leveling a hunter in 4.0.1

[hlx]

hi all
I am thinking about resurrecting my 21lvl hunter and with that I have couple of questions:

1. what is the leveling spec now? still BM? assuming I'm in full heirlooms won't MM be more viable?
2. what is desired rotation i need to follow? (i played my hunter a bit few years ago so I have no idea how stuff works)
3. what pet should I be using for solo leveling and for instances? i was thinking cat and bear but would love your input
4. what stat am I going after? agi? str?

and that is it. please take notice that my hunter is 21lvl so I'm not asking about the upcoming 80-85 leveling nor the current 80 endgame. just the very basic lowbie stuff.

thanks so much in advance

[ASO]

1-3 Doesn't matter for leveling, pick whatever is fun for you.
4. Agility.

Personally I go:

1. Marksman
2. Arcane Shot until I'm empty, Steady Shot till I'm full
3. I like boars

[Deleted]

1. what is the leveling spec now? still BM? assuming I'm in full heirlooms won't MM be more viable?

I levelled as Beast Master on my hunter until I decided to try Survival. It's pretty much your choice.

2. what is desired rotation i need to follow? (i played my hunter a bit few years ago so I have no idea how stuff works)

Keep up dots, arcane shot, aimed shot etc when you can and steady shot is the filler.

3. what pet should I be using for solo leveling and for instances? i was thinking cat and bear but would love your input

Go kitty, they're awesome. Specifically Wolves, they give some really nice buffs and when they die they come right back.

4. what stat am I going after? agi? str?

Agility. Agility is Attack Power these days.

[ASO]

Wolves give 5% crit, if that's what you mean (Seems funny that a level 10 can tame a pet to get the group buffs that T3-4 talents give)

I disagree about dots due to focus, as a Serpent Sting costs more than an Arcane Shot with talents and there is no instance where the target should live long enough to fully tick all the damage.

[Foibles]

I'm using a Dragonhawk right now to level, but I notice whenever I log out or the pet goes away, the Flame Breath attack is removed from my pet's spell bar.

[quras]

I'm using a Dragonhawk right now to level, but I notice whenever I log out or the pet goes away, the Flame Breath attack is removed from my pet's spell bar.

I've seen that bug too. Also I still get the bug where cower gets turned on automatically when a pet is dismissed and summoned again. I have to check it every time.

I was playing around with a low level hunter on the beta and I went as MM. Arcane shot was amazingly OP on almost every mob. The shot cost is minimal and you can get 4-5 off rather quickly. Most mob are dead by then and should you actually have some heirloom gear. Leveling turned into a mindless choir things died so fast.

Like another poster said, I think you could go with any talent tree but you will find the use of arcane shot till no focus then just steady shot till you get focus back is about all you will be doing most of the time and it works extremely well.

[hlx]

I can confirm the OP of AS.
after few hours as BM in full heirloom I am thinking about going MM as most of the time my pet doesn't reach its target before it hits the ground haven't tested it in BGs but it seems really silly dmg

anyway, thanks all for your input and happy hunting