If you want to get Musketeer Fletcher isn’t an option (actually it is, if you have the patience to weapon switch constantly, but that’s up to you…). As far as i know Wugushi is quite strong, it’s probably the best option (excluding all the ones you hate) if you want to get some raw power (works with any weapon by the way), however if you think you can hit rank 6/7 (and got the guts) you can pick something else that suits your goals/playstyle, you’re not forced to spend all points before any class change (still it’s quite painfull) and get all your fancy skils at C2/C3 after doing it.
A combo that I thought interesting, Growling + Circling + Multi Shot, the damage is not too high, but it seems satisfactory to me.
Another option is to not get hunter 3 and go to scout, lure the monster with flu-flu or auto atk’s and use cloaking + circling + flare shot + multishot to clear all mobs and when take musketeer do similar combo with Covering Shot and Penetration shot. What do you think?
Thank you for making this guide! I’ve been wanting to make a Hunter/Falconer with a focus on the pet, but it’s hard to find information on the finer details of the pet skills and AI.
Would you have any recommendations for skill choices as a Hunter C3? So far I’ve only put points into Rush Dog and Coursing, but I’m not so sure what else I should focus on. My plan is to go Archer C1/Ranger C1/Hunter C3/Falconer C1 (waiting to see how Falconer plays before deciding on my r8, but most likely either Falconer C2 or Ranger C2).
I’m following your advice and putting 1 point into Hounding for AI resetting, and I think I’m going to put 3 into Praise so I can have the lv5 buff when using Savage Bow, but I still have 11 points left if I max both Coursing and Rush Dog. If Growling is any good I figure I can probably just put 1 point into it to hold off mobs from attacking me if needed, but mostly I want to know what are your thoughts on Snatching, Pointing and Retrieve? Is Praise worth using or would it be better to spend those extra points on a different skill?
Sorry about the delay, now back to the subject (if you still need it), the only problem about keeping Hunter to the next rank is that you won’t get anything else than Growling, you’ll still face the same problems that you already have for quite some time and that can be really frustrating, i would recommend you to get Scout (or something else) first and then Hunter if you still wants it. If that’s fine Hunter C3 go ahead, you’ll have a great setup for any class ahead and even for party play (there’s no best build, just take what you want and/or fulfill your needs).
I still haven’t reached C3 (i’ll get there soon) so i can’t talk about Hounding, but so far my thought on all skills are like this (take that as my recommendations).
Coursing (1/5) - Almost useless due Anchoring (apparently it only happens if you have the attribute Companion: First Aid) and also can’t hit bosses, at PvP it might be quite decent even with those problems.
Snatching (4/5) - My personal favorite, you can get four times the skill damage against flying targets just for taking a couple of attributes, this skill is just insane and it’s only fair due its own limitations.
Praise (3/5) - Fairly good (could be better) but you can skip it at will since it’s not that powerfull, even with the level limitation you can get past it till with Savage Bow and Divine Might (for a lvl 8 Praise) but i don’t recommend you to count on those since you’ll get better gears.
Pointing (1/5) - Quite useless, you can’t rely on it and it’s just terrible at dungeons.
Rush Dog (3/5) - This should be the best skill at the whole class but it doesn’t use your character stats, still it’s the only reliable skill at all…
Retrieve (4/5) - It’s basically the same skill as Coursing but without the debuffs, due the skill mechanic it’s possible to bypass Anchoring. It’s a safe skill to level and also a good one to play with Hounding combo.
Hounding (3/5) - Great one but i don’t see any good reason to level it since it got only 5s CD.
Growling (3/5) - This skill is both great and awful, you can stop about 10 enemies with it but you won’t be able to use your Companion while active.
Those are my opinions and suggestions, i hope it can be usefull.
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@Hillgarm
No worries, take your time! Any input you have as a C2 is still good, haha.
Ah, I mixed up Coursing and Retrieve… although, if Retrieve cancels the Anchoring issue, does that mean I could still take advantage of the Coursing debuff and just cast Retrieve afterwards to free up my pet? That’s what it sounds like from your description, anyway. I’ll test it out myself later once I get around to levelling my new Hunter. Based on what I see here, though, I think I might stick with maxing Snatching/Retrieve/Rush Dog with 5 or so in Coursing.
Also RE: Praise & Savage Bow, what I was planning to do actually was keep the bow as my alternate weapon and switch to it for buffing. I do that already using a Ludas Staff on my Pyro for Lv6 Fire Enchant and it works pretty well, it only takes a second to use a buff and then switch to another weapon. That way I’d be able to use lv5 Praise without investing too many points into it.
Yes, still option you’ll have to waste one Retrieve cast to do it and it won’t work if the mark dies before that.
Back to Praise, that will work and you might even consider to get lvl 2 instead (you get full refresh at lvl 4 if your ping is low enough) but keep in mind that the level bypass if you have some spare points.
I’ll keep that in mind. Since I have a point in Coursing already anyway, I’ll let everyone know how that works out once I try it out.
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never try a hunter before but… from duel PoV, do this work like this?
coursing->cloak->snipe->enemy k.o?
just like that?
