Marksmanship Hunter DPS Easy Mode — The War Within (11.1.0)

This build is optimal for pure single-target scenarios.

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.

Likewise, if the encounter you are fighting does not allow, or place a high importance on execute (sub-20% HP) damage, then swap out the Bullseye point for Killer Mark. Similar DPS, but distributed differently.

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

This build is my recommendation for anything AoE-centric, like Mythic+, Delves, and so on.

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.

• I have tried to collect as many relevant "Flex" Talents in a single Talent Build here, so that you do not have to swap very often. Still, some omissions have been made; if you want to pick up Bursting Shot or Kodo Tranquilizer/ Devilsaur Tranquilizer, I recommend dropping Trailblazer, Emergency Salve, and Misdirection, in that order of priority.

We cannot have everything we could possibly want for every single dungeon in a single build, unfortunately. Here are the recommended utility talents to swap to for different, specific Mythic+ dungeons in The War Within Season 2.

• For Cinderbrew Meadery, Darkflame Cleft, Theater of Pain, and The MOTHERLODE!!, swap Kodo Tranquilizer over to Devilsaur Tranquilizer.

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

The goal of Marksmanship is chiefly to cast as many Aimed Shots and Rapid Fires as possible. Another key element is to ensure that you have Streamline stacks for all of your Aimed Shots. Whenever you cast Aimed Shot (and Rapid Fire, with the No Scope Talent), you gain Precise Shots, buffing your next 1 (or 2, with the Windrunner Quiver Talent) Arcane Shots (or Multi-Shots, on AoE). Whenever you spend these Precise Shots, you gain the Streamline buff, reducing the cast time and focus cost of your next Aimed Shot substantially. You also get Streamline just by casting Rapid Fire naturally, so the ideal case is that you have one Arcane Shot and one Rapid Fire between every Aimed Shot. In practice, Rapid Fire's cooldown is too long to make this happen reliably (though you may get lucky Surging Shots resets!), so we are mainly chasing 1 Streamline stack for every Aimed Shot at minimum — any more is a bonus.

So, between every single Aimed Shot, you should always try to fill in at least one Precise Shots-buffed Arcane Shots. We never want to cast Aimed Shot without Streamline.

If specced, Precision Detonation also causes Explosive Shot to grant Streamline. Needless to say, tracking your Streamline buff in your UI is essential!

Finally, when you cast Aimed Shot and Rapid Fire, you also have a chance to generate Deathblow procs, which cause you to be able to cast Kill Shot (or Black Arrow, if you are a Dark Ranger) regardless of the target's health. If you have such a proc, you should always spend it before casting another Aimed Shot/ Rapid Fire, as we do not want to overwrite the proc.

The basic rotation of Marksmanship is best summarized as a priority system. On every global, you simply want to cast the highest priority spell, if its condition is met:

1. Whenever you have a Kill Shot/ Black Arrow proc, use it immediately, we do not want to overwrite these procs.
2. Cast Rapid Fire whenever it is available. It is your hardest hitter and drives several mechanics: It generates Streamline, can generate Deathblow procs, triggers In the Rhythm, and certain Talents give it even more effects such as Bulletstorm, No Scope, and Lunar Storm. You can almost never go wrong with pressing Rapid Fire!
3. Use Explosive Shot whenever it is available. It does hefty damage and can generate Streamline with certain Talents. You should always try to use it directly following an Aimed Shot, as this takes advantage of Precision Detonation.
4. Activate Trueshot as many times as possible in a fight. Knowing the fight's cadence helps a lot, as using Trueshot alongside other buffs (or enemy debuffs that increase their damage taken) can massively increase its throughput. You should also aim to have 1 Streamline stack ready, as well as spend all of your Precise Shots stacks, before entering Trueshot, so that you can Aimed Shot the moment you activate it.
5. Spend Precise Shots procs on Arcane Shot. These procs are activated primarily from Aimed Shot, but can also come from Rapid Fire. They are essential for generating the Streamline stacks that reduce Aimed Shot's cast time and Focus cost.
6. Use Aimed Shot whenever it is available. The goal is to use as many Aimed Shots as possible over the course of an encounter, but also to ensure that every Aimed Shot is cast with at least 1 Streamline stack. We also do not want to cast Aimed Shot if we already have a Precise Shots proc ready, as we do not want to overwrite them!
7. At this point, if you have nothing else higher priority to cast, you should spend excess Focus on Arcane Shot, and generate Focus as needed with Steady Shot. You should always aim to have at least ~30 Focus, in order to be able to cast Aimed Shot the moment it becomes available.

There is only one extra thing you need to worry about for Marksmanship on AoE, and that is Trick Shots. This is a buff activated by Multi-Shot that causes your next Rapid Fire or Aimed Shot to hit up to 5 additional targets for 75% of original damage. It is extremely important to ensure this buff is active for all of your Aimed Shots and Rapid Fires. Note that the Volley Talented Ability activates Trick Shots for 6 continuous seconds, and we will often leverage this to chain multiple Aimed Shots and Rapid Fires together for awesome AoE burst damage.

Exhilaration is your primary self-heal and it has a rather short cooldown thanks to the Natural Mending Talent. 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!

Survival of the Fittest is our most powerful defensive besides Turtle, a 30% 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! It will also dispel all Poison and Disease effects from you when specced into Emergency Salve.

This is just some of the key utility of Marksmanship Hunter. We highly recommend checking out the fully detailed Spell Glossary page below to see everything explained in detail.