Survival Hunter PvP Talents and Builds — Midnight Pre-Patch (12.0)

Note that builds here are generic recommendations for arena. There are tweaks that are effective in certain match-ups. A description of suggested alterations or options is included with each build.

If you are looking for advice on which pets to use, there is a separate page on this guide answering that question in detail. Generally, you want a Cunning pet unless you expect the enemy team to burst you in a stun, in which case you are likely better off with a Tenacity pet.

2.

The War Within PvP Talent Builds for Survival Hunters in Arena

Pack Leader Arena Build (recommended)

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Best Pack Leader Survival Arena Build

This build takes Pack Leader because it currently has higher throughput than Sentinel.

Tranquilizing Shot and Kodo Tranquilizer are powerful whenever the enemy team has magic buffs that can be purged which is most of the time, but when there are not important buffs to purge, you can swap these talents in the Hunter tree as well as Precision Strikes. You can also move the point in Natural Mending whenever there is another talent that you want for a match-up.

For example you could take:

• Disruptive Rounds and Tar Trap to get an extra slow effect which is helpful when kiting.
• An extra talent point in Natural Mending to increase your survivability.
• Improved Snaring to help with kiting.
• Camouflage to ensure that the enemy cannot get a clean opener on you.
• Misdirection combined with Interlope to counter enemy casters.

You can also drop Concussive Shot when facing melee DPS, as you will still have access to Wing Clip, which is a powerful slow combined with Improved Snaring that has a longer duration than Concussive Shot.

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

You can choose 3 of the following PvP talents. Each of them has its uses, but some are better for certain strategies and match-ups than others.

Survival Tactics is the best overall PvP Talent. It turns Feign Death into your best defensive ability by negating damage for two seconds. This talent is very powerful into burst specializations when timed correctly, especially with Improved Feign Death.

When facing match-ups where you are guaranteed not to be attacked, there are occasionally better options, but it is safer just always to play this talent.

Chimaeral Sting is a versatile ability that can be used in many ways, for example:

• To silence an enemy healer while bursting their partner (note that it does damage on application, and the silence only applies after 3 seconds, so you cannot Chimaeral Sting during or immediately after a trap)
• To silence a healer before swapping to them (particularly good against priests as they cannot use Pain Suppression when silenced, when they would been able to if you swapped with Intimidation)
• To peel a DPS on their go (for example, use Chimaeral Sting on a Mage when they cast Dragon's Breath; they will still be able to Polymorph your healer, but will be silenced immediately afterward and not be able to capitalize on the Polymorph, or cancel a Shaman's Lightning Lasso when you know it is coming)
• To cancel a Restoration Druid's Tranquility by casting Chimaeral Sting before they use it
• To deny a healer's trinket by casting Chimaeral Sting when they are stunned (when they trinket the stun, they are instantly silenced)
• To apply a powerful slow to a melee DPS when you have no other options

Sticky Tar Bomb is another powerful crowd control for melee DPS but is more versatile than Tracker's Net. Use this into any melee that requires a weapon (or Marksmanship/Beast Mastery Hunters) to counter their burst abilities.You can also use this ability to stop an Arms Warrior from being able to parry attacks during Die by the Sword or to stop a Windwalker monk from being able to use Fists of Fury during Serenity.

Mending Bandage is a powerful talent specifically into Feral Druids and Assassination Rogues. Use this to dispel bleeds and poisons from your party when they are stunned, or use it on yourself when you have high bleeds on yourself and are not stunned. Particular effects you will want to remove are Deathmark and Feral Frenzy.

Diamond Ice makes your Freezing Trap undispellable but reduces the duration and makes the target immune to all spells while active. This is useful not only because Survival has a lot of cleave built into the rotation that can make trapping awkward, but also:

• Against Shadow Priests, Demon Hunters, and Affliction/Destruction Warlocks that are otherwise able to dispel your Freezing Trap
• To crowd control DPS players without the healer being able to dispel the trap
• To keep a target at low health (you can trap a target at low health and swap to another enemy, and their healer will not be able to recover the target's health during the trap). This is a strategy that is particularly effective in 2v2 arena

Diamond Ice also reduces the duration of Freezing Trap by two seconds, which makes it difficult to justify taking. In Patch 11.1 Freezing Trap was adjusted to have a small damage threshold before breaking, so you can avoid taking Diamond Ice unless you know that your traps will definitely break instantly otherwise.

Interlope is powerful into casters and hunters. You can Interlope your healer when they are stunned, to eat an enemy Hunter's Freezing Trap or use it on yourself/your team to absorb spell casts. The pet positioning requirement of this spell can make it awkward to use, but when used properly, it is a very powerful defensive talent.

Remember that you need to talent into Misdirection to use Interlope and you should also drop Disruptive Rounds to take No Hard Feelings which reduces the cooldown.

Hunting Pack is a mobility talent that vastly reduces the cooldown of Aspect of the Cheetah and applies its buff to your teammates but requires your teammates to be within 15 yards. There are better talents available to you in most cases, but this is occasionally worth taking if none of the above talents feel useful.

Tracker's Net is a situationally powerful crowd control on melee DPS. Use this when there is a melee on the other team that you do not intend to kill (as any damage over time effect will break the root) that doesn't have many root-breaking abilities available.

Wild Kingdom will help you keep your pet alive. With proper positioning of your pet and using Mend Pet and Exhilaration properly, your pet should not die often. Remember that if your team already has a Mortal Strike effect, you can use a Mechanical family pet, which will be significantly more tanky than a regular pet anyway.