Race played = Troll
Level obtained = 20
Armor = cloth, leather(use leather when you have a choice) at level 40 may use Chain.(With training)
Weapon of choice = Dagger —– Dagger/Dagger at lvl 20.(Hunter gets Dual Wield @20 - due to the lack of Offhand axes, it is suggested to go Dagger)
Leveling Difficulty = Medium until level 10 then very easy as Hunter gets a pet at 10.
NOTE: the cost to buy each skill is listed next to its name.

The Hunter Leveling 1-15

The Hunter class plays at a medium difficulty level until level 10 at which point it may chose to find a pet. After the hunter gets a pet, it is by far the easiest class to play and level.(If done correctly) So you are already to play the Hunter class. The first thing you want to do is open your inventory and right click on the scroll, or other object that will open the quest window on the left side of the screen and give you your first quest, accept the quest and if you look on your minimap you should see a little yellow dot this dot represents the NPC that you talk too to complete your first quest.(You may have to walk a little ways, but just starting off the quest NPC is usually very close to your starting location) For future reference anytime you see a little yellow dot on your minimap this is the location of an NPC that you have completed a quest for. When you get to level 5 you may take a trade skill, which may also show you little yellow dots on the minimap, these will either represent a “mine node” (if you have the skill “mining”)that can be mined or a “herb plant”(if you have the skill “herbalism”) that can be harvested.

Leveling 1-4

This will go by very quickly and in most cases will take roughly 30 to 45 minutes. Get any and all quests from any NPC that has a yellow explanation point above its head. The spells you will have at lvl 1-4 are:

Raptor Strike Level 1(2 silver)
Cost = 25 Mana —– Activation time = Next melee attack —– Cooldown = 6 secs. —– Must have melee wep equipped
A melee attack that raises damage by 11.

Serpent Sting Level 1(50 copper)
Cost = 15 Mana —– Activation time = Instant —– Range = 8-35 yards —– Must have Ranged wep equipped.
Shoots target, causing 20 Nature damage over 15 secs. You may only have 1 Sting per Hunter on any one target.(DOT Damage Over Time)

The Hunter class is always best at ranged combat, only using his/her melee weps as a last resort. At these lower levels it is very important to make sure that you only start an attack at the maximum range possible. A skill that the Hunter receives here is the skill “Autoshot” which is a simple skill that keeps firing arrows at a target once you initiate ranged combat. Approach a “mob” and as you approach you will see that the numbered box on the skill “Serpent Sting” turns white, when this turns white it lets you know that you are now in range to use that skill, click the “Serpent Sting” skill and you will see the ranged combat begin, your character should keep shooting arrows,(or bullets if you are equipped with a gun) until the mob closes within 8 yards of you, at this point click the skill “Raptor Strike” and and you will see your character animate into a melee attack, it is important to note that you CANNOT keep shooting a mob with a ranged wep once it closes to within melee range of you. Also if any of the skills mentioned here are not already on your hotbar you will have to open your “abilities window” and left click the skill to drag it down to your hotbar. (At the lower levels you will only experience the “melee” type mob’s later on you will face mobs that once you cast a spell on them they will start casting spells on you!) In most cases you will be able to get off 3-4 shots before the mob actually gets close enough to hit you. If the mob is in melee with you and you try to shoot it it will fail telling you that the mob is too close for ranged combat. At the lower levels after the mob gets within melee range just whack him with your weapon a few times and he should die. If you have already played other character type classes in WOW there is one very important thing to remember, as a hunter if a mob runs from you DO NOT chase it, simply let it move more then 8 yards away and shoot it :) By now you should be getting to level 4.

Leveling 4-6

At level 4 you will be able to buy the following skills:

Aspect of the Monkey(50 copper)
Cost = 20 Mana —– Casting time = Instant —– Self Buff only
The hunter gains the dodging skill of a monkey, increasing by 8% the chance to dodge. You may only have 1 Aspect active at a time, later on you will get additional choices.

Arcane Shot Level 1(1 silver)
Cost = 25 Mana —– Casting time = Instant —– Cooldown = 6 secs —– Range = 8-35 yards —– Must have ranged wep equipped
Instantly hits the target for 13 Arcane damage.

