PvE Marksmanship Hunter Stat Priority

Author: Nevermore
Date: July 16, 2022
Updated: July 23, 2022
Expansion: WotLK Classic

PvE Marksmanship Hunter

Talents, Builds & Glyphs

Stat Priority

Best Races

Gems, Enchants & Consumables

Rotation & Cooldowns

Best Professions

Best in Slot (BiS) & Pre-Raid Gear

Addons & Macros

The stat priority for PvE Marksmanship Hunters is extremely straightforward, being very similar to that of other Agility-based physical DPS classes such as Rogues, minus the need for the Expertise stat.

Stat Priority

Hit Rating
- Cap: 164 rating, or 132 if there’s a Draenei in your party (Heroic Presence)
Armor Penetration Rating
- 1400 Armor Penetration Cap
Agility
Critical Rating
Attack Power
Haste Rating

Stat Explanations

Hit Rating is the first stat that you should max out, as it ensures that you will not miss with your ranged weapons or abilities. Thankfully, Hunters require a low amount of Hit Rating, only needing 8% or 263 Hit Rating to reach the cap.

With the help of the Focused Aim talent, we only require 5% bonus hit chance, or 164 hit rating. Furthermore, if we take into consideration Heroic Presence which grants us an additional 1% Hit Rating, we will only need 4% bonus hit chance, or 132 hit rating.

Armor Penetration is one of the best stats that you can acquire in Wrath of the Lich King as a physical damage dealer. It reduces the target’s armor by a considerable amount, increasing your overall damage. The cap for Armor Penetration is 1400, you should always aim to max it out or come as close as possible to it.

Agility is the innate stat for Hunters, it enhances your attack power and Critical Strike Chance. You should use gems that boost your Agility after you manage to reach your Armor Penetration Cap. As the cap is harder to reach in the early phases of the game, you should socket Agility gems over Armor Penetration before you manage to acquire the items that raise your Armor Penetration Rating by a high amount.

What you should understand is that 1 Agility = 2 Attack Power points for a Hunter!

Crit Rating is a stat that highly impacts the gameplay of a Marksmanship Hunter, as we aim to land as many critical strikes as possible. You will want to favor Critical Strike Chance gear over haste gear while also using yellow gems that enhance it even further.

You gain a 1% increased chance to crit for every 45.91 crit rating you have.

Attack Power is an innate stat for all physical damage dealers, increasing the offensive capabilities of your attacks and abilities. However, you should only enchant your gear with Attack Power and never use gems that enhance it, as you can gain more attack power from Agility.

Haste is a controversial stat for Hunters, you do not require a lot of it but it can certainly boost your damage output by a considerable amount. However, you should not aim to enchant your gear or use gems that enhance your Haste Rating, as you will benefit from potions, bloodlust/heroism, and other haste-increasing effects.

You gain a 1% increased attack speed for every 32.79 haste rating you have.

About the Author

Nevermore

Hey there folks, I am Nevermore and have been deeply passionate about WoW for more than a decade. Whether we talk about the hidden mysteries of Azeroth or the otherworldly Outland, my journey brought me here to share the things that I have experienced with you all.

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Schmip

2 years ago

Are you sure 1agi=2ap? Everywhere else that I have seen (including p.servers) 1agi=1ap.

Tiex

Reply to Schmip

Its exactly this. 1 agi makes 2 ap. read ur stats ingame

-12

For an example take gems for agility (16) and attack power (32). You just get also crit from first 1 while by second only ap

-3

Adra

Reply to Tiex

1 agility = 1 AP…. was 1 ag to 2 ap …. changed in TBC to 1 to 1

Jamie

1 AGI = 1AP, the amount and strength is different however, as someone mentioned you get 32AP on a gem, and 16 AGI on a gem – same goes for enchants, enchant 44AP crusher on gloves and 20 AGI on gloves (while not exactly the same the point still applies).

This doesn’t mean 1 agi is worse than 2 ap for MM though, it’s better in fact as it boosts other stats as well, such as crit and scales with buffs such as blessing of kings.

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Armor pen is pretty weak in early stages though this should be noted and after hit + agi hunters should be focusing on crit primarily. only at very late stages should you be focusing on armor penetration. pass on grim toll and gain DPS

Last edited 2 years ago by Jamielolx

Reply to Jamie

Effectively AP statweight should be seen as twice the amount instead of a single amount due to this, is what he’s probablt trying to say. not that you actually get two attackpower from one point of agility

Sirsoth

achualy 1agi = 0,95 ap.
1int = 1 ap.
and yet all the guids ignore int totaly.

Jamielolx

Reply to Sirsoth

Correct aslong as you spec properly 1INT = 1AP.

agi being a standard 0,95AP is not always true tho

Achualy 1 agi = 0,98 ap
and 1 int = 1 AP
and yet all the guids ignore int as a stat.

1 year ago

True and false at the same time, yeah 1 INT grants 1AP or even more if you take other things into consideration, however this only applies if you take a certain talent. if this talent is not taken it gives no AP at all.

This talent is ofc picked by pretty much every hunter spec out there that I’m aware off – but I have seen some builds running around in dalaran that might make you wanna think twice before holding it is absolute fact.

I do agree it should probably be disclaimed tho