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HomepageWorld of WarcraftClassesSurvival HunterSpell Summary

Survival Hunter DPS Spell Summary (Legion 7.3.5)

Last updated on Aug 05, 2017 at 19:43 by Azortharion 373 comments

Table of Contents

General Information

On this page, we list the spells that you will often use as a Survival Hunter.

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. Spell Summary

This will cover synergies, cooldowns, and core concepts of the spec to get it working in Legion. If you already have experience and are very comfortable with Survival, it is okay to skip past this, otherwise this is a great point to get a base understanding before moving onto later sections of the guide that covers nuances of gameplay.

2. Main Resource of Survival Hunter

Hunters and their pets use a unique resource, called Focus. Focus works in much the same way as other class resources, like Rage and Energy, in the sense that some abilities grant Focus, while others cost Focus to be used.

A Survival Hunter's Focus has a maximum capacity of 100, and regenerates at an innate rate of 10 Focus per second. This rate is increased by Haste. In addition to this, certain abilities such as Arcane Shot Icon Arcane Shot (Marksmanship-only) also grant Focus.

Most of the abilities in the hunter rotation cost Focus to use, and some talents decrease the Focus costs, or offer other ways to gain additional Focus.

Hunter pet Focus works similarly, and is of no concern to you as you cannot do anything to modify it, nor will you be casting pet abilities manually.

As a general rule, you should always have enough Focus to cast your abilities as soon as they come off cooldown, but also to never have 100 Focus (as any extra Focus you generate would then go to waste).

3. Basic Abilities of Survival Hunter

Mongoose Bite Icon Mongoose Bite is your most powerful ability and is intrinsic to the spec. It has 3 charges on a 12-second base cooldown. Every time you cast it, it stacks a buff that increases the damage of the next Mongoose Bite by 50% per stack for 14 seconds, stacking up to 6 times. Maximizing casts of this ability, and making effective use of the buff it applies to itself is the bread and butter of this spec.

Flanking Strike Icon Flanking Strike is a filler of sorts. It has a chance to generate charges of Mongoose Bite Icon Mongoose Bite on top of doing very heavy damage. It has a short base cooldown of 6 seconds and a high cost, and it is generally cast when Mongoose Bite Icon Mongoose Bite is not available.

Raptor Strike Icon Raptor Strike is your low-damage filler. It has a crucial role in the optimal rotation as it stacks and refreshes the Way of the Mok'Nathal Icon Way of the Mok'Nathal talent, but it is otherwise treated as more of a filler, when nothing else can be cast.

Lacerate Icon Lacerate is a high-damage DoT ability. It has a low cost and no cooldown, and it should be kept up at all times. It lasts 12 seconds by default, and 18 seconds with the Tier 20 2-piece set bonus.

Fury of the Eagle Icon Fury of the Eagle is your artifact ability. It is a 4-second channeled AoE attack with a 45-second cooldown that does extremely heavy damage to all targets in front of you. Its damage scales with Mongoose Fury Icon Mongoose Fury in the same way that Mongoose Bite Icon Mongoose Bite does. It is used as a mini-cooldown, ideally with 6 stacks of Mongoose Bite.

Carve Icon Carve is essentially an AoE version of Raptor Strike Icon Raptor Strike. It does fairly low damage to targets nearby by default, but the Butchery Icon Butchery talent replaces it with a much stronger, non-spammable version. Butchery is generally used for heavy AoE.

Explosive Trap Icon Explosive Trap is a DPS trap that is used on cooldown, albeit at a very low priority compared to most other spells. It does fairly little damage, and also spreads to multiple targets, but at no cost besides the global cooldown. It is used on cooldown in most situations.

4. Movement Tools

Disengage Icon Disengage is not available to Survival Hunters by default, but is a talent in the Tier 3 row. It is used in most situations.

