Marksmanship Hunter Leveling Guide (Level 1-30)

Overview

This guide takes a Marksmanship Hunter from level 1 to 30 in WoW Forever. Ability levels, costs and talent values were checked against the beta client (build 1.60.1) and can still change before launch.

Marksmanship puts the damage in your own hands: more critical strikes, Attack Power from Intellect, harder-hitting crits and a party-wide aura at level 25. Your pet is still there to hold the enemy, but it is your bow or gun that kills it.

What defines the spec

• Critical strikes. Lethal Attacks adds 5% to all your attacks and Mortal Shots makes ranged crits 30% stronger.
• Careful Aim. In Forever it converts your Intellect into Attack Power, point for point at five ranks. A stat that only gave mana now gives damage too.
• Rapid Killing. After each kill your next shot deals 20% more damage, which rewards chaining enemies, and Rapid Fire comes back in 3 minutes instead of 5.
• Trueshot Aura at level 25: more Ranged Attack Power for you and your party.

The honest trade-offs: you pull threat from your pet more often than a Beast Mastery Hunter does, so you need to kite, and your mana runs out faster. Aimed Shot is trained by everyone at level 20 in Forever, so it is not a Marksmanship privilege any more.

Levels 1-9: you have no pet yet, and this is the hardest stretch of the class. Pull from maximum range with Serpent Sting (level 4), keep Auto Shot going, add Arcane Shot (level 6), and slow the enemy with Concussive Shot (level 8) to gain a few more shots. Finish in melee with Raptor Strike. At level 10 a class quest teaches Tame Beast, and everything gets easier.

Talents

All 21 points go into Marksmanship: critical strikes, Attack Power, then the aura and stronger crits.

You earn one talent point per level from level 10, which gives 21 points at level 30. Learn them in this order:

1. Levels 10-14 — Lethal Attacks (5): +5% critical strike chance on every attack, ranged and melee.
2. Levels 15-19 — Careful Aim (5): your Attack Power rises by 100% of your Intellect. It also unlocks Mortal Shots.
3. Levels 20-21 — Rapid Killing (2): a kill (or an enemy dying with your Serpent Sting on it) makes your next Shot within 20 seconds hit 20% harder, and Rapid Fire loses 2 minutes of cooldown when you learn it at level 26.
4. Levels 22-24 — Hawk Eye (3): 6 more yards of range, so 41 in total. More shots before the enemy can reach anything.
5. Level 25 — Trueshot Aura: +30 Ranged Attack Power for your party within 45 yards.
6. Levels 26-30 — Mortal Shots (5): +30% critical damage on all ranged abilities.

Variants. Short of mana? Take Efficiency (3) instead of Hawk Eye: shots, stings and melee abilities cost 9% less. Improved Stings (3) is worth considering if you keep Serpent Sting on everything, for 20% more damage from it. Lone Wolf gives +20% damage with no pet active, which is strong in dungeons and a poor idea for solo leveling, where the pet is your tank. Bonus points from the Legacy perk Talented go to Efficiency.

Gameplay & Main Abilities

The pet still opens the fight, but you have to manage the threat your shots generate.

1. Aspect of the Hawk on, Hunter's Mark on the target, pet in first.
2. Wait for the pet to hit once or twice, then Serpent Sting and Auto Shot. The sting matters twice here: it does damage, and an enemy that dies with it triggers Rapid Killing.
3. From level 20, Aimed Shot on a single enemy. With Rapid Killing up from the last kill, open with it. Its 2-second cast holds back your Auto Shot, so start it right after an Auto Shot fires.
4. Multi-Shot (level 18) instead of Aimed Shot when two or three enemies are in front of you. The two share a 6-second cooldown.
5. Arcane Shot between them when you have mana to spare, and while moving.
6. When the enemy comes for you: Concussive Shot, back up, keep shooting. Distracting Shot (level 12) is not what you want here; it adds threat to you.
7. From level 26, Rapid Fire on elites and on pulls of several enemies, once your pet has a firm hold.

Activate Trueshot Aura once at level 25 and leave it on. It is a buff, not something to recast in combat.

Choosing a pet

Every pet can tank for you while leveling, so you cannot choose badly. A few families bring something extra:

• Boar: Charge roots the enemy for a second and makes its next hit much stronger, which secures threat at the start of each fight. It also eats nearly everything. The safest first pet.
• Bear: sturdy, and from level 12 its Swipe hits three enemies, useful when you pull more than one.
• Tallstrider: from level 12, Dust Cloud lowers the target's armor, so your shots and your party's attacks all hit harder.
• Wolf: Furious Howl raises the melee Attack Power of nearby party members, a good dungeon pet.
• Carrion Bird: Demoralizing Screech lowers the Attack Power of enemies around it, so the pet takes less damage.

Ability milestones

• Level 1: Auto Shot, Raptor Strike, Track Beasts. Level 4: Serpent Sting and Aspect of the Monkey. Level 6: Arcane Shot and Hunter's Mark. Level 8: Concussive Shot.
• Level 10: Tame Beast and the other pet skills from your class quest, Aspect of the Hawk, Track Humanoids and your first talent point.
• Level 12: Mend Pet, Wing Clip, Distracting Shot. Level 14: Scare Beast and Eagle Eye. Level 16: Immolation Trap and Mongoose Bite. Level 18: Multi-Shot.
• Level 20: Aimed Shot, Aspect of the Cheetah, Freezing Trap, Disengage.
• Levels 22-28: Scorpid Sting (22), Beast Lore and Track Hidden (24), Rapid Fire (26), Frost Trap (28).
• Level 30: Feign Death and Aspect of the Beast. Most pets learn Dash or Dive.

