Marksmanship Hunter guide

Ranged DPSHunter · WoW Forever

Beta guide, level 30. The WoW Forever beta stops at level 30, so this guide and its build cover levels 1 to 30. We update it for level 60 after launch on November 4.

Marksmanship puts the damage on you instead of your pet. Forever gives it two big new tools: Lone Wolf, +20% damage when you play without a pet, and Sniper Shot, a long range shot at the bottom of the tree. Careful Aim turns your Intellect into Attack Power, and Rapid Killing keeps Rapid Fire coming back much faster.

Strengths

Highest personal damage, especially played without a pet
Simple rotation
Choose: keep your pet for solo play or drop it with Lone Wolf for damage

Weaknesses

Playing without a pet is harder in surprise fights
Damage depends on standing still and casting
The Hunter dead zone: you can't shoot enemies between melee range and 8 yards.

Talent build (level 30) 0/21/0

Marksmanship 21 points

Lethal Attacks5/5
Careful Aim5/5
Rapid Killing2/2
Improved Arcane Shot2/5
Lone Wolf1/1
Mortal Shots5/5
Barrage1/3

21 points in Marksmanship: Lethal Attacks and Mortal Shots for crits, Careful Aim, Rapid Killing, Lone Wolf and the first point of Barrage. Leveling with a pet? Put the Lone Wolf point into Improved Arcane Shot instead. Sniper Shot comes after launch.

Open this build in the talent calculator

Key talents

Lone Wolf: New in Forever: +20% damage with all attacks while you have no pet out.
Careful Aim: New in Forever: your Attack Power goes up by 100% of your Intellect.
Mortal Shots: +30% crit damage on all ranged abilities.
Rapid Killing: New in Forever: Rapid Fire's cooldown is 2 min shorter, and kills empower your next shot.
Lethal Attacks: +5% crit with all attacks.

New in Forever: Marksmanship talents

Careful AimIncreases your Attack Power by 100% of your Intellect.
Rapid KillingReduces the cooldown on your Rapid Fire ability by 2 min. In addition, when you kill a non-trivial enemy or it dies while afflicted by your Serpent Sting, you gain Rapid Killing, increasing the damage of your next Shot ability within 20 sec by 20%.
Lone WolfYou deal 20% increased damage with all attacks while you do not have an active pet.
Rapid RecuperationAfflicting a target with Serpent Sting allows 50% of your Mana Regeneration to continue while casting for 15 sec, increased to 100% when Rapid Killing is consumed.
Sniper ShotA long-range shot that deals ranged damage plus 160 and increases the range of your next 3 Shots by 10 yards for 10 sec.

Rotation

Serpent Sting, and reapply it when it ends.
Aimed Shot on cooldown when you have it.
Arcane Shot on cooldown.
Rapid Fire on cooldown.
Sniper Shot on cooldown once you learn it (it also extends your range).

Several enemies

Explosive Trap under the pack.
Multi-Shot on cooldown.
Serpent Sting on enemies that live long enough.

Cooldowns

Rapid Fire: +40% attack speed, back fast with Rapid Killing.
Trueshot Aura (after launch): Ranged Attack Power for your whole party.
Feign Death: Your escape when you have no pet to take the hit.

Stats

Agility first, then hit and crit (Aimed Shot and Sniper Shot hit hardest on crits). Haste speeds up your casts. Intellect counts more thanks to Careful Aim.

Best races

Alliance

Skyborne (High Order): Wind Blessed: +2% haste, which is hard to find anywhere else.
Human: Ruthless: +1% crit with all attacks.
Dwarf: Artisan's Precision: +1% hit, and Big Game Hunter: +5% damage to Beasts.

Horde

Skyborne (Windshaper): Wind Blessed (+2% haste) and Skysight for speed.
Orc: Blood Fury (+10% Attack Power for 15 sec) and Command (+5% pet damage).
Troll: Berserking (+10% attack speed) and +5% damage to Beasts.

Professions

None is required. Leatherworking or Engineering (scopes for your bow or gun) with a gathering profession, or Skinning and Leatherworking for easy gold while leveling.

Leveling

Level with your pet out: it's much safer. Switch to Lone Wolf for dungeons and later raids, where a tank holds the enemies.