WoW Forever Marksmanship Hunter Guide

Marksmanship Hunter is the ranged specialist of WoW Forever and the spec that can drop its pet for good. Lone Wolf gives you 20% more damage with every attack while no pet is out, Sniper Shot closes the tree with a long-range shot that hits for weapon damage plus 320, and Trueshot Aura now buffs every ranged attacker in the raid. The core is still the old Hunter game, though: Auto Shot, Aimed Shot, Arcane Shot and Serpent Sting do most of your damage, and the spec rewards the player who stands still at the right moment and never wastes a shot.

This guide is written for level 60 and the live game as of the November 11 hotfixes. ConquestCapped checked every Marksmanship talent against the Forever talent data on November 14, so the builds below follow the live values, not old Classic numbers. You will find where Marksmanship stands next to Beast Mastery and Survival, the best race, a Lone Wolf build for raids and dungeons and a pet build in talent calculators you can edit, the Legacy talents, the stat priority, the rotation with Sniper Shot and AoE, cooldowns, Mana, macros, common mistakes, enchants and consumables, gear and professions.

Is Marksmanship Hunter Good in WoW Forever?

Yes. ConquestCapped's WoW Forever tier list gives Marksmanship an A for dungeons and raids, and in one community simulation against a level 63 boss after the November 10 hotfixes it finished third among all specs, behind only Survival and Retribution Paladin. A second simulation run after the November 11 hotfix placed it in S tier and found that on three targets over five minutes it reaches about 95% of Survival's damage, closer than any other spec. Nobody has fought a raid boss yet, so treat every ranking as a forecast until the raids open on December 9.

Most of that damage comes from shots you fire anyway. In another simulation published with the November 11 tier lists, Auto Shot did about 33% of the total, Arcane Shot 16% and Serpent Sting 13%, and on three targets Multi-Shot climbed to 19%. Marksmanship also has the easiest raid life of the three Hunter specs: no pet to lose, the longest range and nothing to do in melee. The table sums up what the spec does well and where it struggles at 60.

Marksmanship vs Beast Mastery and Survival

Beast Mastery leans on the pet and two hawks from Summon Hawk, so its damage drops when the pet dies. Survival tops the simulations, but it gets there by weaving melee attacks between shots, which is hard to play and needs a second weapon. Marksmanship sits between them: a little behind Survival on a single boss, close to it on packs, and the safest choice on fights where pets die or melee range is deadly. Simulations also weave a few Raptor Strikes into the Marksmanship rotation, about a fifth of its damage, but sim authors call that experimental, and this guide does not build around it. Our WoW Forever Hunter guide compares all three specs.

Best Race for Marksmanship Hunter

Eight races can be Hunters in Forever, and community simulations put the best and the worst racials only about 15 damage per second apart, so pick the faction you want first. Two things matter more for Marksmanship than for the other specs. Racials that add damage to every shot all the time beat short cooldowns, and with Lone Wolf any racial that boosts the pet is wasted. These are the races worth a look.

Night Elf is the best Alliance choice, with Human close behind. On the Horde, Windshaper Skyborne leads for a Lone Wolf build, with Troll close behind, while Orc is the pick if you play the pet build. Dwarf is worth it only while you are short on Hit, thanks to its 1% Hit Chance from Artisan's Precision. Every race is compared for all three specs in our best Hunter race in WoW Forever guide.

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Marksmanship Hunter Talents at 60

Every Marksmanship build takes the same 31 points in Marksmanship, all the way to Sniper Shot: Lethal Attacks and Careful Aim in the first rows, Rapid Killing, Trueshot Aura, Mortal Shots, Rapid Recuperation and Barrage further down. The rest decides whether you play with a pet. The recommended build drops the pet for Lone Wolf and goes deeper into Marksmanship, while the pet build spends its spare points in Beast Mastery.

Best Marksmanship Hunter Raid and Dungeon Build: 5/41/5

This is the Lone Wolf build, and the major guides agree it is the strongest for raids and dungeons, especially on packs, because the 20% applies to every Multi-Shot, trap and Volley tick. It takes 41 points in Marksmanship, Deadly Aspects in Beast Mastery and Improved Tracking in Survival.

These talents shape how the build plays.

