[Hunter] - leveling hunter tips requested

[uke]

So I've been getting the itch to level my dormant nelf hunter, sitting at level 27 or whereabouts. I'm thinking of grinding out the WG shards and EoH to get him the +10%XP BoA shoulders, and the BoA bow.

Some questions:

What enchant on the bow, since it's not going to be replaced for a long time? Mongoose?

I know that survival is the primary raid dps spec now, but what's the preferred leveling spec? Is it still BM?

Do I want a ferocity pet for increased damage, or a tanking pet to help keep aggro/survive whilst I pew-pew?

Do you even bother applying serpent sting on leveling mobs, or not worth it from a mana standpoint?

Thanks in advance!

[amh]

What enchant on the bow, since it's not going to be replaced for a long time? Mongoose?

Mongoose goes on melee weapons, and does not proc on ranged attacks. Get 2x BoA-dagger with 15agility on each.
As for your bow, the best scope you can attach to it is either +10 or +15 dmg I believe. Haven't used mine in a while (have they fixed it yet?)

I know that survival is the primary raid dps spec now, but what's the preferred leveling spec? Is it still BM?

Yes. And even then you'll have aggro-issues. I've only leveled with my Ghost Saber, so I can't comment on the tank-type pets. Cat keeps itself alive with some awesome talent that heals it when it crits :]

Do you even bother applying serpent sting on leveling mobs, or not worth it from a mana standpoint?

No, it's a mana-hog. Hunter's Mark -> Send Pet -> Auto-shoot

Ugh, I should play my hunter more often. Pretty cool class.

[Aedh]

I leved as BM back TBC on my first hunter and against during wrath.
Currently leveling another hunter as MM with a dragonhawk, which is a cunning pet, but its my 2nd hunter alt and I like making things different
Level as BM its lol afk auto shot while your pet rips faces off.
Unless you are heart set on running with a ferocity or cunning pet level with a tenacity pet. I like boars, but that's personal preference any tenacity pet you can find will make a good pet tank.
I like serpent sting personally, and I am of the view that if you plan on raiding eventually you might as well practice some of the raid skills from lvl 10 as a hunter, everythign before that is a horrible experience of LOL I duz gud melee attax.
Teneactiy pets can be(should be) speccd to genereate more threat with growl and to heal themselves with growl and to get more healing done to them. Makes having your pet tank random high lvl mobs/elite much easier.

[Shamora]

The preferred leveling spec is whatever you think is the most fun. Hunters are so easy to level it really doesn't matter what you pick. Personally I've always enjoyed leveling with MM, generally using a Cat or other ferocity pet. The chance to heal and gain happiness on attacks is very nice. Tenacity pets are better for the harder elite mobs, but most I can do with a ferocity anyway.

Once you hit level 30 you get feign death and then it doesn't really matter if you pull aggro from your pet (and you will). I like MM especially once you get in the mid-upper 40s and get Rapid Recuperation.

In the earlier levels I'll send the pet in and wait a sec then fire an aimed then arcane and auto shot until dead. At one point in Outlands I stopped sending my pet in to get aggro and just opened up with my shots as stuff was dying so fast it didn't really matter. I usually don't even bother with Hunter's Mark unless it's an elite.

[Makaijin]

If i were to choose a pet for leveling it would have to be a bear. I mean, Thunderstump AND Swipe? Back in BC I used a carrion bird for the screech. I prefer pets that can AoE tank good. Using Mend Pet, you can and will pull aggro when your pets starts tanking the 2nd mob or more. When I pull too much I'd rather the pet tanks them all than find a corner to feign death, thus losing potential xp.

[fafhrd]

IIRC all the scopes have level requirements, so if the BoA bows count as lvl1 weapons, I didn't think you could scope them at all?

Specwise, I think BM is still the easiest levelling, although MM with RR generally means never having to stop for mana even going all out each mob. Pet threat sucks across the board, I'd think you'd still want a tenacity pet with thunderstomp. Definitely either tenacity or ferocity for the self-healing and self-happiness talents so you don't need to waste time healing and feeding them. Also get the minor glyph of mend pet ASAP, so you really never have to carry pet food.

Depending on how much money you want to spend, you could dual spec him too (earliest at level 40 I think?), and switch specs as seemed appropriate. I don't know what level the new call stabled pet thing is usable at, but probably wouldn't be practical to run two pets due to level differences.

Personally I always levelled as marks and liked it.

Serpent stinging and other debuffs, don't bother imo. Nothing should be alive long enough to matter unless you're doing something unusually hard, and "practicing raid skills" is silly, you'll be playing very differently in raids anyway, worry about that when you're in a raid (or at least 80).

