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Survival Hunter Guide for WoW Forever

Survival Hunter for WoW Forever: a melee leveling build to 30, the Lacerating Strikes raid build at 60, and how Expose Prey feeds Mongoose Bite.

HunterSurvivalLevelingPvEPvPRaidsDungeonsDPS

By stillsixty staffUpdated

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Variants

Overview

Survival is the melee Hunter, and in Forever it is a real melee spec. You fight next to your pet with two weapons, stack Bleeds and crits, and use your bow to open the fight and finish runners. Predator's Edge adds 30% to your melee crits and 50% to your off-hand damage, Expose Prey turns every attack on a marked target into a chance at Mongoose Bite, and Lacerating Strikes makes each Mongoose Bite leave a Bleed behind.

The trained kit grew to match. Aspect of the Beast now adds melee Attack Power, every Hunter learns Lacerate at 30, and Strider Kick gives you a weapon strike on an 8-second cooldown that also speeds you up. Survival keeps its old strengths too: traps that root, Deterrence, and 10% more health from Survivalist.

At level 30 you level in melee with 21 points of Survival. At 60 you take the tree to Lacerating Strikes and borrow Deadly Aspects, Focused Fire, Lethal Attacks and Careful Aim from the other two trees.

Strengths

  • A full melee toolkit: Raptor Strike, Mongoose Bite, Strider Kick, Lacerate and Counterattack.
  • No minimum range. A mob that reaches you is in your best range, not your worst.
  • Tough for a Hunter: 10% more health from Survivalist, Deterrence for 25% Dodge and Parry, and 30% shorter snares from Surefooted.
  • Cheap to play. Resourcefulness cuts the mana cost of your melee abilities and traps by 60%.
  • Bleeds and crits scale together: Lacerating Strikes can crit, and Savage Strikes adds crit to every melee ability.
  • With the PvP swap on the Level 60 build, Entrapment turns every trap into a 5-second root.

Weaknesses

  • Melee means taking hits. Boss cleaves and frontal attacks hit you and your pet alike.
  • Mongoose Bite still needs a trigger: a dodge, or an Expose Prey proc on a marked target.
  • Two sets of weapons to upgrade: melee and ranged.
  • Your damage depends on Hunter's Mark staying on the target, because Expose Prey only works on marked targets.
  • Fewer ranged tools at 60 than Marksmanship or Beast Mastery. You open with your bow and then close in.

What's new in Forever

New in Forever
  • Predator's Edge (tier 4, 5 ranks): 30% more melee critical strike damage and 50% more off-hand weapon damage.
  • Expose Prey (tier 5, 2 ranks): your attacks against targets with Hunter's Mark have a 10% chance to activate Mongoose Bite for 5 seconds.
  • Lacerating Strikes (tier 7, requires Expose Prey): Mongoose Bite also applies a Bleed worth 40% of its damage over 21 seconds. The Bleed can crit.
  • Strider Kick (tier 5): 100% melee weapon damage and 30% movement speed for 3 seconds, on an 8-second cooldown.
  • Resourcefulness (tier 5, 2 ranks): 60% cheaper traps and melee abilities, and your crits have a 60% chance to let 50% of your mana regeneration continue while casting for 30 seconds.
  • Survivalist's Discipline (tier 5, 2 ranks): 40% shorter Trap and Deterrence cooldowns.
  • Savage Strikes adds 4% crit to all your melee abilities. Deflection reaches 10% Parry, Survivalist 10% health and Lightning Reflexes 10% Agility.
  • Entrapment roots every target a trap catches, for up to 5 seconds, every time.
  • Clever Traps extends Freezing and Frost Trap by 30% and adds 30% to Immolation and Explosive Trap damage.
  • Surefooted gives 3% hit and makes snares on you 30% shorter.
  • Aspect of the Beast adds up to 110 melee Attack Power. Lacerate is a trained Bleed at 30, 40, 50 and 60. Counterattack gets trained ranks at 30, 42 and 54.
  • Traps work in combat, and you can keep one Fire trap and one Frost trap out at the same time.

Talents

The melee leveling build. Improved Tracking adds damage against whatever you're hunting, Savage Strikes and Predator's Edge make your melee crits hurt, and Surefooted plus Survivalist keep you standing. Expose Prey at 30 starts the Mongoose Bite engine.

Split 0/0/21 · 21 points at level 30 · Open in calculator

Beast Mastery

0 points

Marksmanship

0 points

Survival

21 points

Talent order

  1. Levels 10–14: 5/5 Improved Tracking. 5% more damage against the creature type you track. Track Beasts in beast zones and Humanoids in camps, and it's always on.
  2. Levels 15–16: 2/2 Savage Strikes. 4% more crit on Raptor Strike, Mongoose Bite and every other melee ability.
  3. Levels 17–19: 3/5 Survivalist. 6% more health. You're taking hits now, and this pays for itself in food.
  4. Level 20: 1/1 Deterrence. 25% more Dodge and Parry for 10 seconds. More dodges mean more Mongoose Bites, and it saves a bad pull.
  5. Levels 21–23: 3/3 Surefooted. 3% hit on every attack and 30% shorter snares.
  6. Level 24: 4/5 Survivalist. 8% more health, and the 15th point that opens tier 4.
  7. Levels 25–29: 5/5 Predator's Edge. 30% more melee crit damage and 50% more off-hand damage. Your melee hits start to outpace your bow.
  8. Level 30: 1/2 Expose Prey. A 5% chance on every attack against a marked target to light up Mongoose Bite.

