Hunters in WoW Forever have a minimum range on their ranged attacks, so a bow or gun won't fire when an enemy is right next to you. That gap is the "dead zone", and it works the way it did in Classic. A thread asking Blizzard to let Hunters use their bow up close got 80 replies on launch day. Blizzard hasn't said it will change.
Why it's there
The dead zone makes positioning part of playing a Hunter. Your pet holds the enemy while you shoot from range, and you use melee abilities when something reaches you. Players in that thread who defend it say Aimed Shot and other big shots would need nerfing if they worked point blank.
How to deal with it while levelling
- Get your pet early. Levelling is much harder before you have one. See our Hunter leveling guide.
- Send the pet in first, then start shooting as it takes hold of the enemy.
- Step back if something reaches you, then shoot again.
- Use your melee abilities when you can't get away. Keep a decent melee weapon for this.
- Slow the enemy before it reaches you, so you can stay at range.
Pick the spec that suits you
Our Hunter guide compares the specs, and the tier list shows how Hunter ranks for levelling.
Ranged swing timers are a separate problem. Players report that Forever's own swing timer shows no ranged bar. See our sister site's swing timer guide.