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While we’re having some very moderate success in arenas, there are legions of more accomplished arena-hunters. What are a lot of these guys and gals bringing to the party?

A Marksman Spec. /horror!

What does MM have in abundance? Burst-damage. If one attempts to sustain this burst-DPS over a long period of time, mana-issues become extremely apparent. Marksman hunters have some of the worst mana-efficiency problems of any spec of any class anywhere. Raiding as a MM is very hard, and is in fact just about as gear-dependent as a Survivalist.

But in arenas, where the matches can be over in a matter of seconds, burst-damage can rule the world. And the 11/41/9 built is a great combination of pet-survivability, the longest ranged-attacks in the game, and burst-damage.

“I HATE SILENCING SHOT!” We hear our arena partners scream this every time we face a MM hunter. Scatter Shot stops their healing, a 30% improved Viper Sting drains their mana, and Silencing Shot stops their current spell-cast, prevents casting for three seconds, and only then they can begin to cast a heal again.

The downsides? Line of Sight is the 11/41/9 killer. As a BM hunter, Hobbes can chomp away almost anywhere the enemy runs, LoS or not. A MM hunter’s pet is wickedly nerfed, little more than an annoyance to most classes. You’ll have a Scorpid for being a nuisance to spell-casters, but that’s about the limit of its usefulness.

And if a raiding MM hunter has mana issues, a hunter in PvP gear is going to have the smallest mana-pool ever. The MM hunter had better kill his enemy quickly, for he’s not going to be able to maintain that DPS for long.

Now if you go to the arena-discussion web sites and read how the 11/41/9 hunters fare, you’ll find their tactics are heavily partner-dependent. Just like the druid-warrior team is the bomb-diggity because of how the classes work together, a MM hunter works really well with classes that can root/ensnare enemies so the MM hunter can stand still and blast away, or with classes that seem like bigger, more important targets.

As with all Marksman-based hunter specs, this is a direction hunters should consider who are on teams who focus on mana-drain strategies. If your team favors outlast-outlive types of fights, the 11/41/9 will permit you a great deal of flexibility for staying at range, dropping a Viper Sting, and then getting out of LOS while your primary mana-drainers do their thing.

As always, skill and communication are the keys to arenas. If you grab this or any other spec, you’re not going to become invincible based upon the talents-alone.