Being a Hunter
Hunters are technologically advanced, they have exclusive weapons and armor, skillfully camouflage in the open, and hunt down those evil Vampires.
Pros
The benefits of being a Hunter is the exclusivity of items unlocked such as semi-automatic crossbows and Holy Water. Being a Hunter provides immunity against Vampiris Sanguinare which converts Humans to Vampires after an amount of time being effected.
PvPers will enjoy the array of combative bonuses, such as passively increased attack damage.
Cons
The drawback of being a Hunter is the arguably higher difficulty and cost for leveling compared to Vampires. Hunters will need to seek a living Trainer NPC which are found in specific villages under certain conditions, and do not respawn after death. While Vampires may reuse materials for leveling up, Hunters must permanently pay Trainers NPCs to do the same.
Hunters who do not wish to compete within combat will find much less offerings than if they were to become a Vampire.
Summary
Hunters are specialized in hunting Vampires thus having combat-focused skills. It is noteworthy that Vampires have a skill branch focused on combat, but nearly every Hunters skill is focused on combat. Hunters are essentially the improved form of a Human given that Hunters all the traits of humanity with only additional benefits.
Being a Vampire
Vampires are magical creatures who reign at night, using their magic to give themselves an edge, and spread their dark gift of Vampiris Sanguinare to Humans.
Pros
Vampires can turn into bats and fly, have passively increased speed with each levelup, ignored by fellow Vampires and Undead Zombies immediately and Creepers additionally with a skill, can teleport, gain strength from rage, and much more including a combat-skill branch, self sufficiency skills, and other generalized skills.
Vampire’s Hunger Bar is replaced with a Blood Bar for blood consumption. An iconic benefit of being a Vampire is the ability to consume Human Hearts which restores a full Blood Bar. For ever few levelups Vampires gain addition consumption capacity with 2 full Blood Bars being the highest achieved capacity.
Cons
Vampires cannot bear the Sunlight, highly vulnerable to fire, and gain weakness from water contact without skilled immunity. This together makes daytime activities and Nether exploration highly difficult. Vampires may die from night time exploration as a bat when encountering Hunter NPCs bearing a crossbow. Vampires visiting a Neutral village that drink too much blood from Villagers may cause Villager NPCs revolt and kill the Vampires.
While Vampires can indeed consume Human Hearts, Vampire’s diet is not very adaptable to new environment, relying upon blood-giving creatures to survive whereas Humans and Hunters can easily transport materials to make a quick vegetation farm. Vampires can pack Human Hearts and filled Blood Containers to address this con.
Summary
Vampires are generalized, offering a variety of possibilities that can be used in numerous ways. Since Vampires are magical creatures most skills are always available and ready for use, unlike the Hunter who must gain the skill and materially prepare.
Conclusion: Which is better?
There’s no definitive better when becoming a Hunter or Vampire. Which major faction to join depends on whatever suits you best. Are you combat focused? Become a Hunter. Prefer generality? Become a Vampire. Try experimenting with both factions to see what you like, you can always change later.
“Hunter versus Vampire – Which is better?”
by xXvPendragonvXx#1255/PendragonII, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0, includes minor modifications: capitalization