PvE Survival Hunter DPS

Survival Hunter in Mists of Pandaria is a DPS specialization with multiple Damage-over-Time effects, mixing both Physical and Magic Damage, focusing more heavily on Magic Damage. The Survival specialization is fairly similar to the other Hunter specializations; however, its proc-based gameplay makes it distinct. In addition, due to some buffs to their heavy RNG element, their Burst potential skyrocketed. In this guide, we’ll cover every aspect of a Survival Hunter, ranging from playstyle to gearing to quick tips & tricks so you can tackle the end game and top of the damage meters!

Changes in Mists of Pandaria

Survival Hunters received many changes to their overall gameplay and mechanics compared to their previous Cataclysm Classic version! While their main abilities largely remain the same, maintaining the specialization’s identity, most of the changes come from some quality-of-life improvements, some nerfs to their core abilities, and massive overhauls to the Talent System, which grant them many new abilities. 

Their core abilities remain almost the same, with the iconic Kill Shot, Serpent Sting, Cobra Shot, Black Arrow, and Explosive Shot representing their main tools. Cobra Shot no longer has a reduced cast time when acquiring Haste, while Explosive Shot received a massive buff that massively improves their entire rotation. Survival Hunters no longer need to worry about clipping their Explosive Shot since the DoT effect now adds up to the existing DoT instead of removing it altogether. This makes using the Lock and Load proc extremely easy, reducing the overall unnecessary difficulty that the specialization forced players to deal with. In contrast, another huge buff was also implemented, namely an overall reduction to the inner cooldown of Lock and Load. Instead of the 22-second inner cooldown the ability previously had, it can now trigger once every 10 seconds!

In addition, what truly adds a new flavor to Survival Hunter is the new suite of abilities from the talent tree, offering quite a bit of versatility depending on player preference. Some of the notable new abilities are Glaive Toss, Barrage, A Murder of Crows, Fervor, Dire Beast, and Binding Shot.

Strengths & Weaknesses

Strengths

• Great Burst Sequences
  Thanks to the improved Explosive Shot & Lock and Load mechanics, Survival Hunters benefit from considerably stronger burst sequences! Since they no longer have to worry about clipping, they can potentially time their short burst sequences with other strong offensive cooldowns. Even if their burst is still tied to RNG, the lower internal cooldown has exponentially buffed their damage output.
  
  
• Great Single-Target & AoE Damage
  Like the previous expansion, Survival Hunter remains one of the greatest DPS specializations, performing very well in both Single-Target and AoE fights. Besides buffs to existing abilities, new abilities such as A Murder of Crows, Glaive Toss, and Barrage greatly enhance their performance.

• Amazing Versatility Through Pets
  Besides the utility that Survival Hunters can provide on their own, such as traps and Trueshot Aura, they can also bring a plethora of different effects through their pets! Examples of such abilities are Furious Howl or Cackling Howl. 

Weaknesses

• Very Stat Dependent
  While Survival Hunters can perform well, their damage output is extremely tied to their stats! This fact refers not only to their focus, which requires a large amount of Haste to function properly, but also to their dependency on Critical Strike Chance to perform. Their performance feels sluggish until they acquire a large amount of stats and a weapon with high Weapon Damage.

• Hard to Master Resource: Focus
  Many Survival Hunters prefer Focus since they claim it’s easier to use, but the reality is that the specialization can often become resource-starved extremely fast. Since Survival Hunters mainly deal damage through various shots such as Black Arrow and Explosive Shot, spacing out their shots and executing their rotation can be quite difficult, especially for beginners. Players must learn to manage their Focus properly and acquire high amounts of Haste. They should avoid starving themselves and being stuck with casting Cobra Shot, on repeat, which now has a 2-second fixed cast time and can lead to huge DPS loss.

Best Races

While racial effects were extremely important in previous versions of WoW, their importance has been reduced overall in MoP Classic. The effects now act as slight bonuses instead of actual game-changing mechanics.

Horde

Pandaren is arguably the best in terms of raw stats for Agility stacking due to Epicurean. Both Orc and Troll are the next best options due to Blood Fury and Berserking. The rest of the options are much more PvP-oriented, making them far less effective in PvE.

• Pandaren: Bouncy, Epicurean, Gourmand, Inner Peace, Quaking Palm.
• Troll: Berserking, Da Voodoo Shuffle, Regeneration, Beast Slaying, Dead Eye.
• Orc: Blood Fury, Axe Specialization, Hardiness, Command.
• Goblin: Time is Money, Rocket Barrage, Rocket Jump, Best Deals Anywhere, Better Living Through Chemistry, Pack Hobgoblin.
• Blood Elf: Arcane Torrent, Arcane Resistance, Arcane Affinity.
• Undead: Will of the Forsaken, Cannibalize, Shadow Resistance, Touch of the Grave.
• Tauren: Endurance, Cultivation, Nature Resistance, War Stomp.

Alliance

Pandaren is the best for Alliance as well, due to the raw stats gained from Epicurean. In contrast, Worgen is the next-best option for stacking Critical Strike Chance faster thanks to Viciousness. Draenei is also an honorable pick since it grants a bit of self-healing and a valuable 1% Hit Chance thanks to Heroic Presence. The rest of the options are more PvP-oriented and perform rather poorly in PvE when it comes to stacking stats.

• Pandaren: Bouncy, Epicurean, Gourmand, Inner Peace, Quaking Palm.
• Worgen: Darkflight, Flayer, Viciousness, Aberration.
• Draenei: Gift of the Naaru, Heroic Presence, Shadow Resistance, Gemcutting.
• Dwarf: Stoneform, Explorer, Mace Specialization, Crack Shot, Frost Resistance.
• Human: Sword Specialization, Mace Specialization, Will to Survive, The Human Spirit, Diplomacy.
• Night Elf: Elusiveness, Quickness, Shadowmeld, Wisp Spirit, Nature Resistance.