Survival Hunter DPS Guide - Midnight (12.0.1)

Welcome to The War Within Survival Hunter Guide! In this guide, we’ll dive into the class mechanics and overall changes. We aim to provide all the essential and relevant information to answer any questions you might have.

Survival Hunter Overview

Survival Hunter is a highly flexible Melee DPS spec that can also do solid damage from ranged. It is a jack-of-all-trades melee with powerful single-target and AoE options, often within the same build. Survival Hunter got a massive rework in The War Within that has massively improved its stock, and there is no better time to give it a try!

Survival Hunter Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

• All-round DPS
• Good self-sustain with a Ferocity pet for Leech.
• Highly versatile without major build changes.

Weaknesses

• Poorer-than-deserved community perception.
• Competes with other Melee specs for raid spots that have stronger raid utility.

Survival Hunter Basic Gameplay

Survival Hunter is a spec about buff and cooldown management at the same time.

Between most abilities, you want to weave a Kill Command in for the Tip of the Spear stacks it generates. The goal is to have Tip of the Spear cover as many of your non-Kill Command abilities as possible, such as Wildfire Bomb, and Raptor Strike/Mongoose Bite.

The rotation is very dynamic, fast-paced, and busy. The best Survival Hunters know the spec's priorities like the back of their hand and are always able to make the correct ability decision on the fly, even when many mechanics are vying for your attention simultaneously.

Survival Hunter Changes in Patch 11.2

Base Survival Hunter Changes

• Wildfire Bomb damage has been increased by ~27%.
• Explosive Shot is now effectively AoE/Sentinel-exclusive, as the new Harmonize node is more commonly used for single-target and Pack Leader.
• Cull the Herd now applies a 30% damage bleed to Kill Shot.
• Born to Kill increases Kill Shot and Deathblow damage by 50%.

Sentinel Changes

• Lunar Storm now resets the cooldown ofWildfire Bomb when it becomes available, eliminating the need to hold it.

Reshii Wraps Addition

Patch 11.2 introduces the Reshii Wraps Artifact Cloak from the K'aresh campaign, featuring a high-damage proc and customizable secondary stats. Updated Season 3 BiS lists are available on the Gear page.

Tier Set Bonuses

Tier set bonuses now vary by Hero Talent. The 2-piece and 4-piece bonuses differ between Sentinel and Pack Leader, influencing build choices and rotations.

Patch 11.2 provides a full update to the Survival Hunter guide to reflect these changes and the new season.

Survival Hunter Leveling Guide for The War Within

Survival Hunter Leveling Playstyle

Survival Hunter, thanks to its pet acting as a partial tank, is well-suited for both questing and dungeon leveling. It has the best survivability among Hunter specs, though its pet is not as durable as a Beast Mastery Hunter's, meaning it cannot handle the same large pulls.

Grab a Ferocity pet and Misdirection, activating it before tagging as many mobs as possible—usually with Wildfire Bomb—to direct them toward your pet. Then, eliminate them with Wildfire Bomb. Each time you kill an enemy, the cooldown of Harpoon is reset, allowing you to quickly engage the next target.

Best Leveling Pet for Survival Hunter

All pets deal the same damage, but they differ in utility and special abilities. For leveling, the best choice is any Ferocity-type pet, as they heal themselves whenever they deal damage, enabling you to take on larger pulls.

Ferocity pets also come with Primal Rage, which provides a Bloodlust effect. Use this as often as possible when engaged in fights lasting over thirty seconds.

Survival Hunter DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents

© Wowhead

Copy the Survival Hunter talents, paste them into the game.

Single-Target - Pack Leader

Mythic+/AoE - Pack Leader

Raid AoE - Pack Leader

Build Types — Single-Target, Mythic+, & Raid AoE

On this page, we provide three types of builds: Single-Target, Mythic+, and Raid AoE. Each is optimized for specific scenarios.