Things to Remember

• See your trainer every two levels, and the pet trainer when your pet levels: it has its own training points to spend on Growl, Health and armor.
• Feed your pet. A happy pet deals more damage, and an unhappy one eventually leaves. Each family eats different things, so check before you stock up; Boars eat almost anything.
• Never run out of ammunition. Fill your quiver or ammo pouch at every vendor, and move to the next tier of arrows or bullets as soon as your level allows. It is a cheap, permanent damage upgrade.
• Keep a food buff active. In Forever, food that grants a buff also gives 5% extra experience.
• Leave Growl on autocast when solo. You need every bit of threat your pet can produce.

Stat Priority

1. Ranged weapon damage — everything Marksmanship does scales with the weapon. A slow, hard-hitting bow or gun is ideal for Aimed Shot and Multi-Shot.
2. Agility — Ranged Attack Power and critical strike chance.
3. Intellect — with Careful Aim each point is also a point of Attack Power, on top of the mana this spec needs. From level 19 it is nearly as good as Agility.
4. Stamina — you will be hit more often than a Beast Mastery Hunter.

Before Careful Aim is complete, treat Intellect as a mana stat only and favor Agility.

Group Play & Dungeons

In a party the tank holds the enemies and your job is steady damage on the right target. Between levels 13 and 30 you can run Ragefire Chasm, The Hall of Thanes, Ruins of Lordaeron, Wailing Caverns, the Deadmines, Shadowfang Keep, the Stockade, Excavation Site: Wetlands and Blackfathom Deeps. Level ranges and quests are in the dungeon guide.

• Turn off your pet's Growl. It is a taunt, and it pulls enemies away from the tank. Right-click it on the pet bar to stop the autocast, and turn it back on when you go back to questing.
• Pet on Defensive or Passive. Send it yourself to the tank's target and call it back before it follows a fleeing enemy into the next pack.
• Hunter's Mark on the kill target. Every ranged attacker in the party benefits from it.
• Wait before Multi-Shot. It hits three enemies and breaks crowd control. Let the tank establish threat, and never use it next to a sheep or a Freezing Trap.
• Traps are your crowd control. From level 20, Freezing Trap holds one enemy for up to 10 seconds; from level 28, Frost Trap slows a whole pack by 60%. Place them before the pull, where the enemies will run.
• Distracting Shot (level 12) pulls an enemy off the healer and onto you long enough for the tank to pick it up.
• From level 30, Feign Death drops your threat when you have pulled too much of it.

Tips

• Mind the gap. Shots need at least 8 yards. An enemy standing closer than that can only be hit in melee, so either step back or use Raptor Strike and Wing Clip.
• Learn to kite. When an enemy leaves your pet for you, Concussive Shot it, run to shooting distance, turn and fire. Wing Clip does the same job once it is already in melee.
• Watch your mana. Aimed Shot, Multi-Shot and Arcane Shot on every cooldown will empty your bar in a few fights. On ordinary enemies, let Auto Shot and Serpent Sting do most of the work and keep the big shots for the opening.
• Chain your kills. Rapid Killing lasts 20 seconds. Send the pet to the next enemy before the current one is dead.
• Keep your pet on Defensive. On Aggressive it attacks everything it sees, which is how a quiet quest turns into a five-enemy pull.
• Mind your threat with Rapid Fire (level 26). 40% more attack speed for 15 seconds also means 40% more threat, and solo it often pulls the enemy off your pet. Use it on elites after the pet has a solid lead, or in groups.

Suggested Races

Eight races can be Hunters in Forever: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf and High Order Skyborne for the Alliance; Orc, Tauren, Troll and Windshaper Skyborne for the Horde. None is a mistake. These stand out between levels 1 and 30:

Both Skyborne orders bring 1% haste, 5% damage against Elementals and the Walk on Air glide. They are fine choices with less to offer against the Beasts of the early zones.

Macros

Auto Shot

One key that picks a new target when yours is dead and keeps shooting. The exclamation mark stops a second press from turning Auto Shot off.

#showtooltip Auto Shot
/cleartarget [dead]
/targetenemy [noharm]
/cast !Auto Shot

Aimed Shot or Multi-Shot

The two share a cooldown, so they can share a key: a normal press casts Aimed Shot, and holding Shift casts Multi-Shot.

#showtooltip
/cast [mod:shift] Multi-Shot; Aimed Shot

Melee

#showtooltip
/startattack
/cast Mongoose Bite
/cast Raptor Strike

Pet attack

Sends your pet at your target. Many players bind it to mouse wheel up. Keeping it separate from your shots lets you decide when the pet goes in.

/petattack

Pet back

Calls the pet off and brings it to you, for the moment it chases something it should not. Mouse wheel down is a common bind.

/petpassive
/petfollow

Mend Pet without losing your target

#showtooltip Mend Pet
/cast [@pet,nodead] Mend Pet