven Scale Bracers Heroes’ Cryptstalker Handguards Sovereign’s Belt Leggings of the Stone Halls Dragon Slayer’s Sabatons Titanium Impact Band Mobius Band Darkmoon Card: Greatness Mirror of Truth Runeblade of Demonstrable Power Drake-Mounted Crossbow

WotLK Hunter Raid BiS

Beast Mastery	Survival	Marksmanship
Valorous Cryptstalker Headpiece Favor of the Dragon Queen Valorous Cryptstalker Spaulders Drape of the Deadly Foe Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess Slime Stream Bands Frosted Adroit Handguards Torn Web Wrapping Leggings of Failed Escape Boots of the Renewed Flight Strong-Handed Ring Surge Needle Ring Darkmoon Card: Greatness Mirror of Truth Journey’s End Envoy of Mortality	Valorous Cryptstalker Headpiece Favor of the Dragon Queen Valorous Cryptstalker Spaulders Drape of the Deadly Foe Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess Slime Stream Bands Frosted Adroit Handguards Torn Web Wrapping Leggings of Failed Escape Boots of the Renewed Flight Strong-Handed Ring Surge Needle Ring Darkmoon Card: Greatness Mirror of Truth Journey’s End Envoy of Mortality	Blue Aspect Helm Favor of the Dragon Queen Valorous Cryptstalker Spaulders Drape of the Deadly Foe Chestguard of Flagrant Prowess Slime Stream Bands Frosted Adroit Handguards Depraved Linked Belt Valorous Cryptstalker Legguards Boots of the Renewed Flight Strong-Handed Ring Surge Needle Ring Darkmoon Card: Greatness Mirror of Truth Journey’s End Envoy of Mortality

WotLK Hunter PvP

All three specs are good on Battleground and Arena. The choice of your specialization will depend directly on the class of the teammate with whom you potentially want to play on Arena. WotLK Beast Mastery Hunter is good for a beast cleave strategy on Arena 3v3. WotLK Survival Hunter spec has a lot of controlling spells and traps. WotLK Marksmanship Hunter has great burst potential with interrupting options. 
 
Let’s consider the most popular and effective setups for all 3 specs.

Beast Mastery 

2v2 comps	3v3 comps
Hunter/Retribution Paladin  Hunter/Discipline Priest	Hunter/Enhancement Shaman/Holy Paladin

Survival or Marksmanship  

2v2 comps	3v3 comps
Hunter/Retribution Paladin  Hunter/Discipline Priest	Hunter/Retribution Paladin/Discipline Priest  Hunter/Death Knight/Holy Paladin

WotLK Classic Hunter Macros

Let’s consider the most needed macros for all three specializations that will make your class more comfortable and enjoyable to play.

One Button Burst

#showtooltip
/cast Bestial Wrath
/cast Rabid
/cast rapid fire
/use blood fury
/cast Call of the Wild
/use [combat] 13
/use [combat] 14
/use [combat] Potion of Wild Magic

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That was everything you need to know about new features and changes in all 3 hunter’s specializations in Wrath of the Lich King Classic. If our WotLK Hunter guide was useful to you, please let us know with feedback, and good luck in your raiding, leveling, or PvP adventures!