Best Hunter DPS
Posted on February 28th, 2009 by Gavin under Efficiency Tips, General Tips, Hunter Pets, World of Warcraft, WotLK(This post contains information from a previous patch and is out of date. For more recent info on hunters visit the latest post here: Highest DPS Talents – Hunter Build For Patch 3.3)
Finding Your Best DPS – Hunters
We agree it’s high time that we started getting back to discussing something other than Deathnots. By now we figure that anyone fairly serious about getting through the game content has already hit 80 and begun to gear up in Naxx for Ulduar. So, in the first of our ‘not DK’ articles let’s discuss the absolute best hunter builds for DPS.
Keep in mind that in order for some of these builds to be effective you will need to be hit capped and other sorts of gearing considerations. But if you really want to know where to put every single point to reach the highest DPS possible, these builds will give you the current bench mark from extensive real play and theorycrafting.
Also, remember that these are not leveling builds or utility either. If you ever need to kite the zombies for Gluth they might not be the best for that sort of thing. They also don’t rely on AOE damage from volley to buff the numbers. This is straight up, any target, single target, standard shot rotation DPS. And as such, you can get wickedly good numbers in any situation.
For the hard-core theorycrafter, Elitist Jerks is the place to be. We do a lot of research there when it comes to maximizing our toons abilities. What we show here is a serious condensing of the Best Possible DPS thread using the incredible spreadsheet made by Shandara. It’s truly mind-boggling work, but you don’t have to let it be confusing. Just use the information and watch your Deeps go through the roof.
Also, we want you to keep in mind that until you have every single ‘best in slot’ item in the game, and a full set of heroic raid buffs you are NOT going to come close to the numbers we are going to list. Think of them as comparison between specs. These DPS numbers were calculated on a spreadsheet, and while they can be approximated on target dummies (within 1% or so) you will find it hard to nearly impossible to get within 5% in actual raid situations.
This is primarily true in situations where you can’t just stand there and go through an infinite shot rotation (like you can with Patchwerk) and are instead forced to move a lot (such as Grobbulus). Your numbers will also be nerfed in 10 man raids with fewer buffs, and if you are not using every single self buff available – which can be expensive and not really necessary.
Beast Mastery
The beast master hunter finally falls to the bottom of the barrel in hunter DPS builds. This has really never been the case before. It represents a complete reversal as a matter of fact with BM hitting the bottom and Survival topping the charts. We can’t say whether we like it or not, although personally I’ve always wanted to see SV get a whole lot better than just a trapping utility spec.
- The build – 52/12/7
- The Shot Rotation – SpS/KS/MS/AS/SS
- Crit Rate – 40.53%
- The pet – Raptor
- Pet build – Ferocity
- Hunter DPS – 3,431
- Pet DPS – 2,594
- Total Best DPS for BM – 6,025
This may very well not be your shot rotation. You might still be under the influence of BC theory that had you doing 3 auto-shots and skipping things, but those days are gone. No Concussive Shot in there either to boost SS. It’s basically use all your shots that do damage in the order listed above then repeat ad infinitum. You will do a LOT more DPS using that rotation, and you don’t have to watch it as closely either.
Master Marksman
The MM hunter is still a bit of a ‘tweener. Frankly I’ve never been a big fan of the MM hunter, but they can sure hold their own on DPS these days as you can see below:
- The Build – 15/51/5
- The Shot Rotation – SpS/CS/KS/AS/AimS/SS
- Crit Rate – 51.55%
- The Pet – Raptor
- Pet Build – Ferocity
- Hunter DPS – 5,026
- Pet DPS – 1,145
- Total Best DPS for MM - 6,171
The MM hunter will use a little more traditional shot rotation with a CS thrown in there. Aimed Shot gets a spot as well, but you’re going to drop Multi-Shot out of your rotation, it messes with the cooldowns. By now you can begin to see things working probably the way Blizz always intended them to work. Use your Talented abilities in a rotation with almost everything else you can squeeze into a smooth roation instead of just hitting 3 buttons all the time.
