Feedback: New Player Tips for Hunters

[rewrando5]

Know where Beneath Notice is on your toolbar while grouping (later called Beneath Care when you get the improved version). This skill saves your butt.

Say the healer starts taking aggro, and you do your hunter duty and start taking it back. Switch to Strength Stance, fire Quick Shot, which will allow the healer to back away if need be. Line up a more powerful attack, preferably Swift Bow. You should have their attention now, but you need to keep it for a couple of seconds, so keep going through your rotation of shots until about half to three- fourths health, then hit Beneath Notice or Care, switch to Endurance Stance, which hopefully you have traited so it lessens aggro by 20% instead of just 10%, and fire Quick Shot until the tank starts controlling aggro again.

Traits you absolutely need to learn as soon as possible are Resolute Aim (level 40, use Needful Haste) and the one for Penetrating Shot, reduces Focus need to 2.

[jerry77]

Endurance stance is your friend in groups. It will help you manage your power and your aggro while at the same time still providing plenty of dps. Remember, for the hunter class, you're not looking for those big sexy crit numbers. They're nice, but dps is damage per second, meaning a steady stream of damage coming into your foe.

Trait four into the huntsman line for quick inductions.

Use Strength of the Earth alot to regain power.

Be a historian! Hunters rely on consumables. Be able to make your own traps, oils and chants.

Get the barbed arrow legacy and trait barbed fury for lots of additional damage.

For PVP always be in strength stance, quickshot applies a slow. Also always trait heightened senses.

Mitigate melee damage! You want to nearly always have Innocence traited and relics that add melee defense. Brass Anvil is as much a plus for hunters as any other class.

Follow raid assist targets if your not the raid assist target yourself. Hunter damage is most effective when added to the dps of others.

i actually found explorer to be a fantastic trade for hunters.. especially if your hunter is your highest lvl toon, you can farm ALOT of stuff FAST!!!

[Cuauhkintun]

Good CC and fellowship advice throughout this thread. Not much to add to that.

As for craft vocations, let's not forget Woodcrafting for bows or crossbows, including legendary bows later on. I have found it nice to be able to make my own Second Age bows for lvl 60 and 65 (though the lvl 65 one requires the rare Symbol of Celebrimbor). As a Hobbit, I have also appreciated making legendary clubs for my hunter. Yes, the scholar allows you to make potions, oils, etc., but no matter which craft you choose, you will need an Alt or Kin-mate to help you out with the other crafts. Or you will need to buy stuff on Auction, if you don't have help. Unlikely you will be able to find a lvl 65 Second Age bow on the Auction very often, and if you do, it will be very expensive!

Anyway, it's largely a matter of personal preference -- scholar vs woodcrafter being the main choice, in my opinion.

[CharlesRollinsWare]

Solo: Never start a battle without having placed a trap. Slow your foe with a Strength quick shot. When facing multiple enemies, use Bard's arrow/Cry of the Predator before they hit the trap. When you get Rain of Thorns, hit them with that first and then squish them one at a time. An adroit use of Tracking and an approach made with Sylvan Shadows or a carefully timed Camouflage can turn you into an premium assassin of a tough to get at mob.

Groups: Use CC as above if asked. Always know what is going to be mezed and don't break it with an AOE. Use Skill Target Forwarding (5th check box, combat tab) to hit the tanks target. Make sure the leader marks the healer so you can find him/her if they get a mob's aggro and pull it off.

[Hydgal]

Groups: Use CC as above if asked. Always know what is going to be mezed and don't break it with an AOE. Use Skill Target Forwarding (5th check box, combat tab) to hit the tanks target. Make sure the leader marks the healer so you can find him/her if they get a mob's aggro and pull it off.

An addendum: Be careful with AOE while in a group in general! You can easily pull the aggro of the mobs the tank isn't concentrating on. It can be frightening to realize you have half-a-dozen orcs bearing down on you as a result of an ill-timed Rain of Arrows! Your tank or Fellowship leader should let you know when it is safe to AOE. Be patient, pay attention, follow direction and advice, and focus fire! It's amazing how much faster a group of mobs will go down if you concentrate on one target at time.

[Hydgal]

Know where Beneath Notice is on your toolbar while grouping (later called Beneath Care when you get the improved version). This skill saves your butt.

I agree! I don't know how many times my Hunter has been saved by Beneath Care. And the tank certainly appreciates it when they are able to to their job and regain control of the aggro. It's all about working together!

[Hydgal]

The first job of anyone in a group should be to protect the healer. If your healer is getting hit, then either apply crowd control to it, or get it to hit you instead.

