Using the Armory
The WoW Armory is one of the best tools for learning how to play a Hunter (or any class really) because it gives you a chance to compare your stats to those of someone else. For instance, if you have seen that you are not killing as quickly as another Hunter, or you are not putting out enough DPS in raids, you can use the Armory to look up the stats of both yours and the other player’s characters.
When you do a search on a character’s name, you will be given a list of characters to select from (players can use the same names if they are not on the same server). Just find the one that is on your server and click the name, and you will get a screen with their gear and stats. This will be based on when they logged out last, so if that player is still on you will not see any changes they have made.
Each slot shows what they are wearing, and the equipment info related to that item. Even better, you have an option to “Find an Upgrade” that takes you to a page with a list of items that Blizzard says are better than the one shown in the slot, but you need to be a little careful about their definition of “better”. However, the listing is pretty accurate, and I have found many a good item to go looking for based on this. In addition, each item has info on it saying what its source is: player made, quest reward, mob or chest drop, rep or PvP reward.
I have also used the armory to compare my equipment to another player’s, and to look at how much the item’s stat differences contribute to our overall stat differences. This is important in deciding which items to upgrade first. If you have the 2nd best gun in the game, and the other person has the very best, upgrading probably won’t make that much of a difference. However, if you have a different slot that your stats are way lower on, then this is the one to concentrate on first.
Another thing you can look up on the Armory is the Talent specs they have chosen. I have made improvements to my Talent selection by comparing talent by talent what someone else has and what I have. If the talents each of us have chosen are only slightly difference, I would compare what each one gives and try to determine if the trade-off is worth it. If the spec is completely different, I might ask the player if they really enjoy the spec and if it made a big difference if they recently switched to it. I have noticed that several good Hunters I know have switched to Survival, at least those that are raiding. In talking to those who have switched, you can ask for tips like shot rotation, pet talents, and even if they would do something different if they were to respec again.
The Armory has many other good things you can look up, but these are the features that have helped me the most.
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