Survival
An now the king of the current DPS charts, and let me repeat – thank you Blizz. Explosive shot is awesome, and it’s really cool to be able to top the DPS charts and also have the increased survivability. Since the SV hunter does so much DPS, you can probably fiddle with points a bit to get even more out of your traps or a bit more of a PvP build in there without dropping below the BM hunter for PvE raid DPS.
- The Build – 6/14/51
- The Shot Rotation – SpS/KS/ES/MS/SS
- Crit Rate – 56.41%
- The Pet – Raptor
- Pet Build – Ferocity
- Hunter DPS – 5,517
- Pet DPS – 1,184
- Total Best DPS for SV – 6,701
That’s right folks – 700 DPS more than the BM hunter. Talk about a stupid crit rating too; almost 6 out of 10! This guy goes fast, fast, fast and crits a LOT. And we’ve got even more good news (well, it might be bad news for some of you), you might not have to live with the same old ‘best dps’ pet that all the other hunters have. But more on that another day.
We know you’ve all been in raids where the lowest DPS in the raid was around 900. Imagine being 700 DPS over the next guy on the list! Now, we know straight up Deeps isn’t everything. But if you are going to make a serious run at some of the dungeon achievements having a couple of guys who can pump out 4-5k DPS on a regular basis will certainly help your chances as a team.
Now, race and professions can have a serious impact on these numbers as well. Dwarves and Dranei rule the lot because of racial bonuses. Best profession combination for max DPs is Blacksmithing and Jewelcrafting. Those amped up gems in every slot make a big difference as well as getting a couple of additional gem slots.
But even if you are not trying to squeeze every last drip out of the meters, you will certainly improve your damage a ton if you duplicate the builds above, and stick to the shot rotation religiously. Check out the EJ thread for best in slot gear choices and more tips on gemming your gear and you will have your hunter Dominating the DPS charts in no time!
Still making final edits?
Death Knights in first sentence, no Deathnots.
Anyone who isn’t so hot at using a DK properly we tend to call a Death NOT, instead of the far more favorable and intimidating Death Knight. So it was a purposeful thing.
If you are looking for Macros for your shot rotation…..you suck as a hunter. Go play another class.
Nuff said.
first
Now I’m not a hunter but if I were, I’d find this kind of article super amazing! As it is, it’s still damn good!
Can we get something like this for other classes too?
-Me
My hunter is 70. I might have to get him to 80 and try out the SV tree. Tried as an early hunter and it was pretty much a wasted tree. Thanks for the article. It gives me hope.
The reason SV sucks at initial levels is that we dont have enough points in the SV talent tree to make it work properly for example explosive shot. I will also recommend SV for leveling. It is little hard to master as u need to work with lots of cooldown of traps and shots but once u know how to use it u will be kick a$$.
SV tree is bloody great fun to play, im still a bm fan through and through but SV brings in more then one bloody button for top dps and makes it really fun to play, not having to rely on the pet doing half the dps is always a great thing.
I agree with matts comment, as i am not a hunter either, and a dps build on other classes would be really usefull,
keep up the good work,
steve.
Having played a Hunter since pre-BC, the one thing I dont understand is almost every build that is labeled “best DPS” almost never includes the +’s to hit chance. In Wotlk it’s Focused Aim, while the 70% reduction to the pushback on steady shot is nice the 3% chance to hit in invaluable. That allows the Hunter to stack less +hit and stack more +agi, crit, or ap. But, this is just food for thought.
Getting hit from gear is the best way as most of our ‘best gear’ contains hit. Gemming a few others for hit in lieu of taking FA gives us a chance to reallocate those other 3 points.
While 3% hit IS awesome, you get more benefit from spending those 3 talent points elsewhere and gemming hit than you do taking FA and getting another 48 agi.
48 agi = good
48 agi < 3 talent points
Just awful unresearched article. 1st look at rotation, cant do a KS untill the mob is at or below 20% health so toss that out and second the comment “no more aimed shot to slow you down”. Aimed shot is instant now. Might have been a nice touch to discuss appropriate glyphs for each build too.
Perhaps, but before you get nasty you might actually read the whole article PLUS the links to the rest of the research. Did you even look at the spreadsheet? It’s enough to make you go blind. There is so much background in this you could spend a week going through it, and obviously you did not do any due diligence.
And as for glyphs, that information is also in the thread we linked to, or would you rather us just send you a 500 page hunter guide? There is only so much you can cover in a single article, but keep griping, and we will keep them coming.
Lol, Lawbringer, you “Da man” I’m sick of you idiots trying to win one over on people, who are releasing to you, soem extreamly impressive and helpful advice, just F*** off, either say a massive ty for the way they’ve laid out a clear dps rotation, rather than acting like a twat and thinking you look like you know your stuff!
Thanks for the artice, helpful, and extreamly interesting!
he’s right – and your “survival build is god awful, you didnt even have it set up to *have* explosive shot. For shame!
Seriously?? You go SV to get Explosive shot and Black arrow! And you don’t even have them on there. What the heck!?
yeah… it might be a lot of work, but an article for every class like this one would be the most helpful WoW tip ever created (pally next?)
Okay, so . . . I’m dense . . . I’m having trouble figuring out the abbreviations for the shot rotation. A little help? (^_^)’
@ Webly, I wouldn’t say that at all. Perhaps the “Shot Rotation” could have been worded differently as “Shot Priority” for the SV build. You follow that priority and only use that shot when it’s available or it’s cooldown is up. So SpS if not ticking, KS if available, MS if available, etc…
Also, it would be kind of hard to used an aimed shot if it’s not in the build.
Is KS kill shot and if it is I thought it only works on targets with less then 20% health. Help a noon out pls.
Always love reading your articles. So, here we have all 3 Hunter spec’s putting out some serious dps numbers (pet included).. Deathnot’s dual-wielding crazy dps, etc etc.. and as a warrior its all I (we as a group) can do to at least hang in there and put out respectable dps #’s.. and here comes the TG (10% nerf)…
time to switch and roll a hunter or DNot i guess.
So, as always, love it when you give us huntards some love! This is a great, very informative article that helps me to not have to weed through ElitistJerks over-inflated postings. And, as for the people whining about where you placed KS in the lineup, do they not realise that means, if it’s not ready, to skip it? I have yet to be steered wrong by your postings, and doubt it’s gonna happen anytime soon! Keep up the good work
@Zybane, yes KS is kill shot and yes the mob has to have less than 20% helath. SV hunters don’t use a shot rotation, they use a priority shot system. i.e. that is the priority list of shots (essentially most damaging to least). You use the one that is highest on the list if available (off cooldown, proc, etc..).
So with SpS/KS/ES/MS/SS you would say, Is SpS on the mob? No cast it, yes skip, is KS available (mob less than 20% and off cd)? Yes cast it, no skip, is ES available (off cd and / or LL proc), yes cast, no skip and so on down the line.
I think that you should also do a little hint on how PvP dps. I know thats alot to ask for but since PvP is the other half of the game I’d like to know whats the best for it( i know you cant do it as easily but just a general idea in terms of what my spec should look like, wat my pet should be and all the different shots and traps i should b hovering over) thanks
-Parker
(mage/hunter)
I use your survival build and rotation and…I have 2k dps raid:/
When i use my build mark i have 2.5k dps raid….
Why u put 1 point in focused fire?
Is better than aimed shot?Oo
MS-multi shoot?
Bethrezen,
The difference you are seeing in those DPS numbers more than likely has to do with gear. The only way to find your best build and Shot priority is to use the spreadsheet and plug in YOUR current gear. Like we said there is a TON of work involved so don’t expect to be abe to do it in 5 minutes or anything.
You may very well be better served using a modified spec until you are approaching “best in slot” gear choices for hunters. Primarily I suspect the real issue has to do with your hit rating compared to the gear you will have later.
Omigawd
I Love Hunterz!!!
—————-
Thanks for taking notice into DeathNOTs
and please all of you Stop trying to tank.
