| Name | Pew Pew. The Everyday Hunter's Guide Part 5 |
| Category | Class |
Hyacintha here, and today I am interviewing the beautiful Night Elven Hunter Ohanraela. Although the Hunter class is one of the simplest to pick up and is a very popular choice when it comes to pure firepower, it has its share of complexities that not everyone understands. This guide is designed to show you over several parts what the class has to offer, how each ability is used, and how to improve yourself as a Hunter. Ohanraela will be my aid in doing so.
What will set you apart from every other Hunter are the talents you invest in your talent trees. These improve your current moves and give you access to new ones based on whatever tree your talent points into. In the following guides, we will be focusing on each of the three trees and how to play them, what talents to take and so on.
Hyacintha: Ohanraela, thank you for coming back to be interviewed again. Today of course we are going to be focusing on the Hunter’s talents, this time which ones to pick, and how to use them. I understand we are on Survival now.
Ohanraela: Yes we are. I will break down the Survival tree for you and show you the pros and cons.
# - - Survival - - >
The Survivalist is a skilled tactician who prefers to fight defensively. With traps in hand and a bag full of tricks, he is always prepared to survive worst possible scenarios.
Basic Sample Survival Builds
~ Survival Raid DPS ~
Beast Mastery Talents - 5 point(s)
Improved Aspect of the Hawk - rank 5 / 5
Marksmanship Talents - 20 point(s)
Lethal Shots - rank 5 / 5
Efficiency - rank 5 / 5
Go for the Throat - rank 2 / 2
Aimed Shot - rank 1 / 1
Rapid Killing - rank 2 / 2
Mortal Shots - rank 5 / 5
Survival Talents - 36 point(s)
Monster Slaying - rank 3 / 3
Humanoid Slaying - rank 3 / 3
Hawk Eye - rank 3 / 3
Improved Wing Clip - rank 1 / 3
Clever Traps - rank 2 / 2
Survivalist - rank 5 / 5
Surefooted - rank 3 / 3
Survival Instincts - rank 2 / 2
Killer Instinct - rank 3 / 3
Lightning Reflexes - rank 5 / 5
Thrill of the Hunt - rank 3 / 3
Expose Weakness - rank 3 / 3
The best parts of this spec are Lightning Reflexes, Expose Weakness and Surefooted. It skips Wyvern Sting, Readiness, and Master Tactician in favor of the DPS talents that the Marksmanship tree has to offer.
~ Survival / Beast Mastery Hybrid Grinding / Farming Build ~
Beast Mastery Talents - 25 point(s)
Endurance Training - rank 5 / 5
Focused Fire - rank 2 / 2
Thick Hide - rank 3 / 3
Unleashed Fury - rank 5 / 5
Ferocity - rank 5 / 5
Spirit Bond - rank 2 / 2
Intimidation - rank 1 / 1
Bestial Discipline - rank 2 / 2
Survival Talents - 36 point(s)
Monster Slaying - rank 3 / 3
Humanoid Slaying - rank 3 / 3
Hawk Eye - rank 3 / 3
Improved Wing Clip - rank 1 / 3
Clever Traps - rank 2 / 2
Survivalist - rank 5 / 5
Surefooted - rank 3 / 3
Survival Instincts - rank 2 / 2
Killer Instinct - rank 3 / 3
Lightning Reflexes - rank 5 / 5
Thrill of the Hunt - rank 3 / 3
Expose Weakness - rank 3 / 3
Both the Raiding Build and this build are about equally practicable for solo farming. This HYBRID spec just introduces some downtime lessening talents, and shifts the focus away from you. Additionally, since Growl does not generate much aggro, it gives more damage dealing abilities to your pet over you to help manage the agro quite a bit.
