Hunter PvP Guides for WotLK Classic

Hunters are a solid choice for arena, but open-world PvP is where they truly excel. With the longest range out of any class through Hawk Eye, Hunters are able to kite extremely well while still out-ranging casters. Concussive Shot is one of the better slows in the game due to its instant cast time, which is one of the main reason Hunters excel at kiting. Lastly, Hunters have excellent burst as every spec thanks to their instant-cast shots like Aimed Shot and Explosive Shot, allowing them to make quick work of low-Armor targets like Priests and Mages.

For arenas, Hunters are a niche class where each spec excels at specific things. While not S-tier in arena, they are absolutely viable, and can be quite strong when played correctly.

1. Beast Mastery is the glass cannon specialization. This spec has the scariest burst window out of any Hunter spec thanks to its unstoppable 10-second kill window during cooldowns. However, while it brings incredible burst damage, it lacks the control or defensive capabilities of the other specs. Beast Mastery does have one incredible tool however: Bestial Wrath. Thanks to the talent The Beast Within, Beast Mastery Hunters are also unstoppable for 10 seconds during their main damage cooldown, which means they are immune to all forms of crowd control during that time. This makes them one of the most dangerous classes in the game during that burst window. Most of the BM Hunter arena comps are built around trying to kill targets during that 10-second window every time it is up. Being immune to all CC during your highest damage window cannot be taken lightly.
2. Marksmanship is the meta Hunter specialization for high-end arena. This is partially because of the drain power of Viper Sting and the ability to refresh is with Chimera Shot, but also because of Marksmanship's constant burst windows. Marksmanship's 3 primary damaging shots that make up most of your damage are all instant-cast abilities with short cooldowns, meaning once every 10 seconds you can use all 3 back-to-back for a very strong burst window. This is amplified by your other cooldowns, but the constant pressure from frequent burst windows is incredibly hard to deal with in arenas. Marksmanship is also the only Hunter spec with an interrupt thanks to Silencing Shot, and now has Readiness to reset both offensive and defensive cooldowns.
3. Survival is the more control-oriented Hunter specialization. Survival's main appeal is its control ability Wyvern Sting along with its improved traps thanks to Entrapment. Wyvern Sting is an instant sleep that lasts for 8 seconds, which allows for some amazing CC chains that you can set up because of how effective Wyvern Sting is. Survival lacks the burst that the other Hunter specs bring, but does have some solid sustained damage with more DoT-based abilities such as Black Arrow and Explosive Shot. Survival is the least popular Hunter spec in arenas, but still has its niche.

Macros and Addons can greatly benefit your game play, especially in a high-paced environment like PvP where no two encounters are exactly the same. Macros specifically can lessen the time it takes for you to perform an action by combining two or more commands into a single button. Addons can increase the amount of information you are receiving, allowing you to make better decisions as to what your next move should be. Listed below are our guides for Hunter-specific Addons and Macros. While most of these are targeted toward PvE, they can also be quite useful for PvP.

The only consumables that are usable in arena are food, water, and bandages. As long as you have max level food and water, you will be fine.

Listed below are links to our guides made specifically for the three Hunter specializations. Inside of these guides we will go over the optimal specialization, best gear, and some tips and tricks on how to get the most out of your character in PvP scenarios.

If you are interested in learning more about a variety of Arena compositions featuring a Hunter and its relative strength in PvP, please consult our guides on them below: