| The Bowmaster |
The Bowmaster is a line that focuses on pure, unmitigated, deadly power. More specifically, its line bonus increases all aspects of Strength Stance, from damage dealt to power cost and threat generation (the latter two ultimately being a penalty). Outside of this trait line, Strength Stance produces enough threat to pull aggro from all but the most talented of tanks. With Bowmaster, a Hunter in Strength Stance will pull aggro without even trying. Needless to say, this makes that stance very dangerous to use in grouping situations, and the responsible Hunter will probably use a different stance for most times that he finds himself in a group, negating much of the benefit of this trait line.
However, while soloing, or in certain circumstances where personal danger isn’t an issue so much as making sure that his enemies die as quickly as possible, as well as in the Ettenmoors where threat isn’t an issue against monster players, the Bowmaster-traited-Hunter will be deadly, though only in short bursts, as he will find himself short on power often. Aside from the bonuses to Strength Stance, this line also has a dramatic effect on the magnitude of the Hunter’s critical hits, which is a useful bonus in any circumstance. Overall, this is probably the cornerstone of Hunter trait lines, and most Hunters will end up focusing on it.
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| Equipped |
Bonuses |
| 2 |
- +5% Bow Critical Multiplier
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| 3 |
- +10% Bow Critical Multiplier
- +5% Strength Stance Damage
- +10% Strength Stance Threat
- +10% Strength Stance Power Cost
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| 4 |
- +15% Strength Stance Damage
- +15% Strength Stance Threat
- +15% Strength Stance Power Cost
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| 5 |
- Can equip "Cool Burn" legendary trait.
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Barbed Fury |
- Acquire: Strike enemies with "Barbed Arrow" 750 times.
- Effect: This trait increases the amount of bleeding caused by "Barbed Arrow".
- Usage: The effect of this trait is not very dramatic, and furthermore, discourages the use of "Scourging Blow" since it would end the improved bleeding early. Furthermore, it affects a skill which will likely become mostly obsolete during the latter portion of the Hunter’s career. This trait is not generally recommended over others.
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Swift and True |
- Acquire: Strike enemies with "Swift Bow" 1,000 times.
- Effect: This trait increases the amount of damage that "Swift Bow" deals by 8%.
- Usage: "Swift Bow" is a good attack that gets a lot of use. The Hunter looking to increase his raw damage output as much as possible or otherwise focusing on the Bowmaster line should consider slotting this trait.
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Hail of Arrows |
- Acquire: Strike enemies with "Rain of Arrows" 500 times.
- Effect: This trait increases the chance for "Rain of Arrows" to critically hit by a significant amount as well as increasing the multiplier of critical hits caused from that skill by 25%.
- Usage: Without this trait, "Rain of Arrows" is a fairly mediocre AoE attack. With "Hail of Arrows", its potential increases significantly. Furthermore, with "Deadly Precision" slotted as well, each arrow that critically hits in a single usage of "Rain of Arrows" grants 1 point of Focus. That means that if 3 out of the 5 arrows critically hit, "Rain of Arrows" pays for itself in focus. Any Hunter that regularly fights 2 or more enemies at once may wish to look into this trait.
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Deadly Precision |
- Acquire: Critically hit enemies with ranged attacks 500 times.
- Effect: Critical hits with ranged skills generate 1 focus. If a single skill critically hits multiple times, such as with "Rain of Arrows" or "Swift Bow", 1 focus is gained for each such hit.
- Usage: More so than any other, GET THIS TRAIT. Critical hits are a fairly common event in combat and because the Hunter critically hits often, he will generate focus often. A real no-brainer.
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True Shot |
- Acquire: Strike enemies with "Penetrating Shot" 1,000 times.
- Effect: This trait grants "Penetrating Shot" an extra 8% to its damage mitigation ignored.