Single-Target builds focus purely on maximizing damage against a single enemy, completely ignoring cleave and AoE. Many raid encounters are primarily single-target, and even if there are add spawns, a single-target build can still be optimal if those adds are not crucial to the fight.

Mythic+ builds are designed to complete Mythic+ dungeons as efficiently as possible. These builds are determined by simulating thousands of setups across both single-target and AoE situations, using mathematical analysis to find the best overall performance without excessively prioritizing AoE. Open-World and Delve builds are often slight variations of this, as they also require a balance between single-target and AoE optimization.

Raid AoE builds prioritize single-target damage while maintaining respectable AoE capabilities. Many raid encounters feature AoE phases, but the value of AoE is often limited—once adds die within a reasonable timeframe, additional AoE damage is unnecessary. These builds ensure adequate AoE while keeping single-target damage as the primary focus. If Mythic+ builds balance single-target and AoE at 50/50, Raid AoE builds lean 75% toward single-target.

Best PvP Talents for Survival Hunter

1. Survival Tactics is effective for interrupting powerful casts from mobs and other players that you can't otherwise stop.
2. Mending Bandage provides a strong out-of-combat heal and also clears lingering debuffs.
3. Hunting Pack offers a valuable speed boost, especially useful for leveling and open-world content.

The remaining options can be chosen based on personal preference.

Best Hero Talents for Beast Mastery Hunter in The War Within

Overall Hero Talents for Beast Mastery Hunter

Pack Leader

Pack Leader has by far the strongest single-target DPS and is the default pick for raiding.

Sentinel

Sentinel has superior AoE to Pack Leader, but this is almost never relevant enough to choose over Pack Leader's single-target advantage.

Mythic+ Hero Talents for Beast Mastery Hunter

Pack Leader

Pack Leader offers the highest single-target and priority-target DPS among our two Hero Talents, making it ideal for completing most dungeons more quickly. However, it is around 10% weaker in AoE situations. For many players, Mythic+ is synonymous with AoE, which is understandable. That said, I strongly recommend trying out Pack Leader in single-target heavy dungeons like Theater of Pain and Workshop.

Sentinel

Sentinel has the strongest AoE and defensive profile, but is significantly behind for single-target and priority-target damage.

Survival Hunter DPS Stat Priority

1. Mastery
2. Haste
3. Crit
4. Versatility

Diminishing Returns on Stats

There are certain points at which specific stats start offering diminishing returns. After reaching these points, stats will provide progressively less benefit. This doesn't necessarily mean a stat is no longer useful past its point of diminishing returns, but if you exceed these thresholds, it’s important to pay close attention to your simulations and determine if you should prioritize different stats.

• 21,000 Crit, or 44%
• 19,800 Haste, or 30%
• 23,400 Versatility, or 30%
• 21,000 Mastery Rating

Stat Explanations

Agility is your primary stat, providing you with Attack Power, which determines the damage of all your abilities.

Mastery, through Mastery: Spirit Bond, increases both your and your pet’s damage while also reducing your damage taken by a flat 3%. This effect is doubled while within 25 yards of your pet. While increased Mastery improves damage, it does not affect the damage reduction.

Haste increases both you and your pet’s attack speed, boosts Focus regeneration, reduces your Global Cooldown from 1.5 seconds to a minimum of 0.750 seconds, and shortens the cooldown on many abilities, including Kill Command.

Critical Strike increases your chance to critically hit with all spells and abilities. Crits deal double damage by default, but certain effects can increase crit damage, making them even more powerful.

Versatility increases all damage and healing done, while reducing all damage taken.

Survival Hunter DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities

Single-Target Rotation for Survival Hunter

This priority list describes the optimal single-target Rotation for Survival Hunters. In short, you should press the highest-priority ability for which the conditions are met, every single cast.

A lot of the rotation revolves around Tip of the Spear, a buff generated by Kill Command that buffs the damage of other abilities. I will refer to this as "Tip", or "Tip stacks" throughout the rotation.

