Hardcore WoW Hunter Leveling Guide 1-60 - WoW Classic

AllianceNight ElfDwarfShadowmeldFeign DeathDwarfStoneformGun SpecializationHordeTrollBow SpecializationRegenerationBerserkingBeast SlayingOrcCommandBlood FurymeleeHardinessTaurenWar StompBest Builds and Talents for Hunter Leveling in HardcoreImproved Revive PetThick HideImproved Mend PetFerocityEndurance TrainingImproved Aspect of the HawkLeveling Tips for a Hunter in Hardcore

Tame an Owl (or Bat/Vulture). Screech gives great threat and reduces damage taken, making sure your pet gets aggro and stays alive. Cats (most raw damage) and Boars (utility with Charge) are okay secondary pet options, but Owls reign supreme in Hardcore.

Your pet can die, you can't. Always be willing to sacrifice your pet to get out of a hairy situation. This includes running it to a further target before it dies (if it has aggro), creating more distance between you and the mob(s), or using it to buy enough time to Hearthstone if you're deep in a cave or building, with no other escape.

Kiting is a way of life. Get a swing timer addon or weakaura for your Auto Shot, and move a few steps away between each shot. This can take some practice to not clip your attacks, but will become second nature over time.

Feign Death can be resisted, unless you're over 40 yards away from your enemies. If at all possible, try to get that distance before using this ability.

Aspect of the Cheetah is extremely powerful, but can lead to your downfall if you aren't careful. Be very certain you never turn it on when it can get you Dazed, and especially don't underestimate melee leeway on enemy mobs when running away—make ample distance before turning on Cheetah.

You can go several levels without getting hit and not even think about it. Make sure to get hit often enough to keep your Defense maxed. If you don't, you will get hit eventually and it'll be crushing blows into crits, and you'll be dead way faster than you should be.

Always keep your pet on Passive or Defensive! Micromanage your pet movement with Passive and Attack macros; otherwise, you'll end up with a lot more enemies than you bargained for when your best friend decides to get a little frisky on its own. Having your pet on Defensive can save you if you need to step away quickly.

Don't stay in Feign Death for the full duration. You will die for real at the end of the 6 minutes.

Once you're comfortable with the basics, to push your pace, try juggling two enemies at once—one on your pet that you are attacking with range and one on you that you're attacking with melee—and weave back and forth between your two targets and types of attacks!

Hunter Leveling Rotation in HardcoreAuto ShotRaptor Strike

Hunter's Mark + Pet Attack

Auto Shot

Aimed Shot (once you have it); otherwise Serpent Sting, if the enemy will live long enough to get full duration.

Auto Shot—you'll be using Auto Shot between each ability.

Multi-Shot

Auto Shot

Continue rotating between Aimed and Multi, and reapply Serpent Sting as necessary.

Auto ShotAuto ShotIntimidationBestial WrathRapid FireRaptor StrikeAuto ShotAimed ShotBest Leveling Weapons and Gear for Hunters in HardcoreAuto ShotAimed ShotBig Game Hunter

