Marksmanship Hunter DPS Spec, Builds, Talents, and Pet Talents — Dragonflight 10.2
On this page, you will find out the best talents for each tier for your Marksmanship Hunter in World of Warcraft — Dragonflight 10.2. 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 Dragonflight 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
Best Single-Target Talents for Marksmanship Hunter
This build is basically equal to Readiness for pure single-target situations in most gearsets, without requiring the T31 Tier Set to be relevant.
It takes its name from the Improved Steady Shot and
Precise Shots Talents not featured in the Readiness build. It is a more traditional way to play Marksmanship, historically speaking, and which build you play is mostly down to preference.
It also does not use Steady Focus, which many prefer.
Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Best Readiness Single-Target Talents for Marksmanship Hunter
This build is an alternative that provides similar DPS to the ISS-PS build, but with a little more complexity. We list it as an alternative, but do not really recommend you use it unless you strongly prefer it. It requires the T31-4PC to be effective.
It takes its name from the Readiness Talent, which we use in
conjunction with our Tier Set to extend
Trick Shots with the extra
Rapid Fires it offers.
Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Best Pre-T31-4P Single-Target Talents for Marksmanship Hunter
This build is optimal for pure single-target situations before you have obtained the new Hunter Marksmanship 10.2 Class Set 4pc bonus.
Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Best AoE Talents for Marksmanship Hunter
This is our recommended build for AoE scenarios. This works well for AoE Fights in Raids, as well as most Mythic+.
For extremely heavy AoE scenarios and Mythic+ dungeons, swap
Bulletstorm for
Light Ammo. The same goes for
Heavy Ammo, but almost no dungeons have small pulls enough to justify
this.
Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Best Pre-T31-4PC AoE Talents for Marksmanship Hunter
This is our recommended build before you have obtained the new Hunter Marksmanship 10.2 Class Set 4pc bonus. This works well for AoE
Fights in Raids, as well as most Mythic+.
Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Talent Explanations for Marksmanship Hunters
Note that we do not explain EVERY Talent in the tree on this page. We only explain Talents that are part of our optimal builds for single-target and AoE. For full details and explanations of every Talent, please visit our Spells page via the button below.
Class Talents
Row 1-4
![]() | A strong DPS button and a mandatory pick. |
![]() | Essential as one of our strongest mobility talents. |
![]() | A passive, powerful increase to our ![]() |
![]() | Our main interrupt. |
![]() | Provides incredible CDR to ![]() ![]() |
![]() | Not great, but it leads us on a path to better talents, as we need to get to the left side of the tree later on. |
![]() | A strong defensive for both one-shots and powerful DoTs. |
Row 5-7
![]() | Useful for many scenarios and leads us to better talents on the left side of the tree. |
![]() | A must-pick, as it doubles the damage reduction of ![]() |
![]() | A solid pick for lower Turtle and Cheetah cooldowns, making it strong for both survivability and mobility. |
![]() | A bit of an incentive to ![]() |
![]() | Hugely useful for add control in Mythic+ and some Raiding scenarios, but requires a pet which makes it useless. |
![]() ![]() | Both viable options in this choice node are necessary to pick up other essential Talents. For most Mythic+, we recommend ![]() ![]() ![]() |
![]() | Increases our maximum health and gives our ![]() ![]() |
![]() | Useful for skips and out-of-combat self-healing in Mythic+, but it has no use for Raiding. |
![]() | A much-needed boost to our survivability on unavoidable mechanics. |
![]() | A solid boost to movement speed, but you can drop a point here to pick up other utilities as needed. |
Row 8-10
![]() | A potent DPS increase and is a mandatory pick. |
![]() | A substantial DPS increase and is a mandatory pick. |
![]() | Affects ![]() ![]() |
![]() | A decent DPS increase for 1 point. |
![]() | An unpopular, but potent pick for single-target. |
![]() | Introduces a mini-cooldown to our rotation, enhancing our burst a little and focusing on amplifying other damage. |
Spec Talents
Row 1-4
![]() ![]() |
Mandatory to get started with the build. There is not much to say about them. |
![]() |
Another core ability of the spec. |
![]() |
Requires us to not use a pet in all situations for optimal DPS, but is well worth it. |
![]() |
A solid, passive DPS increase and leads us to multiple important talents. |
![]() |
Has strong per-point DPS value for all situations. |
Row 5-7
![]() |
A huge DPS increase with the T31 Tier Set and also has some impact on the feel of the rotation. |
![]() |
Turns ![]() |
![]() |
Similar to ![]() |
![]() |
What enables our entire AoE kit and is mandatory when you need to AoE, even a little. |
![]() |
Makes ![]() |
![]() |
The second mandatory node for our AoE damage. |
![]() |
A strong button in all situations, but especially on large amounts of AoE targets. It is worth using and pressing even in single-target situations and provides our single-target build with some on-demand AoE as well. |
![]() |
Competitive for single-target situations and requires a bit of maintenance. Luckily, it can be helped a lot with this WeakAura! |
![]() |
Will give us more of our heavy-hitters, particularly in AoE situations. |
![]() |
Pairs with ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Row 8-10
![]() ![]() |
Used for specifically for 7+ target situations, and 4-target situations respectively. We replace ![]() |
![]() |
Our main cooldown and mandatory, enabling our extremely powerful burst damage. |
![]() |
Introduces a bit of powerful RNG to our rotation, but is a solid DPS increase. |
![]() |
Enables amazing execute damage, especially paired with another talent talked about below. |
![]() |
An immensely powerful AoE talent and is chosen for all such situations. |
![]() |
Enhances our ![]() |
![]() |
Used for single-target in conjunction with ![]() |
![]() |
Perhaps the most important talent of our tree, enabling high uptimes on ![]() ![]() |
![]() |
Can be macro'd to ![]() |
![]() |
Enhances our burst by boosting our main cooldown. A must-pick in all situations. |
![]() |
Gives us more ![]() |
![]() |
Enables higher uptimes on ![]() ![]() |
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 Dragonflight
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 due to Lone Wolf, a must-pick talent.
PvP Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in Dragonflight
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
- 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.
More Hunter Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Azortharion, a Hunter Theorycrafter and Guidewriter since 2014, and considered one of the best Hunters in the world. He is an accomplished player with dozen of top parses for all specs throughout the game's history. He is also the Founder/Owner/Head Admin of Trueshot Lodge, the 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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