Hunters can be played in a button-mashing fashion with some level of success, but what separates a capable hunter from a pvp-winning DPS machine? The right build and the right rotation will provide an advantage over any opponent, particularly since many underestimate a hunter's capabilities.
Spec/Build
All three hunter trees have their benefits, and any one could be maxxed out with talent points to build a capable PvP player. Depending on their gear, hunters have the ability to generate a moderate amount of DPS completely unspecced, so the preference is to build up the Survival tree first (which offers some good options in the way of DPS) and add some select talents in Marksmanship that will assist greatly in a PvP setting.
The most successful build at level 80 is the 5/14/51 hybrid, which focuses on stamina and agility bonuses in addition to some key DPS talents:
- Aimed Shot - Increases the ranged damage by 5 and reduces healing done to target by 50% for 10 seconds: this is a key power against healers (or a player who is being healed) who try to outheal the damage against them.
- Scatter Shot - Deals 50% weapons damage and disorients the target for 4 seconds: the damage is negligent, but this underrated power interrupts casters, healers, and tanks with equal effectiveness. The only drawback is that this shot can cause the hunter's pet to go after a different target.
- Wyvern Sting - Puts the target to sleep for 10 seconds, causes 300 Nature damage over 6 seconds when awakened: this sting is helpful when the opponent has a healer. Put the healer to sleep and focus burst damage on the primary target.
- Black Arrow - Increases damage done by 6% and deals 786 Shadow damage over 15 seconds: this shares a cooldown with fire traps only.
- Explosive Shot - deals 146-174 fire damage, blasts the target every second for 2 seconds: the damage on this shot is misleading since it scales with increased attack power. Expect at least 1200-2000 damage per burst.
Rotation
As important as the spec is the order in which the powers are activated. The goal is to maximize burst DPS without completely burning through mana. Equally important is making the rotation simple: there is precious little time to do damage to an opponent; hesitation usually means death in a battleground.
A good sample rotation is as follows:
- Hunter's Mark
- Aimed Shot
- Black Arrow
- Explosive Shot
- Serpent Sting
- Multi-Shot
- Steady Shot
- Kill Shot
Hit Explosive Shot and Multi-Shot again when they cool down, hit Aimed Shot, Serpent Sting, and Black Arrow when they wear off. Kill shot can only be used when the target has less than 20% health, but if the Aimed Shot and Hunter's Mark is still on the target then the damage should finish him off.
Keep Wyvern Sting, Scatter Shot, Concussive Shot, Viper Sing, and Volley on your toolbar but not in the rotation. They are important powers but are used for specific situations (taking a healer out of the equation, slowing down a flag-runner, hitting multiple targets safely out of range, etc.).
For hunters new to any battleground, a build focusing on stamina and agility provides the proper statistics to keep up with the PvP veterans. Additionally a rotation that maximizes attack power and critical strike in order to generate severe burst damage will make any hunter a significant contributor to the success of the battleground at hand.
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