Is the hunter a good solo pve class in lotro?

[Davidm8249]

Is the hunter a good solo pve class in lord of the rings online?

[Wilros]

Yes: top-tier DPS and lots of travel skills make the hunter a very popular solo player choice. But if you roll one and play for 15 to 20 levels and find you don't like it, try something else!

[shann81]

Yeah, hunter is one of the best for pve. Together with Champion has the fastest killing / leveling. Moreover hunter's traveling skills speeds up the game a lot. Great choice for your first char.
I can see two biggest disadvatages..
1.) Defense. He just cannot fight against more than 2-3 enemies. He can use some stuns, traps but it is not usable much in panic situation (except fleeing skill). I remember few solo epic instances I had problems with because of his low defense..
2.) Nuking style of play. Hunter is not very mobile and he has to be steady for the strongest attacks (there are exceptions). So it could be boring for somebody to just nuke enemies from distance. (However I find it "relaxing" and "powerfull")

[lostsoldier]

Yup, it's very good solo. Lots of little things that make everyday gameplay better i.e. lots of ports, increased run speed, stealth, mid-battle escape skill (in case u get overwhelmed), great dps, stuns, traps, aoe's, fears and more. The disadvantage,as already stated,is that it can be tough sometimes when there are lots of mobs to control, careful pulls can be critical due to lessened defense and self-heals. But all-in-all, one of the best and most user-friendly classes.

[Testis]

I have a different take. Hunter has 1 heal. And it's not great. I'd say, if you strictly solo, go for Captain, Warden or even Minstrel. Captain wears heavy armor, has heals & buffs and a "pet." Warden wears medium, but the shield adds a lot towards ac, has good heals that also does damage and can do ranged damage. Minstrel may wear light armor, but also has a shield, is the primary heal class, and while in Harmony, can dance with the best of them.

According to the dev diaries, things will change for Hunter when Helm's Deep comes out.

[Zoofro]

I originally started playing this game as a Rune-keeper. Left the game for a while and came back to a Hunter. I generally play a Healer (my main role) and always a Hunter/Ranger class as my 2nd. Level 26 now on my Hunter and loving every bit of it. Haven't had any problems thus far in PVE content and think it's probably one of the best classes to level as your first character and getting to know the game/system.

[Widoch]

The hunter is an excellent pve solo class.

1. Top DPS in game with good ranged abilities make finishing quests for the most part super easy and quick. Before 65, you have to sometimes think through how you're going to do things because you have little defense and mitigation, but if you keep your gear up to date, it's not a big deal in the end. At end game, just point and shoot...things fall down.

2. Swift travel, swift run speed, and ranged attacks. You want to work on virtues and traits? You want to collect resources? Finish your class quest? Help a friend out on the other side of Middle Earth? Return to that annoying quest location? Kick Moria and it's asinine maze like construction in the teeth? No one can do it like a hunter can. Camp fire skills are super helpful when questing in a certain area, or doing end game daily quests. Swift travel skills make sure you can always get to a vault or AH easily. And out of combat run buff means if you don't want to mount your horse you don't always need to to get around.

3. Very good selection of weapons. The hunters main weapon (bow) is unique and perhaps is nothing special compared to other main weapons and LIs, but the fact that you get two offhand weapons of whatever type you want is pretty awesome. before LIs, you can really buff up your stats with two good swords/clubs/daggers/axes/etc. One-handed weapons drop all over the place and can have so many different types of stat combos. Once you get to LI level, you still get to equip a second sword that can have whatever stat you want on it.

4. Good selection of combat options. You can play glass cannon DPS hunter, mobile focus/fleet hunter, or you can trait for decent crowed control. I was able to solo the big trolls and spiders in limelight gorge with my hunter using good crowed control skills. Other classes can do similar things, but a few of them are reduced to just trying to DPS down a mob before they get DPSed down, rather than controlling how the fight unfolds.


I always suggest that players have a hunter in their collection of toons. They're speedy, fun and great for collecting resources and doing festivals due to their travel abilities.

I have a different take. Hunter has 1 heal. And it's not great. I'd say, if you strictly solo, go for Captain, Warden or even Minstrel. Captain wears heavy armor, has heals & buffs and a "pet." Warden wears medium, but the shield adds a lot towards ac, has good heals that also does damage and can do ranged damage. Minstrel may wear light armor, but also has a shield, is the primary heal class, and while in Harmony, can dance with the best of them.

Regarding this, a hunter over 75 will have 3 heal options at minimum, though I agree they're not super powerful. This however, is why a hunter is a great class for someone starting out. It forces you to really think through your fights instead of just wading in swinging a big heavy sword. I have a hunter, captain, warden and guard that I play and I find the hunter to be the most interesting for combat because the guard and captain just run in with their heavy armor knowing they will never die and the warden is basically god with a spear if played right. The hunter makes me think, my captain makes me laugh.