Marksmanship Hunter DPS Gear and Best in Slot — The War Within (11.0.5)

Last updated on Oct 30, 2024 at 14:00 by Azortharion 149 comments
General Information

On this page, you will find the best gear and best in slot items for your Marksmanship Hunter in World of Warcraft The War Within (11.0.5).

If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Marksmanship Hunter gear and best in slot.

1.

Best in Slot Gear Guide for Marksmanship Hunter

Welcome to our Gear and BiS Page for Marksmanship Hunter for The War Within Season 1. Check this page to learn everything you need to know about gearing a Marksmanship Hunter, including the BiS Gear from all sources, Raiding, and Mythic+, information on the best Trinkets, Tier Sets, and much more.

For discussion and information on Stats specifically, check out our Stats page below.

2.

BiS Gear for Marksmanship Hunter

Overall BiS List for Season 1 Nerub-ar Palace Gear BiS List Mythic+ Gear BiS List
3.

Overall BiS List for Marksmanship Hunter

This list contains the best gear in every slot for Season 1 of The War Within, from all sources.

In general, BiS Items for Marksmanship are simply ones that have lots of Crit on them.

Slot Item Source/Note
Weapon Splintershot Silkbow Icon Splintershot Silkbow (639) Sikran in Nerub-ar Palace
Helm Rattling Deadeye Hood Icon Rattling Deadeye Hood (639) The Necrotic Wake (626), or Great Vault.
Neck Locket of Broken Memories Icon Locket of Broken Memories (639) Rasha'nan in Nerub-ar Palace
Shoulder Lightless Scavenger's Taxidermy Icon Lightless Scavenger's Taxidermy (639) Rasha'nan/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Cloak Consecrated Cloak Icon Consecrated CloakDawnthread Lining Icon Dawnthread Lining (636) Crafted by Tailoring
Chest Lightless Scavenger's Tunic Icon Lightless Scavenger's Tunic (639) Broodtwister Ovi'nax/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Bracers Glyph-Etched Vambraces Icon Glyph-Etched VambracesDawnthread Lining Icon Dawnthread Lining (636) Crafted by Leatherworking
Gloves Lightless Scavenger's Mitts Icon Lightless Scavenger's Mitts (639) Sikran/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Belt Accelerated Ascension Coil Icon Accelerated Ascension Coil (639) Broodtwister Ovi'nax in Nerub-ar Palace
Legs Lightless Scavenger's Stalkings Icon Lightless Scavenger's Stalkings (639) Nexus Princess Ky'veza/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Boots Rasha'nan's Grotesque Talons Icon Rasha'nan's Grotesque Talons (639) Rasha'nan in Nerub-ar Palace
Ring #1 Seal of the Poisoned Pact Icon Seal of the Poisoned Pact (639) Queen Ansurek in Nerub-ar Palace
Ring #2 Seal of the City Watch Icon Seal of the City Watch (639) Siege of Boralus (626), or in Great Vault
Trinket #1 (Single-Target) Void Reaper's Contract Icon Void Reaper's Contract (639) Nexus Princess Ky'veza in Nerub-ar Palace
Trinket #2 (Single-Target) Mad Queen's Mandate Icon Mad Queen's Mandate (639) Queen Ansurek in Nerub-ar Palace
Trinket #1 (Mythic+/General Use) Skardyn's Grace Icon Skardyn's Grace (639) Grim Batol (626), or in Great Vault
Trinket #2 (Mythic+/General Use) Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg Icon Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg (639) Broodtwister Ovi'nax in Nerub-ar Palace
3.

Nerub-ar Palace Raid Gear BiS List for Marksmanship Hunter

This list contains the Best in Slot Gear for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within Season 1 from the Nerub-ar Palace Raid.

Note that this BiS List is for items from the Raid. I am separating the BiS lists by gear sources. This is what you send to your Raid Leader/Loot Council when they ask you what your BiS gear is from the Raid.

Note that there is no such thing as a singular, all-encompassing "BiS". The best items vary per character and situation, and there are many items that are essentially equivalent in terms of DPS, namely when we are just shuffling secondary stats around. I will list one "BiS" item per slot, sometimes two if I feel there is a significant difference for Raiding and Mythic+, but ultimately, BiS lists are not very practically useful and you should be simming your character to find out what gear to equip next. Nonetheless, there is a huge demand for this list and thus, despite me not thinking you should really care much about it, it is here for your perusal.

