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Hunter Guide
	Author: Phoenix
	Guide Type : Segita Hunter Guides
	Rating: 5
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Intro

This is a very long guide. You may want to use the Table of Contents above for reading this guide.

Unlike other characters, Hunters have many different styles of combat. Some people choose to spec heavily into heal to make up for the Hunter's low defense, other spec heavy into dexterity, drastically increasing the output damage. There are also many variations of skill/weapon usage and attack strategy. In this guide I will try to address the pros and cons of each style as well as give my recommendations.

Stat Allocation

The main stat points a hunter will be worrying about is Dexterity and Heal. Strength is only useful to increase the attack power of the dagger, which does not carry a high base damage and only has 2 useful skills. I recommend placing enough points into strength for your Bow/Xbow requirement and that is it.

For Dex vs. Heal, this concept is a sliding scale. In theory, there are not just 3 ways to go - pure dex, pure heal, and anything in between is possible.

• Heal - Focusing primarily on heal and only putting enough points into Dex for the weapon requirement. This type of build is useful for survivability, as the hunter has low defense. The hunter has the opportunity to reach the highest attack power in the game, so going with this build will not severely cripple the damage output of the hunter to the point of being useless. However, this type of build is probably overkill as the hunter has an ability for kiting and evasion, and may have a tough time knocking back opponents, which is very important for both PvE and PvP.
• Balanced - A balanced build will equally distribute points into Heal and Dex. This is a very popular build for the hunter. Despite having low defense, the hunter can rely on speed, evasion, and kiting to survive while still placing a fair amount of points into Dex for high damage. Also, with the addition of Earrings, the hunter can sway back and forth between Heal and Dex by swapping earrings to suit the situation at hand. Personally, this is my recommended type of build
• Dex - This is the "glass cannon" build. This build will send the hunters attack power skyrocketing past any other profession. It is quite possible for a high level hunter with this build to reach 10k physical attack. This type of hunter will have an extremely hard time staying alive and become frustrated with dying in both PvE and PvP. Some people do prefer this build, however. Through evasion tactics it is quite possible to make this build work.

The Re-Stat

The time to re-stat is completely up to the player. Many people nowadays spec heavily into heal at lower levels for many good reasons:

• Survivability in PvE (leveling).
• Most people do not want to spend much to upgrade armor they will only use for a short time, so higher heal will make up for the lack of armor upgrades.
• When being power-leveled a player will usually want to spec everything into heal.

In any case, the re-stat in this situation usually occurs when the player is no longer being power-leveled, or when they begin investing into armor upgrades and can afford to drop some heal points.

Many hunters also prefer to re-stat and re-skill at level 90. The last 2 Bow/Xbow skills occur at 90, and before then the dagger was usually a very important part of combat. Depending on how much strength was used for the dagger a re-stat may be applicable at this time.

It's entirely possible for a hunter to never use the re-stat (i.e. there are no major milestones that severely change your attribute allocation) if they plan ahead of time. See weapon usage below for more info.

Skills

I am going to go over almost every Hunter skill and outline some of the pros/cons of the skill and where it should be used. If I leave a skill out, that probably means it's useless.

Archer Line - This line has all of the Bow and Crossbow attacks

• Masteries: Obviously you will want to max out Critical Fire, Bow Mastery, and Crossbow Mastery

Bow only skills:

• Triangle Shot - staple skill at lower levels and often used at higher levels as well for it's large 3-hit AOE and very short cooldown. Unfortunately this skill has a very long activation time leaving the hunter exposed for attack and interruption.
• Fiore Novas - Fast 4-hit AOE attack. Recommend fully leveling.

Crossbow only skills:

• Demolition Bomb - This is a unique skill that increases in power depending on how many foes are grouped together at the target location. If 3 or more targets are adjacent, the skill will hit each foe in the area 9 times. Massive destruction in PvE - however, not as useful in PvP (will only hit 3 times if facing a single target).

