Leveling a Hunter in World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade is often considered one of the smoothest and most efficient experiences in the game. With powerful pets, serious ranged damage, and very little downtime, the Hunter class excels in both solo and group play. This comprehensive guide covers everything you need to reach level 70 efficiently, including talent builds, rotations, macros, pets, gear, and the leveling routes that maximize your time.

Choosing Your Talent Specialization

At level 10, Hunters choose between three paths: Beast Mastery (BM), Marksmanship, and Survival. While all three have strengths, not all are ideal for efficient solo leveling.

Beast Mastery: The Optimal Leveling Path

Beast Mastery is the most consistent and no-downtime specialization for leveling. Its core benefits include:

· Your pet becomes your main tank with strong threat generation.

· You can continue eating or drinking while your pet finishes off mobs.

· Early access to movement speed bonuses through Improved Aspect of the Hawk.

· Strong damage scaling that gets even better upon reaching Outland.

You can begin using a BM leveling build early, pick a hybrid version to increase self-damage in the 30s, and eventually swap to the full Outland BM build once you hit Hellfire Peninsula. This late-game BM tree is also the highest DPS option at level 70.

Marksmanship: High Damage, Low Control

Marksmanship offers powerful personal damage but has significant downsides for solo play:

· Your pet struggles to keep a threat.

· You frequently pull aggro.

· You experience more downtime due to mana usage and damage taken.

However, MM shines in dungeon groups—especially when you have a tank who can reliably hold threat—and it becomes an excellent farming spec when fighting tightly packed trash mobs.

Survival: Not Recommended for Leveling

Survival provides:

· Increased survivability,

· Additional crowd control, and

· Bonus health and stamina.

However, it lacks meaningful damage boosts for either you or your pet. While it can be strong in PvP at level 70, it slows down leveling dramatically and is rarely recommended for 1–70 progression.

Rotations and Pulling Techniques

Efficient pulling and rotation management define your leveling speed.

Pre-Level 10 Rotation

Before you get your pet:

1. Hunter’s Mark

2. Auto Shot

3. Arcane Shot on cooldown

4. Kite as needed using Concussive Shot

Avoid opening with Concussive Shot as it can cause you to lose multiple auto shots at the beginning of combat.

Rotation After Level 10 (With Pet)

Once your pet arrives:

1. Cast Hunter’s Mark

2. Send your pet to attack

3. Wait until your pet generates a threat

4. Begin with Arcane Shot or Serpent Sting

5. Maintain steady auto-shots, introducing Multi-Shot at level 18

Do not burst instantly after sending your pet—an early burst guarantees you will pull aggro.

Level 18+: Cleaving Multiple Targets

Once you unlock Multi-Shot and traps:

· Use Immolation Trap on secondary targets

· Apply Serpent Sting to multiple mobs

· Kite with Concussive Shot and Wing Clip

· Let your pet secure one target while you burn down the other

This lets you kill two mobs at once with minimal extra time.

Level 62+: Incorporating Steady Shot

Steady Shot becomes core to your rotation:

· Fast ranged weapons = Auto → Steady → Auto → repeat

· Slow ranged weapons = Auto → Steady → another ability (Arcane/Multi if appropriate)

Level 66+: Kill Command

Kill Command activates after a critical strike. Instead of watching for the proc manually, most players use a macro that automatically triggers it between shots.

Essential Hunter Macros

A few macros dramatically improve leveling speed.

Kill Command Macro

Spammable, including in steady-shot rotation.

One-Button Pet Macro

A single button that:

· Calls your pet if it’s missing

· Casts Mend Pet if the pet is alive

· Automatically becomes Revive Pet if the pet is dead

Mouseover Macros

Mouseover stings, slows, and traps allow you to:

· Maintain focus on your main target

· Control additional enemies without switching targets

· Apply CC, stings, and slows efficiently

These are invaluable once you begin handling multiple mobs.

Gear Priorities While Leveling

Stat priorities for Hunters in TBC are straightforward.

Primary Stat: Agility

Agility gives:

· Attack power

· Critical strike chance

· Armor

It is significantly stronger than Strength for Hunters.

Useful Secondary Stat: Spirit

Spirit improves mana regeneration. While not a long-term stat, it is excellent early on.

Items labeled “of the Wolf” provide Agility and Spirit—very efficient in early leveling. There are also many unnamed items with similar stat combinations.

Weapon Upgrades Matter Most

A new ranged weapon has more impact than any armor upgrade. Always prioritize:

1. Ranged Weapon

2. Melee Weapon

3. Agility gear upgrades

Avoid crossbows early on, as they have fewer upgrade paths at low levels.

Essential Tips and Tricks

Double Freezing Trap CC

Even though you can only have one active trap at a time, you can:

1. Place a trap

2. Let an enemy trigger it

3. Immediately place a second trap

This allows you to CC two enemies simultaneously.

Splitting Mob Groups with Volley

If you tag all enemies at once with Volley, they lose their link. Then you can:

· Damage only the target you want

· Drag that target away

· Allow the others to leash and evade

Perfect for clearing tightly packed quest areas.

Auto-Shot Movement With Weapon Swing Timer

The add-on shows:

· When auto-shots will fire

· When moving will prevent auto-shots from going off

This add-on is invaluable for early-game kiting and maximizing DPS while moving.

Pets: What to Tame While Leveling

Do not stick with one pet the entire journey. Pets learn new ranks of abilities only by taming beasts with those abilities.

Key pets to tame:

Ravagers (Top DPS)

Introduced in TBC, ravagers outperform cats and tigers.

· Early ravager: Azuremyst Isle

· Level 63 Ravager: Unlocks Gore Rank 9, the highest rank

Spider (Level 63)

Taming a spider provides Bite Rank 9, which you can then teach to your ravager.

Owls

Owls retain value due to:

· Decent DPS

· Dive, useful for fast pulls and grouping mobs

Visit the stable master regularly, store your main pet, tame a new beast, learn abilities, and return to your primary leveling pet.

The 1–70 Leveling Guide / Add-On

The leveling route recommended in this guide uses a widely respected 1–70 add-on that features:

· Arrows and visual navigation tools

· Step-by-step numbered instructions

· Compatibility with all classes and races

· A dungeon-leveling mode

· A free trial version and a full version up to 70

You can select your current level at any time—no need to start at level 1.

Final Thoughts

Leveling a Hunter in The Burning Crusade is efficient, engaging, and incredibly effective whether you follow the Beast Mastery path or experiment with alternative builds. With strong pets, excellent kiting tools, and an intuitive rotation, Hunters remain one of the fastest classes to level in Classic TBC.

By following the builds, macros, pet recommendations, and rotations in this guide, you will reach level 70 quickly and be well-prepared for dungeons, heroics, and endgame raiding.

ELD.gg enhances the overall gameplay experience by delivering dependable services, including WoW TBC Classic Anniversary gold, ensuring players overcome every challenge with ease.