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Survival Hunter Guide — Class Guides · WoW Forever

Agility, traps and survivability, with tools that keep enemies at range and talents that help in melee.

A ranged fighter in leather, and later mail, who fights at a distance with a bow, gun or crossbow, tames beasts as pets and controls enemies with traps and stings. More about the hunter

Class
Hunter
Roles
Damage
Used for
Raids and dungeons, Player versus player
Top talent
Lacerating Strikes
Popular builds
2
Version
WoW Forever

How to play

Survival in WoW Forever can be a melee hunter: Predator's Edge raises melee crit damage and makes your off-hand weapon hit much harder, Expose Prey gives your attacks on a Hunter's Marked target a chance to enable Mongoose Bite, Lacerating Strikes makes Mongoose Bite add a bleed, and Strider Kick is a strong kick with a burst of speed.

Resourcefulness makes traps and melee abilities much cheaper and lets mana regenerate after crits, and Lightning Reflexes raises Agility. The other Survival build plays at range for player-versus-player fights, with Counterattack, Entrapment and Survivalist's Discipline for traps and Deterrence on shorter cooldowns.

Improved Tracking adds damage against whichever creature type you track.

At a glance

Single-target damage
Damage to groups
Survivability
Utility for the group
Solo play and leveling
Ease of play

Rated 1 to 5 against the other specs in WoW Forever.

Rotation and priorities

  1. 1Hunter's Mark on the target and track its creature type.
  2. 2Raptor Strike and Strider Kick when ready.
  3. 3Mongoose Bite whenever Expose Prey or a dodge enables it.
  4. 4Wing Clip to keep runners in reach.
  5. 5Traps on extra enemies; Deterrence when you take too much damage.
  6. 6At range: Serpent Sting, Arcane Shot and Multi-Shot between Auto Shots.

Strengths and weaknesses

Strengths

  • A melee hunter with no pet to manage.
  • Cheap traps and melee with Resourcefulness.
  • The best hunter control in player-versus-player fights.

Weaknesses

  • Melee range means taking more damage.
  • Needs two melee weapons as well as a ranged one.
  • Different gear from other hunters.

Stats and gear

Stat priority

Most valuable first. Bars compare each stat with the best one; a cap in the note means the stat drops off once you reach it.

  1. 1

    AgilityLightning Reflexes adds more

  2. 2

    Hitto the cap

  3. 3

    Critical strikePredator's Edge and Resourcefulness

  4. 4

    Attack power

  5. 5

    Stamina

  6. 6

    Intellect

What to look for

  • Two melee weapons for the melee build: Predator's Edge makes the off-hand count.
  • Agility and crit, then hit.
  • Keep a ranged weapon for pulling and for the ranged build.

Builds

Each bar splits the build's talent points by tree.

  • Beast Mastery
  • Marksmanship
  • Survival

  • Predator's Edge Stalker

    DamagePvE
    5/13/33

    Melee Survival without a pet: Predator's Edge raises crit and off-hand damage, Expose Prey triggers Mongoose Bite, and Lacerating Strikes adds a bleed.

    • Resourcefulness 2/2
    • Expose Prey 2/2
    • Strider Kick 1/1
    • Lightning Reflexes 5/5
    • Lacerating Strikes 1/1

    Open in the talent calculatorTheorycrafting

  • Counterattack Trapper

    DamagePvP
    0/21/30

    Survival for PvP: Entrapment and Survivalist's Discipline keep traps ready, Deterrence and Counterattack punish melee, and Scatter Shot controls the fight.

    • Scatter Shot 1/1
    • Counterattack 1/1
    • Resourcefulness 1/2
    • Survivalist's Discipline 2/2
    • Lightning Reflexes 5/5

    Open in the talent calculatorTheorycrafting

Key talents

  • Lacerating Strikes · top talent, up to 1

    Your Mongoose Bite also causes the target to Bleed for damage equal to 40% of the damage done by Mongoose Bite over 21 sec

  • Deterrence · tier 3, up to 1

    When activated, increases your Dodge and Parry chance by 25% for 10 sec.

  • Survival Tactics · tier 4, up to 2

    Increases your chance to hit with your Trap and Feign Death abilities by 10%.

  • Predator's Edge · tier 4, up to 5

    Increases your melee ability critical strike damage by 30% and your Off Hand weapon damage by 50%.

  • Counterattack · tier 4, up to 1

    A strike that becomes active after parrying an opponent's attack. This attack deals 50% weapon damage plus 26 and immobilizes the target for 5 sec. Counterattack cannot be blocked, dodged, or parried.

  • Resourcefulness · tier 5, up to 2

    Reduces the Mana cost of your Trap and melee abilities by 60%, and grants your melee and ranged ability Critical Strikes a 100% chance to allow 50% of your Mana Regeneration to continue while casting for 30 sec.

  • Expose Prey · tier 5, up to 2

    Grants your melee and ranged attacks against enemies afflicted by Hunter's Mark a 10% chance to allow an activation of Mongoose Bite. Lasts 10 sec.

  • Survivalist's Discipline · tier 5, up to 2

    Reduces the cooldown of your Trap and Deterrence abilities by 40%.

  • Strider Kick · tier 5, up to 1

    A powerful kick that deals 100% melee weapon damage and increases movement speed by 30% for 3 sec.

  • Lightning Reflexes · tier 6, up to 5

    Increases your Agility by 10%.

Survival abilities by level

When each ability arrives: trained abilities at the level a trainer first teaches them, talent abilities (gold frame) at the first level the talent can be taken.

What WoW Forever changed

New talents in this tree

  • Improved TrackingWhile tracking Beasts, Demons, Dragonkin, Elementals, Giants, Humanoids, or Undead, all damage you deal to the tracked creature type is increased by 5%.
  • Survival TacticsIncreases your chance to hit with your Trap and Feign Death abilities by 10%.
  • Predator's EdgeIncreases your melee ability critical strike damage by 30% and your Off Hand weapon damage by 50%.
  • ResourcefulnessReduces the Mana cost of your Trap and melee abilities by 60%, and grants your melee and ranged ability Critical Strikes a 100% chance to allow 50% of your Mana Regeneration to continue while casting for 30 sec.
  • Expose PreyGrants your melee and ranged attacks against enemies afflicted by Hunter's Mark a 10% chance to allow an activation of Mongoose Bite. Lasts 10 sec.
  • Survivalist's DisciplineReduces the cooldown of your Trap and Deterrence abilities by 40%.
  • Strider KickA powerful kick that deals 100% melee weapon damage and increases movement speed by 30% for 3 sec.
  • Lacerating StrikesYour Mongoose Bite also causes the target to Bleed for damage equal to 40% of the damage done by Mongoose Bite over 21 sec

Classic Era talents the class no longer has

  • Monster Slaying
  • Humanoid Slaying
  • Trap Mastery
  • Improved Feign Death
  • Killer Instinct
  • Wyvern Sting

Spells

New: Lacerate, Strider Kick. Changed: Raptor Strike, Immolation Trap, Mongoose Bite, Freezing Trap, Frost Trap, Counterattack, Feign Death, Explosive Trap.

Related

Other hunter specs: Beast Mastery, Marksmanship