Bow & Crossbow skills:

• Multiple Shot - Some hunters prefer to use this skill, some do not. The linear AOE from the attack is very unreliable and often does not connect all three hits even against the target. The AOE is also limited (will only pierce 1-2 targets). The skill damage is also extremely low. However, this skill (usually with only 1 skill point in it) can be useful at higher levels when the hunters base attack power plays a bigger role, dishing out 3 arrows in the time it takes for most single hit skills.
• Vulnerable Shot - This is mainly for PvP and Boss killing. It is a single target one hitter, but drastically reduces the foes defense (by 50%). Use early on in PvP for the greatest effect (see Shield Stealing). Since the 50% reduction in defense applies even at skill level 1, I would recommend waiting to level this skill until later, when you have plenty of free skill points. I recommend following this skill with Wonder Firing, Crow Wings, or Fiore Novas for maximum effect of the defense debuff.
• Wonder Firing - Great skill for PvE and PvP. Very large AOE radius, quick attack, and 4 hits. This skill also helps to keep distance between the hunter and foe (the backflip recoil). Recommend to max this.
• Crow Wings - Also a great skill for PvP and Boss killing. More useful on single targets, this attack also helps to keep distance from the foe as the hunter recoils with each shot.
• Ice Arrow - Staple skill in PvP to slow your enemy. Definitely max this skill, it's slow effect and duration become more powerful, and the skill damage drastically increases. Also useful for Boss killing.
• Explosion Arrow - Very hard hitting AOE skill with a small recharge. Useful at low and high levels for an almost guaranteed knockback in PvP. Some hunters do not like the activation time on this skill in PvP to only yield 1 hit. Recommend maxing this skill.
• Slow Arrow - This is the hardest hitting single attack for the hunter (if maxed). I would not recommend leveling this skill until you can max it out, and have the available skill points (into the 120's)

Combat Line - This line has all of the dagger attacks

• Combat Mastery - This is the passive mastery skill. I would not recommend leveling this skill. The base damage when wielding a dagger is very low. It's possible these 10 skill points can be better used elsewhere. Also, the main damage from using a dagger comes from your skills.
• Violent Step - Recommend only at level 1.
• Rolling Attack - This skill is going to be the hunter's first AOE attack at lower levels. If grinding by yourself to level at low levels, you will want to max this skill. This skill is almost always abandoned by level 50.
• Silent Killer - Same concept as rolling attack. Extremely powerful at lower levels.
• Dead Spin - Actually one of the most important Hunter skills. I think this skill is very underestimated. I recommend maxing this skill.

Hunter Line - This line has a few various buffs

• Wind Moving - Your running buff. Enough said.
• Speed - Can be useful during lower levels for lazy hunters who like to simply auto-attack.
• Cure Wounds - Unfortunately Cure Wounds does not regenerate a lot of HP (only 100 HP/Sec maxed), but can be useful to keep your HP topped off when solo farming, training, or to help relieve the use of HP pots.
• Terrace Magic - Terrace Magic is only to be used in PvE, and increases your max HP. I currently do not use this skill, but can be useful during mid-level PvE play.

Leveling Strategy

I will attempt to describe some of the best techniques I believe are worth mentioning, for various levels

Level 1-15

During these levels you will spend your time attacking single monsters with your bow. It's quite boring but until level 15 you are stuck with no AOE skills. The hunter has an advantage over other classes in that the bow does a considerable amount of damage and keeps the target knocked back. So, I recommend fighting monsters who are more of a challenge but yield more XP. For instance, head up to Denebe and Norak Cave Fl1 around level 10 and spend some time auto-attacking the Lizardman and Yetarian. They may be able to easily kill you but the bow will keep them at a safe distance.

Level 15-34

Here you will finally get Rolling Attack, the first AOE for the hunter. Grab your favorite dagger and spend some time up in Heiharp with a party - using this skill. Make sure you run around the mob while the skill is cooling down to avoid getting hit. Hit dead front when possible. You may die, but the Rabble Vouchers are plentiful. At level 32 you will get Silent Killer, and really start to drop mobs

Level 34-48

I recommend going to Nunvice Shrine right away. As a hunter with a speed buff you should be able to get farther through the dungeon and receive more experience than without one. As an alternative, I recommend getting a party at the top of Frozen Valley, and venturing further into Norak/Castor caves. The silent killer -> rolling attack combo is deadly even at this level. It should only take a few Nunvice Dungeon runs to reach level 36 and get your first AOE bow attack, Triangle Shot, then at level 40 Explosion Arrow. Here is when you will need to start using the Dagger and Bow together. I recommend hitting the mob with Silent Killer and rolling attack, then swapping to the bow and using triangle shot and explosion arrow. By this time you should be able to repeat that attack chain. Rotate between farming for vouchers, Dead Front, and Nunvice for the most sane leveling during this time.

Level 48-55

At level 48, you will get Dead Spin. At this time it is very possible to begin solo farming higher level monsters than any other profession your level as long as you stay away from ranged monsters. In addition to Nunvice, you should be able to head down to Norak/Castor floor 2 and begin killing some higher level monsters. In order to survive, you should get used to the following attack chain: Silent Killer → Dead Spin → (swap to bow) → Triangle Shot → Explosion Arrow. You should then kite until Dead Spin is recharged, and repeat the process. Silent Killer can be dropped from the chain if the monsters are hitting you too much during your melee combo.

