Hunter: PvE DPS in WotLK (Updated for 3.2.2)

Garby

[top] Introduction

As a Hunter, your goal is to best serve your raid by providing optimum DPS and minimum screwups. While this guide can't hold your hand and give you better reflexes, it will endeavor to help you better understand your talents, pet, shot rotations, and gem, glyph and enchantment choices.

Whether you are new to the class and simply want to learn things from the ground up, or a veteran player that wants to improve yourself, we hope this guide will prove useful to you.

Before we start, it is incredibly important that you arm yourself with Shandara's Spreadsheet; many of your questions are best answered by this sheet, such as specific gem and gear choices. The spreadsheet does require Excel to run; if you are without the means to use that, get it anyway - you will not regret it. If you happen to be a student at a college, you can generally get it for as little as $20.

[top] An Overview of Shots

Shot	Source	Damage	Notable Behavior
Steady Shot	Trained	Weapon Damage + Ammo Damage + 10% of your ranged attack power	Filler shot - physical damage
Aimed Shot	Talented - Tier 3 Marksman	Weapon Damage + Ammo Damage + 20% of your ranged attack power	Can be fired while in motion, and is slightly cheaper than Multi-Shot, (with which it shares a cooldown). Also, benefits from Sniper Training. Physical damage
Multi-Shot	Trained	Weapon Damage + Ammo Damage + 20% of your ranged attack power	Shares a cooldown with Aimed Shot. Physical damage
Chimera Shot	Talented - Tier 11 Marksman	125% Weapon Damage + Listed Sting Effect	The Serpent Sting damage is calculated based on what the sting is capable of doing over 21 seconds, not what remains, (this is also why the Serpent Sting glyph is so good for Marksman hunters). Initial strike is physical damage, bloom effect is magical, nature school
Explosive Shot	Talented - Tier 11 Survival	14% of your ranged attack power + 386 to 464 Fire damage	Both the initial application, and the 2 ticks, can critically strike. Be aware this can and will be partially resisted. Fire damage (all WoTLK mobs can be hurt by this, even fire elementals - however, Ragnaros and his ilk in MC are immune to it)
Arcane Shot	Trained	15% of your ranged attack power + 428	Shares a cooldown with Explosive Shot. Can likewise be partially resisted. Arcane damage
Serpent Sting	Trained	20% of your ranged attack power + 1210	Every spec will keep this up. Nature damage
Black Arrow	Talented - Tier 9 Survival	10% of your RAP + 2,765 Shadow damage	A strong DPS increase (shares a cooldown with traps)

[top] Your Pet

No matter what spec you are, your pet is a very important part of your toolbox as a Hunter, and care should be taken when choosing them.

As of 3.1, all the pet trees were modified. Now, Tenacity, Cunning, and Ferocity pets all have the same damage modifiers, and the only difference between them Is each pet’s family move and the talent trees inherent to the families in question.

Wolves are currently the top DPS pet; their special stacks with all other AP buffs, and you can find level 80 wolves in the wild, to boot.

Family	Special
Wolves	Furious Howl
Cat	Rake
Wasp	Sting
Raptor	Savage Rend
Spirit Beast (Exotic)	Spirit Strike
Devilsaur (Exotic)	Monstrous Bite

[top] Basic Talent Builds

The days of cookie cutter hunter builds are behind us; now, you have to choose from a plethora of core talents and identify the filler talents that will be most useful to you. This is particularly noticeable when dealing with mana efficiency talents, as some people's raid makeups render certain talents much less useful than a buff starved hunter would find them. Another such discrepancy is in Survival, where a hunter has to choose whether or not to trap dance, and make their build around that choice.

The tables below are an attempt to show you what talents in each tree are useful, and what talents you should avoid. Some talents are absolutely essential to any build; they are clearly noted.

If you are inexperienced at working with talent trees, the rough way to determine how many points you need to spend to reach a desired talent is to subtract 1 from its tier number, and then multiply that by 5.

