Contents:
1. Talents+Glyphs
2. Pets
Pros:
- A high percentage of damage is non-physical, make your damage consistent, fairly high sustained on plate
- Incredible CC with 22 second cooldown traps and Wyvern Sting
- Tap’s favourite spec.
Cons:
- No ranged interrupt
- Burst can be quite RNG
Unfortunately there isn’t too much leeway in the survival tree. Your only talent options in Survival is to drop points from Pathing and place them into either Point Of No Escape or Mirrored Blades. Mirrored Blades can be amazing but it is very situational. There’s been a few times where I’ve won games off it, and other times where it’s just a waste of 2 points. I would only put points into Point Of No Escape if you find yourself using Ice trap often, if not, Pathing is a staple choice.
Survival Glyphs:
Prime:
- Kill Shot
- Explosive Shot
- Serpent Sting
Major:
- Disengage
- Master’s Call
- Trap Launcher – (Optional)Concussive Shot/Raptor Strike
Minor: Feign Death/Scare Beast/Mend Pet.
Tap’s Commentary:
There’s currently an issue with the Kill Shot glyph not resetting the cooldown after firing, and another bug with Concussive Shot not making a difference to run speed at all(Read: Broken). I haven’t yet confirmed that either of these have been fixed, as I don’t use the Concussive Shot glyph and only just recently started using Kill Shot lyph again, but I will update if it’s fixed. I would recommend the Trap Launcher glyph for offensive comps and the extra utility, and raptor strike as an optional glyph you would use if you find yourself being a target dummy again. I don’t find too much use for it though since I’m constantly using every global to get out of melee range, not stay in it.
****6. Pets****
Tap’s Commentary:
In arena you can call/dismiss pets anytime, so having an arsenal of 5 pets with abilities for all situations is a must. Also note that when you change your pet, even to another pet of the same type, the cooldowns are reset/new. For this reason I have 2 spiders, to web twice. I can use web on one, dismiss it, get the other spider out, and web again.
Survival Pets:
- Spider – Web – Probably the best pet out there for MM/SV
- Birds of Prey – Snatch – Great pet for melee cleaves. The disarm can lower warriors damage entirely, very useful for when you see Collosus Smash pop up on a friendly.
- Monkey – Bad Manner – This ability is amazing for a little extra CC. It does not share a DR with trap or scatter.
- Moth – Serenity Dust – Not too bad for a class that has no interrupts.
- Wolf(wait what?) – Furious Howl – Now, why a PvE pet you ask? simple. When you’re in arena, buffs that last over 30 seconds will stay even after the doors open. Call your wolf out, wait until about 15 seconds left until doors open(there’s a count down message in-game) and use Furious Howl, then dismiss the wolf, and call one of your other pets. When the game begins you’ll have about ~50 seconds of +5% crit.
Pet Talent Specs:
- Cunning
- Ferocity
- Tenacity
Tap’s Commentary:
Overall, Marksmanship is the clear winner for PvP. You just can’t go wrong with its burst damage, Readiness and Silencing shot. However the other specs aren’t too far behind, Beast Mastery is great for 1v1, but Survival is really suffering from the recent nerfs to Explosive Shot and Black Arrow. Black Arrow is no longer specced into due to the poor damage, dispellability, and high focus cost of the shot.
- And much much more! Only @ Warcrafthuntersunion.com
Thank you thank you thank you! I just can’t get used to MM, I’m afraid so this is spot-on.
I’ll follow your advice to a Tee, and as I’m still grinding battlegrounds at the moment (yes, I’m that much of a PvP noob) it’s nice to see that the moth I almost always use is actually good. I love her especially when we’re up against shadow priests
Oh no! Now you’ve gone and done it. If people start reading this, