Doctor Pike Is In: Fixing Your Hunter DPS

mario_house I get a pretty decent number of comments and e-mails from people asking for advice to help “fix” their DPS. The truth is, there is no giant Band-Aid that is gonna fix your DPS. However, there are a lot of symptoms we can look for to help diagnose the problem and see if we can solve it from there. Doctor Pike is in!

1. Spec: As of right now in Patch 3.1, Beast Mastery produces the lowest DPS of all the hunter specs. That’s not to say it can’t do good numbers, or isn’t viable. However, it’s quite possible that you will see an increase in DPS if you switch to Marksmanship, and then possibly a further DPS increase if you continue on to Survival (at least until you start getting into Ulduar gear). If you aren’t averse to a spec switch, you may want to experiment. If you really like your spec a lot, then that’s great too, and you can read on to see ways to optimize your chosen spec.

Make sure your talents work well together. I love the idea of a hybrid hunter in theory but in the end, there is really no particularly good hybrid build right now. Furthermore, don’t put points in things you don’t need. If you are a Survival hunter, then you don’t need Improved Arcane Shot. Why? Because you don’t use Arcane Shot!

Still, take a look at your situation and see what works for you. For example, I know my hunter DPS tends to idle at about 85-90% while leveling because I take all the talents like Endurance Training, Thick Hide, Spirit Bond, etc. in lieu of a more typical raid spec. But hey, that’s cause I’m leveling! =P And PvP is of course an entirely whole different creature. But you get the gist.

2. Pet Spec: Take a look at the screenshots on this post to see examples of a Ferocity pet build for both 16- and 20- pet talent points. As far as I am aware those are pretty much the max-DPS builds you can get: Charge will get you a tiny DPS increase but myself I don’t think it’s worth it to sacrifice stuff to pick it up since it’s a mid-tier talent. Dash/Dive does the same thing for a fraction less DPS and with the added bonus of being able to let your pet run quickly back to you if needed… Flame Walls on Sarth, for example, or other nasties! (That said, going 1/2 Bloodthirsty and then picking up Charge, if you are a Beast Master, might be worth looking into– I just haven’t tried it yet.)

Some people have asked me questions about Cobra Reflexes; last I checked those are in fact a net DPS gain.

If you can only take one point of Shark Attack or Wild Hunt, take Wild Hunt once you get somewhere above the range of 2500 attack power which just about every hunter should be at if they are level 80 or close to it. The stamina boost is nice too!

My thoughts on Heart of the Phoenix/Lick Your Wounds/etc are as follows: a.) you will have to sacrifice DPS talents to pick them up, and b.) The only time my pet dies is if it’s a wipe or if it’s a pet unfriendly fight and my pet will be dying every ten seconds anyway. So, they are not worth it to me. But as always, your mileage may vary!

3. Glyphs: In WotLK, glyphs can really make or break a spec. I find it kind of ironic because Blizzard introduced them as a way to further customize your character but often your choice of glyphs is rather cut’n’dry.

For example, if you are a Beast Master you pretty much NEED Glyph of Steady Shot and Glyph of Bestial Wrath. All Beast Master PvE specs should have at least those two glyphs. You have slightly more wiggle room with your third glyph; Kill Shot and Hawk are good options, myself, I use Serpent Sting.

I am not quite as knowledgeable with the other specs yet but as far as I’m aware, Glyph of Explosive Shot is pretty much a given for Survival, and Glyphs of Chimera Shot and Serpent Sting (to boost your Chimera Shot damage) are what you want for Marksmanship.

4. Gear/Gems: Most people are geared and gem’d fine so I don’t see this as something we need to go into in too much depth. Remember: The hit cap is important, especially now that it transfers to your pet. If you don’t have enough hit on your gear, gem for it. You want to be at 263 unless you are a draenei or have a draenei twin who follows you everywhere (or if you are Alliance and only ever do 25mans).

…or if you have points in Focused Aim. *almost forgot all about that* >.>

Intellect is a good stat for everybody now because pretty much all specs have 3/3 Careful Aim, and this is why I usually skip over leather gear, even if it is packed with other yummies.

Remember, you don’t need expertise, defense, etc. In the next patch your pets’ expertise will scale from your hit; this means you won’t need expertise in the next patch either, despite some rumors that are going around.

Gem-wise you will probably want to stick to Hit (if not capped), Agi and AP. AP is more of a Beast Master gem, although “when in down, gem Agi… uh… this doesn’t rhyme *cough*” You don’t want to overload on one stat, though. If you have a bunch of AP but your crit is in the toilet, or vice versa, it can often end up being a DPS loss. Which isn’t what you want! =P

and lastly 5. Rotation! This is a good first place to look if you are having DPS issues. I’d advise you to check out my Shot Rotation Compendium for a quick rundown of what you should be doing rotation-wise for each spec, and read the comments too, because said guide isn’t 100% conclusive.

Now there are some things that may be adversely affecting your DPS which you can’t do much about. Stinky internet connections and lag, poor computer performance, or even simply a lack of familiarity with a certain spec will put you at a disadvantage. Hopefully, though, I’ve covered the basics well enough to help a few of you out.

Now go take two pills and call me in the morning. And remember, don’t get discouraged if it takes you a while to “fix” your DPS… afterall, we all know what happens when the doctors on TV think the case is solved and it’s only halfway through the episode, riiiight? =P

19 thoughts on “Doctor Pike Is In: Fixing Your Hunter DPS”

  1. nyoron~ :3

    *raises hand* I’m one of those hunters that needs to fix dps… I’ll do a run down of this list later when I have time and see if my dps increases.

