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Scattered Shots: So you want to be a hunter - Part 6 Levels 41-60

eddie carrington
Updated ·13 min read

Welcome back to the Scattered Shots, the weekly Hunter class column. This week we continue the "So you want to be a hunter" leveling series.So join me, Eddie Carrington, Brigwyn from The Hunting Lodge, as we explore what's in store for us hunters as we go through 20 levels of information, starting at 41 and ending at 60..

This is part six in our seven part leveling guide series. As we do in each, this week we'll review what skills you learn, suggest talent builds for both you and your pet, highlight some quests and instances that might be of interest, as well as show you which rare pets are tamable for your level.

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.

  • Part 5: We covered levels 21 through 40. We ended up with you getting your epic riding mount and you now can wear mail. From now on completing quests and gaining levels will be much faster.

Now that we know where we have been, let's focus on where we are going. This week we'll be covering 20 levels as we work our way from level 41 though 60. We'll also take our first tentative steps off Azeroth as we head into Outlands.



Before we can do that, we probably should review the 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

With that out of the way, let's get leveling.

Level 41-42

Now that we're in the 40's you'll start to notice that you're not really learning as many new skills now as you have in the past. Though this might not be as exciting, it doesn't mean your character isn't improving. For example, at level 42 you learn Rank 3 of MultiShot Volley and Rank 6 of Serpent Sting. These are two solid skill improvements as you level up. And with the changes coming up in Patch 3.3 you'll begin to use Volley even more as a way to burn through mobs as you search for quest objectives.

Another skill that is available to learn is Rank 2 Counterattack from the Survival Tree. If you're using a Survival build to level or if you're leveling through PvP, you might want to consider this talent. Counterattack is a melee ability that cannot be blocked, dodged or parried. Counterattack is good way to inflict some damage on your way back to kiting range if a warrior or rogue got too close and you're trying to make your escape.

New Hunter Skills

  • No new skills

Hunter Talent Allocations

Pet Talent Allocations

  • No new pet talents

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances to Consider

Rare Pets

Level 43-44

When you get to Level 43 you've gone another two levels without any new skills. Instead you see upgrades to: Aimed Shot (Rank 4), Arcane Shot (Rank 6), Explosive Trap (Rank 2) and Mongoose Bite (Rank 3).

Another skill that gets an upgrade is Mend Pet. With Rank 5 of Mend Pet you now get to heal your pet for 1,000 health over 15 seconds. One nice strategy is to cast Mend Pet as you start to tackle some of the higher level mobs allowing it to help mitigate or reverse some or all of the damage taken during battle. This strategy will allow you to consistently take on both regular mobs and even some of those Elites that are 1 or 2 levels above your current level.

New Hunter Skills

  • No new skills

Hunter Talent Allocations

Pet Talent Allocations

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances to Consider

Rare Pets

Level 45-46

Finally, 6 levels later we get to learn a new spell, Aspect of the Wild. This is a pretty good Aspect for 5 man instances like Maraudon or later on Dire Maul where having nature resist will be beneficial. It's also a nice aspect to have later on when you're running around outlands and in instances like Underbog. Then again, I've also heard that this helps some in PvP, but I'm sure using Aspect of the Hawk or later on Dragonhawk would be better.

Since we've been covering some skills that get increased, you also learn Scare Beast (Rank 3) and Immolation Trap (Rank 4).

New Hunter Skills

Hunter Talent Allocations

Pet Talent Allocations


  • No new pet talents

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances to Consider

Rare Pets

Level 47-48

We're back to another dry learning period with no new skills for levels 47 and 48. You do get a pretty good boost to Aspect of the Hawk with it giving a +90 to Attack Power with learning Rank 5.

You also get the opportunity to learn Raptor Strike (Rank 7). Now the purist will say that you shouldn't have to ever worry about learning a melee skill. Now I would agree, but I also am practical and know that any damage is good damage. So if you can get a Raptor Strike off as you get your distance and do a few extra points of damage, why not?

New Hunter Skills

  • No new skills

Hunter Talent Allocations

Pet Talent Allocations

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances to Consider

Rare Pets


Level 49-50

Level 50 introduces us to a couple of new skills. First there's Track Dragonkin. This will help you in some instances later on, but also is nice when you decide to farm Scalding Whelps for a Dark Whelping.