• Lone Wolf 1/1. 20% more damage with all attacks while no pet is out. Dismiss your pet instead of letting it die, because some players report the bonus only works after a dismiss.
• Sniper Shot 1/1. A 4-second cast on a 15-second cooldown that deals ranged damage plus 320 from up to 45 yards, and gives your next 3 shots 10 more yards of range. It needs Trueshot Aura first.
• Mortal Shots 5/5. Your ranged crits deal 30% more damage, so crits hit for 230% instead of 200%.
• Careful Aim 5/5. Adds 100% of your Intellect as Attack Power, so Intellect on your gear is no longer only Mana.
• Rapid Killing 2/2. Brings Rapid Fire down to a 3-minute cooldown, and a kill makes your next shot hit 20% harder.
• Rapid Recuperation 2/2 and Efficiency 5/5. Your Mana talents: Serpent Sting lets half of your Mana regeneration continue while you cast for 15 sec, and your shots and stings cost 15% less.
• Deadly Aspects 5/5. While Aspect of the Hawk is active, each Auto Shot has a 10% chance to give you 30% ranged attack speed for 12 sec.
• Improved Tracking 5/5. 5% more damage against the creature type you track.

Hawk Eye 3/3 adds 6 yards to your shots, so Sniper Shot reaches about 51 yards. If another Hunter in your raid already brings Trueshot Aura, you still keep it, because it is the path to Sniper Shot.

Marksmanship Hunter Pet Build: 16/31/4

Some players keep the pet: it tanks a loose add, adds about a fifth of your damage in good gear and helps in the open world. This build stops Marksmanship at 31 points and spends 16 points in Beast Mastery for Focused Fire, Unleashed Fury and Summon Hawk, whose two hawks keep attacking while you shoot.

It gives up Efficiency and Lone Wolf, so Mana runs out sooner, and you share the cooldown of Arcane Shot with the hawks. Choose it for solo play, world PvP or a group without a reliable tank. How the hawk rhythm works is explained in our WoW Forever Beast Mastery Hunter guide.

Marksmanship Talents to Skip

Some Marksmanship talents look useful but add nothing to your damage in PvE.

• Improved Arcane Shot. Five points for 1.5 seconds less cooldown on one shot. The points are worth more in Efficiency and Hawk Eye.
• Improved Concussive Shot and Scatter Shot. Stuns and a disorient for PvP.
• Pet talents with Lone Wolf. Focused Fire, Unleashed Fury and the rest of the pet tree do nothing without a pet out.

Every change to the three Hunter trees is in our WoW Forever Hunter talents guide, and you can plan your own build in our WoW Forever talent calculator.

Legacy Talents for Marksmanship Hunter

Legacy talents are account-wide perks that you unlock by playing, and a Hunter wants a different set from most raid builds. Gourmand makes food buffs last twice as long, so one Grilled Squid lasts through a long raid night. The Quick and the Dead makes your abilities free after a resurrection until you enter combat again, which covers rebuffing after a wipe. Reagent Economy does little for a Hunter, because your abilities use no vendor reagents.

To reach those perks, the build also takes Reinforce for less durability loss when you die and one point in Permanence, which makes the rest benefits of your camp last longer. The last 5 points go into Diplomat for the reputations behind your gear and enchants. How every Legacy tree works is covered in our best WoW Forever Legacy talent builds guide.

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Marksmanship Hunter Stat Priority

Your ranged weapon matters more than any stat. Auto Shot, Aimed Shot, Multi-Shot and Sniper Shot all build on its damage, and the slow shots add their bonus on top of one weapon hit, so a slower weapon with a higher hit beats a fast one with the same damage per second. After the weapon, Hit comes first: the Marksmanship builds take no Hit talent, so all of it comes from gear. This is the order for level 60 before the raids:

1. Ranged weapon damage, with slower weapons a little better
2. Hit Chance up to 8%
3. Agility
4. Critical Strike Chance
5. Intellect, as long as you have Careful Aim
6. Attack Power
7. Stamina

The character panel shows 8% against a raid boss, and some guides aim for 9% to be safe, so stop at 8% to 9%. Dwarf needs 7%. One point of Agility gives 2 ranged Attack Power and 53 Agility give 1% crit, which is why Agility beats plain Attack Power. With Mortal Shots, every crit hits for 230%, so crit is worth a little more to you than to other Hunters. Intellect gives one Attack Power through Careful Aim plus 15 Mana, about half an Agility. Expertise does nothing for your shots, because ranged attacks cannot be dodged or parried.

