A Marksmanship Hunter is an amazing shooter that relies completely onto their range weapon mastery.
Introduction
Let’s take a closer look at the weakest and the strongest aspects of this specialization:
Advantages:
- High single target damage
- Very high burst potential and AOE
- High mobility
- The abilities’ active range is longer than the standard 40 m (increases by Mastery).
Disadvantages:
- Lack of cleave on 2 targets, cleave is limited by Aimed shot and Rapid fire on 5 targets.
Basic information on the spec:
Like any other Hunter spec, Marksmanship uses Focus as their key resource. In the base configuration, this specialization has a pet, but in 100% passive ability Lone Wolf is used which brings us to the model of dealing damage solely by you.
Glossary
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AoE (Area of Effect) is basically the area where this of that effect is actuated regardless of whether its damage or healing. This command is usually used to act in a team/raid on several targets. It is also used to describe any ability of a Boss with the aforementioned effect.
Buff stands for any positive effect. Always reflected to the left of the mini-map, by its upper edge.
Burst is an ability to do – in multiple ways – massive damage within a short period of time.=
GCD (Global Cooldown) is the overall ability recovery time.
Debuff stands for negative effect. By default, it’ reflected to the left of the mini-map by its lower edge.
DoT stands for Damage over Time.
DPS (Damage per Second) is a measure that reflects the damage done within one second.
Cleave is an ability to damage secondary targets through damaging the main one with no (or minor) loss in the damage done to the main target.
Cooldown (often CD) primarily refers to the ability recovery time. Can be often applied to bursts and various protective abilities.
Melee and Range. Melee is the close-range combat zone, also used in the titles of all the classes and specs that do effective damage in this zone. Range usually refers to a zone that is not a close-range one and is used, respectfully, in the titles of all classes and specs that do effective damage remotely.
Trait is a name for the ‘talents’ your artifact has.
Main abilities
Aimed shot – requires 30 Focus, 2.5 sec cast time. Deals great physical damage and has 2 charges with 12 sec recharge, recharged by Trueshot and haste amount. Also triggers passive skill Precise shots that buffs 1-2 your next Arcane shot by 75%. Arcane Shot – requires 15 Focus an instant shot dealing minor Arcane Magic damage. Rapid fire– Channeling ability that generates focus and deals high damage. It lasts 3 sec and generates 10 Focus. Usable while moving. Has 20 sec cd. Multi-Shot – requires 15 Focus. Allows you to hit the current target and all the enemies within the 10-m range dealing minor physical damage to each. If you hit 3 or more targets it triggers passive ability Precise shots making the next Aimed shot or Rapid fire to ricochet on 5 additional targets.Offensive abilities
Pet’s tools: Beast Lore allows you to find out information about the pet you choose – its characteristics, food type and whether it is considered exotic or not. Dismiss Pet allows you to temporarily remove your pet in 3 secs. Feed Pet can be used out of combat. Restores your pet 50% of their Health. Different pet types feed of different types of food. Mend Pet allows you to restore 25% of their max Health within 10 secs. CD 10 secs. Tame Beast is used when you have an empty pet summoning slot, and none of your pets are summoned at the moment. The spell allows you to try and tame a beast of your choice. You cannot tame exotic beasts. Call Pet allows you to summon one of your tamed pets instantly.Pet
Trueshot – After rework in 8.1 it reduces cooldowns of Aimed shot and Rapid fire by 60% and cast time of Aimed shot twice. Lasts 15 sec and has 3 min cd. Mastery: Sniper Training increases the range of your long-range abilities by 5% (increases by the Mastery rating) as well as increases damage dealing by the abilities that spend 20% of your Focus (also increased by the Mastery rating). Hunting Party reduces the remaining restoring time by 30 secs if you kill a target.Bursts, important CDs and passive effects
Aspect of the Turtle allows you, for 8 secs, delect all attacks and receive 30% less damage. CD 3 min. Exhilaration instantly restores you 30% of your max Health, and to your pet – 100%. CD 2 min Feign Death helps you simulate your death (to quit a combat completely, you need to first call your pet off, or buy at your class hall a pet training manual, that allows your pet to have the same ability). Active for 6 min or until cancelled. CD 30 secs, starts only when you exit the condition.Deffensive abilities
