Survival Hunter DPS Spec, Builds, Talents, and Pet Talents (Legion 7.3.5)

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Last updated on Jan 28, 2018 at 14:00 by Azortharion 371 comments

General Information

On this page, we present the viable talent choices for Survival Hunters in World of Warcraft Legion 7.3.5. We detail what each of the talents do and in which situations they should be taken.

The other pages of our Survival Hunter guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author

This guide has been written by Azortharion, the main theorycrafter of the spec. He is also an accomplished player who raids in Solaris. You can also watch his stream on Twitch.

1. Survival Hunter Talent Cheat Sheets

While optimizing talents on a contextual basis is the highly recommended method of setting up your build, the talent builds listed below work great for specific purposes.

1.1. For Raid Encounters

This build is an excellent starting point as a standard raid setup.

Level 15: Way of the Mok'Nathal
Level 30: Mortal Wounds if you can Lacerate multiple targets. Snake Hunter if you are really good at maximizing your cooldown windows.
Level 45: Disengage
Level 60: Caltrops
Level 75: Personal choice / utility.
Level 90: Serpent Sting for single-target. Butchery for any sort of AoE.
Level 100: Spitting Cobra for almost all fights. Expert Trapper for heavy AoE only.

1.2. For Mythic+ Use

This build is an excellent starting point for questing, dungeons, or general purpose usage, but particularly Mythic+ content.

Level 15: Animal Instincts (Ease of play) or Way of the Mok'Nathal (Higher potential, more useful on higher keys).
Level 30: Snake Hunter
Level 45: Disengage
Level 60: Caltrops
Level 75: Personal choice / utility.
Level 90: Butchery
Level 100: Expert Trapper

2. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents for Survival Hunter

? Animal Instincts

✘ Throwing Axes

✔ Way of the Mok'Nathal

Tier 1 talents offer you a choice between 3 talents that increase your DPS.

Animal Instincts causes your Flanking Strike ability to reduce the cooldown of one of the following abilities by 3 seconds (reduced by Haste):
- Flanking Strike;
- Mongoose Bite;
- Aspect of the Eagle;
- Harpoon.
Throwing Axes is an active ability with 2 charges on a 15-second cooldown. It deals moderate Physical damage to the target, and costs 15 Focus. It can also be used from a 30-yard range, unlike most Survival abilities.
Way of the Mok'Nathal causes your Raptor Strike ability to give you Mok'Nathal Tactics, a buff that increases your attack power by 3% for 10 seconds, and stacks 4 times.

Currently, Way of the Mok'Nathal Icon Way of the Mok'Nathal is the strongest talent for most situations. There is no longer a significant damage deficit in using Raptor Strike over Flanking Strike, so keeping up the buff becomes part of your rotation as you do not have to go out of your way to do it. Maintaining Way of the Mok'Nathal Icon Way of the Mok'Nathal can be very difficult to manage during hectic raiding encounters and our recommendation is based on a level of uptime that most players can achieve on most raiding encounters. For Mythic+, this can get slightly complicated and we tend to recommend Way of the Mok'Nathal only on keys that are high enough level that you can achieve 4-stack uptime for the majority of the pulls you make.

Throwing Axes Icon Throwing Axes and Animal Instincts Icon Animal Instincts are both disadvantaged significantly since Way of the Mok'Nathal Icon Way of the Mok'Nathal was buffed in the 7.1.5 patch. For this reason, we recommend that Survival Hunters trying to improve should go for Way of the Mok'Nathal early on and try to make it a part of your playstyle for optimal performance. If you do not pick Way of the Mok'Nathal for whatever reason, pick Animal Instincts over Throwing Axes.

3. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents for Survival Hunter

✘ A Murder of Crows

✔ Mortal Wounds

✔ Snake Hunter

Tier 2 talents offer you a choice between 3 talents that increase your DPS.

A Murder of Crows summons a flock of crows to attack your target for 15 seconds, with a 1-minute cooldown. If the target dies while under attack, the cooldown of A Murder of Crows is reset. It costs 30 Focus.
Mortal Wounds causes the ticks of your Lacerate DoT ability to have a 2% chance to grant you a charge of Mongoose Bite.
Snake Hunter is an active ability that instantly gives you 3 charges of Mongoose Bite. Remember that you can only have a maximum of 3 charges of Mongoose Bite. Using this ability when you have any charges of Mongoose Bite left will waste some of the charges that it generates.

