Marksmanship Hunter PvP Guide — The War Within (Season 1)
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to play Marksmanship Hunter in a PvP environment. The guide will cover everything from talent choices, PvP talents, gameplay and rotation, and useful racial bonuses. It is most applicable to Arena content, but most talents and racial bonuses will work in Rated Battlegrounds and skirmishes.
If you were looking for TBC Classic content, please refer to our TBC Hunter PvP guide.
Marksmanship Hunters in the Current Meta
Marksmanship Hunter is a consistently underrated Hunter specialization with enormous burst and crowd control potential.
The Marksmanship damage rotation seems simple at first but leaves a lot of space for skill expression and outplay potential. There is almost no "ramp" in the damage rotation, which combined with the longest range in the game makes Marksmanship Hunters lethal when switching targets, even when they do not commit long cooldowns.
Once you are comfortable setting up your burst so that it does not get interrupted, timing your crowd control windows, and maximizing your consistent damage outside of cooldowns, Marksmanship is an incredibly fun and rewarding specialization.
Marksmanship rewards opportunistic and aggressive play. You win by setups, bursts, and punishing enemies that misuse defensives or position poorly. Marksmanship is not a spec that wins by attrition or dampening, and an aggressive playstyle is how it competes with other specializations that may be more forgiving when it comes to defensive play or crowd control.
Marksmanship Hunter Strengths and Weaknesses
- High sustained damage when freecasting
- High burst damage and cleave when using Volley/ Salvo
- Good mobility and kiting tools
- Mortal strike from pets
- Support for team with Roar of Sacrifice, Master's Call, or Interlope
- Multiple control crowd options in Intimidation, Binding Shot, Freezing Trap, High Explosive Trap, Scatter Shot/ Bursting Shot, Entrapment, and Consecutive Concussion
- Weak to teams with multiple stuns and other instant crowd control
- Needs help from teammates to land crowd control
- Crowd control has comparatively long cooldowns compared to other ranged specs
- Heavily relies on landing Freezing Trap at the right moment and timing Scatter Shot effectively
- Being able to do damage effectively relies on having knowledge of which targets are able to stop your casts
- Can break crowd control while bursting with Volley/ Salvo
Marksmanship Hunter Hotfixes in Patch 11.0.2 (The War Within Season 1)
Marksmanship Hunter Hotfixes in Patch 11.0.2 (The War Within Season 1)
8 October 2024
Hunter
- Survival of the Fittest now provides 25% damage reduction in PvP combat (was 30%).
- Survival Tactics (PvP Talent) now has a 2 second duration (was 3 seconds).
Hero Talents
- Dark Ranger: Smoke Screen now applies Survival of the Fittest at 50% effectiveness in PvP combat.
- Sentinel: Don't Look Back effectiveness reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
This round of PvP tuning aims to reduce Hunter's survivability. The nerf to Survival Tactics particularly will make it so that you are less likely to survive a stun using only a pre- Feign Death.
The survivability bonus from Dark Ranger has also been reduced by both the nerf to this talent and the nerf to Survival of the Fittest, although the survivability talent Don't Look Back from the alternative tree Sentinel has also been reduced, so these changes will not significantly impact which talent tree you will choose as Marksmanship.
Content of the Guide
- On the Marksmanship Hunter PvP Talents page, you will find an analysis of the talents available to Marksmanship Hunters, as well as an overview of the PvP talents, with advice on which ones to take and under which conditions.
- On the Marksmanship Hunter PvP Pets page, you will find an overview of the advantages of each pet type with advice on which ones to take and under which conditions.
- On the Marksmanship Hunter PvP Rotation and Playstyle page, you will learn how to use your spells, depending on the situation (dealing damage, surviving, controlling enemy players, etc.), and what is generally expected of your class and spec in PvP.
- On the Marksmanship Hunter PvP Stat Priority and Gear page, you will find the stat priority to follow in PvP, as well as advice for choosing your gear, which may vary depending on your playstyle and composition.
- On the Marksmanship Hunter PvP Best Races page, you will find lists of the Alliance and Horde races, ranked by how good they are for Marksmanship Hunters in PvP, as well as explanations regarding why and how their racials benefit you.
- On the Marksmanship Hunter PvP Useful Macros page, you will find a collection of useful PvP macros for Marksmanship Hunters.
- On the Marksmanship Hunter Arena Composition page, you will find the list of the most powerful Arena compositions featuring Marksmanship Hunters in both 2v2 and 3v3 modes.
- On the Marksmanship Hunter in Battleground Blitz page, you will find a summary of how to play Marksmanship in Battleground Blitz specifically, including the playstyle, role in specific battlegrounds, talent builds, and macros.
Changelog
- 08 Oct. 2024 (playstyle): Updated defensives and trapping.
- 08 Oct. 2024 (blitz): Updated talent builds.
- 08 Oct. 2024 (gear): Updated tier section.
- 08 Oct. 2024 (talents): Updated talents.
- 08 Oct. 2024 (this page): Added 8 October 2024 hotfixes.
- 08 Oct. 2024 (this page): Added 8 October 2024 hotfixes.