Bursting Shot costs 10 Focus and deals teeny physical damage and throws back all the enemies in front of you after which they slowed for 6 secs. Counter Shot allows you to interrupt the casting of a spell by your enemy and prevents them from using a spell of the same school for 3 secs. Aspect of the Cheetah increases your running speed by 90% for 3 secs, and by extra 30% over the following 9 secs. CD 3 min.. Concussive Shot slows your target down by 50% for 6 secs. CD 5 secs. Freezing Trap allows you to throw the trap onto the selected spot. The first enemy to hit it becomes paralyzed for 1 min. Any damage dealt to the enemy cancels the trap’s effect. Can be maintained on no more than 1 enemy at a time. The trap exists for 1 min. CD 30 secs. Tar Trap allows you to throw the trap onto the selected spot; when an enemy activates it, the trap explodes and creates a tar pool with an 8-m range for 30 secs. Your enemies’ moving speed within the pool shrinks by 50%. The trap exists for 1 min. Eagle Eye allows you to move your point of view over to the selected area for a minute. Flare lights up the selected area for 20 secs which allows you to uncover the invisible enemies. CD 20 secs. Disengage allows you to make a leap back. CD 20 secs. Misdirection transfers the whole menace you generate over to the selected member of your group/raid for 8 secs. CD 30 secs.Utility abilities
Talents
General information. On achieving several new levels you’ll get access to new talent ‘Tiers’. Talents may have different effect on abilities: add new features, replace old ones, modify passively different effects and spells. Talents can be changed in Sanctuaries or any recreational zones. However, if you don’t have any of those places nearby you can use the Codex of the Tranquil Mind which allows you to switch channels within a minute. You can’t change talents in combat. You can’t change a talent if the talent you’ve picked in the last Tier is on Cooldown. You’ll have to wait until it’s restored first.
Tier 1. Lvl 15
- Master marksman – Aimed shot has 100% chance to reduce the focus of the next Arcane shot or Volley by 100%
- Serpent sting – A shot that poisons your target causing Nature damage instantly and additionally over 12 sec
- A murder of crows. Summons a flock of crows to attack your target dealing damage over 15 seconds. If the target dies while under attack, cooldown of the ability is reset
*Master marksman Is the default talent for the spec.
Tier 2. Lvl 30
- Careful aim – Aimed shot deals 50% bonus damage to targets who are above 80% health or below 20% health.
- Volley. Auto-shooting that has 25% chance to Inflict physical damage to all targets within 8 yards
- Explosive shot. Fires an explosive shot at your target. After 3 sec, the shot will explode, dealing Fire damage to all enemies within 8 yards.
*Careful aim. is practically used in all situations. Explosive shot could be used in Mythic+ where targets die quickly.
Tier 3. Lvl 45
- Trailblazer. Your movement speed is increased by 30% anytime you have not attacked anyone for 30 seconds.
- Natural mending. For every 20 spent Focus reduces the remaining time on Exhilaration by 1 second
- Camouflage. You and your pet gain stealth for 1 min with 1 min cd
*Talents of this tier are designed for survivability of your character, choose what you like the most. It is more profitable to use Natural mending in raid for minor heal increase. In mythic mode it would be more reasonable to take Camouflage allowing you to pass by packs in stealth.
Tier 4. Lvl 60
- Steady focus – Using steady shot reduces the cast time of it by 20%, stacking up to 2 times. Using the other shot removes this effect.
- Streamline – Rapid fire now lasts 20% longer.
- Hunter’s mark – You apply hunter’s mark on a target, increasing all damage you deal to the marked target by 5%. If the target dies while affected by Hunter’s mark, you instantly gain 20% focus. The target can always be seen and tracked by the hunter. Only one Hunter’s mark can be applied at a time.
*Currently mostly Hunter’s mark is used in the game. The target with the highest HP is marked during AOE. Streamline also could increase AOE potential but Mark is still better.
Tier 5. Lvl 75
- Born to be wild. Reduces the cooldowns of your aspects for 20%
- Posthaste. Disengage frees you from all movement impairing effects and increases your movement speed by 50% for 4 sec
- Binding shot. You fire an arrow tethering all enemies within 5 yards, the arrow explosion roots the enemy for 5 sec.
*This tier is about your personal preference. Posthaste would be better for raids increasing your mobility. Binding shot would be better for 5 ppl dungeon to help tanks survive on big paks. Born to be wild could be used in raids where Aspect of the turtle would be needed once in 3 minutes which is a rare situation.
Tier 6. Lvl 90
- Lethal shots. Arcane shot and Multi-shot have 20% chance to reduce the cooldown of Rapid fire by 5.0 sec.
