Hunter gear for the level 80 beginning raider
by Eddie Carrington 
Jul 8th 2009 at 9:00AM
Have you just reached level 80?Hoping to see endgame before Patch 3.2?
Are you wanting to raid, but not sure what gear to get?
Well then, this guide is for you!
It might be true that you can go straight from questing and leveling straight into raiding Naxxramas. Maybe even get carried on a few 10man Ulduar Normal mode runs (if this happens I'm sure you will probably be a part of the next Guildwatch post.)
When you make the transition into endgame you really can't expect to crush the damage meters. Don't feel all insulted and indignant, it really isn't your fault. When your questing and leveling you don't really focus on gear much. Not to mention making sure you have the correct pet or spec to achieve the numbers published on Elitist Jerks or some of those other Hunter sites.
Another drawback of making the mad dash to end game could meant that you might have passed up on some great items to get your endgame raiding started on the right foot. Worse yet, you might have vendored or disenchanted some of those quest and reputation rewards for easy gold. Nothing can make you feel lower than a Gnome Warlock than showing up in quest greens and blues, doing less dps than the Tank all because you didn't think ahead and get a good starting raid set.
Of course your favorite Hunter columnist would never think of leaving you out in the cold that way. So I decided to put together a quick gearing guide that will help you achieve solid dps when you start raiding endgame content.
Head
- Headguard of Westrift from Cache of Eregos in The Oculus or
- Truesight Ice Blinders if an Engineer
- Necklace of the Chrono-Lord from Chrono-Lord Epoch in Stratholme Past or
- Titanium Impact Choker from Jewelcrafting
- Ice Striker's Cloak from Leatherworking
- Spaulders of Skillful Maneuvers from Mage-Lord Urom in Normal mode The Oculus
- Lightningbringer's Hauberk from the Whatever it Takes! Quest in Halls of Lightning or
- Polished Regimental Hauberk when Exalted with Argent Crusade
- Waistband of the Thuzadin from Salramm the Fleshcrafter in The Culling of Stratholme
- Tear-Linked Gauntlets from Svala Sorrowgrave in Utgarde Pinnacle
- Tornado Cuffs from Ionar in Halls of Lightening or
- Dragonfriend Bracers when Exalted with Wyrmrest Accord
- Leather-Braced Chain Leggings from Loken in Halls of Lightning or
- Giantmaim Legguards from Leatherworking
- Boots of the Terrestrial Guardian from Halls of Lightning or
- Dragonstompers from Leatherworking
- Bjarngrim Family Signet from General Bjarngrim in Halls of Lightning or
- Band of the Kirin Tor from the Jewelry Vendor in Dalaran and
- Titanium Impact Band from Jewelcrafting
- Fezzik's Pocketwatch from the The Last Line of Defense quest in Icecrown and
- Vestige of Haldor from King Ymiron in Utgarde Pinnacle
- Zombie Sweeper Shotgun when Revered with Argent Crusade or
- Nesingwary 4000 from Engineering
- Runeblade of Demonstrable Power when Revered with Ebon Blade or
- Whale-Stick Harpoon when Revered with Kalu'ak
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Novalix Jul 8th 2009 9:08AM
Wonderful article! Quite helpful even though I'm not a hunter. I'm an upcoming priest and was wondering if you could pass the word along to another wow.com blogger to post this for priests and/or other classes.
Many thanks!
Paul Jul 8th 2009 10:18AM
better yet, ALL Class bloggers (don't be selfish, priest xD)
kkizzee Jul 8th 2009 10:34AM
This is a very lame half list; typical of wowinsider authors.
Vladeon Jul 8th 2009 1:17PM
Yeah, I know a couple of boomkins and a Palladin that could use something exactly like this. I think I see a whole new wowinsider column over the horizon, powered by elitistjerks.com.
