A level 35 Hunter asking for your advice

[Lunae]

Hello Hunter forums!

I have come here not to complain about our class but how i can better myself. I have been reading these forums for a while (EU and US) and through reading and common sense i have realized hunters arent always meant to gain the aggro (unless to pull off a minstrel in dire emergency).

Now i ask what is it i should do to stop this happening? I normally start out with a swift bow followed by barbed arrow and a penetrating shot, by this time i have the aggro. Should i leave more time between these attacks?

Thats what i think the reason is anyway, i just want to post here to make sure. Im just worried incase players i fellow with think my DPS sucks or whatever.

I would appreciate any advice you would give this newbish Hunter :)

[OMWiener]

Well there are a couple of things you can do to avoid getting aggro.

1) A simple rule i mostly use when fighting elites (at my level or higher) is to auto attack for 10ish sec first and then switch on full dps. For master elites, nemesis, etc... i give the tank a couple of seconds without attacking and then build up my dps gradually.

2) When doing a lot of dps over a long time (fighting bosses etc), switch to endurance stance once in a while (if you're in another stance that is) and fire off a couple of quick shots. Quick shot in endurance stance actively lowers your agrro on the hate list.

3) Use a bow with reduced threat/ use a bow chant. This last one isn't as easy cuz you can't always pick any bow you want. And for the bow chants,, mostly you have other bow chants active already which are more usefull (windrider, breach finder, etc...)

I'm sure other hunters use other methods, but that's my way of doing it.

[Lunae]

Thats great advice and ill do that, thankyou very much ^^

[OMWiener]

Oh i forgot: if you do get aggro, use 'beneath notice' to get the mob to switch targets. Remember that this only removes aggro for a limited time. So when you have aggro and use this skill, try and lower your aggro while the skill is active. You have two choices to do that:

a) stop attacking untill someone else has a firm grip on the mob again

b) use the endurance stance/quick shot combo

[Wolveras]

Agree with everying that OMWiener says. Beneath Notice is a fantastic (but sadly, rearely used) skill which for 10 seconds (I think it's 10 anyway), drastically lowers your threat level - which basically means the mob stops attacking you for that period. Use it enough and you get the option to double the time.

Personally, whenever I'm gouping I always by default go into Endurance Stance. In each fight, I can usually get away with one of my Skill shots early on (I usually pick Barbed Arrow for the DoT and slow effect) and then stay on auto-attack usually until the mob is down to about 50% health. By that point, the Guardian should have built up a pretty good head of aggro on him and I can start releasing the big guns. As you get more comfortable with changing stances 'on the fly' you can start each fight in Precision Stance to build up your focus and then switch to Endurance at the 50% stage.

Having said that, there have been occasions when the Minstrel is under attack and no-one has noticed that I've deliberately used the big guns to shake him off. Rarely used, but sometimes necessary.

One last thing - you should almost NEVER use your Rain of Arrows. That's pretty much like painting a big bullseye between your hunter's eyes and screaming out, "Shoot Here!". I think the only time I have used it in a fellowship is when suddenly attacked by a horde of very very low level mobs (rats etc.). Also try and refrain from using Fear. The Feared mob too often just runs into a nearby mob and comes back bringing Mummy Mob, Daddy Mob and all the little Baby Mobs too.

Level 35 is an interesting time for a Hunter. Lots of new skills to play with. I would receommend you do just that - play with them. Pretty soon, you'll find a style that you're comfortable with.

Finally - all the above is my own view and therefore not automatically the correct view. If you come up with something that works better - do share!

[Dirtball]

One last thing - you should almost NEVER use your Rain of Arrows. That's pretty much like painting a big bullseye between your hunter's eyes and screaming out, "Shoot Here!". I think the only time I have used it in a fellowship is when suddenly attacked by a horde of very very low level mobs (rats etc.).
I disagree with this as I personaly find RoA great if used correctly. Combine it with the extra 25% crit chance/multiplier trait and 1 focus gained for every crit hit trait and you'll see just how great it can be. Depending on how many mobs there are and how many crit hits you get, you can literally jump from 0 focus anywhere up to 5 focus in 1 shot. But of course I will reiterate again, you really need to know how to use it so as not to get yourself killed (and not to annoy that damned guardian ;) )

[Farstrike (temp)]

I'd have to agree that with the proper traits slotted, RoA is one of our best attacks; the traits being +25% damage and crit, Focus cost reduction and Focus increase on crit (can't remember the trait names offhand since I've been on a 2 month LotRO break). It takes a bit of practice to get a feel for when RoA should be used and how to deal with its (potential) consequences.

[Katla]

Here is my heartfelt sigh! I have a level 50 LM and a level 35 hunter. As a LM i dislike the RoA skill quite a lot. My job is CC in teams and raids and on occasion trying to keep one or two specific mobs out of the fight until other mobs are killed (typical stunning the slave in the Rift). Even if i'm keeping the stunned mob away from the fighting, stray arrows from a hunter using RoA will often find my target and ruin the stun, occasionally leading to wipe outs if i'm the only LM in a raid.

