Marksmanship Hunter 8.3

[Azortharion 60]

It is a priority list in descending order. If Lethal Shots is active and both RF/Aimed are available, then you spend it on Aimed as that is a higher priority.

Similarly with the other 2 lines. You only actually end up doing the Steady Shot part of it if you are literally incapable of casting Aimed Shot.

The condition of every line in a priority list is that you are unable to do anything that is higher in the priority.

The higher Lethal Shots Aimed Shot line is focus independent. You cast it regardless of your Focus level. If you do NOT have a Lethal Shots proc, but you do have over 70 Focus and an Aimed charge available, then you cast Aimed.

Your understanding about Rapid Fire usage is correct.

Let me know if that helps!

[Guest Danishsnow]

This might be a dumb question but what does SF mean in the Azerite tier list?

[Azortharion 60]

The SF stands for Steady Focus, the recommended single-target talent when using that trait. It is there to illustrate the significant DPS gain by going Steady Focus when using that trait.

[Guest Yeraso]

Hi, I have a quick question, are there any ''must'' Azerite Traits for Marksman in mythic+? Frost Mage has Whiteout for example of which they really want 1. 

[Kaelath 0]

I have to be honest, I've completely stopped using Rapid Fire at all in dungeons and just use Aimed, Arcane/multi and steady shot with murder for my rotation and I've seen my DPS increase 2.5k over it.

[Azortharion 60]

8 hours ago, Kaelath said:

I have to be honest, I've completely stopped using Rapid Fire at all in dungeons and just use Aimed, Arcane/multi and steady shot with murder for my rotation and I've seen my DPS increase 2.5k over it.

Not using Rapid Fire in dungeons is a massive damage loss. There is literally no way that this is true, it would have to be an incorrect reading or interpretation of the damage meter because Rapid Fire can be upwards of 40% of your AoE damage in dungeons.

Not casting it is never a good idea in multi-target.

[Kaelath 0]

It could be that, but it could also be that i'm running the aimedshot buff talent from azerite geat so i'm hitting aoe on mobs for 8k during crits and 25k on my main target, I'm not really sure. I just know it feels a little more fun to play especially in pvp since Rapid Fire feels like it does nothing to other players.

[Azortharion 60]

No amount of Azerite Traits, real or imaginary will make Rapid Fire not worth casting in multi-target situations.

When I say imaginary, I mean like, if you had 10stacks of that trait, you'd still wanna cast Rapid Fire..

[Guest DarkMrsGibs]

Quick question if I may; if during a fight I have ONE stack of aimed shot, is it better to a) use it, then the empowered 1/2 arcane shots, or b) 'spam steady shot until I get an empowered aimed shot proc (assuming aimed shot doesn't reach 2 stacks, at which point I would use it regardless)?

[Guest Dontbeso]

In general rotation there is a line:

Cast  Arcane Shot to spend your  Precise Shots stacks if  Aimed Shot is about to reach 2 charges.

but also this guide says:

 Precise Shots is a buff that is activated whenever you cast  Aimed Shot. It causes your next 1-2 Arcane Shots after casting Aimed Shot to do 100% more damage. You do not want to waste this buff by casting Aimed Shot when you have it active. You always want to spend the charges first.

I am puzzled.  When should I spend Precise shots?

[aceperson 3]

quick question. why wouldn't we use one of the stat boosting enchants since we can use regular weapon enchants.

[Guest kittybleu]

I just want to make sure I understand the rotation clarifications- I do have 2 x steady aim, and using the steady focus talent -

So I should never use rapid fire ever..... and I should keep casting steady shot when focus capped until lethal shots procs?

If for some reason I get unlucky with procs, should I cast an unbuffed aimed still to prevent hitting 2 charges?

And does this setup change the opener sequence at all?

Do I keep following the ST rules on boss fights that have adds, or should I add in rapid fire when adds are on the boss? (I don't have any aoe focused or rapid fire azerite traits)

Thanks for the updates, hope my questions don't seem silly ?

P.S hope this doesn't post twice, thought of another question: should lock n load procs be spent right away (assuming no stacks of precise shots) or held til lethal shots procs also?

 

[Azortharion 60]

Yep, that is correct.

Aimed Shot with 2 charges is a high priority, yes, although it's a statistical outlier that won't happen often since you use Steady Focus, making your Steady Shots preeeeetty fast.

It does not change the opener, since the opener already tries to fish for Lethal Shots procs all the time.
 

For when there are 3+ targets, refer to the multi-target rotation for Rapid Fire usage. It is used on cooldown with Trick Shots up. MM has no 2-target cleave so a single add doesn't change your rotational approach. Lock and Load procs should be spent as normal. I.e either with Lethal Shots or with 2 charges.

[Guest kittybleu]

awesome, thanks

I'll have to work on forgetting the old notion of casting aimed to keep focus down ?

[iamdachampion 0]

Hey Azo!