Funben Jul 8th 2009 9:17AM
Ahh this is awesome. I see myself using this when i get my hunter to 80 =P
Robert M Jul 8th 2009 10:12AM
I was curious why you didn't mention the swords from revered reputaion with the knights of the ebon blade. They have hit on them, and they don't say unique equip, so they look pretty sexy.
It's been a while for my hunter, but I was pretty sure they could train swords.
duktape Jul 8th 2009 9:15AM
the Level 80 beginning raider
wat?
Rugus Jul 8th 2009 9:18AM
If you are one of those "solo" players who mostly play alone and spend all the gold on BOE and rarely access raids... this article is a must-read:
Solo Hunter Gear
http://wowalone.blogspot.com/2009/06/solo-hunter-gear.html
The blog itself is good too but it's not "hunter related" I guess.
Jerry Dahlgren Jul 8th 2009 9:19AM
Why not include drops from heroics? Its not too much to ask imo to run a few heroics before starting to raid.
Rugus Jul 8th 2009 9:26AM
Because sometimes the random factor can be a pain in the /\ss... I've got my epic crossbow from UP after my 1st run and -believe me or not- I've seen it 2 times more the next 2 days. A guildmate has *NEVER* seen the crossbow in the last 3 months... Buyin nessy4000 in that specific case would save you a LOT of headaches :)
Alex Jul 8th 2009 11:18AM
http://www.warcrafthuntersunion.com/2008/12/level-80-heroic-hunter-gear-5-man/
Good list of best Hunter gear from Heroics
Lys Jul 8th 2009 9:20AM
I'm sorry, but there is far better heroic/rep gear available. Not to say that this list is wrong or inapplicable, but there are many more options for the beginning raider.
I hate to leave negative comments, but this looks like it was just thrown together with minimal effort. "Hey everyone, this is what I had when I began raiding, so you should all grab it too. No, there aren't any other, better options. None at all."
I expect way more from a WoW.com article. I have never raided and I have way better gear than the above... just from checking AtlasLoot.
LF New Hunter Columnist...
sephirah Jul 8th 2009 9:29AM
You never read the Warlock column it seems...
Sinthar Jul 8th 2009 11:42AM
Easy to slag off people, how about leaving some HELPFUL advice then? I.E. what gear, where can you get it, does it need rep to buy, how much does it cost, etc etc. This is the difference between CONSTRUCTIVE and DESTRUCTIVE comments. You may be (and tbh probably are) quite correct, but that does not help anyone reading the article and comment.
Personally i would like to have seen this article not just cover gear, but specs, glyphs, enchants and gems. Just covering some gear seems a complete cop out to me, and just gear without the spec, and extra's to go with it certainly wont do it in my book. Often when i have been taking a few pug's (for VoA mostly), it has come down to Candidate A who has glyphed chanted and gemed, and Candidate B - who hasnt gem'd or chanted or glyphed. A wins every time over B - even if B's gear is slightly better. Ive even removed people from our guild runs because of this (after warnings).
Lys Jul 8th 2009 8:02PM
Okay, I didn't mean to be "destructive". I just really felt strongly that this particular article is letting hunters down. I couldn't find them last night but two articles from wow-insider back in December 2008 were extremely helpful is getting me geared. I combined that with a close look at what else was available on AtlasLoot and, even though I'm not a raider, I have the stats/dps to start raiding if I choose.
And I agree, the hit cap which is so important is never mentioned. Some exalted rep gear is mentioned, but no heroic gear, presumably to save time running heroics. But the quickest way to get exalted is to run heroics with a tabard on, so why not look for gear along the way?
Anyway, as said this article is only half-done and very poorly named; this is gear for starting heroics, not raids.
The articles I mentioned are:
http://www.wow.com/2008/12/04/scattered-shots-normal-dungeon-gear-for-hunters-in-wrath-of-the/
http://www.wow.com/2008/12/12/scattered-shots-5-man-heroic-loot-for-hunters/
duskhawk Jul 8th 2009 9:21AM
I'm kind of surprised Eaglebane Bracers (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=43131) didn't show up - level 78 BoE leatherworking crafted. I'm still wearing them, 3/4 of the way through Uld-10. >.< They're surprisingly difficult to replace (the badge ones are so marginal of an upgrade I don't want to waste the badges on them).
