Survival Hunter Best Covenants, Soulbinds, and Conduits — Shadowlands 9.1.5

This page assumes that you are already familiar with Covenants, Soulbinds, and Conduits. If that is not the case, we have a number of pages that can help you get up to speed:

• Covenants Guide, which explains what Covenants are, what perks they bring, and how you can join one;
• Hunter Covenant Abilities, which lists all the abilities that Hunters gain by joining each Covenant;
• How To Change Covenant?, which tells you how you can switch Covenant (rejoining a former Covenant will require you to perform a number of tasks to regain their trusts);
• General Soulbind Guide, which explains what Soulbinds are and how you can pledge yourself to them to open up their Soulbind tree;
• Hunter Conduits, which lists all of the Conduits available to Hunters.

In Patch 9.1.5, Covenants can be freely changed at any time, and Conduit Energy is no longer required. Because of this, this page will focus on the strengths of each Covenant and where you might want to use them.

Note that with these rankings, we are assuming that you are at Renown 57, which unlocks the full Soulbind Tree for all of the Soulbinds. Just below this table, we have listed the best Soulbinds depending on your current Renown.

Important: If you are not running the Nesingwary's Trapping Apparatus in Raid, then simply exchange the Deadly Tandem Conduit for the Strength of the Pack. If you are Venthyr, swap out Stinging Strike instead.

Focus	Covenant	Soulbind	Advised Tree
Raiding with Nesingwary's Trapping Apparatus	Kyrian	Forgelite Prime Mikanikos	Best Kyrian Raiding Covenant and Soulbind at Max Renown
Mythic+	Kyrian	Forgelite Prime Mikanikos	Best Kyrian Mythic+ Covenant and Soulbind at Max Renown
Raiding	Night Fae	Dreamweaver	Best Night Fae Raiding Covenant and Soulbind at Max Renown
Raiding	Venthyr	Nadjia the Mistblade	Best Venthyr Raiding Covenant and Soulbind at Max Renown
Raiding	Necrolord	Bonesmith Heirmir	Best Necrolord Raiding Covenant and Soulbind at Max Renown
Mythic+	Night Fae	Dreamweaver	Best Night Fae Mythic+ Covenant and Soulbind at Max Renown
Mythic+	Venthyr	Nadjia the Mistblade	Best Venthyr Mythic+ Covenant and Soulbind at Max Renown
Mythic+	Necrolord	Bonesmith Heirmir	Best Necrolord Mythic+ Covenant and Soulbind at Max Renown

• Venthyr (with its Pouch of Razor Fragments) has the strongest single-target and should be used for all fights where single-target damage is the priority.
• Kyrian excels at burst AoE and should be used for Mythic+ and similar content.
• Night Fae has a strong 2-minute, burst but is weak overall and is not the best in any situation.
• Necrolord has extremely poor single-target, and while its Bag of Munitions Legendary Power is very strong for AoE, it does not make up for just how far behind Necrolord is in general.

This ranking is primarily based on Single-Target damage. The attached numbers indicate the approximate single-target DPS loss compared to the top choice. Once again, this is based on full Soulbind/Renown Trees.

1. Venthyr -1% (but significantly easier to play, and more flexible)
2. Kyrian
3. Night Fae -2%
4. Necrolord -4%

This ranking is primarily based on AoE damage, but single-target damage is also considered. We cannot really offer a DPS% gap here, because this is not based on a single metric, but rather a bunch of simulations of different scenarios that are relevant to Mythic+. We generally consider Mythic+ to be 66% AoE focused, and 33% single-target focused.

1. Kyrian
2. Night Fae
3. Necrolord
4. Venthyr

This ranking is based on a mix of single-target and AoE damage. We cannot really offer a DPS% gap here, because this is not based on a single metric. Once again, this is based on full Soulbind/Renown Trees.

1. Kyrian
2. Night Fae
3. Venthyr
4. Necrolord

"Top" means that the given Conduit is the best Conduit for a particular game mode, such as Mythic+. The list below is ordered by single-target damage.

1. Stinging Strike (with Nesingwary's Trapping Apparatus)
2. Enfeebled Mark/ Empowered Release/ Spirit Attunement
3. Strength of the Pack (without Nesingwary's Trapping Apparatus, top for Mythic+)
4. Deadly Tandem
5. Strength of the Pack (with Nesingwary's Trapping Apparatus)
6. Necrotic Barrage
7. Flame Infusion (top for Mythic+)

Flame Infusion and Strength of the Pack are the best Conduits for Mythic+. All of the Covenant-specific Conduits are strong except for Necrotic Barrage. For Venthyr with NTA, Deadly Tandem is better for single-target than Stinging Strike, but for all other Covenants, Stinging Strike is clearly stronger.

1. Marksman's Advantage
2. Resilience of the Hunter
3. Condensed Anima Sphere
4. Rejuvenating Wind
5. Harmony of the Tortollan

1. Reversal of Fortune (provided you can Interrupt)
2. Cheetah's Vigor
3. Ambuscade/ Tactical Retreat