PVE Survival Hunter DPS Guide

Welcome to the Survival Hunter DPS guide for World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King 3.3.5a. In this guide, you will learn about playing a Survival Hunter in a raid. The guide includes Talents, Glyphs, Gems, Enchantments, Add-ons, Gameplay & Skill rotation tips.

Talent Tree

Glyphs

Major Glyphs

• Glyph of Explosive Shot
• Glyph of Steady Shot
• Glyph of Kill Shot or Glyph of Aimed Shot

Minor Glyphs

• Glyph of Feign Death
• Glyph of Mend Pet
• Glyph of Revive Pet

Gems

Gems are situational and depend on the build and equipment. They are used to reach the required stat caps.

• Meta: Relentless Earthsiege Diamond
• Red: Delicate Cardinal Ruby
• Yellow: Rigid King’s Amber or Smooth King’s Amber
• Blue: Shifting Dreadstone x1

Yellow gems should be picked depending on the required stats. Hit rating should be a priority.

Enchants

• Head – Arcanum of Torment
• Shoulder – Greater Inscription of the Axe
• Cloak – Major Agility
• Chest – Powerful Stats
• Bracers – Greater Assault
• Gloves – Major Agility
• Waist – Eternal Belt Buckle
• Legs – Icescale Leg Armor
• Boots – Superior Agility
• Melee weapons – Massacre for two-handed or Superior Potency for one-handed
• Bow – Heartseeker Scope

Rotation

Survival Hunters don’t have a rotation, just some basic rules.

• Serpent Sting and Black Arrow are always used on the target.
• Afterward, use Aimed Shot and Explosive Shot
• If they are on cooldown, then use Steady Shot
• Use Freezing Arrow when additional monsters spawn

Stat Priority

Hit -> Agility -> Crit -> Attack Power & Armor Penetration -> Haste

Hit cap for raids is 8% (263 rating). New hunters should aim for at least 5% (164 rating) to always hit level 80 mobs. 3% can be obtained from Focused Aim, another 1% from Draenei passive Heroic Presence.

Agility is the main stat for Survival Hunters. No cap here, stack as much as possible as it converts into damage. Next, you should aim for 60% Crit Chance while buffed. Haste is down the list, probably one of the least required stats in the build.

Pets

Now, let’s talk about Pets.

First of all, we have to decide which pet do we need. In terms of PVE and Raiding our top 3 pets are:

• Wolfs – Furious Howl is what makes this pet #1
• Wasps – Sting can be a powerful debuff, but it doesn’t stack with similar effects on the target.
• Raptors & Cats – Less DPS than Wolfs and Wasps, but still viable.

The talent tree for our pet is Ferocity. Unlike Beast Mastery Hunters we can’t tame Exotic Creatures and don’t have those extra 4 talent points.

Don’t forget to use Kill Command and other pet skills when you can!