[EN] Survival and Beast Mastery Hunter 5.4.8 PvE Guide

[Barnie]

BM&Survival Hunter Guide for 5.4.8


Introduction

In this guide I will teach you how to minmax your playstyle as a Survival/BM Hunter based on my 1+ year experience of testing/simming/reading different guides/learning different tricks and even playing alongside great hunters like Pottm and Azortharion through Siege of Orgrimar. All that applied(tested) to what we currently have here on freakz(I will try to keep the guide as updated as possible.

General Changes

->We need 7.5% expertise and 7.5% hit (down from 8%).
->Cobra Shots and Steady Shots generate 14 focus/shot(up from 9).
->No more melee weapon slot.
->Trap Launcher is now a toggle on/off ability.
->Deadzone. It's gone.

Races

Aliance: Pandaren(2x food buff, max +300 agi) > Worgen(1% crit) > Dwarf(1% exp)
Horde: Pandaren(2x food buff, max +300 agi) > Orc(2% increase damage from pets and active dps CD-4.5k AP) > Troll(1% exp, 5% more damage vs beasts and active DPS CD-20% haste)
With the current ilvl of the gear, pandaren offers the best racial, later gear will influence the BiS racial as well as the most damaging spec.

Talents

Tier 1

As far as PvE goes Crouching Tiger, Hidden Chimaera* is by far the best choice for the reduced cooldown on Disengage to 10 sec and Deterrence to 2m, that unless you get some special role in the progress/encounter that make you have to go from point A to point B really fast every 25 sec. In that case, Posthaste.

Tier 2

Rather situational but for most of the cases and my personal all-time choice, Binding Shot is most usefull.(Will of the Emperor progression inc.)

Tier 3

Aspect of the Iron Hawk is the best PvE talent you can get here unless** you are in a position where you take consistent damage like in the Will of the Emperor encounter, then you go for Spirit Bond.

Tier 4

BM: Dire Beast
SV: Fervor is more of a cd for a controlled AoE burst when needed. While ToTH is for the long run. Both are ~~equally powerful(at least for now*). Use whichever you feel more comfortable with.

Tier 5

BM: Blink Strikes
SV: AmoC

Tier 6

In any single target/weak aoe fight Glaive Toss is the clear choice, in fights like Stone Guard of even Elegon~~ Barrage can easely take the lead.

Stats&Co.

AGILITY>ALL
BM(with meta gem): Crit > Haste > Mastery (at this point you should prolly be Surv anyway)
BM(no meta):Haste > Mastery > Crit
SV:Crit > Haste > Mastery

Stat weights for ReforgeLite:
BM:

MH DPS: 0.51
Agi: 1
Exp/Hit: 1
Haste: 0.47
Mastery: 0.45
Crit: 0.41
AP: 0.34

SV:

MH DPS: 0.48
Agi: 1
Exp/Hit: 1
Crit: 0.43
Haste: 0.34
Mastery: 0.30
AP: 0.38

*Glyphs
Major: Animal Bond>Deterrence>Liberation>>>
Minor: Surv: any /////// BM: Glyph of Stampede is a MUST.

*Proffesions
For both specs Engineering is by far a must have proffesion as well as for any other PvE dps(at least). As for the 2nd proffesion any other that offers 320 stat is good.
Note: LW gives free leg enchant.

*Enchanting
Shoulders: Greater Tiger Claw Inscription
Back: Accuracy or Superior Critical Strike (wowhead link)
Chest: Glorious Stats
Wrists: Greater agility
Hands: Superior Expertise (wowhead link) or Greater Haste if overcapped with expertise
Waist: Living Steel Belt Buckle
Legs: Shadowleather Leg Armor
Feet: Blurred Speed
Weapon: Lord Blastington's Scope of Doom


*Gemming
Now that secondary stats are doubled you will need to think more about what gems you want to use. Use the stat weights to check if it is worth it going for the bonuses or not.