- 25 Sep. 2024 (blitz): Updated Defensives, Resource Race, Hybrid, Talents, Embellishment and Macro sections.
- 25 Sep. 2024 (gear): Updated advice on whether to wear tier.
- 22 Sep. 2024 (races): Updated Night Elf description.
- 22 Sep. 2024 (blitz): Updated mobility section
- 18 Sep. 2024 (gear): Updated stat priority and tier recommendations.
- 16 Sep. 2024 (talents): Added Wallhack Build.
- 14 Sep. 2024 (blitz): Updated suggested talent builds.
- 14 Sep. 2024 (talents): Updated talent trees and explained Trigger Finger interaction with Aimed Shot.
- 13 Sep. 2024 (gear): Expanded on how to craft PvP gear and Algari Diamond gems.
- 11 Sep. 2024 (gear): Changed suggested Embellished items.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (pets): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (races): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (macros): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (playstyle): Updated for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (comps): Updated comp tier lists based on current meta.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (blitz): Updated embellishments.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (gear): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (talents): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (this page): Added link to Blitz page.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (this page): Added link to Blitz page.
- 03 Sep. 2024 (this page): Added Season 1 hotfixes section.
- 03 Sep. 2024 (this page): Added Season 1 hotfixes section.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (pets): Reviewed for The War Within Launch.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (races): Added the new Earthen race.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (macros): Updated for The War Within launch.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (playstyle): Updated for the War Within Launch.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for The War Within Launch.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (blitz): Updated for The War Within.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (gear): Updated for The War Within launch.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (talents): Updated for The War Within Launch.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (this page): Updated for The War Within launch.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (this page): Updated for The War Within launch.
- 10 Aug. 2024 (this page): Updated with August 14 hotfixes.
- 10 Aug. 2024 (this page): Updated with August 14 hotfixes.
- 02 Aug. 2024 (blitz): Page added.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (pets): Reviewed for 11.0.1.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (macros): Updated for The War Within.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (playstyle): Updated for The War Within
- 23 Jul. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for 11.0.1.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (gear): Reviewed for 11.0.1.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (talents): Updated for The War Within pre-patch.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for The War Within Prepatch and removed Dragonflight hotfixes.
- 23 Jul. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for The War Within Prepatch and removed Dragonflight hotfixes.
- 03 Jul. 2024 (races): Reviewed for 11.0.1.
- 15 May 2024 (talents): Moved Sniper Shot down a tier.
- 15 May 2024 (this page): Added 7 May hotfixes.
- 15 May 2024 (this page): Added 7 May hotfixes.
- 07 May 2024 (pets): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (races): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (macros): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (playstyle): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (comps): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (gear): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (talents): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (this page): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (this page): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (pets): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (races): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (macros): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (playstyle): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (gear): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (talents): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 4.
- 16 Apr. 2024 (talents): Reorganised recommended talents.
- 20 Mar. 2024 (pets): Reviewed for patch 10.2.6.
- 20 Mar. 2024 (races): Reviewed for patch 10.2.6
- 20 Mar. 2024 (macros): Reviewed for patch 10.2.6.
- 20 Mar. 2024 (playstyle): Reviewed for patch 10.2.6.
- 20 Mar. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for patch 10.2.6.
- 20 Mar. 2024 (gear): Reviewed for patch 10.2.6
- 20 Mar. 2024 (talents): Reviewed for patch 10.2.6
- 20 Mar. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for patch 10.2.6.
- 20 Mar. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for patch 10.2.6.
- 14 Mar. 2024 (comps): Updated 3v3 tiers.
- 14 Mar. 2024 (this page): Added 12 March hotfix.
- 14 Mar. 2024 (this page): Added 12 March hotfix.
- 07 Feb. 2024 (gear): Corrected enchants
- 15 Jan. 2024 (pets): Reviewed for patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (races): Reviewed for patch 10.2.5
- 15 Jan. 2024 (macros): Reviewed for patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (playstyle): Reviewed for patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (gear): Reviewed for patch 10.2.5
- 15 Jan. 2024 (talents): Reviewed for patch 10.2.5
- 14 Jan. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for patch 10.2.5.
- 14 Jan. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for patch 10.2.5.
- 14 Jan. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Dec. 2023 (this page): Added 19 December hotfixes.
- 15 Dec. 2023 (this page): Added 19 December hotfixes.
- 04 Dec. 2023 (races): Corrected typos.
- 04 Dec. 2023 (this page): Added list of hotfixes and commentary.
- 04 Dec. 2023 (this page): Added list of hotfixes and commentary.
- 20 Nov. 2023 (playstyle): Fortitude of the Bear clarification.
- 19 Nov. 2023 (pets): Changed formatting to improve readability.
- 19 Nov. 2023 (races): Minor formatting tweaks.
- 19 Nov. 2023 (macros): Added some explanations.
- 19 Nov. 2023 (playstyle): Changed offensive rotation and included new Restoration Druid and Discipline Priest spells.
- 19 Nov. 2023 (comps): Re-arranged tier list for Season 3.
