Marksmanship Hunter DPS Spec, Builds, Talents, and Pet Talents — The War Within (11.2)
On this page, you will find out the best talents for each tier for your Marksmanship Hunter in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.2). We also have default talent lists for various types of content, such as raiding or Mythic+. If you play with Warmode on, we have your PvP talents covered as well.
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Marksmanship Hunter talents.
Best The War Within Talents for Marksmanship Hunter
Note that these builds are generic recommendations for various content. Check out the dedicated pages below for more specific recommendations for the Raid and Mythic+.
Best Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within
Best
Dark Ranger Single-Target Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within Season 3
Dark Ranger is optimal for pure single-target scenarios, at about
~9-10% stronger than
Sentinel.
Note that swapping Unerring Vision to
Calling the Shots can
be worth doing if a 1-minute CD cadence (with the S3 4PC) is more beneficial.
But, in a vacuum,
Unerring Vision is significantly better, so this call
should not be made lightly.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Best
Dark Ranger Mythic+/AoE/Delve Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within Season 3
This build is my general recommendation for anything AoE-centric, like Mythic+, Delves, and so on. It offers the best blend of single-target and AoE for Mythic+, and has a strong defensive profile as well.
Swapping Unerring Vision to
Calling the Shots is roughly
equal on paper, and may be better suited to lower keys where the longer-CD,
more powerful
Unerring Vision is overkill. You can mostly pick by
preference here. Do also note that 2-minute Trinkets like
Signet of the Priory and
Araz's Ritual Forge will tend to prefer
1-minute builds, while the optimal Trinket,
Unyielding Netherprism, tends to
prefer 1.5-minute builds.
Prior to getting the new Season 3 4PC, go with Sentinel instead.
Marksmanship Hunter Utility Talent Considerations in Mythic+
We cannot have everything we could possibly want for every single dungeon in a single build, unfortunately. Here are the recommended utility talents to swap to for different, specific Mythic+ dungeons in The War Within Season 3.
- For Halls of Atonement and Tazavesh: So'leah's Gambit, swap
Kodo Tranquilizer over to
Devilsaur Tranquilizer.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Best
Dark Ranger Raid AoE Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within Season 3
This build grabs our AoE essential Trick Shots for the smallest possible single-target DPS loss. This build is ideal for fights that have a primary, single target, as well as add spawns that need to be burst down quickly.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Best
Sentinel Single-Target Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within Season 3
This build is suboptimal for pure single-target compared to Dark Ranger, which is around 9% stronger.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Best
Sentinel Mythic+/AoE Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within Season 3
This build is a solid Mythic+ build for beginners. It does similar AoE to
Dark Ranger, and has an arguably more fun
Explosive Shot-based playstyle, but the single-target suffers greatly.
Marksmanship Hunter Utility Talent Considerations in Mythic+
We cannot have everything we could possibly want for every single dungeon in a single build, unfortunately. Here are the recommended utility talents to swap to for different, specific Mythic+ dungeons in The War Within Season 3.
- For Halls of Atonement and Tazavesh: So'leah's Gambit, swap
Kodo Tranquilizer over to
Devilsaur Tranquilizer.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Mythic+
Depending on affixes and other variables, Mythic+ can require a mix of AoE and Single-Target talents. You should check out our page below if you want advice specific to Mythic+.
Rotation for Marksmanship Hunter Talents
Some talents will require you to play in a particular way to get the most out of them. You can find more information on how your rotation will look after selecting your talents on our rotation page below.
Best Pet for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within
We have made a dedicated page for Hunter Pets information that we recommend you check out!
Note that most of the time, your best bet as Marksmanship is to not use a pet at all.
The builds listed above only feature the recommended Hero Talent Trees for Marksmanship Hunter. To learn more about Hero Talent Builds, check out our dedicated page:
PvP Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within
War Mode offers several benefits for you in the open world.
- PvP talents enabled in the outdoor world.
- At least 10% increase in World Quest rewards at maximum level.
- 10% more experience gained while leveling.
- Earn Conquest Points, which can reward gear every week.
With the benefits of enabling War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is recommended to enable the feature to maximize your leveling and rewards at maximum level. However, you will be available for open-world PvP, and the possibility of being "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests exists.
PvP Talents (War Mode) for Marksmanship Hunter
In this section, we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of all PvP Talents for Marksmanship Hunter
Best PvP Talents for Marksmanship Hunter
-
Ranger's Finesse will give you far more
Exhilarations, saving you time and deaths in rough situations.
-
Sniper Shot lets you attack mobs from farther away, saving time in the process.
-
Hunting Pack is a valuable speed increase for leveling and open world content.
You can consider the other options essentially down to preference.
For details on how to play in Marksmanship Hunter PvP, please visit our Marksmanship Hunter PvP page.
Changelog
- 02 Sep. 2025: Updated DR M+ Talent Build, specifically utility picks.
- 27 Aug. 2025: Expanded on reasoning for 1.5-min and 1-min builds.
- 26 Aug. 2025: Updated note on swapping between Unerring Vision and Calling the Shots for Dark Ranger M+. Removed note on Focused Aim as Improved Streamline is equal, even on paper, and better in practice. Update Raid AoE build.
- 25 Aug. 2025: Updated single-target talent default to Improved Streamline rather than Focused Aim.
- 12 Aug. 2025: Microscopic single-target talent update for Dark Ranger.
- 11 Aug. 2025: Updated Mythic+ Talent Build recommendation.
- 08 Aug. 2025: Updated single-target rotation default utility picks for the Raid.
