Surviving the First Nine Levels
I’ve leveled an awful lot of hunters to 10 – almost 20 of them at last count! (Sadly, many of these characters don’t make it past level 10. I am easily distracted.) Generally speaking, I really enjoy the very directed feel of the first nine levels: at this point, the game is very clear about what you should be doing at every step of the way. But I also find these levels somewhat … challenging, because you don’t yet have a pet. And pets make a huge, huge difference in the playstyle of a hunter.
So while I was thinking about this, I wrote up a little guide of tips and tricks that I use during my first nine levels. As always, feedback is very welcome!
The first nine levels of a hunter’s life are fairly straightforward. The easiest path is simply to follow the newbie quest lines. Level 1 through level 5 goes very quickly, but the next four can drag out a little bit. Hunters just aren’t built for fighting without our pets, and the closer we get to level 10 the more obvious the lack of a pet becomes.
So here are some tips in case you’re feeling stuck:
Use your range! We do the most damage with our ranged attacks, so it’s a good idea to start attacking from the very limits of your range in order to get in more shots before you need to switch to melee. (You can tell when you are in range because the number on the action button for your ranged attacks will change from red to white.)- Use your abilities! All of the low level hunter skills are quite useful and many of then will help you out significantly. So when you get a new ability, play around with it until you are comfortable using it.
- Remember to visit the hunter trainer to buy new abilities. You get new skills on every even level (at level 2, level 4, level 6, etc.). Buying skills from the trainer costs money, but you should get plenty for this purpose from quests and there is very little else you need to buy at this point. You get a quest very early on to meet your first trainer, so make a note of where he or she lives.
- And speaking of abilities: here’s a few specific notes on some of my low-level favorites:
You start with a good melee ability called Raptor Strike – which is useful since you’ll be in melee a lot your first nine levels. Keep an eye on the cooldown and use it whenever you can in melee. It really helps.
Serpent Sting (available at level 4) is a damage-over-time (DoT) spell – which makes it a good opening shot. Even if you only get one shot off before the enemy closes with you, Serpent Sting will go on causing him pain while you melee.
Arcane Shot (available at level 6) does immediate damage, and since the damage type is ‘arcane’ it can bypass armor. This is one of the workhorse shots you’ll be using your entire life as a hunter. Once I hit level 6, I usually open with Serpent Sting and follow it immediately with an Arcane Shot.
Concussive Shot (available at level 8) is a lifesaver for the pre-pet hunter. It slows down the enemy’s run speed – which means that it takes the enemy longer to close with you, and you can get more shots off with your bow or gun.- Once you have Concussive Shot, try this: Get just barely in range of your target. Open with an Arcane Shot, then follow it up with Concussive Shot and Serpent Sting. If you have the timing right, you can squeeze off a second Arcane Shot just before the enemy closes with you. If you can’t quite get the timing, you can start backing up after you launch the Concussive Shot and buy yourself another second to let the Arcane Shot cooldown run out.
- By the way, you can fire Serpent Sting, Arcane Shot, and Concussive Shot (but not your auto shot) while you are moving! You do need to be facing your target, though. Some hunters have found to run away from their target, then do a fancy turning jump and fire Arcane Shot while in the air.
- Remember to wear the equipment that you get as rewards from quests. You’ll also be finding a lot of loot that is worth wearing at this point. Since it only take a few hours to reach level 10, I wouldn’t waste money buying equipment from vendors or other players (except for arrows).
But do keep an eye on the number of arrows or bullets you have left! Running out of ammunition in the middle of a fight is embarrassing. You can tell how much ammo you have left by looking at the number displayed on your quiver or ammo pouch. (A * means that you have more than 1000, by the way.) Most newbie areas have a handy General Goods vendor to sell you more. Be aware, though – you get access to new, better ammo at level 10 so you don’t want to overstock the newbie stuff.- Don’t rush into crowded areas! At these levels, trying to fend off two or more attackers can be fatal. This will become a lot easier once you have a pet, but for now you need to be very aware of where your enemies are so they don’t sneak up and surround you. As much as possible, you want to fight one enemy at a time, at range.
- Run if you need to. Unlike some games, in World of Warcraft you can often outrun your enemies.
- Concentrate on questing, but don’t forget to kill everything that crosses your path! Questing is generally more efficient than farming, but just killing the creatures that you run across as you move between quest hubs can give you enough to boost you to the next level.
