I was in STV yesterday and i ran into this same hunter several times. every time, i got the jump on her in cat form, she would FD a couple times, use a pot and freeze me and I only was able to kill her once. Once she killed me and the other I got a lvl 36 mob on me so I ran. I stayed in cat form most of the time, trying to kill her fast, which probably isn't the best way to go, but I'm not real sure how to handle hunters.

I was 33 or 34 at the time, the hunter was 35. I have 21 points in feral, up to faerie fire and 5 in furor. All my feral talents are focused on cat form atm and i'm now working on getting Nature's Focus. Since I don't have nature's focus yet, should I use cat form just unntil the finishing move and switch to bear for the ac? I was doing good damage to the hunter, but she would pot and I would start to get low on health. The pet is what was messing me up the most, when I would shift out to heal. Any suggestions on how to deal with this? I know I can hibernate the pet, but is it better to do that right away or get the jump on the hunter in cat form?

All help and suggestions are much appreciated.

I have always started out the fights by hibernating the pet. Then I normally will hit the hunter with moonfire, faerie fire, give my self a quick rejuvination, and go into cat or bear.

If I need to heal (by this time the pet is awake), I will switch out and use warstomp (if you are NE find another method). I do have 3 points in natures focus and don't seem to have a problem.

If I do have to heal, I then will hit with another moonfire and keep fighting.

I"m a feral druid, 11/35/5. Usually with hunters, i'll try and get the jump of them in cat form, usually Pounce > Faerie fire > Shred > rake > rip then go into bear form and finish them off.

If I didn't have feral charge, hunters would probably be a bit more difficult because when they wing clip you and run and try and range, just charge away.

As far as your build goes, I've been full resto, 0/30/21, full feral and I've finally settled with the one I have now. I can pretty much kill almost anyone one on one with half decent gear. The only time I miss natures focus is when facing 2-3 people but even then I usually just barkskin and I'm fine.

hunters that know what they are doing are incredibly hard to kill, imo. They have a lot of tools to keep you away from them, fortunately very few know how to use them.

My good friend that I quest with regularly is a Hunter, and we've dueled our fair share. Though dueling really doesn't correspond to open world pvp, this is what I've learned:

First thing hibernate pet. If he breaks it, hibernate again. Always keep pet asleep if possible. Dont run straight at the hunter if they are kiting you. Chances are they have set up a trap, and will freeze / burn you. Feral Charge and Bash ftw - run around to the side a bit, then feral charge. Hunters aren't that good up close. Only cat if you can use dash on them. The 60% increase in speed will keep you on them, and they dont like that. For the 15 sec duration, you can most likely get about 3 or 4 combo points and a rip on them.

The main reason that I can't beat hunters is Viper sting, which drains an insane amount of mana. And it drains mana while in forms. My hunter friend learned this, and whenever I'd shift into a form he'd hit me with viper sting, and I would either have to waste mana to jump out and cleanse, or just take the mana drain and try to kill him fast without having to shift out to heal. And killing hunters with decent mail armor fast really doesn't happen.

Does anyone know if DoT's will cancel the feign death? I hate fighting hunters that feign death until their pet wakes up and then they pop me while I'm in the middle of casting hibernate again...

After viewing this thread I went and downloaded a few hunter pvp movies (which is a good idea when trying to figure out the weaknesses of any class), and I was amazed.

Some hunters rock. They are awesome.

They make a better friend than foe.

Thanks for all the posts guys, I haven't run into another hunter yet, but will try them out when I do. I forgot about barkskin, so I may not go into Nature's Focus after all. Anyone know what lvl I get barkskin off the top of their head? I'm at work and behind a firewall, so almost everything is blocked. Appreciate all the great input =)

Try thottbot.org instead of .com

The main reason that I can't beat hunters is Viper sting, which drains an insane amount of mana. And it drains mana while in forms.I don't believe so. Not sure about travel form, but in bear or cat it does not drain mana.

Hmmm. Last time I dueled my friend he hit me with VS in bear, and I shifted out after a bit and had less mana than when I shifted in. Usually I regen mana in forms, not lose it. I'm going to dual him tonight again after work to figure this out. Will let you know what I find out.

I'm pretty sure it doesn't drain mana while you're in cat / bear.

Hmm. Don't know what I was thinking. Sorry for the misinfo.

