Survival Hunter DPS Spec, Builds, Talents, and Pet Talents — Dragonflight 10.2

Note that these builds are generic recommendations for various content. For more specific recommendations for the Raid and Mythic+, check out the dedicated pages below.

2.

Dragonflight Talent Builds for Survival Hunter

Single-Target Build Single-Target T30 AoE/Mythic+ AoE/Mythic+ T30 Talents Explained

3.

Best Single-Target Talent Build for Survival Hunter

This build is optimal for pure single-target situations.

Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!

4.

Best T30 Single-Target Talent Build for Survival Hunter

This build is mostly competitive before you get your T31 4PC bonus.

Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!

5.

Best AoE/Mythic+ Talent Build for Survival Hunter

This is our recommended build for AoE scenarios. This works well for AoE Fights in Raids, as well as most Mythic+.

Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!

5.

Best T30 AoE/Mythic+ Talent Build for Survival Hunter

This is our recommended build for AoE scenarios before you obtain the new T31 Set Bonus. This works well for AoE Fights in Raids, as well as most Mythic+.

Be sure to make use of the 'Copy Export String' button to import the best build directly into your game!

5.

Talent Explanations for Survival Hunters

Note that we do not explain EVERY Talent in the tree on this page. We only explain Talents that are part of our optimal builds for single-target and AoE. For full details and explanations of every Talent, please visit our Spells page via the button below.

Survival Hunter Dragonflight Spell Glossary

4.1.

Class Talents

4.1.1.

Row 1-4

Kill Shot	Strong DPS button and a mandatory pick.
Posthaste	Essential as one of our strongest mobility talents.
Improved Kill Shot	A passive, powerful increase to our Kill Shot's damage.
Counter Shot	Our main interrupt.
Natural Mending	Provides incredible CDR to Exhilaration and is a must-pick for survivability. If you are not using Exhilaration very liberally, you can get away with dropping a point here for other utility.
Tar Trap	Not great, but it leads us on a path to better talents, as we need to get to the left side of the tree later on.
Survival of the Fittest	A strong defensive for both one-shots and powerful DoTs.

4.1.2.

Row 5-7

Tranquilizing Shot	Useful for many scenarios and leads us to better talents on the left side of the tree.
Nature's Endurance	Must-pick, as it doubles the damage reduction of Survival of the Fittest.
Born To Be Wild	A solid pick for lower Turtle and Cheetah cooldowns, making it strong for both survivability and mobility.
Improved Tranquilizing Shot	An incentive to Tranquilizing Shot when we can, and leads us nicely to the left side of the tree, which becomes important.
Intimidation	Hugely useful for add control in Mythic+ and some Raiding scenarios.
Binding Shot/ Scatter Shot	Both viable options in this choice node and are necessary to pick up other essential Talents. For most Mythic+, we recommend Binding Shot, but Scatter Shot can be used as a single-target cast stopper, similar to Intimidation.
Rejuvenating Wind	Increases our maximum health and gives our Exhilaration some extra power, which can be useful or weak depending on how liberal you are with Exhilaration usage. This is mandatory for the maximum HP.
Camouflage	Useful for skips and out-of-combat self-healing in Mythic+. It is useless for Raiding, though.
Hunter's Avoidance	A much-needed boost to our survivability on unavoidable mechanics.
Pathfinding	A solid boost to movement speed, but you can drop a point here to pick up other utility as needed.

4.1.3.

Row 8-10

Keen Eyesight	A strong DPS increase and is a mandatory pick.
Master Marksman	A strong DPS increase and is a mandatory pick.
Serrated Shots	Affects Serpent Sting, making it worth using.
Arctic Bola	A bit of a DPS increase, and we pick it at the lack of other options.
Serpent Sting	Not actually used as an ability, but we need it to get to the hugely important talent below.
Death Chakram	Introduces a mini-cooldown to our rotation, enhancing our burst a little and focuses on amplifying other damage, even though it does not do a ton of damage on its own.
Explosive Shot	Incredible for AoE paired with the Ranger Talent.
Poison Injection	Incredible synergy with our Viper's Venom Talent that we talk about later, and is a free, high DPS increase.

