Survival Hunter guide for WoW Forever

The Survival Hunter in WoW Forever fights at range and in melee. You weave Raptor Strike, Mongoose Bite and the new Strider Kick into your shots, or you stay in melee the whole fight. New talents make melee attacks and traps much stronger, and Lone Wolf adds damage without a pet. This guide covers the level 60 build, the rotation, melee weaving, mana, stats and races.

Role	Ranged and melee damage, usually without a pet
Build at level 60	5/13/33: Deadly Aspects, Marksmanship up to Lone Wolf, and Survival up to Lacerating Strikes
Key talents	Improved Tracking, Savage Strikes, Clever Traps, Predator’s Edge, Resourcefulness, Expose Prey, Strider Kick, Lightning Reflexes, Lethal Attacks, Careful Aim, Lone Wolf
Strength	Very high damage when played well, strong at range and in melee
Weakness	A demanding rotation that depends on positioning
Leveling	Hunter leveling guide, Hunter level build

Strengths and weaknesses

Very high damage. With good melee weaving, Survival is a strong damage spec for dungeons and raids.

Two ways to play. Weave melee attacks into your shots, or stay in melee the whole fight. Both use the same build.

Strong at range and in melee. The other Hunter specs mostly shoot. Survival deals real damage in both places.

A demanding rotation. Melee weaving asks for precise timing and positioning. A mistake costs more damage than in the other Hunter specs.

Positioning. Fights with a lot of movement, or mechanics that keep you out of melee, break your rotation.

The dead zone. Between melee range and 8 yards you can use neither melee nor ranged attacks. Survival has that problem too.

The level 60 build: 5/13/33

The beta stopped at level 30, but the talent trees for level 60 are in the game files. We checked this build point for point in our talent calculator: 5 points in Beast Mastery, 13 in Marksmanship and 33 in Survival, 51 in total.

Talent	Points
Deadly Aspects (Beast Mastery)	5/5
Lethal Attacks (Marksmanship)	5/5
Careful Aim (Marksmanship)	5/5
Rapid Killing (Marksmanship)	2/2
Lone Wolf (Marksmanship)	1/1
Improved Tracking	5/5
Deflection	3/5
Savage Strikes	2/2
Clever Traps	2/2
Surefooted	3/3
Predator’s Edge	5/5
Resourcefulness	2/2
Expose Prey	2/2
Survivalist’s Discipline	2/2
Strider Kick	1/1
Lightning Reflexes	5/5
Lacerating Strikes	1/1

Three choices can move:

• Lone Wolf to 1 point in Efficiency or Improved Stings if you want to keep your pet, for example while questing.
• Rapid Killing to 2 points in Efficiency or Improved Stings if you do not need Rapid Fire more often and want cheaper or stronger Stings.
• Deadly Aspects to 2 points in Efficiency or Improved Stings plus 3 points in Mortal Shots.

What the key talents do

Talent	What it does in Forever
Improved Tracking	5% more damage to the creature type you track
Savage Strikes	4% more critical strike chance with melee abilities
Clever Traps	Freezing Trap and Frost Trap last 30% longer, Immolation Trap and Explosive Trap deal 30% more damage
Surefooted	3% more hit chance, and movement impairing effects last 30% shorter
Predator’s Edge	Critical strikes with melee abilities deal 30% more extra damage, and your off-hand weapon deals 50% more damage
Resourcefulness	Traps and melee abilities cost 60% less mana, and your critical strikes let 50% of your mana regeneration continue while you cast for 30 seconds
Expose Prey	Attacks against a target with Hunter’s Mark have a 10% chance to let you use Mongoose Bite, for 10 seconds
Survivalist’s Discipline	Traps and Deterrence come back 40% sooner
Strider Kick	A kick for 100% of your melee weapon damage, plus 30% movement speed for 3 seconds
Lightning Reflexes	10% more Agility
Lacerating Strikes	Mongoose Bite also makes the target bleed for 40% of its damage over 21 seconds
Lethal Attacks	5% more critical strike chance with all attacks
Careful Aim	Attack power equal to 100% of your Intellect
Lone Wolf	20% more damage with all attacks while you have no active pet

Rotation

Keep Hunter’s Mark on the target: Expose Prey only opens Mongoose Bite on a marked target.

Single target

1. Put an Immolation Trap where the tank will stand, if you can.
2. Cast Aimed Shot as the pull starts.
3. Cast Serpent Sting.
4. Cast Arcane Shot.
5. Run into melee range.
6. Cast Raptor Strike.
7. Cast Mongoose Bite, if it is available.
8. Drop Immolation Trap, if it is ready.
9. Cast Strider Kick and run back out of melee.
10. Shoot again from range and repeat.
11. Cast Rapid Fire on cooldown.

