This is strictly a PvE RAIDING guide for Survival Hunters in patch 3.2. I also know a lot of this information is available at EJ forums but not everybody goes there and some people are intimidated by the over abundance of numbers.

** DO NOT POST PVP OR LEVELING QUESTIONS/ETC IN THIS THREAD **

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Patch 3.3 Summary
Same SV, different patch number.
Nothing to see here.

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LINK TO CURRENT 3.3 DISCUSSION OF THIS GUIDE:

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=14132915697&sid=1&pageNo=58#1153



Contents: search by (xxxxX) after the name.

1) Core Talents (xxxx1)- a must have for any serious raid spec.
2) Floater Talents (xxxx2)- optional/situational.
3) Talents to Avoid like the plague. (xxxx3)
4) Rotation & Play style (xxxx4)
5) Itemization & Glyphs (xxxx5)

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1) Core Talents (xxxx1) these skills are vital to the success of a survival build.
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Survival Talents:

Improved Tracking - 5% extra damage just for having ANY hunter specific tracking up.

Trap Mastery - Increases damage done by Traps and Black Arrow.

Survival Instincts - 4% crit to Explosive Shot and Steady Shot.

TnT - 6% increased damage done by Explosive Shot, Immolation Trap and Explosive Trap. The 3 second stun has been removed from this talent along with the 9% crit to Explosive Shot. It also does not refresh Immolation trap regardless of what you see written in patch notes.

Lock and Load - 2 free explosive shots from ticks of Black Arrow or Immolation Trap ticks or Frost/Freezing Trap activation. Targets Immune to snares will not trigger LnL procs when Frost/Freezing traps are used. There is now a 22 second internal cooldown between LnL procs.

Noxious Stings - 3% more overall damage for having Serpent Sting active on a target. Wyrven Sting is taken to get access to these points.

2/3 Expose Weakness - Increases your AP by 25% of your Agility whenever you crit. More than 2 points are not necessary unless your crit rating is very low.

Resourcefulness - This talent reduces the cooldown on traps and Black Arrow. Since Black Arrow increases your damage by 6% while active as well as functions to proc Lock and Load, you will want Black Arrow active as much as possible.

Black Arrow - This is a new shot which deals Shadow Damage over 15 seconds and will be the main source of Lock and Load procs. Black Arrow also provides a 6% increased damage buff while it is active on a target which stacks with the 3% bonus from Noxious Stings if you also have Serpent Sting active. Black Arrow now shares a CD with Immolation/Explosive trap but NOT with Freezing/Frost/Snake traps.

Hunting Party - This is now a 3 point talent that increases your Agility by 1% per point as well as provides the Replenishment buff on your Explosive and Steady Shot crits.

Master Tactician - 10% chance to proc 2/4/6/8/10% crit for 8 seconds. With the increased uptime on this it averages out to 6-7% crit over the course of a long fight.

Survivalist/Hunter vs Wild - Survivalist increases your Stamina by 2/4/6/8/10% and Hunter vs. Wild gives you and your pet AP equal to 30% of your Stamina. The AP awarded scales only with +Stamina buffs not +Health buffs (Commanding Shout, Blood Pact).

Sniper Training - Increased damage to Steady, Aimed AND Explosive shot on top of increased 15% crit chance for Kill Shot. This talent has been changed in 3.1 and no longer requires a 30 yard range but rather is now a buff that becomes active when you stand still for 6 seconds. The buff remains active for 15 seconds and refreshes every 6 seconds.

Explosive Shot - This is the backbone of the SV spec. It deals Fire damage, is not mitigated by armor, and is on a 6 second cooldown. Explosive Shot should be the main priority of your rotation over almost any other shot.


MM Talents:

Careful Aim - Increases your AP equal to 100% of your Intellect.

Lethal Shots/Mortal Shots - Increases your crit rating by 5% and critical strike bonus damage by 6/12/18/24/30% on all your special abilities (Auto Shot is not included).

