Hey guys. I've got a friend in WoW who is struggling to optimize her use of her hunter, and since there is a character limit on in game mail, it was easier for me just to write up a post here and send her the link. So pretty much, unless someone very suddenly developed an interest in WoW, ignore this. xD
For this, I decided to focus only on Marksmanship spec, since that is currently the top dps spec. =)
Table of Contents
StatsSpec/GlyphsReforgingEnchants/GemmingRotation/Shot Priority Stats
Here, I will list, in order of priority, each stat a hunter should consider, and what each stat does.
Hit: Hit will decrease your chance to miss a shot - the more hit you have, the smaller your chance to miss becomes. In order to reach hit cap you need 8% hit. Once you have reached 8% hit, you do not need any more of it, but up until that point, it is your top priority.
Agility: Agility is your main stat as a hunter. This stat not only affects how hard your shots will hit, but also how often your shots will crit (or hit for double their usual damage). Once you reach hit cap, this is your main stat.
Crit: Critical strike chance will affect how often your shots crit. It is not as good as Agility, due to Agi also affecting the total damage of your shot, but it is still a good stat to have.
Mastery: Mastery does something different for every class/spec combination. For a marks hunter, mastery gives a chance to proc Wild Quiver. Wild Quiver causes each shot to have a chance to hit for an extra shot akin to an autoshot. The more mastery you have, the higher your chance to gain the Wild Quiver buff will be.
Haste: Haste affects how quickly you shoot, and how quickly your focus regenerates. In a high end raiding environment, there is a whole lot of complicated math about haste, but at the regular heroics level, all you need to know is that it's not a bad stat to have, but it shouldn't be prioritized over any of the above stats.
Stamina: Stamina increases the amount of health you have. This is good for survivability, and not much else. This is your absolute last priority stat in a dungeon setting, as you shouldn't be taking all that much damage if you know the fights and have an adequate tank.
A note on Resilience: Resilience is good only for pvp. A lot of the gear you have on right now is for pvp only, but it's easiest to get that gear. By reforging and enchanting it, you will be able to optimize that gear until you get upgrades (more on that later). What resilience does is make it impossible for other players to crit on you. Totally useless in a dungeon or pve setting. You should definitely keep the gear that you have with resilience on it for pvping though, if you are interested in that. Just drop it in your bank when you replace it, instead of selling it. =)
Stats you don't ever need: Intellect, Spirit, Dodge, Parry, Attack Power, Strength
Back to Table of Contents Spec/Glyphs
Here is the information on what spec and glyphs you want, with a bit of commentary on your current glyphs and what's okay not to change.
Marksman Spec:
Here the link to the page that picture came from.
The glyphs that you should be using with this spec are shown on that page, but I'll write them up here also.
Prime Glyphs: Glyph of Steady Shot, Glyph of Arcane Shot, Glyph of Rapid Fire
(you have Glyph of Kill Shot instead of Glyph of Rapid Fire)
Major Glyphs: Glyph of Misdirection, Glyph of Raptor Strike, Glyph of Trap Launcher.
For this, you are probably okay to keep Glyph of Silencing shot and not use Glyph of Raptor Strike, but you should replace Glyph of Freezing Trap with Glyph of Trap Launcher.
Minor Glyphs: Glyph of Feign Death, Glyph of Revive Pet, Glyph of Aspect of the Pack
If you really enjoy having a smaller pet, you're probably okay to keep your Glyph of Lesser Proportion instead of getting Glyph of Aspect of the Pack
Pet Spec
Back to Table of Contents Reforging
Here I'll give you a breakdown of what you want to reforge on your current gear, and then a brief blurb on what you'll want to reforge in the future once you reach hit cap. =) The reforger is in Stormwind, in the enchanting shop (next to wear the cooking dailies are). You can reforge by dragging the item you want to change into the window, then selecting which stats you want to change, and what to change them to in the dropdown menus.