- Usage: It’s important to remember that the percentage of mitigation ignored does not directly translate into damage of the same quantity. The effect of this trait will vary depending on how much armor the target has, but since "Penetrating Shot" is used so often, there is some reason to be found in slotting this, if the Hunter seeks to completely maximize his damage or is otherwise focusing on the Bowmaster line.
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The Quality of Mercy |
- Acquire: Critically hit enemies with "Merciful Shot" 150 times.
- Effect: This trait increases the already-very-large critical multiplier of "Merciful Shot" from 200% to 300%.
- Usage: If the Hunter regularly uses "Merciful Shot", then this is a fine trait to have. Though critical hits with the skill aren’t common, when they happen, they REALLY count with this trait, with damage numbers reaching into the multiples of thousands.
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Critical Eye |
- Acquire: Critically hit enemies with any combination of ranged attacks 1,000 times.
- Effect: This trait increases the critical rating of all of his ranged attacks by a modest amount.
- Usage: The amount of extra critical rating from this trait is not enough to obviously affect the Hunter’s performance, and yet, it’s nice to know that it helps just about everything he does in some small way. This trait pairs well with "Deadly Precision", the "Quality of Mercy", and even "Heart of the Bard".
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Shot through the Heart |
- Acquire: Strike enemies with "Heartseeker" 100 times.
- Effect: This trait increases the critical rating of "Heartseeker" by a significant amount, making it critically hit somewhat more reliably.
- Usage: Critical hits from "Heartseeker" hurt. The hunter who regularly uses that skill will find a lot to like about this trait.
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Cool Burn
Legendary |
- Acquire: Complete Epic series "Volume II: The Mines of Moria, Books 1-6"
- Access: Equip 5 skills from this set.
- Effect: This legendary trait increases both the damage and power cost multipliers of Burn Hot by 50%, for a total of +100% damage and +250% power cost. It also reduces the cooldown from 10 minutes to 6 minutes.
- Usage: Widely regarded as the best Moria legendary trait for Hunters, "Cool Burn" is the deadly icing on the equally deadly cake of the Bowmaster line. It is, however, not completely essential, and many hunters will find they do just fine with the Shadows of Angmar legendary traits. One nice thing about "Cool Burn" is that it makes the "Burn Hot" skill somewhat more power efficient, from 1/4 (+50% damage out of +200% power cost) to 2/5 (+100% damage out of +250% power cost). While the Hunter is still completely drained of power at the end of the skill’s duration, it’s still very possible to run out before then, so making better use of it definitely helps. Either way, the Hunter with "Cool Burn" slotted will most certainly do more damage when he uses "Burn Hot" than he would without this trait, and is in fact capable of the greatest feats of single target DPS possible for regular player classes.
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The Trapper of Foes |
There are certainly some useful traits in this line, but the Trapper of Foes is something of a trap itself for unwary Hunters. This trait line focuses on crowd control, as well as effects which conserve power and reduce threat. These are not considered to be the Hunter’s strong points, however, and as a penalty for focusing on such tertiary aspects, the Hunter who traits too deeply into the line will find himself with a hefty penalty to his damage. As a class which is widely regarded as a Master of DPS, this can be crippling, and many Hunters will turn up their noses at this trait line as a result. Ultimately, the Trapper of Foes is an entirely different way to play the Hunter class, and one so traited plays more like a Loremaster than anything else. I don’t recommend trying this without being sure to go all the way and get the Legendary trait at the end of the line slotted as well though.
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| Equipped |
Bonuses |
| 2 |
- +60 in-Combat Power Regen
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| 3 |
- -2640 Rain of Thorns Target Root Resist Rating
- -50% Trap Skill Inductions
- -10% Ranged Damage
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| 4 |
- "Penetrating Shot" roots with longer Cooldown
- -30 Trap Skill Cooldowns
- -15% Ranged Damage
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| 5 |
- Can equip "Explosive Arrow" legendary trait.
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Sturdy Traps |
- Acquire: Set 350 traps.
