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Scattered Shots: So you want to be a Hunter - Part 5 Levels 31-40

eddie carrington
Updated ·8 min read

Welcome back to the Scattered Shots, So you want to be a Hunter series. This guide is intended to help new Hunters better understand how to play the best class in the game. So join me, Eddie "Brigwyn" Carrington from the Hunting Lodge as we explore the ins and out of how to be a Hunter.

Welcome back to the fifth installment of the So You Want to Be a Hunter leveling guide. This week we'll take a journey from 31 through 40. As you journey through these 10 levels you'll have the opportunity to see many of the great vibrant landscapes that will be changed in Cataclysm. Also, if you want you can quest in Dustwallow Marsh and see brave adventurers tackle the revamped Onyxia courtesy of Patch 3.2.2.

As every week we'll recap what we have covered up to now.

Part 1: We reviewed racials and their impact on the hunter class. Reviewed each of the current races and what the benefits were of each racial.

Part 2: We quickly talked about the first nine levels. We also went on to talk about each of the three hunter talent trees and their basic play style.

Part 3: Last week we discussed what happened from levels 10 through 20. We also went over the quests to learn how to tame your first pet.

Part 4: We covered some of the covered attacks, buffs and spells. We also began looking at how to teach your pet new skills by applying pet talents.

With that out of the way, let's mount up and head on out of here.



As a reminder, here are some guidelines for using this guide.

  • So you want to be a Hunter is for the new player and/or a new hunter.

  • This guide is not a "How-to get to 80 in less than 3 days" leveling guide. It's more of a "What to expect as you level" guide.

  • Except where highlighted, this guide does not take into account Recruit a Friend or heirloom bonuses.

  • Since most players tend to level by themselves, all talent build suggestions will focus on a solo leveling/grinding build.

  • Since this guide is about leveling, pet talent point allocations will be using a tenacity pet.

  • This guide focuses on the leveling the PvE hunter. We will discuss PvP and raiding in other guides

Level 31-32

When you get to level 32 you learn another new tracking spell. You can now learn Track Demons. No longer are those dreaded Satyrs or warlocks with their demons going to be able to hide behind corners or out of site. Now you can see them on your map and plan their explosive demise.

Of course Tracking Demons is pretty cool and all, but the star of this level has to be Flare. Finally, we have a way to smoke out all those despicably treacherous rogues as they try to hide in the shadows.

New hunter Skills

Hunter Talent Allocations

Pet Talent Allocations

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances to consider

Rare Pets

Level 33-34

The main thing you learn at level 34 is the Explosive Trap. While your pet is tanking the mob you can lay this trap down to help add a bit extra damage and then move back to finish them off. It's also good to know that if you decide to raid Survival, your Explosive Trap can be used to trigger Lock and Load.

New Hunter Skills

Hunter Talent Allocations

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances to consider

Rare Pets

Levels 35-36

At level 36 you learn Viper Sting. Now this is a good spell to learn for a couple of reasons. One it will help you drain the mana from any casters.

Second, it will give back to you 300% of the mana you've drained. So if you find you need an extra boost of mana as you switch from Aspect of the Hawk to Aspect of the Viper, this is an acceptable way to accomplish just that.

New Hunter Skills

Hunter Talent Allocations

Pet Talent Allocations

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances to Consider

Rare Pets


Level 37-38

At levels 37 and 38 you don't learn really any new spells. And nothing really new happens. Depending on what you're doing and how close you are to having enough gold for your mount. This is a good time to take a break from the rapid pace of leveling and maybe consider bringing up your gathering professions to help offset some of the expense of learning new abilities as well as preparing for your epic mount at level 40.

Hunter Talent Allocations

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances to Consider

Rare Pets

Levels 39-40

A few things happen at Level 40. The most exciting is the ability to get your epic land mount. Unless you've managed to become exalted with another Alliance race, you'll have to head back to your own mount trainer and purchase the Journeyman Riding (150) skill. Then you can get your epic mount and improve your speed to 100%!

Though this overshadows anything else at level 40, you also get some pretty cool hunter skills like Track Giants. This is useful when questing around Tanaris or Arathi Highlands and later on in Northrend. Add to that Aspect of the Pact for helping your run back through cleared instances or areas.

The final sill is Volley, our area attack. What's great about Volley is now you can have your pet agro a lot of mobs and you can sit back and just Volley them down. However, be careful, you will probably pull one or more of the mobs off your pet so make sure you have a Freeze Trap down.

New Hunter Skills

Hunter Talent Allocations

Pet Talent Allocations

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances to Consider

Rare Pets

Now that you've gotten your epic land mount you can start to level even faster. To help reflect that our next two editions of So you want to be a hunter will cover 20 levels and will be wrapped up in two weeks. So come back next week when we cover levels 41-60, travel to Outlands and get your first flying mount.

You want to be a Hunter, eh? Well then you came to the right place. Scattered Shots is the one column dedicated to helping you learn everything it takes to be a Hunter. Each week Scattered Shots will cover topics to help you Fix Your DPS, Choosing the Right Spec, Gear Selection, Macros and Pet Selection, Pet Specs and Management.