WoW Forever Marksmanship Hunter Leveling Guide

ROUTELevel-by-level route

1. 5

   Levels 1–5

   Kite without a pet

   • Auto Shot has no cast time, so you can shoot on the move. Until you have a pet, back away and keep shooting before mobs reach you.
   • Restock arrows or bullets every time you pass an outpost, village or city. Without ammo you can barely do anything.
   • Learn Skinning as early as possible and skin everything you kill. The leather goes into Leatherworking gear.
   • From level 4, apply Serpent Sting in every fight.

   New abilities

   • Raptor Strike1
   • Track Beasts1
   • Auto Shot1
   • Claw1
   • Growl1
   • Aspect of the Monkey4
   • Serpent Sting4
2. 9

   Levels 6–9

   Mark and shots

   • You learn Hunter's Mark and Arcane Shot at 6. Open with Hunter's Mark → Serpent Sting → Arcane Shot.
   • At 8, use Concussive Shot to slow mobs closing in and keep your distance.
   • Keep skinning and raising Leatherworking. From 15 you wear gear you made yourself.

   New abilities

   • Arcane Shot6
   • Hunter's Mark6
   • Concussive Shot8
   • Parry8

   Rank upgrades

   Raptor Strike 2 (8) · Claw 2 (8)

3. 12

   Levels 10–12

   Tame your pet

   • At 10, get the class quest from your hunter trainer. Finishing it lets you use Tame Beast and train pets.
   • Keep a pet out as Marksmanship too. Right now a pet deals more damage than the bonus from Lone Wolf, so your first points go into the Beast Mastery tree.
   • Visit the pet trainer for pet abilities and teach them to your pet. Get Claw by taming a Clattering Crawler, Shore Crawler, Black Bear Patriarch or Den Mother.
   • Keep your pet fed with Feed Pet, and from 12 top it up with Mend Pet.
   • Deadly Aspects, your talent from 10, gives Auto Shot a chance to raise your ranged attack speed while Aspect of the Hawk is active. Keep Aspect of the Hawk on while questing.

   Talents

   • Lv 10–12Deadly Aspects3/5

   New abilities

   • Aspect of the Hawk10
   • Call Pet10
   • Dismiss Pet10
   • Feed Pet10
   • Revive Pet10
   • Tame Beast10
   • Track Humanoids10
   • Great Stamina10
   • Mine!10
   • Natural Armor10
   • Mend Pet12
   • Wing Clip12
   • Distracting Shot12

   Rank upgrades

   Serpent Sting 2 (10) · Growl 2 (10) · Arcane Shot 2 (12) · Great Stamina 2 (12) · Natural Armor 2 (12)

4. 16

   Levels 13–16

   First leather gear

   • When you head into Wailing Caverns, look for Gloves of the Fang, wearable from 14.
   • At 15, craft and wear Trapper's Leather Armor. The "Trapper's" leather pieces are all strong except the headpiece.
   • At 15 and 16, take Focused Fire. It raises both your and your pet's damage while the pet is out, so always keep it summoned.

   Gear to pick up

   • 
     Gloves of the FangDropLv 14

     Wailing Caverns
   • 
     Trapper's Leather ArmorCraftLv 15

     Made with Leatherworking

   Talents

   • Lv 13–14Deadly Aspects5/5
   • Lv 15–16Focused Fire2/2

   New abilities

   • Eagle Eye14
   • Eyes of the Beast14
   • Scare Beast14
   • Immolation Trap16
   • Mongoose Bite16

   Rank upgrades

   Raptor Strike 3 (16) · Claw 3 (16)

   Dungeons for this range

   • Ragefire Chasm13
   • The Hall of Thanes13–18
   • Ruins of Lordaeron15–20
   • The Deadmines16
5. 19

   Levels 17–19

   Fang set and Marksmanship talents

   • In Wailing Caverns, aim for Leggings of the Fang and Footpads of the Fang at 17, and Venomstrike at 19.
   • At 18, craft and wear Deviate Scale Belt.
   • Multi-Shot at 18 is for fighting several mobs at once.
   • From 17, put points into Lethal Attacks in the Marksmanship tree to raise your critical strike chance with all attacks.

   Gear to pick up

   • 
     Leggings of the FangDropLv 17

     Wailing Caverns · Lord Cobrahn
   • 
     Footpads of the FangDropLv 17

     Wailing Caverns · Lord Serpentis
   • 
     Deviate Scale BeltCraftLv 18

     Made with Leatherworking
   • 
     VenomstrikeDropLv 19

     Wailing Caverns · Lord Serpentis

   Talents

   • Lv 17–19Lethal Attacks3/5

   New abilities

   • Track Undead18
   • Multi-Shot18

   Rank upgrades

   Aspect of the Hawk 2 (18) · Serpent Sting 3 (18) · Great Stamina 3 (18) · Natural Armor 3 (18)

   Dungeons for this range

   • Wailing Caverns17
   • Shadowfang Keep18
6. 20

   Level 20

   Finishing level-20 gear

   • Craft Brawler's Leather Hood and Trapper's Leather Pants. For the head, the "Brawler's" hood beats the "Trapper's" one.
   • You learn Aimed Shot at 20. Use Aimed Shot on a single target and Multi-Shot on several.
   • If you have extra Legacy talent points, finish Lethal Attacks and put the rest into Careful Aim, which adds a share of your Intellect to your Attack Power.
   • Finish collecting Venomstrike and the Fang pieces in Wailing Caverns. Practicing solo dungeon runs pays off in later content.
   • Also pick up the faction quest rewards for neck, ring and chest — see the level-20 gear list below.

   Gear to pick up

   • 
     Brawler's Leather HoodCraftLv 20

     Made with Leatherworking
   • 
     Trapper's Leather PantsCraftLv 20

     Made with Leatherworking

   Talents

   • Lv 20Lethal Attacks4/5

   Open this build in the calculator →

   New abilities

   • Aspect of the Cheetah20
   • Disengage20
   • Freezing Trap20
   • Aimed Shot20
   • Dual Wield20
   • Deterrence20

   Rank upgrades

   Mend Pet 2 (20) · Arcane Shot 3 (20) · Distracting Shot 2 (20) · Growl 3 (20) · Mine! 2 (20)

ROTATIONHow to fight

1. 1Put Hunter's Mark on the target if you have time.
2. 2Apply Serpent Sting and refresh it when needed.
3. 3Then use Arcane Shot and Aimed Shot (Multi-Shot on several targets) on cooldown.

GEARLevel-20 target gear

Dungeon drops, quest rewards and crafted items worth chasing at level 20 for this spec, by slot, best stats for the spec first.