Season of Discovery Hunter: Rune Slots and Rune Locations

Beast Mastery — Your pet's damage and health are increased by 30%, and its Focus regeneration by 80%. In addition, your pet's Growl now also taunts the target to attack if for 3 seconds. This Rune is intended to massively buff your pet, making it an actual tank. With the addition of pet scaling in Season of Discovery, this is an incredibly strong rune for any Hunter.

For Alliance, you can loot a Goretusk Haunch from the Goretusks in the zone. As the text on the item implies, you can place these in the Coyote Dwelling on the west coast of Westfall to bait out Silvepur. The Rune drops from him.

For Horde, there is a Patrolling Cheetah that runs in a circle north of Camp Taurajo in The Barrens. If you place a trap in the Cheetah's path, it will run over the trap and become attack-able. The Rune drops from the Cheetah after you kill it.

Chimera Shot — An instant shot on a 6-second cooldown that refreshes your current sting on your target while also dealing some weapon damage. It also has a varying additional effect depending on the sting that it refreshes. This is a strong choice due to the high damage, lack of a shared cooldown, and refreshing of Serpent Sting.

This is the first Rune that every Hunter will unlock. You can get this by completing a quest from your class trainer in your race's starting zone, which will become available at level 2.

Explosive Shot — An instant shot on a 6-second cooldown that deals multiple bursts of explosive damage to the target and every other enemy around the target within 8 yards. This is very weak on single target, but the uncapped AOE has some strong potential in certain situations.

This Rune drops from several named enemies around the world. There is one drop in each race's starting zone.

• Dwarf: Fyodi in Dun Morogh.
• Night Elf: Rageclaw in Teldrassil.
• Orc and Troll: Sarkoth in the Valley of Trials.
• Tauren: Arra'chea in Mulgore.

Carve — A melee attack that sweeps in front of you, hitting all enermies for 50% weapon damage on a 6-second cooldown.

This Rune is obtained by finding one of the consumables that allows you to tame a critter. After successfully taming a critter, you can return to your class trainer (or an NPC next to it) in the same zone to receive this Rune.

• Dwarf: Rabbit Musk in Dun Morogh.
• Night Elf: Deer Musk in Teldrassil.
• Orc and Troll: Adder Pheromone in Durotar.
• Tauren: Prairie Dog Musk in Mulgore.

Kill Command — A 1-minute cooldown that functions similar to Kill Command in Wrath, temporarily buffing your pet's next three special attacks. With the scaling for pets that was added in Season of Discovery, this rune is much stronger than originally thought, and is a competitive option for anyone using the Beast Mastery rune.

Unlocking this requires that you bring 3 items to Jixo Madrocket in the Stonetalon Mountains. You'll need a Greater Magic Wand, the Hypnotic Crystal from the final boss in the dungeon Wailing Caverns, and Wild Magic Essence which drops from Furblogs in Ashenvale. Combine the essence and the wand, then bring the items all to Jixo. Talk through all of the quests, then follow him and watch him tame a Wyvern for the final quest. Afterwards he'll give you the rune.

Sniper Training — Shot abilities gain 10% increased crit chance when you have not moved for 6 seconds. This is annoying to maintain and is ultimately a minor damage increase given how much damage both your pet and auto shots do.

As Alliance, there are currently two ways to obtain this Rune. Either kill the elite crocolisk Kackle in Loch Modan or travel to Darkshore and find a harpoon along the beach near the Sea Turtle corpses that are used for quests there. Once you have the harpoon, travel north to roughly (48,11) on your map out in the water and find the sea creature Paxnozz that swims around. Use the harpoon on him and kill him to loot the Rune.

As Horde, go to Ratchet and purchase a fishing harpoon from Kilxx there near the docks. Nearby in the water you'll find the shark Bruuz where you can use the harpoon on him and kill him to loot the Rune.

Serpent Spread — Multi-Shot now automatically applies Serpent Sting for 6 seconds to all targets hit. This will be a strong choice in dungeons or for small target AoE.

This is purchasable for 2 gold from the new supply factions reputation once you reach friendly. You can level this reputation up by completing the waylaid supplies that randomly drop from any enemy out in the world. These will have you collect certain materials or items then use the waylaid supplies to complete the order. Do this until you're friendly, then go and purchase the rune from one of the quarter masters in a major city near an auction house.