Agreed. My favourite tactic in the second instance is to grab aggro off of the healer, drag the mob(s) over to the tank, pop Beneath Care, and stop attacking so the tank can reestablish aggro control.

[Hydgal]

read the forums, don't be afraid to ask questions in them. we don't bite.

Agreed! I will also add that, for any class I've played, the most insight has been gained by /inspecting other characters you meet in game. See what traits they have slotted, what equipment they're using...and the Advice chat channel can become your best friend in the game! There are plenty of friendly players who will be happy to lend a bit of advice.

And remember: Don't feed the trolls!

[BaruDwarf]

This should be required reading for anyone who wants to properly fulfill their role in a group:
http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/A_Bas...or_Fellowships

[Dom12]

This should be required reading for anyone who wants to properly fulfill their role in a group:
http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/A_Bas...or_Fellowships

Speaking of required reading, you might want to peruse the Community Guidelines, point 19 in particular:

19. Posting the same thread to multiple forums ("cross-posting") without express permission of the Turbine Community Team is not allowed.

While they specify threads as opposed to posts, I'd say cross-posting the same thing in every class forum's sticky thread qualifies.

[Adanrion]

Hi I'm new on the game and i want to know how I set my char to do critical damage

[Dom12]

Hi I'm new on the game and i want to know how I set my char to do critical damage

To begin with, I'd recommend starting a new thread. It would also help if you flesh out your question a bit. Being new to the game, are you looking for advice for low-levels or have you already made your way to the cap? Are you looking for gear advice, trait tips, skill rotations, all of the above? etc..

[sirwillow]

Just wanted to say that I added some retro- rep to people on this thread. There's some great, fantastic advice here- and even a few things that I didn't know and/or hadn't learned yet. I'm very impressed with some of the advice and information given. I'd love to see a lot of our new hunters read and learn a bit.

One thing I'm seeing a lot with our new hunter players, particularly in Great Barrow instances is an overuse of Hail of Arrows, and a lack of willingness to listen to advice. I've had several groups where hunters were using HoA over and over again, despite repeated warnings and explanations NOT to use it when in a group. With me working a mini and another experienced player working the tank we finally just stopped healing and saving the hunters and letting them die from their group aggro. So I guess I'd say two things:

When in a group do not ever use Hail of Arrows. Ever. Unless the group as a whole says it's ok, and even then double and triple think it before you do.

Listen to advice and what others tell you. Just because that person is playing a level 24 minstrel or warden doesn't mean they don't know the hunter class and know it well. A lot of well experienced vets play other characters and classes and they know how hunters work, as well as have a bigger group picture. Listen to what they say and then do it. You'll learn a lot and survive much more.

[Emeraldzabin]

Just want to thank everyone here for contributing ..over time I'll add more input ..the trick is to balance yourself.
STATS: AGILITY and VITALITY
SKILLS find a system (rotation of cmmds) that works with grps ..and find system that works for soloing

TRAITS :VIRTUES ;anything with morale/power regen cmbt and non-cmbt any resistance imho is a boon
CLASS; i.e. Bowmaster / Trapster really give it some thought
Race; really depends on you
LEGENDARY; not there yet , and no clue atm either

GEAR keep at level and really think ahead- saves time and effort
in grps assist through TANK this is a must and will earn you FRIENDSHIP

[Paladiran]

Endurance stance is your friend in groups. It will help you manage your power and your aggro while at the same time still providing plenty of dps. Remember, for the hunter class, you're not looking for those big sexy crit numbers. They're nice, but dps is damage per second, meaning a steady stream of damage coming into your foe.

Trait four into the huntsman line for quick inductions.

Use Strength of the Earth alot to regain power.

Be a historian! Hunters rely on consumables. Be able to make your own traps, oils and chants.

Get the barbed arrow legacy and trait barbed fury for lots of additional damage.

For PVP always be in strength stance, quickshot applies a slow. Also always trait heightened senses.

Mitigate melee damage! You want to nearly always have Innocence traited and relics that add melee defense. Brass Anvil is as much a plus for hunters as any other class.

Follow raid assist targets if your not the raid assist target yourself. Hunter damage is most effective when added to the dps of others.

i an a new 38 hunter can you explain how to use "raid assist targets"?

[rewrando5]

Normally, I might suggest that you start a new thread for a question. It will normally get you a better response. However, since I am here, and it is a crucial thing for a hunter to know, I will explain.

