This is the start of a new section on Aeigelus.com. I have been wanting to post something a little more useful here for a long time, and thought a couple guides would be best to start with. Hopefully soon it will grow into a full library of information useable by all classes. Now onto the content.
The purpose of this guide, is to give you my personal advice on how to play a Hunter in a raid/dungeon situation. Whether it be a 5 man, 10 man, 20 man, or 40 man, most of these rules will still ring true. Please note: this is my personal opinion. Most hunters have a different way of doing things.
General Knowledge
Hunters are widely known as one of the easiest, yet most fun class to play in a raid situation. There are a lot of people that say Hunter DPS is lacking in the current iteration of WoW (1.12 @ time of writing). However, I believe if you utilize your DPS correctly, you can top the damage meters easily.
Pulling
This is one of the biggest utilities a Hunter can offer a raid. You can pull mobs, then once the tanks gain aggro, Feign off any additional aggro you have. Or if you pull too many mobs, simply Feign Death, and re-pull. Just make sure your Feign Death is off cooldown when you re-pull 
My suggestion for pulling, is to use Rank 1 Arcane Shot. 1) It’s an instant shot. 2) It’s very low aggro, thus the tanks can get the mob off of you fairly quickly. 3) It’s cheap on mana.
DPS
Hunters DPS according to whats called a 10 second shot rotation. The basic premise for this model, is that you will have 4 auto shots, 1 Aimed Shot, and 1 Multi-Shot in a 10 second span. Thus, a 2.9 weapon speed is widely known as the best weapon speed. Below is a model of a typical shot rotation (although, the rotation can be altered, this is how it is usually seen)…
Aimed shot
Auto shot
Multi-shot
Auto shot
Auto shot
Auto shot
This 10 second shot rotation can be spammed for every situation, and you will usually crank out some hefty DPS. Some people like to throw a Serpent Sting into the mix, but usually, in a 40 man raid, your warlocks will want to punch you in the face for knocking their DOTs off the list. Also, Serpent Sting isn’t the most mana efficient shot to use. You will want to save your mana for Aimed & Multi shots. Truthfully, I differ my opinion on this quite often. In most 5 mans, the fights are so short, I can usually keep a Serpent Sting on the mob the entire fight, and never run out of mana.
Agility, Stamina, and Intellect are your best friends. I can’t count the amount of Hunters I come along, that say how much worse Dragonstalker’s gear is, compared to Giantstalker’s, just because it doesn’t have that much of an increase in Agility. Well, it has 44 more Intellect on it than Giantstalker’s. This means you will be able to stay up DPSing a good while longer, while those stuck in Giantstalker’s will be sitting down taking a drink. Pre-beta, Agility equals out to 2 AP per 1 Agility. Also, 54 Agility = 1% crit. These numbers are going to change in The Burning Crusade, but they will be equalling it out, by significantly upping the DPS of our weapons, and making a lot of the gear have a lot more + Attack power.
Notice, that I haven’t really commented on the Cryptstalker’s gear? Well, at the moment, I only have 2/9, and can’t really comment too much on the usability of this gear. However, if you are in Cryptstalker, you won’t be reading this guide.
Talent Specs
On the subject of DPS, here are some widely used Talent specs that I have found/tried in my time raiding as a Hunter.
Marksmanship - This is by far, the best raiding spec in the game. In my opinion, there is no way to make up for the 5% Ranged Weapon Specialization & Trueshot Aura. Plus, Quick Shots (Improved Aspect of the Hawk) is one of the best talents available, and its a Tier 1 talent. It’s a point of argument in much of the community, but this spec has helped me top the damage meters a lot of times.
Marks/Survival - This is a great spec if you are 50/50 PvP & PvE. I haven’t tried it truthfully, but I know a lot of people in the Hunter community have. Psioteese (comments on this blog often) can probably comment more on this spec.
Full Beast Mastery - This is great for leveling 1-60, however, I wouldn’t suggest it for raiding. You won’t be cranking out too much DPS, and plus, you don’t want people laughing at your big red pet dying.
Aggro Management
Feign Death. I consider this to be the most unique ability in the game. Hunters DPS lives by Feign Death. If we didn’t have Feign Death, we would have to constantly watch out threat, thus significantly dropping our DPS. However, since we can feign death, we will let the DPS fly. You still need to watch your threat though, because pulling aggro, then Feigning Death will most likely result in you paying a couple squishys repair bills. A lot of Hunters go by the simple rule of “Feign Death when its up”. I usually follow this only when I am new to a fight. Then I will work myself up to only Feigning once every 2 or 3 times it is up. Just be careful, and you will be ok.
Crowd Control
Crowd Control is really only viable in 5, 10, and 20 man instances. Most of the 40 man dungeons are immune to Freezing and Frost traps, except a few rare occasions.
In 5 mans, your Freezing and Frost traps shine. This is where you will find the most use out of your traps. Usually, a freezing trap will suffice to control 1 mob. Just be sure to watch your timers (if you use Sorrens), and Feign + Retrap when it comes up.
One strategy for traps I only recently discovered, was laying down a Frost Trap, and having the tank pull through the trap, and fearing off some of the mobs. Since the are slowed, you can easily manage the fear. However, this can have some downsides, so be sure to only test this with an experienced group.
Pets and Raids
This is one of the most controversial of topics for Hunters. Should I use my pet in a raid? Should my pet get heals? Did my pet pull those mobs? Where the fuck is my pet going!?
Yes, all of these are questions/comments we have all probably heard.
In most 5 mans, 10 mans, and 20 mans, you are free to use your pet however you like. However, in some of the more healing intensive fights, you should not expect your pet to get heals. Especially when you are stupid enough to have your pet out, on a boss that cleaves/AoE’s.
In most of Molten Core, you shouldn’t have your pet out. Most of these bosses have some sort of AoE, Cleave, Curse, Bomb (never never never have your pet out for Baron Geddon, unless you are pet pulling), etc. You won’t get enough DPS or use out of your pet, when you are rezzing him every 2 minutes. In Blackwing Lair, there is a little more use for a pet, but I usually keep him in the stable. In AQ40 and Naxxramas, you will be able to use your pet a good amount more, but use caution.
Links
Below are some great links to some resources I have used over the year and a half I have played Aeigelus.
Petopia - You want a pet? They have info about it…
TKA Something - THE Hunter site on the web.
Direhorn’s Hunters Hut - A site I found recently. Doesn’t update a ton, but good info when he does.
WoW.com Hunter Talent Calculator - Don’t just listen to me. Test out talent specs for yourself.
Hunter Loot List - For the loot whores among us. Who am I kidding, we are all loot whores.
What Guide is Next?
I’m not sure. I have a couple in mind. Maybe I will post something in the Vote section of the site, asking for a vote on which I should write next.
In Closing…
This is about all I could think of in the 30 minutes or so I took to write this. I know I have left a lot out, but I might update it soon with more content. Hopefully, it will be so popular, it demands an update or two, but who knows. I know I will definitely update it once The Burning Crusade comes out. Leave a comment if you liked it, let me know of any mistakes I have made, and definitely tell me how much you hate me for writing this