- Barrage You inflict physical damage to all targets in front of you for 3 seconds.Usable while moving
- Double tap. The next Aimed shot will fire a second time instantly at 100% power without consuming Focus or your next Rapid fire will shoot 100% additional during its channel.
* Double tap. would be the most effective choice in this tier. Usually it is used with Rapid fire but if you have Careful aim talent it could be combined with Aimed shot at 100%-80% and 20%-0% enemy health windows.
Tier 7. Lvl 100
- Calling the shots. Casting Arcane shot and Multi-shot reduces the cooldown of Trueshot by 2.5 sec.
- Lock and load. Your ranged auto attacks have a 5% chance to trigger Lock and load, causing your next Aimed shot to cost no Focus and be instant.
- Piercing shot. A powerful shot which deals physical damage to the target and all enemies between you and the target, ignoring the armor.
After Trueshot rework Calling the shots became the best in this tier and it also has a strong synergy with Azerite trait Unerring Vision which is also one of the best traits currently. Without tra
The standard build looks like this:
- Master marksman
- Trueshot
- Natural mending
- Hunter’s mark
- Posthaste
- Double tap
- Calling the shots especially with Unerring Vision traits
Azerite traits
BfA introduced a new trait system. Now helmet, shoulders and chest are special items with traits improved by azerite.
MM has some top traits you need to obtain:
In the rhythm. A very good trait granting a lot of haste for 8 seconds after each use of Rapid fire.
Unerring Vision. The second best trait which stacks crit during Trueshot.
Focused fire. Increases Rapid fire damage and focus regeneration with this ability. Maximum increase is granted with the first such trait.
Surging shots. With this trait Rapid fire damage is increased and Aimed shot has 15% to reset the cooldown OF Rapid fire. It is also enough to have only one of such trait.
Apart from major traits there are also minor traits which increase stats a little bit or some damage. You can use chart on herodamage.com if you don’t know what would be the best option or go on raidbots.com to see the best stats for your character.
Stats for AzeritePowerWeights:
( AzeritePowerWeights:2:"herodamage.com - Stacks_1T_T24":3:254: 575=10, 36=9.47, 370=8.60, 562=8.14, 212=7.88, 162=7.75, 82=6.71, 522=6.68, 526=6.66, 193=6.65, 478=6.49, 479=6.43, 157=6.36, 494=6.24, 488=6.24, 504=5.90, 196=5.85, 483=5.85, 501=5.83, 194=5.63, 192=5.60, 485=5.46, 195=5.42, 482=5.22, 495=5.17, 489=5.17, 523=5.14, 505=4.96, 481=4.53, 521=4.43, 486=4.43, 492=4.43, 561=4.36, 480=4.36, 498=4.04, 156=3.96, 30=3.92, 368=3.87, 500=3.57, 576=3.44, 31=3.02, 487=2.79, 493=2.79, 22=2.78, 499=2.51, 21=2.38, 459=2.35, 560=2.04, 18=1.97, 541=1.95, 461=1.94, 462=1.92, 491=1.82, 497=1.82, 490=1.56, 496=1.56, 369=0.01: )
Essences
MAJOR
- Condensed Life-force (Source: Eternal Palace drop) – best option to increase you burst potential on single target
- The Crucible of Flame (Source: Heart of Azeroth level) becomes a great tool for additional dps increse, especially at level 3
- Blood of the enemy (Source: Honor farm) – versatile choice for any type of the combat
- Essence of the Focusing Iris (Source: Mythic+ dungeons) – strong option for aoe encounters and mythic+
MINOR
- The Crucible of Flame (Source: Heart of Azeroth level) – nice extra damage during the fight
- Essence of the Focusing Iris (Source: Mythic+ dungeons) – cool option, if you can keep stacks of haste from main target
- Vision of Perfection (Source: “Operation: Mechagon” drop) is good for Mythic+
Rotation
First of all keep in mind:
Precise shot – is a buff which activates after Aimed shot. It makes the next 1-2 Arcane shot deal 75% additional damage. It is preferably to activate it all the time, the only exception would be the rotation with Trueshot where you use only 1 Arcane shot after Aimed shot.
Now let’s see the priority of rotation on a single target:
- Use Double tap every cd. During windows of Careful aim spend the buff on Aimed shot, in other cases on Rapid fire
- Use Aimed shot every cd only with Precise shots
- Use Rapid fire every cd but not overcapping focus
- Use Arcane shot to stack Precise shots or to spend overcapped focus
- Use Steady shot as focus regenerator when there is nothing to use
Your priority is to avoid the cap of focus, not to hold Aimed shot at 2 stacks, to maximize focus regeneration from Rapid fire using it every cd and to spend all the procs of Precise shot.