Go For the Throat - Every time you crit this talent gives your pet 25 focus. With the lowered pet ability costs and extremely high crit rates in raids you will not need more than 1 point here.


BM Talents:

Improved Aspect of the Hawk - 10% chance to increase your attack speed by 3/6/9/12/15% for 12 seconds. Use this talent to help maintain haste capped Steady Shots.

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PETS
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Wolf pets will still most likely be the top dps pets in 3.2 since Ferocious Howl will be changed to be hunter only and stack with Blessing of Might/etc. For more information check out this site:

http://petopia.brashendeavors.net/

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PET SPEC
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http://www.wowhead.com/?petcalc#0Md00sc00hooo

Is the most commonly accepted Ferocity pet spec for non-BM hunters. You can experiment with Shark Attack if you wish but all testing points towards Wild Hunt being slightly better.

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2) Floater Talents (xxxx2) these are talents that are situational or will vary depending on your gear. Others might just be fillers to get you to other core talents.
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Improved Stings - While Serpent Sting no longer procs LnL, it should still be active as much as possible for the 3% damage buff of Noxious Stings. The extra damage of Imp Stings talent helps since serpent stings does scale slightly with AP and should have high uptime. Since the damage gain however is somewhat small, this is a decent place to pull points if you need to customize your spec. Each point translates to approximately ~15-17 dps depending on your gear level.

Survival Tactics - if you find you Feign death or traps being resisted a lot this is a decent place to put filler points to get to the next tier.

Scatter Shot - another filler point which you may use if you are on a PvP server.

Hawkeye - With the change to Sniper Training there is no need to be over 30 yards away to receive the benefits of the talent. This increased range talent is now situational and will be passed over in most specs since Trap Mastery is a true dps boost for the same 3 points spent.

Focused Aim - Take enough points here to hit the 8% hit cap, depending on your gear this might be 0-3 points. There are more talents you’ll want to pick up in the SV tree so getting completely hit capped without this talent will allow you to use the best possible dps specs. 3.2 will also change this talent to add 3% hit to pets as well as capping pets expertise.

Aimed Shot - Instant cast shot on a 10sec CD to use instead of Multi Shot. It receives damage increasing benefits from Sniper Training, and several other talents. It is nice on movement intensive fights however it is not a substantial dps upgrade to Multi-Shot.

Focused Fire - 1% extra damage for having your Pet active per point. Any spec that takes this talent almost always requires full 8% hit cap.

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3) Talents to avoid like the Plague. (xxxx3) The survival tree is pretty bloated with MUST HAVE talents but there are a few that you should steer clear of.
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Imp Arcane Shot - Arcane shot shares a 6 second cool down with Explosive shot, and even with these talent points does no where near the amount of damage Explosive shot puts out.

Point of No Escape - Bosses are not affected by the frost trap debuff so this talent is rendered useless in a raid setting.

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**Resulting Specs** - Note some points are unspent, these are floater points you can place depending on the needs of your gear or raid group. This is just a bare bone skeleton of the core survival spec. You have to do some thinking and decide where to put the remaining points based on what kind of gear you have. There is NO absolute cookie cutter Survival spec. NONE. Don’t ask for it.
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Baseline talent tree this covers almost ALL the must have talents:
http://ptr.wowhead.com/?talent=cZ0eVoZx0ci0cIhxdAhsz

You have 6 points here leftover to take other talents depending on your gear/raid/etc.

POTENTIAL TOP DPS SPECS:

6/14/51 - No Hunting Party
http://ptr.wowhead.com/?talent=cxoZ0eVoZx0ci0cIhxdAhsz

0/14/57 -
http://ptr.wowhead.com/?talent=cZ0eVoZx0ci0cIhedAhsu
**Variations on this build** - you may take a point (or two) out of Hunting Party to pick up either Improved Aspect of the Hawk and/or Aimed Shot.

