Transmogrify your character into a dark ranger, take 2
Sylvanas' dark rangers are bow-wielding marksmen, which you would think belong firmly in the hunter class. However, they aren't anything like a hunter at all -- in fact, all dark rangers in-game are currently wearing leather sets. If you take a look at Dark Ranger Vorel above, she's wearing the leather Opportunist's Battlegear set available during The Burning Crusade. All other dark rangers are wearing variations of that particular set, except the dark rangers we covered last time on this particular guide.
So what's a hunter to do if they want the dark ranger look? Well, there's no way to recreate the exact armor sets of the dark rangers, because they don't exist in mail form. So if you're looking for an exact replica that you can transmogrify, you're out of luck. However, we can still build a pretty classy -- and dark -- mail hunter set using transmogrification. While it may not be an exact replica, today's set captures the feel of the dark ranger minus all that bothersome leather.
Helm The helm is the crowning point of this set, because it's one of the few full-face mail hoods available to hunters. This helm is the Hateful Gladiator's Chain Helm and can be easily purchased for 660 justice points in Dalaran. Look up Arcanist Adurin if you're Alliance, and if you're Horde, seek out Magister Brasael.
Shoulders Because the dark rangers typically don't wear shoulder armor at all, we want something pretty low-key. Pictured here are the Ebonhold Shoulderpads, a random green drop from level 50-to-58 zones -- or found at your local Auction House.
Back The cloak pictured here is the Gilded Thorium Cloak, dropped by Terestian Illhoof in Karazhan. You can also look for the Blackmetal Cape in Zul'Farrak, which shares the same model and color.
Chest This chest is the Heroes' Cryptstalker Tunic, part of the hunter tier 7 set. Keep in mind that this is the 10-man set, not the 25-man version, which is a different color. You can purchase this piece of gear with a Chestguard of the Lost Protector, which drops from Gluth in Naxxramas in 10-man mode.
Shirt No shirt needed with this outfit!
Wrists Bracers? Who's looking at bracers, anyway? Your gloves will cover any bracers you happen to have, so don't worry about them.
Hands These gloves are the Ebonhold Gauntlets, part of the same set as the shoulders. They can be found in the same zones as the Ebonhold Shoulderpads or on your AH.
Waist Your belt is the Ebonhold Girdle, which is another piece of the Ebonhold Mail set.
Legs The legs you are looking for are the Heroes' Cryptstalker Legguards, another piece of hunter 10-man tier 7. Purchase these with a Leggings of the Lost Protector token, which can be found on either Gluth or Thaddius in 10-man Naxxramas.
Feet We're revisiting the Ebonhold set one last time, this time for Ebonhold Boots. The reason we're looking for so much Ebonhold is that the set is suitably dark and blends really well with the other pieces in this set, cape and bow included.
Main-hand weapon If you're a hunter, it's up in the air as to what type of weapon you are using at any given moment. The main-hand weapon doesn't matter so much -- find something simple and in a darker color palette to transmog to, and you're good to go.
Ranged weapon This lovely dark and embellished bow is the Nightstalker Bow. It's a little rarer to find than most weapons, but it goes very well with this set. The bow drops from Blind Hunter, a rare elite bat in Razorfen Kraul. Because he's a rare elite, he doesn't pop up every time you enter the instance -- so be patient while hunting this beauty down.
This set is a pretty good example of what layering can do for you. Here's my rule of thumb for layering set looks: Make sure your largest pieces -- your helm, chestpiece, and legs -- go together. They can either be from the same set or the same color palette. Your shoulders, belt, gloves and boots are the secondary pieces to a look. They should work well together and still fit within the same color scheme as your primary pieces. Cloaks can either blend or contrast, depending on what kind of look you're going for. Since we're putting together a dark look here, we want a dark cloak that blends in.
Layering different sets or different color palettes together gives your armor a depth that you often just can't find if you're simply putting tier sets together. Experiment with color palettes, mix sets together, and see what you can come up with!
Patch 4.3 lets you transmogrify your gear to look like any other gear your class can wear -- but you have to collect it first. Check out our coverage of transmogrification and start running those old dungeons!
