[Hunter] Steady shot and how to own in dmg.

[stonsour]

Steady shot is a hunter ability that has the most dpm(damage per mana) out there for hunters
Here is the macro you should use after you have learned both Steady shot and kill command(still use it if you don't have kill command yet)

#showtooltip Steady Shot
/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()
/petattack
/cast [nocombat] Hunter's Mark
/castsequence reset=3 Steady Shot, Auto Shot
/cast [exists,target=pettarget] Kill Command

1. sends your pet in to attack.
2. Casts Hunter's Mark as long as your already out of combat
(Wait for pet to engage so you dont pull immediately.)
3. Starts the famed cycle of Steady shot / auto shot all hunters love.
Also casts Kill Command when possible.

Great macro for grinding, as you go to loot the mob you just killed, cast this macro on another guy and your fully set to loot, then dps the next one down.

Now if you are a nerd here comes the math which proves how l337 this ability is.


The formulas for the effect haste has on your attack (and by extension, cast of steady shot) speed is rendered such:
Quiver: 15% increase in atk spd = 1.15
Serpent's Swiftness: 20% increase in atk spd = 1.20
Imp Aspect of the Hawk: 15% increase in atk spd = 1.15

You then multiply all these together:
1.15 * 1.15 * 1.2 = 1.587
or, without IAotH (not a consistently present buff)
1.15 * 1.2 = 1.38

These numbers are the value by which you divide your base attack speed (or the casting speed of Steady Shot) to determine the new speed. So, with a weapon like say The Gunblade (2.8 speed level 65 blue-quality gun), you come up with this:
2.8 / 1.38 = 2.028
2.8 / 1.587 = 1.764
These are the actual values (displaying as 2.02 and 1.76, since seemingly Blizzard's coding simply drops any values post the hundredth position, not rounding) I see displayed when I equip this gun on my Hunter, then go test with the relevant buffs.

Steady Shot, at 1.5 speed, comes out thus:
1.5 / 1.38 = 1.086
1.5 / 1.587 = 0.945
It's a little more challenging to snag the actual cast time of Steady Shot, as the change doesn't display in your spellbook and therefore you just have to watch your cast timer, but I was never able to see a 1.2 on my cast timer countdown when firing Steady Shots, so it was going faster than 1.2 (which would support a 1.08 speed or a .94 speed - I didn't even try to track when I had IAotH active and a Steady Shot casting at the same time, my attention can only be divided so far).

Anyway. Moral of the story, use 1.15 and 1.2 as your modifier numbers, multiply all the relevant modifiers together, then take your base, unchanged speed and divide it by the modifiers to get the new speed. The difference between the two formulas doesn't show a huge difference (1.08 speed steady vs the earlier posted 1.2), but it's there.

So basically, haste from items / procs also affects the casting time of Steady Shot, so you can with a little attention to your equipment / buffs always fit Steady Shot into your "shot rotation" and boost your DPS by a large amount. A spec like Marksmanship would probably favor a slower gun / bow that allows for a Steady and one other "special" shot during the time your autoshot is "cooling down," whereas a Beast Mastery spec favors faster gun speeds that allow often only time to weave in Steady Shot and -maybe- time for another special if you're quick or latency is on your side. I've never approached Survival, so I can't comment on their rotations, but in general, once you have Steady Shot (level 62), use it forever. If you aren't using it, you aren't maximizing your DPS - just don't clobber your autoshot timer and kill your "white" damage through bad rhythm.
Here is an armory link to my hunter if anyone has any questions feel free to post here or pm in game.
The World of Warcraft Armory
Edit:Changed the color cause people's eyes were bleeding

[algeo]

I tried to read this but my eyes can't handle it, change color please :/

[-=Swift=-]

Pretty sure this is a repost...

[Claes]

My eyes are bleeding.

[kinkey]

my eyes are bad...after 2minutes of reading i copied it all to Notepad and read it all there...MY EYES ARE BLEEDING!

[temporar]

+beer to you
-eyesight to me from your color 0_o

[Vitalvipers]

#showtooltip Steady Shot
/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()
/castsequence reset=target2.03 Steady Shot, !Auto Shot;
/castrandom [target=pet, noexists] Null; [target=pettarget, exists] Kill Command
/Script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()

Is the shot macro I prefer personaly. It casts kill command on your PETS target, that way if your in a raid or something and your pet is on a diffrent mob then the one your DPSing, it won't make your pet switch targets.

[samsta458]

I'm pretty sure that steady shot auto shot macro is pretty well known to just about every single hunter who plays WoW. Nothing really new here sry bud.

[EzMac]

Any half-decent hunter should know this... sorry

[hellian46]

Yes all good hunters im sure already know this.... And I would give you rep but for contributing are trying to but I can't find the rep button since the all blue text hurt my eyes to much...

[Couwae]

Hmm... I couldnt really read that easily, but from what I understood, you gave out some sort of strategy how to make your steady shot as fast as possible? Im not going to rep, because it was a very bad use of colour. :/

[Infinit]

Lulz. You made a guide about "how to own in dmg" yet you fail to cap the most essential stat (because its cheap in item budget) which is Hit rating :C
So I will take the time to make an equally "awsome" guide.

Cap your hit, you will need 9%, or 142 Hit rating, for all your shots to hit.
This means: A non-Draenei BM Hunter will need 142 HR, a Draenei BM hunter will need 127 HR, a Survival Hunter will need 95 HR and a Draenei Survival Hunter will need 79 HR.

If you didnt figure out why Survival Hunters need less HR its because they have a talent that gives additional % to hit

What I'm leaving out is Balance druids with imp. Faerie Fire give 3% extra hit (48 HR) chance to all attacks on their affected target.
I personally carry around 2 different sets of gear, or more like some swap pieces so I can cap hit both with and without a balance druid in the raid.

[Infinit]

Hmm... I couldnt really read that easily, but from what I understood, you gave out some sort of strategy how to make your steady shot as fast as possible? Im not going to rep, because it was a very bad use of colour. :/

Actually no, the fastest way of doing shot rotations is hand-weaving them. This does how ever require alot more timing and mad skillz while a macro for it will basiclly do the job for you so you can focus more on something else in the encounter.

[rickit]

Any one know how to own DPS with 1) a Fire mage and 2) a Frost mage, and also which spec is the best to go with? Cheers!

[Patchumz]

Actually... That is a horrible macro, if you put !Auto Shot instead of just Auto Shot it will shoot Auto Shot WHILE casting Steady Shot and you'll increase you DPS by over 15%. I'd refer to

#showtooltip Steady Shot
/script UIErrorsFrame:Hide()
/castsequence reset=target2.03 Steady Shot, !Auto Shot;
/castrandom [target=pet, noexists] Null; [target=pettarget, exists] Kill Command
/Script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()

If you want a good macro.. or something similar. I use that but without the reset=target2.03 part.