2/18/51-
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent#cbZ0eVoohZx0ci0cIhgdqhsz
If you have 2pc T9 and do not need to provide Replenishment to your raid, this is a possible spec to make the most of the set bonus. Keep in mind the mana efficiency of this spec is much lower than other specs due to lack of points in Thrill of the Hunt.

Focused Aim - while this talent does give you 3% hit and helps when you just cannot get that hit from other sources, there are simply too many good talents. You WILL have to sacrifice somewhere to take points in Focused Aim. Under absolutely no circumstances will a “TOP DPS” spec include points in Focused Aim. Places you can poach points from include: Hunting Party, Master Tactician, Resourcefulness. Focused Aim will now also grant expertise to pets.


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4) Rotation & Play Style (xxxx4)
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Rotation:

The survival rotation has evolved to a priority based system instead of a true rotation.

Kill Shot (KS)
Explosive Shot (ES)
Black Arrow (BA)
Serpent Sting (SrS)
Aimed(AS)/Multi(MS)
Steady Shot (SS)


The way this priority list works is that if at each time the GCD comes up you try to fire the ability closest to the top of the list. This list may change as more real data comes in after the patch goes live.

Every 21 seconds (with Glyph) you will have to refresh Serpent Sting. Every 30 seconds (24 with talents) you will have to refresh Black Arrow.

**2pc T9** - If you have 2pc T9 Serpent Sting should be placed above Black Arrow in the priority.

**3.1 CHANGE** - Kill Shot is now back ON the GCD and you can no longer macro it to all your shots. This will cause further complexity to your priority list below 20% health especially if you have the KS glyph.

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What to do on a LnL Proc
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Ideal LnL rotation: The first rotation is if Aimed/Multi is off CD or any Serpent Sting needs Refreshed when LnL procs. The second rotation is if Aimed/Multi is on cooldown and Serpent Sting is active when LnL procs. If you have nothing else in your priority list besides Steady Shot use the 2nd LnL rotation. You may also insert kill shot into either of these as it is higher up the priority list.

ES > Aimed/Multi Shot > ES > Refresh Serpent Sting > ES > regular rotation.

ES > wait .5 sec after GCD > ES > wait .5sec after GCD > ES > regular rotation.

High Lag/ping LnL rotation: - Timing the Ideal rotation is difficult if you have heavy lag, this rotation will yield similar results with minimal dps loss.
ES > Aimed/Multi Shot/SS > ES > SS > ES > original rotation continues.

At any point in the rotation you can drop a steady shot to reapply serpent sting, hunters mark, mend pet, rapid fire, or anything on the GCD. Due to the potential damage output of ES you should avoid replacing it with anything unless you absolutely have to. Addons such as PowerAura or Class Timers can help you identify LnL procs if you hate staring at your buffs and needs something to pop up on your screen.

At NO TIME during a LnL proc should you use one of the charges to cast Arcane shot. Its damage is pitiful, especially compared to the new explosive shot.

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Explosive Shot Mechanics
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0 seconds = Explosive shot hits the target mob and applies the debuff “Explosive Shot”
.5 seconds = 1st tick
1 second = 2nd tick
1.5 second = 3rd tick

Now, this LOOKS like it should line up to the GCD just fine however Explosive Shot also has a travel time to the target mob before this ~1.5sec cycle can run it’s course. If you are standing at ~30+ yards it takes just over .5 sec for your shot to reach the target so you are not actually sitting there for a full 1.5 seconds in between shots during a LnL proc. This travel time combined with the 1.5sec long tick makes Explosive shot effectively a 2 second long event if you are at ~30+ yards. The main goal of this modified LnL rotation is to get through the LnL proc faster and get to your next Explosive shot as soon as possible. If done well this LnL rotation puts you to your next Explosive shot a full 1sec earlier than weaving Explosive Shot and Steady Shot. While this does not seem like much over the course of a fight and multiple LnL procs you will end up with more Explosive Shots.