Note that I will refer to Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite interchangeably in the rotation, as Mongoose replaces Raptor in many talent builds.

1. Cast Kill Command if it would activate a Howl of the Pack Leader Beast.
2. Use Spearhead whenever available. Try to cast it following a Coordinated Assault, and not right before.
3. Cast Flanking Strike with Tip of the Spear.
4. Use Raptor Strike/Mongoose Bite to apply and maintain the Serpent Sting DoT.
5. UseRaptor Strike when you have a Strike it Rich proc from your 4PC, with Tip of the Spear. If you do not have a Tip when you get the proc, use a Kill Command to generate one first, then Raptor Strike.
6. Use Coordinated Assault whenever possible.
7. Use Wildfire Bomb on cooldown. No worries about Tip of the Spear or anything else, just press it.
8. Cast Kill Command to generate Focus if you have less than 77.
9. Use Raptor Strike/Mongoose Bite as a filler if you have nothing else to do. Costs 30 Focus.
10. Use Kill Shot/Explosive Shot as fillers if you can cast absolutely nothing else. They cost 10 and 20 Focus, respectively.

Single-Target Opener for Survival Hunter in The War

1. Ensure Hunter's Mark is active on the target from you or another Hunter in the group.
2. Use Raptor Strike/Mongoose Bite to apply Serpent Sting.
3. Use Coordinated Assault. You should also use your Potion and any stat-granting Trinket effects here.
4. Activate Spearhead.
5. Use Kill Command.
6. Use Wildfire Bomb if you have it.
7. Use Flanking Strike.
8. Proceed with your normal rotation.

AoE Rotation for Survival Hunter

This priority list outlines the optimal AoE rotation for Survival Hunters. The goal is to always use the highest-priority ability available based on the conditions at any given moment.

A significant part of the rotation revolves around Tip of the Spear, a buff generated by Kill Command that enhances the damage of other abilities. This buff will be referred to as "Tip" or "Tip stacks" throughout the rotation.

1. Use Raptor Strike/Mongoose Bite if you have Hogstrider active or a Strike it Rich proc that is about to expire.
2. Cast Wildfire Bomb whenever possible. No need to consider Tip stacks, just use it.
3. Cast Kill Command if you have a Howl of the Pack Leader proc or Beast to activate.
4. Cast Flanking Strike with 1 or 2 Tip of the Spear stacks. Avoid using it at 0 or 3 stacks to maximize effectiveness.
5. Use Coordinated Assault on cooldown. Ensure you use all Bombs first to avoid wasting the ones granted by Bombardier.
6. Cast Fury of the Eagle with Tip of the Spear on cooldown.
7. Cast Kill Command to generate Focus if you have less than 77 or if it is close to reaching 2 charges.
8. Cast Explosive Shot on cooldown. Use it with Tip of the Spear if available, but do not go out of your way to optimize for it.
9. Cast Mongoose Bite as a filler.

AoE Opener for Survival Hunter

1. Ensure Hunter's Mark is active on the target from you or another Hunter in the group.
2. While the pull is being gathered and you are not ready to do full damage, pick a target and spam Kill Command to build a few Tip of the Spear stacks ahead of time.
3. Use Explosive Shot early since it explodes after 3 seconds, allowing extra damage while you are unable to do much else.
4. If you have a Howl of the Pack Leader proc on your Kill Command, activate it before starting the rest of the opener.
5. Cast all your Wildfire Bombs.
6. Cast Coordinated Assault, along with your Potion and on-use Trinkets.
7. Cast Wildfire Bomb.
8. Cast Fury of the Eagle if you have a Tip of the Spear stack; otherwise, hold onto it until you do.
9. Cast Flanking Strike.
10. Proceed with the normal rotation, following the priority list.

Survival Hunter DPS Gems and Consumables

Best Gems for Survival Hunter in The War Within

You should use Culminating Blasphemite in one socket. Then, ensure you have one gem of each type in other sockets to maximize the Crit effect, ideally Masterful Emerald, Masterful Ruby, Masterful Sapphire, and Quick Onyx. Fill in remaining sockets with Quick Onyx.

