Marksmanship Hunter DPS Mythic+ Guide — The War Within (11.0.5)

This build is my recommendation for anything AoE-centric, like Mythic+, Delves, and so on.

While I strongly recommend that you run the build exactly as listed, there are a few changes you could make to suit your personal preferences, though I cannot stress enough that significant deviations are likely to cost you significant performance. A lot of work went into every talent picked, combining simulations of single-target, pure AoE, and mixed dungeon simulation scenarios with a variety of pull sizes and durations.

• If you want Light Ammo for mob-dense dungeons with large pulls, swap out Hydra's Bite. This is worth considering for the more ambitious routes and pulls in The Necrotic Wake, The Stonevault, and Ara-Kara, City of Echoes.
• I include a wide variety of CC options, but if you find yourself not using Bursting Shot very much and would prefer to lean into your Binding Shot/ Implosive Trap combo, swap Bursting Shot for Tar-Coated Bindings. You can also swap Territorial Instincts.
• Some players like to sacrifice other talents in favor of Wailing Arrow-related Talents for more single-target. I do not recommend this, as while the single-target gains are substantial, the overall DPS lost is even bigger. Taking everything in an average dungeon into account, it is simply not worth it.
• If you really want to, you can play this build but with the Dark Ranger Hero Talent instead. This will perform significantly worse. You can find the best Hero Talent Tree build for Dark Ranger on our dedicated Hero Talents page. Simply combine those Hero Talents with this Marksmanship build, and you are good to go.

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

This build is my Dark Ranger recommendation for anything AoE-centric, like Mythic+, Delves, and so on. It does significantly less damage in all scenarios compared to Sentinel.

While I strongly recommend that you run the build exactly as listed, there are a few changes you could make to suit your personal preferences, though I cannot stress enough that significant deviations are likely to cost you significant performance. A lot of work went into every talent picked, combining simulations of single-target, pure AoE, and mixed dungeon simulation scenarios with a variety of pull sizes and durations.

• If you want Light Ammo for mob-dense du ngeons with large pulls, swap out Hydra's Bite. This is worth considering for the more ambitious routes and pulls in The Necrotic Wake, The Stonevault, and Ara-Kara, City of Echoes.
• I include a wide variety of CC options, but if you find yourself not using Bursting Shot very much and would prefer to lean into your Binding Shot/ Implosive Trap combo, swap Bursting Shot for Tar-Coated Bindings. You can also swap Territorial Instincts.
• Some players like to sacrifice other talents in favor of Wailing Arrow-related Talents for more single-target. I do not recommend this, as while the single-target gains are substantial, the overall DPS lost is even bigger. Taking everything in an average dungeon into account, it is simply not worth it.

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

Counter Shot is your "kick" and your most important bit of utility in Mythic+, used to stop enemy casts for the benefit of the group and especially the tank. It is highly recommended to use a Focus Kick macro for this.

• /stopcasting
• /stopcasting
• /cast [@focus,exists,nodead][@mouseover,exists,nodead] [] Counter Shot

This macro will kick your focus target if you have one, mouseover if you have no Focus target, and your target if you have neither of those.

To quickly set a focus target in hectic scenarios, we also recommend a Focus Mouseover macro.

• /focus [@mouseover]

Make sure that your UI shows your Focus Target's casts clearly, so that you are always able to kick it on cooldown, or in coordination with the rest of your group.

Implosive Trap is your "AoE stop". shortly after arming, it will knock up all targets in a generous radius, stopping their casts. This is very potent when combined with Binding Shot cast beforehand, as the knock-up effect will trigger the stun from Binding Shot, turning your AoE stop into a 3-4 second AoE stun for the cost of a global.

Intimidation is your second-most important utility and is your single-target "stop" for negating casts that cannot be normally interrupted. We recommend using this in the same way as your Counter Shot, with the same macro (with Intimidation swapped in for Counter Shot, of course). Note that we can use this without a pet thanks to Territorial Instincts.

Binding Shot can be used to save your tank in hectic moments by helping him kite mobs and generate some range. It will most commonly be used in conjunction with Implosive Trap to enable a stun alongside the knockback offered by the latter.

Freezing Trap can be used as an additional stop alongside Intimidation, but it has a slow travel time and you will need to be close to land it before most stunnable casts are finished.

Bursting Shot can be used as an additional stop, like Implosive Trap, but it will knock enemies back which can be disruptive and so it should be a last resort. Sometimes, you will use it to knock straggling enemies into the "deathball" of AoE that your tank has made.

Feign Death can not only be used to drop aggro, but also negate certain casts and channels on you. In some cases, these mechanics will simply re-target someone else in the group, but occasionally the mechanic will be entirely negated with huge benefits. If you notice a cast or effect on you, try to Feign Death it! It will also remove all Poisons and Diseases on you, and this WeakAura can help alert you when that is possible.