For players with high latency issues or who do not want to use addons to try and “time” this you can just replace this “wait time” with a steady shot and only suffer marginal dps loss. The ES > Aimed/Multi (or wait .5 sec) > ES > wait .5sec > ES is an absolute min/max rotation and is not absolutely ESSENTIAL to amazing dps but it certainly helps if you can pull it off.

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5) Itemization & Glyphs (xxxx5)
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Glyphs:

1. Explosive Shot - Increases crit rating on Explosive Shot by 4%.

2. Kill Shot - Reduces the cooldown on Kill Shot by 6 sec. Valuable on longer fights where you spend more time at sub20% health.

3. One of either of the following glyphs. Steady Shot is better on short fights, Serpent Sting on longer fights but overall the difference is small and you should really make the decision based on how often you like refreshing Serpent Sting.

Steady Shot - while steady shot has been nerfed, it will still be ~20% of your damage with this glyph on.

Serpent Sting - the less time you spend refreshing this, the more you're dpsing.



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Itemization and Stat Values
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The Hit Cap is currently 8%
Focused Aim Hit% Needed Hit Rating Needed
0/3 8% 263
1/3 7% 229
2/3 6% 197
3/3 5% 164
3/3 (draenei) 4% 131

Level 80 Stat Conversions for Survival

1 agi = 1.15 ap (1.18) .012% crit
1 ap = 1ap
1 stam = .3 ap
1 int = 1 ap 15 mana

Haste Calculator
http://ezmooks.site88.net/hastecalc.php

Gems: In order of value (depending on hit).

Red -
Delicate Cardinal Ruby 20 agi
Delicate Cardinal Ruby 20 agi (unique equip)
Delicate Scarlet Ruby 16 agi

Orange -
Glinting Flawless Ametrine 10agi 10hit
Deadly Flawless Ametrine 10agi 10crit
Glinting Noble Topaz 8agi 8hit
Deadly Noble Topaz 8agi 8crit

Purple-
Shifting Dreadstone 10agi 15stam
Shifting Twilight Opal 8agi 12stam

Green-
Vivid Eye of Zul 10hit 15stam
Jagged Eye of Zul 10crit 15stam

Prismatic-
Nightmare Tear 10stats
Enchanted Tear 6stats

Unless you are going after either Hit or Agi socket bonuses, you're best off stacking full red gems and using a prismatic gem to activate your meta gem. If you are going to use orange/purple gems go for hit if you need it otherwise go for crit.

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10 & 25 Man Raid Gear
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*TBA once full Coliseum Loot tables are known*

EJ Spreadsheet:
http://elitistjerks.com/f74/t30710-wotlk_dps_spreadsheet/


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LOOT LIST
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*TBA once full Coliseum Loot tables are known.*

ADDON & UI HELP

SpartanUI -
http://www.spartanui.com/

RangeDisplay -
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info7297-RangeDisplay.html#info

PowerAura - visual cues for procs/etc.
http://www.wowinterface.com/downloads/info8579-PowerAurasClassic.html

Setup Help

Please do not ask more questions in this thread about how to set up this addon. Make a new post on the forums @Xumio or asking for PowerAura help if you still need help.

/Powa - brings up main options window.

Step 1 - Select Character Effects page 1 then click the tab "New"
Step 2 - Put in the exact name of the buff/debuff you wish to track. Change the buff/debuff/etc through the pull down menu.
Step 3 - Set up the aura graphic you want to display on the scroll bar "Texture" or click "Use Own Texture" below if you want to use the in game Icon to have that as your graphic.
Step 4 - Place the aura wherever you want on the screen using X,Y coord bars.
Step 5 - Set up the conditions under which you wish for the Aura to appear.
Step 6 - Set up a timer when applicable.

Close entirely out of the PowerAuras menu then test them out. If you have the menu up and try to test the auras, not all the features will work correctly.