All talents are close to each other in this tier. We recommend Snake Hunter Icon Snake Hunter as it is the best by the numbers, but only by a tiny, tiny margin. For most people, Mortal Wounds Icon Mortal Wounds is likely to work better while also being completely passively. A Murder of Crows Icon A Murder of Crows is lackluster and should not be taken over the other options.

4. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents for Survival Hunter

✘ Posthaste

✔ Disengage

✘ Trailblazer

Tier 3 talents offer you a choice between 3 means of improving your mobility.

Posthaste causes Harpoon to free you from all movement-impairing effects and boost your movement speed by 60% for 5 seconds.
Disengage causes you to leap backwards. This ability is baseline for Beast Mastery and Marksmanship.
Trailblazer increases your non-mounted movement speed by 25% after you have not attacked anything for 3 seconds. It expires when you attack something again.

Disengage Icon Disengage is recommended for most situations in this tier, although you may prefer Trailblazer Icon Trailblazer for dungeons or content where you have to run a lot outside of combat, as Survival's version of Disengage is not amplified by talents like Posthaste Icon Posthaste.

5. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents for Survival Hunter

✔ Caltrops

? Guerrilla Tactics

? Steel Trap

Tier 4 talents offer you a choice between 3 talents that increase both your DPS and utility.

Caltrops replaces Tar Trap, which is similar to the Ice Trap ability in Warlords of Draenor. It spreads caltrops on a targeted location on the ground, and deals high Bleed damage to enemies that step on them, as well as reducing their movement speed by 70% for 6 seconds (up from 50% from Tar Trap).
Guerrilla Tactics replaces Improved Traps in 7.1.5. It enhances the effects of the new trap mechanic Waylay. It increases Explosive Trap's damage by 50% all the time, and causes it to make the target's next two melee attacks miss. Freezing Trap will not break from damage for the first 6 seconds, and Tar Trap's initial movement speed reduction is much more potent.
Steel Trap replaces Freezing Trap. As well as immobilizing the target for 30 seconds like Freezing Trap, it deals high Bleed damage over 30 seconds. Any damage done to the target while immobilized breaks the immobilization effect, but not the damage. Because of Waylay, if it has been placed for more than 2 seconds and then activated, it deals significantly increased damage if the enemy it strikes is not in combat.

Caltrops Icon Caltrops should be used in all situations for DPS purposes. You should only use the other talents if there is a non-DPS reason for you to do so, which is not very likely in a raiding environment. Steel Trap Icon Steel Trap is competitive with Caltrops on single-target, but Caltrops narrowly wins out with good gear, and is better for AoE.

Guerrilla Tactics Icon Guerrilla Tactics can be used for its utility effects on Freezing Trap Icon Freezing Trap and Tar Trap Icon Tar Trap, if these abilities are going to be used to make the encounter easier.

6. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents for Survival Hunter

? Sticky Bomb

✔ Ranger's Net

? Camouflage

Tier 5 talents offer you a choice between 3 talents that increase your utility and survivability.

Sticky Bomb is an active ability. It is a ranged ability that throws a grenade at your target. After 3 seconds, the grenade explodes, knocking back the target and all other nearby enemies.
Ranger's Net replaces Wing Clip. It is a ranged ability that roots the enemy for 3 seconds, and reduces their movement speed by 50% for 15 seconds. Any damage done to the target will break the root effect, but not the slow effect.
Camouflage is an active ability that gives you stealth for one minute, and heals you for 2% of your maximum health every second. The stealth component of this ability does not work in combat.

You should choose the talent that best suits your situation, but Ranger's Net Icon Ranger's Net should generally be your default choice.

7. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents for Survival Hunter

✔ Butchery

✘ Dragonsfire Grenade

✔ Serpent Sting

Tier 6 talents offer you a choice between 3 talents that increase your DPS.

Butchery is an active ability that replaces Carve. It has 3 charges with a 12-second cooldown, and costs 40 Focus. It deals high Physical damage to all targets within 8 yards.
Dragonsfire Grenade is an active ability. It deals high Fire damage to the target over 8 seconds and reduces its movement speed by 20%. Additionally, it deals moderate Fire damage to all targets near the main target over 8 seconds.
Serpent Sting causes your Raptor Strike and Carve abilities to apply a DoT to all targets hit that deals moderate Nature damage over 15 seconds.