[top] Beast Mastery Talents

Tier	Talent	Description
1	Improved Aspect of the Hawk	Staple talent in all builds
1	Endurance Training	Filler talent
2	Focused Fire	An excellent talent, if your build can reach it
2	Improved Aspect of the Money	PvP talent
2	Thick Hide	Filler, unless you want the extra armor for PvP
2	Improved Revive Pet	Skippable for Survival and possibly Marks, essential for BM
3	Pathfinding	Trash
3	Aspect Mastery	An excellent talent, if your build can reach it
3	Unleashed Fury	Prime BM DPS talent
4	Improved Mend Pet	Filler; the proc is not particularly dependable and will generally not occur fast enough for your pet to be saved without the intervention of a healer, (assuming a bad raid debuff)
4	Ferocity	Staple BM talent
5	Spirit Bond	With the addition of 10% healing to master and pet, an excellent talent you should not skip
5	Intimidation	By itself not particularly useful in a raid, (although great outside of it), but it unlocks your 31 and 41 point talents
5	Bestial Discipline	Staple BM talent
6	Animal Handler	Staple BM talent
6	Frenzy	Staple BM talent; can be dropped to 3/5 thanks to Cobra Strikes and Cobra Reflexes.
7	Ferocious Inspiration	An excellent raid buff talent, and boosts your Arcane Shot. Unskippable
7	Bestial Wrath	A fantastic cooldown.
7	Catlike Reflexes	Trash
8	Invigoration	An excellent talent for mana regen, if you need it. If your raid already drowns in mana regen buffs, and you cannot exhaust your mana bar by the end of a boss fight, this is safe to skip
8	Serpent’s Swiftness	Prime talent; do not skip
9	Longevity	A good talent; balance its usefulness for you in the spreadsheet
9	The Beast Within	Prime talent
9	Cobra Strikes	An excellent talent; you want this maxed.
10	Kindred Spirits	Another max-me talent.
11	Beast Mastery	A sweet talent now that taking it unlocks some very strong talents in the last tier of each pet’s talents

[top] Marksmanship Talents

Tier	Talent	Description
1	Improved Concussive Shot	PvP talent only
1	Focused Aim	A decent talent now that it correctly applies hit to pets.
1	Lethal Shots	Baseline talent for any build
2	Careful Aim	Baseline for any build
2	Improved Hunter’s Mark	Not a DPS increase unless you are playing buffbot to a raid with at least 3 hunters. If you take this talent, apply the glyph as well. Be aware that hunters with weaker Marks can overwrite this, and make them aware of it as well
2	Mortal Shots	An excellent talent; Marks and Survival will generally max it, while most BM builds cap it at 2 points. The critical strike bonus does not affect Auto Shot.
3	Go for the Throat	No matter what build you are, invest at least 1 point in this. (If your crit levels are decently high, that should be all you need)
3	Improved Arcane Shot	A good talent for Marks, and, potentially useful for BM as well depending on your playstyle. Survival will never use Arcane Shot, so skip it
3	Aimed Shot	An excellent mobility talent; it does the same damage as Multi-Shot, but can be cast on the move and applies a healing debuff. Worth noting that unlike Multi-Shot, this talent benefits from Sniper Training
3	Rapid Killing	Useful talent
4	Improved Stings	Very useful for Marks, not worth it for the other two specs
4	Efficiency	A good talent, but its usefulness varies based on your mana expenditure
5	Concussive Barrage	PvP talent
5	Readiness	Take it; unlocking TSA is worth it, and being able to get double Rapid Fire is good as well
5	Barrage	An excellent boost to shots you will be using all the time
6	Combat Experience	A decent, if mediocre, boost to two core stats
6	Ranged Weapon Specialization	Core talent; this was hopefully obvious
7	Piercing Shots	This is now a good talent; you want it
7	Trueshot Aura	An essential raid boost talent
7	Improved Barrage	A 12% crit boost to one of two shots that you will use in your rotations. It’s not necessarily more DPS than Improved Tracking if taking this will cost you those points
8	Master Marksman	The critical strike chance boost is useful, and the mana reduction is a godsend. You must have this talent
8	Rapid Recuperation	A PvP and grinding talent. It can have uses on bosses, but generally only if they have adds
9	Wild Quiver	Significantly improved with 3.1; it is now clearly better than Improved Steady Shot and is definitely worth taking
9	Silencing Shot	Off the global cooldown, and therefore worthwhile in either PvP or PvE. While it can generally be thoughtlessly spammed, it is unwise in certain situations (generally 10 mans – where Judgement of Wisdom is not guaranteed or where it may be better served as an interrupt)
9	Improved Steady Shot	This talent is good when the proc comes up, but you will get it much less than pre 3.0.8 since you will use Steady Shot minimally
10	Marked for Death	Prime stuff, especially since it has been fixed and works correctly with Glyph of Steady Shot
11	Chimera Shot	The pinnacle of the tree – you will build your rotation around it

