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Like Druids and Shamans, Hunters are a hybrid class. As such, it is very difficult for them to choose gear at times. Unlike Rogues and Mages, they can focus exclusively on 2 of the 5 primary stats but Hunters have at least some need of almost all of them. Here we'll briefly discuss how each stat affects you and what you should look for in items.
Strength is your least useful stat. You ensure that an item provides little other than strength, which is a bad Hunter item. For each point of strength, you gain 1 melee attack power and nothing else.
Agility is your most useful stat. Items with high agility are the staple of your equipment. Each point of agility gives you 1 melee AP, 2 ranged AP, 2 armors and a marginal amount of crit and dodge. If you have the Survival talent, Lightning Reflexes, each point of agility counts as 1.15 points.
Stamina is a basic stat useful to every class. More stamina equals more HP. You don't sacrifice too much agility for stamina but make sure that you have enough to survive the inevitable melee encounters you'll face. Each point of stamina gives you 10 HP.
Intellect: you're a caster! Like it or not, almost all your abilities use mana. Each point of intellect gives you 15 Mana and nothing else. In the past, we thought that Intellect affected the critical strike chance of certain Hunter abilities, but this has been disproved.
Spirit raises your mana and health regeneration rate. Unless you're a troll, spirit won't help you regenerate health when you're in combat. Take it if you can get it, but don't go out of your way to gain spirit.
Crits: Increasing your chance to crit by 1% requires about 53 Agility. As such, items are very valuable to you, increasing your chance to crit. Strike a good balance between attack power and % chance to crit. More attack power means bigger crits, which help you kill things quickly.
Now that you know how the most common stats benefit you, you can start selecting gear for various purposes.
In PvP, you'll take a beating no matter what you do. Your gear should provide a lot of Stamina, followed by Agility and then focus effects like +Crit, +Parry, and +Dodge. Extra mana helps you sustain battles longer, so go for +22 Intellect enchants on your weapons if you can afford them. A 'glass cannon' does not fare well in most PvP.
In solo PvE, you should focus on a balance of Agility and Stamina as normal. Marksmen, and especially Survivalists with Lightning Reflexes, should focus heavily on agility to boost their damage output. Beastmasters rely on their pets very heavily. As such, they will need more mana than other Hunters to sustain their pets with Mend Pet. A little spirit to help you regenerate mana between fights is also helpful. As a general rule, the more damage you can deal without expending mana, the faster you can grind.
In raid PvE, you probably have enough mana to use your damage abilities and utility skills and enough health to survive errant damage effects, but focus on raising your AP and then your critical hit rate. Dealing as much damage as humanly possible is your goal while not taking aggro or getting damages. If you're doing this right, you won't need as much health as you do when PvPing against people who see Hunters as an easy mark. If you're a Beastmaster, chances are you'll need to spend a lot of time and mana keeping your pet healed against deadly AoE effects. As such, Beastmastery is not the most efficient raiding build.
