Ramblings of a newbie Hunter

[Lanceor]

Okay, so I'm a completely new player, my highest level character is level 20. The only useful stuff I can write is for other newbies. Anyway, this post should answer the question: "Is it worth rushing Hunting Mastery for Scatter Shot?"

With a grand total of two blue items to my name and very little knowledge of the game, I tried not putting any points into any other skills until I got to Scatter Shot.

How slow was it? Was it frustrating? How many times did I die? Was it worth it?

Level 1 - Bought a bow from the merchant. Oak crude bow or something like that. Meh.

Level 2 - First mastery... Hunting! All points went into Hunting Mastery, no points in skills.

Level 3 - Two more points in Hunting Mastery, and one in Marksmanship. It's a prerequisite for Scatter Shot, so I may as well benefit from it now.

Level 6 - Still no points in any skills. Man.... this is slow and boring. At least with a bow, you can use hit and run tactics so survivability is not a problem.

Level 11 - Still no points in any skills. Getting rather annoyed by the slow killing speed. No deaths yet so I'm glad that survivability is still not a problem. No deaths yet. Zzzzzzz.

Level 12 - Finally, I have 32 points in Hunting Mastery and put my first point into Scatter Shot! I went out to the wilderness to try it out and... WTF?!? The improvement in killing speed was almost negligible. I can't believe that I waited this long for such a crappy skill!

Level 13 - Four points in Scatter Shot now. Hmmm... killing speed seems to have improved a little, but the skill is still underwhelming.

Level 14 - Six points in Scatter Shot (I decided to put a point into Puncture Shot as I had a bow with +2 to Puncture Shot). This skill is beginning to show some potential now. Sometimes I'd notice I'd kill two monsters in one shot. Still, it's far from a powerhouse though.

Level 15 - Nine points in Scatter Shot. I'm beginning to like this skill. I'm 1-hit-killing most monsters, and killing two or three in one shot was a fairly regular occurence.

Level 16 - 12 points in Scatter Shot. Now we're talking! Fired into small packs, killing two or three monsters at once is the norm now. I knew the wait would be worth it!

From there, I felt that power was plentiful so I went about increasing Wood Lore for the attack speed instead of Volley as recommended. But go your own way... Volley definitely gives more power if you don't mind the attack speed. By level 18, it was pure pwnage! And by the way, still no deaths.

So, for the new players thinking of starting a bow Hunter untwinked, you now know what to expect when the veterans tell you that "hunters start off slowly". It is quite slow and frustrating until level 15 or 16, which represents around 10 -12 hours (?) of gameplay, but the result is definitely worth it!

[Irma2]

Yeah, Hunting is very frustrating early on. The upside is that you get the leveling and grinding behind you while the game is still very easy in Act I.

Once you hit level 32 and start pumping Scatter, Puncture and Volley, you're over the hump. Better still, you have the assurance that these skills retain effectiveness right up until game end and beyond.

My Brig archer in post-Legendary takes down 3 X Telkines or 9 X Gorgon Queens in just a few seconds using these same skills. Secret Passage is a cinch in a little over 3 minutes.

For sure, there are much faster starts - maxing Wolves, maxing Liche King, maxing VO or Squall. But all of these builds pay for the early ownage later, when they hit survival/killing speed problems in late Act III and Act IV. The Hunter just rumbles on, getting more and more and more powerful at each stage.

[demilich]

Hunting is a good starter I think. Going for the bow like you I'd do this:

At least 2 points on all lvls go to mastery, and put 1 points to essential skills except wood lore which I'd max as early as possible.

Doing this way I have better dmg and survivability on lower lvls by reaching the full effectiveness of Scatter Shots a few lvls later. In case I have +1 or +2 in hunting from gear my start would pay of even better.

[Oldsoul]

hasent any of you just think of the abillity to go spear first and then switch to bow??? or when rusing put points in your skills and buy them back later

[BrotherRatcliff]

I've found bow to be better off in the beginning then spear personally. Buying back the points once you have enough to rush scatter is a good idea as long as you have a good source of cash.

[Irma2]

hasent any of you just think of the abillity to go spear first and then switch to bow???

What would be the point of that? Would you rather fight Polyphemus with a spear or with a bow in Normal? Bow toons have it far easier than spear early on.

[Oldsoul]

yea i would i just think bow is to weak in early lvls and a spear can olso get a boost from another mastery early on but if you go for bow only you have to wait until act 2 to be good whit my spear you wait few lvls longer and you got the same or even beter power wel its just my playstile play bow if you like

[Lanceor]

My first toon was actually a Harbinger who was getting clobbered in melee (newbie + no items = clobbered). For that reason, I found myself using a bow more than melee weapons. I decided to try going for a pure bow Hunter, and even in the most extreme untwinked newbie rush to Scatter Shot, I showed that it was possible.

Not everyone has this level of patience though, so perhaps a better strategy would be 2 points into Hunting Mastery at each level, picking up some useful skills along the way. This would make scattershot available around level 16 or so.

[ASYLUM101]

yea i would i just think bow is to weak in early lvls and a spear can olso get a boost from another mastery early on but if you go for bow only you have to wait until act 2 to be good whit my spear you wait few lvls longer and you got the same or even beter power wel its just my playstile play bow if you like

Dude... have you even TRIED a bow hunter? It's definitely not weaker than a spear hunter, especially not with Art of the Hunt and Marksmanship. In the beginning, Spear hunter is not only weaker, but more fragile, and takes longer to reach his targets.

[Oldsoul]

never a bow on a low lvl
so i gess you know that better than me