~ Survival PvP Spec ~
Beast Mastery Talents - 5 point(s)
Endurance Training - rank 5 / 5
Marksmanship Talents - 18 point(s)
Improved Concussive Shot - rank 5 / 5
Efficiency - rank 5 / 5
Go for the Throat - rank 2 / 2
Aimed Shot - rank 1 / 1
Rapid Killing - rank 2 / 2
Mortal Shots - rank 3 / 5
Survival Talents - 38 point(s)
Humanoid Slaying - rank 3 / 3
Hawk Eye - rank 3 / 3
Entrapment - rank 1 / 3
Improved Wing Clip - rank 3 / 3
Survivalist - rank 5 / 5
Deterrence - rank 1 / 1
Trap Mastery - rank 1 / 2
Surefooted - rank 3 / 3
Survival Instincts - rank 2 / 2
Killer Instinct - rank 3 / 3
Counterattack - rank 1 / 1
Resourcefulness - rank 3 / 3
Lightning Reflexes - rank 5 / 5
Wyvern Sting - rank 1 / 1
Expose Weakness - rank 3 / 3
This specialization is based on the Hunter's ability to be completely annoying to other players in PvP. It is specifically made for spamming Frost Trap, with the hope of gaining Entrapment, and Concussive Shot. In the meantime, it gives you Wyvern Sting as well, and thus this build contains so much PVP usefulness in a VERY big package. However, it lacks the burst DPS provided by the Marks PVP spec, so most Arena hunters will stick with marks PVP. Again, if you want Readiness, it is your choice. Using it on Deterrence could be valuable.
# - - Survival Builds In General Have the Following - - >
Benefits
- Excellent and powerful crowd control capabilities.
- High critical strike chance, which is great for damage and triggering buffs.
- Has a method of resisting snares and escaping from melee range.
- Is capable of enduring and surviving close encounters if needed.
Downsides
- Very difficult specialization to master.
- Leveling with Survival is considerably slower than with other trees.
- Significantly weaker damage output than what other trees have to offer.
Whereas Beast Masters and Marksmen focus on offense, being a Survivalist means that you will tactically stay on the defense. Talents such as Wyvern Sting, Clever Traps, and Resourcefulness allow you to carefully keep your enemies detained for as long as possible with an unmatched level of crowd control. At the same time, Deterrence and Deflection allow you to stay alive in melee range. If worse comes to worst, you have abilities that can help you escape from your enemies by rooting them to the ground. You have a remarkable amount of staying power, and can outlast your enemies.
Playing as a Survivalist is not an easy task because what you are doing is trying to maximize your offense as a specialist in defense. Against your average mob, your basic shot rotation will suffice. Elites from small dungeons give you a little more legroom for damage. In that case, Wyvern Sting and Immolation Trap will cause a lot of damage over time, though remember that Wyvern Sting is useless against anything that is immune to the initial sleep effect.
Against enemy players, you have a very good of beating them with what you have. Most players will always try to get within melee range so that you cannot use your ranged weapon but notice how many of your talents affect your melee capabilities. Any Survival talent that boosts your ranged attack damage also enhances your melee weapon damage. You also have the benefit of Wyvern Sting and Clever Traps to help wear your opponent down, and with your high Agility and The optional Improved Aspect of the Monkey, you can dodge attacks very often. With the support of Exposed Weakness, Master Tactician, and Improved Hunter’s Mark, you can go quite far with a melee weapon.
# - - Disadvantages exist for the Survival Tree - - >
A Survivalist is not an easy job to get accustomed to. The abilities that you gain from that talent build are very situational. Counterattack and Deterrence are only good when something decides to take a swing at you. In most PvE scenarios, that usually does not happen, and it should never happen in a raid encounter.
Wyvern Sting causes a healthy dose of damage over time but the downside is that the damage effect only occurs if the target awakens from the sleep effect. That means that if anything is immune to that sleep portion, the damage will not occur. Tragically, this means that it is nearly useless in raids and against some heroic dungeon elites.
Finally, Readiness is an excellent ability but deciding when to use it can be a complicated process. On the offense, it’s great for double Rapid Fires, Wyvern Stings, and Traps, but the five-minute cool down prevents you from using it often. Ideally, it seems to serve best as a defensive option. You can save it until you really need. If a Freezing Trap gets resisted, or if happen to quickly need a Wyvern Sting, it serves as your Second Chance button.
# - - Playing As A Survivalist - - >
Even though you are built for defense, you still have enough in your arsenal to push a strong offense. Against your typical mob, your shot rotation will do just fine but keep in mind that Raptor Strike is a potent source of damage. With Savage Strikes, its critical strike chance exceeds that of your ranged weapon, and if you have a strong 2H weapon, the result can be devastating. Keep in mind that your melee attacks share many of the same talent bonuses as your ranged attacks as well.
