Marksmanship Hunter DPS Gear and Best in Slot — The War Within (11.0.7)
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 (11.0.7).
If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Marksmanship Hunter gear and best in slot.
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.
Best Cyrce's Circlet Gems for Marksmanship Hunter
Cyrce's Circlet is a new ring introduced in Patch 11.0.7 that you can acquire by completing several activities on Siren Isle. The ring has 3 sockets, which can fit a different kind of gem each. There are four different gems available for each of the three sockets, for a total of 12 gems, so there is quite a bit of choice on what to socket.
Is
Cyrce's Circlet Worth Using for Marksmanship Hunter?
For Marksmanship, the Circlet is one of the best Rings in the game and is Best in Slot. If you have it, you should always use it, regardless of Item Level, and provided you have access to the best Gems listed below.
You can use the contents of this Pastebin by pasting it under your /simc input in an Top Gear Raidbots Sim, in order to sim all the relevant gem combinations.
These are generally considered to be the best gems, but it is highly recommended to sim yourself to figure out the best choices and combinations for your specific gear and the specific gems and other rings you already own:
- For most scenarios, you will want to play
Stormbringer's Runed Citrine/
Legendary Skipper's Citrine/
Fathomdweller's Runed Citrine.
- For PURE single-target scenarios, you want to swap out the
Stormbringer's Runed Citrine with
Thunderlord's Crackling Citrine. If there are any cleave or AoE opportunities on a fight at all, we swap back to Stormbringer.
For more information on how to get the ring, as well as acquiring all of the different gems that you can possibly socket into it, check out our Cyrce's Circlet guide below!
You can also get a video version of this breakdown here:
BiS Gear for Marksmanship Hunter
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 | ![]() |
Sikran in Nerub-ar Palace |
Helm | ![]() |
The Necrotic Wake (626), or Great Vault. |
Neck | ![]() |
Rasha'nan in Nerub-ar Palace |
Shoulder | ![]() |
Rasha'nan/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault |
Cloak | ![]() ![]() |
Crafted by Tailoring |
Chest | ![]() |
Broodtwister Ovi'nax/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault |
Bracers | ![]() ![]() |
Crafted by Leatherworking |
Gloves | ![]() |
Sikran/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault |
Belt | ![]() |
Broodtwister Ovi'nax in Nerub-ar Palace |
Legs | ![]() |
Nexus Princess Ky'veza/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault |
Boots | ![]() |
Rasha'nan in Nerub-ar Palace |
Ring #1 | ![]() |
Queen Ansurek in Nerub-ar Palace |
Ring #2 (Pure Single-Target) | ![]() |
Cyrce's Circlet — ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Ring #2 (Mythic+, AoE, Mixed Use) | ![]() |
Cyrce's Circlet — ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Trinket #1 (Single-Target) | ![]() |
Nexus Princess Ky'veza in Nerub-ar Palace |
Trinket #2 (Single-Target) | ![]() |
Queen Ansurek in Nerub-ar Palace |
Trinket #1 (Mythic+/General Use) | ![]() |
Grim Batol (626), or in Great Vault |
Trinket #2 (Mythic+/General Use) | ![]() |
Broodtwister Ovi'nax in Nerub-ar Palace |
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 | ![]() |
Sikran in Nerub-ar Palace |
Helm | ![]() |
Silken Court/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault |
Neck | ![]() |
Rasha'nan in Nerub-ar Palace |
Shoulder | ![]() |
Rasha'nan/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault |
Cloak | ![]() |
Rasha'nan in Nerub-ar Palace |
Chest | ![]() |
Broodtwister Ovi'nax/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault |
Bracers | ![]() |
Nexus Princess Ky'veza in Nerub-ar Palace |
Gloves | ![]() |
Sikran/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault |
Belt | ![]() |
Broodtwister Ovi'nax in Nerub-ar Palace |
Legs | ![]() |
Queen Ansurek in Nerub-ar Palace |
Boots | ![]() |
Rasha'nan in Nerub-ar Palace |
Ring #1 | ![]() |
Queen Ansurek in Nerub-ar Palace |
Ring #2 | ![]() |
Broodtwister Ovi'nax in Nerub-ar Palace |
Trinket #1 (Single-Target) | ![]() |
Nexus Princess Ky'veza in Nerub-ar Palace |
Trinket #1 (All-Rounder) | ![]() |
Queen Ansurek in Nerub-ar Palace |
Trinket #2 (All-Rounder) | ![]() |
Broodtwister Ovi'nax in Nerub-ar Palace |
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 | ![]() |
The Stonevault (626), or Great Vault |
Helm | ![]() |
The Necrotic Wake (626), or Great Vault |
Neck | ![]() |
Mists of Tirna Scithe (626), or Great Vault |
Shoulder | ![]() |
Rasha'nan/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault |
Cloak | ![]() |
Grim Batol (626), or Great Vault |
Chest | ![]() |
Broodtwister Ovi'nax/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault |
Bracers | ![]() |
City of Threads (626), or Great Vault |
Gloves | ![]() |
Sikran/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault |
Belt | ![]() |
Siege of Boralus (626), or Great Vault |
Legs | ![]() |
Nexus Princess Ky'veza/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault |
Boots (Raiding) | ![]() |
Grim Batol (626), or Great Vault |
Ring #1 | ![]() |
The Dawnbreaker (626), or Great Vault |
Ring #2 | ![]() |
Siege of Boralus (626), or Great Vault |
Trinket #1 | ![]() |
Grim Batol (626), or Great Vault |
Trinket #2 (Long, Sustained Encounters) | ![]() |
Siege of Boralus (626), or Great Vault |
Trinket #2 (Mythic+, etc) | ![]() |
Ara-Kara, City of Echoes (626), or Great Vault |
Best Trinkets for Marksmanship Hunter in The War Within Season 1
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.