Level 55-60

During these levels you should be up in Crespo at the famous 88 or 130 spots making your way to level 60. At this time you should be getting further into Dead Front so take advantage of it whenever possible.

Level 60-80

This is a very long leveling process, but the Hunter has the advantage of Dead Spin, so being able to solo the Treasure of Crespo dungeon (at least fast runs) is very possible even at level 60. By now you should be very familiar with the Dead Spin combo (described in more detail in the Solo PvE section below) You will continue to use this tactic in the Crespo dungeon. I highly recommend doing this dungeon solo for maximum experience. Also during this time (level 71) you will need to venture into Draco Desert to collect the Baron Vouchers. I recommend waiting for the level 70 Commission Quest to collect Adventure Points and vouchers at the same time. Leveling in Draco is slower than soloing fast Crespo dungeon runs, but you will need collect vouchers and make DIL in Draco regardless. At 74 you will get Wonder Firing, an awesome skill for your combo. Add this into your attack chain after triangle shot or explosion arrow.

Level 80-90

At 80 you can head into Python Castle By now you are most likely sick of Crespo Dungeon, so getting into an L1 or L2 party in python is fairly effective to collect vouchers, items, DIL, and levels. A good balance of solo fast Crespo dungeon runs (B or A), training in Python Castle, and dead front should make these levels go a little quicker. At 82 you will get Crow Wings, and start to shine in PvP. See PvP tactics below.

Level 90-115

At 90 you will receive your final 2 skills - Fiore Novas and Demolition Bomb. Both are excellent for PvE. At this time you need to make some decisions on your combat style for weapon usage. See this section below for more info. At level 90 you can start doing the Magic Field of Crevice dungeon in Python Castle. This is a great source of experience from 90 all the way up to 110. However, leveling starts to really slow down at this time. In order to keep fresh, I recommend a little mix of collecting vouchers inside Python Castle/Tomb of the Black Dragon/Cursed Maze, Dead Front, fast Crespo A runs, and Crevice runs. Go get your wings, and start to focus on upgrading the level 90 (Janis) armor set. Until the Janis Armor Set, you could probably get away with just selling/saving any argates you get instead of upgrading your own armor.

Level 115-130

From 115 to 130 you will need to spend the majority of your time trying to collect vouchers for Dead Front and in the Abyss dungeon. Dead Front is going to be the best way to gain experience so finding a good method to quickly farm vouchers is key. At 115 you can head to the Aquarius map, although it was quite a disappointment for me. The slower movement speed of the map and low drop rates make it tough to spend a lot of time there.

Level 130-140

Finally you can head to the 130 maps Aquirai Ruins and Space of Pilgrimage. Without a party you will find it tough to grind in these maps. The monsters hit very hard and take a long time to kill even for a glass cannon hunter. Try to find a party in different sections of these maps. You will notice that drops are now extremely rare. Simply worry about collecting as many Ark vouchers as you can for Dead Front.

Level 140+

If you have made it this far congratulations. Dead Front and Nest of Cherubim are your two good sources of experience. Farm Space with a party for vouchers, then attend Dead Front. Without a very active guild levels 130+ will be very difficult. In order to keep things fresh you will need friends and guild mates willing to participate in things like Siege, Party PvP, Expeditions, and general support because you have probably gone a bit insane after reaching this level.

Weapon Usage

For low levels the dagger and bow are primarily used. However, at level 90 a decision should be made about weapon usage. When you receive the level 90 skill Demolition Bomb, it is very common for hunters to pick up their very first crossbow. Before demobomb, there are no useful crossbow skills. There is a choice to be made as to what weapon set to use (Crossbow/Bow, Crossbow/Dagger, or Bow/Dagger). Many hunters choose the Crossbow/Bow route, as the dagger (at this level) has only 1 useful skill, Dead Spin. However, Dead Spin should not be underestimated.

• If you plan on doing a lot of solo farming, I recommend running around with the Dagger/Crossbow. You will lose Triangle Shot and Fiore Novas, but will have a much easier time staying alive by using Dead Spin. In this setup, you will want to use the tactics below for Dagger/Crossbow.
• If you are part of a party a more common build to use is the Bow/Crossbow. This will maximize the amount of AOE attacks (especially in Crevice dungeon and Dead Front).
• The Bow/Dagger setup is usually not as common in PvE. Demobomb is a great skill for large mobs and is unmatched by any skill in the Bow only line, as well as the fact that the crossbow will have a greater base damage.

