Marksman PvE Guide - Builds, Talents and Class Mechanics - Hunter Forums

"Lilatha's BM PvE post got me thinking about doing a similar post about MM Hunters. So, here it is. This is mostly quoted from Warcraft Hunters Union, which has great info and the second place I always stop after here. I've added in a few of my personal comments."

4.0.6  MM HUNTER RAID TALENT SPEC

8/31/2

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Most of these choices are pretty obvious, and pretty much what you’ll see in most MM hunter builds. With the shortened talent trees in Cataclysm, we have less choice, with the result that it’s harder to make a poor spec. What’s fascinating with the MM tree in Cataclysm is how much the BM tree actually benefits us. Let’s take a look at a few of the talent choices that might raise some eyebrows.

Frenzy
Something MM hunters (and SV) often forget is that our pets make a very real contribution to our dps — thousands of dps in fact. Frenzy boosting pet attack speed by 30% is a huge benefit of hundreds of dps, and makes it worth even taking the somewhat lackluster One with Nature to get down to Frenzy.

Rapid Killing
Rapid Killing has very little, if any, impact on our boss dps, and it’s better off skipped. The talent combos well with Rapid Recuperation for trash or soloing, but since it only restores focus when we kill something it’s not much help in boss fights. Even in fights with adds that need to be burned down Rapid Killing is unlikely to help — you only get the effect if you are the one who struck the killing blow. In a raid with all the other dpsers going at it, the odds of you getting the killing blow is poor. In addition, not all boss adds actually grant experience — which is required to trigger the effect. That said, there may be some fights where the hunter alone needs to kill an add, in which case this talent might be good for that fight, but certainly not as a default.

Silencing Shot
Now that damage has been removed from Silencing Shot it is too often looked over. Silencing Shot costs no focus, and is not on the global cooldown. Like it or not, MM hunters are an interrupt spec and may need to help the raid. And with Glyph of Silencing Shot — a major glyph, by the way, where you don’t have other dps options — you instantly gain 10 focus when you interrupt a cast. Well worth it, not to mention we need this talent point to get down the tree, and Rapid Killing is our best alternative.

Resistance is Futile
We have a talent point here just to keep us going down the tree — it’s the best dps option we have. Resistance is Futile won’t help at all on tank & spank fights, but anytime the boss (or an add) moves a significant amount, it’s surprising how quickly Resistance is Futile procs — keep in mind that proc percentage is for every time the target moves, and it checks constantly. Note that your target must have Hunter’s Mark to get the RiF effect — Marked for Death mark doesn’t count.

Marked for Death
We could have gotten away with only one talent point in Marked for Death and still made it to the bottom of the tree, but this talent is very situationally useful. There are a lot of fights that involve instantly switching targets, and saving a global cooldown because you don’t have to manually apply Hunter’s Mark is a big help. And Hunter’s Mark in Cataclysm provides a heck of a lot of attack power 1,772 AP at level 85.

Pathing
We managed to get two ranks of Pathing. Haste isn’t a terribly good stat for MM hunters in Cataclysm, but it was still a better deal than Improved Serpent Sting. If you’re interested in picking up some extra talents, such as Bombardment for trash, this is a good place to take them out of.

"In raids I pull between 12k and 14k dps. MM is more about weapons damage then the other Hunter specs, so better gear means better dps."

4.0.6 MM SHOT ROTATION

Unlike the other hunter specs, MM hunters use two different rotations. One during the first 20% of the fight while our Careful Aim talent is active, and a different rotation during the rest of the fight, when we aren’t benefiting from Careful Aim.

Marksman MM Hunter Shot Rotation at Level 85 During Careful Aim Range (first 20%)

During the first 20% of the fight MM hunters are benefiting enormously from a lovely combination of their talents. Careful Aim allows the MM Steady Shots and Aimed Shots to gain an extra 60% crit chance while the boss is over % health. This extra crit chance then comobs yet again with Piercing Shots, giving all those crit an extra 30% damage (for full details, see how Piercing Shots works).

As always you’ll want to be in Aspect of the Hawk and have Hunter’s Mark on your target. Your priority rotation then becomes:

• Aimed Shot procs (instant cast from Master Marksman procs)
• Aimed Shot hardcast (manually casting the 2.9-second cast version)
• Steady Shot

During Careful Aim range this priority gives us the highest possible dps. We actually do more dps by ignoring Chimera Shot and Serpent Sting — but only during that first 20%. Note however that if you know you’re going to have to move a lot during this first 20%, you will probably want to put up Serpent Sting and use Chimera Shot to refresh your Serpent Sting — once you’re on the move a decent amount you won’t be able to hardcast nearly as many Aimed Shots at which point it becomes important to have that Serpent Sting ticking away.

