Marksmanship Hunter DPS Spec, Builds, Talents, and Pet Talents — The War Within (11.0.5)
On this page, you will find out the best talents for each tier for your Marksmanship Hunter in World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.0.5). 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+.
These builds only feature the recommended Hero Talent Trees for Marksmanship Hunter. To learn more about Hero Talent Builds, check out our dedicated page:
Best Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within
Best Single-Target Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within Season 1
This build is the highest possible pure single-target DPS build that we can access, leveraging the massively powerful single-target Wailing Arrow Talents.
Note that if you are not actually getting use out of the Sentinel Watch Hero Talent's cooldown reduction on Trueshot due to encounter timings, you should swap it to Eyes Closed for less frequent, but more powerful burst.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Best Dark Ranger Single-Target Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within Season 1
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Best Mythic+/AoE/Delve Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within Season 1
This build is my recommendation for anything AoE-centric, like Mythic+, Delves, and so on.
Flexible Talents
While I strongly recommend that you run the build exactly as listed, there are a few changes you could make to suit your personal preferences, though I cannot stress enough that significant deviations are likely to cost you significant performance. A lot of work went into every talent picked, combining simulations of single-target, pure AoE, and mixed dungeon simulation scenarios with a variety of pull sizes and durations.
- If you want Light Ammo for mob-dense dungeons with large pulls, swap out Hydra's Bite. This is worth considering for the more ambitious routes and pulls in The Necrotic Wake, The Stonevault, and Ara-Kara, City of Echoes.
- I include a wide variety of CC options, but if you find yourself not using Bursting Shot very much and would prefer to lean into your Binding Shot/ Implosive Trap combo, swap Bursting Shot for Tar-Coated Bindings. You can also swap Territorial Instincts.
- Some players like to sacrifice other talents in favor of Wailing Arrow-related Talents for more single-target. I do not recommend this, as while the single-target gains are substantial, the overall DPS lost is even bigger. Taking everything in an average dungeon into account, it is simply not worth it.
- If you really want to, you can play this build but with the Dark Ranger Hero Talent instead. This will perform significantly worse. You can find the best Hero Talent Tree build for Dark Ranger on our dedicated Hero Talents page. Simply combine those Hero Talents with this Marksmanship build, and you are good to go.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Best Mythic+/AoE/Delve Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within Season 1
This build is my Dark Ranger recommendation for anything AoE-centric, like Mythic+, Delves, and so on. It does significantly less damage in all scenarios compared to Sentinel.
Flexible Talents
While I strongly recommend that you run the build exactly as listed, there are a few changes you could make to suit your personal preferences, though I cannot stress enough that significant deviations are likely to cost you significant performance. A lot of work went into every talent picked, combining simulations of single-target, pure AoE, and mixed dungeon simulation scenarios with a variety of pull sizes and durations.
- If you want Light Ammo for mob-dense du ngeons with large pulls, swap out Hydra's Bite. This is worth considering for the more ambitious routes and pulls in The Necrotic Wake, The Stonevault, and Ara-Kara, City of Echoes.
- I include a wide variety of CC options, but if you find yourself not using Bursting Shot very much and would prefer to lean into your Binding Shot/ Implosive Trap combo, swap Bursting Shot for Tar-Coated Bindings. You can also swap Territorial Instincts.
- Some players like to sacrifice other talents in favor of Wailing Arrow-related Talents for more single-target. I do not recommend this, as while the single-target gains are substantial, the overall DPS lost is even bigger. Taking everything in an average dungeon into account, it is simply not worth it.
Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!
Best Raid AoE Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within Season 1
This build grabs our AoE essentials like Multi-Shot, Trick Shots, and Volley 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 Dark Ranger Raid AoE Talents for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within Season 1
This build grabs our AoE essentials like Multi-Shot, Trick Shots, and Volley 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!
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 due to Lone Wolf, a must-pick talent.
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
- 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.
More Hunter Guides
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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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