**NOTE** Serpent Sting requires 2 different Auras if you wish to have a timer for when the sting is active AND an aura for when the sting needs reapplied. The aura for the Timer must be set up as a TEXT Aura. This is important and it will not work correctly otherwise.

Example Screenshots:

Lock and Load: - shows aura when active
http://img201.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wowscrnshot011409154923ua4.jpg

Serpent Sting - shows aura when needs reapplied.
http://img201.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wowscrnshot011409154929ti0.jpg

Serpent Sting - shows timer when active. (main page setup)
http://img229.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wowscrnshot011409154935zp1.jpg

Serpent Sting - (timer tab setup)
http://img83.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wowscrnshot011409154941wh4.jpg

Expose Weakness: shows when NOT active (ie. bad no crit streak)
http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=wowscrnshot011409155000bf3.jpg

For those of you asking for the LUA files for my settings here they are. If you don't know what this means, than use the above screenshots.

PowerAura LUA files:
LUA file
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=UD74R2GT

LUA BAK file
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=0DP957B1

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Raid Essentials
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*****Buffs*****
- You can receive one from each category. (*) denotes value of “improved” talent.
+AP
Paladin - Might - 550 AP (688*)
Warrior - Battle Shout - 550 AP (688*)
+%AP
Hunter - Trueshot Aura - 10%
Shaman - Unleashed Fury - 10%
Death Knight - Abominations Might - 10%
+%Stats
Paladins - Kings 10%
+All Stats
Druid -Gift of the Wild - 37 (52*)
+Intellect
Mage -Arcane Intellect - 60
Warlock - Fel Intelligence - 48 (53*)
+Stamina
Priest - Prayer of Fortitude - 165 (215*)
+Agility
Shaman - Strength of Earth Totem - 155 (178*)
Death Knight - Horn of Winter - 155
+Melee/Physical Crit%
Druid - Leader of the Pack - 5%
Warrior - Rampage - 5%
+Overall Crit%
Paladin - Heart of the Crusader - 3%
Shaman - Totem of Wrath - 3%
Rogue - Master Poisoner 3%
+Damage Increase
Paladin - Sanctified Retribution - 3%
Hunter - Ferocious Inspiration - 3%
+Haste
Paladin - Swift Retribution - 3%
Druid - Improved Moonkin Aura - 3%

*****Debuffs***** - One from each category.
-Armor (major)
Warrior - Sunder
Rogue - Expose Armor
-Armor (minor)
Druid - Faerie Fire
Warlock - Curse of Recklessness
+Spell Damage taken (affects Explosive Shot)
Warlock - Curse of Elements - 10% (13%*)
Druid - Earth and Moon - 13%
Death Knight - Ebon Plaguebringer - 13%

*****Consumables***** - (*) Amount with Mixology.
Flasks
Flasks of Endless Rage - 180 AP (244*)
Battle Elixirs
Elixir of Accuracy - 45 Hit Rating (61*)
Elixir of Mighty Agility - 45 Agility
Guardian Elixirs
Elixir of Mighty Thoughts - 45 Intellect (64*)
Food
Blackened Dragonfin - 40 Agility & 40 Stamina
Snapper Extreme - 40 Hit Rating & 40 Stamina
Worg Tartare - 40 Hit Rating & 40 Stamina

Don't let me down on this! I'm looking forward to reading it.

thanks for the info. You spec is very similar to mine. Im basically trying to decide between trap dancing and snipper training. The talent definitaly needs a change but there arnt any other talents for me to pick up that increase dps (even situationally) unless i spec for traps.

You can get 30+ yards on almost all fights. The only two I know you can't get it is Malygos and Thaddius.

I don't understand how trap dancing works, but I'd rather have the 6% extra damage and stay as far away from mobs as I can.

6% crit on specials isn't 6% extra damage. I don't particularly like sniper training because there is a possibility it does nothing and you might as well not have 3(2) talents on a fight. those 2 spare talents can easily be dropped into imp aoth. probably the worst is when you are relying on battle shout instead of might, then you really have to get close or you'll be out of range of the warrior.