I'm guessing there isn't Heroics gear on here, since the Dragon Slayer Sabatons and the Drake Mounted Crossbow don't show up.
The Projectile Activator (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=36994) from Normal Halls of Lightning isn't a bad gun pre-Nesingwary or rep.
I used the Icier Barbed Spear (http://www.wowhead.com/?item=41815) for quite a while, too, swapping it out with the Whalestick Harpoon depending how my hit rating was going.
M Jul 8th 2009 9:48AM
Those bracers are indeed amazing pre-Naxx, but there are a lot of upgrades in Naxx that are better, including the previous best-in-slot Slime Stream Bands.
I don't mean to sound rude, but you shouldn't be in Ulduar if you only have pre-raid gear. Even if the group or your guild is willing to carry you, due diligence would mean you try to gear up from earlier raids first so you're not a burden on the rest of the group.
duskhawk Jul 8th 2009 10:59AM
Oh, believe me, I hit up Grobbulus as often as possible, but the bracers did not cooperate. My current hope is that Razorscale will play nicer than he did. (No luck so far.) Duskhawk on Bronzebeard if you're curious. Not that the Armory has been updating, judging by my attempts at importing gear into Excel - cloak, shoulders, and scope have all changed.
Robert M Jul 8th 2009 11:43AM
"I don't mean to sound rude, but you shouldn't be in Ulduar if you only have pre-raid gear"
Sometimes you can gear up everything but one slot. That doesn't mean you can't carry your weight, and it instead of running naxx until your eyes bleed, maybe try your hand at ulduar and you may get your upgrade there.
M Jul 8th 2009 1:16PM
For some reason, you didn't quote or remember this, Robert:
"Those bracers are indeed amazing pre-Naxx, but there are a lot of upgrades in Naxx that are better, including the previous best-in-slot Slime Stream Bands."
Also, just because it drops in Ulduar doesn't make it instantly better than you can get anywhere else. Ulduar gear is VERY underwhelming compared to what you can get in Naxx and EoE. I mean, there are only three ranged weapons better than KT's Envoy of Mortality, which seems crazy to my mind.
Dusk, the perfectionist in me wants to say that you're very well geared for the Tier7 raids and to spend more time in them gearing up before going to Ulduar. My only complaint about your gear set in Tier7 content would be your Hit Rating. You can get more bang for your buck by getting Hit Rating on your gear than from gems or from talents, except in one very specific instance (the elitistjerks MM ArPen spec).
In 3.2, you will also be gimping your pet's dps by not reaching the 8% through gear/enchants/gems; pets will receive Expertise based on the Hunter's Hit Rating, but they don't receive full benefit from Focused Aim.
The 10-man EoE drops would be especially good for you, and it's a very fast raid to run. The 25-man EoE drops are still better than a lot from Ulduar, even if they're not best-in-slot anymore.
If you are in the situation I was in for a very long time and have to pug your way into raids, I feel for you. I can completely understand not getting the drops you want/need; the Fury trinket from OS25 dropped at least 7 or 8 times before I won it. I was VERY lucky to get Black Ice on my first EoE run, because I went several months without getting to go again.
But the realist in me also wants to say that if you can get into Ulduar groups and the group is happy and successful, and your DPS isn't below the tanks and healers, then that's great. You will find great drops in there as well, and many Ulduar mail items have Hit Rating as well.
(On any new items, though, gem and enchant for Agility instead of Attack Power, unless you prefer to run as Beast Master most of the time. At least until 3.2 drops, Agility will benefit you more because more of your dps comes from your Hunter instead of your pet, and critical strike chance and most other values won't be passed down to your pet. One point of Agility turns out to be worth more than two points of Attack Power for MM/SV)