Hunter 101: Setting up your UI
Having a clean, efficient UI is important for more than just having your game look pretty while you play. A good UI set up helps you filter out unnecessary information so you can concentrate on what you need to know in order to maximize your performance.
I’m going to explain not only how I set up my UI, but why I have it set up this way. All the screenshots in this post link to full size (2474 x 1392) versions so you can clearly see my setup.
Hunter 101: Gear and stats
I almost didn’t even write this post since all loot in the game is hunter loot. But since the other support classes might find that unfair [for whatever reason], I thought I would go ahead and write up a guide on what to look for, should you want to be a kind and benevolent hunter and give lesser gear to the support classes.
hunter weapon… hunter weapon…. oh! this was made for a hunter.
In all seriousness, though, we hunters are pretty lucky when it comes to gear. A lot of the gear in the game works for us and it’s relatively easy to find really good gear at low levels.
Hunter 101: Keybinds
There are some people who can play this game using their keyboard to turn and click the abilities on their action bar. I am not one of those people, and I’d be willing to bet that very few people in the top raiding guilds/arena teams don’t use keybinds.
Keybinds are essential to being a successful player and you don’t need a fancy gaming keyboard and mouse to utilize them. I’ve been playing with a simple two-button mouse that I bought for $20 at Walmart for years. My keyboard is the basic keyboard that came with my computer six years ago. I got a brand new desktop computer about 7 months ago and I’m still using that six year old keyboard. Sure, I’d like to get one of those fancy gaming mice with the buttons on the side, I’m sure that would improve my game considerably. But you don’t NEED one. And frankly, I just can’t bring myself to spend almost $100 on a mouse.
Hunter 101: Which pet should I get?
NOTE: THE INFORMATION IN THS POST IS DEPRECIATED AS OF PATCH 5.0.4, PLEASE REFER TO THE UPDATED PANDARIA POST HERE FOR MORE ACCURATE INFORMATION.
One of the most frequently asked questions from new hunters is:
What is the best pet for the DPS?
You see, my little hunters, there is no one “right” answer for this. There are many pets in our hunter arsenal that are the best pet for the situation. The best pet for your DPS is dependent upon what you’re doing. I wouldn’t use the same pet for raiding that I would use in a battleground. My arena pet might be different from my battleground pet. The pet I use for questing isn’t the same as the pet I use to run 5 man dungeons, and I certainly do not use that pet when I hunter tank or do some extreme soloing. Hunter pets are one of the biggest utilities we have to offer and the sign of a truly good hunter is one who knows which pet to use in what situation and why. Blizzard has blessed us with an overflowing stable in Cataclysm… we have TWENTY FIVE pet slots now! This is a fantastic opportunity, use those slots well.
Hunter 101: Races
When rolling a hunter, your first choice to make is which race to choose? First you need to decide what your priorities are. Do you want to raid? PvP? Mostly just quest and do solo content? Unless you are looking to really min/max your DPS, you can be successful with any race, but there are a couple of races for each faction that make the most sense for a hunter.
This guide lists the races in order of best to worst as far as racials go.
