Marksmanship Hunter DPS Easy Mode — 12.0.5

This build is our best Sentinel single-target build, used for most raid encounters.

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!

This is the optimal Sentinel build for all things Mythic+, and other AoE-focused content. It is based on extensive simulation and analysis of Mythic+ performance across a wide variety of scenarios, and has an optimal blend of both single-target and AoE. There are builds that do more AoE, but they all lose more single-target than they gain in terms of AoE, and vice versa.

• Your "flexible" Talent points are, in my recommended order of most disposable:
  • Kodo Tranquilizer
  • Emergency Salve is only useful in certain dungeons, and is worthless in others.

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!

Treat this as a priority list of the most important spells to cast. When in doubt, simply cast the highest priority spell. You should aim to have no "downtime" in your rotation. It is better to cast the wrong spell immediately, than to "think" for 1 second and then cast the right spell. As you improve, this priority should become second nature to you.

1. Cast Arcane Shot with Precise Shots. This is indicated by the blue arrow graphic around your character, and always procs after every single Aimed Shot and Rapid Fire. On 2 targets and above, cast Multi-Shot instead.
2. Cast Aimed Shot if it is on two charges. If it is only on one charge, it is a lower priority, see below.
3. Cast Volley whenever possible if talented. Make sure to place it well for optimal AoE coverage.
4. Cast Rapid Fire whenever possible.
5. Cast Moonlight Chakram. This ability replaces your Trueshot button once Trueshot is activated, and can be used once.
6. Cast Aimed Shot whenever possible.
7. Cast Steady Shot as a filler when you can do none of the above.

Your Apex Talents have no impact on how you play, they just increase your damage passively and are best taken advantage of by doing the "baseline" rotation as described above.

Your Tier Set makes Precise Shots spenders more powerful, and causes them to occasionally drop a volley of arrows on the target that deals damage. This does not change your rotational impact in any way.

Exhilaration is your primary self-heal with a 1-minute cooldown. Use this when you drop below 50% HP to help out your Healer!

Aspect of the Turtle is your immunity. It can be used to completely negate the damage and effects of most spells targeted on you. Use it if you are assigned to, or in a pinch if you worry that an upcoming mechanic will kill you! It is also a 30-50% damage reduction, though it is not so commonly used for simple damage reduction purposes.

Survival of the Fittest is our most powerful defensive besides Turtle, a 30-40% damage reduction with 2 charges on a 1.5-minute cooldown each. Use it to reduce damage taken from hard-hitting mechanics. Optimal use of this ability entails using it proactively, before heavy incoming damage.

Feign Death is a very unique Hunter ability. It can be used to drop aggro and combat, and it can also be used to stop casts on you — mobs will usually stop casting mid-cast if you appear to be dead! It will also dispel all Poison and Disease effects from you.

The general stat priority for a Marksmanship Hunter is as follows. For more information on what's presented on this page, check out our main Stat Priority page.

1. Critical Strike
2. Mastery
3. Versatility
4. Haste

Crit and Mastery are close together and by the far the strongest two stats. In a perfect world, every item you own has Crit and Mastery on it.

Versatility and Haste are quite close together, but far behind Crit and Mastery.

The game offers the option of an in-game "Combat Assistant", which has two modes; A Rotation Helper that will suggest spells to cast next, and a "One-Button Mode", that automatically performs this rotation for you if you simply press one button repeatedly.

These tools can be worthwhile for beginners, as they provide a reasonable "minimum" level of performance. For Marksmanship Hunter, using just the Rotation Helper is a ~2-7% DPS loss compared to playing perfectly (which almost nobody does), the lower bound being AoE, and the higher one being single-target. Using the one-button mode adds another ~9% to this DPS loss.

Obviously, peak performance cannot be obtained using these tools, but it is something worth considering if you are happy to take the DPS losses above for the sake of ease of play. Do not let anyone in-game or on a forum or Discord tell you that there is something inherently wrong with using these tools! Blizzard created them for a reason, and the game is about having fun, whatever that means for you.