———
Love DYS
- John
Lifetime Hunter, Prot War, Holy Pala.
could you guys pls be more specific about shot rotation, like don’t abreviate
thanks
Survival
SpS Ks ES MS SS
thanks
SpS/KS/ES/MS/SS
Im a hunter noob, any1 fancy naming them fully for me?
SpS = Serpent Sting
KS = Kill Shot
ES = Explosive Shot
MS = Multi Shot
SS = Steady Shot
CS = Concussive Shot
AS = Arcane Shot
AimS = Aimed Shot
I think CS might refer to Chimera Shot – Concussive doesn’t help much as far as damage goes.
thx
Do u use some kind of macro?
If yes can u share?
I’ve played a MM hunter forever, doing high end raiding in both BC and WotLK, couldn’t help but notice some glaring mistakes I just couldn’t let go
First off, pet choice is a personal thing, cats and raptors are both top choices, there’s not a lot of reason to choose one over another. As for the specs, you guys chose some talents that should be avoided at all costs. I’m talking about Wild Quiver (WQ) & Barrage in the MM spec, and Sniper Training (ST) in the SV tree, both not worth the points. WQ doesn’t add a lot of damage for 3 points, only procs on 12% of auto shots and for just a bit of damage, and you’re never consistently far away for the ST bonus. You should also take a single point out of Expose Weakness, as it will be up all the time with only 2. Also, AimS doesn’t do enough damage to be worth the mana, keep it to just PVP, and since you’re not using it, Barrage is wasted points.
Instead MM should take full points in Imp SS, and in the SV tree should put points in hunting party (3 is enough). That’s my 2 cents
Piblo you’re arguing against the math here bro. While pet choice IS personal, there is no doubt that according to the math the raptor will do the most dps. Now, the real question is by how much? I would have to play with the spreadsheet a lot more but the general consensus is that yes, a cat will do really high damage along with any other pet from the ferocity family. But the truth is that not all pets are created equal and the raptor does the most damage. I didn’t say I liked it, it’s just a fact borne out by the math.
And as for mistakes in the build, you are also arguing against the math. You may not LIKE the skills in the build, and frankly I’m with you. But the fact is that these builds will give you the highest damage. Now, we will also come to the question of how much more. So you can say you don’t like the skills, but you can’t say they are all out mistakes. And by the way, these aren’t our builds, they have been tried and tested by hundreds of elite hunters across the realms and have been proven to be the very best there is.
Don’t forget that the builds shown are theory-crafted builds using a spreadsheet with best in-slot gear. Essentially take a spreadsheet, twiddle the talents / gear / shots and get a dps number. Those numbers may not be achievable in actual play.
We are running around switching targets, hitting the wrong buttons, clipping an ES or SpS here or there. Theory-crafting is all about seeing what could be acheived in a perfect world.
You may make a talent change just because your playstyle is slightly different than the optimum used in the spreadsheets. I’m acutally using the SV build as shown (minus 1 pt in FF for FA to be hit-capped). I’m seeing about a 200 dps increase from my previous spec.
Its good to see someone looking at builds in this detail.
For me though, I like having the pet being strong enough to round up the mobs and hold agro while I let loose with the ammo.
I find it most annoying, and see many noob hunters, in a face to face fight with the mob when to me the pet is there to do this.
I can see the sense in having a high dps build for grouping but again if they don’t use feign at the right times they are likely to find themselves tanking.
The overall dps doesn’t seem to drop between builds so to me you are still taking the mobs down just as fast, faster if you are not pulling the agro.
PVP is where you will win everytime with the high dps, the pet then just becomes annoying to the priests etc, lol.
Love the articles.
For soloing you are completely correct you want your pet to be able to get and hold aggro and stay alive long enough for you to burn down the mobs. For raiding/heroics you want the higher DPS and your pets aggro grabbing ability is a non factor unless the squishies are being attack, but thats why you have Distracting Shot + Frost Trap + FD.
As far as this article goes I am very glad you guys put it out. I have been running BM spec hunters since release and been loving it. I switched to the SV spec last night to try it out on a heroic run and my DPS went up 350 points. Very impressed. Thanks again for the articles and keep up the good work.