    Thank you, Dr.Pike!

    /bow

    Kohaku

  2. It’s not Lupus I tell ya!

    You can’t imagine how many people call me Lupus…

  3. Thanks for this, I’m finally nearing 80 with my Hunter, so I needed to know all the little tid-bits and such for when I start raiding, and you’ve been doing that recently… Thank you! 😀

    (By the way, have you heard about the ability to tame Garwal as a worgen? :D)

  4. In regards to glyphs for Marksmanship, Chimera Shot is a bit iffy and it’s usefulness really depends on how low your latency is. All the glyph does is shorten the CD of Chimera, so if you struggle with lag that’s going to consume the benefit of the glyph. I find that if latency gets above 200-250, then you’ll see no advantage to the glyph and it’d be better to go with something else.
    Now I’ve seen it argued that the one second shorter CD is nice for movement fights but I personally don’t see that. It’s one second and again, latency is an issue.
    For my Marksman spec I run with Serpent Sting, Steady Shot and Hawk glyphs. I’d like to add Kill Shot in somewhere but I’m not sure what to sacrifice in way of trade.

    On the topic of gems and enchants, what you say is true about overbalancing one stat, but Hunter gear is usually loaded with AP so gemming for AGI seems to work out pretty well. Beast Masters may want to focus more on AP gems and enchants than AGI or at least balance them out a bit more, but Marks and Survival can, I believe, go all out on AGI and benefit from doing so.

  5. @ Trinia and everyone else who has asked over the weekend – Yes I have heard about the worgen, no I am not interested in taming it.

  6. @ Noah – thanks for the interesting tidbit regarding the Chimera Shot glyph; I am definitely not as well-versed in the other specs as I would like to be.

    And I agree with you on the gemming agi thing! *nods*

  7. I hit 80 last night (woohoo) and our guild is going to be raiding tomorrow night; I’ve levelled as BM, and plan to stay as BM, even though my DPS is a bit lower than it might otherwise be. I was doing decently (1700 dps or so on boss fights) in Halls of Stone last night, so I’m not too too much of a drag on the group, I don’t think.

    Still need a bunch of gear changes — my belt is still green 🙂 — but it’s nice to finally be at hte level cap! No more grinding out levels, woo!

  8. Oilcan, the Serpent Sting glyph is vital for MM.
    Chimera instantly deals 100 percent of SS’s damage and refreshes it. SS is a DoT, so the longer the duration the greater the damage. The glyph extends the duration thus increasing the damage done which equals more damage instantly caused by Chimera Shot.
    As Chimera is our biggest damage shot, having the SS glyph makes it even bigger.

  9. Regarding gems, Given that 3/3 Careful Aim removes the AP factor from gemming AGI vs INT, is it worth trying to match colors assuming a useful socket bonus?

    Follow up question, assuming a worthless socket bonus, do the non-AP benefits of AGI (crit, armor, dodge) outweigh those of INT (mana, MP5)?

  10. @Delta – The socket bonus depends really on whether it’d further compliment your gemming or not. You have to ask yourself whether you’d get more from another colour gem or the proper colour plus socket bonus.

    Usually the socket bonus isn’t worth taking a sub-par gem for. I usually end up putting two +16 AGI gem in two slots, or I’ll go with a Siren’s Tear if there’s a Blue slot but the socket bonus is pretty good.

    To your second question, the answer is yes. Crit will get you a lot more in DPS than the very small mana or mp5 you’d get from a single gem.

  11. Delta, sorry, I meant Enchanted Tear, not Siren’s Tear.

    And while I’m here making an addendum I’ll also mention that the reason the AGI outstrips the benefits of INT/mp5 is that AGI scales very nicely with raid buffs, particularly Blessing of Kings. Hunters scale extremely well via buffs, it’s quite dramatic to see one’s DPS vary between raid buffed and not raid buffed. Your AGI is scaled off Combat Experience as well.

  12. Thank you for this. My 80 hunter is only 1600 dps as a Beast Master with a cat, and I thought i was doing everything right so far. However, I’m currently using Glyph oh Hunters Mark, Glyph of Serpent Sting, and Glyph of Arcane Shot (useless). I’m also using Heart of Phoenix and Lick Your Wounds, and didn’t realize I was sacrificing DPS for them. I’m also not using Longevity in my spec. Thanks for all the good info.

  13. Just found this blog, very nicely put together.

    I was reading this and nodding along until I had a quick peek at your armory. Mp5? AP gems?. Also to a poster above – I’d go straight for Shifting Twilight Opal instead of any of the +x Stats gems purely because it will almost always show a dps increase on any spreadsheet.

    Of course once you start getting an almost full set of Ulduar Armor Pen actually becomes a really good stat to gem once you’re past a certain threshold.

  14. @ Echo – Mp5 because I am super OCD for set bonuses and it was probably the cheapest gem on the AH at the time. AP because I am usually Beast Mastery, and AP tends to be better for Beast Mastery.

    I wouldn’t advise scouring my Armory as an example for gems, I am a well known very bad example for that. =P I very frequently break my own rules.

  15. Haha no worries. I feel the pain of gemming costs I just forked out around 800g for a complete regem for my guilds hardmode attempts. I think the hunter population of the server I’m on thinks I’m slightly crazy (550arp ftw)

    When gems first came out I’ll admit I was the same, it was only the hatred of a certain rogue epeening meters that pushed me to do whatever it took to beat him ;p

Comments are closed.