Scattered Shots: So you want to be a Hunter - Part 4 Levels 21-30
by Eddie Carrington 
Sep 12th 2009 at 2:00PM
Welcome back to the Scattered Shots, So you want to be a Hunter series. This guide is intended to help new Hunters better understand how to play the best class in the game. So join me, Eddie "Brigwyn" Carrington from the Hunting Lodge as we explore the ins and out of how to be a Hunter.
Howdy gang! Glad you decided to come back and join in on another week of So you want to be a Hunter. This week we work our way up to level 30 on our quest to becoming ready to raid the endgame content.Now that I think about it, there seems to be an ever increasing push to just quickly level and hit the end game content. But really, there's a lot of fun and interesting stuff in the game that we won't get to see any more after the next expansion. Maybe I'm a bit sentimental, but honestly considering that many of the zones all of you will decide to go off and level today either won't exist in Cataclysm or will be radically different than they are today.
Here's a bit of advice for you as you level up. Take some pictures. Get a group together of players at the same level and run through some of the instances like Razorfen Kraul, Stockades, or even the ever hated Gnomeregan. In the meantime, we'll continue onward with Part 4 of So you want to be a Hunter.
Just a quick recap of what we've covered so far:
Part 1: We reviewed racials and their impact on the Hunter class. Reviewed each of the current races and what the benefits were of each racial.
Part 2: We quickly talked about the first nine levels. We also went on to talk about each of the three Hunter talent trees and their basic play style. We reviewed the relationship between the Hunter and their pet in Beast Mastery. And we also discussed how Marksmanship and Survival Hunters were focused more on the individual player's ability to use a variety of powerful attacks.
Part 3: Last week we discussed what happened from levels 10 through 20. We also went over the quests to learn how to tame your first pet.
We are now in Part 4 of our weekly series. We will continue reviewing leveling your Hunter picking up at level 21 and going to level 30. We'll be cover all the new skills you'll learn along the way. We will also provide example of talent builds for you and your pet as well as list which rare pets you might want decide to pick up along the way.
As a reminder, here are some guidelines for using this guide.
- So you want to be a Hunter is for the new player and/or a new Hunter.
- This guide is not a "How-to get to 80 in less than 3 days" leveling guide. It's more of a "What to expect as you level" guide.
- Except where highlighted, this guide does not take into account Recruit a Friend or heirloom bonuses.
- Since most players tend to level by themselves, all talent build suggestions will focus on a solo leveling/grinding build.
- Since this guide is about leveling, pet talent point allocations will be using a Tenacity pet.
- This guide focuses on the leveling the PvE Hunter. We will discuss PvP and raiding in other guides
Level 21-22
Things might seem a bit anticlimactic now that you've gotten your mount at level 20. It may even seem to remain that way until you get up to level 40 and can get your epic mount. And to tell the honest truth (Is there any other kind of truth?) that really isn't the case. It's just that these next levels are more about deepening your skills as a Hunter while opening up more instances and getting you to explore the world a bit more.
However, the same cannot be said for Scorpid Sting. This attack will sting your target and apply a debuff. The debuff will reduce the chance of your target landing either a melee or ranged attacks by 3% for 20 sec. This is a great sting to reduce the chance of your pet getting hit. But remember, that this is something you may want to think twice about if you're grouped with a Warrior. There's nothing sadder than a rage starved Warrior.
New Hunter Skills
Hunter Talent Allocations
Quest Chains to Consider
- Deviate Eradication (Alliance/Horde Wailing Caverns)
- Gerenzo's Orders (Alliance/Horde, Stonetalon Mountains)
- Leaders of the Fang (Alliance/Horde Wailing Caverns)
- Wailing Caverns (Barrens)
- The Deadmines (Alliance, Westfall)
- Shadowfang Keep (Silverpine Forest)
- Blackfathom Deeps (Ashenvale)
- Mist Howler (Ashenvale)
- Large Loch Crocolisk (Loch Modan)
At level 24 you learn Beast Lore. This has become one of those outdated skills/ It used to be that you used it to scope out pets with skills you could use to continue training your pet. But now that pets are normalized, its best function is really to help teach you what to feed your pet.