- 07 Aug. 2025: Updated the S3 Single-Target build to be the same as the S2 4PC one!
- 06 Aug. 2025: Dark Ranger S2 4PC Talents and Sent M+ Class Tree talent update.
- 04 Aug. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.2.
- 15 Jun. 2025: Reviewed for Patch 11.1.7.
- 26 May 2025: Added note on Salvo vs Ohn'ahran Winds.
- 17 May 2025: Updated the Raid AoE Build to grab Volley, since most AoE in the Raid is very short-term.
- 15 May 2025: Updated the Sentinel Mythic+ build to grab Ohn'ahran Winds, as evidence suggests that it has been fixed and now works properly in Mythic+ keys.
- 21 Apr. 2025: Updated the default Dark Ranger M+ Build on the Talents Page, mostly to stem confusion.
- 04 Apr. 2025: Updated the Sentinel Mythic+ Build to account for Ohn'ahran Winds being bugged.
- 02 Apr. 2025: Reverted yesterday's change on ST Build. Updated with new M+ Build.
- 01 Apr. 2025: Updated the Single-Target Talent Builds in light of recent simulation updates.
- 30 Mar. 2025: Added note on Small Game Hunter viability.
- 25 Mar. 2025: Updated for the March 25th Hotfixes.
- 18 Mar. 2025: Updated the Mythic+ Talent Build. Added a note about Volley to it.
- 14 Mar. 2025: Updated defaults to assume 4PC.
- 04 Mar. 2025: Added note on M+ Talent changes with and without 4PC, and updated the default temporarily.
- 27 Feb. 2025: Updated the Sentinel Mythic+ Talent Build in light of recent simulation tool developments.
- 24 Feb. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1.0.
- 27 Dec. 2024: Updated to take Dark Ranger bugs and the resulting power spike into account.
- 15 Dec. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.7.
- 30 Oct. 2024: Updated for October 29 Hotfixes.
- 23 Oct. 2024: Updated to Dark Ranger default recommendation while everything is in a bugged state.
- 22 Oct. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.5.
- 07 Oct. 2024: Updated the Marksmanship Dark Ranger Single-Target Build.
- 28 Sep. 2024: Updated the M+ Talent Build - one-point swap.
- 14 Sep. 2024: Added the Raid AoE build to the page. Updated the single-target builds.
- 10 Sep. 2024: Updated the single-target talents slightly (one-point change for 0.2% DPS).
- 09 Sep. 2024: Preliminary updates for The War Within Season 1.
- 22 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
- 25 Jul. 2024: Updated the Single-Target Talent Build.
- 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 07 May 2024: Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024: Updated for Season 4.
- 19 Mar. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 10.2.6.
- 14 Feb. 2024: Updated the recommended default Mythic+ Talent Build.
- 15 Jan. 2024: Updated for Patch 10.2.5
- 04 Dec. 2023: Updated Talents for Mythic+.
- 27 Nov. 2023: Updated Talents for Mythic+.
- 06 Nov. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.2
- 04 Sep. 2023: Restructured the page and updated for Patch 10.1.7
- 10 Jul. 2023: Updated for Patch 10.1.5.
- 27 Jun. 2023: Additional Talent Change, and moved Steel Trap to be default for single-target.
- 26 Jun. 2023: Updated the single-target build to account for new tuning.
- 25 May 2023: Updated the recommended builds to assume the set bonus as default.
- 19 May 2023: Updated the layout of the page and added an alternative, cooldown-less build.
- 15 May 2023: Added note on Steel Trap and when you might want to use it.
- 12 May 2023: Clarified talent changes for AoE as well as single-target with the 4PC Bonus.
- 09 May 2023: Added note of how the build changes with the 4PC Set Bonus.
- 08 May 2023: Updated the recommended single-target talent build to pick Steady Focus.
- 04 May 2023: Updated the recommended AoE/M+ Talent Build. This is likely a temporary change, until the new Tier Set becomes more widespread.
- 01 May 2023: Reviewed for Patch 10.1.
- 21 Mar. 2023: Updated the talents for the 10.0.7 talent reshuffle.
- 15 Feb. 2023: Updated the utility talents in the M+ Build.
- 30 Jan. 2023: Small updates to talent swaps.
- 25 Jan. 2023: Updated the Talent Builds again after the discovery of a sim bug. Added alternative to Steady Focus. Changed the "swap" talent for Wailing Arrow to Bullseye.
- 24 Jan. 2023: Updated the page for relevant changes in Patch 10.0.5.
- 21 Jan. 2023: Fixed a wrong note about which talent to swap for Ammo Talents.
- 17 Jan. 2023: Updated the recommended Single-Target Talent Build.
- 23 Dec. 2022: Updated the recommended builds to reflect that Unerring Vision is fixed and worth using again.
- 18 Dec. 2022: Updated the recommended talent builds to reflect that Unerring Vision is bugged.
- 16 Dec. 2022: Added note that you do not need to use Serpent Sting manually with Hydra's Bite.
- 11 Dec. 2022: Updated the recommended single-target talent build in light of recent buffs.
- 28 Nov. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight launch.
- 24 Oct. 2022: Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
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This guide has been written by Azortharion, a Hunter Guidewriter, Theorycrafter, and top player since 2014, who is widely considered one of the best PvE Hunters in the world. He is an accomplished player with hundreds of top parses across all Hunter specs. He is the Head Admin of Trueshot Lodge, the official Hunter Class Discord. You can find him on his stream on Twitch and his channel on YouTube. He also has his own, personal Discord server where you can freely ask him any Hunter questions you may have!
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