The skill “Aspect of the Monkey” is a “buff” that adds to your chance to dodge, you should ALWAYS have this skill active until you get “Aspect of the Hawk” at level 10. You also have a new skill here “Arcane Shot” Now when you pull you would pull with Serpent Sting and then immediately click on Arcane shot,(there is a delay between all skills of about .5 of a sec so u may have to wait a tad) Because there is a cooldown of 6 secs on your Arcane Shot you will most likely not be able to use that skill again until the next mob you engage or the current mob you are in combat with runs away. DO NOT spam use the skill Serpent Sting as this is a DOT and will not stack, if you do this it will simply cause you to mana dump,(yes I did this as a noob and felt really stupid after I figured that it does not stack) thereby increasing your down time before you can engage another mob. One of the “undesirable traits of a Hunter is that in order to lower your downtime(downtime is the time it takes you to rest between engaging mobs) you must use food and drink if you want to level in the shortest amount of time. So unless you are vastly overstocked never throw away or sell food or drink, how do you throw away an item? - Left click it(don’t right click an item or you will “use it”) and drag it over the playing screen left click again, a little box will appear asking if you really wish to destroy this item… Continue on to level 6, at level 6 you will most likely leave the “noob” town and make your way to another town to get new quests and higher level mobs. Up to now when you see a mob it was most likely yellow which means that these will not attack you if you get too close, however if see a mob that is red then this mob will attack you if you get to close, this is commonly called “agro”.

Leveling 6-8

At level 6 you will be able to buy the following skill(s):

Hunter’s Mark Level 1(1 silver)
Cost = 15 Mana —– Activation time = Instant —– Range = 100 yards
Places a red downwards pointing arrow over the target.(referred to as the “Hunters Mark” in game) this increases the ranged attack power of ALL attackers by 20. Also the target can always be seen by the hunter even if the target turns invisible or stealth’s.(Not sure if this works against a Rogue using the advanced skill of “Vanish”) The target will also remain Visible on the Hunters minimap for 10 min..(Unless it dies)

Track Beasts
Cost = ? —– Casting time = Instant —– Range = appears on the minimap.(NOTE: SEE PARAGRAPH BELOW)
Track Humanoids
Cost = ? —– Casting time = Instant —– Range = appears on the minimap.(NOTE: SEE PARAGRAPH BELOW)
Track Undead
Cost = ? —– Casting time = Instant —– Range = appears on the minimap.(NOTE: SEE PARAGRAPH BELOW)

The skill “Hunters Mark” should always be cast first, and should be casted as soon as you decide on a target, this has an effective range of 100 yards so why not cast it from far away and let your mana regen while you move closer to engage the target? So, now combat would be: Hunters Mark, Serpent Sting, Arcane Shot, Raptor Strike(when in melee) and whack with melee wep until dead, remember don’t chase the mob if it runs just shoot it. About the 3 tracking skills listed above, I am not exactly sure when you get them, I do remember that at level 20 I had all 3 of them. I was going to try to find out the info from websites and such but after looking at 4 different ones they all had different levels listed!(these skills were probably moved around allot in the beta tests) So instead of giving you possibly wrong info, I will simply tell you that when you go to a trainer look at the skills that are listed as “unavailable” and you can see exactly at what level you get these skills. You probably will not be able to see this on the trainer in the noob zone as he is only lvl 5 and can only train you up to level 5 skills, but any trainer above level 20,(you can see you trainers level when you mouse over him/her or left click on one) will be able to show you. The skill “Track Humanoids” does work in PvP, however when you have more then 30-40 targets on your minimap it tends to lag a little, and YOU WILL have 30-40 targets on your minimap at one time when engaged in PvP. It is still a nice skill though, see that little red dot on your minimap away from the main “zerg” in PvP, yep that’s a straggler cast Hunters Mark on him and sic your pet on him, when you get close enough use concussion shot to slow him down and…. wait a minute I am sorry this is not the PvP article! and you are only level 6, you do not have concussion shot or a pet yet!(sorry, PvP tends to get me in an uproar) Anyway back to the leveling, if you are going to take any trade skills get them now, even if you have to take some time to walk to your nearest capitol,(which is pretty close to you now, regardless which race you have chosen) You can get your 2 main tradeskills at lvl 5.