Flanking Strike — An attack on a 30-second cooldown that massively buffs your melee damage from your abilities, stacking. This is a powerful, instant melee attack and an excellent option for any Hunter that wants to melee-weave.

This Rune can be found in all of the starting zones for each Hunter race. In any of the zones, there will be a cave where you can loot some meat from the beasts nearby that will "bait out" a named mob inside the cave. Killing the enemy that spawns in the cave is where you can loot this Rune.

• Dwarf: Bear Den at roughly (38,43) in Dun Morogh. Kill the boars nearby for the bait.
• Night Elf: Bear Den at roughly (48,31) in Teldrassil. Kill the owls nearby for the bait.
• Orc and Troll: Cat Dwelling at roughly (69,71) in Durotar. Kill the boars nearby for the bait.
• Tauren: Cat Dwelling at roughly (36,56) in Mulgore. Kill the carrions nearby for the bait.

Aspect of the Lion — Applies a new Hunter-specific version of Blessing of Kings that also gives you an additional 10% stats. This will be the required Rune if you do not have access to Kings already. It's also import to note that this is an aura, NOT an aspect despite the name. You can still use other aspects while this is active, making it one of the best choices right now.

This Rune drops from the spider Carrodin in the Wetlands. It can be found in the far back of the cave just north-west of the southern entrance of the Wetlands.

Master Marksman — Gain 5% crit chance and your shots have 25% reduced Mana cost. This will be a strong choice, especially early game with low Mana pools.

This Rune can be found in all of the starting zones for each Hunter race. In any of the zones, there is a "Rustling Bush" that spawns in the zone where if you cast Hunter's Mark on it, an enemy will appear. Kill the mob that spawns and loot the Rune.

• Dwarf: The bush is found at roughly (29,49) in Dun Morogh.
• Night Elf: The bush is found at roughly (46,46) in Teldrassil.
• Orc and Troll: The bush is found at roughly (38,52) in Durotar.
• Tauren: The bush is found at roughly (59,54) in Mulgore.

Lone Wolf — When your pet is not active, you deal 15% increased damage. Given how strong pets are with the new scaling introduced in Season of Discovery, this is unlikely to ever be seriously considered.

This Rune can be purchased from Grizzby in Ratchet for 5 gold. However, to unlock the purchase, you have to talk with him after reaching leveling 20 and then accepting and complete the three hand-in quests that he'll give you. These quests will require you to gather the following:

1. 24x Fish Oil. These drop from Bluegill Oracles in the Wetlands.
2. 20x Dark Iron Ordinance. These are dropped by the elite Dark Iron Dwarves in Dun Modr in the Wetlands.
3. 16x Shredder Turbochargers. You can get these by using the new Engineering item Shredder Autosalvage Unit to salavage the shredders in Stonetalon Mountains.

Cobra Strikes — Your crits make your pet's next two special attacks crit as well. This is also likely to be relatively weak early due to the other very competitive choices in this slot.

To get this rune, you'll need to find Zixil, a vendor who randomly moves around in the Hillsbrad Foothills zone. Buy the "Freshwater Snapper Bait" from him, which can be used in the lake south-east of Tarren Mill. Using this item will bait out an elite turtle, which drops the rune when killed.

This is not a rune. This is a skill that is learned from a tome. Once learned, it is permanently added to your skill book.

Aspect of the Viper — Aspect that will reduce your damage done by 10%, but gives you 10% of your maximum mana back every 3 seconds. Additionally, your auto shots and attacks will regenerate mana depending on your weapon speed.

This drops as a skill book from the bosses in Scarlet Monastery Graveyard and Library.

Expose Weakness — Your melee and ranged crits will increase your attack power by 40% of your Agility for 7 seconds.

You will need to farm Dustbelcher Ogres in the Badlands until the quest item drops. This quest will direct you to Stranglethorn Vale to find Hemet Nesingwary, where he will give you a cage to use on a critter. Bring the critter back to the Badlands to the bottom left corner of the map at (21,67). There, use the critter as bait to lure out a bird to the nest, which will drop the quest item that you must return to Hemet for the rune.

Melee Specialist — Raptor Strike now has a 3-second cooldown, is instant, and has a 30% chance on use to not trigger a cooldown. Mongoose Bite no longer has a cooldown.