Our WoW Forever hit cap guide explains every cap, and our WoW Forever stats and itemization guide covers what each stat does.

Marksmanship Hunter Rotation and Cooldowns

Marksmanship has a priority list, not a fixed sequence. Most of your shots run on short cooldowns, and the skill is in planning the next few seconds: what to fire while Auto Shot reloads, and when you can afford to stand still for Sniper Shot.

Before the Pull and Opener

Get these things ready before every boss, then open as below.

• Dismiss your pet if you play the Lone Wolf build.
• Turn on Aspect of the Hawk and Trueshot Aura, and pick the tracking that matches the boss, such as Track Humanoids for a humanoid, for the 5% from Improved Tracking.
• Put Hunter's Mark on the boss from up to 100 yards.
• Start Sniper Shot from range as the tank pulls, so its 4-second cast is done before the boss reaches the tank.
• Press Rapid Fire and your racial together, plus Major Frenzy Potion if you have one, then follow the priority below.

Single-Target Priority

On a boss, go down this list and press the first button that is ready.

1. Auto Shot. Stand still for 0.5 sec before each shot fires. It keeps firing while you cast Aimed Shot and Sniper Shot, so never cut it short to move.
2. Aimed Shot on cooldown. It shares a cooldown with Multi-Shot, and on one target Aimed Shot hits harder.
3. Arcane Shot on cooldown. Its own 6-second cooldown fits between your other shots.
4. Serpent Sting on a boss that will live the full 15 sec. It is about 13% of your damage, and it also starts Rapid Recuperation.
5. Sniper Shot whenever you can stand still for 4 sec, and always during Rapid Fire, which shortens the cast to about 3 sec.

Guides disagree on whether Arcane Shot or Aimed Shot comes first, and simulations swap them. The difference is small, so keep both on cooldown and do not delay Auto Shot for either. On fights with a lot of movement, skip Sniper Shot and keep the instant shots going.

AoE and Big Pulls

Marksmanship has the best area damage of the three Hunter specs, and Lone Wolf and Barrage add to all of it. Explosive Trap hits everything within 10 yards, and you can now use it in combat on a 30-second cooldown that all your traps share. Since November 11, Volley stops when you move and no longer triggers procs.

• Two or three mobs: Multi-Shot on cooldown instead of Aimed Shot, Arcane Shot on the mob the tank kills first and Auto Shot.
• Four to seven mobs: Explosive Trap where the pack will stand, Multi-Shot on cooldown, then Volley if the pack lives long enough and you have the Mana.
• Eight or more: Explosive Trap and a full Volley channel, with Multi-Shot when you have to move.

Traps land at your own feet, so place Explosive Trap before the pack reaches the tank, or step in to drop it and step out again.

Cooldowns and Threat

Marksmanship has one damage cooldown, and the rest of your toolkit keeps you alive and below the tank on threat.

• Rapid Fire. 40% attack speed for 15 sec, every 3 minutes with Rapid Killing. Use it on the pull with your racial and any on-use trinket, and do not spend it on trash.
• Feign Death. Drops your threat on a 30-second cooldown. With Lone Wolf there is no pet left holding aggro.
• Disengage. Lowers your threat on a mob that reaches you in melee.
• Tranquilizing Shot. Removes a Frenzy effect from a boss, a Hunter job on any fight with an enrage.
• Freezing Trap, Frost Trap and Concussive Shot. Keep loose mobs away from you, since you cannot fight them in melee.

Mana Management

Mana is the limit of a Marksmanship Hunter on long fights, because every shot and sting costs it and Forever has no Aspect of the Viper. These habits keep the bar up.

• Keep Efficiency 5/5 and Rapid Recuperation 2/2 in your build: every landed Serpent Sting lets half of your Mana regeneration run while you cast for 15 sec, and all of it when you spend a Rapid Killing proc.
• Skip Serpent Sting and Sniper Shot on trash that dies in a few seconds.
• Wear Intellect pieces, since Careful Aim turns them into Attack Power as well as Mana.
• Use Major Mana Potion and Dark Rune or Demonic Rune on long boss fights. They are on separate cooldowns.

When the Mana bar runs low, drop Sniper Shot and Serpent Sting first and keep Auto Shot going. It costs nothing and is still a third of your damage.

