WoW Classic Best Hunter Weapons Guide
Weapons are very important for Hunters, specifically ranged weapons. Auto Shot will be the majority of your damage while leveling, and Aimed Shot and Multi-Shot both scale off your weapon damage. Weapon upgrades are the most important upgrades to get while leveling, meaning it is extremely important to know where your next weapon is coming from.
Hunter Weapon Skills
Hunters know how to use their starting range and melee weapons when created, but they can also learn how to use many other weapon types from Weapon Masters around the world.
Weapon Master location | Weapon Skills available |
---|---|
Darnassus (around 57,46) | Daggers, Fist Weapons, Staves, Bows |
Ironforge (around 62,89) | Guns, Axes, Fist Weapons, Daggers, Crossbows |
Stormwind (around 57,57) | Crossbows, Daggers, Swords, Polearms, Staves |
Orgrimmar (around 81,19) | Bows, Axes, Staves, Daggers, Fist Weapons |
Thunder Bluff (41,62) | Guns, Staves |
Undercity (57,32) | Crossbows, Daggers, Swords, Polearms |
While there are many possible weapons in the journey from 1-60, the list of the best and easiest upgrades to get will be below. If you are leveling a Hunter as an alt and have access to gold, consider looking at the Auction House to buy weapon upgrades as you level. There lots of great weapons that can be purchased relatively cheaply from 1-50, with the weapons getting slightly more expensive closer to 60.
Axes for WoW Classic Hunters
Axes, both one-handed and two-handed, are acceptable weapons for Hunters. Generally Hunters prefer 2H weapons for the higher single hit damage, but 1H weapons are acceptable if they provide better stats. Melee weapons really come down to what gives the best stats.
Swords for WoW Classic Hunters
Swords, both one-handed and two-handed, are acceptable weapons for Hunters. Generally Hunters prefer 2H weapons for the higher single hit damage, but 1H weapons are acceptable if they provide better stats. Melee weapons really come down to what gives the best stats.
Staves for WoW Classic Hunters
Staves are acceptable weapons for Hunters. Generally Hunters prefer 2H weapons for the higher single hit damage, so Staves are pefectly usable, if they have solid stats. Melee weapons really come down to what gives the best stats.
Polearms for WoW Classic Hunters
Polearms are acceptable weapons for Hunters. Generally Hunters prefer 2H weapons for the higher single hit damage, so Polearms are pefectly usable, if they have solid stats. Melee weapons really come down to what gives the best stats.
Daggers for WoW Classic Hunters
Daggers are less popular for Hunters, but are usable if they have strong stats.
Crossbows for WoW Classic Hunters
Hunters primarily use ranged weapons for damage, which means these are the weapons you should care most about. Generally you will want to use whatever ranged weapon has the highest DPS, but you should also heavily prioritize slower weapons. Crossbows really are not worth using until Level 60, mainly because there are no good low level crossbows.
Carapace Spine Crossbow specifically is the BiS pre raid Hunter ranged weapon.
Bows for WoW Classic Hunters
Hunters primarily use ranged weapons for damage, which means these are the weapons you should care most about. Generally you will want to use whatever ranged weapon has the highest DPS, but you should also heavily prioritize slower weapons. Bows are readily available at all stages of the game, and will be your most used weapon while leveling.
It is worth noting that Trolls get +5 bow skill as a racial, which means you should prefer bows as a Troll. Additionally, Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers is your BiS weapon for phases 1 and 2, which is a bow.
Guns for WoW Classic Hunters
Hunters primarily use ranged weapons for damage, which means these are the weapons you should care most about. Generally you will want to use whatever ranged weapon has the highest DPS, but you should also heavily prioritize slower weapons. Guns are not as common while leveling, but can be used. Dwarves get +5 gun skill, so it is worth looking twice at guns as a Dwarf.
Thrown Weapons for WoW Classic Hunters
Hunters can technically use thrown weapons, but you should never use them. They are worse in every way than ranged weapons.
Shields for WoW Classic Hunters
Hunters do not use shields.
Fist Weapons for WoW Classic Hunters
Hunters do not use fist weapons.
Leveling Weapons for hunters in WoW Classic
Since ranged weapons are the most important thing for Hunters, they are the only weapon upgrades that will be listed below.
Alliance Bows
- Hornwood Recurve Bow - 2.4 DPS, requires Level 3, sold by Bow Vendors.
- Ashwood Bow - 3.8 DPS, quest reward from "Crown of Earth" in Teldrassil.
- Laminated Recurve Bow - 5.8 DPS, requires Level 11, sold by Bow Vendors.
