Taking your Hunter into PvP.

O.K. You are level 60 and ready to hit the BG’s. It is important to remember that regardless how you are spec’ed range is your friend, melee is not. I am a 20/0/31 R12 Hunter, and I still do a lot more damage in a ranged engagement. Of course I fear no melee, I don’t care if it is a Warrior, Rogue or Pally, it is just a chance to WC or CA, run a few steps turn around and range attack again. One problem that I constantly have is running out of mana, if this is the case I will almost always put the pet on passive, feign death, get a drink, and send the pet back into combat while I am medding. Let’s look at each BG individually:

Alterac Valley:
One of the largest mistakes I have made in AV was to attack the closest target, this is silly. Why sit there and shoot a Warrior that is being spam healed? You have range, always use it. Another tip for a Mage engagement is not to get all scared when a Mage blinks to you, take the charge and RS, I can easily crit a Mage for 1k now, about 700 without RS. (You need a decent wep for this) For a Shadow Priest, VS and get out of his/her range, if they get close they will fear bomb and you are screwed.

Defense:
If you side is getting pushed back, you really need to do the best you can to slow them down. If a melee peep attacks you, including a Rogue popping out of stealth, pop Deterrence, this gives you a few secs to WC/CA and move. Defending against a charge by the enemy is really where a Hunter shines in AV, you can stand still and keep up the DPS. (Do not stand still if a Priest is charging, you will get feared) Never forget you can feign death and pop a trap on coming up. Also remember to fear any pet agro you get on you.

On Offense:
This will cause a few problems, if you are pushing your enemy, then you will be constantly moving, which will interrupt your shooting. Don’t be afraid to run right up to the front line and hit a healer or Mage in the enemy rear of their frontline. If you can, always Cheetah to chase any running healers/mage, unless you are getting hit.

If at a Flag: (GY or Building)
Here are more problems, you need to pick a spot at range to the flag, inside a building this is very difficult. You may be better off picking a spot on a roof or in range of the entrance, to pick off any enemies that try to enter. Of course, as general advice, after you hit exalted in AV, you should move on to AB or WSG.

I feel kind of bad without more advice for AV, if you have any suggestions or questions, please fell free to ask. The Hunters role in AV is not pronounced like it is in AB or WSG.

WSG:
This can be a nightmare for a Hunter, while you can melee, you DPS is best in an open environment. You will most likely have players screaming at you to “not fight in the middle”, and this is good advice, so what do you do? The first thing you should do is scout both sides, (Left click your PvP insignia) do you have a strong offensive team? (Assuming they know what they are doing) If so play defense, (see below) if not, you are going to have to go offense/escort.

Escorting the Flag:
This is easily the best role for you. WS to sleep any enemy in the way, if you get caught behind the flag carrier spam drop traps, (as fast as your cooldown allows) and CS any enemy pursuing the carrier. Always have your pet on a caster! If you are right with the carrier WC anyone that gets close, you really have a ton of options on how to help the carrier. The problem with escorting is that inside of both tunnels you will have LOS problems. Always take a peek at your radar, if there are no enemies then stop at the entrance and stop anyone coming thru it, mounted or not. You can easily tell enemies from friendly, just compare your radar to your mini-map if there is a dot on radar that is not on the mini-map it is an enemy, only takes a split second to compare them.

Defending a Flag:
You can do this 2 ways, the first is inside. This is really difficult since all you can really do is drop a trap and stay in a corner to try to keep range. You can try to stay on the little area on the second floor, but a lot of enemies come that way. Another, better way to defend is to go outside and move to the opposite side of your GY, here you can easily see any enemy that approach and you will have plenty of time to react if they go up the tunnel. Do not forget to use traps as often as possible. If the enemy does get the flag, you need to stop/slow them down as fast as possible. Druids are extremely dangerous, if you slow them, they will pop back into caster and go back to travel almost instantly, so always pop Cheetah when pursuing a solo druid and pop CS, VS, and AS as often as possible. If you are pursuing a group with escorts, do not go after the carrier, go after any healers, slow them down and VS. If you try to DPS and slow the carrier, the healers will just spam heal and dispel the carrier.

Carrying the Flag:
I hate doing this, but will do it if I have to. Grab the flag and pop a FAP, if no enemies are around use Cheetah, and grab a sprint buff if it is up. If you have incoming enemy up the tunnel then go out the top and either run over their GY (Risky) or head the other way. Try to time your drops of freeze traps, and leave your pet on passive. If you WS an enemy in front and your pet is on aggressive, he will attack and break the sleep. If you get an enemy on you pop deterrence, WC and go. (Unless you have escorts, then it is there job to deal with it) One thing that I have learned and LOVE, is a “handoff”, I am more then happy to run up to a friendly Druid/Shaman and drop the flag. (Make sure they know your intent BEFORE you drop it)

What to do when both teams are holding each others flags in their base:
If your enemy is “turtle’ing” the flag, (Holding it in their base with a ton of guards) play defense, as you cannot DPS as well as others inside. I have, on occasion, ran with a group to WS a Mage or healer, but this is rare. Defend outside as described above, if a zerg is incoming move to your flag carrier and lay a trap. Do not move to your flag carrier if the enemy is close as they will simply follow you to the carrier if they do not know where he/she is. If this happens lead them AWAY from the carrier. Also do not forget the 4 little “houses” on the map they always have buffs in them. (Unless someone just took it)

Arathi Basin:
Sometimes I get screamed at here, as I have a strange strategy. You will hear “Fight at the Flag, do not fight on the roads”. Well, I won’t fight on the roads if we are losing, (they have 3 or more bases) however if we have 3 or more bases I will do anything I can to “pull” the enemy away from a flag. In an open area a Hunter really has a significant advantage over other classes, I use this to my advantage. For example, if we are winning in points and have 3 or more bases, I will do what I can to hit ST and drag their players to the building. (By their starting GY) I have pulled as many as 6 players there to kill me, I have also pulled the guards from the ST flag while another friendly player capped it. I have a “personality” flaw where it is extremely difficult for me to stay in one place too long, I need to be out in the thick of things doing what I can to help. This is not always the most intelligent thing to do, but more times then not, it works.

If the game is really close I will defend a flag solo, I have grown rather good at this. You can go to a flag, set your pet on “Stay” and “Aggressive”, and then walk away to a good shooting position. If an enemy comes to the flag your pet will attack and after the target is dead he will go back to the flag and defend it again, LOL try it! Also a Rogue cannot Sap a beast. Keep in mind if you are attacked while doing this your pet will leave the flag and attack the target that hit you. Another little trick I learned is to “Hide and Shoot”. At BS there is a little hill by the flag where you can duck down and attack at will without being seen, there is also a place by ST that is near the water that offers the same option.