On a seperate note this is the third time in a forum (and I have also sent 2 e-mails) that I am requesting info on getting the inscription update that I have not yet gotten. Any and all help will be appreciated.
UMMMM – relying on your pet as a tank is a fact of life in solo play, but honestly a ferocity pet will generate plenty of threat if you play properly. And using anything but a ferocity pet in a raid situation is just wierd, not to mention costing you serious pet damage. If you are having threat problems in a raid there is a big problem with your tank, not your pet. Your job in a raid is to kill everything in sight as fast as possible, it’s the tanks job to generate threat and hold aggro.
Ya for the Survival Spell rotation can you please tell me which spell that is because i suck at Deciphering Spell names like SS and AS and that kind of stuff
serpent sting, kill shot, explosive shot, multi shot, steady shot
Better is AimS or MS?
Better? Not better one or the other, just priority. You have to make sure that you are using your shots in an order that takes into account cooldowns so that you can pretty much fire shots one after the other with no white attacks in between. Not always possible, but that’s what you’re trying to do. So the best shot is the one that is not an auto attack (white). Either AimS or MS is better.
You played a hunter recently lawbringer… they share a cooldown now. maybe a little bit of research should go on before the sarcasm starts getting thrown about
I wasn’t being sarcastic, it’s not really valid to say one is better than the other. It sort of depends with on the situation. And no, I haven’t been on my hunter in a while, so in the case where both shots are either available or unavailable that’s pretty much a push wouldn’t you say?
So as far as situations go, MS on multiple mobs, AimS on singles. What you are trying to do is put the shots in a priority system where the highest damage shot goes next. Better is hard to say. They are both better than an auto attack, but not really one better than the other.
Idk wtf lawbringer is talking about “no white shots”…
but anyway, to answer your question, Aimed is for single target. Multi is if there’s 2 or more.
Use that as your guideline and you can’t go wrong.
my thoughts exactly
Blah,
White attacks refer to the coloration you see when using a combat visualization of some kind in your UI. Shots using skills normally show yellow or red for crits. While regular shots will show up in white. If you don’t use combat text, it’s easy to see why this might be confusing.
Perhaps it would clear it up if I said auto shot. In BC hunter play hunters depended on having auto-shots in their rotation – auto attack shots not using a skill shot like AS or MS for instance.
Auto Shot has been nerfed to the point where regular hunter attacks do very small damage, so most of your damage is based on using skills, and not white or auto attacks. As a matter of fact, survival hunters are very dependent on all of their skilled shots also being critical strikes as well.
i know what a white shot is, what i actually meant was, how do you plan on stopping the white shots seeing as they will go off regardless of what move you are using, short of volley, unless you were just saying that you don’t need to wait for white shots to go off anymore, as they cast regardless of whether you are mid-way through a steady shot or not.
im currently topping DPS charts in my guild in 25 mans specced 5/15/51
making my focal point of dps my ES/SS with glyph of serp sting and noxious stings. im thinking of trying out this spec though to see how much it pumps my dps up.
Ok, got a question about BM spec. Wouldn’t dropping 1 point somewhere and putting it in beast mastery for the use of a devilsaur be a smarter idea? 9% additional damage to a pet is nothing to scoff at.
9% is roughly a 233 dps increase off the pet. Am I off on my numbers?
I’m not taking into account the raptor’s talent so I’m sure there’s a difference there. It’s 233 dps – raptor’s special dps = true gain.
until they actually make exotic pets decent (which i think they are planning to do?) the raptor is still the best one, as you get the raptors special dps and the extra talent point to throw about, which could account for 233 dps if it’s spent wisely, best thing is to not question these spreadsheets tbh, a whole heap of time and effort has gone into them, and by a whole heap i mean a WHOLE HEAP
How can you have Killshot that early in the rotation? It requires the target to be at 20% health or less? Or am I reading that wrong.
Will using a devilsaur constitute as a raptor? Please advise.
Anyone have a macro for the SV Hunt suggested shot rotations?
