Hunter 101: Marksmanship Rotation
This is part three of a three-part guide.
[Part 1: SV guide] [Part 2: BM guide]
Marksmanship Shot Priority
- Kill Shot
- Chimera Shot
- Aimed Shot! proc
- Arcane Shot / Aimed Shot (when under dynamic haste buffs)
- Serpent Sting
- Steady Shot (always in pairs)
Hunter 101: Beast Mastery Rotation
This is part two of a three-part guide.
Beast Mastery Shot Priority
- Kill Shot
- Bestial Wrath
- Kill Command
- Focus Fire
- Arcane Shot
- Serpent Sting
- Cobra Shot
Hunter 101: Survival Rotation
Something I am often asked is “What is your rotation for SV/MM/BM?”
The long and the short of it is… there is no rotation for any of these specs. It’s all about shot priority. For SV and BM, you’re going to be managing cooldowns and with MM it’s all about being ready for your next Chimera.
As of patch 4.3 Survival is the top DPS spec for most fights in Dragon Soul, so I’ll start there and go in order of “best” to “worst” spec DPS-wise.
This is part one of a three-part guide.
Please keep in mind each fight is different and there may be situations in which you would intentionally delay the use of a specific shot or cooldown to wait for a more optimal time in the fight to use it. A good example of this would be a BM hunter on Spine of Deathwing saving Bestial Wrath for the tendon burn phase, rather than popping BW on cooldown.
Survival Shot Priority
- Kill Shot
- Explosive Shot
- Black Arrow / Explosive Trap for melee range or AOE
- Arcane Shot
- Serpent Sting
- Cobra Shot
Hunter 101: How to Kite and Jump Shot
Hunter 101: PvP basics — Stats & gear
Note: This post doesn’t discuss strategy or technique, it is just an overview of how to gear for PvP.
Hunter 101: Gems and Enchants
Enchants and gems are listed in order from best to least optimal. You should always aim for the best enchant on all of your gear, but I have provided cheaper options for fresh 85s who want to optimize their gear but not splurge on the best of the best for blues they know they’re about to replace. You should ALWAYS enchant your gear, no excuses!
Obviously, the profession-specific option will almost always be the best option for that slot. Read more about your profession options in my Hunter 101 post on professions.
There are a couple of Wrath of the Lich King enchants on this list, indicated by a (wotlk) note… strangely enough, these enchants are still VERY viable in Cataclysm end-game raiding.
Hunter 101: Reforging and You
The subtitle of this post could very easily be “The Importance of Having Haste”, as I go in to great depth about the value of Haste to us.
First, what the heck IS reforging?
Reforging, as explained by the Arcane Reforger NPC:
For example, if an item afforded you a bonus to strike your enemies but you’d rather it made you attack more quickly, an Arcane Reforger could, for a price, reforge the item to have less Hit Rating but increase your Haste Rating.
So basically, you have the option to forge a less desirable stat into something that you actually want!
What does this mean? Well, long story short, “Best in Slot” lists are essentially a thing of the past. Most gear is mostly good most of the time, depending on how you reforge it. Obviously, there is still a “best” combo of gear, but having the second or third best item is not as big of a problem as it used to be.
Hunter 101: Professions
Professions are important for anyone to have not only for the obvious perk of being able to make some money, but because professions provide various benefits to each class. There are several factors that should be considered when picking your professions:
- What am I going to do with this character? Raiding? PvP? Twinking?
- Do I have another toon that can farm mats for me or do I need to pick a gathering profession to feed my crafting profession?
- Do I need my professions to provide income for me or do I just need the perks?
- What professions do I have on my other toons and which ones do I still need to level?
And most importantly:
- Which professions give the most benefit to my class?
Any requests for a new Hunter 101 blog?
Been having problems recording in game so my kiting video is STILL on hold. Ideas anyone?
Hunter 101: Macros!
Aside from keybinds, macros are probably the most important thing you could ever learn to do in this game. Macros combine various moves into one keypress to maximize the usefulness of your abilities by making your action bars cleaner and more efficient.
In this post I will give you a list of useful Hunter macros and give you the basic tools to write your own!
