Introduction
Welcome to the Method Marksmanship Hunter guide written by me, Qenjua. I've been a Hunter main for the past 6 years. I’m occasionally streaming both Progress as well as high Mythic +. If you want deeper insights into this class, that the guide might not be able to provide, you can find my coaching on: https://metafy.gg/@qenjua. Feel free to join my group as well on: https://metafy.gg/groups/qenjuas-hunter-hideout-FvPiEwA7TLa. There I will be sharing updates on my UI, as well as some tips and tricks.
Marksmanship Hunter has fairly high mobility since Aimed Shot is the only cast you have to stand in place for. This class also grants a bunch of unique utilities such as Implosive Trap, Binding Shot, Freezing Trap, Misdirection, and Primal Rage, as well as an immunity, Aspect of the Turtle. This spec is also known for its really strong AoE burst.
The weakness of this spec is that you need at least 3 targets for your Multi-Shot to trigger Trick Shots to start doing AoE damage. The spec is also very focussed around its cooldowns, making it comparably weak outside of these windows. Due to the absence of a pet, Marksmanship Hunter is also slightly more squishy than Beast Mastery.
What has changed
Patch 11.0.7 Changes
- Trick Shots damage percentage increased to 75% (was 65%).
- Razor Fragments AOE damage percentage increased to 35% (was 25%).
- Dark Ranger: Black Arrow damage increased by 15%.
- Dark Ranger: Shadow Surge damage increased by 25%.
- Dark Ranger: Bleak Powder damage increased by 25%.
The most notable tuning change is the increase to Trick Shots damage. This will result in a significant increase in every AoE scenario. The buffs to Dark Ranger and Razor Fragments are less relevant and will probably not push Dark Ranger into the “Meta” Hero Talent tree.
We do get access to the new Cyrce’s Circlet, a powerful unique ring, that can be customized with several special gems. Some of them provide us with bonus secondary stats, others proc damage on one or multiple enemies. From a damage dealing perspective there are a bunch of different combinations of gems, for different scenarios.
Patch 11.0.5 Changes
- Deathblow is now free to take on every Hunter spec.
- Steady Focus now activates on every Steady Shot, turning it into a pick and forget Talent.
- Steady Shot grants 10 Focus on cast baseline, with Improved Steady Shot increasing it to 20 Focus.
- Pin Cushion is a new choice node with Improved Steady Shot, granting you access to more Aimed Shots
- Eagletalon's True Focus got removed and somewhat “baked” into Trueshot itself.
- Precise Shot now empowers your next filler instead of your next two.
The War Within Changes
In general, Hunter has received a couple of QoL changes that bring both utility and survivability up to par with other classes.
The most notable additions/ changes are as follows:
- Explosive Shot is now free to take on every spec.
- Emergency Salve provides a self dispel against poison and diseases.
- Implosive Trap changes Explosive Trap into an AoE knockup.
- Bursting Shot is now a general Hunter Talent and a nice budget AoE knockback.
- Padded Armor provides a second charge of Survival of the Fittest.