- Effect: This trait decreases the chance that damage will break the root caused by the Hunter’s "Set Trap" skill.
- Usage: Neither this trait nor the "Set Trap" skill list the exact difference in chance of the root breaking with this trait. My experience with it has been that the difference is very subtle. On average, the root seems to be able to endure one or two more hits before it breaks. This trait is not recommended.
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Heightened Senses |
- Acquire: Track 500 targets with "Passage of Nature", "Passage of Foes", or "Passage of Shadow".
- Effect: This trait allows the Hunter to track stealthed targets, increases the range that a target can be tracked at, and also increases the Hunter’s overall stealth detection.
- Usage: This trait is very situational. The bonus to tracking range alone is not really enough to justify slotting it. However, if the Hunter knows he will be fighting in an area with enemies that can stealth, having this trait can be helpful, if not downright necessary. For instance, there is a type of enemy called the “Pale Folk Hornblower” that appears in great quantities in Urugarth and Carn Dum. These enemies pose no threat themselves, but they stand around while stealthed, and when they detect a player, they summon one to two elite helpers. Using this trait, the Hunter can track a Hornblower and slay it easily at a distance before it has a chance to summon help. This trait also allows the Hunter to track stealthed enemy Warg players in the Ettenmoors, which can be very handy for telling whether there is a pack on the prowl.
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Tip:This trait can be tiresome to learn. The Hunter will not typically find a need to be tracking often enough for this trait to be unlocked easily -- in order to learn it, the Hunter will have to remind himself to track often just for the heck of it. Simply activating a tracking skill is enough to count for the credit earned towards this trait -- it is not necessary to actually select a target to track from the window that appears.
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Deep Concentration |
- Acquire: Use the "Intent Concentration" skill 150 times.
- Effect: "Intent Concentration" restores a small chunk of power in addition to its focus-gaining properties. The amount gained is roughly equivalent to a celebrant salve (power potion) of the best level the Hunter can use.
- Usage: Hunters usually have problems maintaining power, and can go through a lot of potions. The more power the Hunter has access to, the longer he can fight and the more damage he can do. The usefulness of this skill is dependent upon the Hunter’s power needs. If he uses stances and gear that are enough to keep him at a comfortable power level in the middle of a long fight, is frequently in a fellowship with a Loremaster who is generous with her power, or is otherwise okay on power, then he doesn’t need this trait. The Hunter who constantly burns himself out, however, should strongly consider making room for this trait. This trait also synergizes nicely with Swift Recovery, which sets the cooldown on both "Intent Concentration" and "Needful Haste" to 4 minutes instead of 5.
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Graceful Draw |
- Acquire: Strike enemies with any combination of ranged attacks a total of 6,000 times.
- Effect: This trait doubles the effectiveness of "Stance: Endurance", increasing its power cost reduction and threat reduction from 10% to 20%.
- Usage: There are other stances besides Endurance, each with their own perks and reasons to use them. However, if the Hunter frequently finds himself using Endurance as his stance, there’s plenty of reason to get this trait. In "Endurance stance", "Graceful Draw" effectively increases the Hunter’s power pool by 1/5th.
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Stealthy Shot |
- Acquire: Use the "Beneath Notice" skill 150 times.
- Effect: This trait increases the effect and duration of "Beneath Notice".
- Usage: "Beneath Notice" already has a very dramatic effect, and in all likelihood, increasing it is probably overkill, except perhaps in "Strength Stance". As for the duration, it is not an especially huge increase, and while it would be nice bonus to simply have, the overall effect of this trait is fairly unspectacular. If threat is too big of a problem for the Hunter, he should consider using "Stance: Endurance" and "Graceful Draw" instead of slotting this trait.
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Heart of the Bard |
- Acquire: "Complete Shot through the Heart" (use "Heartseeker" 100 times on non-grey enemies), then use "Heartseeker" 50 more times on non-grey enemies.