When i duel/pvp hunters..I almost never go into bear/cat..I have a earthshaker for my pvp weapon, generally I can tell when i hunter puts down a trap, so I try to always walk around that area...just keep up with him in melee range, and I can melee with down with my mace pretty easy.

For the pet, I usually just hibernate at the start..after that I use Nature's Grasp on it....just cure the mana poison and you are set..keep rejuv up and its an easy fight.

My main problem fighting Hunters as a Feral Druid is Fear Beast. Sure, you can shift out and avoid being hit with it, but now the mana used shifting into the form is wasted (assuming the Hunter tries to Fear Beast early on in the fight.) Also, from what I have seen and read, shifting out and then back into forms, resets the counter for the diminishing returns on Fear Beast against you.

I fought a hunter the other day whos pet was IMMUNE to hibernate. WTF is that?? How can a pet (animal by nature) be immune to hibernate. ><

Needless to say, in the time that I spent casting hibernate, found out that it didnt work, cast roots, I was good and kited by the hunter and at about 1/2 health. I cast a heal on myself and he somehow got off a concussive shot and stunned me, then ran up and put a frost trap at my feet so the second that I moved I froze, stepped back and bandaged his pet who was now out of the roots, backed up and kited me again while I started to root his pet again. Quick loss for me. I just took it with a grain of salt cause he was a damn good hunter.

It was probably Bestial wrath, the 31 point Beast Mastery talent. Makes the pet immune to everything for 15 seconds or so. Nasty nasty talent against casters.

Does anyone else think that hunters are overpowered? Also, shouldn't feign death be on some kind of cooldown? Seems kinda unfair don't ya think? sorry for the 2 cents

I believe it is on a 30 second cooldown. And yes, I believe Hunters are a bit overpowered. Almost every class is overpowered these days though. Survivability has gone out the window with all the new gear that's out there.

im a 58 horde druid and dueled my hunter friend (lvl 60). i couldnt sleep his pet. i asked and he does not have bestial warth. He does have blue armor, but like a couple. Non-the less i could not sleep his pet. Any comments on that.

Did the pet show RESIST or IMMUNE? Their pets got really high spell resistance too.

maybe the pet was immune b/c it was 2 lvls higher than you?

I find that its most difficult to get in a non-instant cast spell off against hunters b/c a) their pets attack so fast b) they shoot fast

Feral charge is pwnage against hunters though. Sleep the pet if you can. Feral charge and keep your distance close.

Also, maybe green whelp armor so the pet will fall asleep. Then charge ftw.

This next comment doesn't belong but....did you ever think that a hunter would where mail armor? i thought hunters would be the silent and deadly type (much like rogues). It just seems out of place that they get to wear mail. They already have their pets to tank. :texla:

I agree, pet + mail + huge ranged damage = a bit overpowered, imo

Does anyone know if shifting removes wing clip?

it may. i'm not sure though. i usually have my feral charge back up by that time so thats what i keep using. not much help i know. i'll shut up now. :confused:

it may. i'm not sure though. i usually have my feral charge back up by that time so thats what i keep using. not much help i know. i'll shut up now. :confused:

lol it's ok, it just helped remind me that feral charge doesn't have a 1 min timer like bash does, which I forget about sometimes, hehe :bonk:

I'm a 41 balance druid and dueled a 45 Hunter last night.

His pet went to sleep on my Green Whelp armor (at least twice), and I kept constant heat on the hunter with MF(followed by a 1/2 casting time wrath if a crit) and quick stabs with my dagger to help OoC proc more. Of course he kept trying to move off and get distance but then I rooted him, moved into his deadzone and SF for the win, was a relatively easy fight.

He never ice trapped u or did that dizzy attack (raptor strike?) when you got up close? What kinda hunter were u fighting? :x

My main problem fighting Hunters as a Feral Druid is Fear Beast. Sure, you can shift out and avoid being hit with it, but now the mana used shifting into the form is wasted

http://wow.allakhazam.com/db/item.html?witem=19340 maybe? :cool:

I just got it last night. Really sucky trinket in most cases tbh.. but might help against theese fearing hunters.

Hunters fear beast is on a 15 or 30 second cooldown timer. Sleep the pet, rejuv. yourself, root the hunter, and go bear/caster/cat whatever's your fancy. Feign death is on a 30 second timer, and uhh traps last 1minute, and are on a 15 second timer. By shifting when you have slowing debuffs, it will remove them. i.e. Conc. Shot, Wing Clip, Shaman totem, Frost Nova, Frost Bolt, Ice/Frost Armor(debuff on you), etc etc...

