WotLK Classic Survival Hunter Guide

Last updated on Jan 07, 2024 at 18:13 by Impakt 7 comments

Welcome to our Survival Hunter guide for WotLK Classic, tailored for PvE content. Here, you will learn how all you need to know to play Survival Hunter proficiently. Click the links below to navigate the guide or read this page for a short introduction.

1.

Introduction

Hunters are master marksmen and, with the help of a fierce animal companion, can deal damage from range without ever letting their target get close. With special tracking abilities, traps, and a wide range of utility spells, Hunters are a great choice for anyone looking for a strong solo class with incredible ranged damage and unique utility.

Survival Hunters specifically focus on dealing massive damage through their traps and DoT-based shots. While Survival was overshadowed slightly by Beast Mastery in TBC, they are the premier Hunter spec for the entirety of Wrath. With their new talent Explosive Shot IconExplosive Shot, Survival has an amazing damage and utility toolkit that makes it incredible throughout the expansion when combined with the power of Explosive Trap IconExplosive Trap. It also cannot be understated just how important Hunter is for raids when it comes to CC, pulling trash, and other odd-jobs. Survival is an exceptional range DPS that is always going to have a raid spot throughout the expansion.

If you would like to see where Survival Hunters fall in the overall rankings among DPS specs for both PvE and PvP in Wrath Classic, we have created pages dedicated to explaining what classes and specializations are the best of the best through multiple factors. However, ultimately, you should not let these lists dissuade you from playing what you enjoy.

2.

Strengths and Weaknesses

V Strengths
  • +Excellent damage of all types, both on AoE and single target.
  • +Brings a raid buff with Hunting Party IconHunting Party.
  • +Strong utility, including Misdirection IconMisdirection and Feign Death IconFeign Death.
  • +One of the easiest classes to gear early on in Wrath.
  • +Incredible leveling speed and solo-play ability out in the world.
X Weaknesses
  • -Pet-based class, which means you will need to micro-manage your pet sometimes.
  • -Damage falls off slightly in later tiers.
  • -Lack of defensive and self-healing cooldowns.
3.

Best Races for Survival Hunter

Overall, the choice is close between Orc and Troll. Orc gives you 5% more pet damage from Command IconCommand and Blood Fury IconBlood Fury as an excellent DPS cooldown. Hunter gives you a slightly strong, but longer cooldown with Berserking IconBerserking. If your goal is to give yourself the best advantage possible, Orc is slightly better. If faction choice is an issue, Draenei is going to be your best bet as Alliance, but really there is no meaningful difference between Alliance races.

3.1.

Alliance

The best Hunter Alliance race is ultimately a personal choice for PvE, with a slight lean towards Draenei. For PvP, Night Elf is going to be the best race.

For PvE, Draenei will be the best choice early on because of Heroic Presence IconHeroic Presence. This is incredibly useful in getting the Hit cap early, and is even a party-wide aura. However, this just means that each group in a raid only needs one Draenei for the entire group to benefit from the aura. All Shamans will be Draenei for the Alliance, so they usually have that covered, but it does give you another buff you bring to raids. However, Night Elf and Dwarf offer no meaningful PvE benefits other than Night Elf having a slightly higher base Agility, so if you did want to make the investment, you could.

For PvP, the choice is much easier. Night Elf is the best PvP race entirely because of Shadowmeld IconShadowmeld. Shadowmeld is an incredibly strong ability in Wrath, effectively giving you a Vanish IconVanish that can be used in combat. This will also stop casting against you, and can even negate spells in the air. It is hard to overstate just how nice of an ability Shadowmeld is for PvP when you use it properly.

3.1.1.

Night Elf

  • Nature Resistance IconNature Resistance increases your Nature Resistance by 10.
  • Quickness IconQuickness increases your Dodge Chance by 1%.
  • Shadowmeld IconShadowmeld is now a 2-minute cooldown, allowing you to enter a pseudo-Stealth IconStealth state while standing still, but it can now be used in combat. It also does not drop threat.
  • Wisp Spirit IconWisp Spirit causes you to transform into a wisp upon death, increasing your movement speed by 50% while dead.