Level

Weapon

Location

Hornwood Recurve Bow

Various Vendors

Ashwood Bow

Crown of the Earth Quest in Teldrassil

11+

Fine Shortbow

Various Vendors - Limited Stock

13+

Daryl's Hunting Rifle

A Hunter's Boast Quest in Loch Modan

19+

Venomstrike

Drops from Lord Serpentis in Wailing Caverns

25+

Raptor's End

Ormer's Revenge Quest in Wetlands

35+

Flash Rifle

Pearl Diving Quest in Stranglethorn Vale

40+

Master Hunter's Bow or Master Hunter's Rifle

Big Game Hunter Quest in Stranglethorn Vale

44+

Sylvan Shortbow

Various Vendors - Limited Stock

45+

Verdant Keeper's Aim

Corruption of Earth and Seed in Maraudon

Level

Weapon

Location

Hornwood Recurve Bow

Various Vendors

Hickory Shortbow

Securing the Lines Quest in Durotar

10+

Orcish Battle Bow

Centaur Bracers Quest in The Barrens

11+

Fine Shortbow

Various Vendors - Limited Stock

19+

Venomstrike

Drops from Lord Serpentis in Wailing Caverns

25+

Bow of Plunder

Dangerous! Quest in Hillsbrad Foothills

28+

Cliffrunner's Aim

The Sacred Flame Quest in Thousand Needles

33+

Nail Spitter

An Unholy Alliance Quest From The Undercity - Objective Outside Razorfen Downs

35+

Flash Rifle

Pearl Diving Quest in Stranglethorn Vale

40+

Master Hunter's Bow or Master Hunter's Rifle

Big Game Hunter Quest in Stranglethorn Vale

44+

Sylvan Shortbow

Various Vendors - Limited Stock

45+

Verdant Keeper's Aim

Corruption of Earth and Seed in Maraudon

Don't Forget Your Quiver/Pouch Upgrades: If using guns, buy Small Shot Pouch to get you through the early game. You can get Small Quiver for bows, but you replace it at 10 with Medium Quiver anyway. There is no 10-slot ammo pouch available from vendors. Alliance get access to Hunting Ammo Sack viaVyrin's Revenge. Alliance get another upgrade in Bandolier of the Night Watch or Quiver of the Night Watch from The Night Watch. At 30 both factions can either pick up Heavy Quiver (a limited stock vendor item), or get Heavy Leather Ammo Pouch off the AH or by trading someone with Leatherworking. The next upgrade is at 40: Thick Leather Ammo Pouch or Quickdraw Quiver, both made by a Leatherworker. Your final upgrade pre-raid is Ribbly's Bandolier or Ribbly's Quiver off Ribbly Screwspigot in Blackrock Depths.

Scopes: Remember to pick up a Scope whenever you get a fresh weapon! Since you use most upgrades for many levels before replacing them, it's worth it. They're cheap to craft—either buy one off the AH or make it yourself, if you chose Engineering.

Stat Priority for Leveling Hunters

Agility

Spirit

Stamina

Intellect

Strength

Best Professions for Hunter Leveling in HardcoreMiningEngineeringIntimidationTarget DummyHerbalismAlchemyElixir of the MongooseAlchemyFirst AidMend PetSpells to Avoid While Hunter Leveling in Hardcore

Arcane Shot is not worth the mana in your rotation when chain pulling. You can get the first couple ranks cheap in the early levels, as a filler before you get all your abilities, but later on it's not worth the gold if your budget is tight. Use rank 1 just for tagging or as a way to prolong a leash.

Any "Track ___" spell is generally not worth the gold.

Distracting Shot has some edge-case uses but is easy to skip.

Wing Clip is good enough at rank 1 until after you get your mount. Rank 2 is only a jump from 50% to 55% slow.

Eagle Eye, Eyes of the Beast, Beast Lore, and Aspect of the Beast are not needed for leveling.

Training any "___ Resistance" spell for your pet isn't worth it pre-60.

Scorpid Sting and Viper Sting aren't used on the regular.

Maximizing Usage of Your Hunter PetPetopiaScreechIronbeak OwlDark ScreecherCarrion VultureLndegenerateYouTubeTwitch

Comments

Comment by tarc

Any "Track ___" spell is generally not worth the gold.

Disagree. I've gotten a dwarf hunter to 13, and being able to see NPC density (esp. in caves), or to spot that pesky one just over a hill, has been beneficial thus far. Yea, it sucks and its primitive to have to swap between tracking NPCs and tracking mining nodes, but that's "The Classic Experience".

At the very least, get humanoids and beasts.

Comment by laxkotlett

Eyes of the Beast is worth it imo. Its good for pulling mobs inside houses and inside boats. Also track hidden can be usefull.

Comment by simmehchan

You don't need 5 points in Frenzy, 4 is enough.

Comment by nisx

Eagle Eye is extremely useful for finding patroling quest mobs (or checking for respawns without running back). Macro like this helps you spam the spell: #showtooltip
/cast !eagle eye

Comment by DisposableDungeo

Orcs claim the highest base agility on Horde

Trolls have more agility than Orcs.

