style="background: transparent url('http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61387') repeat-y scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial; width: 600px;">
style="width: 565px; height: 88px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/62019">


When it comes to specing your Hunter you have several options to choose
from to establish a solid build. The real trick to figuring
out what
will work best for you is to determine...
style="background: transparent url('http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61387') repeat-y scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial; width: 600px;">
style="width: 565px; height: 88px;" alt=""
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/62019">


When it comes to specing your Hunter you have several options to choose
from to establish a solid build. The real trick to figuring
out what
will work best for you is to determine first what you want to
accomplish. Do you want to be able to solo better, do you want a solid
PvP
build, are you looking to spec for groups or raids, or do you just want
to become a beast at damage? All these are viable options through
various builds using the three talent schools for the Hunter. Each
school has a specific focus and will appeal to various play styles.
  • Beast
    Mastery
    - This tree
    focuses on building up your pet abilities and increases your pet's
    damage output. The advanced section of this tree also allows you to
    tame exotic pets. Beast Mastery Hunters can provide a raid with strong
    dps and their buff Ferocious
    Inspiration
    is a
    beneficial proc buff for raids. The drawback is that the hunter's own
    DPS can suffer as a great deal of damage enhancing talents go to making
    the pet DPS its primary focus.
  • Marksman
    - This is a high
    damage dealing school. It focuses on enhancing the Hunter's ranged
    damage
    attacks with damage enhancing talents. Marksmen can dish out a great
    deal of damage and in some cases enhance their groups damage output
    through talents like Trueshot Aura.
  • Survival
    - This tree's big
    perk is the ability to enhance your traps and use some of them to
    augment your DPS. Damage with this build is among one of the best. With
    the 3.1 updates, the Survival hunter has gained some useful new skills
    that can make it very deadly.
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align="left" border="1">
width="185">

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/67667"
title="Beast Mastery" target="_blank"> src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/67667" alt=""
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 175px; height: 427px; float: left;"
height="427" hspace="3" width="175">

Beast
Mastery PvE/PvP Build:

Building an efficient Beast
Master hunter can be done by
making sure
you take advantage of all pet enhancing talents that work well
together. For example, the Beast Master is given the option to
train a tier 7 talent known as Ferocious
Inspiration
after they have
invested 30 points into the Beast Mastery talent school. This talent
provides the Beastmaster's pet with the chance ability to buff a party
or raid
after a successful critical hit by enhancing their damage by up to 3%
for ten seconds. This alone can make the Beastmaster an indispensable
tool of destruction and a well desired element for any group or raid.
There are many talents in this tree that can help by enhancing your
pet's damage and increasing their chance to land a critical strike such
as Focused Fire.
By building these talents you can maximize your pet's
potential for dealing a critical strike and thus increase the
possibility that he can aid a group or raid with the Ferocious
Inspiration buff.

For this guide I have
established a pretty solid build for the
Beast Mastery line (link above). The excess points have been invested
in
the Marksman and Survival trees to add an increase to damage. The most
important thing about being a Beastmaster is focusing
on powering up your pet any way possible. If you follow the Beast
Mastery build I have provided, you will have a few points left over
that you can use to try different things with. In the build I have
included, I make use of Marksman and Survivability talents, but you can
change those out for other talents that might better suit your play
style. The beauty of the Hunter is that there are no shortage of talent
build variations and you can always find something different to try.

style="font-style: italic;">Talents
to
avoid as a Beast Master Hunter
:

The
Beast Mastery tree provides
one of the best lines of talents for
this class, but there are a few things talents you should avoid like
the plague. You will want to
avoid wasting points in Catlike
Reflexes
. I know an added dodge
chance
sounds tempting, but if you're doing your job as a Hunter you
shouldn't be close enough to be getting hit anyway. Spend those three
points
somewhere more important. Pathfinding may sound nice for increased
speed, but in the grand scheme of things it's pretty useless. Your
mount speed will be more than sufficient for transportation once you
have one and that will render this a pointless skill and it's more of a
burden in dungeons and on raids since you get stunned when hit. The
enhancements
are minor and really not worth giving up points in other more important
things.

