Why I Play a Hunter
Before I start writing about tips about how to improve your play as a Hunter, I thought I would write about why I play a Hunter.
First, when I started playing WoW, I knew that I could play alone or as part of a group. Since I deal with people all day long at work, I really don’t want to have to commit to playing with other people. Sometimes I feel like having company, other times I don’t. So playing a Hunter allowed me to play a decent character without having other people around – having a pet is like a 2 for 1 deal, but the other player doesn’t yack your ear off!
Also, Hunters can track various mobs, as well as nodes for gathering, so this makes questing so much easier. Also, you can navigate through areas without getting slowed down by mobs that you don’t need to fight…or at least be prepared for them.
Feign Death is another Hunter trait that I like. If things are going bad, and you think you are going to die, it is often a simple matter to back away, let the Pet take the brunt of the attack, and Feign Death at the right moment and let the mobs go away. I don’t know how many times this has saved me, but it has likely saved me a few hours of running back to my corpse!
Another aspect of having a pet is the ability to sacrifice it in order to clear mobs that would otherwise be too difficult or take too long. This makes some quests faster to complete, especially those that require picking up an item in a campsite inhabited by a dozen mobs. Would your guild mates do that for you? I think not!
Hunters are not the only class that gets pets: Warlocks also get their Demon pets. However, they don’t have a lot to choose from, nor can they customize them the same way that Hunters can. By changing their own Talent tree, as well as their pet’s, a Hunter can change the way they play more drastically than just about any class. For the record, my current playing style uses Beast Master along with a Ferocity Pet, which works for my PvE activities. Once dual spec comes out, I may create another Talent Tree and Pet for Raiding.
Because of the ranged attack, Hunters can also pull mobs efficiently, and thereby reduce the chances of unwanted adds. Again, this helps with survival, which makes the playing time more efficient.
The last thing I can think of is that the pet makes a great decoy when gathering ores or herbs. If you get attacked when you are gathering you can simply let the pet occupy the mob while you continue to gather. I often do this just to make sure I get the skill-up, as well as “claim” the node if someone else is competing for it. Normally I will leave other players alone to gather if they got there first, but if it is the opposing faction then all bets are off. I have “ninjaed” a few nodes in my time from players that spit on me later…which is fine, as I got the goodies, and they didn’t!
Most of what I will be writing about is how to make the most of your time playing. If you want to simply hang around, socialize or play casually, then all the more power to you. But when you decide to get something done, you are going to want to get results fast. Knowing a Hunter’s advantages over other classes (at least in PvE) will help in understanding the best choices to make in all sorts of decisions.
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