- If you get stuck on a quest and can’t finish it, try doing a different quest instead. Some quests are just inherently more difficult for hunters without pets – but once you get your pet that same quest will be a snap.
- If you don’t have another quest to switch to, try some gentle farming. Having one additional level under your belt often means the difference between frustration and fun. And farming up one level at this point generally won’t take very long at all.
All together, the first nine levels only take a few hours, and they can be a lot of fun. But fighting with a pet companion is a lot more fun! So as soon as you reach level 10 you will want to drop whatever you are doing and head to the hunter trainer to start the quest for your very own pet.
21 Comments
Great tips, Mania. Especially “Concentrate on questing, but don’t forget to kill everything that crosses your path! Questing is generally more efficient than farming, but just killing the creatures that you run across as you move between quest hubs can give you enough to boost you to the next level.
Not only will this give you more XP towards your next level, but just as importanly, it’ll give you loot you can sell, and cash. You can NEVER have too much cash!
“By the way, you can fire both Serpent Sting and Arcane Shot (but not Concussive Shot or your auto shot) while you are moving!”
…Concussive Shot, unless I’m very bizarrely mistaken, does indeed work while you are moving. It’s instant cast just like Arcane and Serpent. It’s higher-level shots, like Multi and Steady, that don’t work while moving.
Kestrel: That’s a good point about the cash. Every little bit adds up.
Maahl: Egad, you’re right! How did I miss that my entire life? *sigh* I’ll fix it. And thanks.
And when you get to level 10 and can upgrade your ammo, it is not enough just to have it in your quiver - you need to drag it to your ‘paperdoll’ too… which, as it took me ages to figure out as a level 10 the first time, is your character window that shows your equipment, armor, weapons, etc.
Before you get your pet, you should always choose a melee weapon upgrade over a ranged weapon upgrade. At those early levels you spend a lot more time in melee then at range.
Med:
You can also just open your quiver or ammo pouch and right click on a stack, they will automatically get placed into your ‘paper doll’ slot. I have had to do this in combat before, so I know it works. It’s a little quicker than opening up the window and dragging it. :D
Another tip for people trying to get the hang of kiting. Start a Tauren hunter alt, and kite everything to level 10. Stay in Mulgore because it has great mob spacing, and bright, sunny, unobstructed veiws. Not really a survival guide, but applicable for huntering to level 10.
I cannot tell you how overjoyed I was to get a pet, man I thought they were the coolest thing EVAR! Now when some mob I didn’t see jumps out at me, I can sic my pet on him and run to range and stop dying all the time.
Maybe I should try 1-9 on a hunter again, I may be better at it, but I still have nightmares about it the first time around… oh the horror!
My hunter is level 28 (half-twinked until I reach 29) and I am having an absolute BLAST PvPing. I am a MONSTER in the battlegrounds and it feels good to win. I hated PvP with my 70 Night Elf Druid because Alliance sucks at PvP (for some reason.)
Anyway, I have 2 fast swords that I dual-weild, a “Sword of Corruption” that does corruption damage (proc) and a “Black Knight” that does shadow damage (proc). Both swords have the crusader enchant that procs to heal me and give me 100 strength for a short time. For ranged attack, I have a Harpyclaw Shortbow which is very fast and I have a +5 scope on it. I have a PvP ring and necklace which are sweet. In the bank for when I hit 29, I have a pair of “Barbaric Leggings” that have a Clefthoof Armor kit attached which gives me 30 stamina and 10 agility, which is killer for low level. I have a “Tiger’s Mantle” cloak which is an awesome rare for that level and I have a +50 armor enchant on it. Oh, and in case I decide to use a gun, I have an “Ironweaver” waiting, also scoped.
Oh, and my pets are Deathdealer, a “Feral Mountain Lion” from Hillsbrad Foothills; Fleabitten, a Ghostpaw Alpha from Ashenvale and my third pet is either going to be a “Rotting Angm’ar” from Razorfen Kraul or “Aku’mai Snapjaw” from Blackfathom Deeps, but I’m leaning more towards the pig. :-)
Anyway… I am LOVING PvP - In my last 5 matches, I have been on top by a total of 15 or more kills and the best of the five, I had 61 kills and the next best was 27.
