OVERVIEW: Pets don’t get much attention when it comes to managing Focus. Even though they regain Focus quickly, they can use it up in only a few seconds. This talent can help offset that a little bit. Little abilities such as Claw and Bite may be weak compared to yours but that bit of DPS can add up.
---------- Aimed Shot ----------
EFFECT: Grants you access to the move Aimed Shot. POINTS: 1/1 TIER: 3 OVERVIEW: Even though Arcane Shot has surpassed Aimed Shot in viability, Aimed Shot is still an excellent ability to have. Many hunters who do not specialize in Marksmanship still invest their points in the tree for this talent.
-------------------- Improved Arcane Shot --------------------
EFFECT: Reduces the cooldown of your Arcane Shot by 0.2/0.4/0.6/0.8/1.0 seconds. POINTS: 5/5 TIER: 3 OVERVIEW: One whole second may not seem like a lot but in a game like this, it makes all the difference, especially when you’re running. Don’t overlook this talent.
------------- Rapid Killing -------------
EFFECT: Reduces the cooldown of your Rapid Fire ability by 1 min. In addition, after killing an opponent that yields experience or honor, your next Aimed Shot, Arcane Shot, or Auto Shot causes 10% additional damage. Lasts 20 sec. POINTS: 2/2 TIER: 3 OVERVIEW: This talent is excellent if you use Rapid Fire a lot to maximize DPS, and it’s especially great in PvP, where you can rack up kills in quick succession. As for its other bonus, it may make you feel rushed since you’d have to quickly loot your kill, maybe skin it, and move onto the next target before the effect wears off, hence the name “Rapid Killing.”
--------------- Improved Stings ---------------
EFFECT: Increases the damage done by your Serpent Sting and Wyvern Sting by 6/12/18/24/30%, increases the mana drained by your Viper Sting by 6/12/18/24/30%, and reduces the chance Stings will be dispelled by 6/12/18/24/30%. POINTS: 5/5 TIER: 4 OVERVIEW: While the original Improved Serpent Sting talent gave a pathetic 10% increase to damage, this new talent boosts it by an incredible 30%, along with a smorgasbord of other excellent bonuses. To give you a scope of how big of a difference this talent makes, here is a small chart to compare the damage ticks for:
NAME RANK PER TICK IMPROVED TICKS Serpent Sting 10 132 171.6 5 Wyvern Sting 4 157 204.1 6 Viper Sting 4 342 444.6 4
It’s a big difference, as you can see. Consider this talent when planning out your points. For those who are planning on Survival, if you plan on getting 5/5 of this and Readiness, the tree’s 41-point talent, you must strictly limit the points you invest in Survival to 41.
------------ Mortal Shots ------------
EFFECT: Increases your ranged weapon critical strike damage bonus by 6/12/18/24/30%. POINTS: 5/5 TIER: 4 NOTE: You need 1 point in Aimed Shot to gain access to this. OVERVIEW: This naturally goes hand in hand with your ranged abilities, and since Marksmanship gives you a large base weapon damage to work with, this talent helps to boost that damage when you land a crit.
------------------ Concussive Barrage ------------------
EFFECT: Your successful Auto Shot attacks have a 2/4/6% chance to Daze the target for 4 sec. POINTS: 3/3 TIER: 5 OVERVIEW: Basically, one out every seventeen Auto Shots becomes a free Concussive Shot. This talent is designed to work alongside Steady Shot, allowing you more chances to get that bonus damage for shooting a Dazed target, though most Hunters can live without it.
------------ Scatter Shot ------------
EFFECT: Grants you access to Scatter Shot. POINTS: 1/1 TIER: 5 OVERVIEW: This is one of those vital moves that will save you countless times and is the best distance-keeping move for a Marksmanship Hunter. If you’ve gone far enough down this tree to reach this talent, you should invest your one point in it. It’s well worth it.
------- Barrage -------
EFFECT: Increase the damage done by your Multi-Shot and Volley by 4/8/12%. POINTS: 3/3 TIER: 5 OVERVIEW: Although Multi-Shot and Volley are usually meant for cases where you’re fighting more than one target, the bonus damage is very handy for both abilities. Invest in this talent if you have the points.
