What is a Hunter? If you were not familiar with the World of Warcraft Hunter you might visualize some guy tracking down animals and speaking with an Australian accent. However, the WoW Hunter is actually an expert tracker capable setting traps and using bows and guns in battle. But one of the biggest benefits to being a Hunter is their ability to tame beasts and make them their pets. Hunters are great utility players in a group and can offer many benefits such as crowd control, tracking, and a nice boost in damage output. Their pets can serve as off-tanks to prevent adds from overwhelming a group, making them a valued class for any team.
 

Flavor

The Hunter is best used as a ranged fighter. They are most effective from a distance where they can safely utilize their ranged attacks and Hunter's Mark to aid in dealing damage and enhancing the ranged attacks of allies. The Hunter can also serve as the group's tracker. With their tracking abilities they can locate nearby enemies and help detect any stealth foes before they can sneak up on their allies. Then by using their Hunter's Mark, they can expose any hidden enemies for their allies to see.

Hunters can also aid a group with crowd control abilities. They have a number of skills that can hinder an enemy's movement speed or freeze them in place for a few seconds, temporarily removing them from the battle. A Hunter's pet can also be used to assist in crowd control by becoming an off-tank to deal with any extra enemies. Through certain talents and skills the Hunter can help out his group by enhancing the group's damage output, making them a useful ally in many situations.

Hunter Strengths

• High damage ranged attacks.
• Ability to slow enemy movement speed.
• Feign Death ability.
• Pets can provide a nice distraction or deal high damage of their own.

Hunter Weaknesses

• Not naturally adept at close quarter combat.
• Cannot take much damage.

While you can spec your talents to build up your melee skills with the Survivability School, it's really a waste of good talent points. Even if you spec for full melee you will find that the Hunter doesn't take a beating well and getting up close and personal with a class like the warrior is just plain suicide. Going this route is kind of like watching a Paris Hilton home movie, it might last a while but eventually it's going to end with you going down. See what I did there?

That being said, Hunters are not totally weak in melee and with certain talent builds you can make your Hunter more adept at surviving a melee encounter without surrendering the benefits of your ranged combat talents. This by no means makes the Hunter the guy you want in the enemy's face, but it can improve your chances of coming out of a close encounter alive.

Defining Abilities

As a Hunter, ranged combat is your greatest asset and melee should be carried out as a last resort or when the main tank goes down and you're the next best thing. In the early levels the Hunter can wear leather armors, but as you progress in the game you will eventually earn the ability to wear mail armors at level 40. This will increase your ability to take a beating and aid in your survivability. At higher levels the Hunter gains access to skills that can enhance her own attack power greatly such as Aspect of the Dragonhawk and skills like Aspect of the Wild that can assist a group by enhancing their Nature Resistances.

Pets

Blizzard went all out to ensure that the hunter has a variety of pets to choose from. There are many different variations ranging from tanks to damage dealers and a large number of different creatures that can serve each role.  As you level up you can even train talents that will enable you to tame exotic pets, providing you with an even larger pool of pets to choose from. Your pets also gain a talent tree that will allow you to customize them even further. So when it comes to the pets, you will have no shortage of options. All you need to do is tame the one you want and train it like you want it.

A Hunter's pet is key to solo survivability. If you like going it alone, the pet is a needed commodity. They can distract your enemies and enable you to deal damage with your ranged attacks without having the enemy jump right in your face and force you into melee combat.

The PvP Hunter

If you play WoW long enough you will inevitably find yourself in a Player vs Player (PvP) situation. If this happens there are a few things you can do to ensure that your Hunter doesn't become a rich fertilizer for the landscape. Always make sure you stick with your group, if you have one. If you don't have a group and it's an open PvP event, make sure to move with the crowd. Soloing can be fun but doing so in a PvP field can get you killed pretty quickly. Always make use of your ability to track both humanoid and invisible characters as those Rogues will sneak up on you and jam a dagger in your back in a second. Lastly, always make sure you use your pet and movement speed debuff skills to aid in dealing ranged damage. This works best if your group is engaging the enemy and you stand back and blast away from the distance. Just be ready to use your traps if one breaks off and makes a dash at you.

In PvP the Hunter can stand his own, but you need to play it smart. Melee classes and high damage dealers can be a problem for you so bring potions, bandages, and be prepared to retreat or use crowd control if need be.

Who will like the Hunter?

If you enjoy controlling pets and attacking from a distance the Hunter is the class for you. MMOG veterans that are familiar with classes like the Ranger or EverQuest's Beastmaster and Mage will find it an enjoyable class. For all intents and purposes the Hunter is a ranged fighter with a pet.  If you're looking for a strong melee class, the Hunter is not what you need.