Several targets

1. Put an Explosive Trap where the tank will stand, if you can.
2. Cast Multi-Shot.
3. Cast Serpent Sting.
4. Cast Arcane Shot.
5. Run into melee range.
6. Cast Raptor Strike.
7. Cast Mongoose Bite, if it is available.
8. Drop Explosive Trap, if it is ready.
9. Cast Strider Kick and run back out of melee.
10. Shoot again from range and repeat.
11. Cast Rapid Fire on cooldown.

Cooldowns and utility

• Rapid Fire is your damage cooldown: 40% more attack speed.
• Explosive Trap and Immolation Trap add damage every time you run into melee. Survivalist’s Discipline makes them come back 40% sooner.
• Frost Trap, Freezing Trap, Wing Clip and Concussive Shot slow, root or remove monsters from the fight.
• Feign Death drops you out of combat. Without a pet it is your main way out of trouble.
• Scorpid Sting now lowers the target’s chance to hit by 2% for 20 seconds. It does not stack with Insect Swarm.
• Tranquilizing Shot removes Enrage and Frenzy effects.
• Tracking shows monsters and players nearby. With Improved Tracking you also deal 5% more damage to the tracked type.
• Aspects: Aspect of the Hawk gives ranged attack power, Aspect of the Beast melee attack power. Cheetah and Pack are faster, but you get dazed when hit.

Melee weaving and movement

Melee weaving is moving between range and melee without losing damage. Serpent Sting, Arcane Shot and your melee abilities are instant, so you keep attacking while you move. Moving does interrupt Auto Shot, so time your steps between shots.

Strider Kick is the key: it hits and gives you 30% movement speed for 3 seconds to get back to range. In a fight, stay in Aspect of the Hawk or Aspect of the Beast and walk. Cheetah and Pack get you dazed when a monster hits you.

Mana

Survival uses a lot of mana, because the rotation has many abilities. Resourcefulness makes traps and melee abilities 60% cheaper. After a critical strike, 50% of your mana regeneration keeps going while you cast for 30 seconds. Lethal Attacks and Savage Strikes give you the critical strikes to keep that effect up. Efficiency is the optional talent for cheaper shots.

With or without a pet

The build takes Lone Wolf and plays without a pet. In dungeons and raids that is the most damage. In the open world, a pet that holds monsters off you is often worth more: swap Lone Wolf for a point in Efficiency or Improved Stings and keep your pet. Use Stay and Move To to keep it out of area damage. More about pets is in the Beast Mastery Hunter guide.

Stats and gear

Stat priorities for level 60 follow after the launch. Until then:

• Agility: 2 ranged and 1 melee attack power per point, and critical strike chance, about 1% per 53 Agility at level 60. Lightning Reflexes adds 10%.
• Hit: against a level 63 boss you need 9% with 300 weapon skill, or 6% with 305. That goes for ranged attacks and two-handed melee weapons. Surefooted already gives 3%.
• Critical strike chance, which keeps Resourcefulness going.
• Attack power, which Agility usually beats point for point.
• Haste, which changes the timing of melee weaving. Its real value shows at level 60.
• Intellect, for mana and through Careful Aim also for attack power.
• Spirit, for mana regeneration together with Resourcefulness.

Armor. Leather and mail both work. Leatherworking has good patterns while you level.

Quiver or ammo pouch. Both raise your ranged attack speed. Keep yours up to date.

Weapons. Survival needs a good ranged weapon and a good melee weapon. Look at damage per second and at speed, because both change the timing of your rotation.

Races and professions

Faction	Race	Why
Alliance	Skyborne	A haste bonus, rare on gear, the strongest choice
Alliance	Human	2% more critical strike chance, good for Resourcefulness
Alliance	Dwarf	1% hit from Artisan’s Precision
Alliance	Night Elf	A critical strike cooldown
Horde	Skyborne	A haste bonus and a movement speed cooldown for weaving
Horde	Orc	An attack power cooldown and 5% more pet damage from Command
Horde	Troll	More damage against Beasts and an attack speed cooldown
Horde	Tauren	An area stun, 5% more Health, and Plainsrunning

The differences are small, so play the race you like. For a pure ranged build, see the Marksmanship Hunter guide.

Leatherworking makes good leather gear, Engineering brings gadgets and scopes, Alchemy with Herbalism keeps you in potions, and Enchanting keeps your gear enchanted.