Marksmanship Hunter DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — Shadowlands 9.0.2

Welcome to our Rotation page for Marksmanship Hunters. On this page you will find everything you need to know about actually playing the spec in Raiding and Mythic+ scenarios.

If the rotations below seem overwhelming to you, you might benefit from visiting our Easy Mode page which outlines a close-to-optimal rotation in simpler terms.

The content on this page is purely PvE-related. If you are looking for PvP Rotation Tips, please visit our PvP page below.

To play Marksmanship, there are a few basic mechanics you must understand to fully unlock the potential of the spec.

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 75% 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.

Trick Shots is the primary AoE mechanic. When you cast Multi-Shot on 3 targets or above, your next Aimed Shot or Rapid Fire will cleave up to 5 additional targets for 50% of its original damage. You simply want this buff to be active when casting Aimed Shot or Rapid Fire while dealing with 3 or more targets.

If the rotations below seem overwhelming to you, you might benefit from visiting our Easy Mode page which outlines a close-to-optimal rotation in simpler terms.

1. If you have just cast a Steady Shot and Steady Focus has less than 5 seconds remaining, then cast another Steady Shot to activate the buff.
2. Use Kill Shot on targets that are below 20% health.
3. Activate Double Tap when your next cast will be Aimed Shot, rather than Rapid Fire.
4. Activate your Wild Spirits/ Resonating Arrow Covenant Ability.
5. Activate Volley if you are using this talent.
6. Activate Trueshot, making sure that you have at least one charge of Aimed Shot available.
7. Use Aimed Shot on cooldown, making sure that you have no remaining charges of Precise Shots. During Trueshot, you should favour casting Aimed Shot before it hits 2 charges, over spending Precise Shots charges.
8. Use Rapid Fire on cooldown, as long as it will not cap you on Focus.
9. Use Arcane Shot mostly to spend Precise Shots stacks, but also to keep your Focus low enough that Rapid Fire will never Focus cap you.
10. Use Steady Shot as a filler, and to keep up Steady Focus (refer to the top of this priority for an explanation on Steady Focus).

The goal of the rotation is to never cap Focus, never reach 2 charges of Aimed Shot, maximizing Focus generated by Rapid Fire by casting it on cooldown (but never Focus capping still), and spending every Precise Shots proc.

Your Trueshot rotation is the same as the normal one, except for the following changes.

• Keeping Aimed Shot from hitting 2 charges is a higher priority than spending Precise Shots. However, you should still try to spend Precise Shots procs. Just do not let Aimed Shot hit 2 charges in doing so.

On 2 targets, do the single-target rotation.

On 3 targets and above, your general rotation is the same, with the exceptions listed below.

• You must always have Trick Shots active when casting either Aimed Shot or Rapid Fire. This buff is activated by casting Multi-Shot on 3 or more targets.
• Arcane Shot mostly disappears from the rotation in AoE situations, and is replaced by Multi-Shot.
• When Volley, a very powerful Level 50 AoE Talent, is being used and is active, you no longer need to use Multi-Shot to maintain Trick Shots. However, you still use Multi-Shot as a substitute for Arcane Shot on 3 targets and above, as you will still need to spend Precise Shots procs.
• Double Tap should be used on Rapid Fire whenever possible. However, in many situations in Mythic+ you will be forced to use it on Aimed Shot, as saving it for Rapid Fire would cause you to have to delay it massively, so be flexible with this rule.

This section describes the recommended way to start the fight as a Marksmanship Hunter. It assumes you are using the recommended single-target talents for the spec.

1. If you are using Double Tap, activate it shortly before the fight begins.
2. Start casting Aimed Shot roughly 2 seconds before the fight begins.
3. Use Rapid Fire.
4. Use 2x Steady Shot if you are using Steady Focus.
5. Activate your Wild Spirits/ Resonating Arrow Covenant Ability.
6. Activate Trueshot as well as any potions, racial abilities or on-use trinkets.
7. Use Aimed Shot
8. Use Rapid Fire
9. Proceed with your normal Trueshot rotation.

In almost all cases, the ideal time to use your combat potion is along with Bloodlust/ Heroism. In most, but not all, situations, this is when the fight starts.

On fights that last longer than 5 minutes, you will be able to use two potions, provided that you use one of them at the beginning of the fight.

This section describes how to best open on fights and packs that have AoE from the very start, like most Mythic+ situations.

1. If you are using Double Tap, activate it shortly before the fight begins.
2. Use Explosive Shot as soon as the fight is engaged.
3. Activate your Wild Spirits/ Resonating Arrow Covenant Ability.
4. Activate Volley.
5. Activate Trueshot immediately, and perform your single-target opener, letting Volley take care of Trick Shots for you.
6. After Volley ends, proceed with your Trueshot rotation, substituting Arcane Shot for Multi-Shot to keep up Trick Shots.

Master Marksman does not change your rotation in any fundamental way.

Serpent Sting is a DoT that should be kept up at all times. You can refresh it with 5 seconds remaining and not waste any of its duration.

A Murder of Crows should be cast on cooldown. You can get even more damage out of it by casting it on targets that are about 10 seconds from dying. When they die, this will reset the cooldown of the ability and allow you to use it again for a large damage boost.

Careful Aim does not change anything fundamental in your rotation, although you do want to try and use Trueshot when it is active.

Barrage should be used on cooldown when there is nothing else going on in your rotation, such as Aimed Shot and Rapid Fire. On a single target, it is a very low priority. You should try to delay it for multi-target situations whenever possible.

Explosive Shot should be used on as many targets as possible. If you are only fighting one target, it should be used on cooldown and delayed as little as possible. It has a lower priority than Rapid Fire and Aimed Shot. It is worth it to delay it significantly if you can hit multiple targets.

Steady Focus encourages casting Steady Shot in multiples that are grouped up together. Instead of going Steady Shot, Arcane Shot, Steady Shot, you would always move the Arcane Shot either in front of or behind the two Steady Shots to ensure you benefit from the buff as much as possible.

Streamline does not inherently change your rotation, although it is worth tracking the buff so that you know when your next Aimed Shot will cast 30% faster.

Chimaera Shot essentially replaces the Arcane Shot button in your rotation. Thus, it does not actually change your rotation in any way.

Lethal Shots procs from Arcane Shot and Multi-Shot every so often. It does not have a significant effect on your rotation, although it helps to be aware of your Rapid Fire cooldown so that you can react to a proc more quickly.

Dead Eye means that you should never cast Kill Shot twice in a row, even when giving the option, as this would cause you to overwrite the 3-second buff to your Aimed Shot's recharge time. You should always spread out your Kill Shots by at least 3 seconds, and it is usually a good idea to fit an Aimed Shot in between them.

Double Tap should be used alongside Aimed Shot in single-target situations, and Rapid Fire in AoE situations..

Calling the Shots does not have a fundamental effect on your rotation.

Lock and Load procs should be used as soon as possible, but you should always attempt to spend any Precise Shots procs that you have already before using the procced Aimed Shot.

Volley should be used on cooldown. It is worth delaying it if you can hit multiple targets with it however. It is so powerful for multi-target that it is worth even dropping usages of the ability, just to ensure that you can use it at key AoE moments.