So i got myself a little hunter going right now and while gathering intel ive noticed one thing in particular, and that is everyone is split 50/50 on wether to go bow or not.. i got half people saying to go pure Melee(50 in either Sword or Spear), other half saying go with 50 Bow . I just wanted to know , Which is better and for what reasons.. im sure both has its up and downs, and situations where one is better than the other but im just trying to find closure on what is the best spec for My situation. (which im not sure yet, havent played hunter enough) Also for melee weapons is sword better than Spear, and for what reasons. I just wish to put this out there to help me and other hunters get the right spec, and the right knowledge about the hunter for their situation, or playstyle of the hunter. Also is Beastcraft Really useless ?

To put it in a Nutshell... search the forum.... there a some good threads about hunters.

Don't want to say 'that was answered a dozen times.... just search.' The Problem is, there's isn't that one clear answer you're searching for. They only good clear answer i can give you: if you want to xp in groups, stay full Melee

The rest is a more or less endless discussion.
Some Say: Full Melee, cause Bow suxx-a-lot. Other say: Go Bow, if want melee, they why roll a archer? (except a ranger ) Next say: Go Bow Composite 51 (skill + rr + item = 51) everything beyond is a waste of points.

For Spear vs Sword. Same endless Story. As far as i remember, there was an extra thread just about hunters spear/sword.
Just a few hints for that: If you are Kobold or Valkyn go Spear. If You're Norseman, than Sword may be an option for you. Why? Sword-Damage is based 100% on Str. And you wont have that much Str with Valkyn/Kobold. Spear is half Str and half dex -> better dmg with high dex race.


Why should Beastcraft be useless? Provide you some (two, to be exactly) good selfbuffs. We all know Pet is crap for Stealth wars... at least you can rupt casters, if you're rootet and don't remember hunters can use bows

If you're not going to use the bow, why play an archer class?

35bow, 40bc, rest spear - best spec for sure! U'll have great bowdamage and backside stun from spear.

hunter can be ok in a pure melee spec. the true spirit of the class is bow, though. there is not much a melee hunter can do that a shadowblade cant do better. if you want a stealth melee your better choice is shadowblade for sure. a hunter really shines his true powers with some epic bow kite kills.