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As a Hunter, do you know how to pick your shots carefully? This is a tricky question for the newbie as a Hunter. So we avail ourselves of this opportunity to touch upon this in depth.
Knowing what shots to use and when to use them are other big parts of being a skilled Hunter. Let's take Multi-Shot as example. Knowing when and when not to use Multi-Shot is tricky, but important. Multi-Shot is the single most feared shot in the Hunter repertoire and has the most notorious reputation among non-hunters we group with. I can't tell you how many non-Hunters and Hunters alike have told woeful and frustrating tales of groups wiped by the indiscriminate use of Multi-Shot. The best potential use of Multi-Shot is as supplemental AoE, when your main goal is to deal damage as many mobs in a short span of time as possible. Like all forms of AoE, Multi-Shot should be used carefully and judiciously. It's all too easy to disrupt various forms of crowd control with the use of Multi-Shot and could potentially cause a party wipe.
However, there are a few other things worth mentioning. Before opening fire on a target, make sure your tank has had a chance to establish aggro. This is especially important for lower-level groups, because your tank doesn't have the gear and/or abilities yet those higher level tanks have to help them make sure they keep aggro. As a class that is notorious for putting out a high amount of DPS, Hunters also have to be cognizant of the fact that, as a result of our high DPS output, we also generate a fair amount of mob hate. Ask your tank before beginning an encounter how long he or she would like you to wait before beginning DPS, because they'll know better than anyone how quickly they can generate sufficient threat to keep mobs out of your face. There are countless benefits to letting your tank establish aggro before beginning DPS. It keeps the mob out of your face, making less work for your healer; it keeps your tank happy because they don't have to chase mobs all over the place trying to reestablish threat from you; and it leaves you free to maximize your DPS output overall because you're not worried about having to engage in melee combat or lead mobs back and forth to your tank. It's win-win across the board.
Additionally, you should make sure that you're targeting the correct mob before you open fire. Lots of nasty things can result from shooting the wrong target. For example, if you're shooting a target your tank hasn't established any threat from yet, that will bring the mob straight after you. If you shoot a mob that's about to be crowd controlled you'll keep a mob active that would otherwise be subdued. If you accidentally target a mob in a nearby group, that wasn't actually a part of the group that was initially pulled, you're bringing a whole extra pack of mobs down on your party's heads.
These are just a few things that could potentially go wrong if you're targeting the wrong mob. A good rule of thumb for ensuring you're targeting the proper mob is to select your tank from your party list and clicking the Assist hotkey. This will automatically target for you whatever your tank has targeted. Keep in mind, though, that this method isn't entirely fool proof as your tank may switch targets at the last minute, so it's important to pay close attention to what your tank is doing. A good indication as to whether or not you've got the correct mob targeted after using Assist is to watch for debuffs on the target. Generally as your tank begins to establish aggro, he or she will employ various abilities such as Sunder Armor or Taunt that will appear under the mob's health bars as debuffs. These are always a good indication that you've got the right mob targeted, and can fire away. In the absence of these debuffs, retarget your tank and assist again to acquire their most recent target.
Knowing what shots to use and when to use them are other big parts of being a skilled Hunter. Let's take Multi-Shot as example. Knowing when and when not to use Multi-Shot is tricky, but important. Multi-Shot is the single most feared shot in the Hunter repertoire and has the most notorious reputation among non-hunters we group with. I can't tell you how many non-Hunters and Hunters alike have told woeful and frustrating tales of groups wiped by the indiscriminate use of Multi-Shot. The best potential use of Multi-Shot is as supplemental AoE, when your main goal is to deal damage as many mobs in a short span of time as possible. Like all forms of AoE, Multi-Shot should be used carefully and judiciously. It's all too easy to disrupt various forms of crowd control with the use of Multi-Shot and could potentially cause a party wipe.
However, there are a few other things worth mentioning. Before opening fire on a target, make sure your tank has had a chance to establish aggro. This is especially important for lower-level groups, because your tank doesn't have the gear and/or abilities yet those higher level tanks have to help them make sure they keep aggro. As a class that is notorious for putting out a high amount of DPS, Hunters also have to be cognizant of the fact that, as a result of our high DPS output, we also generate a fair amount of mob hate. Ask your tank before beginning an encounter how long he or she would like you to wait before beginning DPS, because they'll know better than anyone how quickly they can generate sufficient threat to keep mobs out of your face. There are countless benefits to letting your tank establish aggro before beginning DPS. It keeps the mob out of your face, making less work for your healer; it keeps your tank happy because they don't have to chase mobs all over the place trying to reestablish threat from you; and it leaves you free to maximize your DPS output overall because you're not worried about having to engage in melee combat or lead mobs back and forth to your tank. It's win-win across the board.
Additionally, you should make sure that you're targeting the correct mob before you open fire. Lots of nasty things can result from shooting the wrong target. For example, if you're shooting a target your tank hasn't established any threat from yet, that will bring the mob straight after you. If you shoot a mob that's about to be crowd controlled you'll keep a mob active that would otherwise be subdued. If you accidentally target a mob in a nearby group, that wasn't actually a part of the group that was initially pulled, you're bringing a whole extra pack of mobs down on your party's heads.
These are just a few things that could potentially go wrong if you're targeting the wrong mob. A good rule of thumb for ensuring you're targeting the proper mob is to select your tank from your party list and clicking the Assist hotkey. This will automatically target for you whatever your tank has targeted. Keep in mind, though, that this method isn't entirely fool proof as your tank may switch targets at the last minute, so it's important to pay close attention to what your tank is doing. A good indication as to whether or not you've got the correct mob targeted after using Assist is to watch for debuffs on the target. Generally as your tank begins to establish aggro, he or she will employ various abilities such as Sunder Armor or Taunt that will appear under the mob's health bars as debuffs. These are always a good indication that you've got the right mob targeted, and can fire away. In the absence of these debuffs, retarget your tank and assist again to acquire their most recent target.