style="text-align: left; width: 555px;" border="0"
cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(145, 170, 76);"
colspan="4" rowspan="1">Key
Talents of
Beast Mastery Tree
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Name style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Points
Spent
Requirement
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Maximum

Points
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Talent
Details
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Focused
Fire

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61912" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">5 style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">2
  • Increases your damage
    by up to 2% while your pet is
    active.
  • Increases the critical
    strike chance of your pet's
    special abilities by up to 20% while Kill Command is active.
  • Highly
    Recommended for PvE and PvP.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Ferocity

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61911" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">15 style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">5
  • Increases your pet's
    critical strike chance by up to
    10%.
  • This talent works in
    coordination with many of your
    other talents such as Ferocious Inspiration.
  • Highly
    Recommended for PvE and group PvP
    .
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Intimidation

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61913" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">20 style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">1
  • A high hate generating
    attack for your pet that will
    help them keep aggro on an enemy
  • Useful for soloing and
    having your pet off tank in a
    group.
  • Highly
    Recommended for PvE.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"> name="BW">Bestial

Wrath

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61909" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">30

Requires 1 point spent in Intimidation. style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">1
  • This talent can send
    your pet into a rage for 18
    seconds increasing their damage by 50%.
  • Useful for both PvE
    and PvP.
  • Highly
    recommended for PvE and a great
    asset in PvP
    .
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">The
Beast Within

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/67700" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">40

Requires 1 point spent in Bestial Wrath. style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">1
  • When your pet is under
    the effect of Bestial Wrath, you also go into a rage, causing your
    attacks to do 10% additional damage and reducing the mana cost of all
    spells by 20% for 18 seconds.
  • Useful for both PvE
    and PvP.
  • Highly
    recommended for PvE and a great
    asset in PvP. This is a must have to compliment the damage of Bestial
    Wrath.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Ferocious

Inspiration

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61910" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">30 style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">3
  • (With 3 points
    invested) When your pet scores a
    critical strike, all party or raid members have all their damage
    increased by 3% for 10 seconds. In addition, the damage of your Arcane
    Shot is increased by 9%.
  • Very
    highly recommended if you intend
    to raid a lot.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Beast

Mastery

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61908" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">50 style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">1
  • Allows you to train
    exotic pets.
  • Increases your total
    amount of Pet Points by 4.
  • Must
    Have ability for Beastmasters.



style="margin: 10px; border-collapse: collapse; float: right; width: 175px; height: 457px;"
align="left" border="1">
width="185">

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/67666" title="Marksman"
target="_blank"> src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/67666" alt=""
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 175px; height: 457px; float: right;"
height="457" hspace="3" width="175">

style="font-weight: bold;">Marksman
Builds
href="http://www.wowarmory.com/talent-calc.xml?cid=3&tal=512002010000000000000000000053051312320102331052313515000000000000000000000000000"
target="_blank">

The Marksman Talent school is
focused on increasing your
damage
in ranged
combat. If strait hunter damage is what you are shooting for, this may
be a good choice for you. However, this build won't do your pet any
favors and is a bit different for soloing as you'll need to be more
careful with managng aggro since your pet won't be able to hold it as
well. A
Marksman may be better served in groups where a tank can hold aggro and
leave you free to dish out damage without having to worry about the
enemy shifting their focus to you as often.

The Marksman can develop a wide
range of cooperative talents
that can increase their DPS greatly. In their Tier 7 talent line, they
have an ability they can train known as Trueshot
Aura
. This aura
provides an attack bonus to party and raid members that can add a nice
boost in DPS and make the Marksman a desired class for groups
and raids. Other skills such as Chimera
Shot
and Serpent
Sting
work well together and
can prove to be beneficial in PvP battles and on raids. You can choose
to change my suggested build around a bit for some other flexible
skills. If you need more hit chance, you can swap something out for Focus
Aim
. Improved
Concussive Shot
is not
recommended unless you want it for PvP, but you would be better served
to cross this off your PvE and raiding build list.

style="font-style: italic;">Talents
to
avoid as a Marksman Hunter:


There are a few talents to
avoid in the Marksman line that are for the most part a waste of
points. In the
Marksman Tree, avoid putting points into Concussive
Barrage
and Improved
Concussive Shot
unless you want
to substitute these skills for PvP. There are much
better options to invest those talent points into and you would
be better served to use them elsewhere. 

style="text-align: left; width: 555px;" border="0"
cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(145, 170, 76);"
colspan="4" rowspan="1">Key
Talents of
Marksman Tree
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Name style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Points
Spent
Requirement
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Maximum

Points
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Talent
Details
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Mortal

Shots

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61919" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">5 style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">5
  • This talent increases
    your critical strike damage for
    ranged attacks by up to 5%.
  • Highly
    recommended as this talent increases
    the critical damage bonus on all ranged attacks.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Readiness

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/67664" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">N/A style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">1
  • When activated, this
    skill refreshes the cooldown timer on all skills except for Bestial
    Wrath.
  • Useful for both PvP
    and PvE combat.
  • Highly
    recommended for Marksman hunters as it is highly useful and a
    prerequisite to Trueshot Aura.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"> name="TA">Trueshot

Aura

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61920" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">30

Requires 1 point spent in Readiness style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">1
  • Increases the attack
    power of party and raid members within 45 yards.
  • Recommended
    for Raiders and group PvE
    and PvP.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Master

Marksman

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61918" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">35 style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">5
  • Increases your
    critical strike chance by up to 5%.
  • Reduces the Mana cost
    of Steady Shot by up to 25%.
  • Recommended
    for Raiders and PvP: This
    is a good investment for anyone looking to do raids or PvP and is a
    prerequisite to Silencing Shot.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"> name="CS">Chimera
Shot

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61916" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">50 style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">1
  • This talent gives a
    skill that deals 125% of
    your weapon damage and refreshes your current sting attack and triggers
    an effect
  • Serpent Sting -
    Instantly deals 40% of the damage done by your Serpent Sting.
  • Viper Sting -
    Instantly restores mana to you equal to 60% of the total amount drained
    by your Viper Sting.
  • Scorpid Sting -
    Attempts to Disarm the target for 10 seconds. This effect cannot occur
    more than once per minute.
  • Recommended
    for PvE and PvP players.


 

style="margin: 10px; border-collapse: collapse; float: right; width: 175px; height: 457px;"
align="left" border="1">
width="185">

href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/67665" title="Survival"
target="_blank"> src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/67665" alt=""
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 200px; height: 512px; float: left;"
height="457" hspace="3" width="175">

Survival
Hunter
href="http://www.wowarmory.com/talent-calc.xml?cid=3&tal=100000000000000000000000000053051010000000000000000005000032500033330532135301311"
target="_blank">

The Survival Tree has some
great skills you can put to use.
With the 3.1 update this tree got a bit of a rework. Some things were
moved and a new skill called Black Arrow was added. If you choose to go
with this tree you will have the option to enhance
your traps and gain another high damage skill known as Explosive Shot.
These
skills are very useful to a raid and can make you a useful tool for any
encounter.

There are a few ways you can
split your points between the
Survivalist Tree and another to try and provide a hybrid build that can
help enhance your DPS. The build I have
put together above is useful for raids as and has become one of my
favorites as it provides a nice boost in DPS and utilizes some of the
useful skills of the other trees. It breaks down to a 1/15/55 build and
is very useful for raids and all around high DPS.

In PvP this tree can hold its
own with high damage attacks and useful trap skills to keep some
enemies on ice when needed. By slowing or freezing foes in place
with traps, this build allows other group members a chance to catch
unfortunate enemies in a vulnerable position. In a straight face to
face fight, Survival Hunters can hold their own, but they may be
vulnerable against certain classes. However, from a distance, the
hunter is a lethal foe with a strong advantage and capable of cutting
their enemies to ribbons.
So if you intend to PvP as a Survival Hunter, make sure you
bring friends and keep your distance.

style="font-style: italic;">Talents
to
avoid as a Survival Hunter:


Ranged attacks are your best
asset so try to steer clear of wasting
points in melee related skills. After all, melee Hunters are one of the
many Hunter groups of the community that have aptly earned the name a
Huntard. If anything, invest a few points into
enhancing your pet so that he can aid you by keeping aggro while you
dish out the damage. As a Survival Hunter you will
want to invest any additional points you
might have into increasing ranged DPS. Steer clear
of
melee talents such as Deflection, and Savage
Strikes.

style="text-align: left; width: 555px;" border="0"
cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
style="vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(145, 170, 76); text-align: center;"
colspan="4" rowspan="1">Key
Talents of
Survival Tree
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Name style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Points
Spent
Requirement
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Maximum

Points
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Talent
Details
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"> name="TM">Trap

Mastery

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61927" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">5 style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">3
  • Increases the Duration
    of Frost Trap by 30%.
  • Increases the damage
    of Black Arrow and Immolation and Explosive
    Traps by 30%
  • Increases the number
    of snakes summoned by Snake Trap
    by 9.
  • Highly
    Recommended for Survival Hunters
    specing for trap specialization.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"> name="LL">Lock

and

Load

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61925" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">15 style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">3
  • You have up to a 100%
    chance when you trap a target with Freezing Trap, Freezing Arrow or
    Frost Trap and up to a 10% chance when you deal periodic damage with
    your Immolation Trap or Black Arrow to cause your next 2 Arcane Shot or
    Explosive Shot spells to trigger no cooldown, cost no mana and consume
    no ammo.
  • Highly
    recommended for Survival Hunters
    looking a little more punch for PvP or PvE. This is a great talent that
    can add some nice numbers to your damage output.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">T.N.T.

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/61926" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">15 style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">3
  • Increases the damage
    done by your Immolation Trap, Explosive Trap, and Explosive
    Shot.
  • Recommended
    for Survival Hunters who want a little extra damage.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Wyvern

Sting

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/67673" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">30

Requires 3 points spent in Killer Instinct style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">1
  • A ranged attack that
    has a chance to put a target to
    sleep for up to 30 seconds.
  • Once the sleep effect
    wears off, the target suffers
    300 Nature damage over 6 seconds.
  • Recommended
    for Survival Hunters as an
    added method of crowd control and additional damage. This talent is
    also a prerequisite to Noxious Stings.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Black
Arrow

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/67672" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">40 style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">3
  • This attack fires a
    Black Arrow at the target and increases all damage done by you to that
    target by 6% and deals Shadow damage over 15 seconds.
  • This
    is a skill no Survival hunter should be without. It will be one of the
    key attacks in your rotation and adds a nice boost to DPS. Highly
    recommended.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Sniper
Training

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/67669" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">40 style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">3
  • Increases the critical
    strike chance of your Kill Shot ability by up to 5%, and while standing
    still for 6 seconds, you gain Sniper Training, increasing the damage
    done by your Steady Shot, Aimed Shot, Black Arrow, and Explosive Shot
    by up to 6% for 15 seconds.

  • Highly recommended for the extra punch it puts behind your attacks.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;"> name="HP">Hunting

Party

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/62105" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">45

Requires 3 points spent in Thrill of the Hunt style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">3
  • Increases Agility and
    your Arcane Shot, Explosive Shot, and Steady Shot critical
    strikes have a chance to grant up to 10 party or raid members temporary
    mana regeneration based on a percentage of their maximum mana per
    second.
  • Highly
    Recommended for Survival Hunters
    looking to help out groups or raids with regenerating mana. This is one
    of the most beneficial talents a Survival Hunter can provide to a
    group.
style="background-color: rgb(165, 190, 106); text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">Explosive
Shot

src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/67668" alt=""
style="width: 65px; height: 65px;"
longdesc="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/31197" height="65"
width="65">
style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">50

Requires 1 point spent in Black Arrow. style="text-align: center; vertical-align: middle;">1
  • An Explosive Shot that
    deals a high amount of damage to the target and then blasts them for
    additional damage every 1 second for 2 seconds.
  • Highly
    Recommended for
    Survival hunters. This will be one of your primary high damage attacks.




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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

About The Author

Stacy "Martuk" Jones was a long-time news editor and community manager for many of our previous game sites, such as Age of Conan. Stacy has since moved on to become a masked super hero, battling demons in another dimension.

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