Flexible points

  • Fighting melee mobs face to face: take 1/1 Counterattack at 30 instead of Expose Prey. Every parry against a mob swinging at you opens a strike that can't be dodged, blocked or parried, and it roots the target for 5 seconds. Trainers teach rank 2 at the same level.
  • Running between quests more than fighting: take 1/1 Strider Kick at 30 instead of Expose Prey. It hits for full weapon damage and adds 30% movement speed for 3 seconds.

Races

Best races

Alliance: Human. Sword Specialization gives +2% crit to all your attacks while you hold a sword, and Survival holds two. Every crit also feeds Predator's Edge and Resourcefulness. Will to Survive breaks a stun every 3 minutes.

Alliance defense: Dwarf. Stoneform removes Bleeds, Poisons and Diseases and cuts Physical damage taken by 10% for 8 seconds. In melee, that's a lot of damage prevented. Big Game Hunter adds 5% damage against Beasts.

Horde: Orc. Blood Fury adds 10% Attack Power for 15 seconds every 2 minutes, and Axe Specialization gives +1% crit with an axe equipped. Survival can dual-wield axes. Hardiness shortens stuns by 20%.

Horde defense: Tauren. Endurance gives 5% health and 1% hit, and War Stomp stuns up to five enemies around you for 2 seconds. In melee, that's a free escape.

All playable races

Pets

Survival fights next to its pet, so the pet's job changes: it no longer has to hold every mob off you. Pick one that adds damage or debuffs to the target you're both hitting.

Leveling

  • Boar (level 1): Charge closes the gap before you do and roots the mob for 1 second. The boar has the mob's attention while you walk into melee.
  • Bear (level 12): Swipe hits three enemies at once. When you pull two mobs, the bear keeps the second one busy while you fight the first.
  • Spider (level 12): Web roots a mob. Web a runner, walk up and finish it in melee.
  • Turtle (level 20): Shell Shield halves the damage your pet takes for 12 seconds when a pull gets out of hand.

Level 60

  • Wolf: Furious Howl raises the melee Attack Power of party members within 15 yards for a minute. You're a melee party member standing next to it, so you get the bonus yourself.
  • Tallstrider: Dust Cloud lowers the target's armor by 505 at max rank. Every Raptor Strike, Strider Kick and white swing you land hits a softer target.
  • Raptor: Savage Rend adds a Bleed of its own next to your Lacerate and Lacerating Strikes.

Focused Fire only works while your pet is out, so a Survival Hunter never plays petless. Keep it behind the target with you, and turn Growl off in groups.

Rotation

Levels 10–24: before Predator's Edge

Until 25 your bow still does most of your damage. Let the pet reach the mob first, open with Serpent Sting and Arcane Shot, and only then close in. In melee, Raptor Strike (rank 3 from 16) on cooldown and Mongoose Bite after every dodge are your two buttons. From 14, Improved Tracking at 5/5 adds 5% to both your shots and your strikes, so track the creature type you're killing.

The pull

  1. Hunter's Mark the target. From 30, Expose Prey only works on marked targets.
  2. Send your pet, then open from range with Serpent Sting and Aimed Shot.
  3. Close in and fight in melee. Raptor Strike on cooldown (6 seconds). It replaces your next swing, so press it and keep swinging.
  4. Mongoose Bite whenever it lights up: after a dodge, or from an Expose Prey proc.
  5. From 30, put Lacerate on mobs that will live longer than 21 seconds: elites, mobs above your level and the first mob of a double pull. Skip it on quick kills.
  6. If the mob runs at low health, Wing Clip it and finish it.

Aspects

Before 30, fight in Aspect of the Monkey: 8% more Dodge means more Mongoose Bites. At 30, switch to Aspect of the Beast for melee Attack Power. Use Aspect of the Hawk only while you're still at range.

Two mobs

Drop Freezing Trap at your feet before the second mob arrives, or in the middle of the fight. Kill the first mob next to the trap, not on top of it: any damage, including your pet's, breaks the ice. From 28, Frost Trap slows both mobs by 60% if you'd rather fight them one at a time outside it.

Staying alive

  • Deterrence when a pull goes wrong. 25% more Dodge and Parry for 10 seconds, and more dodges mean more Mongoose Bites.
  • Keep your pet on the same mob as you. It splits the damage and adds its own.
  • Feign Death at 30 resets a pull you can't win.

Stat priority

Melee leveling

  1. Agility
  2. Stamina
  3. Attack Power
  4. Strength
  5. Intellect

Agility raises your melee and ranged damage, your crit and your Dodge, and every dodge is a Mongoose Bite. Stamina sits second: you're the one getting hit.