- Effect: This trait is somewhat unique. With it, when the Hunter critically hits with "Bard’s Arrow", his Heartseeker cooldown is instantly reset so that he may use it again.
- Usage: It’s quirky and somewhat difficult to learn to use correctly, but the Hunter who frequently uses both of these skills can try playing around with this trait and see if it suits his tastes. On a side note, this effect doesn’t seem to stack with Deadly Precision, so his won’t gain a point of focus in addition to resetting his Heartseeker on a Bard’s Arrow critical, even if he has both traits equipped.
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Tip: Obviously, for this trait to be of any use, the Hunter must also slot the legendary trait Bard’s Arrow.
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Combat Traps |
- Acquire: Complete "Sturdy Traps" (use "Set Trap" or "Set Snare" a total of 350 times), then use "Set Trap" or "Set Snare" a total of 100 more times.
- Effect: With this trait, the Hunter can now use his "Set Trap" skill in-combat.
- Usage: There are certainly some strong cases for using this trait, though in truth, its effectiveness can be somewhat situational. Given time to prepare, the Hunter should not need this trait for most encounters, but it helps when he is caught by surprise, or during particular boss encounters, especially if there is no Loremaster or Burglar to fulfill the role of Crowd Control.
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Strong Intimidation |
- Acquire: Use "Cry of the Predator" or "Bard’s Arrow" a total of 300 times.
- Effect: This trait increases the durations of "Cry of the Predator" and "Bard’s Arrow" by 5 seconds each, for a total of 15 and 20 seconds, respectively.
- Usage: While these are both useful skills, 5 seconds isn’t a heck of a lot, and the Hunter has other forms of crowd control at his disposal. If he is determined to follow the path of the Trapper of Foes though, this isn’t the worst trait in the line to slot.
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Explosive Arrow
Legendary |
- Acquire: Complete level 58 Hunter quest
- Access: Equip 5 skills from this set.
- Effect: This legendary trait increases the duration of "Distracting Shot" from 10 second to 30 seconds, and lowers its cooldown from 3 minutes to 1 minute.
- Usage: "Explosive Arrow" seems like a very useful trait to have in general, but unfortunately, in order to slot it, the Hunter must trait as far as possible into the path of the Trapper of Foes. See above for more on that trait line’s controversial benefits and penalties, but understand that the penalties are severe enough for most Hunters to never end up slotting this trait.
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| The Huntsmen |
The Huntsmen is a sort of middle of the road line for hunters. It doesn’t directly increase the Hunter’s damage, but it gives him a lot of tricks that help him do so indirectly, such as reducing his induction times, helping him conserve focus, as well as giving him extra options to recover his power and even morale should he find himself running low. Lastly, the line has some special abilities which support the idea of mobility, something of a weakness for Hunters in normal circumstances. Even if the Hunter focuses mostly on another trait line, he would do well to pick at least a few traits from the Huntsmen, as they compliment most any build.
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| Equipped |
Bonuses |
| 2 |
- +2s before Focus loss from Movement
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| 3 |
- "Strength of Earth" give morale regen and increased power, eliminates starting induction.
- -10% Bow inductions
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| 4 |
- "Press Onward" usable in combat with longer Cooldown
- -10% Bow inductions
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| 5 |
- Can equip "Improved Fleet Stance" legendary trait.
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Rapid Recovery |
- Acquire: Strike enemies with "Swift Stroke" 500 times.
- Effect: This trait lowers the cooldown on all of the Hunter’s melee skills.
- Usage: Because the Hunter should not rely on his melee anyway, this trait is not recommended.
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Strong Draw |
- Acquire: Strike enemies with "Penetrating Shot" 600 times.
- Effect: This trait lowers the focus cost of Penetrating Shot from 3 to 2.
- Usage: Get this trait. It’s really that simple. Penetrating Shot is an attack that the Hunter should be using at all times. To decrease its cost in focus by 1/3rd is just incredible.
