WoW Classic Hunter Leveling Guide

Leveling a Hunter in WoW Classic Anniversary or WoW Classic Era from level 1 to 60 can be a great experience. Hunter is a very efficient, easy, and fast class to level in Vanilla. Learn all about talents and weapons in our WoW Classic Hunter Leveling Guide.

📂 WoW Classic > Hunter

📅 Last updated on February 26, 2025.

Table of Contents

WoW Classic Hunter Leveling Talents

Use the following talents to level your Hunter:

This is the order in which you should invest your talent points while leveling:

Invest the 32 points into Beast Mastery first, before you invest any points into Marksmanship.
At character level 19 you have multiple talents to choose from. If you are questing solo you should level Pathfinding followed by Bestial Swiftness before you invest any points into Unleashed Fury. If you play with a friend, who plays a class without movement speed increases, you might want to delay Pathfinding. Take Bestial Swiftness first, if you grind mobs to level up.
Intimidation is the next key talent. Take it as soon as it becomes available.
Invest 1 point in Improved Mend Pet and Spirit Bond as soon as possible. They are nice quality-of-life improvements while questing and grinding, especially if you’re solo.

Best Leveling Pet for Hunters in WoW Classic

The following pets are the best leveling companions for a Hunter from 1 to 60 in WoW Classic:

Boars are nice early-level pets for their Charge ability. With your pet being faster at your target you can start attacking sooner. Boars do less damage, but in the early stage of your leveling journey, it’s worth the tradeoff.
For easier grinding and questing a screech pet is a great choice. Screech pets are owls and vultures. They are a great addition with Screech and Growl on auto-cast.
For dungeons and World PvP cats are the preferred pets. With level 32 you get access to Dash. At this point, a cat becomes the best pet for general leveling.

You can have up to 3 pets in WoW Classic. You can swap pets at a stable master. Remember to always keep your pet happy. The default UI of WoW Classic indicates the happiness of your pet with the colors red, yellow, and green. Feed your pet, if it is not green.

How to Get the Pet Ability “Growl” in WoW Classic?

You can learn the pet ability Growl from a Pet Trainer. You can find Pet Trainers close to your Hunter Trainers. You can teach Growl to every pet family in the game.

You will get a new rank with level 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60.

How to Get the Pet Ability “Dash” in WoW Classic?

To learn Dash your character level needs to be 32 or higher. Go to Stranglethorn Vale and tame a Kurzen War Tiger or Stranglethorn Tiger in the north of Stranglethorn Vale.

To learn rank 2 of Dash you need to be level 40 or higher. You can learn rank 2 by taming Longtooth Runner in Feralas or Ridge Stalker Patriarch in Badlands.

The highest available rank of Dash is rank 3. You can learn this rank with level 50 from Vilebranch Raiding Wolf in The Hinterlands or with level 53 from Blackrock Worg in Burning Steppes.

WoW Classic Hunter Weapon Progression

You can find all ranged weapon upgrades for Hunters in WoW Classic in the following list. The weapons are sorted by their required level. If there is a quest or dungeons involved you might not be able to get it at the minimum required level.

Important: You don’t need to get every available upgrade to level efficiently. But don’t skip too many upgrades since most of your damage is coming from your weapon. Not every listed bow is an upgrade to the bows before. E.g. if you get Venomstrike it will last a long time and you will not swap to Cliffrunner's Aim.

These are the notable ranged weapon upgrades for a Hunter:

Level 5: Hornwood Recurve Bow
Buy from a Bowyer NPC in your first Inn.
Level 5: Rough Boomstick
Crafted by Engineering. Use our WoW Classic Engineering guide to level this profession efficiently.
Level 7: Hickory Shortbow
Securing the Lines in Durotar.
Level ~10: Ashwood Bow
Crown of the Earth in Teldrassil (final step of the quest chain).
Level 11: Daryl's Hunting Bow
A Hunter's Boast in Loch Modan.
Level 14: Fine Longbow
This bow is sold for 48 61 to 51 16 as a limited supply from different Bowyers like William MacGregor in Westfall or Uthrok in The Barrens.
Level 19: Venomstrike
Drops in Wailing Caverns.
Level 19: Bow of Plunder
Dangerous! in Hillsbrad Foothills.
Level 20: Cliffrunner's Aim
The Sacred Flame in Thousand Needles.
Level 21: Naga Heartpiercer
Blackfathom Deeps.
Level 22: Raptor's End
Ormer's Revenge in Wetlands.
Level 25: Lunaris Bow
Answered Questions in Duskwood. This is the last part of a long quest chain starting with The Howling Vale.
Level 28: Nail Spitter
An Unholy Alliance in Razorfen Downs.
Level 30: Shrapnel Blaster
Colonel Kurzen in Stranglethorn Vale.
Level 33: Quillshooter
Random Drop in Razorfen Downs.
Level 35: Master Hunter's Bow
Big Game Hunter in Stranglethorn Vale.
Level 39: Mithril Heavy-bore Rifle
Crafted by Engineering.
Level 42: Massive Longbow
Limited stock from Bowyers in the capitals like Skolmin Goldfury in Ironforge and Jin'sora in Orgrimmar.
Level 46: Highland Bow
Return to Primal Torntusk in The Hinterlands.
Level 50: Verdant Keeper's Aim
Corruption of Earth and Seed in Maraudon.
Level 51: Bloodseeker
Hero of the Stormpike in Alterac Valley
Hero of the Frostwolf in Alterac Valley

Bloodseeker is your pre-Raid BiS weapon. You can find your talents, pre-BiS, and BiS for the current phase in our WoW Classic Hunter DPS guide.

Additional Hunter Resources

You can find more details about Hunters, like profession and race choices, in our WoW Classic Hunter Guide. We’ve also collected Hunter Macros for WoW Classic to enhance your gameplay and efficiency with macros.