[top] Survival Talents

Tier	Talent	Description
1	Improved Tracking	An excellent talent; unfortunately several bosses in Ulduar are immune to it, but it is still the best talent from tier 1 to take
1	Hawk Eye	A useful filler talent; its usefulness can’t be quantified on the spreadsheet, but it is very useful
1	Savage Strikes	If you desire to be a trap dancer, take this talent. Otherwise, it’s PvP oriented and can be skipped
2	Surefooted	PvP talent
2	Entrapment	PvP talent
2	Trap Mastery	A good PvE talent; however, if you want Hawk Eye, this is the talent most people trade for it
2	Survival Instincts	4% less damage taken is very useful, since AoE situations are common in raids. The critical strike bonus is also very useful
3	Survivalist	Useful for both its increase to your HP and its synergy with Hunter vs Wild
3	Scatter Shot	Limited PvP use, although that can have its occasional raid uses. If you run 5 mans a lot, this is probably worth an investment for "save the healer" situations
3	Deflection	PvP talent
3	Survival Tactics	PvP talent
4	T.N.T.	A necessary talent
4	Lock and Load	An amazing talent that helps to define Survival.
5	Hunter vs. Wild	Gives stamina extra bang for your buck
5	Killer Instinct	A constant critical strike bonus is always useful
5	Counterattack	PvP talent
6	Lighting Reflexes	A core survival talent
6	Resourcefulness	A must have talent; increases the uptime of Black Arrow significantly.
7	Expose Weakness	Good, but thanks to all the critical strike bonuses you will be running, even unbuffed, and the fact that each tick of Explosive Shot can count as a crit, you will never need more than 2 points in this talent
7	Wyvern Sting	A PvP talent, but its usefulness in PvE is limited only to unlocking Noxious Stings
7	Thrill of the Hunt	Does wonders for your mana efficiency, and it unlocks Hunting Party
8	Master Tactician	Max this
8	Noxious Sting	A constant 3% damage increase to your target; always worth the investment, (and yes, it does function on bosses; it does not depend on Wyvern Sting in any way)
9	Point of No Escape	PvP talent
9	Black Arrow	A core PvE talent; this shares a cooldown with Traps, completely killing Trap Dancing.
9	Sniper Training	An amazing talent as of 3.1; snag this unquestionably
10	Hunting Party	Survival’s high crit rates mean you can take 1 or 2 points in this and maintain 100% uptime, if you wish to provide this buff. As of 3.1 it also increases your personal DPS a bit
11	Explosive Shot	The lynchpin of this tree. An amazing shot that you absolutely want. Be aware it shares a cooldown with Arcane Shot, so you will never use that shot with this talent

Below are some basic builds: they are not intended as the end all be all build, but rather a basis for you to make your own choices from.
Beast Mastery: Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft
Marksmanship: Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft
Survival: Talent Calculator - World of Warcraft

[top] Gem Choices by Spec

The tables below list your best choices for gems based on color. A few notes:

Prismatic gems count as one of all color and therefore fulfill your meta gem requirements
All secondary color gems count for both primary colors they are a hybrid of; this means, for example, a green gem will count as both yellow and blue.
I consider MP5 gems worthless, especially if you are a 25 man raider. The amount of time needed for gems to grant you enough MP5 for even one shot is ridiculous, especially when you can nipper over to Aspect of the Viper for a few seconds and regain mana far more quickly
[Delicate Stormjewel] and [Rigid Stormjewel] were once best in slot, but there is now no reason to use them (unless you can find them much cheaper than regular gems).

[top] Beast Mastery Gems

Color	Recommended Gem
Red	[Bright Dragon's Eye] (Jewelcrafting only)[Bright Cardinal Ruby]
Yellow	[Rigid Dragon's Eye] (if severely under hit cap, Jewelcrafting only) [Rigid King's Amber] (if severely under hit cap.*)
Blue	Not recommended.
Orange	[Pristine Ametrine] (if not hit capped) [Wicked Ametrine] (if hit capped)
Purple	[Balanced Dreadstone]
Green:	[Vivid Eye of Zul] (if not hit capped) (if not hit capped) [Jagged Eye of Zul] (if hit capped)
Prismatic	[Nightmare Tear]
Meta:	[Relentless Earthsiege Diamond]

[top] Marksman Gems

Color	Recommended Gem
Red	[Bright Dragon's Eye] or [Delicate Dragon's Eye] (Jewelcrafting only) [Bright Cardinal Ruby] or [Delicate Cardinal Ruby]
Yellow	[Rigid Dragon's Eye] (if severely under hit cap, Jewelcrafting only) [Rigid King's Amber] (if severely under hit cap.)
Blue	Not recommended.
Orange	[Pristine Ametrine] or [Glinting Ametrine] (if under hit cap) [Wicked Ametrine] or [Deadly Ametrine] (*if hit capped, and over haste "soft-cap")
Purple	[Balanced Dreadstone] or [Shifting Dreadstone]
Green	[Vivid Eye of Zul] (if not hit capped) [Jagged Eye of Zul] ()
Prismatic	[Nightmare Tear]
Meta	[Relentless Earthsiege Diamond]

[top] Survival Gems

Color	Recommended Gem
Red	[Delicate Dragon's Eye] (Jewelcrafting only) [Delicate Cardinal Ruby]
Yellow	[Rigid Dragon's Eye] (if severely under hit cap, Jewelcrafting only) [Rigid King's Amber] (if severely under hit cap.*)
Blue	Not recommended.
Orange	[Glinting Ametrine] (if under hit cap) [Deadly Ametrine] (if hit capped.)
Purple	[Shifting Dreadstone]
Green	[Vivid Eye of Zul] (if not hit capped) [Jagged Eye of Zul] (*if hit capped)
Prismatic	[Nightmare Tear]
Meta	[Relentless Earthsiege Diamond]

A few notes:
This is gauged primarily from spreadsheet calculations and existing in-game items. This does not suggest gemming values based on extended time durations (ie. the value of gemming a [Brilliant Autumn's Glow]). The following talents are assumed: Serpent Swiftness for BM, Combat Experience for MM, Hunter vs. Wild + Lightning Reflexes for Survival, and Careful Aim for all specs.