First, you want to turn on the assist target box. Go to your options (Ctrl+O is default), click on the Combat Options tab on the right, scroll down until you see Show Assist Window, and check it. Also, check Show Vitals Of Your Selection's Target. This will allow you to target an enemy and see who it's target is. Which means if your name is on it, you have pulled aggro and need to back off until the tank is the target of your enemy. Or you can see exactly who is attacking your healer and pull them off. While you are here, uncheck Allow Skill Buttons To Target Nearest Enemy. Too many wipes have been caused by the group not being ready to start and the hunter accidentally pulling an entire mob.

Second, lets talk about what an assist is. As most know, the raid assist is usually the tank. However, sometimes there are multiple raid assists, usually in situations where the dps needs to focus on a particular target that is not the boss. Be sure to pay attention to your leader to know what to shoot, and even more importantly, what not to shoot.

If you are the leader, then you might have to set the fellowship assist. The fellowship leader has to select the chosen member and make him the fellowship assist (or raid assist, if you have a larger group). He does this by right clicking on the assists' portrait and going down to Fellowship, then Make Fellowship Assist.

Third, you should now have a window somewhere on your UI that has a list of the assists and their targets, if any. Now all you have to do is click the assist's name and start dpsing.

[Krishal]

I just read through the whole thread and theres some good advice here...i've used a couple of these ideas from the first page when i started playing this game and it has helped me alot in group play and in other parts of the game. I might have some great advice as well since i've experienced the whole beginner stage recently and made through it to all the way to 46. First of all before i start i think 3 full pages of group advice is more than enough so stop it already!

Ok heres my advice:

- the weapons and armour that you can buy at a auction house got way better damage and other stats than what you can buy at npc stores and most of them are really affordable! Theres aslo lots of other great stuff you can buy from auction house like morale(hp) and power(mp) pots, hunter oils,jewelery,etc.

- morale pots might be a bit expensive when starting out but when you get to lvl 20 you can do skirmish/grand barrows and buy morale and power pots with the skirmish marks you earn from doing those! Also a good soldier to pick for a ranged class like us hunters would be a melee soldier since it'll tank the mob while you pick them one by one from a distance. I would suggest beginning with the protector(TANKER) and move on to warriors if you want faster skirms...and seige of gondamon is a great map choice for starting out!

- someone already mentioned about picking the historian vocation for the scholar profesion but i like to add on that its a good idea to level up scholar while you're leveling your character since you'll find lots of vases that contain scholar materials while you are questing.

[dubsyubsy]

Don't assume that what worked great at low levels, and/or solo, will work great at high levels, and/or in groups. Try your various stances out from time to time, dust them off and give them a go, even if you're already settled on your "favourite" one.

Set up and use target forwarding in groups; ask who the Main Assist is, and if it isn't you, then select that person and attack through them until you need to select their target to contribute to an FM.

Don't overlook your yellow line traits; contrary to popular belief, Hunters can do more than deal ranged damage.

[RodMoulton]

I have only been playing for a month and my best advice to any class, is to keep your skill slots organized.

[LoyKashka]

I haven't been playing that long either, but I would say Woodsman is the best crafting vocation for hunters. You can harvest wood and make it into decent weapons, including high-quality bows. Hunters need good bows. Also, the Swift Bow->Quick Shot->Penatrating Shot sequence is very good against single enemies

[drexele]

for hunters that can do this i suggest that to begin they actual fighting part of a fight use ur swift bow then barbed arrow and now if u have the time use quick shot then i like to use blindside by now u should have about 6+ focus and u can finish them off with mercifull shot. this works best with one enemy and im only 42 so there may be better attacks out there that i havnt seen yet.

[drexele]

i also forgot to mention that this is best on meelee

[drexele]

and also i forgot to mention that between mercilfful shat and blind side its best to use a fast mele strike

[kody3443]

When soloing it is best to prepare before every battle (use the focus skill, set traps ect.). Also don't count out the precision stance when soloing as it will make you less likely to miss and when traited it will slowly increase your focus letting you keep using skills like penetrating shot and mercy shot.

[Shirlzknight]

While levelling, Desperate Flight can be your best friend, not only to get out of bad situations, but as a short-cut back to camp to turn in quests

Hi, I'm aware this is a little off thread but while I'm here may i ask you a question I am having trouble finding any answer to?! I'm a Lvl 28 Hunter class Man, i can't find out what to put in my 'class slot' in my character inventory! Believe me when I say I have tried everything from weapons to cakes and pies !! Am I just too low a level or what ?
Help me Kind Sir your my only Hope!!