Heirlooms Race and some general advice

[Tyrrandion]

Hiya. I've been debating with myself a long while about waiting for Cataclysm to level a hunter, or to do it now. I play strictly horde, so the idea of an undead hunter certainly had me intrigued, but I decided against it (I already have an undead rogue, and frankly, the look is better on him). So again I'm back to toying with leveling a hunter. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna go for it pre-caty so i can use the leveling guide I have in the past and get it done fast, as I know where everything is/what to do.

I had a few questions in mind writing this post:
-Is there a dominant race for horde hunters, or is it basically just aesthetics?
-Which heirlooms are gonna do right by me? I have the Chest/Shoulders already, because i knew i'd need em' eventually, hey, +20% XP is +20% XP, right? But are the dual heartseeker's w/ +15 agi worth it, how well do they scale? The bow/gun? I would think the +2% health trink would be useless as a hunter, but what about the mana one?
-Which spec should I level with? I hear Beastmastery is the fastest leveling, but I've never played a hunter, and thus, couldn't vouch for the veracity of that statement.
-What stats should i be on the lookout for on my leveling gear?
-WOULD i be better off waiting till caty?
-Where in the world is Carmen SanDiago?


Allright, i was just kidding on that last one, but seriously though, any help w/ this is much appreciated, I look forward to imput from some people who have leveled hunters, or just know the class really well. Thanks in advance.

Peace.

[Annaconda]

Wow-pro has al kind of cool guides for free.
Try that one.
And you shouldn't get the 2 procent mana since you get focus in cata making it useless.

Tbh al you questions can be answer if you browse hunter forum here and look at wow-pro.com

[kumduh]

I just started leveling an alt hunter and I'd suggest using the leather BoA gear, not the mail pieces. The leather might not have as much int on it, but it gives you a pretty significant chunk of hit rating, which I think helps a lot more than the extra mana.

[Råwr]

I'd say that if you're getting the bow, roll a troll. That's 1% free crit while leveling, and 5% extra damage versus beasts, which we all know is alot of the quests out there.
I myself used one hp trinket for the haste and then changed once I was able to get good Northrend trinkets.
I also had 2x Heartseekers with +15 agility on them, which imo was really sweet. Due to the enchants you get alot of free agility right there, and some hit :3
They really start to shine once you hit 58 and your heirlooms scale for Outlands.
I leveled as Beast Mastery up until 70 and found this very fast. I used a tenacitypet (gorilla) for leveling, due to the awesomeness that it brings.
Once I dinged 70 I respecced into Survival because I decided that I wanted to be able to perform good in dungeons and get the hang of the entry end-game spec, and couldn't be arsed with getting dual spec at the time :3
Items with agility and attack power are always nice, and once you hit Outlands it's easy to determine what gear you want. Just think rogue gear, on mail. It usually brings you agi, crit, ap and some int.
And, I'd say that you're probably better off leveling it now, since the levelingzones will be flooded once Cataclysm hits.

Just wanted to add, stick to the mail-pieces. The hit isn't that significant, really. I've used both the leather and the mail, and the int gives you the potential to keep on grinding faster.

[Angelico]

^ did say it all, but just one small thing: if you got the money, get dualspecc as soon as you hit 40, solo with bm and keep queueing for them dungeons and swap for mm/surv whatever you prefer when you get in...trust me, dungeonlvling is imba now...

[Nuronv]

Just as a side point to how the different trees behave when you are leveling

BM: You pet does more damage and so holds aggro better. Your pet should then be the one taking most of the damage which you can then heal quickly with mend pet. As your pet is doing the dirty work you can stand back and fire away.

MM: You do a lot more damage yourself and as a result often pull aggro from your pet which leads to you having to kite a bit more, which is fine but a bit more work then just standing back and firing like you would with BM. You will tend to get a bit more damage done to yourself which you can't heal so you end up sitting down to eat more

SV: Doesn't really get its meaty talents until quite a way down the tree. You will however tend to have more health and survivability

[Komati]

If you plan on dual specc for dungeons you should go MM in dungeons since you'll mostly use Volley, and MM got a lot more talents that improves Volley.

[merlin371]

I just lvled a hunter and i did it BM, best way i found to be was staying with aspect of the viper on, there is a 40% damage debuff but there's some advantages, first is that you never run out of mana, and second is that you dont pull aggro, so you take no damage and you dont have to drink, so you literally have no downtime whatsoever, this way i lvled from 60 to 70 in 1 day, and it took me 4 days to get to 80.

You dont get the big crits but doesnt matter you can get them when you got to 80

[Modesty.]

1. Orcs are the best Hunters for both PvE and PvP Horde side, and the best race for Hunters in the game period. A bonus to your pets damage, your damage, and the stun resistances are excellent.

Cataclysm is revamping all racials, so that may change. For now, though, Orcs reign supreme and should be your first choice.

2. Unless you plan on leveling exclusively in Battlegrounds, the bow is much better for leveling than the gun. The trinkets are fairly pointless, but if you want full BoA gear get the Discerning Eye, mana gain is much better than health gain for a Hunter, as you surmised.

The daggers are wonderful, especially with the agility enchantment on them. There's no reason not to get them since badges are so easy to acquire.

3. BM is definitely your best choice to level with, as it provides solid damage and makes your pet stronger, which is great when you're questing. BM makes it even easier to solo any and all group quests all the way up until 80.

4. Agility/AP and Stamina.

5. I doubt it, unless you enjoy competing with multiple other people for quest mobs and drops, not to mention the lack of knowledge in where to go to level most efficiently. Of course, if you're interested in experiencing the new 1-55 content, go for it.

6. I was last tracking her in Istanbul.

[Jonisawsom]

I'm leveling a hunter atm too (75).

BM is good, but in the lower levels a tad boring as you don't get any extra shots in your rotation till you pick up steady shot. Personally I like it a lot for the unique pets and even though I didn't take all the "tank" talents I was still able to solo many group quests.
I level with a bear because I'm bad and pull lots of mobs and he saves my ass by tanking them all . Seriously though the swipe and thunderstomp is good even in instances for trash, and probably part of the reason I top meters on every run so far (single target dps isn't bad either tbh). But their AoE aggro is definitely the best and it's very handy as there are lots of areas/quests that will have you fighting more than one mob.
Definitely get the daggers/enchants, there isn't anything really any better. The bow as well. Don't use the leather like someone else said, this gear will give you enough hit while you level. The mail gear will be better because of less down time and eventually you will take the points in MM to make int = 1 AP.
Personally I hate 1-55 so I am looking forward to leveling another alt in Cata, but like someone else said I'll probably wait a couple weeks to do it when the zones aren't so packed with new alts.
I also heard Orcs are the best for Hunters but tbh I really have no clue.