In pre-WotLK, agility was consistently a superior stat to attack power, however current calculations indicate that Attack Power gems are currently of a higher DPS value than Agility for the BM spec, Agility gems are superior for the Survival hunter, and Marksman somewhere in the middle, with Agility perhaps having a slight scaling advantage, but, depending on your current gearset, either stat can be very close in value.

Thanks again to Faerdael for creating this list of gems, performing the calculations, and giving permission for its use in this guide!

[top] Glyphing

The best glyph choices are denoted by spec below. While most of the major glyphs are denoted, in every spec, the best DPS glyphs are in the top 3 positions.

[top] Beast Mastery Glyphs

Glyph	Explanation
Glyph of Kill Shot	While the worth of this glyph is less and less valuable the quicker the mob drops below 20%, any boss worth min/maxing for will stay alive long enough for this to be your top glyph
Glyph of the Hawk	Excellent boost to Auto Shot DPS
Glyph of Bestial Wrath	A good cooldown reduction on a premiere ability of the spec
Glyph of Steady Shot	Depreciated
Glyph of Serpent Sting	Depreciated

[top] Marksmanship Glyphs

Glyph	Explanation
Glyph of Kill Shot	Again, your best min/max glyph
Glyph of Serpent Sting	A large boost to the bloom effect of Chimera Shot.
Glyph of Steady Shot	Boosting your filler shot.
Glyph of Aspect of the Hawk	A good boost to your Auto Shot damage.
Glyph of Hunter's Mark	If you decide to play buffbot to the other hunters in your raid (generally viable in raids with at least 3 hunters), then take this glyph instead of the Steady Shot glyph.
Glyph of Chimera Shot	Its usefulness is currently unable to be modeled by the spreadsheet; as Esoth explains, the spreadsheet assumes an action is taken every global cooldown, and therefore won't wait the extra few milliseconds for Chimera Shot to become available. This glyph might be very good; use at your own discretion, however

[top] Survival Glyphs

Glyph	Explanation
Glyph of Kill Shot	Again, your best min/max glyph
Glyph of Explosive Shot	A boring glyph in functionality, but as its position in the top 3 indicates you need it
Glyph of Serpent Sting	A longer refresh time on this shot is very good; the chaotic nature of Survival's shot rotation means the less you have to think about Serpent Sting, the better.
Glyph of Steady Shot	It's still your filler shot, although considerably less important in this spec.
Glyph of Aspect of the Hawk	A passive boost to your Auto Shot.

[top] Minor Glyphs

Glyph	Explanation
Glyph of Feign Death	Dropping the cooldown on Feign Death should never be underestimated.
Glyph of Mend Pet	Less useful than it would be without Bloodthirsty, but still valuable for after you revive your pet.
Glyph of Revive Pet	Preventing pushback on an emergency revive is always good.

[top] Enchantments

Slot	Recommended Enchantment
Helm	[Arcanum of Torment].
Shoulders	[Greater Inscription of the Axe] for non-scribes: Master's Inscription of the Axe for scribes.
Chest	Enchant Chest - Powerful Stats. Enchant Chest - Super Stats is much cheaper if you're not sure that you are keeping the chest for very long.
Wrist	Enchant Bracer - Greater Assault for non leatherworkers; leatherworkers may use Fur Lining - Attack Power.
Weapon (Two Handed)	Massacre for a weapon you are keeping for a long time, Greater Savagery for budget reasons or temporary weapons.
Weapon (One Handed)	Superior Potency is best, withGreater Potency being a cheaper option, or Exceptional Agility, if you want agility. Accuracy is also ridiculously overbudgeted and can be a very good choice if you need hit (or want to take advantage of its budgeting by losing hit elsewhere). You can also use an [Titanium Weapon Chain] if money is a major concern and you simply must have hit.
Ranged Weapon	[Heartseeker Scope]
Rings	Assault (enchanters only).
Boots	Cat’s Swiftness or Tuskarr’s Vitality. The increased mobility offered by these enchantments will outweigh the raw stats of the following enchantmentsIcewalker. Superior Agility or Greater Assault are your alternatives if you are hit capped, either through gear or talents.
Legs	[Icescale Leg Armor].
Belt	[Eternal Belt Buckle].
Gloves	Precision if hit is needed, Major Agility otherwise.
Cloak	Major Agility

[top] Professions

The value of your professions can be shifted down to what they will contribute to your gear, and ease of play, which is what this section will show you.

