Marksmanship Hunter DPS Easy Mode — 12.1

This build is our best Sentinel single-target build.

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!

This is the optimal Sentinel build for Mythic+, and other AoE-focused content. It is based on simulating the conditions found in real Mythic+ dungeons and seeing not just what does the most DPS, but what actually clears the dungeon quicker in a group. There are builds that do more AoE, but they all lose more single-target than they gain in terms of AoE, and vice versa.

• Your "flexible" Talent points are, in our recommended order of most disposable:
  • Kodo Tranquilizer
  • Emergency Salve is only useful in certain dungeons, and is worthless in others.

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!

Treat this as a priority list of the most important spells to cast. When in doubt, simply cast the highest priority spell. You should aim to have no "downtime" in your rotation. It is better to cast the wrong spell immediately than to "think" for 1 second and then cast the right spell. As you improve, this priority should become second nature to you.

1. Cast Explosive Shot.
2. Cast Volley. Make sure to place it well for optimal AoE coverage.
3. Cast Trueshot whenever available. It is your primary cooldown, and it primarily increases the damage of your abilities, specifically the number of Aimed Shots and Rapid Fires you can cast while it is active. Use it right before you intend to cast Aimed Shot. When the Bullseye Talent is used, which is basically all the time, try to save your last Trueshot of the fight for when the target is below 20% HP.
4. Cast Kill Shot to spend Precise Shots below 20% target health, or whenever Deathblow procs.
5. Cast Arcane Shot with Precise Shots. This is indicated by the blue arrow graphic around your character, and always procs after every single Aimed Shot and Rapid Fire. On 3 targets and above, cast Multi-Shot instead, or on 2 and above with Aspect of the Hydra.
6. Cast Rapid Fire.
7. Cast Moonlight Chakram. This ability replaces your Trueshot button once Trueshot is activated, and can be used once. It grants you an instant Aimed Shot, generally fired right afterwards.
8. Cast Aimed Shot.
9. Cast Steady Shot as a filler when you can do none of the above.

Your Apex Talents have no impact on how you play. They just increase your damage passively and are best taken advantage of by doing the "baseline" rotation as described above.

The Midnight Season 2 Tier Set has subtle impact on our rotation. It will extend the duration (and therefore the damage) of your Explosive Shot, and cause those ticks to reduce the cooldown of Aimed Shot and Rapid Fire by 0.5s per tick. On two or more targets, we prefer to cast our two Explosive Shots (two because of Unstable Trigger) on two different targets, because we want to maximize this CDR effect. The damage is the same as if we cast both on 1 target, but because the CDR scales with the number of ticks, it is better to spread them out.

Exhilaration is your primary self-heal with a 1-minute cooldown. Use this when you drop below 50% HP to help out your Healer!

Aspect of the Turtle is your immunity. It can be used to completely negate the damage and effects of most spells targeted on you. Use it if you are assigned to, or in a pinch if you worry that an upcoming mechanic will kill you! It is also a 30-50% damage reduction, though it is not so commonly used for simple damage reduction purposes.

Survival of the Fittest is our most powerful defensive besides Turtle, a 30-40% damage reduction with 2 charges on a 1.5-minute cooldown each. Use it to reduce damage taken from hard-hitting mechanics. Optimal use of this ability entails using it proactively, before heavy incoming damage.

Feign Death is a very unique Hunter ability. It can be used to drop aggro and combat, and it can also be used to stop casts on you. Mobs will usually stop casting mid-cast if you appear to be dead! With the Emergency Salve Talent, it will also dispel all Poison and Disease effects from you.

The general stat priority for a Marksmanship Hunter is as follows. For more information on what's presented on this page, check out our main Stat Priority page.

Crit is our strongest stat, with Mastery close behind. In a perfect world, every item you own has Crit on it, with Mastery as its second stat.

Versatility is clearly behind Mastery.

The game offers the option of an in-game "Combat Assistant", which has two modes: a Rotation Helper that will suggest spells to cast next, and a "One-Button Mode", that automatically performs this rotation for you if you simply press one button repeatedly.

These tools can be worthwhile for beginners, as they provide a reasonable "minimum" level of performance. For Marksmanship Hunter, using just the Rotation Helper is a ~6-10% DPS loss compared to playing perfectly (which almost nobody does). Using the one-button mode on top of it takes the total loss to ~13-15%.

Obviously, peak performance cannot be obtained using these tools, but it is something worth considering if you are happy to take the DPS losses above for the sake of ease of play. Do not let anyone in-game or on a forum or Discord tell you that there is something inherently wrong with using these tools! Blizzard created them for a reason, and the game is about having fun, whatever that means for you.