Any hope for solo players?

[ryansboys]

Just getting back into the swing of the game and looking for a feasible tree to landscape and quest with my hunter. I have no intention of endgame raids so simply looking at solo and landscape. Most of what i am seeing is about the class being "broken" So my questions is what tree is truly "broken" ? I am not a hardcore numbers guys but just trying to get a feel if its even worth jumping back on my hunter. Currently lvl 108 and running Red.

[Devolved]

Just getting back into the swing of the game and looking for a feasible tree to landscape and quest with my hunter. I have no intention of endgame raids so simply looking at solo and landscape. Most of what i am seeing is about the class being "broken" So my questions is what tree is truly "broken" ? I am not a hardcore numbers guys but just trying to get a feel if its even worth jumping back on my hunter. Currently lvl 108 and running Red.

Those going on about the class being "broken" are the folks you (and I) are not - the ones that meta out every single point of DPS for end game and raids. (edit: And that's okay for the folks that like playing that way.)

For those of us who run around the world for fun questing play, we're fine.

[ryansboys]

"wipes brow" Thank You!

[DKenny]

Just getting back into the swing of the game and looking for a feasible tree to landscape and quest with my hunter. I have no intention of endgame raids so simply looking at solo and landscape. Most of what i am seeing is about the class being "broken" So my questions is what tree is truly "broken" ? I am not a hardcore numbers guys but just trying to get a feel if its even worth jumping back on my hunter. Currently lvl 108 and running Red.

Well, it's not "broken" in the sense that you can't do anything. Most of the complaints are to do with hunter only has one effective traitline (red) and one role (ST ranged DPS) for group content and it's not very effective for that role. For landscape, I believe yellow is still too crippled by the last changes to be worthwhile, unless you want to make super easy content actually challenging. Blue has the advantage of mobility, but the "rotation" is trash since the last changes. It might be best to go with red. At least that way you'll be used to it if you want to join a PUG for some of the easier group content.

[ryansboys]

Thanks! Good intel.

[TiNdA-LoS]

For landscape only, hunters are one of the most enjoyable and useful class.

[Chirrup]

As others have noted, the word "broken" in relation to hunters (and any other class) has only to do with raiding and group content. For solo, all classes are eminently viable. The fun part is figuring out the strengths and weakness of each class, and playing to the class strengths.

I have a lvl 130 hunter, which I exclusively levelled in blue line. Yes, it might take me 2 or 3 shots to kill something, where it used to take just one shot. But one shotting everything in the landscape is no fun, so I'm happy with the changes. I have a hunter, warden, mini, LM, champ, and bear all between 124-130. And honestly, the hunter is the fastest killer of all them.

So play your hunter and have fun!

[Strider5548]

Just getting back into the swing of the game and looking for a feasible tree to landscape and quest with my hunter. I have no intention of endgame raids so simply looking at solo and landscape. Most of what i am seeing is about the class being "broken" So my questions is what tree is truly "broken" ? I am not a hardcore numbers guys but just trying to get a feel if its even worth jumping back on my hunter. Currently lvl 108 and running Red.

As the dude who started the 'broken hunter' thread on the general forums I feel like I should comment.

All the talk about broken hunters needs to be taken into context. Yes, hunters are broken at L130 for end game content. There are loads of reasons for this, all of which can be found in the forums.

For someone who wants to enjoy soloing and landscape content, there are no broken classes. Every class can get through levels 1-130 easily. Hunters are a great solo class, you have ranged damage, you can track, you can port without needing to use return to or map skills, you can set campfires which are at least aesthetically pleasing. It's a great class. I love the hunter class and won't ever have another main. I highly recommend the class especially if you want to use it for solo play.

[Erionor]

As the dude who started the 'broken hunter' thread on the general forums I feel like I should comment.

All the talk about broken hunters needs to be taken into context. Yes, hunters are broken at L130 for end game content. There are loads of reasons for this, all of which can be found in the forums.

For someone who wants to enjoy soloing and landscape content, there are no broken classes. Every class can get through levels 1-130 easily. Hunters are a great solo class, you have ranged damage, you can track, you can port without needing to use return to or map skills, you can set campfires which are at least aesthetically pleasing. It's a great class. I love the hunter class and won't ever have another main. I highly recommend the class especially if you want to use it for solo play.

^this

I use my hunter on landscape always in blue - this line is perfect for solo play as it is mobile and still very damaging, so mobs go down very fast. And like Strider says, you have all the other great quality of life skills to help you out too. It sounds perfect for the style of play you want to enjoy.

[groucho42]

As the dude who started the 'broken hunter' thread on the general forums I feel like I should comment.