S-Tier
Mad Queen's Mandate — Best for pure single-target. Can be stacked with
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 — Straightforwardly macroed into
Trueshot.
A-Tier
Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg — Very good for AoE scenarios.
B-Tier
Treacherous Transmitter
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
Sikran's Endless Arsenal
C-Tier
Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj
Quickwick Candlestick
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.
D-Tier
Ara-Kara Sacbrood
Bottled Flayedwing Toxin
E-Tier
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
Harvester's Edict
Imperfect Ascendancy Serum
Twin Fang Instruments
Abyssal Trap
Everburning Lantern
Shadow-Binding Ritual Knife
Scroll of Momentum
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.
S-Tier
Skardyn's Grace — Excellent all-rounder.
Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg
A-Tier
Mad Queen's Mandate
Ara-Kara Sacbrood
Shadow-Binding Ritual Knife
Sikran's Endless Arsenal
B-Tier
Dead-Eye Spyglass
Void Reaper's Contract
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
Harvester's Edict
C-Tier
Scroll of Momentum
Twin Fang Instruments
Bottled Flayedwing Toxin
Quickwick Candlestick — A Delve Trinket that is a decent alternative to
Skardyn's Grace.
Spelunker's Waning Candle
D-Tier
Treacherous Transmitter
Mistcaller Ocarina
Imperfect Ascendancy Serum
Abyssal Trap
Everburning Lantern
"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.
Best Crafted Items for Marksmanship Hunter
Our BiS Crafts are pretty straightforward. We want 2x Dawnthread Lining on some sensible slots. While
Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension and its
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 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.
Please note that double- 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.
Best Embellishments and Crafting Order for Marksmanship Hunter
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 for Raiding and
Darkmoon Sigil: Vivacity for Mythic+.
- (BiS, 1 Spark) —
Consecrated Cloak with
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.
- (BiS, 1 Spark) —
Glyph-Etched Vambraces with
Dawnthread Lining — Similarly to the Cloak, we get Bracers here as it is the best long-term play.
- Next, chase Item Level where needed, preferring Weapon > Helm/Chest/Legs (though these are likely occupied by tier) > Boots/Belt > Rings/Necks > Cloaks.
- 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.
Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension vs
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 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 is better as it does not have this problem.
Best Gear Crest Upgrades for Marksmanship Hunter
You will be able to upgrade your items via Crests such as
Gilded Undermine 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.
- Weapons
- Trinkets
- Helm/Chest/Legs
- Shoulders/Gloves/Belt/Boots
- Rings and Necks
- Cloaks and Bracers
Note that exceptions are possible, such as special items that have more Item Level scaling than their slot would imply.
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 —
Arcane Shot and
Multi-Shot damage increased by 20%. This pairs fairly well with the new
Precise Shots,
Eagletalon's True Focus, and in the case of Multi-Shot,
Small Game Hunter.
Hunter Marksmanship Season 1 4pc — Consuming
Precise Shot increases the damage of your next
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.
Changelog
- 17 Dec. 2024: Updated for the Cyrce's Circlet now going to Item Level 658.
- 15 Dec. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.7.
- 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.
More Hunter Guides
Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Azortharion, a Hunter Guidewriter, Theorycrafter, and top player since 2014, who is widely considered one of the best PvE Hunters in the world. He is an accomplished player with hundreds of top parses across all Hunter specs. He is the Head Admin of Trueshot Lodge, the official Hunter Class Discord. You can find him on his stream on Twitch and his channel on YouTube. He also has his own, personal Discord server where you can freely ask him any Hunter questions you may have!
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