Travel to Deadwind Pass and speak to the Dalaran Agent found in Ariden's Camp. This agent will give you Ariden's Sigil which is used to provoke nearby Dark Riders to reveal themselves. You will know when you are near a Dark Rider as you will gain the buff Dark Presence when near one, but otherwise they are just disguised as regular NPCs. You must kill 7 different Dark Riders and loot the 7 relics. They are found scattered over both continents, but here is the recommended travel order.

1. The first Dark Rider to your starting point can be found in Deadwind Pass at (43, 29).
2. The second Dark Rider can be found at (69, 28) in the Swamp of Sorrows.
3. The third Dark Rider can be found in Duskwood at (22, 51).
4. The fourth Dark Rider can be found in The Badlands at (58, 54).
5. the fifth Dark Rider can be found in the Arathi Highlands at (60, 40).
6. Next we will need to head to Kalimdor, the sixth Dark Rider can be found at (52, 36) in the Barrens.
7. The 7th and final Dark Rider we need can be found in Desolace at (65, 25).
8. Return to the Dalaran Agent in Deadwind Pass with the 7 relics to receive the rune.

Steady Shot — A rotational shot with no cooldown and a 3-second cast time that deals some physical damage.

Find and kill the fish Needletooth in Arathi Highlands, found roughly at (66,61).

Dual Wield Specialization — You deal 50% more damage with your offhand weapon. Additionally, your Raptor Strike will now hit with both weapons and deals 30% more damage when wielding weapons of the same type.

Travel to (32,16) in Stranglethorn Vale near the camp. Walk around the area until you have the "Danger" buff. Once you have the buff, use a Flare to reveal and kill the hidden enemy human there, which drops the rune.

Invigoration — When your pet critically hits with a special ability, you restore 5% of your max mana.

1. Travel to the Swamp of Sorrows and find Amaryllis Webb at (25,54) purchase the Entomology Starter Kit that she sells. Open the kit.
2. Travel to Stranglethorn Vale to (45,19) to find a tree stump. Look for a bug near it, and use the net to catch it.
3. Travel to Arathi Highlands to (31,28) to Northfold Manor. Look for a bug inside it, and use the net to catch it.
4. Travel to Desolace to (52,59) to the Kodo Graveyard. Look for a bug, and use the net to catch it.
5. Return to Amaryllis Webb with the bugs to retrieve the rune.

Trap Launcher — You can now place traps up to 40 yards away and you may place traps in combat. Your fire and frost traps no longer share a cooldown.

Travel to Desolace to start the Highway Robbery quest at the Extinguished Campfire (47, 54). Next, find Bibbly F'utzbuckle at (63, 39) in the same zone for the second quest. After that, travel to the Inn in Booty Bay and talk to Tokal on the first floor of the inn. Pick up the new quest from her, and buy her a Cherry Grog for the fourth quest.

Next you will be heading to the Arathi Highlands to find a row boat at (53,91). Interact with the boat and it will teleport you to where you can find Illari Duskfeather. Kill her and she will drop the Illari's Key that you need to open the Jewel-Encrusted Box that you have been carrying around throughout these quests. Open the box to loot the rune.

Catlike Reflexes — increases your chance to dodge by 20% and your pet's chance to dodge by 9%. Reduces the cooldowns of your Kill Command and Flanking Strike by 50%.

First, go pick up some sort of banana for this quest from a food vendor, such as a Tel'Abim Banana. Go to the Yeit Cave in Feralas that is found roughly around (53,60). At the back of the cave you'll find a baby monkey, Groddoc Infant. Feed the monkey the banana. This will cause him to follow you, and you will have 10 minutes to deliver the monkey to the Groddoc Matriarch at (59,58). You'll get the rune once you deliver the baby monkey.

Lock and Load — When your traps are triggered, your next shot within 20 seconds is free and does not have a cooldown.

Travel to the Emerald Sanctuary in southern Felwood and start the quest The Wild Gods from the Shadowtooth Emissary. You'll be collecting several items all over Azeroth for this quest.

First, go to Jinth'Alor in southeastern Hinterlands to collect the Wildwhisper Draught. These can drop from any of the elite trolls there.

Second, go to Razorfen Downs and fight your way to Amnennar the Coldbringer. Use the Wildwhisper Draught there. Speak to the spirit that spawns to get Agamaggan's Roar.

For the final step, you need to go to three different dungeons to kill Delirious Ancients.