Because dungeon elites take longer to kill, they give you much more room for you to cause damage. Wyvern Sting and a Clever Immolation Trap together can wear an elite down, as would having double Rapid Fires with the help of Readiness. These same tactics can also be used against players as well, though you will need to find a way to convince them to step into your trap without them seeing it. You can use Raptor Strike as a source of damage as well but against heroic elites, that could be very risky.
On the defense, you will not use Deterrence against mobs very often. The time that you usually use it is when you are either swarmed by multiple mobs or elites. In that case, it becomes your escape button. In those ten seconds, you have Wing Clip, Freezing Trap, and Counterattack at your disposal. You might even be able to squeeze in a Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite before making a run for it. If the situation really gets dire, you still have Readiness, which can give you one extra Wyvern Sting, another trap, and more Deterrence. That can occur if you just happened to get ambushed by mobs while all three are still cooling down.
# - - Raiding As A Survivalist - - >
Even with all of the damage bonuses that you get with Survival talents, you will never cause anywhere as much damage as a Marksman or a Beast Master, but what you lack in firepower, you compensate with the utility that you can bring to a raid. Survivalists are wanted for one thing: Expose Weakness. This talent benefits anything in the raid that causes physical damage, but making the most out of it means having to stack as much Agility as possible. With the right selection of gems, enchants, and buffs, Lightning Reflexes can raise that stat to staggering numbers.
A key talent that I had not listed in the sample template is Thrill of the Hunt, which restores mana whenever your Shots critically hit. Without it, you will burn through your mana supply very quickly. Making room for it means cutting down on mana potion consumption.
# - - PvP As A Survivalist - - >
Survivalists are fun to play with in PvP because of all of the handy abilities that you have at your fingertips. Melee-oriented classes will find you a little tougher to kill because of all of the snare effects that you have in your arsenal, including Entrapment, Improved Wing Clip, and Counterattack, though you will still want to keep your distance as much as possible.
There is actually a very nice crowd control trick that you can use if you are careful. Use Wyvern Sting to shut your enemy down, preferably one that has a poison-cleansing feature. When the effect is about to wear off, plant a Freezing Trap under his feet and quickly replace the Wyvern Sting with Scorpid Sting. This should buy you additional control time. If you want to push it even further, you can also quickly hit Readiness and do it all over again.
# - - Survival Itemization and Gear - - >
As a Survivalist, you need to be a bit more careful when you look for weapons and armor. While Beast Masters and Marksmen can be a little more lenient in their choice of gear, you need a lot Agility to make the most out of your build, which leaves the Desolation Armor set out of the question. Agility contributes to your armor, chance to dodge, and critical strike chance. You could take the Beast Lord Cuirass mentioned above and simply replace the two Bright Living Rubies with Delicate Living Rubies, which add + 8 Agility each.
Conveniently, the PvP set armor is a solid choice for a Survivalist, thanks to the high Stamina, Resilience, and the inclusion of red and yellow sockets. Consider this configuration:
Gladiator’s Chain Armor
866 Armor
+ 27 Agility
+ 51 Stamina
+ 17 Intellect
[o] Red Socket: Delicate Living Ruby (+ 8 Agility)
[o] Red Socket: Delicate Living Ruby (+ 8 Agility)
[o] Yellow Socket: Glinting Noble Topaz (+ 4 Agility, + 4 Crit Rating)
SOCKET BONUS: + 4 Crit Rating
EQUIP: + 12 Crit Rating
EQUIP: + 16 Resilience
EQUIP: + 12 Attack Power
ENCHANT: + 6 Stats
In the way of neckpieces and rings, be aware that most jewelry that has Agility comes with Attack Power. There are few, if any, rings and neckpieces that have strictly Agility. As for enchants, you need Agility on whatever pieces of armor can receive it. Weapons should be enchanted with either + 20 Agility or + 35 Agility, depending on whether it’s one-handed or a two-handed.
Hyacintha: What an earful of info! Thank you so much for all the good information. In the next guide we will be looking at the Beast Mastery talent tree and all its good sides and bad sides. Stay tuned and see you in Outland!
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