- 19 Nov. 2023 (gear): Elaborated on stat priority and recommended embellishments
- 19 Nov. 2023 (talents): Updated recommended builds and their notes.
- 19 Nov. 2023 (this page): Elaborated on other PvP Changes in 10.2.
- 19 Nov. 2023 (this page): Elaborated on other PvP Changes in 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (pets): Page created.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (races): Reviewed for patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (macros): Reviewed for patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (playstyle): Reviewed for patch 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (gear): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (talents): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight patch 10.2.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight patch 10.2.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (races): Reviewed for patch 10.1.7 with minor tweaks.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (macros): Reviewed for patch 10.1.7 with minor tweaks.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (playstyle): Reviewed for patch 10.1.7 with minor tweaks.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (comps): Reviewed and updated for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (gear): Reviewed for patch 10.1.7 with minor tweaks.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (talents): Reviewed for patch 10.1.7 with minor tweaks.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for patch 10.1.7 with minor tweaks.
- 04 Sep. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for patch 10.1.7 with minor tweaks.
- 01 Sep. 2023 (comps): Reviewed for patch 10.1.7 with minor tweaks.
- 30 Jul. 2023 (comps): Updated 3v3 tiers; Jungle is the best comp.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (races): Guide re-written.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (playstyle): Guide re-written
- 10 Jul. 2023 (comps): Guide re-written.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (gear): Guide re-written.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (talents): Expanded on Talents and PvP Talents.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 01 Jul. 2023 (talents): Guide re-written.
- 27 Jun. 2023 (macros): Guide re-written.
- 27 Jun. 2023 (this page): Guide re-written.
- 27 Jun. 2023 (this page): Guide re-written.
- 09 May 2023 (races): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (macros): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (playstyle): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (comps): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (gear): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (talents): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (races): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (playstyle): Updated the page for relevant changes in Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (gear): Updated the page for relevant changes in Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (talents): Updated the recommended Talent Build.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (races): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (macros): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (playstyle): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (comps): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (gear): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (talents): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (races): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (macros): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (playstyle): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (comps): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (gear): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (talents): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 29 Jul. 2022 (gear): Reviewed and updated for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 29 Jul. 2022 (this page): Page reviewed for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 29 Jul. 2022 (this page): Page reviewed for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 31 May 2022 (races): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (talents): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (races): Page reviewed and approved for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (macros): Page reviewed and approved for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (comps): Page reviewed and approved for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.2.
- 22 Feb. 2022 (playstyle): Updated and restructured the Opener and Burst DPS Rotations and clarified Lock and Load/Concussive Shot usage. Added Death Chakram.
- 22 Feb. 2022 (gear): Updated the BiS List, Enchants, and information on when you might want to use different Trinkets.
- 22 Feb. 2022 (talents): Updated the PvP Talent recommendations and the pet families you should use. Added Ferocity alternatives.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (races): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (talents): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.1.5.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.1.5.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (races): Updated for Patch 9.1.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (comps): Updated best 2v2 compositions.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (gear): Updated recommended gear and added Shards of Domination section.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (talents): Updated PvP Talents.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.1.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.1.
- 18 Mar. 2021 (playstyle): Updated Burst and Sustained Damage rotations.
- 18 Mar. 2021 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 9.0.5.
- 18 Mar. 2021 (talents): Updated Tier 7 Regular Talent.
- 18 Mar. 2021 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.0.5.
- 18 Mar. 2021 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.0.5.
- 06 Dec. 2020 (gear): Added BiS gear list for Shadowlands.
- 05 Dec. 2020 (playstyle): Updated Rotations to include Covenant Abilities.
- 29 Nov. 2020 (playstyle): Removed outdated Traits and Essences.
- 29 Nov. 2020 (gear): Removed outdated Traits and Essences.
- Removed outdated gear.
- Added gems section.
- 29 Nov. 2020 (this page): Added Covenant page, removed Azerite mentions, and updated gear section.
- 29 Nov. 2020 (this page): Added Covenant page, removed Azerite mentions, and updated gear section.
- 11 Nov. 2020 (playstyle): Updated all Burst and Sustained damage rotations.
- 06 Nov. 2020 (talents): Updated Talent Table.
- Updated Tiers 4 and 7 Regular Talents.
- 26 Oct. 2020 (talents): Updated Talent Table.
- 15 Oct. 2020 (races): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch (9.0.1)
- 15 Oct. 2020 (macros): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch (9.0.1)
- 15 Oct. 2020 (playstyle): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch (9.0.1)
- 15 Oct. 2020 (comps): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch (9.0.1)
- 15 Oct. 2020 (gear): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch (9.0.1)
- 15 Oct. 2020 (talents): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch (9.0.1)
- 15 Oct. 2020 (this page): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch (9.0.1)
- 15 Oct. 2020 (this page): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch (9.0.1)
Other PvP Guides
This guide is written and maintained by Slo, a Multi-Gladiator and Multi-Rank 1 Solo Shuffle Hunter. You can find Slo on YouTube, Twitch, and Reddit
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