Standard Marksman MM Hunter Shot Rotation at Level 85 (no Careful Aim)

The standard rotation that MM hunters use for % of the fight, when we aren’t in Careful Aim range, is this. You will still want to be in Aspect of the Hawk if possible and have Hunter’s Mark and Serpent Sting active. Your shot priority then becomes:

• Chimera Shot
• Kill Shot (if available)
• Aimed Shot procs
• Arcane Shot
• Steady Shot (in pairs)

Chimera Shot is the MM hunter signature shot and you want to be sure that you always have enough focus saved up to fire this on every cooldown. It refreshes your Serpent Sting and does a crazy amount of damage. You don’t need to worry about special Serpent Sting circumstances anymore.

Used Aimed Shot only when you can get it for free with Master Marksman. Use Arcane Shot to dump focus and avoid capping out on focus. Finally, fire your Steady Shots in pairs, to maintain your Improved Steady Shot 15% attack speed buff.

It’s Improved Steady Shot that makes the MM shot rotation complicated, since it requires more decision-making mid-fight. You need to dump enough focus with Arcane Shot so that you can fire two Steady Shots in a row without capping. It’s absolutely worth delaying your Aimed Shot procs for a bit to get your second Steady Shot of a pair in. You do not want to delay your Chimera Shot, however. You should plan your steady pairs so that Chimera can be fired on cooldown.

Note that this is a priority rotation, and the actual number of shots that you can fit in between each Chimera Shot depends on your haste. For a full discussion, see MM Haste Plateaus.

Aimed Shot Hardcast During the Standard MM Rotation

Even after the Aimed Shot hotfix after patch 4.0.6, Aimed Shot still hits like a truck, and Aimed Shot crits still proc Piercing Shots. Unfortunately our auto-shot will not fire while we’re casting Aimed Shot (it will fire during Steady Shot casts) and furthermore once Aimed Shot fires it resets our auto-shot timer, so we have to wait the entire duration of the timer before an auto-shot fires. So by hardcasting Aimed Shot (meaning using the 2.9-second cast version, rather than the instant proc version) we’re firing far fewer shots. Not only are we losing auto-shots, but we’re also losing a lot of Wild Quiver procs because of those fewer shots.

Technically, despite all of this loss, using Aimed Shot as our focus dump instead of Arcane Shot will still yield higher dps. However, the difference is very small!

You are seeing far less than a 1% dps gain from this — and if you have to move while casting Aimed Shot because of void zones or other fight mechanics, you will quickly lose the benefit. If you’re using Aimed Shot as a focus dump and have to interrupt it just a few times during the fight, you’d have been better off using Arcane Shot as your focus dump.

So if you are completely certain that you’ll be able to stand still for the entire cast, go ahead and use Aimed Shot hardcast instead of your Arcane Shot. But if you aren’t sure, don’t even worry about it. Just stick with the Arcane Shots.

MM Hunter Cooldowns in the Rotation

MM hunters have the greatest cooldown situation of all hunter specs, due to the power of Readiness combined with Rapid Fire. Because of Readiness, MM hunters will get at least 4 Rapid Fires each fight, and if the fight is long enough, even 6 or 8 rapid fires.

But, you’ll only get them if you actually use the talent regularly!

You absolutely want to use your first two Rapid Fires at the very beginning of the fight. Rapid Fire is strongest during Careful Aim range, when your dps is crazy high and the only shots you’re casting are shots with cast times — that are shortened significantly by Rapid Fire.

If possible you also want to combo Rapid Fire with other cooldowns, on-use trinkets, potions, etc. Never delay a Rapid Fire so long that it will cause you to get fewer of them per fight, but certainly try to line it up with cooldowns if possible.

Typically at the start of a fight you’ll drink a potion (just before pull) and then pop Rapid Fire, and shortly thereafter you’ll have a trinket proc, and you’ll be doing crazy high damage.

BEST MM GLYPHS

Best MM Hunter Prime Glyphs

Glyph of Steady Shot
Steady Shot may be the lowest priority shot in the MM hunter shot rotation; however, it still adds up to be a pretty large contribution to your dps, and adding 10% to that damage makes the Steady Shot glyph a sure thing in the MM hunter glyph choices.

Glyph of Arcane Shot
Arcane Shot is a good chunk of MM hunter damage, and a full 12% damage boost is huge. This glyph is a no brainer for MM.

Glyph of Chimera Shot
Technically the glyph of Chimera Shot is one of the best hunter glyphs; however, that big dps gain immediately turns to zero if you delay your Chimera Shot by a second — since a second is all it’s buying you. So try out the glyph on the target dummies and see how comfortable you are with your rotation with the shorter duration — if you aren’t hitting Chimera the instant it’s available, give this glyph a pass. Even if you just miss a few of them, you’re better off with Kill Shot.