Comment by gildagger

there is some bad advice in here. First off, your pet should always be on defensive, not passive. If something happens like you get dcd , your computer crashes, or you foolishly go afk for some reason, your pet can save you. If it's on passive it will just watch you die. Next, do not lead with auto shot, lead with serpent sting. It starts the dot immediately and you don't lose any shots as it immediately autoshoots after. Additionally I prefer the boar pet. You can get it early and keep the entire game. With charge and growl it gets to the enemies fast and holds aggro unless you do something dumb like multi shot (never multi-shot, it is a dangerous habit and you never know what it might hit, sometimes neutral mobs) Boar also gets high armor and stamina. I can easily solo elite mobs 2-3 levels higher than me. As for stats I would rank them in the following order of importance . 1. Agi, 2. Int (mana pool) 3. Spirit, 4. Stam, 5 Str. You should not be fighting anything melee after level 10, so stamina is much less important than people think. I am level 50 and the only time I came close to dying was because of a DC, and my pet saved me. I open with hunters mark, freezing trap (in case of aggro or party crasher) send pet. Wait until it starts attacking, serpent sting, auto shot. I prefer guns to bows, so I use a dwarf. There are a lot of good guns you can get relatively cheap. You can also make them with engineering, bullets too. Lastly once you get your mount at 40, you no longer need pathfinding. That is 2 points of talent wasted.

Comment by Atayeu

Cany anyone shed some further detail on spell rotations. I'm wondering which spells will interrupt the Auto Shot timer. For example does Concussive Shot interrupt Auto shot, how about Serpent Sting or Arcane Shot? Do these always need to be weaved in between Auto Shots.

I can't quite tell but it seems like Arcane shot isn't interrupting it but I just want to be sure.

Comment by Twiddlez

Addendum to HC Hunter Leveling Guide Detailed Version

I posted a reduced version below this if you dont want to read a wall of text.

I thought I would put something together that is a little more current and applicable to someone who wants to level a Hunter in HC. As a side note this guide is for non-dungeon leveling not dungeon running, as frankly you could spec anything, go in with a group and run dungeons a few levels below you and level max your character in ¼ the time. Unlike a lot of the other guides this isn’t looking at damage or utility or ability to add benefits to a group. The guide is about making it to 60 and will probably benefit self found or those looking to do it on their own more.

What Race – Dwarf, NElf, Troll, Orc, Tauren works but dwarfs and trolls get a bonus to ranged weapons. The +5 to guns/bows is helpful when you realize that every time you level you are effectively already at that levels max for the weapon you’re using. Misses are a big damage loss and frankly have a big impact on time to kill (especially if you are fighting mobs over your level).

What Kills You? Adds is likely the Number 1 killer, you get more than you wanted. Somewhere between 1 and 2 is probably not knowing the quest you’re doing and reading up on it in advance. The comments section can really save you if you take the time to look it up first. Number 2 is unexpected damage or abilities with no clear escape, you didn’t clear to your target, or your cleared area has respawned. Number 3 is fighting where you don’t belong, we don’t do buildings, or caves or other enclosed spaces well. Number 4 is I am an idiot and did x. Number 5 is other players or other activities impacting what you are trying to do, be careful of escort quests, stay away from the guy doing them (personal exp).

Which Spec? I chose Beast Mastery with extra points put into Marksmanship BUT if I had to do it again I would likely go Beast Mastery with extra points in Survival. All talent tree recommendations online appear to be more geared to maximizing dps over survival. The talents in Marksmanship are great, aimed shot is great, even if you can only use it once per fight, but the entire tree is designed to fight at range which causes a significant issue with Defensive skill and Weapon skill that can easily get you killed when you lose range. Survival negates that range requirement increases your defensive skill and your weapon skill and basically puts you in a position where ranged or up close you have more options. In BM ignore most of the items listed above. Do not ignore MEND PET, the talent is hugely useful especially in later levels where every dam mob, poisons, curses or otherwise leaves some kind of multiple minute negative effect on your pet. In the end I ended up 34 points in BM and the rest in Marksmanship. Optimum is 31 in BM and 20 in either MM or Survival.

