Hunter Leveling Talent Builds

Listed below are various viable talent builds, mainly to give players who aren’t sure what talent build is right for them, an idea on where to put their points. Since everyone has their own playing style, and most talents are fairly balanced out now, there are no 100% correct builds but some may be slightly better than others.

Note that the talent builds and comments are made with the lvl 70 cap in mind and the latest 2.0.6 patch. I will keep the old talent builds as a reference for those without TBC.

— Solo / Leveling —

When it comes to leveling and questing, you will be playing solo a lot of the time. For this I can only recommend the BM tree. Your pet can be a great tank, add a good amount of damage, are very gear-independent and make grinding very mana-efficient, decreasing downtime in between fights considerably. On top of that, they are fun and obedient companions to have with you on your journeys, and improving them by talents will let you kill enemies while leveling faster than any other build!

PvE Solo / Leveling build (1-60) - 43/5/3
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=cV0GzgxRizAoVZ0h

Mainly improving your pet, this will make leveling and questing solo a lot faster. If you’re wondering what pet to get, it doesn’t really matter since they are all similar, but some are slightly better than others. Just make sure you take pets you like, since you’ll be spending a lot of time with them! Boars/bears are good to start off with since they are quite tough and eat pretty much everything (except gnomes). The boar charge & gore ability is quite nice too. Later on you might want to get a high damage pet like a cat to make grinding faster.

I’ll give some advice on in what order you might want to spend your talent points while you are leveling:

• Lvl 10-14: BM: Endurance Training 5/5
• Lvl 15-17: BM: Thick Hide 3/3
• Lvl 18-19: BM: Improved Revive Pet 2/2
• Lvl 20: BM: Bestial Swiftness 1/1
• Lvl 21-25: BM: Unleashed Fury 5/5
• Lvl 26: BM: Improved Mend Pet 1/2
• Lvl 27-29: BM: Ferocity 3/5
• Lvl 30: BM: Intimidation 1/1
• Lvl 31-32: BM: Ferocity 5/5
• Lvl 33-34: BM: Bestial Discipline 2/2
• Lvl 35-37: BM: Frenzy 3/5
• Lvl 38-39: BM: Animal Handler 2/2
• Lvl 40: BM: Bestial Wrath 1/1
• Lvl 41-43: BM: Catlike Reflexes 3/3
• Lvl 44: BM: Frenzy 4/5
• Lvl 46-49: BM: Serpent’s Swiftness 5/5
• Lvl 50: BM: The Beast Within 1/1
• Lvl 51: BM: Frenzy 5/5
• Lvl 52-56: MM: Lethal Shots 5/5
• Lvl 57-59: Surv: Hawk Eye 3/3
• Lvl 60: BM: Improved Mend Pet 2/2

PvE Solo / Leveling build (60-70) - 48/13/0

Starts at lvl 60 with:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=cVbhztgRizVoVx

• Lvl 61-62: MM: Go for the Throat 2/2
• Lvl 63: MM: Aimed Shot 1/1
• Lvl 64-66: BM: Catlike Reflexes 3/3
• Lvl 67-69: BM: Ferocious Inspiration 3/3
• Lvl 70: BM: Improved Revive Pet 1/2

Ends at lvl 70 with:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=cVbuztgRiuAoVxbo

Note that the build is mainly BM and starts with a different spec than the lvl 1-60 build ended, so you may have to respec.

A viable build, regardless of gear. I find Spirit Bond a nice HP regen for the player (while solo) so even if you occasionaly take a hit you won’t need to worry about your HP, as it will regenerate even in combat. Aimed Shot won’t be needed much at all, but it can be a great opening shot (like after you trapped someone that tried to gank you or in instances combined with the Misdirection ability). Hawk Eye is always nice to have, but it does not contribute as well to solo or instance play as Ferocious Inspiration.