Start Instance Training Before Level 20

Hunters is the most popular class-type on World of Warcraft because of its great ability to play in a “solo” format. Because of this, you’ll need to be a Hunter who stands out in order to regularly find parties to enter Dungeon/Instances with.

In order to stand out, you first need to practice. It is recommended that you take part in Dungeon/Instance Pick-up Groups (PuGs) regularly as soon as you’ve reached level 15 or so, as practice is the main way you’ll improve your party-based skills.

By the time you reach level 40, Instance party members expect you have a decent grasp on your class’s role within a team, and thus will be less forgiving of errors or lack of preparation.

By the time you reach level 55, quality guilds who have members going into Instances on a regular basis will actively blacklist you from their parties, raids or the guild itself if you’re not already beginning to show a solid understanding of your class’s role.

Group Strategy Differs From Solo Strategy

Playing your toon in an Instance group requires a different strategy than you’ve become used to while playing solo, no matter what class you’ve chosen. Different classes have different strengths and weaknesses within a grouped situation, and as your levels increase and you move closer to instances like Blackrock Depths (Level 52+) and into the rest of the “End Game training” dungeons such as Blackrock Spire, Dire Maul, Stratholme and Scholomance, you knowing your class role becomes more of a necessity if you hope to team up with others who know what they’re doing.

If you’re okay with teaming up with Mages and Warlocks who want to be the party’s Main Tank (MT), Warriors who charge in to every fight and “aggro” far more NPC opponents than is truly necessary, and Priests who aren’t interested in healing, then don’t worry about this or any other Instance Class guide that’s posted here - but don’t be surprised to find that (especially at level 50+) it’s hard to ever actually get THROUGH an Instance in its entirety as a direct result.

Preparing Your Hunter Toon For An Instance Run

Before heading into an Instance, it is the individual responsibility of each party member to ensure their toon is in tip-top condition and well-stocked with various consumables. As a Hunter, this includes:

• Repairing your equipment
• Restocking your arrow/bullet supply
• Bringing a stack or two of HP and Mana potions for emergencies
• Restocking your water and food supplies for healing
• Restocking fish, meat or fruit for your pet

If you get involved with Instance parties before level 20, it can reasonably be expected that by Level 40, partymates will be able to rely on you for taking enough responsibility to be properly stocked before entering an Instance. Players over level 40 who join dungeon parties without adequate preparation can expect to be alienated in the future by players who ARE prepared. Other players aren’t going to be interested in sharing their consumables (especially for your pet!), and a Hunter who runs out of arrows mid-Instance, for example, takes a severe nose-dive in terms of being a useful contributor to the party.

Common Hunter Instance Duties

As a hunter (with pet) in an instance party, your duties tend to be as follows:

• Main Puller (MP)
• Strong consistent DPS on one of the MT’s current targets
• Using pet as off-tank (OT) when MT is facing multiple opponents
• Helping defend “squishy” party members (mages, priests, warlocks) by pulling aggro off of them.

Hunters With Pets - Beware Their Behavior!

As a hunter with pet in an instance party, it’s EXTREMELY important that you learn how to tightly control your pet. Here are three things that will get your party-mates mad at you and your pet:

• Having your pet on any mode other than Passive
• Sloppy targetting in terms of sending your pet to attack
• Forgetting to release your pet before taking a shortcut that involves jumping down

Beware Nearby Mobs While Getting In “Range”

As a hunter seperate from your pet, another major way you’ll cause problems within your Instance party is when trying to get in “Ranging” range. Always keep aware of where NPC mobs are located, and do your best NOT to back or strafe into their aggro zone while attempting to range your team’s current opponent. If nothing else, try to get within Ranging range from the back of the party, where opponents have already been cleared out and there’s no chance you’ll bring extra NPCs into the fray.

Stay Tuned For Part II!

This article is Part I of a short series of posts on the topic of effectively learning how to play a Hunter toon in an Instance or Raid party. Part II will delve more deeply into the bullet-points mentioned in this post, so if you’re not sure what something here means, be sure to check back soon for Part II.

Benefits and Detriments

As a new player to the game, I personally found the Hunter class to be a great starting choice. Benefits I’ve found, all the way up to 60, include:

• Great class for those who play alone, aka ’solo’
• Pets add a lot to playability
• Equipment is sturdy, lets me take the beats occasionally, aka ‘tank’
• Repairs are reasonably-priced

One large detriment to being a Hunter, however, becomes more apparent as players advance in level and begin to join in on 5-person dungeon instance parties: Hunter is a popular class choice and therefore at times it may be difficult to find a pick-up group (aka PUG) willing to accept you. A Hunter will be more likely to need to be the one to start dungeon parties themselves than players who have chosen the classes of Warrior or Priest which are both highly sought after. But of course, a good team player of any class won’t often have problems finding groups, so keep that in mind while you play your Hunter :)

Brand New To WoW?

If you’re brand spanking new to the game, you’ve got a lot to learn that is seperate from the class you’ve chosen. If you have questions, leave a note and I’ll make a post of the answer!

Hunter Weapons and Basic Tactics

When you begin your Hunter, you start out with two weapons - a bow or gun with 200 arrows or bullets and a one-handed axe. These first 200 arrows or bullets will probably take you through your first four or so levels, so we’ll come back to them later.

Your bow or gun can only be used on enemies that are somewhat distant from where you stand - too far away and you cannot reach them, but too close and your weapon use needs to change from ‘ranged’ (bow) to ‘melee’ (axe). Mastering the art of engaging an opponent from a distance, getting in as many ranged shots as possible before the opponent gets too close and then effectively engaging an opponent up close in melee/hand-to-hand style is what Hunter is all about in the early levels.

Key To Engaging Opponents From A Distance

For Hunters, ‘3′ on the keyboard launches the ‘auto fire’ ability (bow/gun) in brand new players, while ‘1′ on the keyboard launches the ‘attack’ ability (melee weapon). A brand new Hunter will have little other skill, making first fights very simple.

Notice when you target an opponent from a distance (using the tab key to target a mob in front of you or left-clicking on the mob from afar), what color the number 3 is, over top of the ‘auto fire’ icon in your quick-launch bar. If it’s red, you’re too near or too far to fire your bow or gun. If it’s white, they’re in firing range.

Here’s the key to getting the most out of your ranged ability, whether it be magical or hunter-esque: By backing away from a targetted mob before firing that first shot, you can maximize the number of shots you can fire off before the mob enters into your melee range and forces you into hand-to-hand combat.

As a brand new Hunter with default equipment against a level one mob, you should be able to get 3 shots in before switching to melee.

User Interface Addons

Folks who are brand spanking new to the game likely feel overwhelmed enough just learning how to move around and effectively engage a mob, and don’t need to worry about UI Addons quite yet, but for those who are comfortable with their newbie Hunter and wish to improve its usability, here are some addons I’ve personally found quite useful:

• RangeHelp
• Fizzwidget’s Hunter Helper
• Fizzwidget’s Feed-o-Matic

For information on generic, non-class-related Addons I’ve found to be useful, please check back, as I’ll be posting that soon.