Hunter

Hunter

Races

In Wrath of the Lich King, the Hunter is available to seven races: the Dwarf, the Night Elf and the Draenei for the Alliance, and the Orc, the Troll, the Tauren and the Blood Elf for the Horde.

Alliance

The Dwarf combines toughness and mastery of guns.

• Find Treasure: shows nearby treasure on the minimap.
• Stoneform: removes all poison, disease and bleed effects, and increases armor by 10% for 8 seconds.
• Gun Specialization: increases critical strike chance with guns by 1%.
• Frost Resistance: reduces the chance to be hit by Frost spells by 2%.
• Mace Specialization: increases expertise with one- and two-handed maces by 5.

The Night Elf combines stealth and agility.

• Shadowmeld: lets you hide while standing still, even in combat.
• Quickness: reduces the chance to be hit by melee and ranged attacks by 2%.
• Nature Resistance: reduces the chance to be hit by Nature spells by 2%.
• Wisp Spirit: increases movement speed by 75% after death.

The Draenei strengthens its group and can heal itself.

• Gift of the Naaru: heals the target over 15 seconds.
• Heroic Presence: increases chance to hit with spells and attacks by 1% for you and your party.
• Gemcutting: increases Jewelcrafting skill by 5.
• Shadow Resistance: reduces the chance to be hit by Shadow spells by 2%.

Horde

The Orc strengthens its pet and suffers shorter stuns.

• Blood Fury: increases attack power, or spell power depending on the class, for 15 seconds.
• Hardiness: reduces the duration of stun effects by 15%.
• Axe Specialization: increases expertise with fist weapons and one- and two-handed axes by 5.
• Command: increases the damage dealt by your pet by 5%.

The Troll speeds up its attacks and masters bows.

• Berserking: increases attack and casting speed by 20% for 10 seconds.
• Regeneration: increases health regeneration by 10%, and 10% of this regeneration continues during combat.
• Beast Slaying: increases damage dealt to beasts by 5%.
• Throwing Specialization: increases critical strike chance with throwing weapons by 1%.
• Bow Specialization: increases critical strike chance with bows by 1%.
• Da Voodoo Shuffle: reduces the duration of movement-impairing effects by 15%.

The Tauren favors toughness and close-range control.

• War Stomp: stuns up to 5 nearby enemies.
• Endurance: increases maximum health by 5%.
• Nature Resistance: reduces the chance to be hit by Nature spells by 2%.
• Cultivation: increases Herbalism skill by 15.

The Blood Elf has an area silence.

• Arcane Torrent: silences enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds and restores mana, Energy or Runic Power.
• Arcane Affinity: increases Enchanting skill by 10.
• Magic Resistance: reduces the chance to be hit by spells by 2%.

Which race for which specialization?

Beast Mastery

The Orc benefits from Command, which increases the pet's damage, and from Blood Fury. The Troll can speed up its attacks with Berserking.

Marksmanship

The Draenei brings Heroic Presence to its whole group. The Dwarf benefits from Gun Specialization with a gun, and the Troll from Bow Specialization with a bow.

Survival

The Orc and the Troll remain good choices for damage. In PvP, the Orc suffers shorter stuns thanks to Hardiness, and the Dwarf gets rid of bleeds, poisons and diseases with Stoneform.

Which one to choose?

No race is mandatory to play a Hunter. The choice depends first on your faction, then on your specialization.