warcraft mage dps

Can a hunter outdps a mage or vise versa, which is the best ranged dps class?

This is a world of warcraft question

It depends on the application and gearing level. An equally geared hunter will have more consistent damage with a potential for some decent burst damage but a mage can unload their mana bar in to somebody and far surpass a hunter for nuke damage. A hunter I would say is better for consistent DPS while a mage easily wins for single encounter based DPS.