Best Flask for Survival Hunter in The War Within

You should be drinking the Flask of Alchemical Chaos at all times.

Best Potion for Survival Hunter in The War Within

Your stat potion should be Tempered Potion. Use these when you will do the most damage with your abilities, likely during your cooldowns and/or Bloodlust/Heroism. You can also obtain Fleeting Tempered Potion from Cauldrons that can be spawned by Alchemists.

You should keep a stock of Invigorating Healing Potions to use when at low health, and if you have a Warlock in the group, grab their Healthstones and use them as well. Do not macro these together, they are best used separately! You can also obtain Fleeting Invigorating Healing Potion from Cauldrons that can be spawned by Alchemists.

Best Food for Beast Mastery Hunter in The War Within

Since our secondary stats are stronger per-point than our primary stat, you should be eating secondary stat food at all times, either Beledar's Bounty, Outsider's Provisions, Jester's Board, Empress' Farewell personal food, or the The Sushi Special Feast. They are all identical.

It may also be worth eating "split" Stat Foods, such as Deepfin Patty, because your highest secondary stat may not always be your best one currently, point-for-point. This should be simmed.

In addition, if you can afford it, you should use Crystallized Augment Runes to increase your primary stat. Augment Runes are expensive, and disappear on death, so use them wisely!

Best Enchants for Survival Hunter

Slot	Enchantment
Necklace	Magnificent Jeweler's Setting (adds up to 2 sockets to a Ring or Neck)
Weapon	Enchant Weapon - Authority of Radiant Power
Chest	Enchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance
Bracers	Enchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Leech
Legs	Stormbound Armor Kit
Boots	Enchant Boots - Scout's March
Rings	Enchant Ring - Radiant Mastery
Cloak	Enchant Cloak - Chant of Winged Grace

Survival Hunter DPS Gear and Best in Slot

This section will cover everything you need to know about equipping your character correctly.

BiS Gear for Survival Hunter

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Midnight Herald's Cowl (TIER SET)	Forgeweaver Araz/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Neck	Salhadaar's Folly	Nexus King Salhadaar in Manaforge Omega
Shoulder	Midnight Herald's Shadowguards (TIER SET)	The Soul Hunters/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Cloak	Reshii Wraps	Season 3 Questline
Chest	Midnight Herald's Hauberk (TIER SET)	Fractillus/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Bracers	Glyph-Etched Vambraces with Dawnthread Lining	Crafted by Leatherworking
Gloves	Glyph-Etched Gauntlets with Dawnthread Lining	Crafted by Leatherworking
Belt	Durable Information Securing Container with Static Charge	Patch 11.1.7 Questline
Legs	Midnight Herald's Petticoat (TIER SET)	Loom’ithar/Matrix Catalyst/Great Vault
Boots	Interloper's Chain Boots	The Soul Hunters in Manaforge Omega
Ring #1	Logic Gate: Omega	Forgeweaver Araz in Manaforge Omega
Ring #2	Signet of the False Accuser	Halls of Atonement (710), or in Great Vault
Trinket #1	Araz's Ritual Forge	Forgeweaver Araz (710), or in Great Vault
Trinket #2	Astral Antenna	Loom’ithar in Manaforge Omega
Weapon	Spellstrike Warplance	Eco-Dome Al'dani (710), or in Great Vault

Best Trinkets for Survival Hunter in The War Within Season 3

This Trinket Tier List is based on an average of Single-Target Raid and Mythic+ AoE Performance, weighted 65/35 (Mythic+ has single-target too!).

Note that the Trinkets are compared at their highest possible Item Level, which is only 710 for Delve Trinkets. Not only that, but 723 Mythic+ Trinkets are only obtainable via the Great Vault. At equal iLvls, the picture may be very different and that is why you should sim yourself.