So, for your current gear, you're going to want to reforge as follows:
Weapon: 61 mastery =>61 hit
Bow: 27 crit => 27 hit
Head: 71 haste => 71 hit
Neck: 44 haste => 44 hit
Shoulders: 50 crit => 50 hit
Cloak: 44 haste => 44 hit
Chest: 99 haste => 99 hit
Bracer: 44 mastery => 44 hit
Gloves: 45 mastery => 45 hit
Belt: 43 mastery => 43 hit
Legs: 76 crit => 76 hit
Feet: 56 crit => 56 hit
Skullcracker Ring: 44 mastery => 44 hit
Bloodthirsty Gladiator's Ring of Cruelty: 47 crit => 47 hit
NOTE: After each item, check your hit rating. If you have reached 8% hit, do not reforge for any more hit. If you have reached hit cap, reforge these stats to agility if possible. If not possible, look up at the stats section and try to reforge your lower priority stats into something higher. =)
Back to Table of Contents Enchants/Gemming
For your enchants, you're pretty much going to want to look at what's available, and look at your stat priority and decide based on that. I have gone ahead and made some enchant scrolls for you on Akeema that I'll mail you, but when you replace your gear, you'll need new ones.
Head/Shoulder Enchants: These come in the form of Arcanums that you buy from factions. For your shoulder enchant, you'll need reputation with Therazane, which you can unlock by questing in Deepholm. At honored, you can get Lesser Inscription of Shattered Crystal, and at Exalted, you will want to pick up Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal. For your helment enchant, you'll need to grind up to revered with Ramkahen, by questing in Uldum and purchase Arcanum of Ramkahen.
For your gems, you're going to want to gem mostly for agility, once you're at hitcap. Since you aren't there just yet, I sent you some agi/hit gems to get you started on your current gear. Also, you'll want to remember if you replace your belt to put on a new Ebonsteel Belt Buckle, which gives you a colorless gem slot (I sent you one today for your current belt, which I don't except you'll replace too soon, as it's fairly good).
If you ever get a helmet with a meta-gem slot, you want to put in Agile Shadowspirit Diamond
For yellow gem slots, you want to use Deadly Ember Topaz or Deft Ember Topaz.
For all other slots, you want to use Delicate Inferno Ruby. This is a red gem, but the agi bonus is good enough to override any lost color matching bonuses.
For now, use the gems I sent you. These gems are only for when you get to the point where you don't need to gem for hit.
Back to Table of Contents Rotation/Shot Priority
Here I'll give a brief rundown of your shot priority in a dungeon.
Single Target
Most of your time in a dungeon will be spent doing a single target shot priority. Even when there are multiple targets, you will want to focus on one at a time to maximize your dps. The only exception would be for groups of 5 or more regular or low health mobs. =)
What's important to note about this list is that it's a priority, not a hard rotation. What this means is that you have to decide what moves to make, based on what resources and procs you have available. So this is not necessarily the "order" you will go in, but rather, a guideline to help you choose between two moves when multiple paths are available.
1. If possible, apply Hunter's Mark to your target before combat begins. If you are already in the middle of a fight and switching targets, don't bother with this.
2. Apply Misdirection on your tank.
3. Apply Serpent's Sting.
4. Chimera Shot to apply Marked for Death or refresh your Serpent's Sting
5. If Aimed Shot or Master Marksman has procced at this point, use it.
6. Two steady shots, if improved Steady Shot has not procced
7. Kill Shot, if possible
8. Rapid Fire when it procs
9. Readiness
10. Arcane Shot or Aimed Shot hard cast (AKA no proc on Aimed Shot)
11. Kill Command if you have a Resistance is Futile procced, or if your pet is on the target and you are not in line of sight to hit the target
12. Steady Shot to regenerate focus
A few notes:
-Keep Serpent Sting active at all times. Do not let it fall off.
-Use Chimera Shot during the entire fight as a go to shot
Example Fight Rotation:
Serpet Sting->Rapid Fire->Aimed Shot (hardcast)->Steady Shotx2 to get Improved Steady Shot buff to reduce Aimed Shot cast times->Aimed Shot hardcast-> Aimed Shot hardcast-> Readiness->Steady Shot x2->continuing with the standard priority
Back to Table of Contents For more information, you can check out
this web page. The information on here is highly technical and specialized for a raid setting, though, so it's a bit obnoxious. XD
Hopefully this was helpful for you! If there's anything you still have questions on, feel free to ask. I'm happy to help!