If you want to farm on maps that would flatten a melee job, and do it while half-watching a stream between pulls, the Hunter is built for you. It never has to enter striking range, it chips away at everything from the far edge of the screen, and it dies less than almost anything else on the roster. That safety earns it a solid A-tier reputation as the game's most reliable solo farmer. What trips new players up is the three-way fork in how you build it: ADL, Trapper and Falconer each play so differently that they may as well be separate classes. This guide sorts out which fork suits you and how to spend every stat and skill point once you commit.
Run ADL unless you have a reason not to: Agility for speed, Dexterity for damage and hit, Luck to round it out, then let auto-attacks and Double Strafe do the work. Trapper owns choke maps and add-control, Falconer is a niche pet hybrid. Aim for roughly 165 ASPD to farm and push toward the 193 cap for MVPs.
Why the bow is the easy button
Range is the entire pitch. A Hunter fights from the outer limit of its bow, kites in slow circles, and never plants its feet where a mob can answer back. That translates into fewer deaths, far less potion spam, and long farming sessions you can run on autopilot. The class does have a ceiling: on ultra-dense packs a Mage's area magic simply clears faster, and its single-target damage will not out-burst a Gunslinger on an MVP timer. But nothing else pairs this much safety with this little upkeep, which is exactly why so many players make the Hunter a permanent home rather than a stepping stone.
Three paths, one bow
Before you spend a single stat point, decide which build you are chasing, because they pull your stats in different directions. Here is the shape of each.
| Build | Focus | Core stats | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| ADL | Auto-attack DPS | AGI · DEX · LUK | Safe solo farming; the default for most Hunters |
| Trapper | Ground control | INT · DEX · AGI | Choke maps and blocking MVP adds off your party |
| Falconer | Pet hybrid | DEX · AGI | Undead and insect maps where the falcon survives |
Most Hunters live on the ADL side of that table, and for good reason. Trapper and Falconer both trade the plug-and-play simplicity of auto-attacks for setup work: laying ground skills, or feeding skill points into a pet tree, so treat them as deliberate specialisations rather than a first build. Mixing paths dilutes what makes each strong, so pick one and gear for it.
ADL: the auto-attack engine
ADL stands for Agi-Dex-Luk, and the name is the build. You stack Agility as your headline stat to drive attack speed, take Dexterity second for damage and hit, and sprinkle Luck last for a little crit and perfect-dodge synergy. The playstyle is single-target and rhythmic: fire Double Strafe the instant it comes off cooldown and let ordinary auto-attacks fill the gaps between casts. Do that while circling one durable mob at a time and the arrows simply melt it from a screen away.
Spend your early stat points on Dexterity first, from level one to about forty, you want basic attacks that almost never miss, with a light dusting of Agility for flee and starting speed. Through the mid game, roughly forty to seventy, swing toward a balanced split; a common pre-second-job target is 70-plus Dexterity and 50-plus Agility, nudged by whatever gear you have. Keep Vitality minimal, because if you are taking hits your kiting has already failed, and skip Intelligence entirely. Late on, stop chasing round numbers and tune toward ASPD breakpoints instead: comfortable farming sits near 165, MVP parties often want 185 or more with buffs, and 193 is the ceiling you can never cross.
On the skill sheet, Double Strafe is the only true must-max. It is the build's whole identity. Round it out with the bow passives Owl's Eye and Vulture's Eye, add Improve Concentration for a Dexterity buff that keeps your long farms sharp, and drop a single point into a basic trap for emergency crowd control when adds appear. Resist pouring points into the Falcon or Trapper lines unless you are fully committing to a respec.
Traps and falcons
The two specialist builds exist for problems ADL cannot solve cleanly. The Trapper leans on Intelligence and Dexterity to scale trap damage, with just enough Agility to place traps and slip away. Instead of kiting one mob, you seed the ground with skills like Claymore Trap or Blast Mine and pull packs through the field. It is slower than ADL on open ground, but on dense maps with predictable spawn paths, and in messy public MVP fights where you need to block adds off your party, it earns its keep.
The Falconer splits its damage between arrows and an automated falcon pet, built on Dexterity and Agility plus points funnelled into pet skills. It creates a distinct farming rhythm and shines on maps where the bird survives well, notably some undead and insect zones, but it falls off hard anywhere area damage kills the pet quickly. It rewards players who genuinely enjoy pet classes; everyone else is better served by ADL's consistency.
Gear, refines and MVP sniping
Your bow leads every gear decision. Pick up a Composite Bow or equivalent tier and refine it to about +7 before you touch armor, then take safe +5 stops on your chest and shoes. For cards, load race or size damage on the weapon to match your farming target, ASPD or Agility on your gloves, and flee on the garment to survive the occasional mis-kite. Keep Agility food, awakening potions and a healthy arrow stock on hand. An infinite quiver from events is worth grabbing if you can. You do not need a flashy +15 to farm efficiently here; steady consistency beats gambling ore away, and our safe refine guide lays out where the no-destruction stops sit.
Against MVPs the plan is patience. Arrive early, park yourself at maximum bow range, and hold steady single-target damage while the boss burns down. Let a Knight's Provoke hold aggro and step out of any ground area effect rather than tanking it. Free wings help you reposition in a hurry and cut the travel time to distant boss camps, so unlock them before you go hunting far afield. You will not out-burst a Gunslinger for the kill title, but you will outlast it, which is often the difference between a clean run and a wipe.
The Hunter and Job Freedom
The Hunter fits two very different players. For the casual solo grinder it makes an excellent permanent main. It never demands you min-max every pull, and the low death rate keeps play relaxed. Efficiency seekers tend to use it the other way, levelling a Mage first for raw speed and then swapping into Hunter for pressure-free farming once the rush is over. Just budget for the switch: Hunter gear barely overlaps with caster sets, so you will need a dedicated bow and armor stash rather than recycling old kit. That is the one tax on an otherwise smooth transition through Job Freedom, and it is a small one for a class this comfortable to sit in.
Common questions
Which Hunter build should a new player run?
ADL, without much debate. It asks for a bow, three stats and attack speed, and nothing else. Trapper wants map knowledge and setup time, while Falconer leans on pet trees that behave differently depending on the content. Both are better as a second build once you know the game.
Does a Hunter out-level a Mage?
No. A Mage clears dense packs faster and wins raw levels-per-hour. What the Hunter wins is survival: you farm from maximum range, rarely die, and burn far fewer potions. Trade speed for comfort and you have picked the right class.
What ASPD should I aim for?
Comfortable solo farming begins around 165 ASPD; MVP parties tend to want 185 or more once buffs are counted, and the hard ceiling is 193. Push AGI and gear toward a breakpoint rather than a round number, and keep enough DEX to stay accurate on your map.
Hunter or Gunslinger for ranged damage?
Gunslinger wins burst and mobility, which makes it the stronger competitive MVP racer. The Hunter wins safe solo farming and trap control. If you want relaxed clears you can run for hours, take the bow; if you want to top boss damage boards, take the gun.