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Swift Recovery |
- Acquire: Use the "Needful Haste" skill 125 times.
- Effect: Not to be confused with Rapid Recovery, this trait reduces the cooldown of the skills Needful Haste and Intent Concentration from 3 minutes to 2 minutes
- Usage: This is a nice, all-around utility trait. Both Needful Haste and Intent Concentration are handy skills to have available more frequently. This trait synergizes well with Deep Concentration, which makes Intent Concentration also restore some power, and Resolute Aim, which allows the hunter to avoid setbacks to his inductions while being struck in melee. While not must-have, the hunter may consider finding room for this trait, especially if he already has Deep Concentration or Resolute Aim slotted.
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Fast Draw |
- Acquire: Complete the Level 15 Hunter class quest.
- Effect: This trait reduces the induction time of Barbed Arrow by 0.1 seconds and Swift Bow by 0.2 seconds.
- Usage: This is the first trait that Hunters usually learn. It has its uses, but ultimately will probably end up being replaced by other, more dramatic traits.
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Arrow Storm |
- Acquire: Strike enemies with "Rain of Arrows" 600 times.
- Effect: This trait lowers the focus cost of Rain of Arrows by 1.
- Usage: This trait functions exactly like Strong Draw does for Penetrating Shot. However, while Rain of Arrows is a good attack, its cooldown prevents it from being used as often; meaning that it is not nearly as much of a drain on focus as Penetrating Shot is without Strong Draw slotted. Also, Hail of Arrows combined with Deadly Precision allows Rain of Arrows to frequently earn back 1 or more focus, in addition to providing extra damage, making that trait preferable to this one. The Hunter who absolutely must have as much focus as possible may wish to slot this trait, but there are probably better options.
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Enduring Precision |
- Acquire: Complete the Level 30 Hunter class quest.
- Effect: This trait makes Stance: Precision generate 1 point of focus every 10 seconds while the Hunter stands stationary.
- Usage: One point of focus every 10 seconds is not very much. While it is a nice supplement to the Hunter’s focus, there are other traits that may be more dramatic and useful in their effect. Still, if the Hunter frequently uses Stance: Precision and would like a little more focus, he can try this trait and see what he thinks.
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Bow and Blade |
- Acquire: Hit non-grey enemies with any combination of melee attacks a total of 2,500 times.
- Effect: This trait skill the Hunter’s Blindside skill to make an additional attack.
- Usage: Blindside is definitely the Hunter’s best melee attack, so making it better seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, it’s still a melee attack, and the Hunter is at his best when he keeps his distance. Still, if the Hunter regularly finds himself using Blindside anyway, he can try slotting this trait and see what he thinks.
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Resolute Aim |
- Acquire: Complete Swift Recovery (use Needful Haste 125 times), then use Needful Haste 200 more times.
- Effect: For the duration of "Needful Haste", being struck in melee will not setback the Hunter’s ranged attack inductions. He can still be interrupted by stuns, dazes, knockdowns, and attacks which specifically cause interruption.
- Usage: I really like this trait. "Needful Haste" is already a very useful skill. With "Resolute Aim", the Hunter can reliably use his bow even while being attacked by multiple enemies. This is great for getting off a "Bard’s Arrow", "Distracting Shot", or the obvious-but-still-useful "Swift Bow". Resolute Aim pairs great with "Swift Recovery", as well as the Hunter legendary melee weapon legacy which increases the duration of "Needful Haste".
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Improved Fleet Stance
Legendary |
- Acquire: Buy "The Jolly Hunter" from Iron Garrison Guards after gaining Kindred faction
- Effect: This legendary trait removes all of the focus requirements from Fleet Stance, allowing it to be used at any time.
