The best hunter race?

[nedthomas]

I am deciding between dwarf and night elf, sorry horde.

So i have been looking around the interwebs for similar posts like this, and i did find one that said night elves were overall better for pvp than dwarves. My question is, what class is actually better? I mean, dwarves have less agility than night elves, but more stamina and a gun specialization. Dwarves have stoneform which messes rogues up (apparently there are a lot of undead rogues eh?) and night elves have shadowmeld, which ive heard about with feign death into shadowmeld, which i dont really understand because what difference does it make if you shadowmeld or not after feign death? A lot of people say night elves are better but i struggle to see how.

So which race is better?

Dwarf
Stoneform: While active, grants immunity to Bleed, Poison, and Disease effects. In addition, Armor increased by 10%. Lasts 8 sec. 3 min cooldown.
Gun Specialization: Guns skill increased by 5.
Frost Resistance: Frost Resistance increased by 10.
Find Treasure: Allows the dwarf to sense nearby treasure, making it appear on the minimap.


Night elf
Shadowmeld: Activate to slip into the shadows, reducing the chance for enemies to detect your presence. Lasts until cancelled or upon moving. Night Elf Rogues and Druids with Shadowmeld are more difficult to detect while stealthed or prowling.
Quickness: Dodge chance increased by 1%.
Wisp Spirit: Transform into a wisp upon death, increasing speed by 50%.
Nature Resistance: Nature Resistance increased by 10.

[Fey]

Night elf! The advantages of stealth are many, and when you couple stealth with a versatile class like a hunter which already benefits from powerful ranged attacks, great CC, and pet support, among other things, you can very quickly one-up someone who cannot see you coming. Which is a lot of people if you use your meld right. Also, with Feign Death, your Shadowmeld can be used in combat!

I offered some tips on my Hunter Macros & Tips thread for night elf hunters. Here's the section:

- Keep your pet dismissed. One less thing on another hunter's tracker, less aggro range, and you're able to Shadowmeld right away, without having your pet give you away.
- Be quick, and use the environment. Places like Stonetalon or STVietnam, with lots of trees and bushes, are better places for you than wide-open areas like Desolace or the Shimmering Flats if you get into a scuffle... not taking the likelihood of a scuffle in Desolace versus the likelihood of a scuffle in STVietnam into account, of course. Dart between the trees and bushes, use them to lose an enemy you cannot fight, or use them to set up a kill on a foe you can face from a confusing or inconvenient (for your enemy) vantage point.
- Keep an eye on your tracker, and your environment. Remember that shifted druids or shamans will not show up on your humanoid tracker, but will on your beast, and you can change your tracker while Shadowmelded, so if you see someone coming, meld someplace until you can determine whether you want to kill or avoid.
- Know when to get into a fight and when to leave one alone. It can be hard to tell sometimes, but unless you're strapped for time (like trying to CC two Hordies gaining on an Alli at like 10% health), use your stealth to your advantage. Keep an eye on the enemy, see if they have any friends snooping around who might help them, and only attack if you're confident you can win, or if you don't have another choice.
- If some idiot tries to facecheck for you, or run up to check if you're there by sight instead of AoEing from a distance to call you out, pelt them with a freezing trap and let them watch as their desired HK prances away. Don't forget to Concussive Shot them when you're at max range, though, just for a little extra CC for after the trap breaks.
- Keep distance in mind. You don't need to run far away, just fool your enemy with the environment. Some shammy tried to gank me while I was killing Sin'dall a while ago in STV, and he did a good job keeping up, but after trapping him (thank you, RNG, for no resist) several times and fleeing several times, I eventually lost him just around the corner of a tree by feigning death to get out of combat and Shadowmeld early.

And here's a link to the thread if you want to view it:
viewtopic.php?f=38&t=21017

So as you can see, the advantages of stealth are many, allowing you to do everything from avoid a fight to set up an easy kill. I in particular started seeing the benefits en masse while questing in Stonetalon, because there were like 10 Horde for every 1 Alliance and I frequently spotted Horde on my tracker, Shadowmelded in a bush or someplace inconspicuous, and went on my merry way shortly after they passed right by my location. Likewise, on the instances I spotted Horde I knew were hostile on their own, I could Aimed Shot right out of Shadowmeld (after reapplying Hawk and summoning pet from behind a tree or something) and have an advantage right away. I got a good 50 HKs one day in Stonetalon... while questing! And hey, if world PvP isn't your thing, you can always simply avoid the fights with Shadowmeld.

Keep in mind that dwarves have a different advantage in combat, due to their Stoneform ability allowing you to very easily get rogues off of you, among other things, but it's very limited and doesn't compare, I believe, to the advantages of stealth. And, with creative uses of FD + Shadowmeld, you may be able to gain an even greater advantage. Just in a different way. Stealth is my preferred strategy, but do what works for you. Whatever you choose, practice makes perfect, so know your class well and good luck hunting!!

[Kazarak]

I hadn't even considered those possibilities with Night Elves! Interesting...

I'm only 26 on my [Dwarf] Hunter right now, but I still doubt I'll actually reroll just for Stealth. I have a rogue alt for that! But coming out of Stealth guns blazing does sound fun; for me at least...

Slightly off topic: Can I FD and then immediately throw out a trap in the middle of a fight - PvP or PvE?

[Fey]

Yes, you can, but be quick about it, because your pet can put you back in combat. There are macros for FD / trap on the macros / tips thread I linked.

[Kazarak]

Oh yeah! I'm been meaning to reply to that thread. It's a great one! Thanks!

[riq and snog]

Traps can only be used ooc. Fd gets you ooc, so yes!
while stealth is a great gadget to have and fool arround i still like the looks of armor on dwarf better + the animation... and the jokes man... and the beer!
sadly the gun spec gives you only a little extra hit less then 05% and you are capped at 8% anyway...
range shots can not be glancing.
But as stated your a rogue killer! and thers alota rogues here! Stoneform will make them cry! Especially when they want to reset a fight with blind!
frost res comes in handy for naxx:-)
Ultimativeley the race is your choice!

[Kazarak]

I must admit, I am a big fan of dead rogues. The thought of rogue players crying into their keyboards while contemplating where they've gone wrong with their lives warms the sub-cockles of my heart...

[Xylon666Darkstar]

Best race is DAKKA RACE.
SMORC.

[Kazarak]

One case. One kill.

[Seanimoose]

FD meld and then watch your BM pet solo casters for the lulz can't be beat!