Hunter DPS

Well, here are some of my suggestions, and things that I do to help improve my overall DPS in 5 mans and raids.

1. Get the best enchants you can. Right now, here is what I can see you need on your current gear: Boots + 12 agi, Chest +6 to all stats, Cloak +12 agi, Head - CE glyph if you have the rep, Ranged weapon +12 damage or + 28 crit rating. Your ranged is epic, get the best you can and go above the +10 damage scope.

2. Gems - Gloves - since you are MM spec get the +16 attack power and they are epic, you wont be upgrading for a while unless you get T4 maybe. Essentially get the best you can on things that you are not going to upgrade for a while, such as your bracers. Do not necessarily worry about putting the right color gem in the right socket, do what is best to help your spec out. A hunter needs more damage then life, we have various ways to save ourselves in combat, use them to your advantage.

3. MP5 is nice for hunters, but not necessary. We can get by without tons of it. Yes, it does help out in long drawn out fights, but that is why you have mana pots, and on occasion, you can still FD and drink. Doesn't always work though.

4. Talent build: There are a number of ways you can go about this, I know from talking with you, that you prefer to stay MM. Here is what I would do: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=mZVybRVzheotIhzMhc The one point you had in imp arcane shot, won't really help at all. Also, from general experience and consensus the 2 points spent in combat experience isn't all that useful. If you insist on having it, drop 2 points from imp mark and get it. Here is a link to my current build: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=VZVtbRVzhxoZIhzMhfMhV This is a hybrid build which does a great amount of damage, but is heavy agility based. And finally, here is the build I plan on going to sometime in the near future: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=mZVxbRVZIhzMhfMhVkAo Yes, I lose some upfront damage from losing talents like Barrage and Ranged Weapon Spec, but I gain more AP from having EW up, and with readiness you can dish out a lot of DPS by essentially doing 2 back to back rapid fires. Also, your tanks will love the fact you can do misdirection twice, in a short period of time, giving your raid will be able to go all out that much quicker on a boss.

5. Consumables. This is a huge boost to any hunter. Anymore in a raid, I am using all that I can to go all out and increase my DPS. I use the following items: Elixir of Major Agility, Elixir of Major Mageblood, Warp Burger, Scroll of Agility V. The Warp Burgers can be replaced with Ravager Dog or Grilled Mudfish. The MP5 from the mageblood potion certainly helps out, and makes up for what you would lose in equipment.

6. Shot rotation. Typically, I only use 3 special shots really, and sometimes a sting to increase my DPS. Arcane, Steady, and Multi. Always try and use the arcane and multi since they have the longest cooldowns. When you are firing your shots, I typically use a special, and then let an autoshot fire inbtween the next special shot, that way I do not clip the autoshot. It takes a little while to get used to, but does help out overall.

This all comes down to how you want to play your hunter really. The above are some of the suggestions that I have to help you out, and maybe anyone else needing some help. I am sure that some people may disagree with some of what I said, which is fine. I am by no means an expert on our class, and still have things to learn, but I try and play to the best I can. Remember to watch KTM, and then FD if you have to. If it gets resisted, drop down to more of a steady/auto shot rotation to keep your threat a little lower while the tank builds up more agro, and then go all out and FD again when its up. Best of luck to you, and if you or anyone else has any questions, please message me on here or in game.
 
Last edited:
Hmmm, that is great advice, but im a marks/bm hunter for now, it looks as though survival is a bit to complicated to me, the +agility stuff is just to expensive for me, im looking for more of a BM spec, im guess that requires more of a balance build, rahther than a heavy agility build. Very useful though, i am think of going survival, if i can afford it.
 