A "Tier" as defined by this list is around 0.5%-1% DPS.

S-Tier

• Astral Antenna
• Ara-Kara Sacbrood
• Araz's Ritual Forge
• Cursed Stone Idol (AoE/M+)

A-Tier

• Signet of the Priory

B-Tier

• Improvised Seaforium Pacemaker
• Miniscule Mailemental in an Envelope
• Lily of the Eternal Weave

C-Tier

• Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj
• Incorporeal Essence-Gorger

D-Tier

• So'leah's Secret Technique
• Sigil of the Cosmic Hunt
• Algari Alchemist Stone
• Void-Touched Fragment
• Essence-Hunter's Eyeglass

The War Within Season 3 Tier Set for Survival Hunter

The Tier Set is comprised of 5 items, all carrying the Midnight Herald's moniker.

In Season 3, there are two Set Bonuses per spec, one for each Hero Talent.

Pack Leader

Hunter Pack Leader 11.2 Class Set 2pc — Increases pet damage by 5% and Beast damage by 15%. Whenever you summon a Beast, you gain 6% Haste/Crit/ Mastery for 8 seconds, depending on the Beast summoned. Boar gives Haste, Bear gives Mastery, and Wyvern gives Crit.

Hunter Pack Leader 11.2 Class Set 4pc — Summoning a Beast during Lead From the Front (aka Bestial Wrath) causes a Stampede, sending out a line from your character with beasts that do heavy damage over 7 seconds.

Sentinel

Hunter Sentinel 11.2 Class Set 2pc: Wildfire Bomb damage increased by 10%. When Lunar Storm fades, gain Boon of Elune, causing your next 2 Wildfire Bombs to deal Arcane damage and have their initial damage increased by 150%.

Hunter Sentinel 11.2 Class Set 4pc: Sentinel's damage is increased by 25%. Boon of Elune is now active for the duration of Lunar Storm at 100% effectiveness.

Addons for Survival Hunter

Generic Addons for Hunters

• ElvUI
• Weak Auras
• Boss Mods
  • Deadly Boss Mods
  • BigWigs
• Details!
• GTFO

Specific Addons for Survival Hunters

• Currently, no additional addons are needed to play a Survival Hunter to its full potential.

WeakAuras for Survival Hunter

WeakAuras is an essential tool for Survival Hunter and DPS players, offering unparalleled customization to enhance your gameplay. Rather than focusing on specific examples, we recommend exploring Wago.io, where you’ll find an extensive library of WeakAuras to suit your needs.

If you are unfamiliar with WeakAuras, it is an incredibly powerful and widely-used AddOn that allows you to create custom displays for nearly everything in the game. This includes tracking buffs, debuffs, cooldowns, Focus, resources, and much more.

To import a WeakAura, visit Wago.io and select one that fits your preferences. Click the "Copy WeakAura Import String" button to copy it to your clipboard. Next, log into the game and type /wa in the chat box to open the WeakAuras interface. Navigate to the "Import" section, press Ctrl+V to paste the copied string, and click "Import". You’re ready to go!

Mastering WeakAuras and customizing it to your playstyle is highly recommended for any serious raider. With countless options available on Wago.io, you can tailor your interface to optimize your performance and focus on what truly matters in combat.

Survival Hunter Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Best Pet for Survival Hunter?

All pets deal the same amount of damage, but their utility can differ based on the situation. For example, Spirit Beasts are useful for their healing ability, Spirit Mend, while Ferocity pets are ideal when a lust effect is needed. Refer to a detailed guide on pets for more information about their specific utilities.

Which Race is Best for Survival Hunter?

The difference in performance between the best and worst races for Survival Hunters is minor, generally only 1-2%. For the best optimization, use tools like Raidbots to simulate your character.

Is there a Haste cap for Survival Hunters?

No, there are no specific Haste breakpoints for Survival Hunters. While Haste starts experiencing diminishing returns at 30% from rating, it can still remain one of your top stats, depending on your gear and build.