4.2.

Spec Talents

4.2.1.

Row 1-4

Raptor Strike	One of our core abilities, and mandatory to progress.
Wildfire Bomb and Tip of the Spear	Fundamental to our spec and are necessary to continue.
Ferocity	A solid, flat DPS increase.
Harpoon	A bit of utility and a damage increase, all in one, via the talent that it leads to.
Bloodseeker	A substantial, flat DPS increase.
Aspect of the Eagle	Not strictly included in our builds, but it can be a DPS increase for encounters where you are forced out of melee at particular intervals.
Terms of Engagement	Adds a DPS component to Harpoon.

4.2.2.

Row 5-7

Guerrilla Tactics	A solid DPS increase, especially when paired with Wildfire Infusion.
Lunge	Mandatory after its Patch 10.1 changes.
Butchery	A crucial AoE button, not only doing hefty damage on its own but also reducing our Wildfire Bomb cooldown via other talents.
Mongoose Bite	The bread and butter of our single-target rotation especially. It accounts for over 50% of our damage in single-target, and a big amount on AoE as well.
Intense Focus	Strong for all situations and gives us more Focus to execute the rest of our rotation.
Improved Wildfire Bomb	A strong, flat DPS increase.
Frenzy Strikes	Immensely powerful and enables a big part of our AoE rotation.
Flanking Strike	A super-powered Kill Command.
Spear Focus	Enhances the damage of our most important button and is mandatory for single-target.
Viper's Venom	The reason that we choose Poison Injection in the Class Tree!
Sharp Edges	Just a bit of flat DPS. It is nothing special, and this is the talent you might swap out to grab Lunge or Aspect of the Eagle or both.
Sweeping Spear	A solid DPS increase in all situations.

4.2.3.

Row 8-10

Wildfire Infusion	Useful to all builds, as there is nearly always something you can use the special effects for, whether you are on single-target or AoE.
Quick Shot	A bit of flat DPS.
Coordinated Assault	Our main cooldown used for most scenarios.
Fury of the Eagle	A powerful burst AoE button and is used for all situations due to our T31 Set Bonus.
Ranger	Nearly always useful as it buffs several valuable abilities for us.
Coordinated Kill	Amplifies our Coordinated Assault AoE cooldown and leads to another powerful talent for AoE.
Birds of Prey	A powerful cleave talent.
Bombardier	Excellent for single-target.

Depending on affixes and other variables, Mythic+ can require a mix of AoE and Single-Target talents. You should check out our page below if you want advice specific to Mythic+.

Some talents will require you to play in a particular way to get the most out of them. You can find more information on how your rotation will look after selecting your talents on our rotation page below.

We have made a dedicated page for Hunter Pets information that we recommend you check out!

War Mode offers several benefits for you in the open world.

• PvP talents enabled in the outdoor world.
• At least 10% increase in World Quest rewards at maximum level.
• 10% more experience gained while leveling.
• Earn Conquest Points, which can reward gear every week.

With the benefits of enabling War Mode for leveling and PvE content, it is recommended to enable the feature to maximize your leveling and rewards at maximum level. However, you will be available for open-world PvP, and the possibility of being "ganked" while leveling or doing World Quests exists.

In this section, we will rank the PvP talents best for leveling and doing solo / small group PvE content. Below is a ranking of all PvP Talents for Survival Hunter

1. Survival Tactics is useful for negating powerful casts from mobs and other players that you cannot otherwise stop.
2. Mending Bandage is a potent out-of-combat heal that also clears lingering debuffs.
3. Hunting Pack is a valuable speed increase for leveling and open world content.

You can consider the other options essentially down to preference.

For details on how to play in Survival Hunter PvP, please visit our Survival Hunter PvP page.