Note that while the crafting professions all provide nearly identical benefits, the gathering professions are much further below them; this is due primarily to the fact that gathering professions are all but free to level, and their bonus is balanced against this fact.

Profession	Benefit
Alchemy	80 AP and double duration flasks/elixirs (80 AP assumes a Flask of Endless Rage)
Blacksmithing	2 extra gem slots, one to your wrists and handsThis is an extra 80 AP or 40 agility.
Enchanting	80 AP; Assault to both rings.
Inscription	80 AP, through its special shoulder enchant.
Jewelcrafting	Jeweler’s gems (more powerful than regular gems), and 84 AP, (assuming 3 [Bright Dragon's Eye] versus 3 [Bright Cardinal Ruby]).
Leatherworking	80 AP, through the respective Fur Lining, and dramatically cheaper, (although identical) leg armor.
Mining	Toughness, which is a slight boost to your survivability, but only a direct DPS boost if you are Survival.
Skinning	Master of Anatomy.

[top] Shot Rotations

Shot macros have moved from a sequence system favoring macros to a first come, first serve sequence that is harmed by their use. Macros are now simply a crutch for lazy or poor players, and this section will not list them.
Serpent Sting does not appear in the Marks rotation since initial application is assumed and Chimera Shot will refresh it.
Survival hunters will never use Arcane Shot; it shares a cooldown with Explosive Shot, and consumes a Lock 'n' Load charge best used for Explosive.

Beast Mastery

Priority	Ability
1	Kill Shot
2	Serpent Sting
3	Arcane Shot
4	Steady Shot

Marksmanship

Priority	Ability
1	Kill Shot
2	Silencing Shot
3	Chimera Shot
4	Arcane Shot
5	Aimed Shot
6	Steady Shot

Survival

Priority	Ability
1	Kill Shot
2	Explosive Shot
3	Aimed Shot, or Multi-Shot if your spec does not include Aimed. These shots share a cooldown.
4	Black Arrow
5	Serpent Sting
6	Steady Shot

[top] Lock and Load

[top] How to Know When it Procs

There are a number of ways to know when it has procced. You can configure the Lock and Load aura within Power Auras Classic, set up a trigger within Mik's Scrolling Battle Text, or configure a special custom bar within Elkano's Buff Bars.

The simplest and most foolproof method is to use Lock and Load Buddy by Spamurai, a resident of these forums. This mod is simplistic to the point of having no configuration at all, which has the benefit of making it extremely lightweight and impossible to screw up. I recommend it, especially if you have no other auras you wish to be made aware of (personally I use Power Auras to keep track of Sniper Training as well; your mileage may vary).

[top] What to Do When it Procs

When Lock and Load procs, use 3 Explosive Shots, in a row. Allow time in between each to let the previous shot's charges to detonate. You can make this easier to accomplish by using Quartz and enabling the buff module; when the Explosive Shot buff is almost petered out, fire your next one.

Interleaving shots in between these Explosive Shots is not recommended for most players; you want to begin the cooldown of ES as quickly as possible, and it will not begin until your third ES is fired.

[top] Itemization: What Stats Should I Value?

A reasonable priority list is as follows:

Priority	Stat
1	Hit rating, to cap (8%)
2	Agility/Attack Power (by spec)
3	Critical strike chance
4	Armor penetration. The boost to this stat from 3.1's re-evaluation of the armor system has made it nearly as useful as critical strike chance
5	Intellect, to taste. This mostly depends on how fast you run dry; if your raid is ripe with mana regeneration buffs and debuffs, it is much less of a concern. Be aware that due to Careful Aim, 1 intellect provides 1 AP as well as 15 mana
6	Haste. The "soft haste cap," which brings your Steady Shot to a 1.5 second cast, is 523 haste rating, (this includes the quiver/Auto Shot default haste). However, as of 3.0.8 reaching this cap is incredibly unimportant due to the far greater influence of instant casts in Marks and Survival; Beast Mastery hunters already reach this cap by virtue of their talent spec

Haste is a poorly budgeted stat and one that you shouldn't look out for on gear and certainly not for in gems, especially since Ulduar emphasizes movement so much. Armor penetration, on the other hand, has gained new strength with 3.1 as the chart indicates (but still shouldn't be gemmed for, as it shares its primary color with agility and attack power, which are still your best per-stat damage boosts, assuming hit cap).

[top] Hit Rating to Cap

The table below assumes that you are facing a level 83 mob, and have maxed weapon skill with your ranged weapon. 8% is the hit cap; you can play with the numbers below as you see fit; for example, if you are a Draenei, or are confident one will always be with you, your hit cap is 230, and so forth.