Shadowmeld IconShadowmeld is a powerful ability for PvP which allows you to stealth in a single spot, potentially giving you the opener if you can position yourself carefully. It is also very useful while leveling because you can macro Shadowmeld together with your food and water to eat and drink while stealthed, reducing the chance that something will catch you off guard. Quickness IconQuickness is also useful in PvP when fighting melee. Night Elf is technically superior to Dwarf for damage, but only because of their higher base Agility, meaning the difference is marginal.

3.1.2.

Dwarf

  • Find Treasure IconFind Treasure allows you to sense nearby treasure (chests mainly), making it appear on the minimap.
  • Frost Resistance IconFrost Resistance increases your Frost Resistance by 10.
  • Gun Specialization IconGun Specialization increases your crit chance by 1% while using a gun.
  • Stoneform IconStoneform removes all bleed, poison, and disease effects, as well as increasing your Armor for 8 seconds, on a 3-minute cooldown.

Gun Specialization IconGun Specialization would be strong, but unfortunately Hunters almost never use guns throughout Wrath. In PvE, the best weapons are almost exclusively bows and crossbows all the way through the expansion. Stoneform IconStoneform is a very powerful ability for PvP and can give you the edge when fighting Warriors and Rogues, as you can immune their bleeds and poisons.

3.1.3.

Draenei

Hunters do lack self-healing in combat, so Gift of the Naaru IconGift of the Naaru can be quite nice to have, especially in PvP. For PvE, Heroic Presence IconHeroic Presence is an excellent party buff that is incredibly strong early on for every group to have. However, only one person in the group needs to be a Draenei for everyone to benefit – this does not stack.

3.2.

Horde

For Horde, the choice is between Orc and Troll, but Orc is slightly better. Orc gives you 5% more pet damage from Command IconCommand and Blood Fury IconBlood Fury as a nice DPS cooldown. This combination is quite strong, and Orcs will be the best PvE and PvP race almost all of the time.

3.2.1.

Troll

  • Beast Slaying IconBeast Slaying gives a 5% damage bonus against Beasts.
  • Berserking IconBerserking is a 3-minute cooldown that gives you 20% increased attack and casting speed for 10 seconds.
  • Bow Specialization IconBow Specialization increases your crit chance by 1% when using a bow.
  • Throwing Specialization IconThrowing Specialization increases your crit chance by 1% when using a thrown weapon.
  • Regeneration IconRegeneration gives +10% passive health regeneration and allows you to regenerate 10% of your total health regeneration during combat.

Trolls are a strong PvE choice, but ultimately are worse than Orcs. Berserking IconBerserking is a strong offensive cooldown, and Beast Slaying IconBeast Slaying is powerful while leveling, but is only useful for a handful of bosses in raids and dungeons. Bow Specialization IconBow Specialization is also quite strong, but only if you are using a bow. Unfortunately, you will not use a bow for most of Wrath in PvE. Throwing Specialization IconThrowing Specialization and Regeneration IconRegeneration are both ultimately negligible and should not influence your choice of race.

3.2.2.

Orc

  • Axe Specialization IconAxe Specialization increases your Expertise by 5 while wielding an axe.
  • Blood Fury IconBlood Fury is a 2-minute cooldown that increases your Attack Power for 15 seconds.
  • Command IconCommand increases your pet damage dealt by 5%.
  • Hardiness IconHardiness reduces the duration of stun effects by 15%.

Orc is the dominant race choice for both PvP and PvE as a Survival Hunter. Hardiness IconHardiness is a decent racial in PvP, as Hunters are susceptible to being bursted down in a single stun. Command IconCommand provides a strong damage bonus to your pet, which is what makes Orc so powerful in PvE with how strong pets are for Hunters in Wrath. Blood Fury IconBlood Fury is also a great DPS cooldown now that the boosts both you and your pet.

3.2.3.

Tauren

War Stomp IconWar Stomp can be a great ability for PvP and the 5% increased health from Endurance IconEndurance is nice, but Tauren does not give any damage increase. War Stomp is also only situationally useful, as it requires you to be close to your target, which only really happens when you have a melee target chasing you. Tauren is the weakest choice for PvE and only situationally good in PvP.

3.3.

Blood Elf

Blood Elf is far outclassed by the other Horde races, specifically Orcs and Trolls. Obviously you should play whatever race you want, but in terms of character power, Blood Elves do not bring anything noteworthy.

4.