5026 dps seems like quite alot. When i put the mouse over my damage on
http://www.wowarmory.com/character-sheet.xml?r=Aman%27Thul&n=Kratoro
it says i do 421dps unbuffed. How can someone go from 421dps to 5000 with a little more agility? (also, to everyone, dont start saying im crap cos i dont play 10 hours a day).
scotty – what your DPS on your charecter sheet displays and what your ACTUAL DPS ~IS~ they are two different things. charecter sheet display DPS is if you were to just fire with your weapon without doing anything else (no yellow/skill attacks, just shoot with gun without touching anything else)
If you want to find out your DPS in game I suggest an addon such as Recount. And I wouldnt say you suck scotty but you do defintely need better gear to put out 5000 dps. Remember this number is based on the assumption you have a piece of gear for each slot that is the best for your class (BiS) , not PVP gear blues and such.
The one comment I’d really have on the SV Hunter section is that you might want to link to articles talking about the techniques required for top DPS, particularly trap dancing to proc Lock n’ Load.
Now i am a hunter and this is way helpful! Thanks you guys
So whats about 3.1?xD
So my only question is the fact you have Explosive shot on the cycle but no points spent on the Talent Tree spread. Suggestions? I love explosive shot as well as black arrow but nither show up… Am I missing something?
As Kahdargo stated if you look at the build for “Survival” it just isn’t adding up. Only 79 talent points used and it dosnt contain Explosive shot. So the shot rotation for their power build isnt going to happen. We need to see the build, completed containing Explosive shot if its going to be in the shot rotation along with a proper shot rotation. Right now with that build there is no way to get Explosive shot with just the 1 point they have remaining.
Thanks
“basically use all your shots that do damage in the order listed above then repeat ad infinitum. You will do a LOT more DPS using that rotation,”
Somwhere someone mentioned due diligence. At minimum this means the authors claims should add up. Suggesting we do things in a particular order to achieve a specific result hinges on those options being available, at least for the first rotation. .In this case KS is unavailable till the final rotation.
leaving us with less DPS than promised.
Let me say, thanks for taking the time to research and write the article while providing us with additional sources to learn from, but the authors theory does not stand primarily due to a lack of due diligence.
Its builds for 3.09 no 3.1…
So now is useless…
i waiting for 3.1 best Hunter DPSxD
As of 3.1.2
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#cxoZ0eVoZx0ci0cIhxuihsz
this is my current dps pve build just returned to WoW after a 1 month break so I dunno about the DPS output yet.
If you care about the 3% agility bonus from hunting party then you could try this
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#cbZ0eVoZx0ci0cIhxuAhsu
and please reply on which builds works better
My shot rotation BA>>SS>>>ES>>3 Steady Shots or whenever ES pops up and I pop Rapid Fire right after raid BL and follow it with Berserking
… guys, first of all you should learn SHOT ROTATION as SHOT priority, that means ya have to shot BEST DPS SHOTS as soon as they turn available, thats why he puts KS before everything else.
Therefore you guys should be more sensitive instead of just look at “what perfect world rotation” says … I m playing hunters for a long time.
What I ve learn, find a way to easly see how ypur shots turns availabe ( I use Power Aura ) … and use the rotation to watch what shot should be shooted 1st, you ll see ya ll get closer to 5k dps with naxx gear …
I m getting closer to this numbers with half-ulduar gear playing at Brazil with 300-400 ping.
I hope that helps … and sry for my poor english !!
Just one question. I use black arrow the same way that you use serpent sting, with my sps getting a much lower priority. Do you leave it off the survival rotation on purpose?