Rating	+Hit Conversion
263	8%
230	7%
200	6%
164	5%
132	4%

Bear in mind, as mentioned elsewhere on the page: Your pet receives hit chance from you in whole numbers only, and rounding down at that. (If you have 7.99% +hit, your pet will only receive 7%).

[top] Macros

This section contains a few macros intended to make raiding a bit simpler for you.

[top] Misdirection

#showtooltip Misdirection
/cast [target=focus, help] Misdirection
/cast [target=focustarget, help] Misdirection
/cast [target=target, help] Misdirection
/cast [target=targettarget, help] Misdirection
/cast [target=pet, nodead, exists] Misdirection

This will misdirect to your focus, your focus's target if your focus is hostile, your target if you don't have a focus, your target's target if you have a hostile targeted, or your pet if you don't have a target.

[top] Masters Call

#showtooltip Master's Call
/cast [target=player] Master's Call

Casts Master's Call on yourself. This is actually a really useful way to save your pet from death sometimes (such as void zones, or Mimiron's Shock Blast) due to the fact that Master's Call forces your pet to surge very quickly back to you.

[top] Ammo Management

#showtooltip Explosive Shot
/cast Explosive Shot
/script if (UnitLevel("target") <= 0) then EquipItemByName("Mammoth Cutters"); else EquipItemByName("Frostfire Bullets"); end

This is Spamurai's macro for ammunition; if the target is level ??, it will automatically equip your best ammunition; otherwise it'll equip your worst.

This macro isn't "smart," - if you don't use those particular ammo types you will have to modify it manually - and also if you're not Survival.

Additionally, you can also install the mod Ammo-Matique if you want smart functionality; the choice is essentially between using a mod, or using a macro - one of which is easier, and one of which has a smaller memory footprint. Salt to taste.

The misdirection macro was taken from Har's thread on macros.

[top] Conclusion

If you have any further questions about how to play your hunter, reference the Hunter forum, or send me a PM on these boards. I hope you found this guide useful, and I wish you all the best in your gameplay.

[top] Copyright Information

This article is the original work of Garbysan of Mug'thol (US). The article and all future versions of the article are licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Reproduction of the article in full or in part, or derivative works based on the article, including translations, are permitted as long as:

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The full text of the license agreement may be viewed here or via written request to Creative Commons, 171 2nd Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.

Etchy · 03/04/09, 6:38 PM

Seems like a good summary, however I wouldn't corner off Resourcefulness as a talent exclusively for PvP, but rather one that can be included in a trap dancing build.

Peldin · 04/21/09, 5:48 AM

Please delete this post, was made in error.

imjorman · 05/02/09, 1:35 PM

While trap dancing isn't as good in 3.1 (Black Arrow and your traps share the same cooldown), Resourcefulness, in my opinion, is useful because it increases the up-time of Black Arrow. More Black Arrow=higher dps overall.

• Garby · 05/02/09, 3:11 PM

Originally Posted by imjorman

While trap dancing isn't as good in 3.1 (Black Arrow and your traps share the same cooldown), Resourcefulness, in my opinion, is useful because it increases the up-time of Black Arrow. More Black Arrow=higher dps overall.

Leaving Resourcefulness labelled as a PvP talent was an oversight - I also use it in my build. Thank you for pointing it out.

Spamurai · 05/04/09, 8:43 AM

Just wanted to point out that Focused Aim now benefits pets as well.

Etchy · 05/04/09, 10:38 PM

I also think that in the itemization section that armor penetration should be seriously reconsidered. I know that, point for point, many hunters including myself are finding it more valuable than crit, even taking into account that explosive shot is not affected by armor penetration.

Thanks again for keeping this up to date.

Leonina · 05/06/09, 9:23 AM

Great job!
But, please update the section about "Useful if you are very far below the hit cap. Be aware that pets do not gain hit from this talent; while that is a bug, it is an important one when considering your talent build. (BM hunters, in particular, should strive at all costs to avoid needing this talent)" like other has said before.

Esoth · 05/07/09, 1:22 PM

Glyph of Chimera Shot Not as useful as you might think; it’s a large DPS loss when plugged in to Shandara’s spreadsheet

This is because the default latency setting (0.2s) applies that time to every shot, pushing the Chimera Shot frequency over 10s in the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet has no way of using a wait rotation; if your GCD comes up at 8.9s it doesn't allow you to wait 0.1s for chimera, it just uses a GCD and pushes your next chimera to 1.5+lat. Also, if you set the latency to 0 (or to 0.1s or to 0.3s) you will see that this glyph actually has a huge benefit.

In short, the spreadsheet is simply not an accurate means of modeling this glyph at the moment.

