Trueshot Aura

There are a several strategies we can use to manage threat successfully. The first thing to do is no doubt to pick up and start using a good threat meter, which I've already covered and will not bore you with again. This time we're going to focus on what we can do before, at the beginning of, and during a battle.

Okay. So here we are, all set up for the fight. Targets are marked, traps are down (if applicable), you and your party are all at full health and mana, and ready to lay the smack down on that first pat. We want to do this right. First and most important, is don't generate more threat than the MT in the first place. This is easier said than done. As a DPS class, when we start shooting, what we really want to do is unload on the creep we're fighting. Unfortunately, starting out like this is the best way to make sure that you take and hold aggro. (Whoops--not what we want to do!) Give your tank a few seconds to do some damage, gain enough rage, and get a few sunder armors in. Then send your pet in and start shooting. Another thing to keep in mind at the beginning of a fight, is that if your pet is supporting a tank or offtank and not actually offtanking, turn growl off. This will keep your pet from pulling aggro off of our tank, and keep the threat right where we want it. Start slowly, then ramp up your DPS as your tank gathers aggro.

Now, in a perfect world, this tactic would always work flawlessly. Unfortunately, the world we play in is far from perfect, right? So eventually, we're going to get either one massive crit, or even several in a row (pewpewpew!). It's fantastic damage, which is great, but it also generates fantastic amounts of threat, which is not so great. This spike in threat can be enough to unbalance even the most carefully set up, slow-and-steady aggro gain, and we've gotten the attention of the mob we're fighting. Whoops. What now? We need to ditch aggro, and FAST. This is not the time for hesitation, hunter. Feign death NOW. Don't wait a few seconds to see what happens. Tumble to the ground, wait a second, then get back up and keep on DPSing.

Seriously, feign death as soon as you see that mob target you. This is easy since, being the sensible hunters we are, we've configured WoW so that we always see the target of our target. If it switches to us, we ditch aggro ASAP. Feign Death is made for this situation, and the faster we use it, the better the outcome. Proximity factors into threat. Feign immediately, and your aggro drops while the mob is still right by the tank, who can easily pick up the aggro. Wait a few seconds, though, and that mob is now right in your face, and not only is your feign more likely to be resisted the closer the mob is to you, but now the players closest to said mob are the healers, who've also been slowly and carefully building aggro by healing your party members, and the casters, who've been DPSing right along with you, thus building aggro. The mob can tear up your casters before your tank has time to run over and re-establish threat. This can wipe a party if it happens at an inopportune time, and this is why hunters as a class can come off looking...um...not smart. What do we do if our feign is resisted you can't/didn't feign death fast enough? The answer is actually fairly low-tech. Just run back to your tank, and they can re-establish aggro. Yes, you'll get beaten on. You may even die on the way back. But please believe Aura when she tells you it's better for you to die than for the healer to be taken down. Really.