Sniper Shot: a level-40 goal
Sniper Shot is the new Marksmanship row-seven ability. A 4-second cast with an 8–45 yard range, it deals ranged damage plus 160 and adds 10 yards to the range of your next three Shots.
Its first point is point 31 in Marksmanship, so the earliest level is 40, and at 40 it takes the entire budget. Level 30 has 21 points, ten short. The prerequisite is Trueshot Aura, now in Marksmanship row four: point 16, level 25. Load the Sniper Shot example to inspect the path.
What changed from Classic
| Tree | Talents | New | Changed | Row changed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beast Mastery | 16 | 2 | 10 | 1 |
| Marksmanship | 16 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Survival | 18 | 8 | 7 | 3 |
- Trueshot Aura is in Marksmanship row four, compared with row seven in Classic Era: level 25 instead of 40. It no longer requires Barrage.
- Counterattack is in Survival row four instead of row five: level 25 instead of 30.
- Lone Wolf (new, Marksmanship row three, level 20) costs one point and adds 20% damage to all attacks while you have no active pet.
- Summon Hawk (new, Beast Mastery row four, level 25) sends a hawk at your target for 18 seconds. Two can be active at once, and it shares its cooldown with Arcane Shot.
- Mortal Shots now requires the new Careful Aim, not Lethal Shots, and Intimidation now requires Bestial Swiftness.
Abilities and the level you can take them
| Ability | Tree and row | Points in tree | Earliest level | Prerequisite |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deterrence | Survival, row 3 | 11 | 20 | — |
| Summon Hawk | Beast Mastery, row 4 | 16 | 25 | — |
| Trueshot Aura | Marksmanship, row 4 | 16 | 25 | — |
| Counterattack | Survival, row 4 | 16 | 25 | Deterrence |
| Intimidation | Beast Mastery, row 5 | 21 | 30 | Bestial Swiftness |
| Scatter Shot | Marksmanship, row 5 | 21 | 30 | — |
| Strider Kick | Survival, row 5 | 21 | 30 | — |
| Bestial Wrath | Beast Mastery, row 7 | 31 | 40 | Intimidation |
| Sniper Shot | Marksmanship, row 7 | 31 | 40 | Trueshot Aura |
What fits in 51 points
- Sniper Shot plus a row-four ability fits. 31 Marksmanship leaves 20 points: enough for Summon Hawk or Counterattack (point 16 each), with four to spare.
- Sniper Shot plus another tree's row-five ability does not fit. Intimidation or Strider Kick needs 21 points: 31 + 21 = 52, one over.
- Bestial Wrath and Sniper Shot cannot share a build. Two row-seven first points need 62 points. 31 Beast Mastery still reaches Trueshot Aura: 31 + 16 = 47.
- Lone Wolf and Focused Fire pull apart. Focused Fire, in Beast Mastery row two, adds damage only while your pet is active.
Since launch
The November 10 hotfixes set Hunter pet health to 115% of normal; pets had 150% by mistake before that. Arcane Shot and Summon Hawk now cost 11% of base mana at every rank, and the hawk’s melee damage rose by about 80%. The hotfix list has every change.
Continue planning
Open the Hunter planner, compare each talent with Classic in the class comparison, or check costs and ranges in the Hunter spellbook.
Hunter race options: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf and Skyborne (High Order) for the Alliance; Orc, Tauren, Troll and Skyborne (Windshaper) for the Horde.