There's a reason so many of the screenshots I post are of gun using hunters wearing goggles! I've always enjoyed the advantages offered by Engineering, and found them to fit well with a Hunter's usual playstyle. I'm a Gnomish Engineer, and always have been. Please don't take my lack of testimony about Goblin Engineering to be a criticism. I just feel Hunters have sufficient ways to deal damage at range, and therefore never went that route. Here are a few of the devices I've found most useful in Engineering.
Gnomish Death Ray: This device is made and only by Gnomish Engineers and is bind on pickup. Unlike most Engineering devices, the Death Ray does not actually require that you be an Engineer to use it. Many people report a dramatic drop in efficacy when it is used by a non Engineer, though. This device charges up by doing damage to you, then fires a bolt of energy which can hit for over 2000 in one shot. This is problematic in melee, where you are already taking damage from your foe. Often invoking the ~100 DPS to yourself for those few seconds can kill you in that case. But a Hunter is usually not taking damage. You can afford the charge time while your pet tanks. The Death Ray is a great little addition to your arsenal at the levels when you'll be able to make it, but beware. The damage dealt does not scale up past level 60. By the time you're running around Outland, taking six seconds out to deal a couple thousand damage is a terrible idea. You'll be frequently getting close to that much from just autoshots, many of you.
Goblin Jumper Cables XL: These are made only by Goblin Engineers but are usable by either Gnomish or Goblin. They are an upgrade from the normal jumper cables, with a little better chance of success. These can save a whole group in the hands of a Hunter. When it looks as though the party's doomed (the healer and tank are both dead, for instance), you simply feign death. Once the fight is over and all your foes have run back to where they started, you come back and jumper cable the healer. They don't work every time, but they are practically essential for any Engineering hunter.
Gnomish Net-O-Matic Net Projector: Made by Gnomish Engineers and usable by either Gnomish or Goblin, the net-o-matic nets a target in place for 10 seconds. This is my "don't leave home without it" trinket for beast handling. When you tame a beast as a Hunter, the beast takes it as a hostile act and charges you. You cannot heal or run or counterattack without breaking the taming channel. So what you do is, you lay a freezing trap between you and the beast to tame. Then you shoot it with the net gun, which again holds it in place for 10 seconds. You net it and begin taming. In 10 seconds it breaks free and charges you, hitting your freezing trap. You keep taming. By the time it's out of the freezing trap, it's your pet. The net gun's use is, I confess, highly risky. You might possibly experience varying results in use. That, however, is part of the debatable appeal of Engineering.
Gnomish Poultryizer: The endgame of Engineering can be boiled down to one question, between Gnomish and Goblin. "Would you rather shoot a rocket at someone, or turn them into a chicken?" In many ways, it is a question of philosophy more than mathematics. As I mentioned above, hunters already have some reasonably reliable means of dealing damage at range. On the other hand, we only have one way to silence spellcasters (interrupting them is helpful but not the same). The Poultryizer is a ranged silence with a 15 second duration. It allows your target free movement, though they cannot cast spells or use ranged weapons. With a caster, this is a great way to trap them. A ranged caster who cannot cast will run at its target to engage in melee, regardless of whether there's a freezing trap in the way.
That is just a few of the specific devices available to a Hunter Engineer. There are more in Engineering, and certainly as good reasons to take other professions if you do decide to craft. Taking two gathering professions is not the most exciting career to embark upon, but it is a reliable one. Consider what you want for your character, and where you want to take it? Then consider how much it'll cost to get there. For the casual hunter, there's not a lot of ways to make solid gold reliably before you have a mount.
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