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According to Hunters, a ruthless offense of tooth and claw is better than any defense. These lone survivalists tap into their feral nature to take down their prey with hidden traps, tamed beasts, and volleys of baleful arrows.[1]

Hunter icon Hunter is one of 11 classes in Hearthstone.

Heroes[]

Hunter is represented by the following heroes. Rexxar is the default hero of Hunter.

Heroes
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Alternate portraits
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Background[]

Main article: Hunter

From an early age the call of the wild draws some adventurers from the comfort of their homes into the unforgiving primal world outside. Those who endure become hunters. As masters of their environment, hunters are able to slip like ghosts through the trees and lay traps in the paths of their enemies. These expert marksmen drop foes dead in their tracks with flawless shots from a bow, crossbow or rifle. With the ability to wield two weapons simultaneously, hunters can unleash a flurry of blows against anyone unfortunate enough to stumble into close combat with them.

The art of survival is central to the isolated life of a hunter. Hunters track beasts with ease and enhance their own abilities by attuning themselves to the feral aspects of various creatures. Hunters are known for the lifelong bonds they form with animals of the wild, training great hawks, cats, bears, and many other beasts to fight alongside them.[2]

Hero Power[]

Steady Shot
Main article: LegacySteady Shot
Ready! Aim! FIRE![1]

LegacySteady Shot is the hunter's Hero Power, dealing 2 damage direct to the enemy hero. Steady Shot is a very direct and straightforward Hero Power - unlike many other Hero Powers, it does not offer special synergies or boast a range of possible uses, but what it lacks in strategic complexity it makes up for in sheer effectiveness. Without Health or Armor-granting effects, Steady Shot can single-handedly destroy the opponent and win the game in just 15 turns if used every turn. This allows the hunter to rely upon Steady Shot's damage to make steady progress toward victory, regardless of the state of the board. Steady Shot works well with an aggressive approach to build pressure on the opponent.

While it is very effective for bypassing enemy minions, note that the hunter cannot use Steady Shot on any other target, but can only deal damage to the enemy hero. However, some cards are able to expand Steady Shot's functionality, notably Goblins vs GnomesSteamwheedle Sniper and Descent of DragonsDwarven Sharpshooter, granting it the ability to target any character and opening up a range of strategic possibilities.

Replacement Hero Powers[]

Ballista Shot
Dinomancy
Build-A-Beast
Berserker Throw
Pharaoh's Warmask
Summon Pet

Traits[]

Beasts[]

A Hunter’s ability to tame beasts of all shapes, sizes, and dispositions means that they never truly hunt alone. Buff up your fearsome friends and head into battle with a myriad of companions at your side.[1]
Featured cards
Jeweled Macaw
Call Pet
Dire Frenzy
Halazzi, the Lynx

Traps[]

Tread lightly, heroes. A Hunter can lay deadly trap secrets that activate should their opponent make a misstep in their hunting grounds.[1]
Featured cards
Explosive Trap
Freezing Trap
Bear Trap
Rat Trap

Shots[]

Hunters can charge their ranged weaponry with powerful effects to discharge debilitating and lethal shots.[1]
Featured cards
Marked Shot
Deadly Shot
Quick Shot
Explosive Shot

How to get cards[]

Core cards[]

Raising Hunter up to level 10 awards 17 Core Hunter cards (32 copies), while winning up to 500 games in Ranked, Arena and Duels awards golden copies of existing cards. All Core cards are uncraftable and cannot be crafted or disenchanted.

Up to level 10, reaching each level will award the player two copies (one at level 10) of new Core Hunter cards.

Arcane Shot
Unlocked at level 1.
Jeweled Macaw
Unlocked at level 1.
Explosive Trap
Unlocked at level 1.
Quick Shot
Unlocked at level 1.
Animal Companion
Unlocked at level 1.
Deadly Shot
Unlocked at level 1.
Marked Shot
Unlocked at level 1.
Dragonbane
Unlocked at level 10.
King Krush
Unlocked at level 10.
Tracking
Unlocked at level 2.
Savannah Highmane
Unlocked at level 3.
Freezing Trap
Unlocked at level 4.
Candleshot
Unlocked at level 5.
Cat Trick
Unlocked at level 6.
Selective Breeder
Unlocked at level 7.
Doggie Biscuit
Unlocked at level 8.
Wandering Monster
Unlocked at level 8.

Expansion cards[]

Hunter - Card pack

Hunter pack

Main article: Card pack

Hunter's expansion cards can be obtained mostly by obtaining corresponding card packs or Hunter class packs. The player can buy them in Shop with gold or real money, or get them through various sources. Some cards may be available through various promotions, like logging in to get them.

Mini-set cards, while can be obtained like expansion cards, can also be obtained by buying its bundle available in Shop for a limited-time. The player can buy the bundle with gold or real money.

Expansions cards are also craftable and can be obtained by crafting them with Arcane Dust.

Adventure cards[]

Main article: Adventure

Adventure cards can be obtained by completing their Adventure's encounters. They are uncraftable until the player completes the Adventure or their set rotates to Wild format. The player can buy the Adventure with gold for each individual part, or real money for the whole of it.

Cards[]

For Standard format cards, see Hunter/Standard format.
For Wild format cards, see Hunter/Wild format.
For Classic format cards, see Hunter/Classic format.

Breakdown of Hunter cards in both Standard and Wild formats can be seen in the following table.