Thanks!
the Master Marksmen talent spec, you didn’t finish putting in all of the points. there are only 33 in MM, not 51. Could you use the rest of the points in there please so i know what to do next. thanks
Mate you have put explosive shot in your shot rotation but havent selected it in your surv talent tree
This is a reply to the following complaints, the author didn’t fill in the spots in the talent trees due to some changes in the talent tree as of patch 3.1 on nerfing the LnL proc chance and Explosive Shot ministuns. As of these reasons the author hasn’t updated the post for quite a time. On my previous post I have linked two of my top seeded specs, I havent tried the second on DPS but it would be a pleasure to get some feedback, plus I have seen some hunters put Aimed Shot in their rotation and use this following build http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#cxoZ0xVooZx0ci0cIhxuAhsk
if you are gaining enough mana returns during raid I’d suggest changing the one point in Hunting party To Imp Hunters Mark
how can we use explosive shot if it isnt selected in the sv build?
I have been playoing a hunter since I firest started playing WOW several years ago. ONly recently with the last expansion Wrath of The Lich King did I start raiding. I am pushins out 3.5K DPS on a regular basis right now with my SV build and Naxx Gear. When I really pay attention and try really hard I can push out 4K+.
So to answer your question.
Without specing for Explosive shot you can not use it.
The survival spec link isn’t right. Could we get a fix on that please?
I’d really have to disagree with some things posted here, but everyone has the right to their own opinion as well. All I do is raids and have played with specs, run the sheets, etc, etc. One thing is, the sheets don’t always tell the whole story either. To not use black arrow loses 6% damage right off the bat of all other shots. Yes the talent tree is messed up with black arrow and explosive not even selected, and I understand that the trees have changed since this first came out as well. I have an issue with the shot rotation as well. Of course it is in order of priority of what is available, and that is why Kill Shot is listed prematurely as it may seem to some, but it does take priority. On the other hand, if you crit shot, then your explosive shot loses its cooldown (and you will crit a lot one you’re geared). If you hit explosive a second time without another shot or two inbetween (depending on how fast you are on your shot cycle), you will have just wasted the previous explosive shot. Explosive hit 3 times, once when you first fire it, then 2 more times (which in essence would be the time it takes to use 2 other shots if your fast, or a steady shot). If you prematurely hit explosive shot again if you crit, you then just cancelled out the 2nd and 3rd hit from the first explosive shot, thus just wasting DPS. To say that shot cycle of priority is absolute is not correct, as these types of factors have to be taken into account to maximize DPS. For instance, you fire and Explosive shot, it crits and blows your cooldown, so you then fire another. You actually only hit with your explosive 4 times instead of 6 times because your second shot just cancelled the firing of the 2nd and 3rd of the first shot. Most damage calculators, spredsheets, or whatever don’t account for these things as they are not constants and you have to have a degree of understanding of what you are doing. Now it may crit again, or maybe not. If not, then you just wasted 2 damaging attacks that you didn’t even have to click a shot for and would have happened while you were firing other shots as well. As well, there are 3 points in Hawk Eye to increase your range by 6 yards? I know hunters like to keep distance, but don’t you think 3 talent points could be better spent elsewhere for more DPS than to get an extra 6 yards of range? maybe this is a glitch because of the newer talent tree? I don’t know, but if they are intended to be there, i would really have to question why. Someone earlier asked about focused aim. It is a complete waste of talent points unless you are not hit capped. If your not hit capped, then you’re lacking appropriate gear to even use any form of Max DPS talent spec to begin with without some modification. A miss does no damage, so being hit capped is a priority. For raiding, if you have a Boomkin, then you need a lot less hit rating. I believe 170 if i remember right without looking it up again. Otherwise, you need to hit cap yourself with gear, which it will do once you have higher end stuff. Maybe black arrow isn’t included due to the changes since this was published. i’d have to look up the dates to be certain, but sacrificing 6% damage just doesn’t seem logical unless things changed after this was put out. if your not a greedy DPS’r, then also put 1 point into Hunting Party, but no more. With the right gear you will crit a lot and more than 1 point is wasted since there is a 15 sec timer and you will crit again within that time frame. Granted, that point is not for your own DPS, but increases your raids mana. if raiding was about one single player, then I’d leave it out, but if you want your raid to be successful, then spend 1 point there. You won’t get credit for doing it, as nobody will realize the benefit you are giving them, but whats the bigger picture here unless you want others to fail for your own gain of looking better. Putting points into trap mastery may seem illogical and not appear to be a good move, but read closely and it will increase the damage of your black arrow as well. Maybe this is just outdated and hasn’t been revised, which may be the cause of many of the things I find disagreement on and the talent tree being off, but the Explosive Shot proc in the shot rotation remains and should never be hit back to back or is wasted DPS.
ive been reading this thread for like a half hour and i finally read something that makes sense!!!