Weapon Skills? You want a slow two handed weapon like a sword or axe because it deals the most damage per swing that your Raptor Strike stacks on. Remember your weapon is also a stat stick so get one with agility on it (preferably stamina as well). You want to get hit a LOT as well as do melee weapon damage on every kill as possible. Crushing blows come from low defensive skill and low defensive skill is what all ranged hunters have in common. Those stacked hits that were all crushing blows and took you to <20% is because you haven’t been getting hit. Weapon skill is required so that when you do have to use Raptor Strike to finish a kill or when you are in close quarters for whatever bad reason, your weapon actually hits your target and doesn’t get parried, blocked or just misses. Polearms work but are rare. Slower bow/gun over fast to allow more movement between shots. It helps with arrows/bullets as well. You will chew through arrows/bullets at 1.8 attack speed.

What to Train? The obvious ones you can skip early on they are listed above. What not to skip that so many guides say to skip are your tracking abilities, the ability to track different types of mobs is huge. Even with quest helpers that show you appx location, tracking will show you exactly where what your after is located. In high density areas where you need a specific mob it also tells you specifically what the mob is before you waste time fighting to it. The other use I have tracking is specific patrolling elites that I want to know when they are coming so I am not surprised when they suddenly come wandering up behind me…. Skip if you want, I use these on every quest and in every zone I am in. Funny enough they also seem to appear as trainable right around the level range where you can use them… odd…. In the end you will likely train it all when you have the gold just push off stuff that’s not as useful.

What Professions? Engineering and Mining PERIOD, FULL STOP, don’t even attempt to justify another profession. You must have target dummies, they will save your life, allow you to do grab and runs on some quests and just make your life so much easier. Even self found can make these without another class support if you save the mats from chest and other drops. Having said that, you do you, good luck. Parachute cloak is also big but much harder to attain as self found but having the cloak on a quick key will safe your life should you take a step in the wrong direction. Or maybe you just need to make a quick escape and this can instantly put you out of range of the mob that wants your head. Did I mention engineers make guns? They also make ammo, specifically the type you need at max level so again unless your planning on paying someone else to make you your stuff its better to go engineering. You should also level cooking for two reasons. It gives you stat food as well as providing you with additional quests in most zones you enter giving you more xp for that area. In many cases the stuff you need for the quest you would have to kill anyway in that area. First Aid is obvious, but save the mats you don’t use to max it, you will use these in town later for either gold or xp your choice. You need 180 of each type wool to runecloth. The rest you can sell. You turn in at each city you will see the quest marker.

What Gear? I stack Agility and Stamina but with a couple spots for Agility/Intellect gear. Spirit as listed above is not worth stacking, you aren’t going to need it as you will likely serpent sting, autoshot most of your targets and be at full mana after the fight anyway. Agility provides the most benefit across the board, Stamina is obviously important for health and getting hit, Intellect improves your mana pool so you don’t have to stop as often to drink but more importantly to allow you to handle that fight with adds without going OOM. Attack Power and Hit are also important, around 50 you will have an opportunity to get items that give +hit, these are strongly worth considering as they will dramatically decrease your misses especially on mobs over your level. AP is not more valuable than agility until you get into raid gear so for now ignore it. Of the Monkey is Agility/Stamina Gear, Of the Falcon is Agility/Intellect Gear. At 40 you get Mail Gear, remember that stats trump armor, your not getting hit as often as your hitting (your not a tank). So if your wearing leather and it has better stats than the mail item you just picked up, don’t switch.

What Pet? Highly debated but frankly a screech pet is probably your best choice from the standpoint of controlling adds (the number 1 killer). All pets get growl but only bats, owls and carrion get screech. Carrion is the only pet that can learn both bite and claw as well as screech. Gorillas have an aoe threat Thunderstomp and Wolves have Furious Howl both of these have a cooldown, screech does not. I leveled to about 50 with a vulture but then tried an Owl and frankly I liked the performance of the owl slightly better. I will say the vulture has better focus management if your just using bite so screech is always ready and available to pick up the adds. I found the damage from claw seemed to hold aggro slightly better than bite so I went with the owl. Use Classic Petopia to get a read on all the options available and their benefits. The three trees Ferocity, Tenacity and Cunning equal, Offense, Defense and Utility (mix).

