- Author: Nevermore
- Date: September 1, 2022
- Updated: September 1, 2022
- Expansion: WotLK Classic
Professions are a crucial part of your World of Warcraft character, potentially offering a large boost to your damage, healing or survivability, while also allowing you to generate some gold. This section will cover some of your best options for professions as a Marksmanship Hunter.
Best Professions
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There is no surprise that Engineering is the best profession when it comes to PvP when you think about all the sweet gadgets that you gain access to. Engineering gives you a multitude of powerful accessories, ranging from enhancing effects such as Hyperspeed Accelerators to offensive gadgets such as Hand-Mounted Pyro Rocket and even cool escape and maneuverability gadgets!
The standard most powerful PvP offensive tool for a Marksmanship Hunter in PvP is Hand-Mounted Pyro Rocket, due to the burst nature of the specialization itself!
Additionally, as an Engineer you have access to the Nitro Boosts boots enchant, passively giving +24 crit rating and coming with an on-use effect that massively increases your speed for 5 seconds, allowing you to chase your targets or create a powerful makeshift escape. Keep in mind that Nitro Boosts are not accessible in arenas!
As a Marksmanship Hunter, you can also do a cool trick that involves combining Disengage and the parachute from Flexweave Underlay to effectively gain a few moments of pure “death from above” action. When we say “death from above” we mean that you will effectively be airborne, able to rain death down upon your foes — this trick works in both battlegrounds or the open world!
Finally, just like in previous expansions, Engineers can use powerful explosives such as Saronite Bombs and Global Thermal Sapper Charges which can be used to improve your burst!
Jewelcrafting is an extremely potent profession for most classes/specs, and that includes Marksmanship Hunters. Not only do you gain access to powerful, Jewelcrafter-unique gems, but you also get to sell gems to others, granting you a steady income (depending on your server’s economy).
The main benefit of Jewelcrafting is the Jewelcrafter-unique gems, Dragon’s Eye, which are more powerful than regular gems, but are limited to 3 equipped at a time. The main ones you’ll be crafting as a Hunter are Delicate Dragon’s Eye and Fractured Dragon’s Eye, resulting in +42 agility or +42 armor penetration compared to using regular epic gems.
As stats are one of the most important criteria in PvP, Jewelcrafting proves itself to be the best profession for raw stats.
Useful Professions
The following professions are considered viable, but offer a lesser benefit compared to the best professions, so they’re not recommended. If you’re not focused on making your character 100% optimal, you can use any of these professions just fine.
As a Leatherworker you gain access to the Fur Lining – Attack Power bracer enchant, which proves a +80 attack power increase over the standard enchant available to everyone, Enchant Bracers – Greater Assault. This bonus ties Inscription and Enchanting, but is strictly speaking worse than the +40 agility bonus that Blacksmithing offers.
With Leatherworking, you will also be capable of creating powerful PvP gear that will be especially useful in the beginning of the expansion. As a freshly dinged level 80 character, those items will be extremely valuable! Alternatively, you will be able to sell this equipment to make quite a profit from it.
Blacksmiths can add 2 extra gem sockets to their gear — 1 on wrists, and 1 on hands. Socketing Delicate Cardinal Ruby into them translates into a +40 agility bonus or a +40 armor penetration from socketing Fractured Cardinal Ruby.
Moreover, Blacksmithing allows you to craft some good gear that can be used by other players, which is especially useful early on in the expansion or when their character has freshly dinged level 80. You can directly sell this gear in the trade chat, or you can put it up for sale in the auction house. Blacksmithing also gives you the ability to craft materials for trade, such as different types of rods for Enchanters, or even tools such as keys that can be used to open lockboxes, chests, and doors.
Apart from raw stats bonuses and some early crafted gear, Blacksmithing does not give you any special PvP advantage.
As a Tailor, you gain access to the Swordguard Embroidery cloak enchant, a proc which gives you +400 attack power for 15 seconds with a 45-second internal cooldown. This translates into a possible +133 attack power bonus on average if it procs exactly every 45 seconds, or a +100 attack power bonus on average if it procs every 60 seconds, which is absolutely massive.
Tailoring also grants you access to Frostweave Net, a neat item that can be used to snare any melee threat!
Apart from Swordguard Embroidery and Frostweave Net, Tailoring does not provide you with any real bonus when it comes to PvP, being an overall mediocre profession for a Hunter; the gear you craft will not bring you any benefit. However, depending on your realm’s economy, it might provide you with a hefty amount of gold.
As an Alchemist, you gain access to the Mixology passive effect, which increases the effectiveness of flasks and elixirs you consume, but only if you can craft them yourself. This results in a +64 attack power increase when using Flask of Endless Rage, our preferred flask. This is sadly a smaller boost than what other professions can offer, but not by much.
For PvP, Alchemy can be extremely useful, having access to a large number of potions with varying effects that can give you an instant edge in combat.
Alchemy can be considered the best profession when it comes to gold generation, especially when you think about how many flasks, elixirs, and potions are in constant demand. Alchemists, just like in TBC, can acquire a sub-specialization, allowing them even more possibilities to acquire that all-important gold.
As an Enchanter, you gain access to the Enchant Ring – Assault enchant, which you can apply to both of your rings for a modest +80 attack power. This bonus ties Inscription and Leatherworking, but is strictly speaking worse than the +40 agility bonus that Blacksmithing offers.
Apart from the special bonus that it provides, Enchanting can be considered one of the most useful professions. Much like Alchemy, it provides you with plenty of opportunities to create scrolls and materials that you can sell in the auction house or trade to other players.
As a Scribe, you gain access to the Master’s Inscription of the Axe shoulder enchant, which provides a +80 attack power increase over the standard enchant available to everyone, Inscription of Triumph. This bonus ties Enchanting and Leatherworking, but is strictly speaking worse than the +40 agility bonus that Blacksmithing offers.
Scribes also get to make glyphs & scrolls, providing a nice source of income, but many will argue that the real benefit in Inscription comes in not having to grind The Sons of Hodir reputation for the shoulder enchants!
Sub-Par Professions
The following professions do not offer any DPS-increasing benefits and are thus not considered viable for Marksmanship Hunter in PvP.
Herbalists gain the Lifeblood active skill, which heals you for 3600 over 5 seconds, with a 3-minute cooldown. This healing effect can prove itself to be useful while leveling or in the early stages of the expansion, however, it becomes less potent as the expansion progresses.
On the flipside, Herbalism is one of the strongest professions for gold generation, as herbs are used in Alchemy and Inscription, and thus always in demand. This makes it a good profession to have on an alt, particularly a Druid!
Miners gain access to the Toughness passive, which offers a +60 stamina boost. The raw stamina buff brings no special enhancement to a Marksmanship Hunter.
On the other hand, Mining is an extremely good gold-generating profession, as you can either sell the materials at the Auction House or trade them to crafters!
Skinners gain access to the Master of Anatomy passive, which offers a +40 crit rating boost. This is weaker than all of the other professions mentioned in this list, but at least it’s something.
Skinning is generally not that good at gold generation either, so it’s overall not a great profession.
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