Survival might look better in recount… uBut Marksmen ship adds 10% attack power to an entire raid. 10% x40 = alot higher dps then survival could ever put out… If your a raid leader never forget that a MM spec hunter will always give you more dps.
There a bit of an fault in the survival tree build posted here. The rotation gives ES (explosive shot) as part of the rotation. witch is apart from KS (killshot) the highest damage shot for survivor. But here come the fault, in the build you haven’t put talent point in BA (black arrow) and there for also not in ES. So this build hasn’t got ES for . Just a thing i noticed. So is the build not correct or is the rotation given incorrect?
Hi… I have really enjoyed this article, but would love the talent tree to be updated…:/ Please do it asap…
The new hunter DPS build guides will be coming soon – so many specs…so little time
Been looking and looking for a good dps spec but man this articalk rly helped thanks so much
i was looking for something that could top my dps … im already 6-7k dps now i’ve been looking at a lot of obvious talent picks but wtf is wrong with you. no explosive shot or black arrow? are you kidding me with your little tree you might be hitting maybe 2k TOPS. even with good gear my explosive shot will hit for abour 4k EVERY TICK now if you dont think thats worth 2 talent points then go /delete character.
You’ll have to look at the date on the post bro. We’re working on updating the trees for all the specs and classes, so don’t get all bent out of shape about this one, new info is incoming.
The build I see quite commonly for marks is:
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#cxbZ0eVkRhzGIsguAox00b
Marks is currently the highest damage spec for those with the skill to use their cooldowns effectively. Proof below:
http://www.wowmeteronline.com/rank/clazz/dtb/hnt/9/0/3
you can’t really use kill shot as part of your rotation since your target needs to be low on health to use it. i would sub aim shot for kill shot till kill shot is ready to use in a fight
Great advices, but I am missing one point: what would be the talent tree of the wolf here?
This article is good, but I play a hunter and I find that I don’t agree with the talent trees, the marksmen one is incomplete and I feel that vital talents are missed in that tree, as well as the beastmaster one. I have never played survival, but even talents in those I question why they weren’t picked for points. I don’t mean to sound mean or harsh, but I think the article needs to be redone so that it can better inform players on how to correctly or efficiently spec as either tree for hunters. All in all, I enjoyed perusing through the article and would love to see a revised version.
– Mythrilaxe
Unfortunately, your information is seriously flawed. The Survival spec you have posted and the rotation for it are somewhat in error. You cannot have KILL SHOT as #2 in a rotation because it requires the target to be at 20% health or below, as well as you have explosive shot in the rotation but do not have it turned on in the survival spec. Please fix your information.
ben, you didn’t catch the difference between a rotation and a priority. Kill shot is in the right spot in the list, you just can’t use it in that spot until it becomes available. Gotta move with the times bro, a priority list is better than a fixed rotation.
I’m not sure if anyone else has brought this to your attention but there is a flaw you say the shot rotation is SpS/ks/es/ms/ss well for one you cant ks till the boss is 20% down, two your tree isn’t spec. right to do es. i followed your spec’s and had one talent point left. so i used that talent to get black arrow and removed the talent on go for throat and put that one on es. I just wanted to give you a heads up. I’m sure someone brought this to your attention but i didn’t want to go through all the comments. over all i like this spec very well. hope you have a good day.
um… the survival build lists explosive shot in the rotation, as it should… yet the build does not have black arrow or explosive shot selected…
Magnescide on Zul’Jin server has the correct max build
not to dis or any thing but MM is the best talent tree look on any other site and you will probably see MM as the best, but it really does depend on you gear with good gear MM is defiantly the best spec. if you are a noob do not use MM u have to have a reasonable amount of skill