I realize it’s been some time since I had a big, beefy gear post. Since I’ve been playing my hunter more, and trying to get him geared for 25 man raiding, I thought this might be appropriate. I also found that though there are vast numbers of sites with good lists for Druid gear, the same can’t be said of Hunters. Perhaps its due to the fact that it is much easier to find gear that works for a hunter. They do have both leather and mail available to them, after all, and what they shoot for (Agility, AP, Hit Rating) is pretty easy to find. Anyhow, here goes, slot by slot. I’m going to ignore rings, trinkets, melee weapons and cloaks, as there are just too many choices to pick through. Chances are you’ll happen across good items for these slots as you hunt down the others. All of these items come from normal mode instances (save one that comes from a quest), so if you can get a strong group to pull you through some heroics or Kara, obviously you can do better. It should make for a good starting point, however.

Ranged Weapon

There are three ranged weapons that all hover around the same quality level, one for each type. The Crossbow to get is the [Emberhawk Crossbow]. No agility or hit rating, but it does buff your crit and AP. This crossbow drops in the Arcatraz. The Gun to get, if you are dwarvenly inclined, is the [Telescopic Sharprifle], which drops off the final boss in the Mechanar. This gun has the same DPS rating as the crossbow, with the added benefit of both agility and AP. A solid choice.

Now then, if you’re completely lazy and just want a good starter bow NOW, you can’t do better than a [Valanos' Longbow], which can be had for around 20g on the AH, maybe less. My hunter is STILL using this bow, as I have been unlucky thus far with epic level ranged weapon drops. Some day that Big Bad Wolf will drop his [Wolfslayer Sniper Rifle]!

Head

Now, if you happen to be an engineer, you should have [Surestrike Goggles v2.0], which is one of the best head pieces in the game. If not, go for the [Beast Lord Helm], which also drops off of the last boss in the Mechanar. If you’re hoping for the gun, the Mechanar makes for a perfect instance to farm for multiple drops. This is also a good option because you might want to go for the 2 piece set bonus from Beast Lord, which reduces the cooldown on traps. This is VERY handy in heroics and beyond.

Shoulders

For the shoulder slot, the [Mantle of Perenolde] from the final boss in Old Hillsbrad is a solid choice. It has hit, crit, AP AND two red slots, perfect for +agi or +ap gems.

Belt

The [Rune-Engraved Belt] is a nice choice here. It has agility, AP and Hit rating, and it’s from a quest, so no hoping for it to drop. It comes from the Fel Embers quest in Shattered Halls.

Gloves

While you’re completing the above mentioned quest, you can also find a good pair of gloves. If you have the Beast Lord Helm already, you can get the [Beast Lord Handguards] from the final boss in Shattered Halls. These gloves will serve you VERY well. Sockets, Agility, AP, Stam and Int for a bonus, and a little hit rating if you socket for it. Nice gloves. If Kargath refuses to drop those, he also has the [Wastewalker Gloves] which are VERY nice in their own right. Once you’re into heroics, you can look for other Wastewalker pieces for the nice +hit set bonus. Sure, they’re maybe more for rogues, but they suit a hunter just fine as well.

Chest, Legs, Wrist, and Boots: Magisters’ Terrace

Now, I didn’t realize this when I began my research, but with the release of 2.4, a veritable cornucopia of good hunter gear was brought together in one instance. Magisters’ Terrace. Holy shnikies, Batman, there is some NICE gear in there. There are even epic drops from regular mode.

[Bracers of the Forest Stalker]

These drop off the first boss, just about everything we want in a pair of bracers, Agility, a socket, some AP, and some armor penetration to boot.

[Leggings of the Betrayed]

These legs also drop off Selin Fireheart, the first boss in MagT. Who knows, maybe you get lucky and these and the bracers BOTH drop. Very nice legs here - agility, 3 sockets, AP, and a little haste as an added bonus.

[Hauberk of the War Bringer]

Epic chest. Regular instance. You can’t beat that, eh? Now MagT is a tougher than most other regular instances (I’d call it half heroic), but is doable. You just need to be a little more careful with your group. This is an excellent chest that will serve you well for a good while, probably until you start collecting badges. There is no hit rating to be had on it, but there are those yellow sockets to take advantage of and gem for it a bit. (I haven’t mentioned it before, but for a BM hunter, you want to get to 142 HR to hit the cap.) This chest drops off of Kael’thas himself.

[Sunrage Treads]

Another nice epic drop from Kael’thas. Agility, stamina, a socket, AP and a little more armor ignore. These will last you at least until you get your [Edgewalker Longboots] off of Moroes.

A Note on Crafting Before I Go

You can circumvent a lot of the pain of gear hunting by taking up a tradeskill to make your armor and/or weapons. Like Druids, Hunters can benefit GREATLY from Leatherworking. There are actually three different sets they can make that are useful. Fel Skin, Felstalker, and Netherscale Armor. With all those choices, and the very raid useful [Drums of Battle], Leatherworking may be a VERY good investment for a hunter.

Well, there you have it. Obviously, this is not intended to be the ultimate gear list, but simply a cheat sheet to get you started. That should get you well on your way to heroics and Karazhan, and before long maybe you’ll be putting an arrow in Lady Vashj’s eye. Thanks for reading!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 11th, 2008 at 9:43 am and is filed under Casual Play, Gear, Hunter Specific, Instances. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.