Slot Item Source/Note
Weapon Splintershot Silkbow Icon Splintershot Silkbow (639) Sikran in Nerub-ar Palace
Helm Lightless Scavenger's Skull Icon Lightless Scavenger's Skull (639) Silken Court/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Neck Locket of Broken Memories Icon Locket of Broken Memories (639) Rasha'nan in Nerub-ar Palace
Shoulder Lightless Scavenger's Taxidermy Icon Lightless Scavenger's Taxidermy (639) Rasha'nan/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Cloak Wings of Shattered Sorrow Icon Wings of Shattered Sorrow (639) Rasha'nan in Nerub-ar Palace
Chest Lightless Scavenger's Tunic Icon Lightless Scavenger's Tunic (639) Broodtwister Ovi'nax/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Bracers Ky'veza's Covert Clasps Icon Ky'veza's Covert Clasps (639) Nexus Princess Ky'veza in Nerub-ar Palace
Gloves Lightless Scavenger's Mitts Icon Lightless Scavenger's Mitts (639) Sikran/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Belt Accelerated Ascension Coil Icon Accelerated Ascension Coil (639) Broodtwister Ovi'nax in Nerub-ar Palace
Legs Liquified Defector's Leggings Icon Liquified Defector's Leggings (639) Queen Ansurek in Nerub-ar Palace
Boots Rasha'nan's Grotesque Talons Icon Rasha'nan's Grotesque Talons (639) Rasha'nan in Nerub-ar Palace
Ring #1 Seal of the Poisoned Pact Icon Seal of the Poisoned Pact (639) Queen Ansurek in Nerub-ar Palace
Ring #2 Writhing Ringworm Icon Writhing Ringworm (639) Broodtwister Ovi'nax in Nerub-ar Palace
Trinket #1 (Single-Target) Void Reaper's Contract Icon Void Reaper's Contract (639) Nexus Princess Ky'veza in Nerub-ar Palace
Trinket #1 (All-Rounder) Mad Queen's Mandate Icon Mad Queen's Mandate (639) Queen Ansurek in Nerub-ar Palace
Trinket #2 (All-Rounder) Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg Icon Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg (639) Broodtwister Ovi'nax in Nerub-ar Palace
3.

The War Within Season 1 Mythic+ Gear BiS List for Marksmanship Hunter

This list contains the Best in Slot Gear for Marksmanship Hunter from The War Within Season 1 Mythic+.

Note that this BiS List is for items from Mythic+. I am separating the BiS lists by gear sources. This is the list you can chase when you want to improve your gear by farming Mythic+ dungeons.

Note that there is no such thing as a singular, all-encompassing "BiS". The best items vary per character and situation, and there are many items that are essentially equivalent in terms of DPS, namely when we are just shuffling secondary stats around. I will list one "BiS" item per slot, sometimes two if I feel there is a significant difference for Raiding and Mythic+, but ultimately, BiS lists are not very practically useful and you should be simming your character to find out what gear to equip next. Nonetheless, there is a huge demand for this list and thus, despite me not thinking you should really care much about it, it is here for your perusal.

Slot Item Source/Note
Weapon Augmented Refractor Cannon Icon Augmented Refractor Cannon (639) The Stonevault (626), or Great Vault
Helm Rattling Deadeye Hood Icon Rattling Deadeye Hood (639) The Necrotic Wake (626), or Great Vault
Neck Trailspinner Pendant Icon Trailspinner Pendant (639) Mists of Tirna Scithe (626), or Great Vault
Shoulder Lightless Scavenger's Taxidermy Icon Lightless Scavenger's Taxidermy (639) Rasha'nan/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Cloak Troggstitched Drape Icon Troggstitched Drape (639) Grim Batol (626), or Great Vault
Chest Lightless Scavenger's Tunic Icon Lightless Scavenger's Tunic (639) Broodtwister Ovi'nax/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Bracers Penumbral Rimeguards Icon Penumbral Rimeguards (639) City of Threads (626), or Great Vault
Gloves Lightless Scavenger's Mitts Icon Lightless Scavenger's Mitts (639) Sikran/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Belt Anchor Chain Girdle Icon Anchor Chain Girdle (639) Siege of Boralus (626), or Great Vault
Legs Lightless Scavenger's Stalkings Icon Lightless Scavenger's Stalkings (639) Nexus Princess Ky'veza/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Boots (Raiding) Red Scale Boots Icon Red Scale Boots (639) Grim Batol (626), or Great Vault
Ring #1 Devout Zealot's Ring Icon Devout Zealot's Ring (639) The Dawnbreaker (626), or Great Vault
Ring #2 Seal of the City Watch Icon Seal of the City Watch (639) Siege of Boralus (626), or Great Vault
Trinket #1 Skardyn's Grace Icon Skardyn's Grace (639) Grim Batol (626), or Great Vault
Trinket #2 (Long, Sustained Encounters) Dead-Eye Spyglass Icon Dead-Eye Spyglass (639) Siege of Boralus (626), or Great Vault
Trinket #2 (Mythic+, etc) Ara-Kara Sacbrood Icon Ara-Kara Sacbrood (639) Ara-Kara, City of Echoes (626), or Great Vault
3.