Tranquilizing Shot can negate beneficial Enrage and Magic effects from enemy targets, and with the Disruptive Rounds Talent, we do not lose meaningful damage from doing so. If the Dungeon is especially heavy on these dispels, you may choose to change our default Talents into grabbing either Kodo Tranquilizer or Devilsaur Tranquilizer.

Tar Trap can be used to aid your tank in kiting by slowing mobs. It is good to reflexively throw down a Tar Trap if your Tank dies, as it gives everyone else a better chance at kiting and surviving.

• Keep Starved Crawlers away from the boss via Binding Shot, Tar Trap, etc.
• Disengage clears Vile Webbing.

• Disengage/ Feign Death to clear Silken Restraints from the Bloodstained Webmage adds.
• You can Disengage the Burrow Charge mechanic. Simply build some distance when targeted, and do your Disengage the moment the cast ends.

• You can Disengage the Cosmic Singularity entirely; when the mechanic happens, move far away. Then, when being sucked in, Disengage at approximately 0.7s on the timer. You will essentially "teleport" to a safe position, provided that you were at a reasonable distance when you hit the Disengage.
• Feign Death clears Venom Volley and Cultivated Poisons. In the latter case, it will shoot off waves that you must make sure not to hit your teammates with!
• You can Disengage to remove Grasping Blood. Do not do so during the pull from Cosmic Singularity as you want the root to keep you in place. You can also break your teammates free by CC'ing their Bloods, but be careful not to get them sucked into the Singularity, or you will be very unpopular.

• Disengage/ Feign Death to clear Silken Restraints from Bloodstained Webmage, similarly to the boss.
• Tranquilizing Shot to clear Unnatural Bloodlust from Bloodstained Assistants.
• Intimidation-stun Sentry Stagshells before they can finish Alarm Shrill. Using Bursting Shot to knock them into packs is also very useful.
• Disengage/ Feign Death to clear the Grasping Blood root. You can help break your teammates out by CC'ing the Bloods with Intimidation, Implosive Trap, Bursting Shot, or Freezing Trap.

• No specific tips, I will update this section if I find any.

• Nothing Hunter-specific, though I will update this if I discover anything.

• Aspect of the Turtle to speed-soak Viscous Darkness Orbs with no healing absorb.

• Disengage to clear Umbral Weave.
• Draw Ravenous Scarabs under the boss and use Binding Shot/ Tar Trap to keep them there.

• Feign Death to cancel Silk Binding from Sureki Silkbinder.
• Tranquilizing Shot to remove Asperity from Reposing Knights.
• Feign Death to clear Venomous Spray from Royal Venomshells.
• Disengage to clear Umbral Weave from Elder Shadeweaver.

• Disengage the Burning Shadows slow, and Exhilaration to heal off resulting Shadow Shroud.

• Feign Death to cancel the Animate Shadows cast.

• Expect to be asked to handle Arathi Bombs, so be prepared to do a bit of running for this.

• Disengage to clear Ensnaring Shadows from Nightfall Shadowmages.
• Tranquilizing Shot the Darkblade and Abyssal Howl from Nightfall Curseblade and Nightfall Commanders respectively.
• Feign Death the Tormenting Beam from Nightfall Darkcasters.
• Intimidation or Freezing Trap the Nightfall Darkcasters before their Umbral Barrier cast finishes.

• Nothing specific. I will update this section with whatever I can find.

• Nothing specific. I will update this section with whatever I can find.

• You can Freezing Trap the Invoked Shadowflame Spirits in Phase 2. Coordinate with a teammate so that you can hard-CC all of them.
• Exhilaration to heal off Curse of Entropy absorb.
• Remember to re- Hunter's Mark Valiona in Phase 2, and consider saving cooldowns for her.

• Aspect of the Turtle to clear Void Tendrils to get your group more space, as needed.

• Consider Tranquilizing Shotting the Reckless Tactic from Twilight Overseer. They take increased damage during it, so you may want to keep it up if your Tank/Healer are okay with it. Communication is key.
• Feign Death or Freezing Trap (or both) if Sear Mind is on you from a Twilight Beguiler. I recommend doing both because if you were too slow on the Feign, the Trap will still land.
• Tranquilizing Shot the Rage from Twilight Enforcer to remove it.
• Feign Death the Corrupt cast from Faceless Corruptor.

• Use Binding Shot/ Tar Trap to keep Carrion Worms under the boss. Alternate them, as you likely cannot Binding Shot every set.

• Tranquilizing Shot whenever Unholy Frenzy is on the boss.
• Bursting Shot to knock any straggling adds into the boss so that they can be killed before Final Harvest goes off.
• Adds that are hard-CC'd with things like Freezing Trap do not explode when Final Harvest goes off. You can use this to your advantage either in an emergency, or as a pre-planned thing where you Trap an add the moment it spawns. Just be careful its CC does not break right before the cast ends..