Leveling 8-10
At level 8 you may buy the following skills:

Parry(2 silver)
Cost = 0 —– Must have melee wep equipped to use this passive skill.
Parry is a passive skill(a passive skill is one that you do not do anything at all to use it its just there and will “activate” itself when the time is right) that gives you a chance to use your wep to “block” an incoming attack, you can find the exact % chance to “Parry” by opening your abilities window, then click on the “general” tab and look at the skill named “Parry”

Raptor Strike Level 2(2 silver)
Cost = 25 Mana —– Activation time = next melee attack —– Cooldown = 6 secs —– Must have melee wep equipped.
A melee attack that raises damage by 11.

Concussive Shot Level 1(2 silver)
Cost = 25 Mana —– Casting time = Instant —– Range = 8-35 yards —– Cooldown = 10 secs. —– Must have ranged wep equipped.
Slows the targets movement speed to 50% of normal for 3 seconds.(NOTE: this causes a high amount of threat)

The skill Parry is self explanatory, Raptor Strike is an upgrade of a previous skill, which leaves Concussion Shot, this now changes your combat style yet again. What Concussion shot does, is it slows your target, by doing this it gives you more time to shoot it, which in the end means higher damage output before the mob can close to melee range with you.(This is another skill that is extremely useful in PvP) Now the combat should look something like this: Hunters Mark,(let mana regen after using this skill - it only takes a second or 2 and does not cause the mob to agro to you) Concussion Shot, Serpent Sting, Arcane Shot, (mob closes to melee range) Raptor Strike,and whack on it until dead.(Keep using the Raptor Strike skill after it cools down) Huh? You wants some hints? You can use Concussion Shot and Arcane shot while running! - these are insta skills which have no activation time.(Did I mention how useful the Hunter is in PvP?) By now you should have visited your capitol or have a quest that leads you to your capitol for your race. As a side note you cannot sell conjured food or water, yes I already tried… At level 10-11 you will most likely leave the level 5-10 “area” and be sent on a quest to visit a new location, this is also the level at which you may be introduced to your first “elite” quest. Elite quests are not meant to be done solo and no you cannot solo an “elite” mob that is your same level in most cases. I believe Bliz did this to encourage “grouping” after level 10 if you so desire. You can easily tell an “elite” mob from a normal mob by the word “elite” in the mobs name or the wreath around the mobs pic when you left click it. You can safely left click a mob to get info however if you right click it then you enter combat mode with that mob. In My opinion the Hunter is by FAR the easiest class to solo with, as long as you get the right pet type, see the next paragraph…

Leveling 10-12

At level 10 you may buy the following skills:

Revive Pet(3 silver)
Cost = 369 Mana —– Casting time = 10 secs.
After your pet dies this is the skill you use to bring it back to life. After you pet is rezzed feed him because he is going to be mad.(No that’s not a joke)

Aspect of the Hawk Level 1(3 silver)
Cost = 20 Mana —– Casting time = Instant
The Hunter gains the ranged skill of a Hawk, raising Ranged Attack Power by 20. You may only have 1 Aspect active at a time, later on you will get additional choices.

Feed Pet(3 silver)
Cost = 0 —– Casting time = 0 —– Range = 10 yards —– Must select food to feed your pet.
This skill allows you to feed your pet. Click the skill “feed pet”, then open your inventory and left click on a food item that you pet eats.(Do not click on a food item in your hotbar as this will cause you to eat it, you must “check” your pets details to see what type of food it likes(this is done by right clicking on your pets pic and choosing “pet Details” from the drop down menu. If you keep your pet “happy”(that means well fed) he will deal 125% of normal damage. If you try to feed your pet something it does not like it will not eat it, if you try to feed your pet a food item that is below his level he will gain less happiness then if you fed him food at his level.

Beats Training(quest reward)
Cost = 0 —– this skill cannot be “bought” it is a quest reward.
As you gain levels and your pet does he will get “training points” if your pet has enough”training points” and he is of high enough level you may teach him a new skill. New skills can be “bought” from a “pet trainer” or “acquired” from pets with different skills.