How to use Pet? Do not leave screech on auto, you will pull adds all the time. Only use it as needed. Some argue same is true with Growl but frankly I find my pet uses it pretty much when its needed. When your solo always have pet on defensive (except in neutral city then use passive). When your in a group your pet should always be on passive, ALWAYS. Do not use growl in a group, you will piss off the tank. You are the healer shield, use your pet to pull healer adds and bring them back to the tank. Target mob, attack/growl with pet, target tanks target send pet to attack that target (growl off). This guide is mostly for solo play but should you end up in a group please keep these things in mind, we have a reputation… its not good =). Note that if you target a mob with HM and then change your mind and target another mob with HM your pet will attack the first target and then immediately go after the initially marked target, I have seen mine do this many times. Not sure if this is a bug or what but I suspect this is the cause for many accidental pulls by Hunters. Its not a focus target issue. Remember to manage your pet, its not an autoattack bot, your ability to control its location, targets, and abilities is what defines you as a hunter. Pet stay, attack, passive is one of the most useful abilities in the game as a hunter learn how to use it.

Pet Training? Bite the bullet your gonna need those extra stable slots to find what pet works best for you. You need to train your pets which means storing your best friend, taming some other beast, learning its skill and returning to teach your initial pet the new skills. Tamed addon helps a ton in finding where the next level of each skill is coming from and what level you need to be. Word of warning, when taming a pet make sure you always have some form of stamina buff up as equal level mobs can and will kill you before you get them tamed. Freezing trap works well to deal with elite or same level pet taming. Just place it in front of you and it should allow the beast to get only a few hits in while you are taming it. Remember you cannot do anything else while taming (like drink a pot) and if your tame gets interrupted, the beast is at full health and your are likely low on health. I got to 4 health at level 24 because I didn’t use a trap to help with taming….

Where to Level/Zones to Avoid? Funny this one, your going to all of them, your going to quest in all of them, there is no avoiding any of them because if your not running dungeons and you don’t want to spend days grinding mobs in a single spot on a loop (your going to do some of this anyway) you have to. Mob density is key you can see it almost right away in any zone you enter so keep it in mind. If there is little to no space to move between mobs then realize your safest bet is to clear in and then back out. We kill fast so unlikely most areas will respawn on you. At higher levels zones like WPL and EPL have bad reputations but in reality they are just high density zones that require clearing instead of running through on your mount. Most dangerous zone by mob density Silithus. Most dangerous zone by mob abilities EPL. Most dangerous by level vs mobs, terrain and quests STV.

What mobs to Avoid? Get UnitScan or an equivalent addon that tells you what your up against. Lack of knowledge is a big killer in the game and attacking a mob that fears in the middle of an area full of other mobs is a sure way to end your run. Casters usually die fastest, anything that nets, freezes, slows or otherwise has some form of CC will likely CC your pet at some point in the fight and come for you (be ready). We have traps don’t forget that they really work great, you just have to remember to use them BEFORE you start the fight. Elites are bad ideas although when your skill is up you can handle an Elite your level without a lot of difficulty. Having said that some Elites below your level can wreck your day, always have an escape plan. Linked mobs are the cause of the number 1 killer. If you don’t know how many your gonna get be ready to run, we have some of the best escapes in the game, use them.

Addons? Bartender because I like to have more bars than blizzard gives me, MoveAny because I want stuff where I want it on my screen, Leatrix Maps its just better, UnitScan because its nice to know what the mob might do, ThreatMeter because its important to know when your about to get aggro, WeaponSwingTimer because movement and casting without interrupting your shots is important. Gathermate because I use tracking and this at least tells me where nodes should be while I am tracking other stuff (you cant track nodes and use tracking for mobs at the same time). Questie because it is the best quest tracker. Tamed, very useful pet info. A vendor addon that tells you item value is good as well.

Macros? Have Hunters Mark and Pet Attack tied saves a keybind. Have pet recall Macroed so the pet goes passive, uses dash and returns to you. Will save you from adds a ton as well as keep your pet from doing stupid stuff. Another macro, feign death (drops combat) places trap. Can be used if you need that trap that you didn’t place before entering combat.

Where to Stone? Early on, in the zone your leveling. After 20 you may want to pick an area that allows you to easily move from one continent to the other easier. World Buffs are also important and since those drop in BB and your Capital City I chose my capital city and I fly to BB to pick up the buff and then stone to my capital city to get the second buff. WhenBuff will tell you (usually) when the major world buffs are about to drop. These provide significant buffs to your character and are worth getting.

