Best Hunter Professions for Dominating Wrath of the Lich King
As an experienced Hunter main, I get asked constantly – "what are the best professions to choose in Wrath of the Lich King?" After thoroughly playtesting, researching, and crunching the numbers, I‘m convinced that Engineering and Leatherworking stand tall above the rest.
Why Engineering Reigns Supreme
The gadgets and gizmos exclusive to Engineers make this profession every Hunter‘s best-in-slot choice. Engineering offers powerful combat benefits that no other profession comes close to providing. Let‘s analyze some of the ways Engineering gives us a dominant edge:
More Damage Output
My top recommendation for all Hunters is to take Engineering for its incredible DPS-boosting enhancements:
| Tinker | Effect |
|---|---|
| Hand-Mounted Pyro Rocket | Adds 198-369 fire damage on glove proc |
| Nitro Boosts | +320 Haste for 8 sec (boots) |
| Hyperspeed Accelerators | +340 Haste (head) |
| Flexweave Underlay | +23 Hit Rating (cloak) |
These extra sockets and enchants on our gear result in substantially higher DPS compared to other professions. Simulation data shows Engineering contributing roughly 200-300 DPS, outshining alternatives.
More Tactical Versatility
On top of raw damage improvements, Engineers also gain an unrivaled swiss-army knife of gadgets to dominate any situation:
- Saronite Bomb – Essential AoE attack for handling adds
- Armor Plated Combat Shotgun – Extra hard-hitting weapon ignoring armor
- Compact Harvest Reaper Kit – Speed up farming by 15%
- Jeeves Robot – Portable bank, vendor, and repair bot in one
The creativity enabled by all these tools is unmatched. We can pull tricks that no one sees coming.
More Efficiency
With repair bots, mailbox access, and farming perks, Engineering also enables us to play far more efficiently. The quality-of-life benefits are tremendous:
- Loot-A-Rang – Loot enemies from long range
- MOLL-E – Deposit/withdraw materials remotely
- Scrapbot Construction Kit – Vendor trash anywhere
Fewer trips back to town means more time to focus on the best parts of the game – combat and progression.
Maximal Synergy
Most importantly, Engineering advantages perfectly complement and enhance our Hunter toolkits. Traps, explosives, guns, and gadgets all mesh seamlessly with our class identity. As the ultimate ranged tinkerers, Engineering just fits what Hunters are all about.
No other profession grants such purpose-built benefits tailor-made for our class. The synergy is undeniable.
Leatherworking for Best-in-Slot Gear
If we‘ve already covered core Engineering perks, the 2nd profession slot should go to Leatherworking. With Leatherworking, we can craft most pieces of our pre-raid BiS sets and continue steadily gearing up through raid progression:
Pre-Raid Gear
| Slot | Piece | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Head | Helm of the Stampede | Crafted |
| Shoulders | Lightning-Charged Shoulderpads | Crafted |
| Legs | Caller‘s Leggings | Crafted |
| Boots | Nerubian Reinforced Boots | Crafted |
Just from Leatherworking skill-ups, we obtain 4 pieces of our pre-raid BiS gear for huge stat boosts early on.
Raid Gear
In Icecrown Citadel later on, Leatherworking opens access to the amazing Scourgeborne Battlegear set – offering big Agility, Armor Penetration, and Attack Power bonuses tailored for Hunters.
Special Buffs
Beyond gear crafting, Leatherworkers also gain +78 Attack Power intrinsically, extra Crit from leg armor kits, and unique raid buff drums. It‘s a perfectly symbiotic profession for bolstering our damage.
Evaluating Other Professions
While Engineering and Leatherworking are clearly the winners, what about alternatives like Blacksmithing, Jewelcrafting, or Gathering professions? Let‘s quickly assess their viability:
- Blacksmithing: Provides high armor gear but less synergistic than Leatherworking
- Jewelcrafting: Decent for socket bonuses but don‘t benefit enough without Leatherworking gear
- Herbalism/Mining: Very profitable but no combat perks
- Skinning: Useful early paired with Leatherworking but falls off end-game
All these options can work, but none directly improve combat performance like Engineering gadgets or Leatherworking‘s tailored gear. For pure PvE DPS dominance, our two champions stand far above any competition.
The Verdict
In closing, choosing Engineering and Leatherworking offers the surest path towards Hunter supremacy in Wrath of the Lich King raids. If maximizing damage and ease of progression rank high for you, go with this pair of professions for superior end-game performance. While gathering skills have economic benefits, for PvE this combo can‘t be beat!
Let me know if you have any other Hunter questions! I‘m always happy to share more detailed insights and theorycrafting notes. Stay deadly my friends 😉
