Hunter Guide: The Basics of Playing a Marksmanship Hunter

Many people say that the class of hunter is WoW on
easy-mode.
Perhaps it is.  Hunters are an all-around good class. They do
decent damage, they get to wear mail armor (after
level 40), and have a helpful pet sidekick. This class could be called
the best of all worlds.

Marksmanship is one of the talent trees available for this
class. A hunter's main damage comes from his ranged weapon (his gun or
bow). This tree enhances the hunter's ranged damage
by the use of special shots and skills.  This guide takes a
look at the basics that make up a Marksmanship
hunter.

Gear

Agility is very important to any hunter, but doubly so for the
Marksmanship hunter.  It is so important, that there is even a
skill in the Marksmanship tree to increase your Agility
(called Combat Experience). As well as Agility, Intelligence is another
stat to look for in your gear. With
the talent Careful Aim, your ranged power is increased by the amount of
Intelligence you have. Other stats to look
for include (but are not limited to): +Attack Power, +Stamina,
+Critical Strike Rating and +Spirit.

There are many different hunter sets that can be found in dungeons
and on the battlegrounds.  You can check out the different
sets on the href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=92">Equipment
section of the
href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&file=index&func=display&ceid=88&meid=51">hunter's
guide.

Talents

The Marksmanship Tree hosts a variety of damage-dealing skills to help
you along on your course to becoming a top-
notch hunter. These spells allow your shots to hit harder and
faster than a hunter who is not specced in the Marksmanship branch.

The two most helpful shots that you learn on this branch are the Aimed
Shot and the Silencing Shot. The Aimed Shot is an 11-point spell
(requires at least 11 points in the
Marksmanship tree) that increases your ranged damage. The first level
of this spell increases your
ranged damage by 70. This spell is just like a magic spell that is cast
by a mage or priest or other casting-class, in that
it has a casting (or channeling) bar. This is the amount of time you
spend "aiming". After the bar is
completed, the shot fires. That makes this a good opening shot at a
target.

The second most helpful shot is the 41-point Silencing Shot.
This shot is very useful against pesky casters that would deal an
unpleasant offensive spell or an annoying healing
spell. It disrupts any casting, briefly silences the caster and deals
weapon damage.

Other helpful talents on this tree include Scatter Shot (a short-range
shot which dazes your enemy long enough for you to get back to ranged
distance), Improved Hunter's Mark and Improved
Stings, a couple of skills to increase your critical strike chance and
damage, as well as the stat boosting spells
listed above in the Gear section of this guide.

Read more about the different talents in the href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=93">Skills
and Talents List section of the href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&file=index&func=display&ceid=88&meid=51">hunter
guide.

Pets

Finding a pet is that fits with you is one of the most exciting
challenges a hunter faces. Some prefer the quickness and high damage of
cats, while others prefer a pet with high armor that
tanks quite well. Whatever you choose, your pet can be one of
your most valuable assets. It can hold an enemy off of
you, allowing you to get to safety or to ranged distance, or you
can use it to scout locations using the Eyes of the Beast skill.

For the Marksmanship hunter, the best pet is one
that holds aggro well enough to allow a barrage of ranged attacks from
the hunter.

For more information on pets, see our href="http://wow.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=96">Hunter
Pet FAQ & Guide.

Basic Combat Techniques

One combat technique is just a sequence of shots that can help to
maximize the damage dealt while helping to conserve mana. This sequence
of shots is most effective in PvP and is as follows:

Target enemy Aimed Shot Concussive Shot Serpent Sting Arcane Shot *Auto Shot until Arcane Shot cooldown has finished, then Arcane Shot Repeat * until target is dead.

Now naturally, this won't work unless the target is being tanked by
something other than you (such as your pet). Don't be afraid
to use whatever shot will be most helpful while fighting an enemy.

Scatter Shot is quite helpful in PvP, as it is the best way to enable
you to get to ranged distance while fighting a melee class. Concussive Shot is useful when an enemy tries to run, but you want to
finish him/her off, so the Improved Concussive Shot can really come in
handy in PvP as well as PvE. Another useful skill is to drop
a Freezing trap while running, trapping your enemy and allowing you to get
to ranged distance.

If you are fighting multiple enemies, Barrage is a useful spell to have
because it increases the damage of your Volley and Multi-shot spells.

The best technique for a hunter is to let someone else (your pet, for
instance) take the hits while you just stand back and release deadly
arrows or bullets into the target.

Always remember, hunters of all specs are fully equipped with
aggro-dropping spells. These can be powerful weapons in your
arsenal. They enable you to stand back and shoot much
easier. These spells include Disengage and Feign
Death. Feign Death is your friend!

Things to Avoid

All specs of hunters should be careful with their pets. A pet on
aggressive (and sometimes even on defensive) will wipe a group quicker
than you can shout "INCOMING!" When in a tight area (such as
found in dungeons), it is best to
have your pet on passive, so that you can send the pet to attack only
what you tell it to.

Something that Marksmanship-specced hunters should avoid is melee
battle. The bulk of your damage lies in your
ranged weapon. Find a good spot to shoot from and keep
shooting. If you are alone, fighting a melee class, the
best tactic is to kite the enemy around, getting a shot in whenever
possible. Concussive shot and Scatter Shot work
well to help you get to ranged distance.

Be careful when using the Multi-shot and Volley abilities.
These can cause damage to multiple targets and can draw
aggro from more than one enemy. This can easily cause you to
die quite quickly as the one you are targeting stays
where it is, while his buddies come and beat you senseless.

For general Hunter questions, check out our Hunter's
Guide!

Questions? Comments? Email us (Aurael@tentonhammer.com) or
post in our hunter forums!