Serpent Sting Icon Serpent Sting is recommended for mostly single-target situations, while Butchery Icon Butchery is recommended for multi-target fights, especially when you quickly need to dispose of add spawns with burst AoE. Dragonsfire Grenade Icon Dragonsfire Grenade is a mediocre choice and should generally not be taken.

8. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents for Survival Hunter

✔ Spitting Cobra

? Expert Trapper

✘ Aspect of the Beast

Tier 7 talents offer you a choice between 3 talents that increase your DPS.

Spitting Cobra is an active ability. It summons a small Spitting Cobra that deals moderate damage to the target over 30 seconds. While it is active, you gain 3 Focus per second.
Expert Trapper improves your traps in different ways. It causes Freezing Trap to also reduce the target and all nearby enemies' movement speed by 50% for 4 seconds when the trap breaks. It increases the damage done by Explosive Trap to the target which triggered it by 75%. It gives Tar Trap a chance to root enemies standing in it for 4 seconds. It also increases the damage done by Steel Trap by 33.3%, by causing it to instantly deal 33.3% of its total damage when it is triggered. Finally, it increases the damage done by Caltrops by 50%.
Aspect of the Beast is a passive ability that enhances your Flanking Strike ability in different ways, depending on the spec of your current pet.
- For Ferocity, which is your preferred pet DPS spec, it causes Flanking Strike to also deal low Physical damage to the target over 6 seconds.
- For Tenacity, it gives your pet a 30% damage taken reduction for 6 seconds.
- For Cunning, it reduces the target's movement speed by 50% for 4 seconds.

Spitting Cobra Icon Spitting Cobra is the recommended choice for all single-target applications, and most multi-target ones too. You should only switch to Expert Trapper Icon Expert Trapper for significant multi-target with Caltrops, which is not very often. Aspect of the Beast Icon Aspect of the Beast is never worth taking.

9. Pet Talents

Pets do not have talent trees. Instead, you can simply choose one of three specialisations for your pet (Ferocity, Tenacity, and Cunning). You can change your pet's specialisation at any time (while out of combat), free of cost.

Each specialisation grants your pet a few specific abilities. Currently, Ferocity provides the highest DPS in a raid environment, so it should be the default choice for all specs.

⋘Spell Summary

Artifact Traits and Relics⋙

10. ChangeLog

28 Jan. 2018: Expanded slightly on AI vs MoK in Mythic+, both in the Tier 1 section and Mythic+ Cheat Sheet Talents.
28 Aug. 2017: No changes needed for Patch 7.3.
03 Aug. 2017: Fixed inconsistency in Mythic+ level 30 talent choice.
28 Jul. 2017: Updated to prefer Caltrops, even for single-target.
13 Jul. 2017: Removed obsolete mentions of the Nighthold.
30 Jun. 2017: Updated level 30 talents - Mortal Wounds generally better than Crows.
13 Jun. 2017: Page reviewed and deemed updated for 7.2.5.
17 Apr. 2017: Checked today and deemed updated.
27 Mar. 2017: No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
16 Feb. 2017: Level 30 talent rewording. Slight change in Level 15 recommendations.
07 Feb. 2017: Updated talent cheatsheet recommendations slightly.
04 Feb. 2017: Recommended Steel Trap for pure single-target.
28 Jan. 2017: Update several talent recommendations.
12 Jan. 2017: Changed wording on some changed abilities. Removed note about pet specs and special abilities as they are no longer relevant.
09 Jan. 2017: Updated for Patch 7.1.5.
19 Dec. 2016: Slightly improved our assessment of Butchery.
06 Nov. 2016: Updated tier 15 and 30 talent recommendations/discussion.
30 Oct. 2016: Removed talent table at the beginning of the page.
29 Oct. 2016: Further Patch 7.1 updates regarding the Level 15 talents. Also added modified that pet section.
25 Oct. 2016: Updated for Patch 7.1.
- Updated Animal Instincts's description and added a note that the talent needs more extensive testing before its strength can be more properly assessed.
- Updated Posthaste's duration. Was changed in Patch 7.1 to be 5 seconds (down from 8).
- Trailblazer replaces Dash.
07 Sep. 2016: Added Pet Talent section, which was missing from the guide.
29 Aug. 2016: Updated for Legion's launch.
28 Jul. 2016: Updated stuff for the Caltrops row of talents to make it much clearer.
25 Jul. 2016: Fixed error with Expert Trapper opinion.
19 Jul. 2016: Explained in more details why Snake Hunter is so much better than the other Level 30 options.
18 Jul. 2016: Updated for the Legion pre-patch.