Hunter Guide for WoW Forever: How Beast Mastery, Marksmanship and Survival Play

The WoW Forever hunter is still the class of the pet and range, but now it can choose: bet on the pet (Beast Mastery), play without it for 20% more damage (Lone Wolf, in Marksmanship) or hit in melee for real (Survival). The pet gains stats from your gear, every family has its own ability and traps can be set in combat. This guide explains how each tree plays, what you learn, what to look for in gear and how to level. It does not say which one is "the best": all three are playable.

Everything comes from the beta client (build 1.60.1.70170, level 30) and from Blizzard's explanation of September 30. It may change before November 4.

In short

What changes compared to Classic

• The pet scales with your gear and stops receiving stat buffs from other players. Upgrading your weapon and your Agility upgrades it too.
• Each family has an ability only it has: the bear hits three targets, the crocolisk halves the healing the target receives, the wolf raises the group's melee attack power, the cat goes stealthy… And there is a new family, the fox. All 19 families, with diet and abilities, in hunter pets.
• Aimed Shot is learned by all hunters at level 20, with no talent. Multi-Shot shares its cooldown with it; Arcane Shot no longer does.
• Traps in combat, with a 30-second cooldown (frost and fire traps are separate). They are still set at your feet.
• Aspect of the Beast also gives melee attack power and Disengage removes double the threat.
• Since October 1 the pet's aggressive mode is back, on its tab in the spellbook.

How the pet learns abilities (you still need to tame beasts that already know them), in pet abilities.

What you learn from 1 to 40

Ranks and costs are in the hunter spellbook.

Beast Mastery

How it plays: your pet does a good part of the damage and tanks for you. You shoot from behind and heal it with Mend Pet. It is the most comfortable tree for leveling solo.

Talents that define it in Forever:

• Focused Fire (new, second row): you and your pet deal more damage while it is out.
• Unleashed Fury and Ferocity: more damage and more critical strikes for your pet and your hawks.
• Summon Hawk (new, 16 points): an instant strike and a hawk that attacks for 18 seconds. You can have two at once.
• Intimidation (fifth row): your pet stuns for 3 seconds. It is the stun the hunter does not have on its own.
• Bestial Wrath (31 points, beyond level 30).

Marksmanship

How it plays: strong shots from far away. The novelty is that you can play it without a pet: with Lone Wolf you deal 20% more damage with everything while you do not have it out. You can also bring it and not take that talent.

Talents that define it in Forever:

• Lethal Attacks (+5% critical strike chance) and Careful Aim (new): your Intellect is added to your attack power. With this talent, Intellect stops being only mana.
• Lone Wolf (new, 11 points): +20% damage without a pet.
• Improved Arcane Shot and Rapid Killing (new): Arcane Shot more often, Rapid Fire sooner and your next shot stronger after a kill.
• Trueshot Aura (fourth row): ranged attack power for the group.
• Sniper Shot (31 points, beyond level 30): 4-second cast, 45 yards and more range for your next three shots.

Survival

How it plays: for the first time, a real melee tree. You carry one weapon or two and hit up close with Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite, with traps and the pet in support.

Talents that define it in Forever:

• Savage Strikes: more melee critical strike chance.
• Predator's Edge (new): more melee critical damage and 50% more damage with the left hand.
• Counterattack (16 points): a strike after a parry, which roots for 5 seconds.
• Strider Kick (new, fifth row): hits and gives you speed. Expose Prey (new): your attacks against targets with Hunter's Mark can trigger Mongoose Bite.
• Lacerating Strikes (new, 31 points): Mongoose Bite leaves a bleed.

Which stats to look for

Since the pet scales with your gear, every upgrade counts twice. Piece by piece and level by level, in the hunter BiS.

How to level

• From 1 to 10: you shoot and, when the enemy arrives, Raptor Strike and Wing Clip to get away.
• At 10: do the class quest and tame your first pet. From here on you level much faster. Which family to pick is a matter of taste: see their abilities in hunter pets and vote in the poll on that page.
• From 10 to 30: almost everyone levels as Beast Mastery: the pet tanks, you shoot, and with Summon Hawk and Focused Fire the damage takes care of itself.
• If you want to play without a pet, Marksmanship with Lone Wolf; but then nobody tanks for you, so use traps and Concussive Shot to keep your distance.
• The zones and dungeons for your level are in What do I do at my level?, and the route in the 1-20 leveling guide and the 20 to 30 one.

Spend your points in the hunter talent calculator, with the published role builds and the most saved on wow4ever. And for everyday play with the pet, ready-to-copy macros.

Talents: one build per tree at level 30

With 21 points at level 30, these are builds for the current beta, one per tree. They are checked against the calculator's rules (rows, requirements and points) and load in one click: the link opens the calculator with the points in place, and from there you can change anything and save it. They are not "the optimal build": they are a sensible starting point.

Beast Mastery

For solo levelling: the pet tanks and hits harder, with two hawks and Intimidation's stun.

Load this build in the calculator

Marksmanship

Without a pet: Lone Wolf (+20%), crit and Intellect turned into attack power.

Load this build in the calculator

Survival

Melee: more crit and off-hand damage, Strider Kick and more health.

Load this build in the calculator

The class page also has the role builds published by people already playing the beta and the most-saved builds on wow4ever.

Useful macros

A macro packs several commands into one button. These use the official spell names and the current game's syntax, which works in the beta. To create one: type /macro, click "New", paste the text and drag the icon to your bar. All of them, with a copy button, are on the hunter page; what each piece means is in the macro guide.

Auto Shot with your pet

Starts shooting (the "!" keeps a second press from turning it off) and sends your pet at the same target. From level 1.

#showtooltip Auto Shot
/petattack
/cast !Auto Shot

Hunter's Mark and pet attack

Marks whatever is under your mouse (or your target) and sends your pet there. From level 6.

#showtooltip Hunter's Mark
/cast [@mouseover,harm,nodead][] Hunter's Mark
/petattack [@mouseover,harm,nodead][]

One button for your pet

If it's dead, it revives it; if you don't have it out, it calls it; if it's alive, it heals it. From level 12.

#showtooltip
/cast [@pet,dead,exists] Revive Pet; [nopet] Call Pet; Mend Pet

Pet attack or come back

Plain press attacks; with Shift held, it comes back to you. From level 1.

/petattack [nomod]
/petfollow [mod:shift]

Items worth chasing

The pieces that matter most in level 30 gear, from the beta BiS list (Alliance; if the Horde uses another piece, it is listed alongside). The full set, slot by slot with alternatives, is in each role's BiS page.

Damage

See the full BiS

What is still unknown

• Which beast teaches each rank of pet ability in Forever, and whether each family's unique abilities are learned by taming.
• Talents past 30: they are in the client, but the beta does not go past 30.

Frequently asked questions

Can the hunter play without a pet in WoW Forever?

Yes. The Lone Wolf talent, in Marksmanship, gives 20% more damage with all attacks while you do not have a pet out. It is the first time the game rewards it.

Can you play a melee hunter in WoW Forever?

Yes. Survival has been reworked as a melee tree, with Predator's Edge, Strider Kick and Lacerating Strikes.

At what level does the hunter learn Aimed Shot?

At level 20, all hunters, with no talent needed.

Does the hunter's pet improve with gear?

Yes. In Forever the pet gains stats from the hunter's gear, and stops receiving stat buffs from other players.