Tips & Advice for Huntards... from a Huntard

Hey guys, I've been getting some emails from other hunters asking for tips and advice and to be fair I did make a disclaimer in one of my first blogs where I warned everyone that I was not a good resource tool as I myself am still quite high on the official noob scale. I'm very much still a hunter student and have gotten some great feedback and advice from some of the folks who stumbled across my blog ramblings over the past few months. However what I can do is share some knowledge I've learnt with you new hunters and casual hunters looking to improve. Be warned nothing about my journey would be categorized under the "proper" and "most efficient" way of doing things so take what I say with a word of caution and remember I am not an expert hunter. I get most of my information from other sites and reliable people who have smarter brains than I do and put more time into crafting their skills than I ever could. I know I haven't found them all, but I have found some good ones. I will share what I have learnt and perhaps if you're a noob like me you'll learn something. I apologize to all you non-hunters who are reading this, there's nothing that will be said after this that will interest you. I promise this will be the only "tips and advice" you will get from me for awhile.

Part One:
There's always going to be someone who knows more than you. Accept that and realize its not something you should take offense to. I've learnt that people have preconceived notions about hunters, and yes there are a lot of bad hunters out there who make it harder for us real noobs to get any breaks. If you can handle that then you'll really enjoy this class.

Like anything else in life learning to be a great hunter is a constant journey where you will improve with knowledge and experience. Even if you're not into raids and prefer the more casual laid back experience, improving your hunter skills will always benefit you and help set you slightly above the rest of the average hunters. Similar to school, reading is one of the best ways to learn and there are a lot of great sites for us hunters with advice, tips, stories etc from people who know their hunter class very well. Here are some of the sites I visit quite often to continue my hunter education.

For Hunter Info:
Warcraft Hunters Union
MMO-Champion
Huntsman's Lodge

For Pet Info:
Petopia
WoW Hunter Pets

Other Great Resources:
Wowhead
WoWWiki

As a hunter everything you'll ever need to know should be found at one of those sites. Wowhead as most people already know is the all knowing entity of WoW and I think I visit that site 50 times a day spontaneously to check out random things.

Part Two:
I'm not going to talk about leveling and getting to 85. Everyone levels differently and at their own pace. If you're a casual hunter then I would say take your time and enjoy your leveling. You learn so much about your craft in the months it takes to level through questing and dungeons. Too many times do I see hunters power leveling to 85 and then not know how to play their hunter once they get there. If you're only interested in end game stuff then get there as fast as possible but make sure you're reading and learning as you go so you have a good idea how to play your hunter when you hit 85.

Pets! If you chose hunter because you're an animal lover like me then you know how awesome it is to build your own little pet family. A lot of people don't understand how we hunters can get so attached to little pixels but hey that's why we are hunters and they are smelly Orc Shamans, or tiny football Gnomes, or whatever right? It's our right to fall in love with our side kicks and I recommend once you start to move around Azeroth, that you take some time to research what's out there or perhaps just explore and see who you come across. Picking my 25 pets for my stable was quite hard but also quite fun so enjoy it and take good care of your pets!

Part Three:
There are lots of things that other players can see about you without ever seeing you play that will tell them if you are a hunter or a huntard. Things like your enchants and gems can set you a part from the huntards. Fortunately for us there is a great resource tool at Hunter's Union where they show you the best gems and enchantments for your hunter.

Part Four:
After hitting 85 you're going to want to upgrade your gear by adding as many purples as you can. You can check out my pre-raiding gear list here. Good blues can be obtained in Heroics and with Justice Points but trust me, nothing will feel as good as adding an Epic to one of your slots. Unfortunately this will come down to getting in a raid group and if you're like me and have a hard time convincing someone to take you to a raid then you'll have to rely on what's in your control. It is very important you pick up tabards from all the Cataclysm factions before you start doing Heroics. Wearing them while doing Heroics is the fastest way I was able to get exalted for each faction and gave me access to epics and my shoulder and helm enchants. Getting exalted for the following factions will allow you to get:

Guardians of Hyjal:
Treads of Malorne

Ramkahen:
Arcanum of the Ramkahen (Revered) (Helm Enchant)

The Earthen Ring:
Signet of the Elder Council

Therazane:
Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal (Shoulder Enchant)

For those of you with a bit of gold to spend or have some professions leveled, the follow epic items are also available to you at 85.

Corded Viper Belt (Leatherworking)
Dragonkiller Tunic (Leatherworking)
Dragonscale Leg Armor (Leatherworking)
Deadly Bio-Optic Killshades (Engineering)

Justice and Valor points that are obtained through Heroics will also allow you to buy Epics. I try to do one Heroic a day even now to get my 70 Valor that is given as a daily. Valor Points as it stands right now will allow you to buy a few tier pieces as well as a great trinket in Fluid Death.

Part Five:
Gear will definitely help you in the DPS races and allow you access to raids as having a good item level score is something that will always be looked at when forming a raid. All that's left now is your performance. If you're looking to join your first raid it is important you go online and learn the fights first. You can youtube any of the fights whether it's The Bastion of Twilight, Blackwing Descent or Baradin Hold as they all require some preparation first. Once you are familiar with watching the fights it will only take a few attempts to get the hang of them and by the end of the raid you should be a grizzly veteran.

Be sure you bring flasks and food as most raid leaders do keep an eye on things like that and anything to give your DPS a boost is definitely a plus.

Flask:
Flask of the Winds

Food:
Skewered Eel

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. Be sure to check out the sites I listed above as most of all my education come from one of those sites. If anyone wants to add anything they think is important they can do so in the comments. Hopefully this will be helpful to some people out there!