The biggest thing that you learn at level 24 is Track Hidden. Track Hidden increases your stealth detection and will show hidden units with the detection range on the mini-map. The key is to remember it will help you track mobs that are in stealth and not invisible. So you will still be able to step into an invisible mob waiting for you if you're not careful. Otherwise, I can attest that Track Hidden has helped save me from having to make a lot more corpse runs than I'd like to imagine.
On a side note, if you want a really cool skinned pet I still recommend getting Humar The Pridelord in The Barrens. If you decide you would rather not camp out and tame Humar now, you will have another opportunity to get a similar looking cat at level 76 in Sholazar Basin.
New Hunter Skills
Hunter Talent Allocations
Pet Talent Allocations
Quest Chain to Consider
- Knowledge of the Deeps (Blackfathom Deeps)
- Blackfathom Deeps (Ashenvale)
- Stockades (Stormwind)
- Razorfen Kraul (The Barrens)
- Gnomeregan (Dun Morogh) - Honestly I hate Gnomer. But everyone should get a chance to see just how dangerous those fuzzy pink haired Gnomes can really be.
- Humar The Pridelord (The Barrens)
- Leech Widow (Wetlands)
- Chatter (Redridge Mountains)
- Creepthess (Hillsbrad Foothills)
- Lupos (Duskwood)
As you move your way up to level 26 you learn how to Track Elementals. You may think this really isn't that useful right at this moment. But trust me, later on you'll be grateful that you have it.
The real star of the show at level 26 is Rapid Fire. It's so important that many people have it in a macro with all of their trinkets to help give them a DPS boost during critical moments in a fight.
New Hunter Skills
Hunter Talent Allocations
Quest Chains to Consider
- Betrayal from Within (Horde, The Barrens)
- Return the Statuette (Alliance, Wetlands)
- Bloodfury Bloodline (Horde, Stonetalon Mountains)
- Jin'Zil's Forest Magic (Horde, Stonetalon Mountains)
- King of the Foulweald (Horde, Ashenvale)
- Crime and Punishment (Alliance, Stockades)
- Stockades (Stormwind)
- Razorfen Kraul (The Barrens)
- Gnomeregan (Dun Morogh)
- Azzere the Skyblade (The Barrens)
- Vultros (Westfall)
Not much really happens at levels 27 and 28. You do receive Frost Trap which is pretty cool. But other than that, not much else really happens.
Frost Trap is used to slow down the enemy. Just know that it is on the same cooldown as Freeze Trap so you can't use this to slow down one mob while you freeze another. You can however use it to help you slow down the enemy mob while your pet nips at their heels and you run around shooting them from afar.
One cool thing that you can do at level 28 is get to the quest in Raene's Cleansing where you receive the Dartol's Rod of Transformation and are able to transform into a Furbolg. This is probably one of the coolest things in the game. I highly recommend not completing this quest and keeping the rod. It adds a bunch of laughs and hilarity as you run around Azeroth as a Furbolg.
New Hunter Skill
Hunter Talent Allocations
Pet Talent Allcoations
Quest Chains to Consider
- Dangerous! (Horde, Hillsbrad Foothills)
- Je'neu of the Earthen Ring (Horde, Ashenvale)
- Protect Kanati Greycloud (Horde, Thousand Needles)
- Raene's Cleansing (Alliance, Ashenvale)
- The Fury Runs Deep (Alliance, The Stockade)
- The Crone of the Kraul (Alliance, Razorfen Kraul)
- Warsong Supplies (Horde, Ashenvale)
- Razorfen Kraul (The Barrens)
- Gnomeregan (Dun Morogh)
- Blind Hunter (Razorfen Kraul)
- Naraxis (Duskwood)
- Big Samras (Hillsbrad Foothills)
Level 29-30
When you reach level 30 something amazing happens. No, you don't get another mount. But you do get to learn Feign Death.
Feign Death is our aggro dump and save yourself ability. While you're out and about and accidently pull too many mobs or even some that are at a higher level, Feign Death will probably let you escape. And later on, if you are an Engineering Hunter and have the Goblin Jumper Cables or Gnomish Army Knife, everyone will love you for helping to shorten their corpse run.