All the talk about broken hunters needs to be taken into context. Yes, hunters are broken at L130 for end game content. There are loads of reasons for this, all of which can be found in the forums.

For someone who wants to enjoy soloing and landscape content, there are no broken classes. Every class can get through levels 1-130 easily. Hunters are a great solo class, you have ranged damage, you can track, you can port without needing to use return to or map skills, you can set campfires which are at least aesthetically pleasing. It's a great class. I love the hunter class and won't ever have another main. I highly recommend the class especially if you want to use it for solo play.

Agreed. I'm someone who used to lead groups through Mirkwood and yet gave up raiding in DA, as I could see where it was going. I'm still an altaholic, working 8 different toons, all of different classes, to cap each time. However, I just landscape and don't rush. I got the last one to 120 only a few weeks before Minas Morgul was released into the store. I also have other toons I'm messing with.

My original toon is a hunter. It and all the other classes do fine in landscape, you just have to adjust for each one's strengths and weaknesses. To be honest, RK is the worst for soloing, with light armor, poorer heals than the Min and no pet to tank, as the LM has. My main is the first through any new content. I've died a few times in each, learning the new tricks, but that's part of the fun (really).

ryansboys, don't hesitate to bring your hunter back to landscape, even if the class is broken for raids.

[ryansboys]

As the dude who started the 'broken hunter' thread on the general forums I feel like I should comment.

All the talk about broken hunters needs to be taken into context. Yes, hunters are broken at L130 for end game content. There are loads of reasons for this, all of which can be found in the forums.

For someone who wants to enjoy soloing and landscape content, there are no broken classes. Every class can get through levels 1-130 easily. Hunters are a great solo class, you have ranged damage, you can track, you can port without needing to use return to or map skills, you can set campfires which are at least aesthetically pleasing. It's a great class. I love the hunter class and won't ever have another main. I highly recommend the class especially if you want to use it for solo play.

First let me say I kinda was hoping for what most have posted and have moved forward farming my first second age end game bow. Thanks for the input!

I feel I should also make a comment here. When I put this post up I kinda felt like this might be a lob for some "hunter pile on". Instead I got super honest replies and everyone simply being on the same page. After playing MMOs for nearly 20 years I can honestly say I don't think happens in 99% of communities. This is why i have been running around in the game for 12 years.

Thanks
Taraxx

[WhifOfDespair]

As the dude who started the 'broken hunter' thread on the general forums I feel like I should comment.

All the talk about broken hunters needs to be taken into context. Yes, hunters are broken at L130 for end game content. There are loads of reasons for this, all of which can be found in the forums.

For someone who wants to enjoy soloing and landscape content, there are no broken classes. Every class can get through levels 1-130 easily. Hunters are a great solo class, you have ranged damage, you can track, you can port without needing to use return to or map skills, you can set campfires which are at least aesthetically pleasing. It's a great class. I love the hunter class and won't ever have another main. I highly recommend the class especially if you want to use it for solo play.

Ditto this^.

Outside of end-game raiding, where being able to squeeze the max out of whatever role you need to play is critical, Hunters are fine.

Not only are they fine for pretty much all landscape / solo content, they are also fine for most all non-endgame group content - sometimes it might help to be over-level, though.

For general landscape & solo questing, the Hunter class is still an absolute blast to play. It so fast to travel around and getting through the 'grind' stuff quickly. Other classes always feel slow when you hop off your hunter to an alt. Seriously, the two classes I have the hardest time switching off from are the hunter -- because all other classes feel slow -- and my burglar -- because after I switch to another class I keep forgetting that I'm not invisible!

I used blue for a long while but have settled back onto red pretty much all the time now. The burst damage output is simply greater and more useful most of the time in solo work. And as DKenny pointed out, it's what you'll use most of the time in groups. Which means after several years of kiting in blue, I've gone back to the classic, stationary glass cannon killing (slowed) mobs faster than they can reach me (hopefully). On the rare occasion I need to kite a big mob, if it's on landscape I will try to kite it from my war steed.

I do use a slightly trimmed red line for solo, having spent the minimum points needed to get Rain of Thorns in yellow and just enough to get the Strength of the Earth and Find the Path boosts in blue. Otherwise, maxed out in red with all the rest. That leaves my solo red line without burn hot and a couple of other top end traits but I've got most all the DPS I need for most solo work (I still have Upshot, Pen Shot, Swift & HS). For solo work, it can be a lifesaver to fire off Rain of Thorns when you find yourself overwhelmed by multiple mobs.

For grouping, I have everything in red with a few leftover points in blue.

[apextr]

Hunter is great if you wanna level to 130 and do only daily quests IF you want to do anything else (pvp,instances,raids) tho it goes from great to garbage real fast for cuz you will get rejected even from t1 runs.