Protector of majestic forests and earthly soil, The Hunter, acutely in tune with all of Nature’s living creatures, is the harmonious guardian of the woods. With elegantly crafted bows and powerfully enchanted arrows, these masters of archery can further call upon their animal friends in the forest and even the trees themselves to enhance their own abilities or those of their allies. With the swiftness of a stag, the strength of a bear, or the mysterious healing powers of the natural earth, The Hunter confounds all enemies. Ancient lore holds that the arrows of Celestia, elder of The Hunters and daughter of a star, were guided by the wind itself.

• Very high single target damage
  
• Long range
  
• Stealth
  
• Quick kill speed

• Low defenses
  
• No melee attack

Stealthily striking from the shadows, these crafty quick-footed experts of subterfuge possess the singular talent of being able to make themselves invisible – these assassins are the only class in the Seven Realms with such a gift. Worse still for their enemies, the toxic laced arrows of these unseen archers fly with deadly accuracy and deal sinister blows.

Toxic hunters are some of the Seven Realms most deadly heroes. Letting fly arrows laced in deadly toxins and striking quickly from the shadows, the toxic hunters have the ability take their enemies down quickly and quietly.

Toxic hunters are the only class in the Seven Realms that have the ability to becomeinvisible, and can quietly slip into the shadows,passing their enemies undetected. Additionally, the hunters have the feat Assassin’s Shot which synergizes perfectly with their covert ability, dealing greatly increased damage if the shot is fired from the shadows.

The toxic hunter also has access to a wide array of feats that infect their enemies with deadly poisons and toxins, either doing instant poison damage, or applying damage over time effects (DoT, for short). This mixture of quickly striking from the unseen, and applying insidious poisons to their targets, allows the toxic hunters to deal with their enemies rapidly, and often times from a far distance.

The draw back to the toxic hunter is their lack of defense and melee ability. If they are unable to take down their foe from afar, they risk possible disaster. After an enemy or group of enemies closes the gap, the hunter’s meager leaf armor and lack of melee attacks leaves them open and vulnerable. This leaves two options open to the hunter: kill, or be killed.

While working with a group of fellow heroes, the toxic hunter can really shine. In these types of scenarios, the hunter is able to solely focus on dealing as much damage as possible, while allowing the defender warriors, holy priests, and other crowd controlling classes to do their jobs.

One key component of playing the toxic hunters in a group is to let your group know how your abilities work, mainly stealth and assassin shot. The toxic hunter can only enter stealth mode while not in combat, this means that in between pulls, your group needs to give you a bit of a breather so you can reenter stealth. This way, at the beginning of each pull, the group will have your heavy hitting Assassin’s Shot to lead the charge. But be warned, an Assassin’s Shot fired from stealth can hit extremely hard (especially if you land a critical strike!) A toxic hunter must be aware of aggro mechanics, and knowing which target is a good target. An ill-timed Assassin’s Shot can easily throw the situation into chaos and have the defender warrior scrambling to re-aggro the enemies. A simple solution to this is to wait in stealth for just a few seconds to allow your tank to collect all of the enemies. Once the tank has a firm hold on the situation, then it’s time to let fly your rain of arrows.

Another tactic to starting a fight while in a group is to select a secondary weaker target. If the group communicates and works together, the hunter can hone in on one particular enemy while the rest of the party focuses on others. With Assassin’s Shot’s high initial damage followed by a Noxious Shot or Poison Arrow, the toxic hunter can easilyget the secondary target quickly. This not only takes one of the weaker enemies out of the fray, but also gives the warrior some time to establish firm threat on the remainder of the enemies.

Another bit that is good to communicate to your group is the function of Crippling Shot. Crippling shot does initial bonus damage, and also applies a debuff on the enemy (a debuff is a negative effect). This debuff causes the enemy to take increased damage of all types, from all sources. This means that the wizard’s Fireball, the shadow priest’s Gloom, and the warrior’s Eagle Strike… all deal bonus damage against the crippled target. A smart group can use this to their advantage, saving up some more of the potent spells and feats to launch after the Crippling Shot has been fired.

Imagine a group with two hunters, a wizard, a warrior, and a priest. If the warrior has a healthy threat amount against the target, the group could do a devastating combo. The first hunter fires off a crippling shot, the second (still in stealth) then fires off their Assassin’s Shot, the wizard throws their Spirit Orb, and the priest their Holy Bolt. All of these attacks slam the enemy, each dealing bonus damage! Combos like these can allow a group to take powerful targets like elder bosses down insanely fast.

Sometimes the toxic hunter finds themselves running solo. Even so, with a few tricks and smart play style, the toxic hunter shouldn’t find any difficulty.

A nice combo that the toxic hunter can perform consists of four different feats. To start, the hunter can buff themselves with Strength of the Bear. This feat not only boosts physical damage, it also protects against enemy critical strikes. With the increased damage assassin shot will now hit extra hard.

Next, go into stealth mode. This not only allows you to prepare your Assassin’s Shot, it also allows you to scout enemies, establish the lay of the land, and prepare for battle. Once you have checked out the situation and selected your chosen target, let your third feat, Assassin’s Shot, fly.

Immediately on the heels of Assassin’s Shot, fire off your elder feat, Concussion Shot. This heroic elder feat explodes on the enemy, dealing area of effect damage and stunning enemies hit. This allows the hunter a few extra seconds to pick off weakened targets.

After your initial hail of arrows it is sometimes good to pick a secondary target and fire off a Poison Arrow. This will infect the enemy with a poison DoT that will tick damage slowly as the battle commences. Having Poison Arrow affecting a secondary target allows the poison to reach full fruition, completing its duration and dealing all of its damage. After the shot is fired, switch back to another target so that the poison damage can quietly destroy your enemy while you focus on other things.

If you find yourself surrounded, remember not to panic. Even at melee range, the hunter is still adept at inflicting damage with their bow. A great feat for this situation is Venom of the Serpent. This elder feat envelops the hunter in a large toxic cloud, infecting all enemies in the vicinity. Venom of the Serpent applies a DoT to each infected enemy that will do massive amounts of poison damage over time. The refresh timer on Venom of the Serpent is higher than other feats, so make sure to save it for these critical times.

The toxic hunter is adept at a variety of game play scenarios, and with the right tactics is useful in almost any situation. If skulking around, striking from the shadows, and taking out your foes with powerful toxins and venoms is your play style, then the toxic hunter could be for you! So what are you waiting for? Create a hunter and let the Seven Realms see what it means to not be seen. Customize the build to your play style and liking, and then share your build with others!