Hunter shot rotation

[Neckringer]

Hunter Shot Rotation

Hunters can be a great dps machine but shot rotation can make about 400dps difference, so im here to help others sort it.

The one thing, that makes hunter shot cycles different from all other classes (especially melee classes) is that our auto-attack has a cast time (or better to call it charge-time or even aiming-time). Put simply, if you have a final auto-attack speed of 2.56 (with quivers), your auto-attacks look like this:

[code:1:7b736944b2]
0.00s 1.00s 2.00s 3.00s
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|
>::::::::::>
auto shot auto shot
charging firing
2.06s 2.56s
[/code:1:7b736944b2]


Now, this casting time leads to the problem that every badly timed special attack delays our auto-shot, which is our most mana efficient (read: none) and also highest dps attack. If for example you fire a steady shot at a bad time, the above cycle ends up like this:

[code:1:7b736944b2]
0.00s 1.00s 2.00s 3.00s
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|----
>.............................>::::::::::>
start steady steady auto shot
1.00 fires firing
auto shot 3.00s
charging
2.50s
[/code:1:7b736944b2]


So what happened is that by firing steady shot 1 second after the start of the auto-shot cycle, we effectively delayed our auto-attack by almost 0.5 seconds, seriously hurting our dps.
There is only one solution to this, namely trying to fix in steady shot casting time (and remember that steady shot is our most mana efficient dps attack) so, that it doesnt delay auto-attacks.

[code:1:7b736944b2]
0.00s 1.00s 2.00s 3.00s
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|----
>::::::::::>............................>::::::::::>
steady shot | auto shot auto shot
safe starting | charging firing
time | 2.06s 2.56s
0.00 - 0.56 |
> steady shot fires about here
[/code:1:7b736944b2]




In game, you really need a shot timer like BigTrouble to time your shots that perfectly (I use BigTrouble over others like Quartz, because it also shows me at how many 10th of a second I mess up and delay my auto-shot).
BM Hunters can btw reach one of the fastest and most effective cycles, because with the talent Serpent's swiftness we achieve 2.00s auto attack speed, that is simply perfect for a cyle of 1.5s steady + 0.5s auto.
It should also be noted, that the casting time of steady shot gets reduced by haste effects, so the rotation is mantainable up to the point of hitting 1.5 seconds auto-attack speed, where the GCD (global cooldown) gets us into trouble. Which brings me right to my next topic - more interesting for MM and Surv hunters - the ...

The Global Cooldown
Global Cooldown is the time that occurs minimum between 2 special attacks. You can see it when you click a button and it fills up like a clock before it becomes available again. For us hunters, that timer is 1.5 seconds (for rogues and feral druids it is less).
Now, GCD is mainly an issue for marksman hunters, as they will quite likely never reach an auto-attack speed of 2.00 seconds, and that means they have a different shot rotation. But while Arcane and Multi are in fact instant attacks and dont influence auto-shot as badly as steady does, they trigger the global cooldown:

[code:1:7b736944b2]
1.5 (immediately after steady fires)
Arcane Shot 3.5 GCD wears off
|......................................|
|
0.00s 1.00s | 2.00s 3.00s 4.00s 5.00s
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------
>.............................> >::::::::::> >.............................>::::::::::>
steady shot | auto shot auto shot steady shot steady auto shot
0.00 | charging firing 3.50s fires firing
| 2.06s 2.56s auto shot 5.62s
| charging
steady shot fires 5.12s
1.5s
[/code:1:7b736944b2]




As you can see, a shot cycle with steady - arcane - auto - steady would throw our cycle off for 0.5 seconds. A possible cycle is to replace the second steady with Multi:


[code:1:7b736944b2]
1.5 (immediately after steady fires)
Arcane Shot 3.5 GCD wears off
|.......................................
|
0.00s 1.00s | 2.00s 3.00s 4.00s 5.00s
|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------|-------------------
>.............................> >::::::::::> >..................>::::::::::>
steady shot | auto shot auto shot Multi-Shot auto shot auto shot
0.00 | charging firing 3.50s charging firing
| 2.06s 2.56s 4.62s 5.12s
| start new steady shot
steady shot fires
1.5s
[/code:1:7b736944b2]




It's however trickier to maintain this cycle, with the mixed recast times of arcane of 6s (5s with talents) and Multi-shot (10). Improved Arcane Shot is quite a huge help here, as Multi is at least up every second arcane phase and could be cycled together every 10 seconds. This cycle in the end produces a very high damage output (affected by for example +12% crit from talents on multi-shot) than simple steady - auto with its big holes.

Kill Command is best used at the start of an auto-shot cycle. With an average crit of 20-25% it should always be up on its cooldown.

On a final note - proper shot cycle makes the difference between 500 dps as hunter and 800 dps as hunter, even with less than KZ gear.

Well, that's it. If you have questions or comments, feel free to post.

[Kartio]

EDIT2: NVM HE PROVE IT TRUE
EDIT: NVM WSG LOL
www.stormwindacademy.net :: View topic - Hunter shot rotation

[Drathnar]

Comment from me :P looks like a copy and paste job..

If it is try to add some originality

If it's not then try to add some originality

and by all means please feel free to add some colors and the actual code tags and um its just blah to look at...

and don't forget add some originality

[Neckringer]

I am the real author of that if you want proof talk to me in game.

[bthecheat]

seems pointless, all the shots get to the target.. wall of text btw

[Neckringer]

I am the origianl author and i will make it look much more origional but i cant get the code to work properly.