Cataclysm Classic Marksmanship Hunter Rotation and Cooldowns

There are two major changes in the Hunter rotation transitioning from Wrath to Cataclysm. First, Hunters now use Focus as a resource instead of Mana. Focus operates similar to a Rogue's energy, meaning our rotation now involves spending Focus to deal damage and then using filler shots such as Cobra Shot to generate Focus. Second, Hunters can now fully attack on the move, which includes auto shots. You will always continue auto shotting your target as long as you are in range and facing them, so you will never need to worry about stutter stepping while moving like in Wrath.

Overall, our rotation looks very similar to how it did in Wrath. We still maintain a priority system, with the big difference being managing your focus.

Always start by ensuring all the required buffs are active, you have Aspect of the Hawk up, and Hunter's Mark is on the target. From there, this is your priority:

1. Cast and maintain Serpent Sting;
2. 2x Steady Shot to maintain Improved Steady Shot;
3. Chimera Shot;
4. Aimed Shot! when instant with Master Marksman;
5. Kill Shot below 20%;
6. Aimed Shot! above 65 focus when standing still;
7. Arcane Shot above 65 focus during heavy movement;
8. Steady Shot as your filler to generate focus;

This is potentially a fight to fight decision, but keep in mind whether you will be using Aimed Shot! or Arcane Shot to dump focus. If you can stand still for the full cast, Aimed Shot! is more damage. However, during encounters with heavy movement, standing still for that long is often a challenge. In that case, utillize Arcane Shot instead to spend your focus.

Finally, your opener's rotation does change slightly due to Careful Aim. When opening in an encounter where you are using your cooldowns on the pull, you will want to focus on maximizing as many Aimed Shot!s as possible while the target is above 90% health since they will have a significantly higher crit chance. This means Aimed Shot! will be your highest priority spell, even without the Master Marksman procs. This is only true during your opener, when the target is above 90% health and you have Rapid Fire active.

For multi-taarget, Marksmanship Hunters have an extremely simple rotation. This should be your rotation on four or more targets.

1. 2x Steady Shot to maintain Improved Steady Shot;
2. Multi-Shot to spend your focus;
3. Aimed Shot! when instant with Master Marksman;
4. Explosive Trap if the targets will be in one spot for more than ~8 seconds;
5. Kill Shot below 20%;
6. Steady Shot to generate focus.

Hunters have several cooldowns that can be lined up for huge burst windows. While the actual timings may vary per fight, in general you should line up all of these on pull and then use them on cooldown afterwards, overlapping them when possible.

• Readiness resets all of your cooldowns on every spell when used. This can be used either offensively for back-to-back burst setups, or defensively.
• Rapid Fire is a Hunter's most important cooldown. It increases your ranged attack speed by 40% for 15 seconds.
• Call of the Wild is a cooldown that Ferocity pets can talent into. It gives both you and your pet 10% more AP for 20 seconds.

Marksmanship cooldowns get a bit complicated because of Readiness. In an optimal use, you will use all your cooldowns, then use Chimera Shot and potentially Kill Shot before popping Readiness. This ensures you get to use your most powerful shots twice.