- Reinforced Bow - 7.5 DPS, requires Level 16, sold by Bow Vendors.
- Raptor's End - 12.1 DPS, quest reward in the Wetlands from "Ormer's Revenge."
- Sturdy Recurve - 13.0 DPS, requires Level 27, sold by Bow Vendors in Darnassus and Ironforge.
- Master Hunter's Bow - 19.4 DPS, quest reward in Stranglethorn Vale from the quest "Big Game Hunter."
- Massive Longbow - 22.0 DPS, requires Level 42, sold by Bow Vendors in Darnassus and Ironforge."
- Verdant Keeper's Aim - 28.2 DPS, quest reward from the Maraudon quest "Corruption of Earth and Seed."
Horde Bows
- Hornwood Recurve Bow - 2.4 DPS, requires Level 3, sold by Bow Vendors.
- Hickory Shortbow - 3.8 DPS, quest reward from "Securing the Lines" in Durotar.
- Laminated Recurve Bow - 5.8 DPS, requires Level 11, sold by Bowyer Vendors.
- Reinforced Bow - 7.5 DPS, requires Level 16, sold by Bowyer Vendors.
- Raptor's End - 12.1 DPS, quest reward in the Wetlands from "Ormer's Revenge."
- Sturdy Recurve - 13.0 DPS, requires Level 27, sold by Bow Vendors in Undercity and Thunderbluff.
- Master Hunter's Bow - 19.4 DPS, quest reward in Stranglethorn Vale from the quest "Big Game Hunter."
- Massive Longbow - 22.0 DPS, requires Level 42, sold by Bow Vendors in Undercity and Thunderbluff."
- Verdant Keeper's Aim - 28.2 DPS, quest reward from the Maraudon quest "Corruption of Earth and Seed."
For more leveling information, please refer to our leveling guide for Hunters.
End-Game Weapons for hunters in WoW Classic
Hunters have several end-game weapons at their disposal. Depending on what you are looking for, there are many different sources of weapon upgrades, but you will mostly find them inside dungeons and raids, with the occasional quest reward. The best of the weapons can be found listed below.
If you look at the BiS lists for Hunters, you will see that the list includes the rank 14 PvP weapons such as the High Warlord's Cleaver. These are extremely powerful weapons, can easily be BiS in both PvP and PvE content. However, they are without question the hardest items in the game to obtain, requiring months of dedicated play to be able to acquire them. Very few people will every be able to earn these weapons, so do not focus too much on them as they are out of reach for the vast majority of players. Luckily for Hunters though, the ranged PvP weapons are actually worse than the available raid ranged weapons due to having too fast of an attack speed. For the melee weapons however, some of the best alternatives are listed below.
- Peacemaker and Carapace Spine Crossbow are excellent pre-raid weapons, and luckily enough both of them drop from the undead side of Stratholme.
- Dire Maul has a few exceptional weapons as well, specifically the Barbarous Blade from King Gordok in Dire Maul North.
- Rhok'delar, Longbow of the Ancient Keepers will be your next major upgrade, which is from a Hunter quest that you get from the Ancient Petrified Leaf that drops from Majordomo in Molten Core. Every Hunter should absolutely try to get this, as it will be your best weapon until Blackwing Lair.
- The absolute best ranged weapon in the game, for both PvE and PvP, will be Ashjre'thul, Crossbow of Smiting from Chromaggus in Blackwing Lair. This is a fantastic weapon, and is one of the strongest weapons comparatively for any class in phase 3. Hunters with this crossbow and their full tier 2 set reach the highest power spike that they will ever experience in WoW Classic.
- Stat wise your best available melee setup will still use the Core Hound Tooth and Brutality Blade from Molten Core, but for occasional melee hits and for PvP, you will want to go for the Ashkandi, Greatsword of the Brotherhood. This is an extremely powerful weapon that will turn your melee hits from good to great.
You can check the complete list for each type of Hunter weapon at itemization.info, a website that can filter weapons and armor pieces by phase, class, slot, and basically any parameter that you would need.
For more end-game gearing information, please refer to our gearing guide for Hunters.
Changelog
- 24 Feb. 2020: Updated for Phase 3.
- 26 Sep. 2019: Added specific weapon sections.
- 23 Sep. 2019: Guide added.
This guide has been written by Impakt, an Officer in BDGG, the #2 North American guild on retail. In addition to live WoW, he has also been a classic theorycrafter and enthusiast for many years. You can watch him stream on Twitch, or follow him on Twitter.
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