Hunter overview
The hunter fights from range with a bow, gun or crossbow while a tamed beast holds the enemy’s attention. It is the easiest class to level alone and a steady damage dealer in groups.
At a glance
| Roles | Ranged physical damage |
| Resource | Mana |
| Armor | Leather, mail from level 40 |
| Difficulty | Easy to level, harder to master |
| Talent calculator | Hunter talents |
Who can be a hunter
The Forever client lists Human, Dwarf and Night Elf for the Alliance, Orc, Tauren and Troll for the Horde, and both Skyborne lines. Human hunters and Skyborne hunters are new compared with the original game.
How the class plays
From level 10 you can tame a beast and keep it as a permanent companion. The pet tanks while you shoot, and keeping it alive and fed is part of the class. Hunters have a dead zone right next to the target where neither ranged attacks nor most melee attacks work well, so the basic skill is managing distance: let the pet hold the enemy, step back, shoot. Traps, stings and Feign Death cover the moments when things go wrong.
Talent trees
Beast Mastery makes the pet stronger and is the usual leveling tree. It ends in 
Bestial Wrath, a short window where the pet deals much more damage and cannot be stopped, with 
Frenzy one tier below.
Marksmanship is the ranged damage tree for groups. Its top talent is 
Trueshot Aura, which raises the ranged attack power of the whole party, and 
Ranged Weapon Specialization adds flat damage.
Survival is about traps, melee tools and staying alive, with 
Lightning Reflexes for more Agility near the bottom.
Leveling
Level as Beast Mastery. Tame a pet with a fast attack early and replace it as you find better ones in new zones. Buy ammunition in large stacks and carry a quiver or ammo pouch. With a good pet you can take on enemies above your level and pull two or three at a time.
In a group
Your jobs are steady damage, crowd control with traps, and pulling carefully. Turn off the pet’s Growl in dungeons where a warrior or paladin tanks, and do not let the pet run into extra packs. Hunters are also the usual choice for kiting and for pulling single enemies out of groups.
Strengths and weaknesses
- Strong: fastest and safest solo leveling, pet tank, strong in open-world PvP.
- Weak: ammunition and pet food cost money and bag space, damage falls off without ranged gear, pet control takes practice in dungeons.
Races and talents come from the Forever client files (build 1.60.1.70790); play advice follows the original game and will be checked against Forever’s changes.