Best Professions for Survival Hunters

In Wrath, your choice of profession matters more than ever before. All professions now give some sort of stat bonuses when leveled up, making the choice important if you want to get the best DPS setup possible. That being said, the actual DPS difference between a profession like JC and another crafting profession is actually pretty minimal. For instance, Blacksmithing gives 40 Agility while JC gives 42, so a difference of 2 Agility. If you are okay with that small difference, then freely choose any non-gathering profession you wish.

The best profession to have as a Hunter is Engineering. In addition to several incredible utility tinkers, Engineering's primary appeal is the Hyperspeed Accelerators Icon Hyperspeed Accelerators tinker, which gives you an on-use buff of 340 Haste for 12 seconds every minute. This is the only profession buff that is an actual cooldown instead of a static buff, and it is incredibly powerful for most classes. Additionally, Engineering provides Nitro Boosts Icon Nitro Boosts, which is the most powerful movement ability in the game without question. Having this in any sort of PvE encounter is hard to give up once you are used to having it available.

Jewelcrafting is the second best profession for Hunters, especially before Epic gems are added in. Being a JC allows you to craft special gems with extra stats, for a total net gain of an additional 84 AP or 42 Agility over using normal gems.

5.

Best Hunter Macros and Addons

Using macros and addons makes your life significantly easier when playing Wrath Classic, and they can improve your experience a lot, depending on how skilled you are at customizing them.

If you are interested in learning more about addons and macros suited to Survival Hunters, check out our guides below:
6.

Changelog

  • 08 Oct. 2023 (enchants page): Reviewed for Phase 4.
  • 08 Oct. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Phase 4.
  • 08 Oct. 2023 (pets page): Reviewed for Phase 4.
  • 08 Oct. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Phase 4.
  • 08 Oct. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Phase 4.
  • 28 Sep. 2023 (pre-raid gear page): Updated for Phase 4.
  • 27 Sep. 2023 (gear page): Updated for Phase 4.
  • 27 Sep. 2023 (rotation page): Updated for Phase 4.
  • 27 Sep. 2023 (talents page): Updated for Phase 4.
  • 30 Jul. 2023 (enchants page): Minor style updates.
  • 30 Jul. 2023 (stats page): Minor style updates.
  • 30 Jul. 2023 (rotation page): Minor updates for later phases.
  • 11 Jul. 2023 (talents page): Updated for Phase 3 with new format.
  • 30 Jun. 2023 (this page): Updated for later phases.
  • 15 Jun. 2023 (talents page): Updated for Phase 3.
  • 29 May 2023 (pre-raid gear page): Updated for Phase 3.
  • 21 May 2023 (gear page): Updated for Phase 3 ahead of ToGC raid release.
  • 21 May 2023 (enchants page): Updated for Phase 3 ahead of ToGC raid release.
  • 18 Jan. 2023 (enchants page): Reviewed for Phase 2 release ahead of Ulduar raid release.
  • 18 Jan. 2023 (stats page): Reviewed for Phase 2 release ahead of Ulduar raid release.
  • 18 Jan. 2023 (pets page): Reviewed for Phase 2 release ahead of Ulduar raid release.
  • 18 Jan. 2023 (talents page): Reviewed for Phase 2 release ahead of Ulduar raid release.
  • 18 Jan. 2023 (spells page): Reviewed for Phase 2 release ahead of Ulduar raid release.
  • 18 Jan. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Phase 2 release ahead of Ulduar raid release.
  • 17 Jan. 2023 (pre-raid gear page): Updated for Phase 2.
  • 17 Jan. 2023 (gear page): Updated for Phase 2.
  • 17 Jan. 2023 (rotation page): Updated for Phase 2.
  • 01 Jan. 2023 (gear page): Updated for Ruby Sanctum release.
  • 01 Sep. 2022 (pre-raid gear page): Page added.
  • 01 Sep. 2022 (gear page): Page added.
  • 01 Sep. 2022 (enchants page): Page added.
  • 01 Sep. 2022 (stats page): Page added.
  • 01 Sep. 2022 (rotation page): Page added.
  • 01 Sep. 2022 (pets page): Page added.
  • 01 Sep. 2022 (talents page): Page added.
  • 01 Sep. 2022 (spells page): Page added.
  • 01 Sep. 2022 (this page): Page added.
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