I have therfore become extremely wary of using RoA when playing my hunter and we have any CC class in the team.

[iBilly]

Here is my heartfelt sigh! I have a level 50 LM and a level 35 hunter. As a LM i dislike the RoA skill quite a lot. My job is CC in teams and raids and on occasion trying to keep one or two specific mobs out of the fight until other mobs are killed (typical stunning the slave in the Rift). Even if i'm keeping the stunned mob away from the fighting, stray arrows from a hunter using RoA will often find my target and ruin the stun, occasionally leading to wipe outs if i'm the only LM in a raid.

I have therfore become extremely wary of using RoA when playing my hunter and we have any CC class in the team.

If hunters are using Rain of Arrows/Thorns while mobs are mezzed, get them removed from the group.

It's common sense, and you shouldn't waste time with those who lack it.

[nightbyday]

i agree with OMwiener as well

thats basically it

leave time for tank to get some aggro, careful with shots, use threat reduction when needed (if possiable i prefer power reduction as opposed to threat then control my shots, just incase i need to increase DPS).

[Belion_]

trait the endurance buff so its jumps from standard -10% power usage and threat to -20% threat and power usage and use endurace stance u'll never get aggro again :P unless ur hitting a mob not focused by a tank

[Lunae]

Level 43 now folks and the endurance + quick shot combo works wonders for me, ive never aggro'd when using that tactic, and on the rare occassion i have i use 'beneath notice'. :)

[zimoo]

Personally I adapt my DPS to the situation. If I'm raiding and we're clearing 'trash mobs' (elites and lower) then I'll just nuke them down as fast as possible, as I know I'd be able to solo that mob anyway (and as everyone focuses on my target I won't need to anyway :p).

With higher difficulty mobs I tend to just not attack for a few seconds at the start (usually playing bagpipes :p), then start off with a few quick shots/barbed arrows (to build my focus up if it isn't maxed), then unleash my full arsenal, although taking a break for a few seconds if I think I've been dealing too much damage and am on the verge of pulling the mob.

This method works for me. I get aggro on the trash all the time but that's because I effectively try to.

I use precision stance, and only ever use endurance for the decreased power costs (which is very rare, as my power regen in raids is insane). Strength stance I only use for the Ettenmoors or showing off how much damage I can do with a heartseeker. Last night a champion in my group bragged about a 450 hit, so I went to strength stance, took aim at a spider and crit with heartseeker. He was pretty speechless :p

[Dirtball]

Last night a champion in my group bragged about a 450 hit, so I went to strength stance, took aim at a spider and crit with heartseeker. He was pretty speechless :p
Sorry for flaming but it's attitudes like this that give Hunters a bad name imo.

[Darzil]

Also try and refrain from using Fear. The Feared mob too often just runs into a nearby mob and comes back bringing Mummy Mob, Daddy Mob and all the little Baby Mobs too.

Fear is situational. Sometimes you'll be in situations where everything near is already aggroing you, and fearing one just gets rid of one without risking brining more. It simply isn't a tool to use every time.

Darzil

[MéLAnoR]

for your future builds , did you know that you can shoot without gaining agro almost in a stealth mode for 20 secs?
Yeah great for raids and fellowships facing tough opponents.
In order to achieve this ;
- Equip Gracefull draw reducing your threat and power consumption with endurace stance
- Equip Stealthy Shot which allows you to use Beneath Notice which with trait gives you -85% threat level for 20 secs / can be used every 5 min)
- Use endurance stance
- Drop your threat level with quickshots
- Use a xbow to lessen your threat levels
- Use the bow chant which drops you threat level ( guess it's named whisperedr or stglike that =)
I don't remember if other classes can buff you reducing your threat level but even if you do the thing above you can drop your threat level ;
- Steadily around -30% threat level ( Endurance stance = -20 , Bow chant possibly -5 or -10 , Xbow probably not more than -5)
- With quick shots even more lessened ( no idea how much you can drop your threat with each shot)
- Every 5 min with Benath notice Stealthy shot trait slotted = additional -85% lessened threat
Hence you can easily drop your threat level below -120% if those above are getting stacked.Marvellous for raid bosses to nuke them below %25 morale HS,MS and foreward .. That 20 sec is when i jump into action and do my best ^^

[Rob_Ross]

Some great advice in this thread. The threat reduction tactic is spot on :) never thought of that

[Shortman]

Sorry for flaming but it's attitudes like this that give Hunters a bad name imo.

He's not camping so what's the problem? If he wants to hit a spider with force to make the champ feel inadequate then gratz to zimoo. It's the hunter and Lm's that camp that give the bad name