Best Trinkets for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within Season 1

Raiding Trinket Tier List Mythic+ Trinket Tier List
4.

Raiding Trinket Tier List for Marksmanship Hunter

This Trinket Tier List is single-target biased, as this tends to be the most important aspect of Raiding. When Trinkets are equal on single-target, I will "break the tie" by looking into which Trinket performs better in AoE/mixed scenarios.

Note that the Trinkets are compared at their highest possible Item Level, which is only 626 for Delve Trinkets. Not only that, but 639 Mythic+ Trinkets are only obtainable via the Great Vault — Not a very reliable source. At equal iLvls, the picture may be very different and that is why you should sim yourself.

Finally, note that the Trinkets in each tier are listed in no particular order. Each tier covers only a 0.5% DPS span.

A "Tier" as defined by this list is around 0.5% DPS, meaning that S-Tier Trinkets are around 0.5% better than A-Tier Trinkets, and so on.

3.1.

S-Tier

  • Mad Queen's Mandate Icon Mad Queen's Mandate — Best for pure single-target. Can be stacked with Unerring Vision Icon Unerring Vision for extra damage, and the passive Crit is very good for us. Also very potent for single-target and priority-target damage in Mythic+.
  • Skardyn's Grace Icon Skardyn's Grace — Straightforwardly macroed into Trueshot Icon Trueshot.
3.1.

A-Tier

  • Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg Icon Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg — Very good for AoE scenarios.
3.1.

B-Tier

  • Treacherous Transmitter Icon Treacherous Transmitter
  • Dead-Eye Spyglass Icon Dead-Eye Spyglass — Because this Trinket marks targets, it is problematic on "stop-start" situations or where mobs die regularly, but for sustained single-target encounters, it is just fine.
  • Void Reaper's Contract Icon Void Reaper's Contract
  • Sikran's Endless Arsenal Icon Sikran's Endless Arsenal
3.1.

C-Tier

  • Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj Icon Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj
  • Quickwick Candlestick Icon Quickwick Candlestick
  • Concoction: Kiss of Death Icon Concoction: Kiss of Death — This Trinket is unique in that its effect can be stacked with other on-use Trinkets, because it does not trigger the 20s cooldown on other on-use Trinkets until it is cancelled.
3.1.

D-Tier

  • Ara-Kara Sacbrood Icon Ara-Kara Sacbrood
  • Bottled Flayedwing Toxin Icon Bottled Flayedwing Toxin
3.1.

E-Tier

  • Mistcaller Ocarina Icon Mistcaller Ocarina — Not great for yourself, but when its effect is multiplied onto all of your hopefully powerful allies, it is a playable Trinket.
  • Spelunker's Waning Candle Icon Spelunker's Waning Candle
  • Harvester's Edict Icon Harvester's Edict
  • Imperfect Ascendancy Serum Icon Imperfect Ascendancy Serum
  • Twin Fang Instruments Icon Twin Fang Instruments
  • Abyssal Trap Icon Abyssal Trap
  • Everburning Lantern Icon Everburning Lantern
  • Shadow-Binding Ritual Knife Icon Shadow-Binding Ritual Knife
  • Scroll of Momentum Icon Scroll of Momentum
4.

Mythic+ Trinket Tier List for Marksmanship Hunter

This Trinket Tier List is based on a mixture of single-target and AoE sims, using our preferred Mythic+ build.

Note that the Trinkets are compared at their highest possible Item Level, which is only 626 for Delve Trinkets. Not only that, but 639 Mythic+ Trinkets are only obtainable via the Great Vault — Not a very reliable source. At equal iLvls, the picture may be very different and that is why you should sim yourself.

A "Tier" as defined by this list is around 0.5% DPS, meaning that S-Tier Trinkets are around 0.5% better than A-Tier Trinkets, and so on.

3.1.

S-Tier

  • Skardyn's Grace Icon Skardyn's Grace — Excellent all-rounder.
  • Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg Icon Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg
3.1.

