Marksmanship Hunter Leveling Guide From 1 to 80 for WotLK Classic

Marksmanship is exceptionally strong later on at max level, but is likely the weakest leveling spec for Hunters. One of the main issues that you will run into is that your pet cannot hold threat well, and with Marksmanship this problem becomes even more severe. For Dungeons Marksmanship can be good since you are not relying on your pet to tank, but your pet will be doing a large portion of your damage while leveling due to a lack of real stats. It is possible to level as a Marksmanship Hunter, however, but know that it will be worse than Beast Mastery in almost every regard. Below is a link to our Beast Mastery leveling guide.

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• Levels 10 to 14 — 5 points in Lethal Shots
• Levels 15 to 19 — 5 points in Mortal Shots

Both Lethal Shots and Mortal Shots are the obvious choices here just to progress the tree with as much damage as possible. You could also choose to go with Improved Concussive Shot if you are on a PvP server just in case.

• Level 20 — 1 point in Aimed Shot
• Levels 21 & 22 — 2 points in Go for the Throat
• Levels 23 & 24 — 2 points in Rapid Killing
• Levels 25 to 27 — 3 points in Focused Aim
• Levels 28 & 29 — 2 points in Careful Aim

Aimed Shot is a huge pickup, and will be how you start each pull from now on. Go for the Throat is a solid DPS increase for your pet, and Rapid Killing gives you a nice damage increase on your first Aimed Shot after killing an enemy. Focused Aim and Careful Aim are not required if you would rather put the points elsewhere, but are both solid DPS increases.

• Level 30 — 1 point in Readiness
• Level 31 to 33 — 3 points in Barrage
• Level 34 — 1 point in Careful Aim
• Levels 35 to 37 — 3 points in Ranged Weapon Specialization
• Level 38 & 39 — 2 points in Combat Experience

Readiness is a nice button to have as an extra cooldown, both defensively and offensively. Barrage as a solid damage increase for Aimed Shot, then the remaining points in Ranged Weapon Specialization and Combat Experience are all required DPS talents.

• Level 40 — 1 point in Trueshot Aura
• Levels 41 to 43 — 3 points in Piercing Shots
• Levels 44 — 1 point in Improved Barrage
• Levels 45 to 49 — 5 points in Master Marksman

Trueshot Aura is one of the most valuable abilities you will pick up as a Marksmanship Hunter and is particularly strong in groups. Piercing Shots and Improved Barrage are, again, both solid DPS increases but Master Marksman is more valuable point-for-point and worth going into as soon as possible.

• Level 50 — 1 point in Silencing Shot
• Level 51 & 52 — 2 points in Rapid Recuperation
• Levels 53 & 54 — 2 points in Wild Quiver
• Levels 55 to 59 — 5 points in Marked for Death

Silencing Shot is a moderate DPS increase when used, but more importantly having a silence is nice just in case. Rapid Recuperation should help any mana issues you are having allowing you to sustain for much longer periods, and then the rest of the points in the tree are just required damage increases.

• Levels 60 — 1 point in Chimera Shot
• Levels 61 — 1 point in Wild Quiver
• Levels 62 to 64 — 3 points in Improved Steady Shot
• Levels 65 & 66 — 2 points in Improved Barrage
• Levels 67 to 70 — 4 points in Improved Tracking

Chimera Shot is the final talent in the MM tree, and is incredibly strong while leveling and for end-game content. After that you will want to finish all remaining points in the bottom 4 rows of the MM tree since they are all powerful choices. Once you complete the MM tree, jump over to Survival and start putting points into Improved Tracking.

• Levels 71 — 1 point in Improved Tracking
• Levels 72 to 76 — 5 points in Improved Aspect of the Hawk
• Levels 77 & 78 — 2 points in Focused Fire
• Levels 79 & 80 — 2 points in Survival Instincts

At this point, you do not have a ton of options. The final four options listed here are basically the only DPS choices you can pick up, which will be the most valuable for leveling. You could choose to also invest some points into Efficiency for Mana cost reduction, but overall the damage should serve you better.

1. Command your pet to attack the target;
2. Misdirection on your pet;
3. Hunter's Mark;
4. Kill Shot when target is below 20%;
5. Kill Command whenever available;
6. Serpent Sting;
7. Chimera Shot;
8. Aimed Shot;
9. Arcane Shot;
10. Fill with Steady Shot.

The key at any level is getting as many Auto Shots off as possible before the target reaches you. The best way to accomplish this is by kiting backwards, moving in between each shot. At Level 8 Concussive Shot can help with this.

Do your class quest to get your pet. Once you have your pet, your kill speed and efficiency should become much better. Make sure you are careful with your threat, and try to let your pet tank whenever possible.

Feign Death is a great way to drop threat while fighting enemies. You can combine this with Aimed Shot or Multi-Shot to deal a burst of damage right before dropping threat to ensure your pet keeps aggro.

Steady Shot is a spammable ability, and is one of your best DPS spells. This will be most of your damage from here on out.

All Hunter specs benefit from upgrading the same skills, so our list of skills to buy from trainers is the same, regardless of the spec. For this reason, you will find that list in our general Hunter leveling page.

Once you achieve Level 80 we suggest you check out our Marksmanship Hunter Guide, which goes more in detail of how to play your level 80 Marksmanship Hunter.

Some of the most relevant pages to dive deeper into are:

• The Marksmanship Hunter Talent builds guide offers a default build to maximize your damage as a Marksmanship Hunter;
• Our Marksmanship Hunter Rotation guide teaches you how to actually deal damage in a variety of situations. It also includes tips on how to utilize your cool downs and utility.
• Check out the Marksmanship Hunter Stats guide if you would like to learn how each stat affects your damage;
• The Gear guide for Marksmanship Hunter includes a list of gear to for you to acquire and where to find it.