Harpoon Icon Harpoon is Survival's unique gap closer. It flings a Harpoon at the target, and then quickly flies you toward it. Certain talents, legendaries and artifact traits amplify this ability in subtle ways, but its primary role is a gap closer, both on the pull and when swapping targets mid-combat.

Aspect of the Cheetah Icon Aspect of the Cheetah is your second mobility ability, acting as more of a cooldown. It increases your movement speed by 90% for 3 seconds, and then by 30% for another 9 seconds on a 3-minute cooldown. Note it does not stack with Posthaste Icon Posthaste, so you should make sure to use Disengage and Aspect of the Cheetah separately for movement.

5. Important Procs and Passives of Survival Hunter

Waylay Icon Waylay is a passive that all Survival Hunters receive. It amplifies all traps when they have been placed for more than 2 seconds before they are activated by an enemy. The bonuses to each trap are as follows:

  • Tar Trap Icon Tar Trap reduces enemies' movement speed by 70% (up from 50%) for the first 4 seconds.
  • Explosive Trap Icon Explosive Trap staggers the first target that hits it, causing them to miss their next melee attack.
  • Freezing Trap Icon Freezing Trap will not break from damage as it usually does, for the first 4 seconds of being active.

Mastery: Hunting Companion Icon Mastery: Hunting Companion causes all your pet's attacks to have a chance to give you an additional charge of Mongoose Bite Icon Mongoose Bite. The chance is affected by how much Mastery you have from gear, gems, and so on. Flanking Strike Icon Flanking Strike has triple the normal chance to give you a charge.

6. Offensive Cooldowns of Survival Hunter

Aspect of the Eagle Icon Aspect of the Eagle is Survival's primary DPS cooldown. It increases all damage done by 30%, Critical Strike chance by 20%, and gives all pet attacks an additional 25% to grant you a charge of Mongoose Bite Icon Mongoose Bite for 10 seconds on a 2-minute base cooldown. It is used as often as possible during the fight, in such a way that you can deal as much damage as possible in the 10-second window that it provides.

7. Additional Utility & Trap of Survival Hunter

Aspect of the Turtle Icon Aspect of the Turtle is the Hunter's primary defensive. It is an 8-second immune (from most abilities) and 30% damage reduction that makes you unable to attack for its duration. As mentioned, it is an immunity from most attacks, although many important encounter mechanics will still target you or do damage to you when it is active. It has a 2.4-minute cooldown for Survival.

Exhilaration Icon Exhilaration is the Hunter's self heal. It heals you for 30% of your total health, and your pet for its full health on a 2-minute cooldown. Whenever you land the killing blow on an enemy, the cooldown of Exhilaration is reduced by 30 seconds.

Freezing Trap Icon Freezing Trap is a long-term crowd control for all Hunter specs. It places a trap on the ground that encases the first enemy (not bosses or most big encounter adds) to touch it in ice for 1 minute. The effect breaks on damage. The trap has a 30-second cooldown, and the trap will exist for 1 minute after placing it. Due to the Waylay Icon Waylay effect for Survival Hunters, it does not break from damage for the first 4 seconds.

Tar Trap Icon Tar Trap is an AoE slow for all Hunter specs. It places a trap on the ground that causes a patch of tar to appear on the ground in an 8 yard radius around it when it is triggered, slowing all enemies in it by 50% for as long as they are in it. The patch of tar persists for 30 seconds, and the trap itself will exist for up to 1 minute before being triggered. Due to the Waylay Icon Waylay effect for Survival Hunters, it slows by 70% for the first 4 seconds.

Flare Icon Flare places a flare on the ground that reveals stealthed players and mobs nearby. It lasts for 20 seconds, and has a 20-second cooldown.

Feign Death Icon Feign Death lets you pretend to be dead, dropping all threat/aggro on all enemies. When not in raid or dungeon encounters, it is a quick way to drop you from combat. In raids and dungeons, it can help you survive a wipe by using it when everyone else is about to die.

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8. ChangeLog

  • 27 Jul. 2017: Added spells summary section for Survival.
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