is hunter dps viable in 60 raid?

[Serpentsun]

that's pretty much the question, how competitive are hunters vs other dps classes and more specially vs other range dps classes such as mage-lock.
tyvm for your time in advance

[Crysthal]

Well you will need a few hunters in a 40 man raid but their dmg is lower than a mage. Hunter is for utility but there are endless amounts of hunters out there leveling.

My tip: ignore those things and play what you enjoy

[BoxerBriefly]

Yes, they are viable. With AQ gear and beyond, they are very strong, and don't worry about how your class performs against others, worry about being the best hunter in your guild, that's what your officers will be looking at, when it's time to pass loot.

[arf]

Definitely.

Tranq Shot, Trueshot Aura, Wolf howl buff all help other classes.
If you get the right gear and your rotation spot on then you can do decent damage, not like a rogue or mage, but still up there.

[spl4sh]

Hunters are fine but not competitive for the most part. By Naxx, expect to be bottom of the DPS charts alongside Warlocks and any weird specs.

[zeequenz]

Hunters are fine but not competitive for the most part. By Naxx, expect to be bottom of the DPS charts alongside Warlocks and any weird specs.

Warlock bottom DPS? Are we talking about the same game?

[spl4sh]

Hunters are fine but not competitive for the most part. By Naxx, expect to be bottom of the DPS charts alongside Warlocks and any weird specs.

Warlock bottom DPS? Are we talking about the same game?

By Mid-Naxx. Most guilds didn't bring more than 2-4 Warlock, yes.

Top 3 DPS EVERY fight: Warriors, Mages, Rogues.

[Issir]

Hunter's DPS is a joke compared to major DPS classes (mages, rogues, fury warriors). It's a fact. For example, blue-geared mage + some epics with proper consumables (elixirs, supreme flask and tribute buffs) will do at least 400.000 - 500.000 damage more than a hunter in full t2 + crossbow + all buffs (talking about myself). Yep, sometimes this is very frustrating.

A good major class damage dealer does at least 1.4 million total damage per full Molten Core run, and 1.9 - 2 million total damage per BWL run. Hunter's ceiling value is around ~1.2 million damage per Molten Core run and ~1.5 million damage per BWL run, including pet damage. This sucks I must say.

There are many reasons to this:
-A very low AoE damage (Volley 1 min cd, 86 damage per tick, jk. Compare this shit to Blizzard, mkay)
-Only 3 spells in direct rotation (Auto Shot, Multi-Shot, Aimed Shot with a low non-critical damage), as result you have middle direct damage compared to major dps classes.
-Bad critical strike chance scaling from agility. (56 agility = 1% crit, lolwut)
-Pet's can't do damage vs most bosses.
-Bugged Lupos. Yes yes, this is a very annoying bug, with all bonuses this a very deadly damage booster for hunters.

Still, your raid must have at least 2 hunters for Tranq Shot.

[kanem]

Hunters are fine until naxx. When naxx comes the top guild will most likely not take more than 3. Some of them may even have raider log in alt hunters just for gluth and then log off. The only person they might beat in the raid is the token shadow priest and tanks, as long as everyone else is playing correctly.

[Drain]

It doesn't matter how much you add up. People are going to bring every class. At least you're ranged. Being melee on most fights is a real hassle.