Trueshot – Is a bursting ability and it should be used when it is needed the most. It would be optimal to use it during Careful aim windows between 100%-80% and 20%-0% target’s health. In other situations you should use Trueshot when Aimed shot and Rapid fire are on cooldown.
While Trueshot is active you should maximize Aimed shot usage, spending all Master marksman stacks and using Rapid fire effectively to generate focus and activate In the rhythm trait. So the priority would look like this:
- Use Arcane shot while you have Master marksman active (right after Aimed shot)
- Use Aimed shot
- Use Rapid fire when you lack focus
- If there is nothing else to use, activate Arcane shot for Precise shots
- Use Steady shot
On 2 targets the rotation would be the same as for single target.
On 3 targets and more your rotation would be the same but keep in mind your passive ability Trick shots. After using Multi shot which hits 3 or more targets your next Aimed shot or Rapid fire cleave 5 more addition targets by 50% additional damage. You should have this buff every time you want to use one of these abilities. Besides Precise shots procs you should use on Multi shots not Arcane shot. This is the only difference in rotation between AOE and single target.
- Precast Double tap shot 10 seconds before the pull
- Use Hunter’s mark on the target
- Prepot 2-3 seconds before the fight
- precast Aimed shot 2 seconds before the fight
- Rapid fire
- Trueshot
- Aimed shot
- Arcane shot (to spend Master marksman proc)
- Aimed shot
- Arcane shot (to spend Master marksman proc)
- Aimed shot
- Rapid fire
- keep up the rotation with Trueshot described previously
Stats
The basic priority rating for the characteristics is as follows:
Versatility>Mastery>Crit>Haste>Agility
Keep in mind: Haste depends a lot on the amount of In the rhythm traits you have and drops down rapidly each time you gain one.
Check your character’s stats on raidbots.com in Stat weights tab. You can also use Pawn addon to import the information from the site into the game.
Based on the aforementioned characteristics and results of your character’s own simulation results, you can draw conclusions on Gems, Chants and Raid Chemicals.
- Gems.
Leviathan’s Eye of Agility
Versatile Dark Opal 50 vers
- Enhancements
Rings: Accord of Versatility
Weapon: Enchant Weapon – Force Multiplier
- Food
Raid feast for 131 agility or Bil’Tong for Vers - Flasks and pots
Greater Flask of the Currents 360 agility for 1 hour
Potion of Unbridled Fury for single target
Superior Battle Potion of Agility for AoE
Macros
Kick with a modifier, with the Shift key held, the ability is applied on a remembered target, without – on the current one.
/stopcasting /cast [mod:shift,@focus][]Counter Shot
Aspect of the Turtle and Feign Death with stopcasting:
/stopcasting /cast Feign Death
и
/stopcasting /cast Aspect of the Turtle
Cancel Aspect of the Turtle – you can’t always be in it because you can’t attack while it’s active.
/cancelaura Aspect of the Turtle
Trap macros. There are two convenient options: you can set your macros to place a trap under your character or at your cursor’s position. Here are the respective examples:
/cast [@player] Freezing Trap
or
/cast [@cursor] Freezing Trap
What’s next?
- Leveling. If your character has been inactive since the previous expansions, the best option to level up it is by Timewalking dungeons. You will gain a lot of experience, but there is one big disadvantage of leveling this way. Timewalks are available only for one week during a month, but Overgear is always here.
- Equipment. At high level, the most important thing for you will become your gear. WoW is a multiplayer game, that’s why we recommend for you to play it with your friends, or to find a new friends for mythic+ runs. If you have any trouble with it – Overgear may help you to find not just friends for a run, but a complete well geared and experienced group that also will be glad to trade all the loot you need.
- Raids. Raids are the top-tier PvE content in the game. That’s why the equipment’s base ilvl is higher than anywhere else. These dungeons require knowing all the tactics and have a good gear to kill the bosses. The possibilities of Overgear might let you skip those criteria.
Azerite. It is also not the best idea to forget about the Heart of Azeroth and not to feed it with more Azerite. Ignoring this won’t make your character stronger. The easiest way to do it – just complete all the world quests with Azerite rewards everyday. You can get extra azerite from Island Expeditions. Companions can be found at Overgear.
