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TIP  SUMMARY:

• Hunters can own in group PvP due to their 41 yard maximum range, longer than any other character.
• Solo PvP is a bit trickier for the Hunter, but with good micromanagement, it is definitely do-able.
• Hunters have perhaps the best ability to solo in this game in PvE, due to their tanking pets.
• Dump survival, go straight for Marksman talent line, and put the rest into Beast Mastery

"A dog is a man's best friend".  For the hunter in WoW you could say "a pet is a hunter's best friend".  If you play a hunter in WoW, your entire life in the game will be around your pets.  Forget about the idea of soloing alone pet-free, if you want to do that, don't choose a hunter.  Now, having said all this, the hunter, with his pet, IS (I think) the best solo'er in the game.  Why do I believe this?  Because the hunters on most of the servers were the first one's to reach the higher levels (40+). The ability for the hunter to tank with his pet, assist with his gun, and still be able to fight melee when the need arises, makes him a true solo artist.

Starting Race
My personal favorites for the hunter:   Dwarf due to the gun bonus and treasure tracking, make an obvious choice for the Alliance.  For the Hoarde, hands down go with Orc for the 25% resistance to stun (a favorite PvP tactic), Axe bonus and pet bonus.   One might question "why not a Night Elf due to the agility bonus?"  My answer:  go for the stamina and gun bonuses of the dwarf, your agility as a hunter will skyrocket in the long term.  A NE has precious few hit points, and just doesn't cut it IMHO.

Attributes
The primary attribute of the hunter is Agility.  Spirit and Int are worthless, and dead last in the attribute priority list for the hunter, so toss em out (one exception is that Spirit may have SOME value in regenerating a hunter's manna pool, but most abilities cost little manna).  Stamina is very useful, and comes in second, with strength coming in third.

Talents
There is a reason why you chose a hunter right?  So you can have a tanking pet and stay back and shoot.  With this in mind, it seems to be a waste to dump talent points into survival.  Might as well choose a Rogue.  The Hunter's strength is in his ability to hit from long range.  He is like the "legolas" of LOTR for Warcraft.  I believe that you should maximize a hunter's ability to hit hard and deadly from afar.  With this, dump your points into Marksmanship.  I wouldn't even bother spending a point into survival.  Marksmanship would be the first line I would invest in, with the goal of Trueshot aura, ranged weapon specialization, and mortal shot all maxed out.  Your leftover points should be spent on Beast Mastery.  Let your pet tank.  Dont waste talent points in Survival or you are defeating the strength of the hunter. 

Starting Out

The hunter, in general, has no problem leveling due to his ability to tank with his pet.   At the beginning, it may be a bit more difficult since you will have to wait until level 10 to get your "pet quest".  So for the first 10 levels, you will be limited.  "Aspect of the monkey" should be active at all times since this will be your only available aspect.  ( Hawk comes at level 10, and Cheetah at level 20.)  For the first few levels, your bread and butter shot will be Serpent Sting, as it drains your enemy of HP.  (A DOT).  You will need to hit them with this early, and then duel it out in melee.  Soon you will get concussive shot around level 5 or so, which slows your enemy down.  Here, you should mark your opponent, fire off a concussive, hit them with Serpent Sting, and by the time he reaches you, finish him off with Melee.  This will basically be your pattern up to level 10, at which you will get your pet and finally the real hunting can begin!

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