Season of Discovery Hunter Guide - Best Builds, Runes, and Rotation

Greetings, and welcome to the ultimate WoW Season of Discovery Hunter guide. Here, you'll discover comprehensive details on mastering the Hunter class in WoW SoD. This latest version of the game introduces huge changes to the classic gameplay, featuring thrilling new content and additions. The central focus of this version is the introduction of runes that refresh the way class functions. Classes now possess capabilities and roles previously unavailable, altering player strategies. This definitely changes the way players approach endgame, group content, and builds, offering to experience the old game in new ways!

Hunter is SoD and specializes in two roles - melee DPS and range DPS. We'll cover everything you need to know to excel as a Hunter-DPS, helping you excel in any content Phase. First, we’ll go over the PROs and CONs of playing a Hunter Season of Discovery, and then we’ll proceed with stuff like leveling tips, the best runes, etc.

The character creation starts with picking the race, but which one is the best fit for Hunters? We’ll answer that question, too. Then, we’ll dive into stat priorities, explaining which stats you should prioritize when equipping new gear. Most importantly, we will name the best Hunter build for each role and each type of content. That way, you’ll have a complete handbook for everything you need to thrive as a Hunter in the Season of Discovery.

SoD Hunter Phase 4 Changes

The main changes in Phase 4 for Hunters are primarily related to runes. Some of the older runes got replaced by new ones in 1.15.3. The replaced runes have been moved into a skill book and became learnable skills. Here's a quick overview of these changes:

In addition to that, all classes, including Hunters got a new type of runes for the ring slot. These runes give flat bonuses to various passive skills such as weapons mastery, etc. Check out our full guide on Hunter runes and their locations listed below.

Hunter PROs and CONs

As classic Hunter PROs and CONs in Season of Discovery, they only specialize in the DPS role. But what is indeed pretty exciting is the outlined focus on the melee variation of DPS.

The Hunter PROs include:

• Unique DPS Class: Hunters are the only "pure" DPS class in this season, offering a distinct gameplay experience.
• Significant DPS Output: With new runes like Explosive Shot, Master Marksman, and Flanking Strike, Hunters can achieve impressive DPS numbers.
• Melee Weaving Playstyle: The introduction of melee weaving, especially with the Flanking Strike and the instant cast Raptor Strike, adds a new dimension to the Hunter's playstyle.
• Viability Across Game Modes: Hunters are highly viable in all aspects of the game, from leveling to raids and PvP.
• Strong Solo Ability and Leveling Potential: Hunters excel in solo play, making them great for leveling up and solo challenges.
• New Abilities and Buffs: The introduction of abilities like Aspect of the Lion provides beneficial buffs for party/raid members.

However, there are also some drawbacks. The Hunter CONs include:

• Limited AoE Damage: Hunters have relatively weak AoE damage capabilities, especially at lower levels.
• High Skill Ceiling: To achieve the best DPS, players need to master a high-skill playstyle, which might be challenging for some.
• Dead Zone for Ranged Abilities: Hunters must be mindful of their positioning due to the dead zone of 5-8 yards for maintaining ranged damage.
• Dependency on Runes for Melee Playstyle: The viability of the melee hunter playstyle heavily depends on specific runes like Flanking Strike and Carve.
• Pet Management: At lower levels, managing and optimizing the pet's contribution to overall damage can be crucial.

These points provide a comprehensive overview of what players can expect when choosing to play as Hunters in the WoW Season of Discovery.

How to Play Hunter in Season of Discovery

To address the question of how to play Hunter in WoW SoD, it's essential to decide on what build you want to play. Basically, you have two options - the turret-like range DPS with the Marksman talent tree and highly mobile, in-and-out kind of style melee DPS with a focus on the Survival talent tree. This class in SoD benefits from the introduction of new Hunter best runes, such as Explosive Shot and Master Marksman, which significantly enhance your DPS capabilities. These runes are more than just power-ups; they redefine how you engage in battles, offering new strategies and approaches. BLOG20

The whole point of being a Hunter comes down to being very mobile and using your pet. Your pet will be a huge help during leveling, but until you can get it at level 10, you’re going to need to do a lot of kitting. We’ll get more into that in our leveling section. So, to sum up, if you learn the aspects of the Hunter class through this guide, you won’t have a hard time in any activities, whether it is the solo content, WoW Season of Discovery Hunter PvP, dungeons, or raids.

Hunter Best Race in WoW Season of Discovery

Alliance and Horde both have two races for Hunters to pick from. While Alliance Hunters doesn't see major changes in the best race to choose, the Horde has distinct options with unique advantages. Here's a breakdown of the best races for Alliance and Horde Hunters, highlighting their strengths and unique racial traits that can influence your decision.

Long story short, your best Hunter race in WoW SoD for Alliance Hunters is the Night Elf, primarily due to their higher base agility of 28, compared to the Dwarf's 19. For the Horde, the Troll is the preferred choice, especially for PvE, thanks to their advantageous racial passives like Beast Slaying, Berserking, and Bow Specialization.

Base agility is a critical attribute for Hunters, as it directly influences their damage output and combat effectiveness. A higher base agility provides an inherent advantage in terms of increased attack power and critical strike chance. This makes the choice of race significant, not only for the racial passives but also for the base stats that can enhance Hunter's performance in both PvE and PvP scenarios.