• Garby · 05/08/09, 5:39 AM

I also think that in the itemization section that armor penetration should be seriously reconsidered. I know that, point for point, many hunters including myself are finding it more valuable than crit, even taking into account that explosive shot is not affected by armor penetration.

Thanks again for keeping this up to date.

I have made this change, thank you for reminding me. And you're welcome.

Great job!
But, please update the section about "Useful if you are very far below the hit cap. Be aware that pets do not gain hit from this talent; while that is a bug, it is an important one when considering your talent build. (BM hunters, in particular, should strive at all costs to avoid needing this talent)" like other has said before.

This has been done.

This is because the default latency setting (0.2s) applies that time to every shot, pushing the Chimera Shot frequency over 10s in the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet has no way of using a wait rotation; if your GCD comes up at 8.9s it doesn't allow you to wait 0.1s for chimera, it just uses a GCD and pushes your next chimera to 1.5+lat. Also, if you set the latency to 0 (or to 0.1s or to 0.3s) you will see that this glyph actually has a huge benefit.

In short, the spreadsheet is simply not an accurate means of modeling this glyph at the moment.

Hmm. I did not know this. The glyph section now reflects this; if there is a more accurate way of modeling it, or if someone has done some target dummy testing that shows the glyph's DPS value, please inform me - otherwise I will have to test it later.

Furion · 05/08/09, 8:14 AM

Probably the best way to get an estimated DPS value of CS glyph under the current spreadsheet rules is to set your latency to 0 in the shot rotation tab and then compare your DPS without the glyph and with the glyph (both at 0 latency!). Doing that should show the glyph as a good dps gain.
Of course this isnt flawless either (as the rotation you are comparing against delays the CS by 0.5 and the assumption of 0 latency is unrealistic) so I guess the actual value of the glyph depends a lot on your latency which has an impact on what your optimal rotation is.

lonkelley · 05/08/09, 10:37 AM

Under "Marksman Talents", you say that Wild Quiver is poor like Piercing Shots, but under Piercing Shots, you say it's good now, so one of those is wrong.

Under "Hit Rating to Cap", you restate that Focused Aim does not benefit your pet, which it does now.

Thanks for updating and maintaining a very concise collection of data regarding hunter DPS.

Spamurai · 05/08/09, 2:44 PM

First and foremost, I forgot to thank you for keeping this up to date for us in my previous post, so thank you!

Now on to a few other small things I noticed:

1. Stormjewels should be added to the gems section.
2. The first green gem under the Survival section is missing, or was removed and the note for it left behind.
3. A cloak enchant is not listed. Major Agility is the obvious choice, but you'd be surprised how many hunters ask.
4. Formatting error where Glyph of Chimera Shot is listed.
5. Due to the abundance of hit gear in Ulduar, and Focused Aim being a common talent now, Superior Agility to boots will now be a great way to dump some hit when over the cap. When modeled in the spreadsheet it shows a DPS increase (assuming you don't drop below cap by switching to it.)

Thanks again for maintaining a great product!

• Garby · 05/10/09, 3:10 AM

Under "Marksman Talents", you say that Wild Quiver is poor like Piercing Shots, but under Piercing Shots, you say it's good now, so one of those is wrong.

Under "Hit Rating to Cap", you restate that Focused Aim does not benefit your pet, which it does now.

Fixed.

1. Stormjewels should be added to the gems section.
2. The first green gem under the Survival section is missing, or was removed and the note for it left behind.
3. A cloak enchant is not listed. Major Agility is the obvious choice, but you'd be surprised how many hunters ask.
4. Formatting error where Glyph of Chimera Shot is listed.
5. Due to the abundance of hit gear in Ulduar, and Focused Aim being a common talent now, Superior Agility to boots will now be a great way to dump some hit when over the cap. When modeled in the spreadsheet it shows a DPS increase (assuming you don't drop below cap by switching to it.)

Notes added.

Spamurai · 05/10/09, 12:39 PM

Thanks again for the updates! You're going to hate me now... here's a couple more things I noticed:

1. Crusher is a glove enchant, you listed it as one of the alternatives to Icewalker.
2. Glyph of Explosive Shot's description has gone missing.
3. Several gems have gone missing.
4. This line is no longer true: "Both of these macros were taken from Har's thread on macros."

Also, I don't know if you want to include it or not, but I just wrote an addon specifically for Lock and Load, that will display a warning message in the center of your screen once it procs. It's an extremely lightweight addon for those that don't like the bloat that comes with the other mods listed.

Link: Lock and Load Buddy - Addons - Curse

And last but not least, a few macros that have made life easier for me:

Feed Pet

#showtooltip
/cast Feed Pet
/use Salted Venison

This will feed your pet without having to click the food you want your pet to eat. Simply replace Salted Venison with the food your pet eats.

Master's Call

#showtooltip
/cast [target=player] Master's Call

This will cause your Master's Call ability to be cast on yourself no matter what you're targeting.

