I don't know what you mean by "Hero," since they haven't added Hero classes yet, but those will probably be based on race/class past level 60.

I played a hunter to 20 before open beta ended, here's my take.

Very good solo after level 10, when you get a pet with growl. Before that... not so good. But 10 is nothing, 8 hours max, even for a noob.

Bows shoot faster than guns, but they do the same general damage per second.

Your pet will hold the aggro if you send it in first, and it uses growl; as long as you don't spam every ability you have.

All in all better than a mage, in my opinion.