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Marksmanship Hunter Guide — Class Guides · WoW Forever

Ranged damage from shots: Aimed Shot, more crit and more range.

A ranged fighter in leather, and later mail, who fights at a distance with a bow, gun or crossbow, tames beasts as pets and controls enemies with traps and stings. More about the hunter

Class
Hunter
Roles
Damage
Used for
Raids and dungeons
Top talent
Sniper Shot
Popular builds
1
Version
WoW Forever

How to play

Marksmanship in WoW Forever can fight without a pet: Lone Wolf adds 20% damage while you have no active pet, Sniper Shot is a long-range shot that also extends the range of your next shots, and Careful Aim turns Intellect into attack power. Trueshot Aura still helps your group.

Keep Serpent Sting up (Rapid Recuperation lets mana regenerate while it's on), fire Aimed Shot when ready, and fit Arcane Shot and Multi-Shot between Auto Shots. Rapid Killing shortens Rapid Fire's cooldown and empowers your next shot after a kill.

Lethal Attacks adds crit to everything, and Improved Stings makes Serpent Sting stronger.

At a glance

Single-target damage
Damage to groups
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Forever.

Rotation and priorities

  1. 1Trueshot Aura on; Hunter's Mark on the target.
  2. 2Serpent Sting kept up: it also keeps Rapid Recuperation going.
  3. 3Aimed Shot when ready, right after an Auto Shot.
  4. 4Arcane Shot and Multi-Shot between Auto Shots.
  5. 5Sniper Shot when you need range, and to extend your next shots.
  6. 6Rapid Fire with trinkets.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

  • No pet to manage or lose.
  • Sniper Shot gives unmatched range.
  • Trueshot Aura helps your group.

Weaknesses

  • No pet to tank while leveling.
  • Shot timing still takes practice.
  • Leans on mana regeneration from Serpent Sting.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

  1. 1

    Agility

  2. 2

    Hitto the cap against bosses

  3. 3

    Critical strike

  4. 4

    IntellectCareful Aim turns it into attack power

  5. 5

    Ranged attack power

  6. 6

    Stamina

What to look for

  • A slow, high-damage ranged weapon for Aimed Shot.
  • Agility first; Intellect is worth more than in Classic thanks to Careful Aim.
  • A scope and the best ammunition you can buy.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

  • Beast Mastery
  • Marksmanship
  • Survival

  • Lone Wolf Sniper

    DamagePvE
    5/41/5

    Marksmanship without a pet: Lone Wolf adds damage while you fight alone, Sniper Shot extends your range, and Trueshot Aura helps the group.

    • Trueshot Aura 1/1
    • Rapid Recuperation 2/2
    • Barrage 3/3
    • Ranged Weapon Specialization 5/5
    • Sniper Shot 1/1

    Open in the talent calculatorTheorycrafting

Key talents

  • Sniper Shot · top talent, up to 1

    A long-range shot that deals ranged damage plus 160 and increases the range of your next 3 Shots by 10 yards for 10 sec.

  • Improved Stings · tier 2, up to 3

    Increases the damage of your Serpent Sting ability by 20%, reduces the cooldown of your Viper Sting ability by 6 sec, and increases the duration of your Scorpid Sting ability by 45 sec.

  • Rapid Killing · tier 3, up to 2

    Reduces the cooldown on your Rapid Fire ability by 2 min. In addition, when you kill a non-trivial enemy or it dies while afflicted by your Serpent Sting, you gain Rapid Killing, increasing the damage of your next Shot ability within 20 sec by 20%.

  • Improved Arcane Shot · tier 3, up to 5

    Reduces the cooldown of your Arcane Shot by 1.5 sec. Does not affect the cooldown of abilities which share a cooldown with Arcane Shot.

  • Lone Wolf · tier 3, up to 1

    You deal 20% increased damage with all attacks while you do not have an active pet.

  • Trueshot Aura · tier 4, up to 1

    Increases the Ranged Attack Power of party or raid members within 45 yds by 30.

  • Mortal Shots · tier 4, up to 5

    Increases the critical strike damage bonus on all ranged abilities by 30%.

  • Rapid Recuperation · tier 5, up to 2

    Afflicting a target with Serpent Sting allows 50% of your Mana Regeneration to continue while casting for 15 sec, increased to 100% when Rapid Killing is consumed.

  • Barrage · tier 5, up to 3

    Increases the damage done by your Multi-Shot, Aimed Shot, and Volley abilities by 10%.

  • Ranged Weapon Specialization · tier 6, up to 5

    Increases the damage you deal with ranged weapons by 5%.

Marksmanship abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.

What WoW Forever changed

New talents in this tree

  • Lethal AttacksIncreases your critical strike chance with all attacks by 5%.
  • Improved StingsIncreases the damage of your Serpent Sting ability by 20%, reduces the cooldown of your Viper Sting ability by 6 sec, and increases the duration of your Scorpid Sting ability by 45 sec.
  • Careful AimIncreases your Attack Power by 100% of your Intellect.
  • Rapid KillingReduces the cooldown on your Rapid Fire ability by 2 min. In addition, when you kill a non-trivial enemy or it dies while afflicted by your Serpent Sting, you gain Rapid Killing, increasing the damage of your next Shot ability within 20 sec by 20%.
  • Lone WolfYou deal 20% increased damage with all attacks while you do not have an active pet.
  • Rapid RecuperationAfflicting a target with Serpent Sting allows 50% of your Mana Regeneration to continue while casting for 15 sec, increased to 100% when Rapid Killing is consumed.
  • Sniper ShotA long-range shot that deals ranged damage plus 160 and increases the range of your next 3 Shots by 10 yards for 10 sec.

Classic Era talents the class no longer has

  • Improved Hunter's Mark
  • Lethal Shots
  • Aimed Shot
  • Improved Serpent Sting
  • Improved Scorpid Sting

Spells

New: Sniper Shot. Changed: Serpent Sting, Arcane Shot, Hunter's Mark, Multi-Shot, Aimed Shot, Scorpid Sting, Trueshot Aura, Viper Sting, Volley.

Related

Other hunter specs: Beast Mastery, Survival