Raiding Hunter Basics

n my guild I raid with a few really skilled people running hunters as their mains.  Then there are some people who just don't get it.  They think of the class as point and shoot.  Much of it is just a real lack of information.  There are some things you really must know and understand to be a productive member of a raid.

Think this as a compilation of little things for raiding hunters.  I'm going to be limiting this for the most part to MM or SV hunters, I've never really played a BM hunter so my knowledge of them is mostly second hand. 

Spec and Glyphs

Spec what you want.  If you're happy with your DPS then you're doing it right.  In all honestly MM and specifically ArP specs will significantly out DPS any other spec but they are highly gear dependent specs.  Glyphs vary based on spec and gear so take some time to research it all.

Raiding Pets

At level a 80 BM hunter gets about 40% of their DPS from their pet. MM and SV only get about 10% of their dps from the pets.

Get a wolf because as MM or SV Furious Howl will give you more personal DPS than a Cat or Raptor.  People have run the numbers and proven that the the wolf is best but you're free beat on a target dummy and discover it for yourself.

Enchants and Gems 

Agility is your friend.  If its red, go +20, agility and if its yellow get the +10 agility +10 crit gem.  If its blue use a Nightmare Tear, if that's used, use a red.  If you are trying to gem for an ArP build then lets be honest a basics guide isn't for you.  For the meta get the agil % chance to crit gem

Enchants are the same across the board

Head	Arcanum of Torment
Shoulders	Greater Inscription of the Axe
Back	Major Agility
Chest	Powerful Stats
Wrists	Greater Assault
Hands	Major Agility Precision
Belt	Eternal Belt Buckle
Legs	Icescale Leg Armor
Feet	Superior Agility  Icewalker
Ranged	Heartseeker Scope
1 H Melee	Superior Potency  Accuracy
2H Melee	Massacre

I am working on my ArP build.  You can peek at me, my gear, my spec and my pet in the top left hand corner if you're curious how it all looks together.

Ammo

Go big or go home.  Shatter Rounds or Iceblade Arrows.  They are cheap to have made and the DPS difference between these and the store bought is massive.

Raid Consumables 

No more fish feasts for you.  Blackened Dragonfin for you and Mega Mammoth Meal for your pet.  Elixir of Mighty Agility and the Elixir of Mighty Thoughts are best for your flask/elixir use but they can be expensive especially if you're in a progression situation.  Flask of Endless Rage is fine to use

Rotations 

Hunters don't have rotations, we have priority lists.

For SV its Kill Shot/Explosive Shot/Black Arrow/Serpent Sting/Aimed Shot/Steady Shot

For MM its  Kill Shot/Serpent Sting/Chimera Shot/Aimed Shot/Arcane/Steady Shot/Silencing Shot

Starter Macros 

Misdirection

#showtooltip
/cast [target=focus, help] Misdirection
/cast [target=focustarget, help] Misdirection
/cast [target=target, help] Misdirection
/cast [target=targettarget, help] Misdirection
/cast [target=pet, nodead, exists] Misdirection

Aspect Swapping

#showtooltip
/castsequence !Aspect of the Dragonhawk, !Aspect of the Viper

ICC Lower Spire Trash & Marrowgar's Bone Spike

/cleartarget
/tar Bone Spike
/tar [noexists,dead] Web Wrap
/assist [noexists,dead] focus
  

Covers it all macro for assorted ICC Encounters

/cleartarget
/tar Kinetic Bomb
/tar [noexists,dead] Blood Beast
/tar [noexists,dead] Volatile Ooze
/tar [noexists,dead] Gas Cloud
/assist [noexists,dead] focus

Add-ons 

Recount 

  Use it to analzye your DPS. Dig deep into it, see what you did well, see what shots are doing what damage.  See what your pet has been up to.  Just use it to break yourself down and build back up again.  But remember, us it as a tool, don't use it to be a Tool.

Omen

At the very basic level you need this to beep at you and let you know its time to dump aggro.  I'd suggest setting it at about 85-90% of aggro to start beeping at you.  Mine is higher but I DPS behind amazing tanks who seem to not worry too much that I'll pull the boss. 


Deadly Boss Mobs
A heads up for bad things incoming is never a bad idea.  A nice loud noise should shock you out of some fire.  If you don't use it, get out of the raid.

Power Auras
I just got this, I am pretty sure I'm not taking advantage of all the bells and whistles of my spec.

ShotAndAwe
This will help you work with your priority list and has timer bars for specials.  If you are going SV it helps to make sure you aren't wasting DPS in a LnL proc.   I think much of its functionality may overlap with Power Auras.  I'll find out quickly I'm sure.

I'll work up a more sophisticated list but for now I'll stick to learning how to function with my new keyboard and my new mod.