Play a Hunter or another range

[Angelknight52]

Hello there,

I'm currently trying to find another range to play besides my warlock and I have been searching the forums here and checking out what there has to be said about the current and future patches. I wanted to know, since many changes are coming and it is still early, is it worth it to play a hunter and if so should I give play one instead of a mage? I'm mostly looking for a ranged class to have fun on and be able to things without fearing of dying instantly. Thanks for any info!

[mistahwilshire]

Hunters have slowly had all of their flavor and uniqueness gutted this expansion. IMO it's not a good time to pick up the class.

Our damage is acceptable but we bring absolutely nothing unique to a raid comp and the skill cap of the class as a whole is shrinking with every passing patch turning mechanics that used to separate great Hunters from good Hunters in to passive compensation buffs that you don't need to pay attention to.

[Sqeen]

It depends what you want to do. Hunter was by far the most enjoyable class to level up. You got your personal tank with you so soloing stuff is incredibly easy and you are not limited by movement like any other caster out there. If you play smart with your traps you can challenge yourself with quite big pulls even in lower levels and hunter is also extremly strong in low level pvp brackets.

If you aim to go for endgame raiding with your future hunter I can only say that it is fun to play a hunter in raids but don't expect to be on top of the metres considering equal gear and skill at the moment. Regarding 90s PvP I can only comment on random BG action with 472 pvp gear. It's fun to own some undergeared blokes but I am not a big fan of hunter pvp overall.

[Deleted]

In my opinion no class is more enjoyable to play than hunter. So much so that I have two of them!

Our current place in raiding is disappointing but hopefully we'll be back up with the other pure dps classes soon in terms of our damage/utility contributions.

I also love the class' ability to solo content. I've been soloing old raids for a long time and there are some other hunters with a seriously impressive repertoire in this field. Youtube Durendil for some world first solos of many bosses.

Our utility increases as the group size decreases, no other class has as many tools at their disposal and that can be a lot of fun.

[Littlepinch]

In my opinion no class is more enjoyable to play than hunter. So much so that I have two of them!

Our current place in raiding is disappointing but hopefully we'll be back up with the other pure dps classes soon in terms of our damage/utility contributions.

I also love the class' ability to solo content. I've been soloing old raids for a long time and there are some other hunters with a seriously impressive repertoire in this field. Youtube Durendil for some world first solos of many bosses.

Our utility increases as the group size decreases, no other class has as many tools at their disposal and that can be a lot of fun.

I second this ^ . Iv been using my hunter as my farmer/solo toon for years. It's great fun in raids or pretty much anything you decide to do. Also he is correct that you wont be topping the meters with equal gear/skill but you wont be last either. great in pvp as well even after the nerfs.

[khalamo]

Leveling with hunter is OP. I think this is by far easiest class to level.

However if I was going to start a range character I would definitely go with warlock. Also have a pet to tank, great self healing and in the end one of the best class to bring into raid (healthstones, summoning portal, warp gate, stamina buff, magic power buff, combat ress). Also warlock has 3 great specs that differ greatly and can do great in single target/aoe.

Right now warlock has similar mobility to hunters but I think this will soon go away. Jumping around and attacking is what keeping me with my hunter (also legendary quest - 600ilvl cloak is just too good to pass and level new toon).

[Littlepinch]

Leveling with hunter is OP. I think this is by far easiest class to level.

However if I was going to start a range character I would definitely go with warlock. Also have a pet to tank, great self healing and in the end one of the best class to bring into raid (healthstones, summoning portal, warp gate, stamina buff, magic power buff, combat ress). Also warlock has 3 great specs that differ greatly and can do great in single target/aoe.

Right now warlock has similar mobility to hunters but I think this will soon go away. Jumping around and attacking is what keeping me with my hunter (also legendary quest - 600ilvl cloak is just too good to pass and level new toon).

the OP said his current range is already a lock.

[Blackmist]

Hunters are fun, and can solo shit like nothing else. I've been playing mine since Vanilla (except in Wrath when I went through a healing phase), and it's seen some massive changes. We've finally got to a point where we're a proper ranged class, rather than a sub-standard caster. We can do 100% DPS while moving, and once you get used to that it's hard to go back.

As for raid performance, I'll say no class tops the meters forever. Well, except mages obviously, but they don't count.

[Angelknight52]

Thank you very much for your replies!! I do enjoy the easy leveling but I think for me it's the hunter lore or the feel of a hunter. Many guildmates have told me to go with mage for the longterm investment of having low nerfs/high dps. I came on here to hear your opinions on whether that be the right choice. I wouldn't mind high dps but I just want a good investment

[Kelrax]

I would never play a pure dps class again if I was to reroll. Priest, Shaman, Druid are far better since you can switch roles to help LFD/LFR queues and help out your guild.

[Boricha]

They are a very good solo class, at the moment they are very strong in PvP, they have a lot of utility to them, and they are middle of the pack PvE but imo have the highest consistent AoE damage in the game. The winning factors of a hunter for me is that they can do non stop, non interrupt-able damage while moving. The negative side is that they have very little ways to heal themselves. They can spec spirit bond, have a spirit beast pet, or glyph for the disengage heal, all of which are minor.