Hunters spend their whole lives training to perfect the art of ranged combat: bows, crossbows, and weapons are all natural extensions of their arms. MM Hunters still have the same techniques as other hunter specialities, such as pets and traps, but they have focused on making their shots as devastating as possible. A Marksman can hit any target, no matter how far away it is, and no target can withstand their arrows.

Marksmanship progresses from being our worst specialty in TBC to one of the strongest in the early part of WotLK, and eventually the strongest spec in the second half. We do insane quantities of single-target damage instantaneously, from extremely vast distances – three characteristics that combine to make us incredibly powerful damage-dealers. While our cleave and AoE damage aren’t as good as some of the other specs, our total damage is quite potent.

This tutorial will teach you everything you need to know about raiding as a Marksmanship Hunter in PvE content. Everything from talents and equipment to ability rotations and macros will be covered. You will be topping DPS meters and receiving incredible treasure by the end of this guide!

Marksmanship Hunter Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

High-level single-target damage
Hunters with Marksmanship have some of the most powerful single target damage in the game. You’ll regularly be towards the top of damage meters in bouts with only 1-2 enemies, flexing at your pals.

Instantaneous, burst damage from a distance
When debating DPS classes, players frequently focus on who does the greatest DPS. There’s no doubt that MM provides excellent DPS, but how we do it is as crucial. Our spells are all ranged, which is ideal for encounters with limited melee uptime. Furthermore, they are immediate, which means that mobility does not interfere with our damage like it does for casters, who cannot cast while moving. Finally, our abilities do damage in bursts; we don’t rely on DoTs, and we don’t need to build up combo points or anything like that, so MM Hunters can take care of a fresh victim straight away. This elevates us above the status of mere damage bots; our damage will make the difference in killing particular targets.

Loot competition is low.
MM As indicated in the Weaknesses section, hunters rely heavily on their equipment. The good news is that, unlike other classes/specs who share this problem, we have very little loot rivalry. We utilize mail armor, and our only competitors are Enhancement Shamans — and Enhancement isn’t particularly good in Wrath, so your guild might not even bring any. As a result, the main competition for most of your things will be other Hunters, who will often be 2-3 people in your raid, whereas other DPS players will have to battle against 6-7 players for loot. We share a tier token with Warriors and Shamans, yet neither is as popular as they once were, making our token the simplest to get.

Misdirection
While our utility isn’t the best overall, we do have one piece of utility that almost every raid will require: misdirection. Most raids will start battles with this ability, and having numerous Hunters use it on different tanks makes things a LOT simpler – with to this little toy, you’ll be the MVP of pulling.

Weaknesses

AoE damage that is below average
MM Hunters have been plagued by a lack of AoE damage since the dawn of time. Unfortunately, this does not alter in Wrath – Volley is our sole usable AoE skill, and its damage isn’t particularly impressive. Our cleave damage is recoverable owing to Multi-Shot, but our damage will be middle of the pack at best in clashes with four or more adversaries.

As indicated in the Strengths section, MM Hunters are very reliant on their equipment and deal a lot of damage. This is because to our high scaling – our basic damage isn’t as stunning. This means that we are weaker in the early stages before becoming powerhouses once we have great ranged weapons and armor penetration gear. As a result, many Hunters will choose Survival for Phases 1 and 2, as it is significantly stronger, but Marksmanship season begins in Phase 3.

There is very little and only situational utility.
While utility becomes less essential in Wrath, at least in comparison to TBC, it is still a crucial feature of every class and spec, and MM Hunters are sadly somewhat restricted in that respect. We have Misdirection for unique usefulness, which is fantastic, but not much else.

Marksmanship Hunter Utility

Marksmanship Hunters contribute the following raid benefits and debuffs to a raid, in addition to their damage:

Misdirection
Our threat misdirection has returned in WotLK, and it is still fantastic! It has been significantly tweaked since TBC, allowing you a 4-second window of threat redirection after your initial shot, which is fantastic. Our Aimed Shot is now immediate, as is our new nuke Chimera Shot, so we can easily pull with these two abilities, giving the tank a nice threat lead at the start of the engagement.

Increased attack power by 10% (does not stack) – Trueshot Aura
Our Trueshot Aura undergoes a modification that is both a benefit and a nerf. It’s no longer unique, but it provides far more attack power than it used to, since it now provides the same must-bring 10% attack power increase that Enhancement Shamans had as an exclusive, Unleashed Rage. Most raids will no longer include an Enhancement Shaman, but they will bring a Blood DK, who can also provide this boost using Abomination’s Might. This implies that you won’t have to supply this buff most of the time, but you might have to in 10-man raids where a Blood DK isn’t present.

Physical hit probability reduction of 3% (does not stack) – Scorpid Sting
This often-overlooked debuff improves tank survival by making the boss to miss more frequently. Your Account Balance Druids may also give it with Insect Swarm, which is part of their DPS rotation, although it is not always available. This implies that if required, you can step forward and debuff the boss, therefore assisting your group.

Sting (Pet Ability – Wasp) – 5 percent armor decrease (does not stack)
Hunters of all specs now have access to the same 5 percent armor debuff that Druids may use with Faerie Fire and Warlocks can use with Curse of Weakness. Druids will almost always apply it in 25-man raids, thus you won’t need to bring a Wasp pet for this debuff. However, in 10-man raids and dungeons, you can bring in the Wasp to assist out your raid’s damage a little.

Conclusion

We hope this information has helped you decide whether PvE Marksmanship Hunter is the class or spec for you. Check out our other pages for more information on how to increase your performance as a Marksmanship Hunter in WotLK, such as skills, gear, and gems!