Season of Discovery Hunter Melee DPS Leveling

Leveling as a Hunter will be nearly identical, regardless of what spec you choose. Your pet will still be your most important asset regardless of spec with how powerful they are in Season of Discovery.

That being said, melee Hunters are going to be at a noticeable disadvantage while leveling compared to ranged Hunters. While it is viable, it is not recommended for anyone looking for the fastest leveling experience.

Leveling as a Hunter is all about utilizing your Auto-Shot optimally. Weave in Serpent Sting and Arcane Shot between Auto Shots, but try not to over-use your mana. You should be able to stay mana neutral with relative ease. Let your pet do most of the work, especially once you get the Beast Mastery rune.

If you are choosing to play as melee, just be prepared for how slow your kill speed will be early on. Try to get Flanking Strike as soon as possible, let your pet do most of the work, and use Raptor Strike on cooldown.

Hunters have lots of different abilities to learn, some more useful than others. Gold is going to be scarce while leveling, so try to be concious about which skills to train. It is important to have an idea of what skills are worth having and what you can live without.

If you are planning to exclusively play as melee, you can choose to skip all of the ranged abilities below.

• Track Beasts
• Raptor Strike
• Aspect of the Monkey
• Serpent Sting
• Arcane Shot
• Hunter's Mark
• Concussive Shot
• Revive Pet
• Aspect of the Hawk
• Track Humanoids
• Mend Pet
• Wing Clip
• Scare Beast
• Mongoose Bite
• Multi-Shot
• Aspect of the Cheetah
• Disengage
• Frost Trap
• Rapid Fire
• Feign Death
• Explosive Trap

If you are leveling as a melee Hunter, the critical thing is to get runes as soon as you are able to. The melee runes are what will give you the largest damage increases by far, more so than any learned skills.

Concussive Shot, Wing Clip, and Freezing Trap are all valuable disengage and crowd control tools for both PvP and PvE.

The best pet to get as a Hunter for leveling will either be a Cat or a Raptor. These are the pets that have the highest damage modifiers (+10%) and should therefore be prioritized. At level 40, a Cat will be best, so it's best to get one if you can early on. Make sure to level its Claw and Bite abilities when you can.

Weapon upgrades are always going to be the single biggest upgrade you can get to increase your kill speed while leveling. Always be on the lookout for weapon upgrades from quests, vendors, dungeon drops, or on the Auction House.