• Go to Zul'Farrak. Clear the dungeon normally. After killing completing the Pyramid event, a ghostly spider will spawn in Gahz'rilla's room. Use the Agamaggan's Roar near the ghostly spider and kill the ancient that spawns and loot the offering.
• Go to Maraudon Purple. Clear the dungeon normally and kill Princess Theradras. After she's defeated, use the Agamaggan's Roar near the devilsaur on her platform and kill the ancient to loot the offering.
• Go to Blackrock Depths. There, you will need to kill the following three bosses: High Interrogator Gerstahn, Houndmaster Grebmar, and the Ring of Law. This will cause a ghostly basilisk to spawn near Bael'Gar. Use the Agamaggan's Roar and kill the ancient to loot the final offering.

Return to the Shadowtooth Emissary with all three Wild Offerings to receive the Rune.

Rapid Killing — Reduces the cooldown of your Rapid Fire by 2 minutes. After killing a target worth honor or experience, your next shot within 20 seconds deals 20% more damage.

To get this rune, you must be level 45 at least. Go to Searing Gorge and find the cave at (22,36). Inside the cave, you'll want to look for the Weathered Etching to pick up the available quest, The Burning Beast.

Next, you'll travel to the Blasted Lands to find Bloodmage Lynnore. Turn in and pick up the new quest, which will have you collect Infernal Chain Links. To collect these, you'll need to kill the Shadowsworn enemies on the edges of the zone. Once you have them, return to Lynnore for the next quest.

Next, you'll need to gather Fel Lifeblood from Calefactus the Unleashed. Lynnore will also give you a lasso to weaken the corehound with. Calefactus spawns in several places, but is generally in the south-western portion of the zone, just west of the crater with the dark portal along the road. Kill and loot Calefactus, then return to Lynnore for the rune.

Focus Fire — Consumes all frenzy charges from your pet, giving you 3% ranged attack speed and 4 focus to your pet per stack consumed. Lasts 20 seconds. Your pet gains Frenzy every auto attack, stacking up to 5 times, where each stack gives 6% attack speed.

Travel to the Searing Gorge at (55,51). There, you'll find a branch that you can walk across towards a large bird's nest. Loot the egg from the nest, which will spawn a bird that will attack you. Kill the bird to loot the rune.

Raptor Fury — Raptor Strike increases damage done by Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite by 15% for 15 seconds, stacking up to 5 times. Subsequent doses do not extend the duration of this effect.

Drops from Zopilote in Tanaris at roughly (43,32).

T.N.T. — Increases the damage of your Explosive Shot and all traps by 10%.

This Rune is purchased from the Emerald Wardens reputation vendor at Friendly standing.

Hit and Run — You gain 15% movement speed for 8 seconds after using Raptor Strike.

Kill the Escaped Core Hound, which roams the Burning Steppes. Loot the rune from the hound's body.

Improved Volley — Reduces the mana cost of Volley by 50%, reduces the cooldown by 100%, and you no longer suffer pushback while channeling. Additionally, Volley deals 3% of your ranged AP as damage each time it deals damage.

Kill enemies in Silithus until you receive a Busted Gizmo. Take this gizmo to Edwi Copperbolt in Southeast Silithus for a new quest. Once you have the quest, go to (36,71) where you see the ground rumbling and use the device he gave you to summon and kill a Sandworm.

Resourcefulness — Reduces the mana cost of traps by 100% and their cooldowns by 40%.

Head to Eastern Plaguelands at (18,32) to find and kill Plagued Swine. You'll need to loot the tainted meat from its corpse. Next, kill slimes at (56,69) until you loot the bubbling green ichor that they drop. Together these combine to create a rancid hunk of flesh. Use the new flesh on a Carrion Grub to the South, then kill the skeleton that spawns. Loot the rune from the skeleton.

Ranged Weapon Specialization — Increases your skill with ranged weapons by 5. This does not stack with other racials that give weapon skill.

Travel to (26,75) in Eastern Plaguelands. There, find and click the red book just outside the wooden house to receive the rune.

Pole Weapon Specialization — Increases your skill with axes by 5. Similarly, this does not stack with racials that give axe skill. There is an identical rune like this for every weapon type, so you will always use the rune that corresponds to your weapon of choice.

Travel to Azshara at (77,45). Find and click the red book inside the temple there to receive the rune.