As we all know, Hunter doesn’t have an excellent reputation in WOW Classic. Because the stereotype of Legolas cosplayers has been going on for nearly two decades.

Behind this seemingly "noob" class is one of the mechanically deeper and more expressive kits in all of WOW Classic. I hope these five tips help you get more out of this very interesting class.

Macros

First, we have a pair of macros that are small, but very interesting. Both abilities can feel a little underwhelming or niche - especially when cast normally from the hotbar.

Luckily, macros exist, and this character can redeem both abilities. If you press Exclamation Mark in any macro again, the action will prevent cancellation.

You can Daisy Chain this Eagle Eye in multiple areas. While units will eventually stop spawning, it’s still fun.

If you have more WOW Classic SOD Gold budget, you can also use it to scout PVP, or pair it with a target macro to name enemy mobs. It’s also very useful on battlefields like Warsong Gulch. There you can search for enemy Flag Carriers from the other side of the map.

Eyes of the Beast work similarly: As long as you’re within “line of sight” of your pet, you can chain spells together and maintain control.

As a BM, you can sit comfortably in a friendly territory while your Hive’Ashi Drone brings death and terror to those halfway across the territory. This is the most fun PVP I’ve ever done in Season of Discovery.

Rangefinder

Continuing with point 2, we have one of my favorite WeakAuras: Rangefinder. Rangefinder provides dynamic, accurate readings of your ranging range and helps avoid getting stuck in miserable dead zones.

This is amazing for all bosses, especially one like Aku’mai in BFD, whose hitbox changed in Phase 2.

Rangefinder removes a lot of the guesswork about where you are and makes consistent uptime easier to achieve. Combined with a plugin like Weapon Weaving Timer, it’s also a great tool for learning Melee Weaving.

Automatic Attack Switching

Turn to point 3. If you’re a Warlock and you’ve hit the level cap and your default auto-attack is still on your hotbar, your life has taken a very wrong turn. Unfortunately, Hunter needs to keep it there. But we can do better than the default toggle button.

This is a macro that combines auto-shooting and aiming, and once your target dies, it drops your target and moves to the next target seamlessly. For a button buster like me, it won’t cycle past your target if it’s alive.

Also, you’ll recognize this Exclamation Mark from Tip #1. This means that even if you defeat this macro’s Everliving Hell, it won’t cancel and restart.

I pressed every key as if I had the schematic for Death Star, so that helped me a lot. If you are a more controlled and adaptable person, you can also cut off Exclamation Mark.

Avoid Z-Axis Jump

Next 4 and 5, we have two pet tricks back to back. If you’re new to Hunter, you’ll quickly learn that any kind of Z-axis jump is your enemy.

Traveling to dangerous, unexplored land, such as a platform a foot away, will either interrupt your pet, leaving it stranded, or cause it to run the fastest path back to you, no matter how many enemies it pulls along the way.

Eyes of the Beast is one way to solve this problem. If you need to move your pets on Z-axis, guide them manually with Eyes, then put them in the stay state immediately after canceling the pass.

Another method is pet teleporting, but it only works when jumping, not when falling. You first put your pet in “Stay” state before making any jumps, then put it back in “Follow” state. Then your pet will appear next to you.

Pet Micro DPS

Finally, for #5, we move onto DPS side of the pet micro. A great way to control what your pet is doing is to set toggle macros for their major attacks. Especially with Wind Serpent, you can do Toggle Bite and Toggle Breath.

First off, having your Wind Serpent get into melee at the start of combat is a DPS buff because Lizard will have more uptime during combat. However, it’s not just the minor optimizations that make toggles useful. Focus management is an important part of it.

If the enemy is immune, like a Gelihast or Aku’mai, or even a Paladin in PVP, you can turn off the pet’s attack and let them rebuild focus. Otherwise, when immunity wears off, your pet will continue charging at invincible enemies and there won’t be any left in the tank, which is a significant DPS loss.

This is really a good fit here, but some elemental enemies are resistant or completely immune to magic damage from pets. So switching physical attacks against them might be useful.

Closing Thoughts

Unfortunately, having pets is only half the battle for Hunter, but it’s also part of the fun. Figuring out how to optimize these mechanics is a valuable part of the game, or at least a fun part. Good luck, fellow gamers.