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Q u o t e:
You can get 30+ yards on almost all fights. The only two I know you can't get it is Malygos and Thaddius.

I don't understand how trap dancing works, but I'd rather have the 6% extra damage and stay as far away from mobs as I can.

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So hot!!!

Thread is going to need a shot rotation explanation and possibly a macro. I assume its just regular shot rotations with ES, but if we can simplify than bring the knowledge!

Also, does the argument of AGi vs ATK power still matter?

Finally pet preference with this spec to make the damage out put better.

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Q u o t e:
You can get 30+ yards on almost all fights. The only two I know you can't get it is Malygos and Thaddius.

I don't understand how trap dancing works, but I'd rather have the 6% extra damage and stay as far away from mobs as I can.

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The largest issue with sniper training isn't being 30 yards away from the boss. It's being within range of your raid's totems, ret aura, battle shouts or other ranged buffs. Just because the boss is 30 yards away does not mean your melee is within 30 yards of you. This is a highly situational talent that does not give a consistent and reliable return for the points invested in it.

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Q u o t e:
You can get 30+ yards on almost all fights. The only two I know you can't get it is Malygos and Thaddius.

I don't understand how trap dancing works, but I'd rather have the 6% extra damage and stay as far away from mobs as I can.

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10/10. ; )

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Q u o t e:
The largest issue with sniper training isn't being 30 yards away from the boss. It's being within range of your raid's totems, ret aura, battle shouts or other ranged buffs. Just because the boss is 30 yards away does not mean your melee is within 30 yards of you. This is a highly situational talent that does not give a consistent and reliable return for the points invested in it.

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Considering the range on most things now, and with a boomkin for the aura, the ret aura does the same thing, so as long as you're smart with positioning, it's not an issue.

Macroing Survival is impossible. The reason for this is Lock and Load.

After you finish you should put it up for a sticky

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Q u o t e:


Considering the range on most things now, and with a boomkin for the aura, the ret aura does the same thing, so as long as you're smart with positioning, it's not an issue.

Macroing Survival is impossible. The reason for this is Lock and Load.

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MOST things. Not everything. 6% extra explosive shot damage does not justify losing LotP or any other number of valuable buffs. Like I said, it is situational, does not give a consistent return on investment, and there are currently no addons, buff/debuff, or any way to even tell if you are 30 yards away other going to max range and coming back in or 'guessing.' IF they were to implement a range indicator or a buff that appears on you when you are 30yrds+ I could see this possibly being a more viable spec.

The forums just deleted my entire rotation/playstyle post so I have to retype. >.<

Can someone explain trap dancing to me?

Can anyone put up a WWS of a survival hunter, some of the abilities seem pretty nice like Lock and Load you get two isntant explosive shots, but, if it procs when it just got off CD you get 1 extra. Other then that I dont see much in Survival, its not even a raid utility anymore besides an additional replenishment and when we have 3 spriests and two ret pallies we dont need much more.

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Q u o t e:



MOST things. Not everything. 6% extra explosive shot damage does not justify losing LotP or any other number of valuable buffs. Like I said, it is situational, does not give a consistent return on investment, and there are currently no addons, buff/debuff, or any way to even tell if you are 30 yards away other going to max range and coming back in or 'guessing.' IF they were to implement a range indicator or a buff that appears on you when you are 30yrds+ I could see this possibly being a more viable spec.

The forums just deleted my entire rotation/playstyle post so I have to retype. >.<

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Its not hard to make sure you're 30 yards away... but the hard thing is alot of fights you CAN'T be 30 yards away. Even on patchwerk some healers like shamans and priests complain when you are out of the group because of aoe healing and the general area we stand in for patchwerk is not 30 yards away and we are against a wall. Other bosses like Thaddius, sometimes Glob, 4Horsemen, alot of times on KT since you cant move much, and even malygos because of his extremly large hit box.