Online Resources? Well you’re here so you found the biggest one I use. Most quest information is also found here simply search the quest name in the search bar at the top or if you google it your going to get redirected here anyway.

Level 60 Hunter on Doomhowl. Leveled to 60 no dungeons and no groups (outside of those formed at the objective). Nothing wrong with group play or dungeons but I wanted to see what I could do and I found the limits of self found a little overbearing and strange like no trade and auction house but free to group and dungeon. I have seen groups of self found leveling together that doesn’t seem right to me.
Hope you find this useful. If not, well can’t blame me for trying. Stay Safe and Good Luck.

Comment by Twiddlez

Abbreviated Updated HC Hunter Leveling Guide

I thought I would put something together that is a little more current and applicable to someone who wants to level a Hunter in HC. As a side note this guide is for non-dungeon leveling not dungeon running, as frankly you could spec anything, go in with a group and run dungeons a few levels below you and level max your character in ¼ the time. Unlike a lot of the other guides this isn’t looking at damage or utility or ability to add benefits to a group. The guide is about making it to 60 and will probably benefit self found or those looking to do it on their own more. This version is the short and sweet with little explanation for choices. You can read the book in the other post for my reasoning.

Race? Dwarf/Troll is preferred.

What Kills You? 1) Adds 1.5) Not knowing the quest details 2) Lack of Mob info 3) Location of fight no clear escape 4) I am an idiot (falls etc) 5) Other player activities

Which Spec? BM with Survival various choices but key is to bolster defensive abilities and increase melee weapon skill/damage. We do high enough damage on mobs to not require crit multiplier damage increases while our up close fighting is very weak without Survival.

Weapon Skills? 2 Handed Sword/Axe Slow high damage so Raptor Strike does most single hit damage. Slower bow/gun over fast to allow more movement between shots. As close to current level cap as possible never more than one below current level.

What to Train? Obvious ones skip to save gold (flare etc) Do not skip tracking skills.

What Professions? Engineering and Mining and Cooking

What Gear/Stat? Stack Agility>Stamina, sprinkle some Intellect. Mail Gear good but doesn’t outweigh Stats. Of the Monkey, Of the Falcon. +Hit gear above level 50 is good if you can get it.

What Pet? Carrion, Bat or Owl are my preferred but your playstyle may dictate different pet.

How to Use Pet? Defensive while Solo, Passive in Neutral Cities or in a Group. Limit auto functions and control your pet manually as much as possible. Note that if you target a mob with HM and then change your mind and target another mob with HM your pet will attack the first target and then immediately go after the initially marked target, I have seen mine do this many times. Not sure if this is a bug or what but I suspect this is the cause for many accidental pulls by Hunters. Its not a focus target issue.

Pet Training? Use Addon Tamed to know what, where and when. You will need extra stable spots.

Where to Level/Zones to Avoid? Your going to need them all. Change your method to match mob density and mob abilities (IE fear mobs require larger clear area before engaging). Most dangerous zone by mob density Silithus. Most dangerous zone by mob abilities EPL. Most dangerous by level vs mob, terrain and quests STV.

What mobs to Avoid? UnitScan addon will help prepare you for what your about to get into.

Addons? Bartender, MoveAny, UnitScan, ThreatMeter, WeaponSwingTimer, GatherMate 2, Questie, Tamed.

Macros? HM and Pet Attack. Pet Recall Submissive, Dash, Follow. Feign Death, Set Trap

Where to Stone? In quest zone to 20, After 20 Your major city/BB for World Buffs.

Hope you find this useful. If not, well can’t blame me for trying. Stay Safe and Good Luck.

Comment by Vemrep

Hunter leveling bis stat prio is Agility then intelligence. Specifically “of the falcon” gear. Not sure why you have spirit there. Larger mana pool is the way for leveling, kind of taking this guide with a grain of salt.

Sorry to be critical but the person who wrote this guide either doesn’t actually play the game or has never leveled a hunter to level 60.

Please fix your guide and play the actual game thank you.

Hardcore WoW Hunter Leveling Guide 1-60 - WoW Classic

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