That's not the only cool ability you learn. You also get Aspect of the Beast. Now many people might not like this one but I do. If you're on a PvP server you should really like this one also. See as other Hunters or Feral Druids are out scouting Humanoids to gank, you can gain a few precious seconds using Aspect of the Beast by untrackable. Then when they get within range your pet will get an added 10% Attack Power bonus as you open up and take PvP justice into your own hands.
New Hunter Skills
Hunter Talent Allocations
Quest Chains to Consider
- Horde Presence (Horde, The Barrens)
- Ormer's Revenge (Alliance, Wetlands)
- The Sacred Flame (Horde, Thunder Bluff)
- Answered Questions (Alliance, Ashenvale)
- The Night Watch (Alliance, Duskwood)
- A Fine Mess (Alliance/Horde Gnomeregan)
- Baron Aquanis (Horde, Ashenvale)
- Mortality Wanes (Alliance, Razorfen Kraul)
- Willix the Importer (Alliance/Horde, Razorfen Kraul)
- Razorfen Kraul (The Barrens)
- Gnomeregan (Dun Morogh)
- The Scarlet Monastery: Graveyard (Tirisfal Glades)
You want to be a Hunter, eh? Well then you came to the right place. Scattered Shots is the one column dedicated to helping you learn everything it takes to be a Hunter. Each week Scattered Shots will cover topics to help you Fix Your DPS, Choosing the Right Spec, Gear Selection, Macros and Pet Selection, Pet Specs and Management. Filed under: Hunter, Analysis / Opinion, How-tos, Leveling, Guides, Classes, (Hunter) Scattered Shots
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
Banndit Sep 12th 2009 3:33PM
Go Beast Master, get a tanking pet and faceroll u'r way to 80.
Pexxle Sep 12th 2009 4:07PM
Oh noes!
How dare someone post lowby stratics on the the internet, when said things already exist!
Nerd rage much folks? How about you try running a blog on the "Worlds most popular/successful MMO" with persistent and consistent, "new" content ALL the time...
If you do have your own Hunter Blog, you dare not have info that has been covered by anyone else or my guild will eat 4 puppies every hour until its removed.
Pexxle Sep 12th 2009 4:12PM
MMO Champ ( Boubouille) and similar sites are going to be the end all for many a cute puppy since they cover everything from gear to current news compared to you amateur blogger/ QQ'rs
Stone_Rhino Sep 12th 2009 5:30PM
People are free to complain about something they feel is redundant. Just like you're free to make posts griping about how much they complain.
It wouldn't kill you to take a different viewpoint into account now and then.
And I agree with some of them. Posting leveling articles on this site now is a bit silly, given the availability of the information on the subject already out there. Not to mention, a player that is new to the game is unlikely to choose WoW.com as their primary source of leveling info.
On the other hand, there isnt much new hunter info out, so posting a guide like this serves a purpose insofar as it keeps the normal column readers satiated.
Dragonpie Sep 12th 2009 4:21PM
this just seems like a waste of time. I always felt the leveling process was FOR learning the class, but instead all these class columns are just keeping themselves busy helping people that really shouldn't need it. I used to be a newbie, just like everyone else. but apparently I'm the only one capable of learning on his own. I didn't use a class guide, i figured things out on my own. anything that's supposed to be helping new players shoulnd't be wasted in WEEKLY CLASS COLUMNS.
Isn't that what Wow-Rookie is for???
I play a rogue, and i stopped reading Encrypted text after the numerous and increasingly stupid posts. The worst of which was an entire weekly column that focused 100% on rogues using axes, which did nothing more then open up a few new gear choices, since it used sword spec as its talent. And an entire (ENTIRE!!!) weekly column got dedicated to this??? ARE YOU F**KING KIDDING ME???? Almost the entire column was a joke, and chase christian can bite me for wasting my time like that. I have literally passed over Encrypted text since it turned into absolute crap info. i swear i know more about rogues then he does.
now the druid and hunter class columns have been reduced to this drivel, helping newbs that are too stupid to learn to play the game themselves. as if leveling 1-10 was any sort of challenge to ANYONE. and if it was, find a new game, because someone that stupid won't find a good place in the endgame world.
Yes, i am an ElitistJerk, and proud of it. so don't bother trying to call me out on something stupid like that. Mathew Rossi is one of the only columnists i actually respect, because he's in a REAL raiding guild, not some "we do Heroics for emblems and we're up to Kologarn in Ulduar omg" guild that a lot of these supposed "class experts" are in.
