Hunter PVE Technique

PVE, Hunters have to be rather deliberate in their engagement of mobs. Although a Hunter and Pet duo will have around as much HP as a same-level Warrior, you’ll still be much more vulnerable to damage if you don’t properly manage aggro and watch your adds.

The typical sequence of events when engaging a mob is to send your pet in first, so that it can get the initial aggro (which is usually the most powerful), and then top it with an immediate Growl to ensure that the mob is locked on nice and tight. If you’ve had the same level of Growl for a while (you only get one every ten levels, remember), you might notice that it becomes less effective as you level up, and you might want to wait for your pet to growl twice before you let loose your arrows, or just be a little more conservative with the Arcane Shots. Even after your pet seems to have a mob locked up, you can still knock its aggro over to you by dishing out too much damage, which is easy to accomplish when you’re a Hunter.

However, you shouldn’t be too worried about having a solo enemy transfer over to you, unless it’s a devestatingly powerful melee opponent. Against normal mobs that are close to your level, your pet should be able to hold aggro long enough for you to get a Serpent Sting and a few Arcane Shots off, as well as numerous normal arrows. In most cases, even if the mob does transfer to you, it’ll be close enough to death that you should be able to finish it off with your melee weapon and whatever damage your pet is doing. If you actively anticipate the monster transferring, lay down an Immolation trap ahead of time and lure the enemy over it for a quicker finish.

Problems arise when you draw in more enemies than you can handle. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to soak up as much damage as a Warrior or a Paladin will be able to, due to your diminutive HP reserves and your light armor, so if you find that a battle’s getting out of hand, don’t hesitate to sacrifice your pet and get the heck out of dodge. Your pet can aggro as many enemies as you like, and he should be able to capture them easily if you tell him to attack a mob that you yourself haven’t damaged yet, but he’ll die quickly when facing off against two or more mobs that are his level or higher. Better him than you, however; your pet can be quickly summoned back when it dies, but you’ll be required to make an oft-lengthy run from a graveyard when you yourself perish. If you manage to get your pet to aggro all hostile mobs, though, you can often prevent its death by running away from the combat as quickly as possible. After you get 100 yards or so away, the pet will disappear from your radar, and you’ll be able to resummon it without having it die.