Glyph of Kill Shot
If the shorter Chimera cooldown isn’t for you, then the glyph of kill shot is. The dps gain of the kill shot glyph is also very good, and it’s immensely satisfying to fire off two focus-free kill shots in a row. Keep in mind, however, that the benefit of this glyph gets smaller the shorter a fight is. This glyph got a nice little boost when Kill Shot was buffed in patch 4.0.6.

Glyph of Aimed Shot
The glyph of aimed shot is something you want to consider taking only if you are confident that you’ll be using almost no Arcane Shots during your rotation (so on standstill fights, primarily)t. In that specific circumstance, this glyph is a good deal.

Best MM Hunter Major Glyphs

Glyph of Disengage
I’m a huge fan of the glyph of disengage. While it doesn’t directly increase our dps in any way, the movement benefits of disengage (and the always cool-looking Jump Disengage technique) are big. A shorter cooldown on disengage can be very useful.

Glyph of Silencing Shot
A bonus 10 focus any time you interrupt a spell cast turns this into a major glyph that could actually increase your dps. As a side benefit, it help develop good habits by encouraging you to interrupt.

Glyph of Whatever
For your third glyph we have a choice of utility options, but no direct dps gains. So take whatever will work best for your playstyle.

Best MM Hunter Minor Glyphs

Glyph of Mend Pet
This is the best minor glyph by far. Sure, no minor hunter glyphs actually help our dps, but by giving Mend Pet a chance to increase your pet’s happiness, you no longer ever need to carry around pet food again. That is awesomesauce!

Glyph of Feign Death
Reducing the cooldown of Feign Death can definitely be an advantage in raids where you always seem to need to FD just before it’s available again. At least you can claim there is some kind of advantage to it, unlike most hunter minor glyphs

Glyph of Whatever
For your third glyph, there is pretty much nothing that is practically useful except in the most rare situations. So take whatever tickles your fancy.

REFORGING

Haste is the worst stat for MM and crit is the best. As always make sure you are hit capped first.

"Since Gemming and Enchanting are the same for all specs, I've just quoted from Lilatha's BM PvE guide."

GEMMING AND ENCHANTING

Gemming
When it comes to Gemming most people think you need to match the Gem to the socket, when in fact you don't. Agility is the best stat for Hunter's when Gemming simple as.
Meta Agile Shadowspirit Diamond
Red Socket Delicate Inferno Ruby / Delicate Chimera's Eye
Yellow Socket Deadly Ember Topaz
Blue Socket Delicate Inferno Ruby
If you have Engineering and you create gear via Engineering you'll come across Cogwheel gems you have a choice of three though again due to Reforging you hopefully won't need the third choice.
Smooth Cogwheel
Quick Cogwheel
And the one you hopefully won't need Rigid Cogwheel

Enchanting
Enchanting is simple enough I will try and inculde all good Hunter enchants and if they come with a certain Profession!
Head
Arcanum of the Ramkahen

Shoulder
Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal
Swiftsteel Inscription

Cloak
Enchant Cloak – Major Agility
Flexweave Underlay
Swordguard Embroidery

Chest
Enchant Chest – Peerless Stats

Bracer
Enchant Bracer – Agility
Draconic Embossment – Agility
Socket Bracer

Glove
Enchant Gloves – Major Agility
Socket Gloves
Synapse Springs

Belt
Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
Nitro Boosts

Leg
Dragonscale Leg Armor
Dragonbone Leg Reinforcements

Boots
Enchant Boots – Major Agility

Weapon
Enchant 2H Weapon – Mighty Agility

Ranged Weapn
Gnomish X-Ray Scope

Rings
Enchant Ring – Agility

Tak! Way to go old dog, great stuff man!

Darrwyn said:

Tak,

 

I had an interesting discussion with an guild member the other night regarding the use of Cobra Shot in the MM "rotation".

 

As we only need to fire 2 Steady Shots as a pair to receive the ranged haste buff for 8 seconds, why not throw in some Cobra Shots as well, to mix the damage up… Steady gives us Physical, Arcane, well, Arcane and Cobra, Nature Damage. While he was talking primarily about PVP situations, I'm sure it has it's benefits in PVE as well.

 

This is something I'll be experimenting with and reporting in my Herecy thread. But I thought it worth a mention here for something for MM hunters to consider.

 

Cheers

D

By all means your welcome to experiment.

Keep in mind as MM we are working the steady shots in to proc the Master Marksman (free aimed shot) talent.

I do often use Cobra Shot in PvP, especially on plate wearers.