There is no cookie cutter spec

People aren't going to like hearing this, but

There is no Cookie-Cutter Spec.

I'm mainly a hunter so I'm writing it for hunters, but its true for every class. There is more than one way to make a Marksmanship build or a Survival build, or whatever build. You should be spending talents based on your personal environment. (Yes, some may be more fluid than others, but nothing there is no solid spec.)

Lets take Marksmanship for example:

• Do you run out of mana often? Get Efficiency.
• Is your gear pretty good and do you have some mana batteries in your raids? Drop Efficiency.
• Do you raid with the same people all the time, and is another of them also a Marksmanship Hunter? Try to split talents- one of you get Improved Hunter's Mark, and the other get Trueshot Aura.
• Do you have a Paladin's wisdom AND lots of replenishments and just don't ever see yourself needing much mana? Then why keep Rapid Recouperation?
• Is your hit rating low? put point(s) into Focused Aim
• Is your Armor Penetration maxxed? Drop Improved Arcane Shot and put the points into Improved Steady Shot.
• Do your healers suck and always run out of mana? Consider going Survival and getting them more Replenishment

Yes, there are some talents (like Chimera Shot, for example,) that you just need to have to be succesful. But you really can't just blindly follow someone's spec and think its the same you need.

When building a good spec for DPS, think "what talent point that I have access to will give me the biggest DPS boost?" and go from there. For example, Improved Aspect of the Hawk will let you shoot faster, but Endurance Training won't help DPS at all.

Example. Say you are at this point in a build, and don't know where to go next. Efficiency can increase your DPS by saving you from going into Aspect of the Viper, Rapid Recuperation will help you in a similar way, Wild Quiver gives you a chance at an extra DOT, Silencing Shot does some damage, but is on a 20s cooldown, etc.

So before you ask "What should my spec be?" go through and think about each talent. If you don't want to waste time, do it on a flight from Borean Tundra to Howling Fjord or something. Peggle can wait.

Like I said above, there are some points that everyone should definitely have. For a Marksman, these are the must-haves of your build:

• Lethal Shots
• Careful Aim
• Mortal Shots
• Go for the Throat (only 1 point)
• Aimed Shot
• Rapid Killing
• Improved Stings
• Readiness
• Combat Experience
• Ranged Weapon Specialization
• Piercing Shots
• Master Marksman
• Silencing Shot (does damage, not on GCD, utility)
• Marked for Death
• Chimera Shot

Then in the other trees...

• Improved Tracking
• Survival Instincts
• Improved Aspect of the Hawk
• Focused Fire

That's only 55/71. The other 16 points can change based on your situation. Yes, some may be almost always chosen (like Trueshot Aura), but others change based on raid composition, stats from gear and sometimes even based on what boss you are fighting.