What is a Hunter?
The Hunter is a second class of the Archer and a master of fighting from a distance. It shoots from far away with its bow or sets traps that stop, disable or blow up its targets. Traps can cause status effects (Sandman puts enemies to Sleep, for example) or deal elemental damage (Blast Mine, Land Mine).
The Hunter can also call a Falcon. With Blitz Beat the bird hits several monsters at once without arrows or traps, with Detect it reveals hidden enemies, and with Spring Trap it destroys traps from a distance.
Becoming a Hunter
The Hunter's Guild in Hugel gives an Archer three tasks: a personality test, a random item collection and a monster hunting quest. When they are done the Archer becomes a Hunter (see Job Change Quests).
Traps and falcon skills
| Skill | Effect |
|---|---|
| Blitz Beat | The Falcon hits a target and everything around it in a 3x3 area; can also trigger by itself. |
| Steel Crow (Lv 10) | More Falcon damage. |
| Claymore Trap | Explodes for Fire damage in a 5x5 area. |
| Blast Mine | Wind damage in a 3x3 area when triggered. |
| Land Mine | Earth damage with a chance to Stun. |
| Freezing Trap | Water damage and a chance to freeze the enemy. |
| Ankle Snare | Uses 1 Trap item to hold an enemy in place for a while. |
| Sandman | Can put enemies in a 5x5 area to Sleep. |
| Detect | The Falcon finds hidden enemies nearby. |
The list is shortened. Other Hunter skills are Beast Bane (more damage to Insect and Brute monsters), Falconry Mastery (rent and command a Falcon), Flasher, Shockwave Trap, Skid Trap, Talkie Box, Remove Trap and Spring Trap. The quest skill Phantasmic Arrow (job level 40) fires a magic arrow without using arrows and pushes the target 3 cells back.
Leveling builds
| Build | Stats at base level 99 | How it works |
|---|---|---|
| Arrow Shower | VIT 90, INT 50, DEX 90, others 1 | The Archer area skill stays the most reliable; elemental arrows help. |
| Traps | VIT 50, INT 90, DEX 90, others 1 | Trap damage uses DEX and INT, not attack, so you can even use a dagger and shield. |
| Blitz Beat | AGI 90, DEX 90, LUK 50, others 1 | Cheap for new players: the Falcon does the work; more LUK means more automatic Blitz Beats. |
Where the Hunter goes next
After rebirth the Hunter becomes a Sniper, which adds Falcon Eyes, Falcon Assault, Focused Arrow Strike and Wind Walker.
The third class is the Ranger. It rides a large wolf-like Warg that can also attack on command, uses Camouflage, gets stronger traps (including ones that change an enemy's element) and can set off its traps with Detonator. The fourth class is the Windhawk.
Sources
Game pictures: © Gravity Co., Ltd. · playragnarok.com