Hunters that do Kara Should top 10
1. Have the Spec of marks and surv. (with trap mast)
2. Use a shot rot with stedy arcane and muti. Auto shot some times. ( Do not use muti shot when there is CC) ur crits will be better with a good shot rot
3. Use right aspects
4.Have gear with ap agly and stam U NEED INT SOME NOT A BUNCH LOAD
5. Watch KTM lol duh FD to loss threat lol hope u knew that
6. Use pots and stuff
7. It is ok to die don't be a FD monster.( u can farm)
8. DO NOT USE UR PETS "UNLESS" the raid leader tells u
9. DPS is important but do not pull aggro and wipe raid!
10. Don't be stuiped.
 
7. It is ok to die don't be a FD monster.( u can farm)

Very good point, really. If you take agro and FD just as a healer lands a heal on you...guess where that add is going? Hunters, you can take a beating and generally speaking, your healers in a raid are actually more aware of your situation then you are. FD to keep from being on the top of the threat meter, don't FD because you pulled agro. If you pull agro, tank it until a tank can pull it off you are somebody can CC it.
 
ok so im just wondering...r u guys saying that hunters arent suppose to be bm to raid? cause i personally LOVE my bm/marks spec!
 
ok so im just wondering...r u guys saying that hunters arent suppose to be bm to raid? cause i personally LOVE my bm/marks spec!

BM is nubby to raid in a hunter should be in top 4 dps meters in a raid.
if u are BM ur pet can do crazy stuiped things and wipe the raid.
also marks is better for ur group with imp mark and tsa best things ever for rooges and droods
 
ok so im just wondering...r u guys saying that hunters arent suppose to be bm to raid? cause i personally LOVE my bm/marks spec!

just cause i owned a 70 hunter the other day on my 62 warrior cause he was bm/surv lol owned him while i feared his pet also he had no SS lol nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooob
 
i pwned a 70 warrior on my 66 hunter thats bm/marks. and a 70 lock and a 70 mage... shall i continue? as long as my cooldowns r good and that its just 1 on 1. also so far one of the only 70s i cant kill is ally 70s and rogues as well as shamans *shivers*.
 
pvp is completely opposite of raid DPS, when my rogue was specced for raids I was lucky to beat anyone in a fair fight pvp heh
 
If you bring the ability to two shot somebody into a raid, you bring the ability to pull hate from the tank. The difference between unloading 10k damage in 2 seconds and unloading 10k damage in 15 seconds is a raid wipe.
 
So, what would be the best dps raid spec for hunters than, now that the patches has changed it quite a bit?
 
The best Raid spec for pure dmg is Beast Master... hands down... There is a key to this...
First, you want two main pets, a DPS pet (Cat or Ravager <---best) and a Bird (Owl or Carrian)
Second, avoidance on every pet, cobra reflexes not. I parsed it cause I didn't believe them when I heard and read it.. and it actually makes the damage less.
Third, if you have any questions feel free to ask... I've reseached this topic to death... Talked to a couple awesome hunters that I know over the phone for hours on this topic...

so in your BM facts:
1) you need the right pets
2) Pets need the right skills (Hint: not all skills that you think are good, are good)
3) Kill Macro FTW (This macro replaces your Arcane shot)
4) Couple good mods that let you know when Kill is up and other awesoem hunter mods FTW
5) Ravagers are the best DPS pet in the game, followed by Cats.
6) Birds are best tanks in the game... Carrian (+Armor) and Owls (+Damage)

#showtooltip Arcane Shot
/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()
/castsequence reset=3 Arcane Shot, Auto Shot
/cast [exists,target=pettarget] Kill Command
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear(); UIErrorsFrame:Show()
 
Last edited:
how are ravagers at taking a hit? I seem to see darkness laying on the ground a lot during fights:p would stam/armor/resistances be best to put on the pets for that reason? anymore info on pet skills?
 
LOL, Darkness is my DPS pet all his stats are pushed for DPS not tanking... so if he pulls agro which he can do if he doesn't get heals he will die fast.

The best way to up your pets HP is to up yours.
 