A-Tier

  • Mad Queen's Mandate Icon Mad Queen's Mandate
  • Ara-Kara Sacbrood Icon Ara-Kara Sacbrood
  • Shadow-Binding Ritual Knife Icon Shadow-Binding Ritual Knife
  • Sikran's Endless Arsenal Icon Sikran's Endless Arsenal
3.1.

B-Tier

  • Dead-Eye Spyglass Icon Dead-Eye Spyglass
  • Void Reaper's Contract Icon Void Reaper's Contract
  • Concoction: Kiss of Death Icon Concoction: Kiss of Death — This Trinket is unique in that its effect can be stacked with other on-use Trinkets, because it does not trigger the 20s cooldown on other on-use Trinkets until it is cancelled.
  • Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj Icon Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj
  • Harvester's Edict Icon Harvester's Edict
3.1.

C-Tier

  • Scroll of Momentum Icon Scroll of Momentum
  • Twin Fang Instruments Icon Twin Fang Instruments
  • Bottled Flayedwing Toxin Icon Bottled Flayedwing Toxin
  • Quickwick Candlestick Icon Quickwick Candlestick — A Delve Trinket that is a decent alternative to Skardyn's Grace Icon Skardyn's Grace.
  • Spelunker's Waning Candle Icon Spelunker's Waning Candle
3.1.

D-Tier

  • Treacherous Transmitter Icon Treacherous Transmitter
  • Mistcaller Ocarina Icon Mistcaller Ocarina
  • Imperfect Ascendancy Serum Icon Imperfect Ascendancy Serum
  • Abyssal Trap Icon Abyssal Trap
  • Everburning Lantern Icon Everburning Lantern
4.

"Simming" Yourself as a Marksmanship Hunter

Throughout this page, we regularly refer to the importance of simming yourself on Raidbots, as it is an indispensable aspect of optimizing your character.

While we do offer generic sim charts for Trinkets, this should not be a replacement for simming yourself, at least not if you want to minmax sub-1%!

If you are new to simming and Raidbots, check out our detailed guide below.

5.

Best Crafted Items for Marksmanship Hunter

Our BiS Crafts are pretty straightforward. We want 2x Dawnthread Lining Icon Dawnthread Lining on some sensible slots. While Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension Icon Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension and its Writhing Armor Banding Icon Writhing Armor Banding can perform similarly for some characters, it takes 80 seconds to stack up Ascension to full power while in combat, and it will regularly drop off between packs in Mythic+.

For players coming right into the Season from its beginning, the choice is very different as we are not just concerned about the best Crafted Slots and Embellishments, but also potentially short-term Item Level gains. While the 2x Dawnthread Lining Icon Dawnthread Lining setup is optimal in the longer run, in the short-to-medium-term, crafting a Weapon with a Darkmoon Sigil is preferable because of the immediate, short-term value of a weapon upgrade, and because we start the Season with 2 Spark of Omens Icon Spark of Omens.

Please note that double-Dawnthread Lining Icon Dawnthread Lining has a tendency to not work outside of combat in some scenarios. If you have two of them equipped, but are only getting Crit from one of them, try to intentionally drop below 80% HP and then heal yourself back up. this WeakAura can help alert you when it is not working so you can fix it.

You should ideally sim the optimal stats to craft for your particular character, but the vast majority of the time, you cannot go wrong with Crit/Mastery for all situations.

5.1.

Best Embellishments and Crafting Order for Marksmanship Hunter

  1. P.0.W. x2 Icon P.0.W. x2 (Early Season, costs 2 Sparks) — This item is not our long-term BiS, but if you are coming fresh into the Season with Mythic0 606 iLvl gear or below, then the sheer Item Level value of a Weapon is going to exceed the value of the best Embellishments. For reference, the value of upgrading a Weapon by 30 iLvl is around 8% before even considering an Embellishment, while the value of upgrading some other slots (as below) with Embellishment by 30 iLvl is only around 4-5%. That said, if you wait until your first Great Vault and it has a Weapon, then you may wish to craft something else instead. As for Embellishments, I recommend Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension Icon Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension for Raiding and Darkmoon Sigil: Vivacity Icon Darkmoon Sigil: Vivacity for Mythic+.
  2. (BiS, 1 Spark) — Consecrated Cloak Icon Consecrated Cloak with Dawnthread Lining Icon Dawnthread Lining — Cloaks, alongside Bracers, have the lowest Item Level Budget of all Armor items. This makes them ideal BiS candidates when considering Crafts, because Crafted items are capped at 636, while other items cap at 639. The idea is to lose the least possible DPS by picking the lowest-budget slots to drop 3 iLvl on.
  3. (BiS, 1 Spark) — Glyph-Etched Vambraces Icon Glyph-Etched Vambraces with Dawnthread Lining Icon Dawnthread Lining — Similarly to the Cloak, we get Bracers here as it is the best long-term play.
  4. Next, chase Item Level where needed, preferring Weapon > Helm/Chest/Legs (though these are likely occupied by tier) > Boots/Belt > Rings/Necks > Cloaks.
  5. At this point, you are mostly done crafting. You can spend future Sparks on off-spec items, alternatively statted crafts for different situations, and so on.
5.2.

Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension Icon Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension vs Darkmoon Sigil: Vivacity Icon Darkmoon Sigil: Vivacity

These are two weapon-only Embellishments with different secondary stat effects. On sustained encounters, ones that keep you in combat for several minutes, Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension Icon Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension is about 0.5% better. However, because Ascension takes a whole 80 seconds to reach full power, if you are primarily doing non-Raiding content, Darkmoon Sigil: Vivacity Icon Darkmoon Sigil: Vivacity is better as it does not have this problem.

6.

Best Gear Crest Upgrades for Marksmanship Hunter

You will be able to upgrade your items via Crests such as Gilded Harbinger Crest Icon Gilded Harbinger Crest. Once you have upgraded a slot to a certain item level, upgrading other items of that slot to that item level is free.

When you upgrade with Crests, you should think of it as upgrading slots and not items.

Additionally, since Crests are a limited resource, you will want to obtain the highest item-level possible before upgrading a given slot, as this means you will spend fewer Crests on that slot in total. If you are at all capable of doing a +9 Dungeon, for example, it would be a VERY bad idea to upgrade an item from a +8 Dungeon, as those are wasted Crests you may not get back for a very long time.

We see a ton of players, even at a high level, mess up their upgrade priorities, and upgrading prematurely. Getting this right will put you far ahead of most players.

Below is the slot priority you should upgrade your items in. If you ever want to deviate from this, you should have a very good reason.

  1. Weapons
  2. Trinkets
  3. Helm/Chest/Legs
  4. Shoulders/Gloves/Belt/Boots
  5. Rings and Necks
  6. Cloaks and Bracers

Note that exceptions are possible, such as special items that have more Item Level scaling than their slot would imply.

7.

Season 1 Tier Set for Marksmanship Hunter

The Tier Set is comprised of 5 items, all carrying the Lightless Scavenger moniker. Unique DPS bonuses are unlocked when wearing 2, and 4 pieces from the set:

  • Hunter Marksmanship Season 1 2pc Icon Hunter Marksmanship Season 1 2pcArcane Shot Icon Arcane Shot and Multi-Shot Icon Multi-Shot damage increased by 20%. This pairs fairly well with the new Precise Shots Icon Precise Shot, Eagletalon's True Focus Icon Eagletalon's True Focus, and in the case of Multi-Shot, Small Game Hunter Icon Small Game Hunter.
  • Hunter Marksmanship Season 1 4pc Icon Hunter Marksmanship Season 1 4pc — Consuming Precise Shot Icon Precise Shot increases the damage of your next Aimed Shot Icon Aimed Shot by 20%.

The Tier Set Bonus is absolutely mandatory for competitive play, and you should prioritize obtaining it. You can use the Matrix Catalyst to convert regular items (from Mythic+, for example) into Tier Items.

You only need 4 pieces out of 5 to get both set bonuses. We recommend you get all items except for the Helm, due to its high Haste. Check out the BiS List for more information.

9.

Changelog

  • 30 Oct. 2024: Updated for October 29 Hotfixes.
  • 22 Oct. 2024: Reviewed for Patch 11.0.5.
  • 10 Oct. 2024: Updated the Trinket Tier List slightly.
  • 17 Sep. 2024: Updated the BiS List Trinket selections.
  • 15 Sep. 2024: Updated the MM Trinket Tier Lists based on new methodology, and in the case of the Raiding Tier List, a new preferred single-target build discussed on other pages of the guide.
  • 13 Sep. 2024: Added note about double-Dawnthread Lining not working and how to fix it.
  • 09 Sep. 2024: Preliminary updates for The War Within Season 1.
  • 27 Aug. 2024: Added a note about Crafted gear to the Pre-Season BiS List.
  • 22 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
  • 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
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