• Feign Death the Morbid Fixation fixate.
• Save cooldowns for Stitchflesh is active.

• Disengage to clear Frozen Binds. You can also use Master's Call from a Cunning pet to free somebody else.
• You can also feign Dark Exile, but use this only when you know that you are going to be the highest DPS for the next 30 seconds or so, or if the boss is close to dying.

• Keep Bursting Shot handy for Corpse Collector and Harvesters to get them into the group, as they tend to stand still.
• Feign Death off Disgusting Guts from Blight Bag.
• Tranquilizing Shot the Seething Rage off Stitched Vanguards.
• Tranquilizing Shot the Dark Shroud buff — you can pre-cast it right before the cast ends to dispel it even quicker to make sure you only get 1 tick at most.
• Inside the Ziggurat/Necropolis/Upstairs, you can Freezing Trap the Corpse Collector that leads the patrol, to stop the entire patrol from moving.
• Feign Death the Drain Fluids cast from Corpse Collectors if it is on you.
• Feign Death the Morbid Fixation from Separation Assistants, similarly to the boss. Do not Feign Throw Cleaver, though, which you want to aim into the other Assistant!

• Generally speaking, I recommend you hold cooldowns for Droman's Wrath, but many cooldown strategies exist and different groups may ask you to do different things. this video goes into expert detail.

• Feign Death to cancel Freeze Tag on us. You have to be quick to do this, so keep an eye on the timer and the boss target.

• Binding Shot whoever is targeted by Accelerated Incubation to immediately stun the resulting Gormling Larvae.

• Feign Death the Overgrowth channel from Tirnenn Villagers.
• At the beginning, there is a particular Drust Harvester you can skip, like this; Freezing Trap, go close to it until you are in combat, but be careful not to pull anything else. Then, let the rest of the group pass. Then, walk away and Feign Death. No one will be in combat and you have successfully skipped it.
• We can use our pets to pull mobs through the maze, as they are not limited by the maze walls. Simply send your pet to a mob behind a wall and watch it get aggro (and possibly die). The mobs will then come to the group through the wall.
• Tranquilizing Shot the Stimulate Resistance and Nourish the Forest casts if they go through, which they really shouldn't!
• Feign Death Debilitating Poison from Spinemaw Reaver.
• Feign Death to cancel the Harvest Essence channel from Drust Harvester.
• Tranquilizing Shot shot on Mistveil Defenders to remove Bramblethorn Coat (should be kicked, though!) and Enraged.

• Do not Feign Death the Iron Gaze fixate, as you want the boss to pass through Heavy Ordnance to increase his damage taken.
• Aspect of the Turtle to clear any leftover Heavy Ordnances that are about to explode.

• Use Freezing Trap on the spawn location of a Ashvane Deckhand to Trap it when it spawns in the intermission. When you first do the dungeon, note the spawn location and remember it for pre-trapping that spot in the future.

• Nothing in specific, though I will update this section if I find anything.

• Nothing in specific, though I will update this section if I find anything.

• Blacktar Bombers are slow to move, so you can use Bursting Shot to help them along and into the group.
• Tranquilizing Shot the Watertight Shell if your group has missed this kick.
• You can Aspect of the Turtle + Aspect of the Cheetah through the Irontide Powdershot "gauntlet" to end it early and let your teammates pass more quickly.
• Tranquilizing Shot on Ferocity from Ashvane Destroyers.
• Tranquilizing Shot on Bolstering Shout, this is EXTREMELY important to do as often as possible due to the damage reduction this buff gives the mobs.
• Feign Death to cancel Azerite Charge on you, from Ashvane Commander.

• Aspect of the Turtle-clear the Volatile Spikes on the ground to clear them without triggering their damage.

• Be prepared to Aspect of the Turtle if a lot of Crystal Shards are dying at once.

• Expect to have to kick Molten Metal.
• Disengage the Molten Metal to get rid of the slow if the kick gets missed.

• Aspect of the Turtle can be used prior to Void Corruption to immune it.

• Disengage to clear the Ground Pound slow from Earth Infused Golem. The ability has a 30-yard range that you can simply outrange as well.
• The Earth Burst Totems summoned by Cursedforge Stoneshaper cannot be AoE'd by conventional means, so make sure you target-swap to them.

I strongly recommend swapping to Kodo Tranquilizer for this Affix. The talent you swap is up to you, as it depends on your playstyle, dungeon, and group needs. Camouflage, Bursting Shot, Emergency Salve, and Misdirection are some viable choices.

You might want to spec Moment of Opportunity for an extra source of movement speed which will help you soak Shattered Essence crystals more easily.

Feign Death's Poison/Disease dispel is a source of dispel type for removing Void Rift.