Marksmanship Hunter DPS Easy Mode — Shadowlands 9.0.2
On this page, we explain how to easily play Marksmanship Hunter in World of Warcraft — Shadowlands 9.0.2, using the simplest rotation, talent tree, stat priority, gear setup, etc., without sacrificing performance.
Foreword
This section is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous priorities and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.
The Basics of Marksmanship Hunter
Marksmanship is a relatively slow ranged spec with only a few fundamental mechanics that make it work well.
For a detailed explanation of all the abilities that Marksmanship Hunter has, check out our Spell Summary page.
Talent Choices of Marksmanship Hunter
The talents listed below are selected either for ease of use, or for more a more simple to understand gameplay style. Whilst in a number of cases there are alternatives on the tree that will provide more if played well, they create much more room to play incorrectly and reduce your performance. Due to this, treat this as a starting point and a primer.
You can find a more detailed guide on Talent choices that are designed for optimal DPS on our Talents page below.
- Level 15:
Master Marksman
- Level 25:
Careful Aim
- Level 30:
Natural Mending or whatever suits your needs.
- Level 35:
Streamline
- Level 40:
Posthaste or whatever suits your needs.
- Level 45:
Lethal Shots
- Level 50:
Lock and Load
Stat Choices of Marksmanship Hunter
The general single-target stat priority for a Marksmanship Hunter is:
- Critical Strike;
- Mastery;
- Versatility;
- Haste.
All the stats are very close in value, and item level should be the deciding factor in most gearing decisions. Do not overthink your secondary stats too much, the different is nearly negligible.
For more information, please visit our dedicated page.
Basic Rotation
- Activate
Trueshot on cooldown. Try and use it together with
Wild Spirits.
- Use
Rapid Fire on cooldown.
- Use
Aimed Shot on cooldown. If Arcane Shot is glowing, do not use Aimed Shot yet.
- Use
Arcane Shot to spend
Precise Shots. You can tell when you have Precise Shots stacks by the Arcane Shot icon glowing.
- Use
Arcane Shot to keep yourself from hitting 100 Focus. Try to stay below 60.
- Use
Steady Shot when you have nothing else to do.
When you get a Lock and Load proc, simply use
Aimed Shot as you normally would, and remember to cast those
Arcane Shots after it.
On our dedicated rotation page below, you can find a detailed rotation including cooldown usage and management.
Should I Use A Pet As A Marksmanship Hunter?
No, Marksmanship Hunters do not use pets in almost any situation. You may choose to use a pet if you need it for Bloodlust/Heroism or survivability. In these rare cases, we recommend using a Ferocity pet.
Changelog
- 23 Nov. 2020: Updated for Shadowlands.
- 22 Oct. 2020: Updated the Level 50 Talent Recommendation and Stat Priority.
- 12 Oct. 2020: Page updated for the Shadowlands pre-patch.
More Hunter Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Azortharion, a theorycrafter of all things Hunter-related for many years. He is an accomplished player with dozen of top parses for all specs throughout the game's history. He is also the Admin of Trueshot Lodge, the Hunter Class Discord, and you can watch his stream on Twitch. He even has his own personal Discord channel where you can get notifications about when the guides get updated and have direct communications with him.
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