EDIT: Curse download link added for the addon.

• Garby · 05/11/09, 6:36 AM

Crusher was misplaced due to me editing the article late at night; I've fixed it.
ES didn't have a description because quite frankly it is an incredibly boring glyph and the tables are sorted based on "you should have these" anyway - but I did add a description to appease the great Spam gods.

Which gems are missing? I just went over the table and it looks fine to me. Unless you're referring to the MP5 gems, in which case I've intentionally omitted them for the same reason that I don't have Spirit gems in the table: they're trash.

Fixed the line on Har's macro thread.

Added your addon to the article (prominently, I might add). I also added your macros on pets to it, although quite frankly everyone I know has Bloodthirsty in their build making a pet food macro (or pet food in general) pointless. It might be okay for levelers but this guide really isn't aimed at them - although they might certainly read it, and find it useful. (In any event it's much easier to use AutoBar for that stuff, I think).

Nakari · 05/11/09, 7:00 AM

The description of Wild Quiver still states "A poor talent" (which it isn't anymore). Additionally, you should perhaps add Enchant Weapon - Accuracy to the one hand enchants. Even though hit and crit are not as valuable as Agi/AP, it has nearly double the itemization budget compared to 26 agility, and still significantly more than 65 AP, so it is a decent choice if you are not hit capped.

Spamurai · 05/11/09, 10:14 AM

Originally Posted by Garby

Which gems are missing? I just went over the table and it looks fine to me. Unless you're referring to the MP5 gems, in which case I've intentionally omitted them for the same reason that I don't have Spirit gems in the table: they're trash.

It turns out it was just wowhead being slow, therefore not loading the gems... My bad! Thanks for the other updates

• Garby · 05/11/09, 3:05 PM

Originally Posted by Nakari

The description of Wild Quiver still states "A poor talent" (which it isn't anymore). Additionally, you should perhaps add Enchant Weapon - Accuracy to the one hand enchants. Even though hit and crit are not as valuable as Agi/AP, it has nearly double the itemization budget compared to 26 agility, and still significantly more than 65 AP, so it is a decent choice if you are not hit capped.

I missed the Wild Quiver change, thanks for pointing it out. The talent's description is now accurate.

I had thought I inserted Accuracy into the list of weapon enchants a long, long time ago, but it seems I didn't - this has also been fixed.

Spamurai · 05/12/09, 12:30 PM

Here's an additional macro that will automatically switch to your best ammo for bosses, and back to cheap ammo for trash. Simply modify it by putting your own ammo names in place of mine. Additionally, if you're not a survival hunter, replace Explosive Shot with whatever shot you use first in your priority list.

#showtooltip
/cast Explosive Shot
/script if (UnitLevel(”target”) <= 0) then EquipItemByName(”Mammoth Cutters”); else EquipItemByName(”Frostfire Bullets”); end

• Garby · 05/12/09, 12:40 PM

Article updated:

-Cleaned up formatting in the Macro section.
-Added Spamurai's ammo macro to the list.
-Noted special Aimed Shot behavior (Sniper Training).

Edit: Ninja solved the issue with the Master's Call link in the table of contents linking you to the front page. >_>

Third edit: Updated the information in the table about shots, and significantly modified its formatting.

Snowcrasher · 05/14/09, 4:50 PM

A couple notes:
- Silencing shot is now a PVE DPS talent for Marks as it was taken off the GCD in 3.1 (thus can be macroed in with another shot). I would suggest updating the talent summary for it and adding to the overview of shots section.
- Improved Unholy Presence was changed in 3.1 to not affect party members so raiders usually should be using Cat's swiftness or Tuskerr's Vitality (increased mobility > DPS stats)

Spamurai · 05/14/09, 5:36 PM

Originally Posted by Snowcrasher

A couple notes:
- Silencing shot is now a PVE DPS talent for Marks as it was taken off the GCD in 3.1 (thus can be macroed in with another shot). I would suggest updating the talent summary for it and adding to the overview of shots section.
- Improved Unholy Presence was changed in 3.1 to not affect party members so raiders usually should be using Cat's swiftness or Tuskerr's Vitality (increased mobility > DPS stats)

With mana efficiency already low as MM, taking Silencing Shot is a DPS loss on any fight long enough to force you to use viper.

Rezdan · 05/15/09, 4:53 AM

Mana efficiency is not quite the issue it was before Spamurai. Silencing Shot is a net dps gain for most Ulduar fights and for the fight modelled by the spreadsheet.

Antiganon · 05/24/09, 1:26 PM

You may want to consider adding [Titanium Weapon Chain] under One-Hand Weapon Enchants.

While its budget is definitely lower than accuracy, and it provides no crit rating, it is significantly cheaper (roughly 90% cheaper, at least on my server)