Gear

Weapons

Two one-handed weapons. Predator's Edge adds 50% to your off-hand damage, so from 25 Survival fights with a weapon in each hand. Put the slower, harder-hitting weapon in your main hand: Raptor Strike and Strider Kick use its damage.

Keep a ranged weapon too. You open every fight with it, and Aimed Shot adds a flat bonus to its hit.

Armor

Agility and Stamina. Take a piece with Strength or Attack Power over one with Intellect or Spirit.

Professions

Leatherworking and Skinning is the Survival leveling pair. Leatherworking makes Agility armor on the way up, and Skinning pays for it with every beast you kill.

Alchemy is the pick at 60 if you raid: Elixir of the Mongoose and Elixir of Greater Agility are both Alchemy recipes, and you'll drink a lot of them.

For gold, level with Skinning and Mining or Skinning and Herbalism.

Group play and dungeons

Your job in a group is melee damage, traps and a second pair of hands when the tank loses a mob.

  • Stand behind the target. Mobs can parry and block from the front, and your pet belongs back there with you.
  • Freezing Trap works in combat now. Drop Freezing Trap between the crowd control target and the group and shoot it once. Any damage breaks the ice, so keep your pet and Explosive Trap away from it.
  • Hunter's Mark stays on the kill target. Your Expose Prey needs it, and every ranged attacker gets Attack Power against it.
  • Wing Clip runners. At max rank it slows by 60% for 10 seconds.
  • Feign Death when you pull threat. Melee crits push it high.
  • Aspect of the Wild covers your party and raid with Nature resistance.
  • Frost Trap behind the group when the tank loses a pack: everything that runs through it is slowed by 60%, and you're already in melee to pick up the loose mob.

PvP

Survival is the Hunter who wins at close range. Casters expect to walk away from a Hunter and find you on top of them instead. Play the Level 60 build with its PvP swap: Entrapment 5/5 and one point of Improved Wing Clip in place of Careful Aim and Efficiency.

  • Wing Clip and Counterattack: Wing Clip slows by 60% at max rank, and with the swap's 1/3 Improved Wing Clip it has a 7% chance to root for 5 seconds. Counterattack roots for 5 seconds after a parry.
  • Entrapment: with the swap's 5/5 Entrapment, every trap roots everything it catches for 5 seconds. Frost Trap becomes a root and a slow.
  • Deterrence against Rogues and Warriors: 25% Dodge and Parry for 10 seconds, and more parries feed Counterattack.
  • Strider Kick chases: 30% movement speed for 3 seconds after the kick.
  • Freezing Trap in combat lets you trap a healer mid-fight, then turn on their teammate.

Tips

Mark first, always

Expose Prey only works on targets with Hunter's Mark. A fight without a Mark is a fight without free Mongoose Bites, and without Lacerating Strikes Bleeds.

Raptor Strike replaces a swing

Raptor Strike fires on your next melee swing. Pressing it twice doesn't hit twice. Press it once when it's ready and let the swing timer do the rest.

Two trap slots. Fire traps and Frost traps have separate limits. Keep an Explosive Trap and a Freezing Trap out at the same time.

Switch aspects with range. Hawk while you shoot the opener, Beast once you're in melee.

Lacerate on long fights only. It bleeds for 21 seconds. A mob that dies in 10 wastes half of it, so while leveling it goes on elites, higher-level mobs and double pulls, and in groups on bosses and big trash.

Deterrence is for emergencies. It has a 5-minute cooldown, so save it for the moment a mob or a pack is swinging at you. The extra dodges light up more Mongoose Bites while it lasts, so spend every one.

Keep your bow upgraded. You open every fight with it and finish every runner with it. A Survival Hunter with a five-level-old bow loses the first seconds of every pull.

Resourcefulness pays you for crits. Each crit has a 60% chance to keep half your mana regeneration running for 30 seconds. Crit gear is mana gear for Survival.

Macros

Mongoose Bite if it's lit, Raptor Strike otherwise, and keep swinging.

Melee
#showtooltip
/startattack
/cast Mongoose Bite
/cast Raptor Strike

Mark the target and start melee in one press. The Mark line casts your highest rank. At 58 and up, that is rank 4; to stay on rank 3 as the boss opener advises, write it as Hunter's Mark(Rank 3).

Mark and engage
#showtooltip Hunter's Mark
/cast Hunter's Mark
/startattack
/petattack

Wing Clip your focus target, or your current target if you have no focus.

Focus Wing Clip
#showtooltip Wing Clip
/cast [@focus,harm,nodead][] Wing Clip

Freezing Trap with your pet called back, so it doesn't break the ice.

Trap and recall
#showtooltip Freezing Trap
/petfollow
/cast Freezing Trap

Deterrence that cancels itself on a second press.

Deterrence toggle
#showtooltip Deterrence
/cancelaura Deterrence
/cast Deterrence

Changelog

  • Guide published with Level 30 and Level 60 Melee builds.

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