Gear, player talent and spec play the major role in achieving optimum DPS for the spec you choose but don't forget about all the little aids that pad your talents! Gems, Enchants, Consumables and Glyphs!

I know those attack power and hit rating gems/enchants look delicious and awfully tasty but treat them like your urgings to eat five cakes in one sitting: DON'T DO IT. I consider it to be much more beneficial to gem/enchant agility as opposed to straight attack power. Why? Let's do some math!

Agility works like this: for every 1 agility, you get 1 ranged attack power (RAP) and 0.552 critical strike rating. 45.91 critical strike rating will grant you +1% to your critical hit percentage (crit chance). Hunters hit cap at 9% crit chance. To gain 1 DPS, you need roughly 14 RAP.

So let's say that you have a pair of gloves with 1 red socket. Doesn't that Crusher enchant and that Bright Crimson Spinel look like they'd be a perfect match? 44+20 = 64 RAP, which is a 4.5 DPS increase. That's okay but think outside the box and snatch up the Major Agility enchant and a Delicate Scarlet Ruby. You're going to end up with 36 RAP (2.5 DPS) but you're going to get 19.8 critical strike rating. The 2 DPS you'll be missing out on from the attack power enchant/gem combination doesn't outweigh the increase in crit. The more crit you have, the more likely it is that your hits are going to be hitting critically.

Finding the appropriate gems for your gear can be a bit of a daunting, tedious task. There's a lot of gems out there. You have to worry about your socket bonuses, too. Personally, if my socket bonus involves haste, I ignore it completely and put agility gems in it regardless of what kind of socket it holds. Just like choosing your gems and enchants, you have to weigh the pros and cons of getting your socket bonuses.

Below are some of the best (in my opinion) gems for Hunters in the game. I haven't included any straight attack power gems simply because I don't think there is any benefit to them. You may browse by Meta Gems, Red Gems, Yellow Gems, Purple Gems, Green Gems, Orange Gems, Prismatics or you can return to the table of contents to learn about other Hunter aids. Enchants are pretty straight-forward but I've listed the ones I'd recommend for Hunters here.

(III) CONSUMABLES

Consumables may not be permanent stat boosts and they do take some gold out of your pockets but they are still worth considering, especially if you're raiding. I use a combination of battle flasks and food buffs (if not already provided by my raid). Because Hunters can easily switch between Aspect of the Viper and Aspect of the Dragonhawk, I don't recommend any flasks or food buffs other than DPS ones.

Here are some items you might want to check into bringing with you on your raids:

Flask of Endless Rage Increases Attack Power by 180 for 1 hour. Counts as both a Battle and a Guardian elixir. Persists through death.

Flask of Relentless Assault Increases Attack Power by 120 for 1 hour. Counts as both a Battle and a Guardian elixir. Persists through death.

Blackened Dragonfin Restores 15,000 Health and 12,960 mana over 30 seconds. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating, you will become "well fed" and gain +40 Agility and +40 Stamina for 1 hour.

Poached Northern Sculpin Restores 22,500 Health and 19,200 Mana over 30 seconds. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating, you will become "well fed" and gain +80 Attack Power and +40 Stamina for 1 hour.

Mega Mammoth Meal / Mammoth Meal Mega Mammoth Meal: Restores 22,500 Health over 30 seconds. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating, you will become "well fed" and gain +80 Attack Power and +40 Stamina for 1 hour. Mammoth Meal: Restores 22,500 Health over 30 seconds. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating, you will become "well fed" and gain +60 Attack Power and +30 Stamina for 1 hour.

Grilled Sculpin Restores 22,500 Health and 19,200 mana over 30 seconds. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating, you will become "well fed" and gain +60 Attack Power and +40 Stamina for 1 hour.

Spicy Blue Nettlefish Restores 22,500 Health and 19,200 Mana over 30 seconds. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating, you will become "well fed" and gain +40 Critical Strike Rating and +40 Stamina for 1 hour.

Spiced Worm Burger Restores 22,500 Health over 30 seconds. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating, you will become "well fed" and gain +40 Critical Strike Rating and +40 Stamina for 1 hour.

Poached Nettlefish Restores 22,500 Health and 19,200 Mana over 30 seconds. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating, you will become "well fed" and gain +30 Critical Strike Rating and +40 Stamina for 1 hour.

Worm Delight Restores 22,500 Health over 30 seconds. If you spend at least 10 seconds eating, you will become "well fed" and gain +30 Critical Strike Rating and +30 Stamina for 1 hour.

Tasty Cupcake Because what could make you happier than a tasty cupcake?

Survival Spec Glyphs
Major Glyphs		Minor Glyphs
Glyph of Explosive Shot Increases the Critical Strike Chance of Explosive Shot by 4%.		Glyph of Feign Death Reduces the cooldown of Feign Death by 5 seconds.
Glyph of Kill Shot Reduces the cooldown of Kill Shot by 6 seconds.		Glyph of Revive Pet Reduces the pushback suffered from damaging attacks while casting Revive Pet 100%.
Glyph of Steady Shot Increases the damage dealt by Steady Shot by 10% when your target is afflicted with Serpent Sting.		Glyph of the Pack Increases the range of Aspect of the Pack by 15 yards. OR Glyph of Mend Pet Mend Pet increases your pet's happiness slightly.

Beast Master Spec Glyphs
Major Glyphs		Minor Glyphs
Glyph of Mending Increases the healing done by Mend Pet by 40%.		Glyph of Feign Death Reduces the cooldown of Feign Death by 5 seconds.
Glyph of Kill Shot Reduces the cooldown of Kill Shot by 6 seconds.		Glyph of Revive Pet Reduces the pushback suffered from damaging attacks while casting Revive Pet 100%.
Glyph of Steady Shot Increases the damage dealt by Steady Shot by 10% when your target is afflicted with Serpent Sting. OR Glyph of Bestial Wrath Decreases the cooldown of Bestial Wrath by 20 seconds.		Glyph of the Pack Increases the range of Aspect of the Pack by 15 yards. OR Glyph of Mend Pet Mend Pet increases your pet's happiness slightly.