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Marksmanship Hunter
Mirrors the current rank-1 Sinister Single parse — every slot is what the best MM hunter actually wears.
Simulated DPS on the best-in-slot profile below, five-minute patchwerk. Compare every spec →
Hero tree: Sentinel
Stat priority: Critical Strike > Mastery > Haste > Versatility
Content: Raid
How it plays
- You press Aimed Shot more than anything else — about 12 times a minute — but the damage lands on Explosive Shot, which is 24% of the total.
Measured on the reference parse below, not a description of the spec — so it changes when the tuning does.
Stat priority
Critical Strike > Mastery > Haste > Versatility
These are not weights pulled from a spreadsheet — they are the live ratings on the reference character this build is taken from, so the order reflects what the best-performing Marksmanship Hunter is actually stacking right now.
Source: Jmehunt — the log. Best-logging MM Hunter on Sinister Single (Dummy Dome), avg ilvl 335.
Talent build
Laid out exactly as the in-game talent UI draws it, hero tree Sentinel. Lit nodes and gold lines are the path this build takes; everything dimmed was passed over. Hover any node for what it does.
Hunter · 34 points
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Sentinel · 13 points
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Marksmanship · 33 points
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Rotation
Focus is not the constraint —
Aimed Shot charges are. Never sit at two charges, and never waste a Precise Shots stack by casting
Aimed Shot through it.
Keep this up
Volley on cooldown. It feeds Trick Shots and, on Sentinel, keeps the whole rotation ticking.
Priority
Rapid Fire while Bulletstorm is below 18 stacks — that is what the Sentinel build is stacking.
Aimed Shot when a charge is about to be wasted, and never through Precise Shots.
Arcane Shot to consume Precise Shots.
Kill Shot on a Precise Shots stack in execute range.
Steady Shot only when nothing else is available.
Cooldowns
Trueshot on cooldown, unless Double Tap is already running.
Moonlight Chakram before
Trueshot runs out, so it lands inside.
Keep this up
- Trick Shots, through
Volley. Every
Aimed Shot and
Rapid Fire outside it is a single-target cast in an AoE pull.
Priority
- Multi-Shot to consume Precise Shots and to hold Trick Shots.
Rapid Fire and
Aimed Shot only while Trick Shots will outlast the cast.
Explosive Shot on cooldown.
Cooldowns
Trueshot into the pack, with Trick Shots already up before you press it.
- Casting
Aimed Shot with Precise Shots up throws the proc away. It is the most common way this spec loses damage.
Openers
Single target
Volley as the pull lands.
Trueshot.
Rapid Fire, then
Aimed Shot.
Arcane Shot on every Precise Shots,
Steady Shot only when stuck.
Where the damage comes from
Measured on the reference log — a 299-second single-target parse. Worth comparing against the rotation above: the button you press most is rarely the one doing the most.
| Ability | Share | |
|---|---|---|
| Explosive Shot | 24.4% | |
| Aimed Shot | 18.1% | |
| Rapid Fire | 16.2% | |
| Arcane Shot | 10.5% | |
| Master Marksman | 7% | |
| Kill Shot | 6% | |
| Lunar Storm | 4.8% | |
| Auto Shot | 4.5% | |
| Moonlight Chakram | 3.3% | |
| Volley | 2.4% | |
| Steady Shot | 1.5% |
Source: Sinister Single, 299s.
Best in slot
The finished loadout, built by Pathfinder — the strongest item available for every slot, with the item level to chase and where it drops. 334 average item level across 15 slots, gathered from 2 places.
Where to spend bonus rolls as Marksmanship Hunter
A Voidcore pays out an item every time — the question is only whether it is one you wanted. For this build, in order:
Roll Sszorak — 3 of its 3 drops are on your list
Every roll here lands something on the list — this boss cannot miss. In The Venomous Abyss, it owes you legs, feet and ring 1.
Then The Lost Explorers — 2 of its 4 drops are on your list
50% of every roll here lands something on the list. In The Venomous Abyss, it owes you shoulder and trinket 2.
The general principles behind this — knockout protection, why finishing one boss beats spreading rolls, and the crests a roll quietly costs you — are in the bonus roll guide.
Week-by-week route
- Pre-season: the campaign, a world tour of Mythic 0s for a 292 loadout, and the weekly Spark quest. No Myth crests exist yet — bank the Spark.
- Week 1: farm +10 keys to a full Hero 3/6 (311) loadout and fill the vault. The first Myth crests arrive, so spend the banked Spark on Adherent's Silken Shroud. Every Hero crest goes into lifting pieces toward 6/6 (321).
- Week 2: first Voidcore — roll Sszorak, where 3 of 3 drops are on this list. Catalyse the set slots for the 4-set. Second Spark goes to Axe-Flingin' Bands.
- Weeks 3–6: one Voidcore a week down the order above — finish a boss before starting the next. Keep spending Hero crests; every slot should sit at 321 by about Week 6.
- Week 7 onward: two Voidcores a week (the vault and Orin Straylight). Roll Myth-track bases in the set slots, re-catalyse them, and take each to 6/6 for 80 Myth and 20 Hero crests.
- Late season: Voracious Heart of Ula'tek comes from the last two bosses at Myth 9 (344). Secure the base item early — that is the only place the extra three ranks exist.
The fast variant
Same stat priority, 2 slots moved. Pathfinder builds the list above for raw power and does not care how many bosses that takes; Slate prices the route as well, and takes an equal-strength item from a boss you are already farming over one that sends you somewhere new. It visits 2 places against the strongest list's 2, at the same average item level.
- Neck — Amulet of the Twin Fangs instead of Aqirbane Reliquary
- Chest — Ophidian Fangmail instead of Awoken Dreadfang Cuirass
Load this into a plan
GearPath can load this build straight into a full season plan — the BiS list, the talents, and the route — then price it against the crests, sparks and vault choices you will actually earn, and tell you when the plan is impossible. Free while in open beta.