Useful Macros for Marksmanship Hunter

The Auto Shot macro starts your shots on the nearest enemy if you have no target, and the exclamation mark keeps a second press from turning Auto Shot off:

#showtooltip Auto Shot
/cleartarget [dead]
/targetenemy [noharm]
/cast !Auto Shot

A burst macro lines up Rapid Fire with your racial before Sniper Shot. Keep only the line for your own race:

#showtooltip Rapid Fire
/cast Rapid Fire
/cast Berserking
/cast Blood Fury
/cast Elune's Light

With the pet build, this one sends the pet and marks the target with one key:

#showtooltip Hunter's Mark
/petattack
/cast Hunter's Mark

Marksmanship Hunter Mistakes to Avoid

These are the habits that cost a Marksmanship Hunter the most damage or Mana in Forever.

• Moving while Auto Shot winds up. Every step in that 0.5 sec delays your biggest damage source.
• Pressing Multi-Shot on one target and losing the Aimed Shot that shares its cooldown.
• Starting Sniper Shot when the boss is about to make you move.
• Keeping a pet out with Lone Wolf talented, or letting it die instead of dismissing it.
• Using the wrong tracking, which turns off the 5% from Improved Tracking.
• Spending Rapid Fire on a trash pack right before a boss.
• Keeping Aspect of the Cheetah on in combat. Any hit dazes you.
• Running out of ammo mid-raid. Without it you cannot shoot at all.

Enchants and Consumables for Marksmanship Hunter

Enchant the pieces you plan to keep, which usually means your ranged weapon, chest and a stat stick you will not replace soon. The ranged weapon takes a scope instead of an enchant. These are the best options a Hunter can get before the raids:

For raids, bring these consumables:

• Elixirs: Elixir of the Mongoose for 25 Agility and 2% crit, or Elixir of Greater Agility for 25 Agility if you cannot afford the Mongoose.
• Food: Grilled Squid for 1% crit for 15 min.
• Potions and runes: Major Frenzy Potion for 80 Attack Power for 30 sec in your Rapid Fire window, plus Major Mana Potion and Dark Rune for Mana.
• Ammo: Miniature Cannon Balls or Doomshot from dungeon bosses, and a quiver such as Harpy Hide Quiver for 15% ranged attack speed. Swiftstrike Shot and Swiftfeather Arrow, the new raid ammo, are no longer Bind on Pickup since November 10, so you can buy them from an Engineer.

Where every enchanting formula drops is in our best enchants in WoW Forever guide.

Marksmanship Hunter Gear Overview

Your ranged weapon decides more of your damage than any other slot. Deep Jungle Rifle from The Shaper's Terrace is the best pre-raid gun, and its slow 3.10 speed puts more damage into every Aimed Shot and Sniper Shot. Stoneshatter from Dire Maul is almost as good and adds 1% Hit, so take it if your list is short on hit.

Careful Aim makes Intellect worth about half an Agility, which moves a few pieces up for Marksmanship: Ranger's Belt beats Marksman's Girdle once you have Hit to spare, and Beastmaster's Cap and Beastmaster's Tunic gain value from their Intellect. Hunters wear mail, but Forever adds no armor specialization bonus, so leather with better stats is simply better.

The full slot-by-slot list, every ranged weapon and the ammo and quivers are in our WoW Forever Hunter BiS guide, and the set bonuses for the raids are in our WoW Forever Hunter tier set guide.

Best Professions for Marksmanship Hunter

Skinning and Leatherworking are the classic Hunter pair and still the easiest choice. Leatherworking makes strong Agility mail and leather from level 10, and Skinning costs you almost no time between pulls. Read our WoW Forever Leatherworking guide for the route to 300.

Engineering with Mining is the stronger raid pair. Engineers make Sniper Scope for their own weapon and throw Goblin Sapper Charge and Dense Dynamite on packs, extra AoE that no other profession gives. With the raid ammo now tradeable, you no longer need Engineering for ammo, so pick it for the explosives or not at all.

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More Guides for Your Marksmanship Hunter

These guides cover the rest of the Hunter in Forever: the class overview with all three specs, the best gear for every slot, every talent change, the best race for each spec and where Marksmanship stands among all specs.

WoW Forever Marksmanship Hunter FAQ

These are the questions players ask most often about Marksmanship Hunter in WoW Forever.