Again, with the current ilvl of gear and the stats we have at our disposal, we have the following:
Metagem: Agile Primal Diamond
Red: Delicate Primordial Ruby
Yellow: Deadly Vermilion Onyx
Blue: Glinting Imperial Amethyst

Opener and Priorities
Survival
Opener:
DBM pull...
3... Misdirect
2... Hunter's Mark
1... Precast Glaive Toss
Pre-pot halfway into the GCD
0... Explosive Shot
-1... Stampede + All cooldowns (macro it all together)
-2... Black Arrow
-3... Cobra Shot
-4... A Murder of Crows
-5... Serpent Sting

Priorities:
Single target: Black Arrow>Explosive Shot>Kill Shot>Glaive Toss/Barrage>Serpent Sting>AMoC>Arcane Shot>Cobra Shot

2 targets: BA>>ES>KS>GT/Barrage>SS up on both>AMoC>Multi-Shot>=Arcane Shot>ES only if you can get half the duration or more.
3-4 targets: BA>ES>KS>GT/Barrage>SS up on both>AMoC>Multi-Shot>=Arcane Shot>ES on CD.
5+ targets: Spam Multi-Shot and Cobra Shot.

Note:Ever since MoP was released, the Explosive Shot dot mechanic was changed to be the same as the Ignite one. Which means that you can spam as many Explosive Shots back to back with no fear about losing any damage.
Beast Mastery
Opener:
DBM pull...
3... Misdirect
2... Hunter's Mark
1... Precast Glaive Toss
Pre-pot halfway into the GCD
0... Serpent Sting
-1... Stampede + All cooldowns (macro it all together, including BW)
-2... Kill Command
-3... Dire Beast

Priorities:
Single target: Bestial Wrath>Kill Shot>Kill Command>Dire Beast>Glaive Toss>Focus Fire>Arcane Shot>Cobra Shot
2-3 targets: Bestial Wrath>Kill Shot>Kill Command>Beast Cleave>Dire Beast>Glaive Toss>Focus Fire>Arcane Shot>Cobra Shot
4-7 targets: Beast Cleave>Bestial Wrath>Kill Shot>Kill Command>Dire Beast>Glaive Toss>Focus Fire>Arcane Shot>Cobra Shot
8+ targets: Spam Multi-Shot and Cobra Shot

Note: There are times when you should use Focus Fire and times where you should hold it a bit more. Those times are:
->Outside BW when: BW is 10+ secs of coming off cd and nothing else with higher priority is off cooldown (anything except Arcane Shot/Cobra Shot).
->Inside BW when: You are under 25 focus, BW is 10+ secs of coming off cooldown and nothing else with higher priority is off cooldown.
Use this weak aura to help you manage FF better, it simply tells you when to use it based on the criteria listed above.

Macros and Addons

For hunter specific addons I strongly recommend
->JSHunter's Bar
->TellMeWhen
->Weak Auras
->Skada
->OmniCC
->NeedToKnow or ExtraCD
The addons can be found in this thread.
As for macros, follow this link for a list of the macros I use for my hunter, I recommend using the all-in-one-CD macro for the openers. PS* Some may be updated to WoD, I.E. missing some spells, idk.

Ending
As I said in the beginning, I will try to keep the guide as updated as possible. You can contact me on forum, via PM or commenting on this thread(I will keep a close eye on it). Feel free to ask for any advices/correct any mistake I've done or even coming up with a better way to improve any field of the guide stats/opener/talent choices, I am always up for any theorycrafting here or ingame or any dps test you guys wanna do or if you want me to check out your opener/dps overall(skada required).
When I have the time to play, I will also try to stream, so you can find me there.
TL;DR from what I've tested SV is somehow better than BM, as it should be, but for now feel free to play what spec you prefer most, even MM.

Cya ingame!


Twitch
Vand wow gametime

[shiftway]

vezi ca la pandaren n-ai mentionat ca ai nevoie de food ca sa primesti bonusul ala...

[LoRd_DaRK]

Rares, dai o shaworma ^_^ ? de maine bagam lvl!

[Lik]

ce spec se merita in pve?

[Barnie]

MM>Sur>BM.
Note that MM is very weapon ilvl dependent.


Twitch
Vand wow gametime

[Clobber]

nice one

[BllaZze]

Gj, bun bun:D Daca o sa il ti updatat la Freakz Style o sa fie foarte bun.

[Gogumen]

Bun bun bun

 

Staff message (Ashcool):

 

posting random offtopics just for the post count
+1 warn