Hunter Stat Priority

It is easy to memorise a very short list of important gear stats for Hunters:

1. Agility - This is the most important stat for Hunters. Agility directly increases your attack power, which boosts your damage output. 
2. Attack Power -  This stat directly increases the damage you deal with your attacks. Higher attack power means your shots and strikes hit harder, making it a vital stat for increasing your overall DPS (Damage Per Second).
3. Critical Strike - Critical strike chance increases the likelihood that your attacks will hit for additional damage. Prioritizing this stat means you're aiming for more frequent and more powerful critical hits.
4. Hit Rating - Hit rating reduces the chance of your attacks missing their target, which is especially important in high-level content where enemies have higher avoidance stats.

Best Hunter Runes Season of Discovery

In World of Warcraft's Season of Discovery, Hunters have access to a range of impactful runes. As of Phase 3, there are a total of 24 best Hunter Season of Discovery runes that you need to obtain for your builds. And that's not even the final number, we expect to see even more runes in Phase 4!

1. Focus Fire (Wrists Slot) - When activated, this ability consumes all stacks of Frenzy from your pet. As a result, your ranged attack speed increases by 3%, while your pet gains 4 Focus for each stack of Frenzy consumed, lasting for 20 seconds. Moreover, your pet naturally acquires Frenzy with each Basic Attack it executes, boosting its melee attack speed by 6% for 10 seconds. This effect accumulates in stacks, up to a maximum of 5 times.
2. Rapid Killing (Head Slot) - Upon activation, this ability decreases the cooldown of Rapid Fire by 2 minutes. Additionally, for the next 20 seconds after eliminating a target that grants experience or honor, your subsequent Shot ability inflicts 20% additional damage.
3. Master Marksman Rune (Chest Slot) - The Master Marksman rune is indispensable for both melee weaving and turret builds. It enhances your critical strike chance by 5% and reduces the mana cost of all shot abilities by 25%. This rune is particularly beneficial in preventing mana depletion during encounters. It's crucial for melee weaving Hunters, especially those who might use Aspect of the Lion, as it can lead to higher mana consumption.
4. Explosive Shot Rune (Hands Slot) - Explosive Shot is the top choice for the Hands Rune slot. It provides a high DPS output with its initial hit and subsequent damage ticks. The lower mana cost of this rune is a significant advantage, allowing for longer melee weaving rotations without the concern of running out of mana. This makes it a more efficient choice compared to other runes like Chimera Shot.
5. Flanking Strike Rune (Legs Slot) - For Hunters who practice melee weaving, Flanking Strike is the recommended rune for the leg slot. It offers a major increase in melee damage through Raptor Strike, dealing 100% more melee damage on the next attack and providing a stacking buff that increases Raptor Strike damage by up to 30%. Additionally, this rune has a 20% chance to reset its cooldown, further enhancing the effectiveness of melee weaving.

Each rune brings specialized enhancements suited to the different playstyles of Hunters, primarily focusing on damage dealing and various combat tactics. Gathering all the necessary runes can be a complex endeavor, as they are dispersed throughout different locations in Azeroth. To simplify this process, you can buy Season of Discovery Rune boosting service from Skycoach. This service ensures that our seasoned WoW experts will efficiently collect the runes essential for optimizing your Hunter's build.

Hunter Leveling Guide in WoW Season of Discovery

The best fact about Hunter leveling in WoW Season of Discovery is that it is very fast, especially post-level 10, when they can tame a pet. Key strategies include constant movement and pulling multiple mobs to minimize downtime.

Learning to melee weave, where you alternate between ranged attacks and using Raptor Strike in melee range, is crucial for increasing DPS and efficiency. It's also important to stock up on arrows, as Hunters go through them quickly. For the first 10 levels, Hunters must manage distance to effectively use Auto Shot. Post-level 10, taming a pet, particularly an  Owl or Carrion Bird, significantly eases leveling due to their  Screech ability, which helps in threat generation and reducing incoming damage to the pet. While leveling, certain abilities can be skipped to save gold, as they don't significantly impact the leveling process.

List of Abilities to Skip:

• Track Humanoids
• Distracting Shot
• Eyes of the Beast
• Track Undead
• Eagle Eye

These tips highlight the importance of understanding the unique mechanics and roles of the Hunter 1.15.2 class in leveling. 

Even though leveling a Hunter is quite straightforward, you might want to save time and dive straight into higher-level content. SkyCoach’s Powerleveling services offer a convenient solution. Let experienced WoW veterans swiftly advance your character to your desired level, allowing you to bypass the grind and focus on the aspects of the game you enjoy most. If you have any questions or specific requests, the SkyCoach managers are always available to assist you. BLOG20

Best Hunter Builds Season of Discovery

As we’ve said before, there’re really only two best Hunter builds for WoW SoD, one of which is melee combat oriented, and the other is for ranged combat. Keep in mind that these builds are not the only effective options, and they are likely to evolve over time. This portion is updated for Phase 4 where the max level is 60.

Ranged Build

This build is for pure DPS. If you want to be dealing the absolute maximum about of damage at the level cap, this is your only choice of talents. Your goal here is to reach Trueshot Aura at level 40, which means investing all of your points into this tree of talents. But the great thing is that the rest of the talents really are the best choice when it comes to reaching max DPS. You do get a choice between the Improved Serpent Sting and Chimera Shot, but the Chimera one is better for pure damage.

Melee Build
 

This build does not focus on pure DPS, but instead focuses on the next best thing this talent tree can offer. Lighting Reflexes that scale with your Agility stat and the huge buff to all of the traps. Plus, if you use the Trap Mastery Rune, you'll be very effective even at max level. BLOG20

Hunter Best in Slot Gear WoW Season of Discovery

The following list of the Hunter Best in Slot can be considered as final as it lists items obtainable in the latest Phase 4. In a manner of speaking, this is the ultimate Hunter BiS table for Season of Discovery. It includes items for both ranged and melee builds