Of course this comment will get downranked and and blacked out probably within seconds after the editor is done reading it. But I don't care. The quality of this websites writing has fallen so hard, I'm about to remove wow.com from my bookmarks.
Pexxle Sep 12th 2009 4:29PM
And i quote from Post:
"This guide is intended to help new Hunters..."
No where did i see him jot down that he was a "class expert", and if you are an Elitist Jerk, you must be bored...
Very bored.
Extrox Sep 12th 2009 5:35PM
Hate to inform you, but WoW.Com is for (at least I've always taken it as such) the everyday general player. If you want your "class expert" material then go read the forums over on Elitist Jerks. It seems it'd be a perfect fit.
Not to mention that you're attacking an article which is discussing Hunter related things, just because it's not what YOU want to read doesn't mean it isn't helpful to someone else. There is indeed other players/hunters out there and most of the gaming population could care less about the nitpicky dps increases ("Increased my dps by 100! Woo?). Heck, most end game guilds could care less about that. At least in 5 years of it all, I've yet to see one actually care about such miniscule things.
Personally, I prefer reading here because articles are usually quite interesting and seeing people argue over the difference of a few DPS points is rather bland.
Really, I'm quite suprised you're complaining. You should know about the more specific websites by this time and if not, you REALLY shouldn't be complaining. If you do know of them, then why in the heck are you complaining here and not looking for the information you want?You have no reason to complain over someone else doing the work FOR you.
Either your being lazy or you're not near worthy of calling yourself and Elitist. Your choice.
I play a rogue as well and I seriously know better than to view Encrypted Text if I need information for the raid the next day. The odds of them writing an article on the same exact thing I need within that time limit is slim to none. Most good/experienced players... they look for the information they need... they don't wait for it to be spoon fed to them.
As for this article, it's helpful to those that are within it's target audience and that's exactly there it wants to be.
Bullseyed Sep 16th 2009 4:15PM
Lol. The fanbois downranked you even though you were 100% accurate.
The Giant Sep 12th 2009 4:55PM
Those talent trees need work.
If you're going to play a Beast Master the way of the tenacity - tanking - pet, Improved Revive Pet (IRP) is a poor choice.
Why? Easy. Your pet shouldn't die! So do allow me to apply some changes here.
10-14: Endurance Training 5/5. More health, more survivability
15-16: Focused Fire 2/2. Your pet will be out and about all the time, and therefore increasing your damage.
17-19: Thick Hide 3/3. This will keep you going a -lot- better than IRP.
20: Aspect Mastery 1/1. No-brainer.
21-24: Unleashed Fury 4/5. This one can be topped off later.
25: Improved Mend Pet 1/2. One point is enough here to keep your pet alive, and to cure some of those nasty debuffs you're bound to get.
26-29: Ferocity 4/5. Nothing says "I have you now" like a crit to the face.
30: Intimidation 1/1. Seriously. This stun can be a lifesaver, and it's the start of the chain of talents leading to Beastial Wrath and The Beast Within. If you're a BM hunter at level 30 without this, you need to fork out some cash to a trainer, and get that talent asap.
Giant
Gx1080 Sep 12th 2009 5:16PM
1) I don't believe in a "down ranking" system because it makes the most popular opinion win all the time, no matter if it's right or wrong. Although it's an easy way to filter the great amount of noise around here (First posts come to my mind).
2)I don't play a hunter, but I have raided as a DPS (long break, now returning with a healer), but even I can realize that focusing on survivability and DPS in the same proportion it's the basis of a leveling spec.
3) There's several class and even spec blogs that you can go, so why do you feel the necessity of bitch when a class column doesn't focus in those who are dripping with hard modes? (People who, BTW, are the majority).
I don't know about you, but it's a good thing when you help a person new to the game to don't feel lost and confused, or inspiring an old player to try something new. If not for altruism, support it as an attempt to decrease the number of fail PUG stories that circulate so many blogs (I say decrease, because douchebags will always exist, but that's for Guildwatch) and, in general, helping others improves the world and that's the only way to get a better world, for example, one that isn't filled with idiots.
