Season of Discovery Marksmanship Hunter DPS Leveling
Welcome to our leveling guide for Marksmanship Hunter. Here, you will learn how to efficiently level your Hunter in Classic - Season of Discovery.
Overview
Leveling as a Hunter will be nearly identical, regardless of what spec you choose. Your pet will still be your most important asset regardless of spec with how powerful they are in Season of Discovery.
Leveling Rotation
You will have access to Chimera Shot as the first rune that you get starting at level 2. This will be your strongest shot while leveling, so make sure to use it up until you eventually can get Beast Mastery.
Leveling as a Hunter is all about utilizing your Auto-Shot optimally. Weave in Serpent Sting and Chimera Shot between Auto Shots, but try not to over-use your mana. You should be able to stay mana neutral with relative ease. Let your pet do most of the work, especially once you get the Beast Mastery rune.
Before you get your pet at level 10, try to focus on getting as much ranged damage in before you're forced to use melee attacks to finish a target off. Pull enemies with Auto-Shot, kite backwards, and then only use melee once you have to. Get your pet immediately at level 10.
Hunter Abilities
Hunters have lots of different abilities to learn, some more useful than others. Gold is going to be scarce while leveling, so try to be concious about which skills to train. It is important to have an idea of what skills are worth having and what you can live without.
Recommended Skills to Upgrade as a Hunter
- Track Beasts
- Raptor Strike
- Aspect of the Monkey
- Serpent Sting
- Arcane Shot
- Hunter's Mark
- Concussive Shot
- Revive Pet
- Aspect of the Hawk
- Track Humanoids
- Mend Pet
- Wing Clip
- Scare Beast
- Mongoose Bite
- Multi-Shot
- Aspect of the Cheetah
- Disengage
- Frost Trap
- Rapid Fire
- Feign Death
- Explosive Trap
Serpent Sting and Arcane Shot make up the bulk of your ranged damage, combined with your Auto Shot. As you level, make sure to also get your runes when you can, especially primary shots such as Chimera Shot. For AoE, Multi-Shot is a great tool for killing multiple targets, but you always have to be careful to make sure you are not the one picking up threat; either your pet or a party member should be holding threat if you are trying to AoE.
Concussive Shot, Wing Clip, and Freezing Trap are all valuable disengage and crowd control tools for both PvP and PvE.
Pets
The best pet to get as a Hunter for leveling will either be a Cat or a Raptor. These are the pets that have the highest damage modifiers (+10%) and should therefore be prioritized. At level 40, a Cat will be best, so it's best to get one if you can early on. Make sure to level its Claw and Bite abilities when you can.
Hunter Leveling Weapons
Weapon upgrades are always going to be the single biggest upgrade you can get to increase your kill speed while leveling. Always be on the lookout for ranged weapon upgrades from quests, vendors, dungeon drops, or on the Auction House.
Changelog
- 09 Jul. 2024: Updated for phase 4.
- 04 Feb. 2024: Updated for phase 2.
- 15 Dec. 2023: Reworked leveling page.
More Classic Hunter Guides
More Season of Discovery Class Guides
Classic Dungeon Guides
Classic Profession Guides
Classic Reputation Guides
This guide has been written by Impakt, an Officer in BDGG, the #2 North American guild on retail. In addition to live WoW, he has also been a classic theorycrafter and enthusiast for many years. You can watch him stream on Twitch, or follow him on Twitter.
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