Dunno if I helped ^_^

I didn't know that shapeshifting would remove those effects. Nice!

with the 24/0/27 build best way for hunters and easy to kill them :D
for duels:
Start with shadowmeld, make sure the hunter does not see where you meld or he will use a flare and get you, so dance around and then use.
hit with starfire,moonfire then root pet then just moonfire him down when hes at half hp u will prolly be at 1/4 hp so MS+HT rank 10 then moonfire and you will win easy...

note moonfire has reduced mana cost and ++ damage/crit chance with it....
if a sting is put on you cure it simple as. this method beats nearly all hunters.

with the 24/0/27 build best way for hunters and easy to kill them :D
for duels:
Start with shadowmeld, make sure the hunter does not see where you meld or he will use a flare and get you, so dance around and then use.
hit with starfire,moonfire then root pet then just moonfire him down when hes at half hp u will prolly be at 1/4 hp so MS+HT rank 10 then moonfire and you will win easy...

note moonfire has reduced mana cost and ++ damage/crit chance with it....
if a sting is put on you cure it simple as. this method beats nearly all hunters.

You beat hunters from range

What is the hunter doing?

they ranged attack but I dance around alot spamming then instant healing myself, with 24/0/27 my heals are strong and my damage is decent to with spamming moonfire, unless his dazed shot procs twice on me in 2 lucky rows or gets ALOT of crits hes dead since my moonfire crit rate is high.

Wear GWA (Green Whelp Armor) and ignore the pet. Cast NG, MF, FF, rejuv, then shift bear. Use feral charge to close on hunter, beat down (use bash after movement impediment from charge wears off).
If he gets ranged on you again, he'll set a trap, wait to trigger it then shift NS+HT to clear the movement impediment and heal, root him MF, back to bear finish him off.

I have never lost a duel to a hunter that wasn't at least 5 levels higher than me.

Wear GWA (Green Whelp Armor) and ignore the pet. Cast NG, MF, FF, rejuv, then shift bear. Use feral charge to close on hunter, beat down (use bash after movement impediment from charge wears off).
If he gets ranged on you again, he'll set a trap, wait to trigger it then shift NS+HT to clear the movement impediment and heal, root him MF, back to bear finish him off.

I have never lost a duel to a hunter that wasn't at least 5 levels higher than me.

Go post this in the worldofwarcraft hunter forums. They are full of hunter overpowered threads all the time.

My main is a lvl 60 hunter in nearly full Dragonstalker gear. I can say with some authority that a hunter who knows what he's doing is a pretty scary opponent.

If you're fighting a hunter, they are almost certain to fall into one of 2 categories; marksmanship, or beast mastery.

To be honest I'd say beast mastery is the easier of the 2 to overcome. This means that their pet will be doing a buttload of damage, but if you spend most of your time in bear form, combined with feral charge and frenzied rejuvenation you probably won't have too much of a job of killing them.

If you get the jump on a hunter, always always sleep the pet first. The pet won't be immune to hibernate unless the hunter has activated beastial wrath, so if you surprise him his pet will be asleep and he's as good as wasted.

Marksmanship hunters are harder. A clever marksmanship hunter will not have their pet summoned during a duel. Many people think this is weird, but it's for a very good reason - freezing trap, easily the most powerful hunter CC, can only be cast out of combat. You can get out of combat as a hunter by using feign death, but if you have your pet out when you feign you will stay in combat. For this reason, if you can make sure to hit the hunter at least once every 10 seconds or so, they can't re-trap you ever.

So that leaves 3 other CC's - concussive shot... no biggy, chance to stun but tbh it is easily countered with feral charge.
Scattershot - a nasty one. A skilled hunter will scattershot you, run back during the 1 second global cooldown, and get an aimed shot fired off just as you recover. Not much you can really do about this tbh.. just stay in bear form and hope for a non-crit. Finally there is fear beast. This may seem like a really nasty ability, but the important thing to remember is to NEVER change out of bear form if you get feared. Just soak up the damage and get ready to charge when it's over. Damage frequently stops the fear.

Occasionally you will need to heal. Best method for doing this is to bash the hunter, switch to caster form and hit nature's swiftness if you have it, barkskin if you don't, and go healing touch. Bear again straight after.

