Blog Azeroth Community Topic: Why I Enjoy My Hunter

Over at Blog Azeroth, Siha of Banana Shoulders suggested we (the Blog Azeroth community) all write on a common topic. To get the ball rolling, she proposed "What do you enjoy about the class you play the most?"

Ever since I first got into fantasy gaming with Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition, the ranger-type character has been my favorite. Even as a youngster, I fancied myself the Robin Hood type. So when I was invited to the WoW beta, the first character I created was a Hunter. Now I confess, I didn’t learn much about how to play a Hunter in beta; in fact, I didn’t learn much except that I was in love with this game!

Over the past few years, though, I’ve come to know more and more about my chosen class (thanks in no small part to hunter blogs, that’s for sure), and as I’ve gotten wiser, my enjoyment has skyrocketed. In fact, when I changed servers from Ice Crown to Kul Tiras, my "main" became a Rogue. But then I really started to learn how to play a hunter, and the rogue has taken a back seat. I still enjoy the rogue, and I definitely enjoy my priest, but nothing is as satisfying as playing the Hunter, either solo or in a group. 

I thoroughly enjoy the synergy between my pet and myself (is it any wonder my spec is Beast Master?), but I also enjoy the ability to solo a lot of content that many classes simply can’t handle at the same level. I’m vain, too, and little in the game gives me more enjoyment than seeing my name at the top of the "Damage Done" listing after an instance. Knowing that I was an important contributor to the group’s success really adds to my overall enjoyment of the game. 

One aspect (oh? there’s a pun there?) of playing a hunter that I truly enjoy is the diversity.

With my Priest, I basically do one thing: heal. Heal. Heal some more. Moar healz, plz. We have pallies who are healadins; Osprey is a "healagain." Oh sure: In one instance in Outland (that I’ve been to) I might get to throw out a shackle or two. Just keep healin’!

The Rogue? Sap, stabbity-stabbity. We had two rogues in a guild group last night, and the other rogue and I were joking about how easy rogues are: She said, "Just spam two keys" but I countered that a dagger rogue—she’s swords—has at least three!

But with the hunter…oh my! Drop a trap for some crowd control on almost every pull. Start dealing massive amounts of sustained ranged DPS to my assigned target(s). Have my cat off-tank some other mob. Drop another trap in front of the healer so the tank doesn’t go splat. Distract that caster off the other squishie in the group. Tank needs more aggro? Have a Misdirect, and you’re very welcome! Whoa…mage is low on health and the healer’s fading? Sic the cat on the priest’s mob then bandage the mage. Oh man…what a fight…what a rush!