I usually mean just AOE damage heh, seems for raids and DPS you might want to help him live longer with any AOE he might take
 
The best Raid spec for pure dmg is Beast Master... hands down... There is a key to this...
First, you want two main pets, a DPS pet (Cat or Ravager <---best) and a Bird (Owl or Carrian)
Second, avoidance on every pet, cobra reflexes not. I parsed it cause I didn't believe them when I heard and read it.. and it actually makes the damage less.
Third, if you have any questions feel free to ask... I've reseached this topic to death... Talked to a couple awesome hunters that I know over the phone for hours on this topic...

so in your BM facts:
1) you need the right pets
2) Pets need the right skills (Hint: not all skills that you think are good, are good)
3) Kill Macro FTW (This macro replaces your Arcane shot)
4) Couple good mods that let you know when Kill is up and other awesoem hunter mods FTW
5) Ravagers are the best DPS pet in the game, followed by Cats.
6) Birds are best tanks in the game... Carrian (+Armor) and Owls (+Damage)

#showtooltip Arcane Shot
/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()
/castsequence reset=3 Arcane Shot, Auto Shot
/cast [exists,target=pettarget] Kill Command
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear(); UIErrorsFrame:Show()

This post has everything I've learned over the last three months, taking my Dwarf BM Hunter to 70 (He uses 3 owls, each set up for a different task).

The only difference I've found is substituting Steady Shot for Arcane Shot in the macro / shot rotation. As this post on the Elitist Jerks forum illustrates, the DPM (Damage Per Mana) is much more efficient, and the overall rotation is faster, since the Steady Shot shares the same cast time as the Auto Shot, unlike the Arcane Shot. The result is a "Shot Shot, cast time, Shot Shot" rhythm that has a much higher DPS than using Arcane / Auto. In fact, you will fire 9 times within 10 seconds with either rotation, but you will use nearly half the mana with the Steady Shot rotation. This, of course leaves a smaller recovery time between encounters.

If you have a slow enough gun, you can even weave another shot (Arcane) in there, in theory.
 
Lechuza is right about using steady shot as your main shot as a BM hunter. The math behind it is that Steady has a 1.5 sec cast time and if you can get a weapon that is at 2.7 speed (or as close as you can get) with Serpent Swiftness you are casting your Autoshots at just above 1.6 sec. This essectially is allowing you to cast 2 shots at virtually the same time (0.01 sec difference). Casting any other shots winds up doing nothing but clipping your Autoshot and slowing down your dps. This is the best macro right now for a 1:1 rotation.
#showtooltip Steady Shot
/cast !Auto shot
/cast [target=pettarget,exists] Kill Command
/cast Steady shot
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()

I also read someone saying that your pet does most of your damage as a BM hunter. This is a common falasy that many have about BM hunters. A BM hunter pet will do a maximum of 30% (and generally around 25%) of the hunters overall dps that means that you are still doing 70-75% of the total dps that you and your pet are doing. If your pet dies you will certainly take a bigger dps hit than an MM or Surv will but you can still have some nice dps output.
 
how are ravagers at taking a hit? I seem to see darkness laying on the ground a lot during fights:p would stam/armor/resistances be best to put on the pets for that reason? anymore info on pet skills?

The best thing you can do to help pet survivability in terms of spec is max out Avoidance (-50% AoE damage) and find out what bosses you will be fighting and spec your pet for those resistances. In Kara for example my pet has max arcane resistance (Currator & Shade) and some in shadow resistance (Prince). For SSC I usually go with Nature Resistance on my wind serpent, and for The Eye it would be max Arcane (VR & Solarian) and then Fire (Alar). Any leftover points after maxing out your dps and resistances is through them in Stam. At present pets cant achieve enough health or armor to save them from direct hits in 10-25 man raids. The best thing you can do to insure pet survivabuility is to monitor your pets health and pull him out when you see he is losing health, cast mend pet, then send him back in when hes back at full health.
 
Back
Top