I recommend carrying one of each weapon. Set up with Bow/Crossbow for party play, and Crossbow/Dagger for solo farming.

For higher levels, I actually recommend grabbing the Dagger for your level. The 115 dagger only costs 4 more STR to equip than the 130 crossbow, and daggers are very cheap. You will be surprised how much damage you can inflict with Dead Spin once it is fully leveled at 112.

General Strategy

Party PvE

Maximize your AOE attacks. You will want to be setup with Bow/Crossbow for this type of play. I recommend the following sequence of skills to keep a steady rain of AOE on the target area (specifically useful in Crevice Dungeon and Dead Front):

Triangle Shot → Explosion Arrow → Fiore Novas → (swap to Xbow) → Wonder Firing → Explosion Arrow → Demolition Bomb.

If done correctly, you can repeat the process in perfect timing as the skills recharge. If you are training with a party, then it is usually possible to sit on your crossbow and simply use Wonder Firing → Demolition Bomb. This should take care of the majority of their health as the rest of your party cleans them up.

Solo PvE

I have mentioned the Dead Spin tactic several times, as it can be used against mobs that would ordinarily kill you. In this situation I would recommended wielding your Crossbow and Dagger. You will always try to start by using your running skill before engaging your mob, but is not necessary once you master this tactic. Begin by grouping your mob closely together, perhaps lure them into another group of 3 monsters. You will initiate your attack by using Dead Spin on the closest monster. As long as you have grouped them nicely, you will stun the entire mob and shoot to safety. Be careful in small spaces near walls, shooting 6 inches from the mob into a wall can lead to certain death. You should be learning the skill well and be able to aim yourself to launch in the correct direction. Immediately swap to your Bow/Xbow and use your hardest hitting skills. Start with Explosion Arrow, then Wonder Firing, and Demobomb. This will put a serious dent into the mob. Maxed out, the Dead Spin stun will last 5 seconds and skill recharge in 8 seconds. Simply kite around the mob in a circle until Dead Spin is recharged, then repeat. If done correctly, you will rarely get hit by the monsters. This tactic is tried-and-true. Learn it well. I have used this tactic to solo the 130 map(s) as a glass cannon and rarely die. Remember to stay away from ranged monsters!

PvP Tactics

You should only need your crossbow and possibly dagger for PvP. Triangle Shot and Fiore Novas are long activating skills that leave you motionless for too long, often allowing your opponent to close the gap too much. At higher levels Triangle Shot may not knockback your target due to low skill damage. As a general rule, here are skills to use in PvP:

• Ice Arrow. The freeze lasts 8 seconds. Try and keep your target frozen to reduce their speed.
• Vulnerable Shot. At least try to use this skill once in PvP, to steal some shield (Shield Stealing)
• Explosion Arrow. Slow activation time but a solid smack in the face that can knockback anyone.
• Slow Arrow. Same as explosion arrow. Also useful for setting up a "spike" on a target.
• Wonder Firing. Good in PvP. 4 hits with some recoil.
• Crow Wings. Great in PvP. This skill will recoil the hunter away from the target as well as keep them knocked back. Also a good skill to use when you are stunned/paralyzed/frozen in order to escape.
• Dead Spin. Very useful against melee attackers and considerable amount of damage when maxed out.
• Wind Moving. This is obvious.
• Demobomb. Some prefer not to use this skill in PvP. It disables your skills and against a single target only hits 3 times. Your time may be better spent kiting instead of using this skill. Useful against a non-kiting fight, however.
• Multiple Shot. Despite it's extremely low skill damage, the skill is very quick and may be useful for higher levels where their base attack is high enough to achieve knockbacks with this skill.
• Fiore Novas & Triangle Shot. As I mentioned, these skills (especially Triangle Shot) can be a little slow to activate leaving you in one spot for too long. Using these skills in a non-kiting PvP can be useful, however.