- Usage: This legendary trait is about the only way that "Fleet Stance" becomes even remotely useful, in my opinion. And yet, it’s still incredibly situational. Probably the best place I can think it might be used is in the Ettenmoors, where the Hunter can chase a fleeing monster player indefinitely and kill it with auto-attacks. And even then, it’s arguable that it would be better to focus on the Bowmaster line for its incredible DPS, use Strength Stance, and just not let the enemy get a chance to run in the first place. Most Hunters will not bother with this trait.
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| Shadows of Angmar Legendary Traits |
Bard’s Arrow
Legendary |
- Acquire: Complete A Shot in the Dark book
- Effect:This trait allows the Hunter the use of a new skill: "Bard’s Arrow". "Bard’s Arrow" is a bow attack that does minimal damage, generates 1 focus, and applies a fear effect to the target. Because fear breaks on damage, the Hunter’s auto-attack switches off after using this skill, at which point he would be wise to switch targets. The fear lasts for 15 seconds and only works on evil enemies, which most are aside from Beasts (except Wargs and Barghests), Creatures of Nature, and Insects (except Spiders). The skill also resets in 30 seconds.
- Usage: This trait is occasionally looked down upon by some Hunters, perhaps due to the fact that fear used to last even if the target took damage. Still, between this trait and Cry of the Predator, there are very few enemies that the Hunter cannot fear. Fears are a very good compliment to dazes, because the feared target will run away, at which point it can be dazed away from the rest of the fellowship, allowing AoE attacks to be used on remaining targets with impunity. While this lasts less time compared to "Rain of Thorns" as a form of crowd control and affects only one target, the relatively short cooldown makes up for these discrepancies, and it can be very useful in lieu of a Loremaster or Burglar.
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Press Onward
Legendary |
- Acquire: Complete The Way of the Hunter book
- Effect: This trait grants the Hunter the skill "Press Onward". "Press Onward" is a skill that can only be used out of combat. It has a fairly long induction time, but instantly refills the hunter’s Morale and Power by roughly 3,000 points, which is usually enough to fill them to their maximum amounts. The cooldown of this skill is 10 minutes.
- Usage: While there are situations where this trait is nice to have, on the whole it’s a bit underwhelming. If the Hunter needs to regain morale or power while out of combat, unless he absolutely must re-enter combat instantly, he’s often better off eating food like a Rack of Lamb with Mint Sauce, which has a short duration but powerful out of combat health and morale regeneration effect, and continues to restore a little more power and morale in combat for 5 minutes. However, with Mines of Moria, this skill can be used in-combat by a Hunter traited deeply enough into the Huntsman line, albeit with a much longer cooldown. Even still, most Hunters end up avoiding it, though some may find a use for it.
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Rain of Thorns
Legendary |
- Acquire: Complete The Furthest Charge book
- Effect: This legendary trait grants the skill "Rain of Thorns", which is an AoE, 6 point focus-costing shot that does a little less damage than the unslotted version of "Rain of Arrows", but roots targets that it hits (if they don’t resist) for 30 seconds as though they were affected by the "Set Trap" skill. Like "Set Trap", the root from this attack has a chance to break on damage, though it’s a bit sturdier. The cooldown on this skill is 5 minutes.
- Usage: The wise hunter will direct his fellowship to attack one target from a rooted group at a time, splintering them off from each other as their roots break from damage, dividing and conquering them. In the Ettenmoors, this attack is very handy for both blunting enemy charges and stopping enemies from escaping a rout.
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Bow of the Righteous
Legendary |
- Acquire: Complete level 50 Hunter quest.
- Effect: This is the first passive legendary trait that a Hunter can learn. It automatically grants the hunter a small amount of power on each use of a ranged attack skill where any portion of the attack hits. Unlike "Deadly Precision", this effect will only work once per skill use.
- Usage: A very fine, hands-off legendary trait, and in my opinion the best one a hunter can have. The more power a hunter can save with this trait; the more he can begin to unslot some of his regular traits that deal with power in favor of focusing more on damage or utility. This is not an endless supply of power for the Hunter, but it helps a lot.
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