How to tell when a freezing trap is coming? After the first trap, the hunter must Feign Death in order to lay a new trap. Easiest way of countering this is to keep them in combat! Most hunters try to be close to you when they FD, and you deselect them automatically when they FD so it makes it hard to get an instant hit in. So the best way of keeping them in combat and stopping the trap is Demoralising Roar. Hit it _just_ as you see them drop to the ground, you have about 1 second to do it or you're trapped. The hunter is then basically forced to melee you while he waits for his other cooldowns.

Hunter fights tend to be very long..


I would never use cat form on a hunter. Too much hp and ac, and getting stuck in a trap... not worth the risk imho.


-Annik

He had enrage going on his pet. U cant root or hibernat for 2 mins with this going.

I just ignore the pets for the most part. I go after the hunter full bore. Mostly in bear. I watch for the animal fear and change shape before it hits. Then i rejuv and go back down to bear.

I generaly chase hunters all over the place. :)

only reason i can think of as to why the pet resisted ur sleep was due to the hunter being beast mastery specced. BM hunters have insane pets. they hit hard and fast. and with beastial fury? holy crap...lol

as for my hunter experiences it DEFINATELY depends on the player. i have 3 hunter friends all 60 with me, and we are always dueling each other. 2 of them i usually beat, but my friend silverbolt OMFG he irritates me so bad. i spend pretty much the entire fight either frozen or feared. against a hunter that knows how to use all his abilities to their full advantage its just luck of the draw. if u can resist one of his fears or traps though, u can throw off his recast timers and much easier to survive.

on a side note something i been wondering is if frost resistance effects ur ability to resist freeze trap. anyone know about that at all?

I'm almost certain that it does, although I have yet to conclusively prove this via tests.

Resisting a trap is painful for a hunter, in every possible way.. :P


-Annik

My main is a lvl 60 hunter, and I'm just getting started on my druid. i can say that a well played druid is one of the toughest opponents I can face. Other than warriors and shamen, that bear form is... well, it's a bear.

Don't use cat form unless you get the jump on the hunter, and then be VERY fast about getting out of it. If I manage to get a trap off, or you're not fast enough, you'll be a pin cushion in cat form.

The previous poster was correct about bear form. You have enough armor and hps to just soak up the damage for a while, and hope I don't get a lucky crit (but hey, who can plan for a lucky crit). If I feign death (Once, maybe twice for a battle if it goes on a while), strafe to a side. A common hunter tactic is to wait till you're close, feign death, and drop a trap on top of you. Then we'll strafe to the side, because we can shoot to the side, and it gets more distance than running backwards, or having to /face.

Never run straight at a hunter, that's just a free trap for us. Strafe to a side, and then feral charge.

Watch their mana bars as well. Hunters do run out, and if you can get them low on mana, break the cardinal rule and switch to cat form. If you're on top of them, and they are out of mana.. do as much damage as you possibly can.

Oh, and ignore the pet as much as you can. Sleep it if you get the chance, but a marksmanship hunter's pet isn't all that much of a problem except for interrupts. A beast mastery pet is real trouble, but hibernating it may not be an option. Just give it one shot and hope for the best.

The best way to get rid of the pet is to kill the hunter. Hunter's suck up close, so don't ever allow yourself outside of the 8 yard minimum bow range.

Also, spam moonfire if they get low on health. Too many druids fight me and let me away with a single dot... As a hunter, with time, I'll take anyone down. Don't worry about conserving mana, just spam that moonfire once the hunter hits about 25% health.

Don't worry about healing yourself, I'll just be able to land an aimed shot while you're casting, unless you've got an instant up. Use healing pots (they are fast, and although most druids don't use them, they work well).

Just to add to Tier's comments..


If you _do_ need to heal, use frenzied regen first. Coming out of bear form is asking for trouble, hunter DPS _will_ drop you in 5 seconds flat, if you let them.
If you need to heal again, bash them and use nature's swiftness if you have it.
If you need to heal again, and frenzied regen isn't up, wait until the hunter has used Scatter Shot (the ability that confuses you for 4 seconds). If they've just used it, they will have no way of interrupting you. The cooldown is 30 seconds, so be aware at all times of how long it has been. Expect damage spikes.

Once again, please let me stress that if the hunter has their pet out in a duel, they will only get _one_ trap, which they are likely to lay just as the duel is beginning, possibly on top of you. If there is no pet, expect a trap every 30 seconds.


-Annik