WoW Rookie cannot cover every class way to level in the same detail that it's covered in here, and besides, what about the people that want to try a new class and want to learn how to play it now instead of learning it at 80 (if they get to 80, bad spec and wrong gear choices can make leveling painful).
It isn't a class column for you, so what? Raiding it's just a part of the game, leveling (which change along with the rest of the game, and hence, guides for it need to be actualized), it's another one, arenas it's another one, so as BGs, lore, etc.
I believe that there's more to the game than rush to 80, grind for gear and start running spreadsheets. The other parts deserve to be covered and respected. And, as another point, people new to the game don't know where to look the information, so it's easily provided in here.
TL, DR: You know everything about a class, fine. It's too much to ask that you don't bitch when others help those that don't?
Bullseyed Sep 16th 2009 4:26PM
It isn't 'helping' when incorrect information is being given.
cragger Sep 12th 2009 6:13PM
@dragonpie, yes, please do /ignore for wow.com. Please. I dearly hope you are not a parent or a school teacher, nor plan to be.
Bookwerm Sep 12th 2009 6:41PM
When are you going to stop posting crap and get to stuff hunters want to read about? Such as TBW nerf.
/Yawn
Boring topic is boring.
Wubble69 Sep 12th 2009 7:00PM
Hey!
I've been a hunter since day one of EU release and I have no idea what "TBW nerf" means so why don't you a) go /yawn be boring somewhere and b) learn to write in english you tedious fucking prick?
lots of Love
x
Aelysar Sep 12th 2009 8:03PM
He was speaking of The Beast Within, and while yes, the time that it lasts it is getting nerfed, the overall talent being changed is certainly a buff to BM hunters.
Bullseyed Sep 16th 2009 4:26PM
Wubbles, that means you've been a huntARD since day one of the EU release if you don't follow his statement.
Paul Curtis Sep 12th 2009 7:47PM
Apologies for stating the obvious, but it seems to need saying, if you're a level 80 raiding hunter wanting the latest tips on how to squeeze out that last bit of dps following a change in the last patch etc, you shouldn't expect it from Eddie Carrington, Scattered Shots under Eddie is not that sort of weekly column. Eddie's main thing is levelling not raiding, although I'm sure he does, like us all, keep up on the latest news as it affects the hunter community. Under BRK Scattered Shots was that type of column and we all miss him. But change happens and we all have to deal with it.
Now just because Eddie is not filling the gap left in the latest hunter raid news, imho it's not right to flame Eddie week after week when his articles cover other hunter news. So ok, you might not find them relevant to raiding, they're not meant to be, but I think Eddie states clearly every week what he's trying to cover. At the moment it's levelling a hunter and well, it's not relevant to me either, but I read it, move on and read something else, there's other blogs out there.
Finally, one thing for wow.com to think about, would they consider asking a raiding hunter to write articles for the site too? As I think there's a lot of raiding hunters that would be grateful to read those types of hunter articles too.
Pexxle Sep 12th 2009 8:13PM
/no sarcasm
Paul Curtis you make complete sense.
Gx1080 Sep 12th 2009 10:38PM
/signed
I would also like to add my opinions about this topic.
I only saw BRK once in a while, when he posted videos here and checked the blog once in a while (as I've said, Hunters aren't my thing).
What I saw was a guy that provided spreadsheets analysis about DPS, who did videos who were both informative and funny, a guy that shared his life to others in the Internet and, above all, a guy who actually cared about his audience, a guy that taught people not only how to be a better WoW player, but a better person.
I cannot possibly imagine how devastated and hurt you guys must have feel when he stopped blogging, but I don't think, I just cannot see that guy liking the act watching the audience that was and still is dear to him not only flame, but incinerate the crap out of a guy just because he isn't as focused in raiding as you guys. Because you know what, it's disappointing. It goes against what I saw in his blog posts and his videos and basically, everything that he stood for.
Then again, it's just the rantings of a non-hunter. Just wanted to put my two cents.
Anaughtybear Sep 13th 2009 1:45AM
Since the pre-Wrath patch hit, there's no need for a hunter guide of any kind. Petopia could go out of business now as well, as they serve no purpose. I still enjoy playing my hunter for short periods, but it is about 100 times easier now than it was a couple years ago. I can't help feeling like the old guy whose hunter walked uphill in the snow both ways to tame a crap beast just to learn a skill.