The marksmanship hunter in WoW is a damage specialization of the huntsman. He attacks his enemies with a lot of different ranged attacks and keeps his enemies at bay with all kinds of traps. In our comprehensive guide, we explain everything you need to know about the Marksmanship Hunter in Shadowlands – skills, talents, stats, Legendarys, and how to play.
We’ll show you what has changed about the Marksmanship Hunter with WoW Shadowlands, explain the strengths and weaknesses of the playstyle, and compare the performance of the “Sniper” in raids, arenas, and solo play with other classes and playstyles. On the following pages you will also find a short beginner’s guide, we will explain in detail the skills and talents of the Hunter and finally we will give you solid information on how to play to get the most out of the Marksmanship Hunter in raids and Mythic dungeons.
The Marksmanship Hunter DpS Guide is based on Shadowlands 9.1.5 and will be updated regularly.
What is a Marksmanship Hunter?
The Marksmanship Hunter is one of two ranged specializations of the Beastmaster in World of Warcraft. Unlike the Beastmaster, the Marksmanship Hunter doesn’t focus on strong animal companions, but fully on fighting with his firearm. For this, the hunter wears a fine chain armor and relies on the resource called focus.
The sniper’s chracteristic spells are – Aimed Shot, Rapid Fire, Reliable Shot and Direct Hit. As a lone gunman, the Marksmanship Hunter also has numerous defensive and CC spells (such as Binding Shot) that he can use to protect himself from troublesome enemies and actively support his allies in battle.
This is how strong the Marksmanship Hunter is in Shadowlands
Marksmanship hunters have really caught up in the damage meter in Shadowlands. Blizzard has really tweaked the numbers on Marksmanship, so you don’t have to rely on a pet companion even in tricky fights. As far as the gameplay is concerned, everything remains the same for the sniper. The developers only reworked some bulky talents and abilities. However, these adjustments are so minor that you basically continue to use the tried and tested talents from Battle for Azeroth.
The developers are lifting the limit for AoE spells. However, the so-called AoE cap is old hat for accuracy hunters (keyword: Skilled Shots). For you, nothing will change in Shadowlands. However, we will summarize the adjustments for you here:
- Multi-shot deals reduced damage to targets beyond five targets
- Explosive Shot deals reduced damage to targets beyond five targets
- Barrage deals reduced damage to targets beyond five targets
In the spellbook, however, you can expect some exciting news. The most important of these is the return of Deadly Shot – the iconic Hunter finisher spell from the good old WoW days! You can also expect two important features in Shadowlands: Legendarys and the four pacts. Once you join a pact, your new allies will grant you two special spells. The choice of pact is an important decision, especially for damage dealers, because the class-specific pact spells and the bonuses of the Soul Bond will influence your play style, at least to some extent. The Legendarys are broadly in the same vein.
Solo
If you switch from the highly mobile Beastmaster to the hit-and-run gameplay, you will often experience a culture shock in the first few hours. Without a companion, the enemies will head straight for you in most cases. However, the sniper has enough penetrating power to take down even stubborn enemies before they even reach the hunter in close combat. In a pinch, you can keep your enemies at bay with traps and spells like Shock Fire and Binding Shot. Binding Shot even comes free to the Marksmanship Hunter as a base skill!
Dungeons
Despite its high area-of-effect damage, the Marksman often has a hard time in Mythic dungeons. The reason for this is Aimed Shot, which you can usually only fire while standing. Especially in high keystones with annoying affixes, the Marksmanship Hunter often doesn’t get to use his burst powers to the fullest. In the end, though, it matters whether you’re a skilled sniper or not. Professional hunters master their gameplay and rely on a combination of talents and skills in stressful battles to turn the Marksmanship Hunter into a mobile fighting machine.
Raid
Long battles against single targets are the hobbyhorse of the Marksmanship Hunter. Consequently, the Marksmanship Hunter belongs in the good midfield in the Sanctum of Domination in the damage meter. However, as long as he doesn’t have to move much, he also shines in fights against multiple opponents.
PvP
In PvP, it’s often a matter of pure survival for marksmanship hunters. You can stun and slow down your enemies, but in the end, time is often of the essence. As a sniper, you have a small window of opportunity to defeat your enemy. Should your opponent reach you in close combat, it usually ends with your pixel death. Also, the modest survivability of the Marksmanship Hunter ensures that you will rarely encounter a sniper in the arena and on scored battlegrounds.
What is WoW Classic?
World of Warcraft Classic is a true recreation of the original WoW as you know it from 2006. All parts of the game – from combat mechanics and talent trees to character models and zones – have been recreated, contributing to the authentic experience.
Getting Started
All players with an active World of Warcraft subscription or game time on their accounts have access to WoW Classic at no additional cost.
- Open the Blizzard Battle.net Desktop App and select World of Warcraft from the menu.
- Select World of Warcraft Classic from the Version menu. If you have more than one World of Warcraft account, you’ll see a second Account drop-down list. In this column, select the active account you want to play with.
- Click the Install button. The progress bar will tell you when your game is ready to play.
- Click the Play button when the installation is complete.
You will need to select the realm you want to play on from several different realm types. Make sure you choose the same realm as your friends – in World of Warcraft Classic, you can only group with characters that are on the same realm as you!
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