Serpent Sting Level 2(3 silver)
Cost = 30 Mana —– Casting time = Instant —– Range = 8-35 yards —– Must have ranged wep equipped.
Shoots target, causing 40 Nature damage over 15 secs. You may only have 1 Sting per Hunter on any one target.(DOT Damage Over Time)

Call Pet(quest reward? or 3 silver)
Cost = 0 —– Casting time = Instant —– This is the skill you use if your pet is not with you and he is not dead. If you make your pet really mad by not feeding him then he may leave your “control” and may even attack you! BAD PET!

O.K. This is what you were waiting on right? For starters as soon as you hit level 10, go to your trainer. Your trainer will send you on (if I remember correctly) 3 quests, 1 at a time. These quests will give you 2 of your pet skills, the others must be bought from a trainer. Do the trainer quests BEFORE going after a pet you want to keep. After you complete his quests “Abandon” your current pet.(Abandon means get rid of it forever, when you do this give it the “stay” command and move away from it, because as soon as you “Abandon it” it will attack you. - do not confuse “Abandon” with “Dismiss” - Dismiss simply means that you are telling your pet to “go away” and come back again when you use the “Call Pet” skill, yes when you call him he will be mad because you dismissed him, so have the correct food ready and waiting) You can also “store” your pet at a “stables” location although it will cost you a small amount of coin to “buy” a slot. Now about your pet, everyone will have a different opinion on what type of pet to get, I went with a “tank” class.(My pet was a “Raptor” strictly meat eater only, very high hit points, very high armor. A raptor is the small dinosaur looking things running around the barrens on 2 legs, not to be confused with thunder lizards.) A secret little spot for exactly level 10 raptors? Walk out of the south entrance of Orgrimar turn to the east as if you were going to catch a ride on the airships stationed there. Keep walking past the “airport” and start looking around that is where you will find level 9-10 raptors. O.K. you spotted your “pet to be” left click it and then use the “Tame Pet” ability, you will see little red hearts above the mobs head as you get him to fall in love with you… the pet will run up and start whacking on you!!! DO NOT MOVE or stop casting you must sit there and keep channeling the spell until it completes, at that point the mob is your pet. I have never had this “Tame Pet” ability fail, but I came close to dieng quite a few times. The raptor pet comes with the ability “growl level 2″ make sure you set this to “auto cast” - On your little pet hotbar you will see the “growl” ability(or if you have a different pet you may have different abilities) if there is a little white square and its all lit up and going around the edges that means it is in the “auto-cast” mode, if you do not see this, then left or right click the ability and it will “turn on” Keep your pet well fed, as long as your pet is “happy”(his little face icon will be green) then he will do 125% of normal damage. When feeding your pet watch the combat window, when I was feeding my pet food at his level it was raising happiness at 35 points per tick, when I fed him food below his level it was only raising his happiness at 17 points per tick. KEEP plenty of food in you inventory at all times, my pet ate about 10-15 portions an hour, but I worked him really hard and he died a few times LOL. This level you also get Serpent Sting 2, which is an upgrade from the previous skill of the same name and a new skill “Aspect of the Hawk” this new skill should ALWAYS be active unless you are finding yourself in allot of melee If you do it right you will have you pet holding the agro about 80-95% of the time and and be killing mobs your level about as fast as a hot knife goes through warm butter - enjoy it… By now you should understand the basics of playing a Hunter and be well on your way in the art of mastering your pet, at the capitol city you should also find your “bank” as this has numerous “slots” to store your items, before storing items see if you can “stack” them by dragging one item over the top of another items of the same type. Stackable items include: potions, food, water, crafting materials, and crafting supplies. Also depending on which type of server you are playing on PvP or PvE you may start to see enemies from the other “realm.” From level 10-20 the basics of the game and the mobs start to take you out of the “noobness” and into the full game, expect to fight “caster” mobs, “bow and arrow” mobs and mobs that will give you poison, stuns, or other negative status effects. You may also want to open your “social” window and flag yourself as “looking for a group” if that is a style of play that you desire.(You also may choose to pick a talent here, see the bottom of this post for a link to a list of the talents available.)