Great advice. I hate those petless levels, and concussive shot rules until you get a pet. I learned the hard way about ammo when I got to the “boss” in a big cave in Teldrassil and ran out after one shot. I did not realize you could shoot while moving, or get off 2 arcane shots, which is very useful. The two times I’ve leveled hunters, I used concussive, sting, then arcane. And the paperdoll comments are very useful - that’s another one I learned about the hard way, in combat. Running away is definitely important before having a pet. I don’t personally think you should have to farm any of these levels if you know where to pick up quests. Finding some of the questgivers wasn’t obvious to me for the farmhouses in Elwynn or the pirates in Azuremyst, but the internet can always tell you where to find quests if you don’t just naturally tend to explore a new area thoroughly.
This brings back so many memories. Faralorn of Gnomeregan is my L61 NElf huntress and I recall my joy at getting Ironweaver as a world drop and scoping it. Barbaric leggings and Barbaric Bracers looked neat and were good for quite a few levels.
Now that I have at long last learned to play a hunter I intend to roll a new huntress and do it right this time. A Dwarf or Orc huntress or perhaps both. The class is so much fun.
It does get a bit easier after you do it several times. I was this close to giving up my first hunter around level 7. It was the troll quests in the Echo Isles (in Durotar) that got me, especially that bloody Zalazane. I still curse his name whenever I wander by that area.
Thank you Mania for this timely post. My husband was getting frustrated with his lvl 6 hunter. Was working hard to get to lvl 10 and I could see he was starting to not have fun. The next day I saw your post. This was exactly what he needed. I also introduced him to Petopia. He spent an hour browsing all the skins. Thanks again!
Kat: Glad I could help!
Kat - Call me a pure gamer, but what would be so frustrating at level 6? You can grind all the way to level 10 without doing a single quest. The ONLY frustration at low-levels is money!
Just tell him the light at the end of the tunnler is at level 10. That’s where he gets his new best friend. That’s where he becomes twice the hunter he was. That is when he becomes a real a$$ kicker.
Happy Hunting!
~ M
id have to agree with Messyah, there shouldnt be anything frustrating before level 10… its so easy, unless one likes to try to take on more then 2-3 or more things at once.
Sweet, I just got a little Blood Elf hunter to ten, but she had help from a pala-friend she is leveling up with. Yes, that makes things a lot easier. =) I sent her off this morning to get herself a pretty snow leopard in Dun Morogh, and she returned with a kitty which is likely to be called Icicle.
Soloing, I tend to use a similar strategy, I have my toons run a lot and discovered most of the pitfalls you mentioned the hard. One thing, though, I seldom seem to keep a quiver after I get a pet, bag-space seems just too valuable.
I’m with Kat — or Kat’s husband, rather. :> Especially your first time through, especially if you aren’t the sort to read up beforehand, level 6-10 can be quite frustrating. That’s why I wrote this post, after all. *grin* So I’m glad you other guys didn’t need it, but some of us do.
When I started my first hunter I wish I had seen a thread like this. I would fire a few shots and then have to melee, which usually meant ending the fight at half health or lower. I love hunters, especially for the pets, so I started up some other hunters just to have more pets. Finally, after looking up kiting techniques, I decided to try them out at the pre-ten levels. It’s amazing. I can usually get through the pre-10 levels without losing more than a fifth of my health. Additionally this allowed me to practice kiting without requiring me to simply grind. It payed off the other day when I was able to kill a particularly nasty mob that kept resisting my feign death and could somehow kill my pet in 5 hits, faster than mend pet could work.
[...] today I posted the article on Surviving the First Nine Levels (which I debuted here two weeks ago) up on Petopia, in a new section called Tips and Tricks. (And thanks to everyone who [...]
I didn’t learn to kite until I was 68 (My main that I have played for over a year is a holy priest, so even standing still and whacking things ineffectually with axes was such an improvement over healbot grinding that I didn’t feel any need to actually *work* at my huntering until then). I asked the best hunter I knew to teach me, and I wound up spending two hours on the plains in southwest Nagrand with angry elekks chasing me and my friend shouting at me over Vent “No, no, concussive shot FIRST NOOB!” and/or dead and running back. It would have been MUCH easier to go the baby moocow kiting route :) And I could still use the work, so I think I’ll try it. Great tip!
Leave a Reply