Non-kiting Matches
Versus Staff Summoner, Mage, or another Hunter
Spending your time running around during these matches isn't a good use of your time. They will simply out-damage you with ranged skills as you run around like a turkey. Instead, you should focus on getting used to inflicting a constant stream of damage and hopefully knocking back your opponent, killing them before they can kill you. For these matches I would break out the Bow/Crossbow to utilize a wider array of combo attacks like Triangle Shot and Fiore Novas. Fiore Novas is a great 4-hit skill but don't be fooled by being "up in the air", anyone can still hit you. Remember to always use Demobomb or Fiore Novas before weapon swapping as your skills will be disabled anyway. Skills to use (in order of importance):

• Crow Wings
• Wonder Firing
• Fiore Novas
• Demobomb
• Triangle Shot
• Slow Arrow/Explosion Arrow/Ice Arrow

Kiting Matches
Versus everything else
Skills to use:

• Crow Wings
• Ice Arrow
• Wonder Firing
• Dead Spin
• Slow Arrow/Explosion Arrow
• Demobomb

PvP Professions

vs. Azure Knight

An AK is a tough battle for a hunter due to their high physical damage and defense. However, they are still susceptible to slow-down and stunning. Always keep the AK frozen with Ice Arrow. I have never seen a Hunter completely kite another AK - you will eventually get hit! My advice is to accept the fact that you will get hit and use that opportunity to use Dead Spin on the AK. Ice Arrow and Dead Spin stacked should render the AK almost completely stunned, at that time you can dish out a few combo attacks with a little breathing room. When the stun is about to wear off (5 seconds). Use Ice Arrow and immediately return to kiting. I usually try to keep Vulnerable Shot in the mix to lower the AK's defense. Ice Arrow, Vulnerable Shot, Crow Wings, Wonder Firing and Dead spin are all you need to beat an AK.

vs. Summoner

Summoners are fairly easy to deal with. Twin Blade summoners need to rely on Dark Avatar and Shadow Revenge to hit you at range - so your best bet is to simply use Ice Arrow since they have no speed buff. You should be able to beat them without ever getting into melee range. I do not recommend Dead Spin because it is possible to defeat a twin blade summoner without him ever getting close enough for melee. Your Dead Spin will most likely get interrupted from his faster activating Devil Swing anyway. Kiting and Ice Arrow are your friend against TB summoners. For Staff summoners, I recommend tossing on a couple Poison resist necklaces and simply dishing out more damage than he can with the skills I mentioned above. You may want to drop Ice Arrow during the fight with a staff summoner as all of his skills will be ranged anyway. Hybrid Summoners are extremely weak. Their attributes are spread across STR and SPR and often cannot knock you back with any attacks due to this. Use the TB summoner strategy against a hybrid.

vs. Mage

Mages can be one of the toughest classes to PvP no matter what, due to their massive damage output and relatively high defense. Don't worry too much about kiting the mage, she will be hitting you with ranged attacks as you are trying to kite. The only thing you need to watch for is Imitid Flash. Kite this skill if/when she uses it. Don't be afraid to use resistance necklaces. Many people will complain that you use resistance necklaces but they were specifically put into the game for a reason. Use them. The basic strategy here is to just keep a constant barrage of damage onto the mage, interrupting her skills and simply out-damaging. I recommend two Lightning and one Ice necklace, with the Dark Eye.

vs. Segnale

Hunters can usually wax the floor against a seg. Simply use Ice Arrow and keep your distance, running out of Curse Field when cast. The Seg should never get close enough to use Blood Hit or Evil Crow if done correctly. I would recommend saving your Wonder Firing and Crow Wings for when the Seg uses Paralyze. This will keep the Seg knocked back, and also move you further away during the 8 seconds of Paralyze. After paralyze has been used, feel free to use those skills at any time as the recharge for Paralyze is 45 seconds.

vs. Bagi

The Bagi is going to be your worst enemy. The constant barrage of knockbacks and attack chains is tough to deal with when the hunters armor is so low. I can only recommend running and using Wonder Firing and Crow Wings during the first 25 seconds of the fight. Learn the buff Resistance (Skill) that the Bagi uses. Using Ice Arrow and Dead Spin on a Bagi while that skill is up will certainly lead you to failure as you will NOT freeze or stun him. I usually start the PvP with Wonder Firing → Crow Wings then run until Crow Wings is charged. After the 2nd use of Crow Wings his Resistance buff will be going down, then you can proceed to use the same tactics as fighting an AK. If you can survive to use Crow Wings a third time, his running buff will be going down and you should be able to finish the fight without getting hit. Take no shame in kiting, Hunter's are supposed to kite.

vs. Hunter

Fighting your own class is usually uninteresting, but very good practice. You get to see exactly what the other hunter did to win or lose and learn from it. I always recommend PvP'ing your own class for this reason. Again the strategy here (as with any ranged battle) is to come up with a good combination of skills that keeps a steady barrage of damage on your opponent, knocking them back and hopefully interrupting their skills. Try to place Demobomb and Fiore Novas in strategic spots of your attack chain to minimize the penalty of skills being disabled (i.e. The skill before you weapon swap or when other skills need to recharge anyway)