Reply to Zulazilu

(This was in response to a question Zulazilu asked in the comments of my last post. Apparently the ending got clipped, so I will repost here)

Hey Zula,
No, I don't really; I tried to write one a year or so ago, and I really should go back and revise that, because my perspective on a lot of things has changed since then.

Broadly speaking, though, the single main priority is to get Clever Traps ASAP, which you can at level 21. Survival is IMHO based on trapping to the same degree that BM is based on the pet's abilities while levelling.

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=cZZcGhMtcMhhz is what I recommended to someone not long ago as a good spec to aim for at level 40. After that you can start putting points into Marksmanship, so you end up with this at 70:-

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=cZVxbRqzhxoZcGhMtcMhh

That is a hybrid spec to use until you get enough base Agility for Expose Weakness to surpass Trueshot Aura. 500 is the break even point for that, but you will probably want to wait until 600 if you can in order to build a little more AP up as well, which you will need.

At 600 Ag, my ideal general use spec is:-
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=cZVxbRVzZcGhMusMhAdh

For farming, I use:-
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=cZVxbRxzZcGhMusMhAdh

For extreme environments, such as Heroics or soloing harder instances such as Stratholme:-
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=cZVxbRVZcGhMusMhVzAo

You also want to get your Agility in the neighbourhood of around 100-120 by level 21 or so. This is very possible; I've done it myself. The only real issue is that it will likely either cost you a lot at the AH, or good knowledge of where to find Ag gear in-game otherwise.

You can get a lot of good stuff from both the Wailing Caverns, (Serpent's Shoulders, several pieces of the Viper set) and the Deadmines, (the Buzzer Blade and Impaling Harpoon in particular, as well as the Blackened Defias set) and I recommend doing both of those instances repeatedly to get the +Agility loot from them.

The loot tables of most of the mid range levelling instances are not so good for Hunters, and so unless you spend a lot of money on Of the Monkey greens a bit later from the AH, the stuff you get from those two instances will last you a long time.

In terms of ranged weapons, you probably want to farm Warsong Gulch to get the PvP reward bows from the vendor at the WSG entrance near Ashenvale, as there is a new one of those for you every ten levels until 60 or so, and they have good stats on them as well. Go and explore all the PvP reward vendors you can find; for Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, and Alterac Valley, since for the level, a lot of the time the PvP reward gear will generally be the best you can get, at least without spending too much money.

There are also some good green drops in both Stranglethorn Vale and Desolace at least. These have low drop rates though, so you're more likely to see them on the AH than you are on the ground.

In terms of pets, after the Charge nerf there's no real reason to stay with a boar. The +10% HP helps a lot, yes; but their damage output will really slow you down, and with the Charge nerf also means they now actually generate less threat than DPS pets.

I'd recommend getting one of the lower level Swoops (Carrion Birds) from Mulgore before you get too high up, and levelling it for a bit. Screech is a very good threat generator, and is AoE as well. In addition, from memory Carrion Birds are a bit less fragile than Owls as well, which is good for tanking.

Also grab mining and skinning as professions early on; mining is the one profession I know of where you can earn literal gold at level 5. A stack of 20 copper bars will sell very reliably on the AH for 1g each, and although you need to level skinning for a bit, once you get to your 40s it's great for mount money.