Thank you for all the hard work you put into understanding the classes.  To slightly follow up on kittybleu, I have the Steady Aim trait and SF talent.  My question is when LS procs, should we immediately cast AS or should we focus on getting 5 stacks before casting?  I am new to simming and testing, so am unsure how best to test this myself.

 

TL;DR; With Steady Aim, Does LS procs or 5 stacks take priority?

 

Thanks again Azo!

[Azortharion 60]

Steady Aim does not actually play into your decision-making at any point. You could not track it at all, follow the guide and not lose out for it, it does not feature in the SimCraft APL at any point. So, LS procs take priority.

[Guest Gongshow]

This spec feels really clunky and the damage numbers outside of aimed shot critting during the opening and execute phases are not good. In m+ some pulls I’m getting outdamaged by the tank if explosive shot and rapid fire are on cooldown and I get no LnL procs. Is MM getting any love soon? If not I might just switch to SV

[Guest Dontbeso]

I don't like the the offered m+ build. Standard raid build provides you also decent AoE and if you use it right the DPS can be even better than others have at times. It's less reliable because Lethal shots proc is not completely reliable nevertheless it's quite good.  The author wrongly says that Lethal Shot talent is pure single target. I disagree. It wasn't mentioned that Lethal shot procs also greatly benefit your AoE, because if you combine Lethal proc with Tricks Shot, you're capable of doing a really good AoE (Rapid Fire and Aimed shots became often critical strikes). So If you have "pure single target" (as author it's called)  raid build with Steady Aim traits and Steady Focus talent, you can be as competitive as others in m+ if you use it properly.

[Azortharion 60]

11 minutes ago, Guest Dontbeso said:

I don't like the the offered m+ build. Standard raid build provides you also decent AoE and if you use it right the DPS can be even better than others have at times. It's less reliable because Lethal shots proc is not completely reliable nevertheless it's quite good.  The author wrongly says that Lethal Shot talent is pure single target. I disagree. It wasn't mentioned that Lethal shot procs also greatly benefit your AoE, because if you combine Lethal proc with Tricks Shot, you're capable of doing a really good AoE (Rapid Fire and Aimed shots became often critical strikes). So If you have "pure single target" (as author it's called)  raid build with Steady Aim traits and Steady Focus talent, you can be as competitive as others in m+ if you use it properly.

I agree that the guide needs an update in this regard, though it is not for the reasons you mentioned.

Firstly, Lethal Shots being able to greatly benefit your AoE is implicit. It's also RNG, and it is also going to lose value to the fact that you will not always be able to spend it on Rapid Fire which is the better AoE button to press. Double Tap is always used with Rapid Fire.

With Steady Aim traits now being more common and APL developments throughout Uldir, Rapid Fire has taken more and more of a backseat to Aimed Shot, which sucks out a bit of Double Tap's value.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Guest Peter]

Is it important to cast Aimed Shot right after Lethal Shots procs or I should interrupt Steady Shot? The problem is if I wait for a proc, I waste some time between Steady Shots. I usually do not wait for Steady Shot to be completed and press the next one. I have 1 x Steady Aim trait.

[Guest CrazyHussar]

For all fellow MM hunters who still playing the spec in BfA

I recommend Barrage against Mythrax the Unraveler - there will be a lot of adds spread out and since the raid group is divided into two, it's easier to help the mates who get caught on the Oblivion Spheres. Since you can hit multiple adds in a wider area, there will be no significant DPS loss if any and you can help the others with it.

[Azortharion 60]

The adds on Mythrax are a high priority, but not a high priority enough to warrant going Barrage. The single-target damage loss is simply too great to justify it.

The DPS loss is extremely significant.

[Guest Allariel]

I have a question to the rotation. On the page is said that I should use steady shot > unbuffed arcane shot. While you say (mistakes section) that I should not cap my focus.

So what should I do now? Casting steady shot when there is no arcane shot buff althought my focus is already capped? Or simply cast unbuffed arcane shots when I am going go reache 100 focus?

 

PS: using 1 steady aim trait and steady focus talent.

[Azortharion 60]

On 11/6/2018 at 10:08 AM, Guest Allariel said:

I have a question to the rotation. On the page is said that I should use steady shot > unbuffed arcane shot. While you say (mistakes section) that I should not cap my focus.

So what should I do now? Casting steady shot when there is no arcane shot buff althought my focus is already capped? Or simply cast unbuffed arcane shots when I am going go reache 100 focus?

 

PS: using 1 steady aim trait and steady focus talent.

For this build, the recommendation in the rotation takes precedent.

Arguably with the rise of this build as clearly the best for MM Raiding, that particular part of the Mistakes section has lost a lot of its relevancy, so I might change it or get rid of it altogether.

[Guest Nidi]

Hi Azortharion, will there be an update for 8.1?

What are your thoughts regarding the changes incoming for MM?

Do you see some viability for MM after the changes to the spec and Azerite Traits or is it still BM >= SV > MM for progress raiding?