The other new skill is Steady Shot. This is the backbone attack of all hunters. Not that you'll use it all the time, but it's the shot you go to when everything in your rotation is on cooldown. It also is a good gauge for when you've reached your soft haste cap. You can tell this when your casting time for Steady Shot equals the Global Cool Down of 1.5 seconds.

Besides these new skills you also learn Serpent Sting (Rank 7), Wyvern Sting (Rank 2), and Volley (Rank 2).

New Hunter Skills

Hunter Talent Allocations

Pet Talent Allocations

  • No new pet talents

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances

Rare Pets

Level 51-52

Levels 51 and 52 aren't as exciting as hitting level 50. We're back to learning some new ranks of already known skills. Aimed Shot (Rank 5) and Arcane Shot (Rank 7) the two offensive skills learned. Mend Pet (Rank 6) is also learned and will now let you heal your pet for 1,400 over 15 seconds.

New Hunter Skills

  • No new skills

Hunter Talent Allocations

Pet Talent Allocations

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances to Consider

Rare Pets

Level 53-54

You've gone up another couple of levels and you'll only get a few skill-ups. Counterattack and Explosive Trap are both Rank 3 now and Multi-Shot becomes a Rank 4 skill.

If you're Horde a cool quest chain you can start is the Toxic Tolerance to get your Venomhide Ravasaur.

New Hunter Skills

  • No new skills

Hunter Talent Allocations

Pet Talent Allocations

  • No new pet talents

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances to Consider

Rare Pets

Level 55-56

When you hit 56 you can learn 3 new skill-ups. You get Aspect of the Wild (Rank 2), Immolation Trap (Rank 5), and Raptor Strike (Rank 8).

New Hunter Skills

  • No new skills

Hunter Talent Allocations

Pet Talent Allocations

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances to Consider

Rare Pets

Level 57-58

The best thing about hitting level 58 80 is you can now head out to Outlands. You're not forced to go to Hellfire Peninsula, but it is well worth it. You will find leveling faster as well as the loot and quest rewards being better than what you can get by completing the quests in Azeroth.

As for hunter skills when you complete levels 57 and 58, you learn 6 different skill-ups. All hunters get the opportunity to learn Aspect of the Hawk (Rank 6), Hunter's Mark (Rank 4), Mongoose Bite (Rank 4), Serpent Sting (Rank 8), and Volley (Rank 3). Also, if you're Survival you learn Black Arrow (Rank 2).

New Hunter Skills

  • No new skills

Hunter Talent Allocations

Pet Talent Allocations

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances to Consider

Rare Pets

Level 59-60

Besides being able to finally learn your flying skill (Expert Riding Level 150) you also get 2 new skills. The first skill you can learn is Deterrence. Deterrence allows you to parry and deflect spells 100% for 5 seconds. One thing to keep in mind is that you can't attack during the entire time it's activated.

Another new skill Tranquilizing Shot. This new skill can only be used when a mob is enraged. When used correctly it will remove 1 Enrage and 1 Magic effect from the mob. Though this doesn't have a ton of uses at this time, it will be helpful later on as you go though some of the higher instances or raids.

You also learn 8 new skill ups: Aimed Shot (Rank 6), Arcane Shot (Rank 8), Aspect of the Hawk (Rank 7), Freezing Trap (Rank 3), Mend Pet (Rank 7), Multi-Shot (Rank 5), Serpent Sting (Rank 9) and Wyvern Sting (Rank 3).

New Hunter Skills

Hunter Talent Allocations

Pet Talent Allocations

Quest Chains to Consider

Instances to Consider

At Level Raids Available

Rare Pets

  • No rare pets

Talk about an epic journey. We've worked our way up through 20 levels. Along the way have gained new skills, rare pets, and run through some classic old world instances along the way. During that time we've gone from riding around Azeroth on fancy epic land mounts to now flying around Outlands on our first flying mount.

Next time in "So you want to be a hunter", we'll work our way through another 20 levels (61-80). We'll end our journey preparing to start raiding and gearing up for Icecrown. All of this should happen so we can be completed and ready to raid with the release PTR Patch 3.3. So, until that time, I wish you happy hunting and safe journeys.

(Note: Eyes of the Eagle award goes to duskhawk and rTwelve for helping identify two errors in the post. Thanks for the catching the errors, it's much appreciated.)

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.