The advised leveling spec for new hunters is Beastmaster all the way to 60 (click here to see talent order). The fastest leveling spec for hunter without a %xp buff from levels 1-30 is likely Marksmanship if you get a strong bow or Survival if you micro around traps; you must be chain pull, kiting mobs without attempting to let your pet tank them on MM and constantly immolation trapping and static weaving mobs on SV. It is advisable to respec to BM once you are level 31 for Spirit Bond. If you’re new to the class I highly recommend going Beastmaster; Pathfinder’s movement speed and more pet damage to help your pet keep aggro are immense quality of life improvements to casual leveling.
The most significant contributors to leveling speed and QoL are pet and weapon progression. As mentioned in the pet section, screech pets (Owls and Vultures) are the recommended leveling pets as the debuff application of screech is the most threat / second of all the pet family skills. When using a screech pet for threat, you should only have screech and growl set to autocast; you may want to teach them Claw for dungeons where screech can be frustrating to tanks but you should never have both autocasting. Until you can get a screech pet, or in case you do not want one, cats will be the second best pets with Claw set to autocast (teaching and autocasting bite as well is a single digit dps gain with which the training points could be instead used for stamina/armor).
For bows, favor slower weapons if you are Marksmanship with a caveat that proc weapons like Venomstrike, Quillshooter, etc are a significant DPS gain at lower levels. For Beastmaster, favor mostly the DPS stat of weapons with a slight awareness that faster weapons chew through ammo quicker. Always use the highest level ammo available to you. For efficient, fast levelers it is recommended to train staves early for weaving.
At a glance, progression table:
| Lvl | Name | Source | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Hornwood Recurve Bow | Sen’jin/Shadowglen Bowyer | |
| 7 | Hickory Shortbow | Securing the Lines, Durotar | Horde only, optimal to take staff |
| 10 | Taming quest | Your starting zone | If Night elf, optimal to tame an Owl |
| Train staves | Darn/Org/SW/TB | Optional, but optimal for speed | |
| 10 | Cauldron Stirrer | Apothecary Zamah, Barrens | Horde only |
| 11 | Laminated Recurve Bow | Bowyers | |
| 14 | Fine Longbow | Bowyers | Limited stock, if out buy Reinforced Bow |
| 15 | Winder Rider Staff | Cry of the Thunderhawk, Barrens | Horde only |
| 17 | Screech 1 | Greater Fleshripper, Westfall | Horde swim from Grom’Gol blimp, optimally skip |
| 19 | Venomstrike | Final boss in WC | Lasts until Big Game Hunter (28) |
| 19 | Bow of Plunder | Dangerous, Hillsbrad | Horde only |
| 20 | Cliffrunners Aim | The Sacred Flame, Thousand Needles | Horde only |
| 20 | Heavy Recurve Bow | Bowyers | Buy if not doing any quests ^ v |
| 22 | Raptor’s End | Ormer’s Revenge, Wetlands | Alliance only chain |
| 22 | Polished Walking Stff | Torek’s Assault, Ashenvale | Horde only |
| 29 | Heavy Crossbow | SW/IF/UC Merchants | Worth learning crossbows if an upgrade |
| 31 | Headhunting Spear | Low drop rate BoE | |
| 32 | Big Stick | Vendors | Staff of Protection if out of stock |
| 33 | Quillshooter | BOE from RFD | Lasts until Mara bow (45) |
| 34 | Screech 2 | Salt Flats Vulture, Shimmering Flats | Worth routing around, insane QoL increase |
| 35 | Master Hunters Bow | Big Game Hunter, STV | Achievable early, but most people will wait till 40ish |
| 42 | Massive Longbow | Bowyers | Limited stock, buy if lucky |
| 45 | Staff of Lore | Gahz’ridian, Tanaris | |
| 46 | Highland Bow | Return to Primal Torntusk, Hinterlands | Horde only, elite quests |
| 49 | Screech 3 | Ironbreak Owl or Carrion Vulture | Vulture probably easier for Horde |
| 50 | Verdant Keepers Aim | Coirruption of Earth and Seed, Mara | Solo-able with practice at 45, keep bow until pre-BiS |
| 50 | Strength of the Treant | Weapons of Spirit, Feralas | Horde only, long chain, great weave weapon |
| 51 | Bloodseeker | Hero of the Stormpike, AV | This is your pre-raid BiS |
| 52 | Thornflinger | Wildkin of Elune, Winterspring | Alliance only, annoying chain |
| 54 | Sandstrider’s Mark | Wanted: Deathclasp, Terror of the Sands | Solo-able elite, not a big upgrade |
| 56 | Sarah’s guide | The Corpulent One, EPL | Horde only |
| 59 | Screech 4 | Winterspring Screecher | Learn for potential raid screeching |