Got a quick question for you. I can’t remember where i’ve read this but suposedly that hounding could be used to cancel Coursing. I’ve noticed that in the skill description, Retrieve allows for such a maneuver (really good to know, thanks alot btw), but have we tested with Hounding?
Thanks for your suggestion/question, i just tested it and it doesn’t cancel Coursing, only Retrieve works like that since your Companion keeps moving towards you. I’ll test it later with Pointing just in case since it’s might reset the mark (i haven’t thought about that).
don’t know if someone already ask this… but can you use hunter skill while you are mounting your companion on Schwarzer Reiter class?
or do they allow 2 land companion for such?
I was thinking of this combination earlier, but I looked it up and apparently the answer is no, you can’t use pet skills while mounted.
Hi Brandon,
I realy do like PVP, and I did some tests.
My build now is A2>H2>Scout1
I’m lvl 158.
I usualy duel against friends that are 50 levels more then me.
And I can tell you, it’s just:
Coursing->Rush Dog->Coursing and they fall down.
Even the strongest . Sometimes I just put more one Rush Dog at the end (when they have a big amount of HP).
And they pass all the time disable…in a eternal CC.
Sorry for my english.
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so it really works just like my theorycraft then
thank you marcio
hi I am planning to do a2-h2-sc3 I am currently at a2-h1… I am thinking, since rush dog use your pet stat I am planning to upgrade my companion atk. will it still be viable to upgrade your companion or invest on rush dog attributes…which one should I prioritize. companion stat at skill attribute of rush dog.
Thanks
I am currently 178 A2>H2>F2, and I have grown to love it. I hated H1 at first until I learned to work around the pet’s bugs. Rush Dog + Multi Shot carried me to fletcher. I feel Rush Dog is starting to feel weak, and its getting too expensive to boost stats. I am considering lowering it to 1 to use just for a gap close.
Coursing is great and I’m starting to really appreciate the crit bonus it gives along with Swift Step.
Praise’s best feature for me is its attribute. With the movement speed bonus your pet rarely gets bugged from being too far behind.
Hounding has been the best way to get my pet to act right. It alone makes me not regret H2
Snatching is life. I use this thing anywhere I can. Its damage is ridiculous and your free to do anything while it ticks. Snatch+Broadhead+Magic Arrow=Talt Please. Also note that Raise + Snatch works surprisingly well for grounded mobs. Me and my psycho3 friend are looking to try this in a group PvP setting.
Retrieve is the reason I went Hunter. It looked so cool. I don’t use it I much as I thought but it does great damage as long as it doesn’t bug out.
I feel fletcher has worked really well with Hunter for me so far. Fletcher helps cover Hunters lack of AoE. Its not the best AoE, but the single target damage definitely makes up for it.
Dueling for me right now is pretty much Rush Dog › Coursing › Broadhead Arrow › Magic Arrow. Its Cryo/kino levels of dumb lol.
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I have one more question… I don’t have full draw so I can’t test it… but can full draw pinned the enemy to your companion?
It’s quite nice to see so many players into the class, at this rate this guide will get big enough to make the class attractive despise all problems.
I can’t give you a straight answer, i don’t know how much can you enhance your Companion stats (is there a limit or not?).
The big problem is that both have different ways to enhance your damage, if you train attack you’ll get flat damage to it (+1.5 / upgrade) just like STR, if you get the attribute you’ll gain multiplicative damage (at max level each attack upgrade gives +3 damage, i’m quite sure it works like that).
Attributes give more overall damage but it would be interesting to get some attack train to make them more valuable, another option is to invest in the cheapest one if you can’t afford it.
Thanks for the suggestion, i should have it tested in the next 24h along with the Coursing/Retrieve + Pointing and Savage Bow switch cast.
Even though Hunter is extremely underwhelming, I still like the main theme of the class and made an alt with Hunter C2 in it.
It’s really wierd that both Hunter and Schwarzer Reiter suggests that you upgrade your companion’s stats yet there’s zero synergy between the classes. Nevertheless, I’m still taking Schwarzer Reiter for Rank 6 and 7 since Retreat Shot has 40s cooldown so I only need to mount every 40s.
Kudos to this guide too. Hope Hunter will get IMC’s attention soon.
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I’m currently aiming towards A1-QS3-H2-Musk. Can’t wait to get that last level of QS and Hunter.
The idea was to mix the CC of both QS and Hunter to try and incapacitate a portion of an enemy team, allowing other teammates to roll in. Unfortunately I had not checked PD at the time of I thought of this build and realized I might not be as useful as I wished. Going to stick with it anyway as I don’t feel like re-grinding another character for now, plus I found another little synergy with those 2 classes.
I’ve realized that Retrieve could be used to drag people into the QS Caltrops. Max, it’s still 15x474dmg (just raw, not including anything here). While it’s not exactly reliable normally since people can just walk around, forcing them into the spread could yield interesting result.
I know most monster are knocked down when they encounter this skill but I do not know if it has the same effect on players. A thing to test when I finally get there is to see if the Caltrops knock-down does cancel Retrieve, as that could potentially scrap the whole idea.