Leveling 12-14

At level 12 you may buy the following Skills:

Mend Pet Level 1(8 silver)
Cost = 50 Mana —– Casting time = Instant —– Range = 20 yards —– This is a channeling spell.(You must stay still and keep channeling this spell until it is done to get the full effect.)
Funnels health to your pet from your Mana gives your pet 20 health every second for 5 seconds.(As long as you stay channeling)

Wing Clip Level 1(8 silver)
Cost = 40 Mana —– Casting time = Instant - Range = Melee —– Must have melee wep equipped.
Causes 5 damage and slows the targets movement speed to 50% of normal.
Ability lasts 10 secs.

Arcane shot Level 2(8 silver)
Cost = 35 Mana —– Casting time = Instant —– Cooldown = 6 secs —– Range = 8-35 yards —– Must have ranged wep equipped.
Instantly hits the target for 21 Arcane damage.

The “Mend Pet” ability can be used anytime including in the middle of combat.(It does cause a high amount of threat though be prepared for your pet to lose the agro even with the growl ability) Arcane shot is an upgrade for a skill, Wing clip really is not needed as long as you have your pet alive, there is an easy talent skill to get that increases your pets outdoor speed by 30% and it only costs 1 point once you get to that spot in the tree. By the time you hit this level you should be seeing your pets “Loyalty” hitting level 3-5, the highest I have ever seen my pets loyalty level was 6 and I was level 20 and he was level 19. At this point in your leveling you should move on to a higher area, you should be at the crossroads(that’s a town). Here you will start to find that you are not in the lobie noob zones anymore. The majority of the mobs are aggressive(red con) and if you pull them and they have buddies nearby they will come also. You will also find mobs that “call” other mobs if they get hurt and are close to death, so if there are other mobs close by that are of the same type do not be surprised if they agro you when you have the mob you are working on almost dead. The best way to see this is to mouse over your chat window, go to the tab that says “combat” left click and hold and drag it to the right side of your screen to separate it from the chat window, now you can review all the damage and other combat related actions taken by you and the mob you were in combat with, as well as seeing any new chat messages in the chat window. At this level you really need to be paying full attention to your surroundings. Stay away from the “dinosaur looking” lizards south of the crossroads as they are melee and casters, and will zap you with lightning damage. Needless to say, now is a good time to get in a group. Also at the crossroads I am 99.9% sure you will experience your first PvP encounter… If you would rather not jump into PvP just yet then instead of going to the Crossroads(which will always be heavy in PvP) go to the “airport” a little east of Orgrimar and catch the “south” airship this will take you to the “airport” right outside of the Undercity.(Where all the Undead peeps are at) its a free trip so why not?

Leveling 14-20

At level 14 you may buy the following skills:

Scare Beast Level 1(12 silver)
Cost = 35 Mana —– casting time = 1.5 secs —– Cooldown = 30 secs —– Range = 10 yards.
Scares the currently targeted mob, cause it to run away for up to 10 secs. You may only fear 1 mob at a time and any damage caused will bring the mob back to its normal self and back to whacking on you.

Eyes of the Beats(12 silver)
Cost = 20 Mana —– Casting time = 3 secs —– Range - 50000 yards
This ability allows you to see through your pets eyes for 60 secs, as well as control him.

Eagle Eye(12 silver)
Cost = 25 mana —– Casting time = Instant —– Range = 50,000 yards
This ability is only useable outdoors and brings up a green targeting reticule, which you can move with your mouse, when you left click your view will zoom into the area where you put the reticule.

The skills “Eye of the Beats” and “Eagle eye” are in my opinion eye candy only, although the “eagle Eye” skill may have a little PvP usage in it. Scare Beast, is an “emergency” spell and with a timer of 30 secs, you should only use it as such. At this point as a Hunter you should be having no problems at all completing quest at or slightly above your level, your pet,(if a tank class) should easily be able to handle 2 at a time with your full time ranged attack skills. A few times my pet had to take on 3 at one time, yes he died but all 3 died as well and I was only down to half hits. Pretty soon you will be heading to your second set of “elite quests”, so hopefully by now you have met quite a few players and already have some friends you can do the quests with. As you do your quests remember that the top most quest in your quest list under an area is the easiest one to complete, so in most cases you should do these quests first.