Try to get into a sunwell "achievement run" at 70 to see if you can score a bow that uses no ammo too, helps with levelling the last 10 levels (and grinding/trash at 80)

[halabar]

Spec BM for leveling.

Get a bear, as they are the best quest/tank pet now (turtles are better for solo targets, but bears rule when you might have multiple bogeys).

Only sting elites and mobs in instances.

Check the gear guides for the best weapons at your level.

[Elsie]

I put my pet on aggressive, bound assist pet to a button, and put my pet on follow. A few hours later my movies were done and I was a level higher.

[amh]

Had to go try it, so yeah, Charmed Ancient Longbow now works with steady shot!

Edit: Wowhead had some input too!

As of patch 3.1 you can add a Heartseeker Scope to it. I'm not sure about other scopes but the heartseeker scope pushes my crit to 81% on a lvl4 hunter.

[Kelaan]

UNless things have changed a lot, below 40-ish, you will be able to seriously abuse spirit regeneration:

Send pet, serpent sting. Don't waste mana on a mark (though I did it reflexively). Drop a mend pet at the start if you expect the pet to take a lot, but it shouldn't as BM spec. (They eat faces. <3) Multi or arcane if your pet has good threat, but then feel free to ride out the serpent sting ticks so that you start regenerating mana after five seconds. After a fight, if the pet is hurt enough that a mend pet as you sent it to the next target isn't enough, use a bandage: it's free healing, and your mana is still regenerating. If serpent sting's damage per mana is bad, use a multishot or arcane shot.

Think of fighting as a hunter as a mana endurance game: the longer you have mana, the more you can chain pull. (Also, the mana-on-kill BOA trinket might be nice, but probably loltastic since it has spellpower.) If you can get 2 or 3 things securely on your pet, multishot becomes more efficient, though sometimes you spend more mana healing the pet than you save just chain killing things. I leveled with a drink addiction, and if I'd had a mage friend I'd have used even more.... I wasn't very efficient my first time around, and am too impatient to do it much now. (Though, prot pally at 70 taught me some patience.)

My main tip was to use bandages on your pet rather than mend pet, when you can, though. That saved me a lot of mana when I was leveling my second hunter (still ~38). And, level as BM, IMO. The pet is a monster who gets better every time you level, whereas your gear doesn't always (you have the BoA stuff, but that's not all your gear). That, and improved mend pet and intimidation are so very useful when grinding.

[Doogiehowser]

At level 20, Aspect of the Viper is nice too. Aspect dancing while you are moving to your next target will help with the mana regen as well.

I always would mend pet on the run as well since it's an instant cast. I have no clue what your race is but now that draenei have their instant hot cast, I have yet to die with my hunter (Then again, did anyone ever die with their hunter while leveling?!) It's just another tool to allow for your pet to take on a few more targets at a time.

I know it sounds dumb and elementary but get used to using your tracking capabilities. If you're looking for that one spawn, they'll show up on your map so long as you are tracking them. It can also help you avoid needless kills when you're looking for a specific mob.

[badgermonkey]

Levelling as a hunter, you don't need enchants, you don't need special gear. Put pet on go faster mode, and point it in the right direction. Occasionally heal it and shooot stuff.

[Aedh]

Levelling as a hunter, you don't need enchants, you don't need special gear. Put pet on go faster mode, and point it in the right direction. Occasionally heal it and shooot stuff.

WIN

[hoho]

My hunter has boa daggers with 15agi, bow and shoulders. The rest of the gear is mostly quest/boe greens and 1-2 instance blues. My pet is crocodile and my hunter is L39. From L35->39 I did in STV killing L40+ mobs to skin them for heavy hides. I could chainpull and have my croc tank 3-4 mobs 4-5 levels higher than me. Only times I died was when I forgot to swap to AotV early enough and didn't have mana to mend pet.

Yeah, hunters are ridiculously OP. Better gear will just make you kill things faster.

[blkthunder]

Do yourself a favor and lrn to kite early, and practice it often, it'll save your life.

set pet to cower,
hunters mark mob,
keep serpent sting up,
frost trap,
jumpshot arcane,
jumpshot aimed,
pause multi/auto,
lrn situational awareness (have a path free of mobs and always have track humanoids up if ur on a pvp server)
lrn to aspect swap mid battle to maintain dps and mana efficiency,

these constitute a huntard from a decent hunter. Itemizing gear will be useless till ur 80. And since you're going to be lvling BM know that stam and ap scale best for pets.