ez-mode

Not a single day passes without us reading or hearing inflammatory remarks about hunters. We have heard them all. Our favorite is "huntards is ez-mode". Is there any truth to this?

Absolutely. The hunter class is by far the easiest class to play. We have pets to tank and deal damage, traps to control adds, and a nice reset button with the feign death ability. We stand at range and deal damage while wearing mail armor.

The reason people hate the hunter class is simple. Many hunters have no idea how to operate in a group. We often hear that "huntards are easy to play but hard to master". This makes us laugh because the hunter is not that difficult to master. The problem is you.

Example:
There is a remarkable difference in how to play a hunter whilst soling and grouping. It is your inability to adapt that makes us (the hunter class) seem inept.

The mobs in instances are marked "elite" for a reason. This means you should be trying to pull them one at a time. Consider this situation:
I've seen groups wipe because of this room. The huntard will send his pet into one of the packs. If your pet does not aggro the other pack, a runner or other party member will usually turn this 3 pack into a 5 or 6 pack. You are not in ez-mode anymore and the tactics used "on the outside" will not work inside.

The good hunter will use his abilities to pull one of the three packs into the cleared hallway where his party is waiting. If the hunter accidentally pulls both groups, he can feign death and try again.

This is pretty basic stuff but we see it far too often. A hunter who can pull and recover from bad pulls is an asset.

The dark period

All boars should have Gore and Charge, no exceptions. Boar toting hunters will eventually enter "the dark period". This period exists from lvl 24 to 48 because higher level ranks of Gore and Charge are nowhere to be found. This means that your boar's skills will be outdated for several levels. However, all hope is not lost.

Even without the higher level skills, you boar is still viable in almost any situation. The boar will be able to tank, defend, and do a decent amount of damage.

Fearstalker writes in to ask if using Bite during this period is acceptable. We approve the use of Bite if you are concerned about DPS and if you promise to ditch it at lvl 48. You can refer to our previous post for information about what skills to give your boar at lvl 50.

Personally, we skipped bite and went through "the dark period" with the lower level skills. It motivated us to reach those higher levels and gave us a nice solid reward at 50.