Hi! Newb here.

[Adam-Savage]

Hello! It's great to see so many new faces around here. (Not that I'm tired of the old faces, mind.)

We used to have an introduction thread but I can't find it. Feel free to start a new one.

I'm not that old!

[sythspawn]

Are you on US or EU realms? I'm pretty sure, someone might be willing to meet with you ingame and show you some stuff.

US. Dentarg. I have some older alts on other realms, but I'm seriously considering deleting them and starting fresh at a later date.

[Cryptography]

I strongly suggest creating a horde toon on nessingwary then... thats the main hangout for (US) petopians. Great bunch of folks!

[Karathyriel]

If he wants to delete all his toons, that is not a bad idea, as long as he's not playing with friends or has some other reasons for his realm-choice.

On the other hand, all petopians, not only those in the US, are available for help here.

But then, being in one guild with Vephriel...
(I still owe her some ice cream )

Oh well, you'll find a way to enjoy your hunter, I'm sure about that.
Is there a way to not enjoy a hunter?
Hmmm....
I don't think so!

[sythspawn]

I got my mount the other night, and started questing in the Wetlands. Last night's session was a disaster, though. I must've died at least a dozen times. I have no idea what I might be doing wrong (other than facing mobs that are at least 4 levels higher than I am). If I weren't high enough to handle them, why would the quest be open to me?

[Mockingbird]

It's open to you because it's an MMORPG, meaning two things:

1) Some classes are better than others (and this switches around as you level, different classes being strong at different points), so it might be reasonable for one and hard for another

2) Some people play in groups - that 4-levels-higher monster might be too tough for a solo DPS charactrer, but with a tank (a tough guy with a lot of health) and a healer working together they might be a cake-walk.

Generally speaking, the colour of the quest in your log shows how tough it is - Grey is so far beneath you as to be almost pointless unless the reward (or story) is particularly good; Green should be easy; most yellow ones are soloable but you may have to take care not to accidentally pull extra monsters into the fight; orange and red are likely to be tricky to impossible, depending on class and how experienced/lucky you are.

I personally hate the wetlands - lots of hidden monsters (well, lurking in ditches) to accidentally meet, lots of Gnolls which run away and bring their friends, lots of murlocs which do the same.

If you're in your early 20s and Alliance then the areas Darkshore and/or Ashenvale might be more to your taste, but getting there might be quite a trek.

Edit: ok, I re-read your older posts and a lot of this you doubtless already know! I had you pegged as a totally new player, so sorry if it seems a bit stating-the-obvious.

[sythspawn]

I'm just wondering if I should level up some more before continuing with quests or if I need a change in tactics, or just a different pet.

[Mockingbird]

What spec and pet are you using at the moment?

Generally, if you're finding normal quests are tough then levelling a bit (usually by finishing any left-over quests chains in the previous zone) is not a bad idea.

At that level, most pets will hold aggro pretty well, especially if you're using beast mastery. I would say send your pet in first (it's handy to have a key for this, the default is ctrl-1 I think), and once it attacks a target, you attack that one too. That should help keep monsters off of you, and they'll die quite fast. If the enemies are a few levels above you (and your pet) then the pet will miss with its attacks, so the enemy is more likely to come running over and whomp on you. This effect is quite noticeable for hunters, whereas another class that is expecting to get hit might just notice the fights take a bit longer.

I suggest a bear is a good pet, or a spider. The bear is tough enough to take the hits, whereas the spider has a web ability that can hold the enemy in place and stop it from reaching you.

[sythspawn]

I'm using a bear and beast mastery.

Maybe I just need to play around with my tactics more.

[Epicfail]

Honestly Syth, its a faster xp/time ratio to do green/yellow quests (your level or lower) in my humble opinion.

I'll say also that the tactics I used when leveling (too many) hunters was this:
1. send pet in (target enemy and click pet attack button)
2. Cast hunters mark while pet closes gap
3. start off with serpent sting to "ease" into dpsing the target to allow your pet to fully gain agro.

Your bear makes an incredible tank as a tenacity pet. Let him "tank" the mob while you shoot it in the butt. Sometimes its better NOT to use specials when theres a chance you could pull the mob off your pet. Steady damage wins the long fight. You might also see if you can afford some upgrades to your gear to keep as close to what you CAN equip as possible. Letting your gear age too much will make you MUCH weaker in the long haul.

[sythspawn]

Letting your gear age too much will make you MUCH weaker in the long haul.

I've been trying not to buy gear, and only equipping the loot that is higher value than what I've already got. What should I be looking for?

[Epicfail]

main stat is agi, then stam. Avoid int, str and spirit gear. stick to leather until you are 40 and then steer towards mail armor from that point forward. Dungeon quests that give blue weapons and armor are generally favored and you should Q up in the LFG tool for those dungeons your level to capitalize on those. Even if you don't have the quests, the bosses should drop at least a few good items for you to enjoy so make sure you are grouping up in the dungeons at your level as you can. There's a whole debate over whether two handed weapons are better than two one-handed weapons, but since our melee weapons end up being more about adding stats then getting much swing time, you should just focus on what +stats each has on them and pick the one(s) with more.

Also. what are your professions? To be honest, I should have recommended earlier to level up a miner and/or herbal/skinner along with this character. Gathering professions are an absolute essential to affording all of the cool junk later on, especially for a new character. Mine all you can. Herb and/or skin all you can. Make sure "find minerals/herbs" is up on your mini map at all times, since you can have both activated at once now. When you get a 20 stack of ore/herbs, smelt and sell them on the auctionhouse for just under what the lowest bid is for a 20 stack. You will make a KILLING selling minerals/herbs and skins on the AH right now. As far as which two of the three gathering professions you should take, it depends on your play style. Personally I like "finding" nodes as I quest, but skinning is for those who want to "double loot" the mobs that are skinnable. In outland/northrend, you can also "skin" some elementals if you have mining or herbal and get minerals and herbs off them as well.

[sythspawn]

My professions are skinning and leatherworking. I sell what I don't use to bolster the skills. Right now, the goods that I make through leatherworking aren't all that popular in the AH. But, I have sold some stacks when I have them.

[Epicfail]

Now, I don't want to add any bias to your choices. I have a very heavy bias and when combined with my intimidating manner, all types of people agree with me .

I'll just state that Leatherworking takes a considerable dump of materials into it to max it out and the benefit at the end game really doesn't justify taking up a profession spot while leveling up your toon with money being needed for skills, gear and whatnot. When you are maxxed out, you'll have tons of money and time to invest in production professions without the distraction of leveling and gearing out your characters, not to mention you'll have much more know-how about exactly why you want the production profession you've chosen, down to the stat-bonuses/conveniences it provides.

I won't tell you to unlearn leatherworking and take up mining or herbing because it matters more that you play the game the way you want to play it. However I will tell you that at your level you could have several hundred gold already, gear bought from the AH that matches or nearly meets your level and by the time you max out your hunter you'll have thousands more, just by collecting things as you level. If that doesn't matter to you, then do your thing and enjoy the impoverished pride of a self-made man.