HunterHunter card statistics
Rarity Hero Minion Spell Weapon Location Anomaly
Free 0 8 12 0 0 0
CommonCommon 0 57 59 7 0 0
RareRare 0 50 53 5 1 0
EpicEpic 0 19 34 6 0 0
LegendaryLegendary 4 43 5 3 0 0

Strategy and gameplay[]

NB: This video's depiction of LegacyStarving Buzzard and LegacyFlare are now out of date.

Many hunter decks revolve around the use of Beast minions while maintaining board control. Many hunter-only cards benefit from having other Beasts in play or in your hand or deck, such as LegacyTimber Wolf, LegacyTundra Rhino, LegacyHoundmaster or Rastakhan's RumbleMaster's Call. Certain cards with strong Beast synergy tend to become high priority targets for your enemies; LegacyStarving Buzzard for example lets you draw a card every time another Beast is summoned, while LegacyScavenging Hyena gains +2/+1 for every friendly beast that dies while it is in play.

Hunters are strong at aggression, being able to utilize early game minions like Rastakhan's RumbleSpringpaw and Mean Streets of GadgetzanAlleycat and follow it up strongly with cards like Rastakhan's RumbleHeadhunter's Hatchet or Journey to Un'GoroCrackling Razormaw. They have access to low-cost direct damage spells like LegacyKill Command and Blackrock MountainQuick Shot for burst damage, while their Hero Power, LegacySteady Shot outputs consistent damage directly at the enemy hero. A deck on the extreme side of aggression is the "Face Hunter", using nothing but cheap, direct damage minions like LegacyLeper Gnome and LegacyWolfrider to inflict as much damage as quickly as possible. Face Hunter sacrifices longevity for immediate damage, aiming to defeat the opponent before they are able to mount a defence.

Hunter decks can also be strong midrange, tempo decks which involve strong board control while playing and buffing Beasts, with cards like LegacySavannah Highmane, LegacyFreezing Trap, and The WitchwoodHoundmaster Shaw. Many hunter decks revolve around Secrets, of which hunters have a strong range. Hunter Secrets especially tend to affect the board, with cards like LegacyExplosive Trap, LegacySnake Trap and LegacyMisdirection giving any opponent reason to hesitate before sending a minion to attack. LegacyEaglehorn Bow is a staple hunter card for use with Secrets.

While Hunters are best known for their minion quality, they are no slouch when it comes to spells. Cards like LegacyDeadly Shot and Rise of ShadowsMarked Shot are formidable forms of removal, Rise of ShadowsUnleash the Beast and Kobolds & CatacombsLesser Emerald Spellstone summon hefty token minions, and some spells like Kobolds & CatacombsFlanking Strike and Rastakhan's RumbleBaited Arrow even do both. Cards like Rise of ShadowsVereesa Windrunner and Rastakhan's RumbleZul'jin reward spell-heavy decks by upping their value tremendously. They can even run a deck with no minions, using Kobolds & CatacombsRhok'delar and Kobolds & CatacombsTo My Side! for extreme value generation.

Hunters also have a Deathrattle theme, with cards like Knights of the Frozen ThronePlay Dead, Whispers of the Old GodsForlorn Stalker, Kobolds & CatacombsSeeping Oozeling, and Rise of ShadowsNine Lives to duplicate Deathrattle effects without even killing the minion.

Counters[]

Hunters are very synergistic in that they require Beasts on the board to make full use of their cards such as LegacyKill Command and LegacyHoundmaster, so maintaining board control and killing Beasts as soon as possible will cripple a hunter. Early removal of LegacyScavenging Hyena especially is essential, but ideally make sure never to leave a Beast on the hunter's board. Hunters can have surprising burst damage with LegacyUnleash the Hounds, LegacyKing Krush, or hidden LegacyKill Command cards in their hand so try to keep your Health high or keep strong Taunt minions on the board for as long as possible.

Secrets[]

Hunters have moderately strong Secrets that can wreak havoc if not properly accounted for. Proper counter-strategy requires knowledge of the popular Secrets in the current meta, and ideally your opponent's deck, but when in doubt, the following precautions can help avoid the worst of their effects.

  • Attack the hero directly with a low cost or unimportant minion, or a minion played primarily for its Battlecry, in case of LegacyFreezing Trap.
  • Attack the hero directly before summoning any more minions to avoid unnecessary damage from LegacyExplosive Trap. Buffing your minions to increase their Health to 3 or above can also be useful to prevent their deaths.
  • Make sure to use removal on cards that have synergy with beasts such as LegacyStarving Buzzard before attacking a minion in case of LegacySnake Trap. Removal of the snakes with Area of Effect spells may become a priority if the hunter has synergistic cards in their hand like LegacyScavenging Hyena.
  • Play a weak minion or a minion where taking 4 damage is acceptable in case of LegacySnipe.
  • Attack with a weak minion first to minimize damage done by LegacyMisdirection. Buff the Health of the minion that you are not attacking with beforehand if it will prevent its death if the weak minion attacks it.

Trivia[]

  • Goblins vs GnomesHemet Nesingwary was the original hunter hero in the game's pre-alpha.[3] Rexxar was eventually chosen for the role in part due to his strong connection with Beasts, which the developers wanted to focus on.[4]
  • Hunter was the game's original starting class. This was changed to mage because the developers wanted to use a non-weapon class, presumably to reduce complexity.[5]

Gallery[]

Card frames
Dual-class
History

Patch changes[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Hunter - Heroes - Hearthstone. PlayHearthstone. Retrieved on 2021-06-20.
  2. http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/class/hunter
  3. Ben Brode on Twitter. (2015-06-11). 
  4. Ben Brode on Twitter. (2015-01-01). 
  5. Ben Brode on Twitter. (2015-08-19). 


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