----------------- Combat Experience -----------------
EFFECT: Increases your total Agility by 1/2% and your total Intellect by 3/6%. POINTS: 2/2 TIER: 6 OVERVIEW: It’s strange that a tree that begs for Attack Power would have a talent that boosts Agility, especially when the amount boosted is so little. On the other hand, a 6% boost to Intellect isn’t too shabby, and it’s especially great when paired with the Careful Aim talent.
---------------------------- Ranged Weapon Specialization ----------------------------
EFFECT: Increase the damage you deal with ranged weapons by 1/2/3/4/5%. POINTS: 5/5 TIER: 6 OVERVIEW: This is a major highlight in the Marksmanship tree. Since the majority of the damage you inflict is from your bow/gun, you should invest your points into this as soon as you have access to it.
----------- Careful Aim -----------
EFFECT: Increases your ranged attack power by an amount equal to 15/30/45% of your total Intellect. POINTS: 3/3 TIER: 7 OVERVIEW: Although hunters naturally don’t have very high Intellect, they have enough of it to make this talent worthwhile. Even if you only have 100 Intellect, that’s an additional 45 ranged attack power, which is impressive.
------------- Trueshot Aura -------------
EFFECT: Grants you access to Trueshot Aura. POINTS: 1/1 TIER: 7 NOTE: You need 1 point in Scatter Shot to gain access to this. OVERVIEW: Truly a remarkable talent. At the highest rank, you and your pet gain 125 attack power, and it’s shared with anyone that’s in a party with you. If you’ve gone this far down the tree, you should definitely invest that one point in this talent.
---------------- Improved Barrage ----------------
EFFECT: Increases the critical strike chance of your Multi-Shot ability by 4/8/12% and gives you a 33/66/100% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while channeling Volley. POINTS: 3/3 TIER: 7 NOTE: You need 3 points in Barrage to gain access to this. OVERVIEW: It’s hard to argue with a 12% critical strike boost to an attack that can hit three targets at once, and having your Volley completely avoid interruption is good to have, considering its high mana cost. While it’s no boost in base damage, it’s certainly nice to have.
--------------- Master Marksman ---------------
EFFECT: Increases your ranged attack power by 2/4/6/8/10%. POINTS: 5/5 TIER: 8 OVERVIEW: No Marksmanship Hunter should ever pass on this talent. Few can argue with having a 10% boost to your ranged attack power.
-------------- Silencing Shot --------------
EFFECT: Grants you access to Silencing Shot. POINTS: 1/1 TIER: 9 OVERVIEW: While it seems unusually simple for a 41-point talent, few can ever deny its potency. Just ask casters what they think of it.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- b. Survival -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The talents in this tree are geared towards defense and survivability, hence the name of the tree. It gives you more combat options at melee range, which is why many PvP enthusiasts like investing in this tree. That’s not to say that this tree won’t yield a high damage output. There are plenty of Survival talents that take advantage of your Agility, which means lots of crits.
--------------- Monster Slaying ---------------
EFFECT: Increases all damage caused against Beast, Giant, and Dragonkin targets by 1/2/3% and increases critical damage caused against Beast, Giant, and Dragonkin targets by 1/2/3%. POINTS: 3/3 TIER: 1 OVERVIEW: Many hunters love this talent, especially during endgame when all three types are very common throughout the various dungeons. No matter what talent tree is your primary, you will want this talent.
---------------- Humanoid Slaying ----------------
EFFECT: Increases all damage caused against Humanoid targets by 1/2/3% and increases critical damage caused against Humanoid targets by 1/2/3%. POINTS: 3/3 TIER: 1 OVERVIEW: Although this talent only covers one type of mob as opposed to Monster Slaying’s three, humanoids tend to be very common throughout the game, and it’s especially handy in PvP.
-------- Hawk Eye --------
EFFECT: Increases the range of your ranged weapons by 2/4/6 yards. POINTS: 3/3 TIER: 1 OVERVIEW: This is one of those must-have talents that every Hunter should have, especially now that it’s a tier-1 talent. This grants you a total of 41 yards of firing distance, which in many cases is the difference between getting hit by an AoE effect and standing completely outside its range. You should consider investing your points into this regardless of your choice of trees.
--------------
|