Hunter levels 1-10 improved
by David Bowers 
Dec 28th 2007 at 4:04PM
Mania's Arcania is at it again! She's leveling a new character, and -- surprise -- it's a hunter! Hunter characters are like those nifty potato chips: you can't just have one. Anyway, she's made an interesting discovery this time about: The removal of the hunter deadzone has made the first 10 levels before a hunter can get his or her pet a much more tolerable, if not... dare I say it?... enjoyable experience! You no longer have to spend so much time meleeing, and you actually get to use a lot of your new abilities (such as Arcane Shot at level 6) more than once.
Previously those first 10 levels were so bad that I dreaded starting a new hunter character, and summoned up lots of patience just to get through them to the juicy fun part once the pet enters the scene. But now starting a new hunter should be a lot nicer.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jay Dec 28th 2007 4:20PM
Ahhh so thats why when I started leveling a hunter I found it fun... until I hit level 14.
Industrial Dec 28th 2007 4:42PM
I can kill mobs just fine under level 10. Just move in between auto shots. I probably have never meelee'ed to kill something (just for fun) on my hunter.
Xerion Dec 28th 2007 5:06PM
i just made a twink hunter and during the early lvls i too have noticed this! thought this was already commented on though.....guess not. Made the fights and questing move much faster being able to step back real quick to get a sting or arcane shot off.
*Golf Clap*
PeeWee Dec 28th 2007 5:40PM
Dreadful? Intolerable?
Leveling a toon, any toon in fact, from 1-10 takes less then an evening. 1-6 is done and ready within the first hour of play, even if the area is new to you (my fastest toon 1-6 was a tauren shaman, 29 minutes). If you can't stand those levels for that short period of time, you surely do not deserve the character.
And we are talking about a hunter here, the easiest toon to level.
Thane W Dec 28th 2007 6:07PM
now they just need to fix the druids 1-10 :(
ceckjustin Dec 29th 2007 4:36AM
I'm with you there. The whole Wrath, Wrath, Wrath, Moonfire -> Next Mob: Wrath, Wrath, (OOM) Auto Attackx6... Drink is not fun. And takes forever >.>
JMCampbell Dec 28th 2007 6:15PM
I wish they would do something like this for all classes. Not speed up, just make it more fun. every class just seems to be walk around and whack stuff. there's really nothing
unique about it.
Tuesdat, I started a new Character (druid), and I didn't really mind doing the Tauren area again. I hated that I was still walking around blasting things then whacking them with a stick. I desperately just wanted to get to 10 so I could turn into a bear. I only stuck with it because I had 8 free hours that I was stuck at work on christmas. It took 5.5 hours to get to 10.
Especially since I'm a chronic reroller, I want to get to the fun, unique part. Instead of blast, blast, beat it with a stick for 10 levels. I think this is a small step in the right direction.
Thander Dec 28th 2007 7:33PM
If you have a mage or warlock friend, have them port you to the Blood Elf starting zone. Much less walking, more concentrated quest objectives. You can shave that time down to 3.5 hours. Save your hearth in Thunder Bluff. When you get to 10, you'll be ready to go back for bear form. From there, you're ready for Barrens or you can go back to Ghostlands if you want the rep gear.
Hurode Dec 28th 2007 7:09PM
I know I used to hate hunters, because I could never get any interest in them at all long enough to get the pet. Now that the dead zone is gone, I have rolled 3 hunters, a Draenei, a Blood Elf, and a Troll, and they're all fun.
PeeWee Dec 29th 2007 9:58AM
Oh my... oh my... what is this discussion about? Like I already said, it takes less than an hour to pop to 6, and another hour or two, three at the most if you're really slow, to get to 10. What's the big fuzz?
The "improvement" for hunter here is nothing you couldn't do pre-2.3 by strafing two or three steps between each autoshot. Hell, you can go from 1-10 without ever being hit! Autoshot-Strafe away (while popping Serpent Sting)-Autoshot-Strafe away (Arcane Shot)-Autoshot-Strafe-Autoshot-Dead mob.
A PvE hunter that has to melee is doing something wrong.
Matthew Rossi Dec 29th 2007 11:47AM
You know, it's just possible that not everyone has the experience playing a hunter you do, and wouldn't have immediately have thought of strafing upon rolling one. So this would indeed be an improvement for them.
PeeWee Dec 29th 2007 4:23PM
Doesn't take experience to realize that strafing away from a mob will make it less likely for it to reach you. It takes a small ounce of common sense.
David Bowers Dec 30th 2007 2:59AM
Common sense is only developed through experience. It may be common sense to everyone here in China that you have to haggle in some places if you want to get a reasonable price, but someone just coming for the first time may have no idea how to haggle at all, never really having had the experience before.
Likewise, strafing is not something anyone does in real life. If you've played lots of computer games with characters running around that need to face a certain direction and shoot things, then yes, strafing with your new hunter will seem like common sense to you. Otherwise it'll be a patiently learned skill -- certainly not intuitive to a new player, or even an experienced player of another class that doesn't need to strafe at all.
kunukia Dec 29th 2007 12:31PM
I have leveled over 40 hunters to 10 (and still play about 15 of them, others deleted), and it has gotten easier, for sure. That said, it is true, it was only a few hours anyway, no biggie.
Heh, I still get butterflies in my tummy, and research on Petopia, when deciding on my first pet. God, I love hunters!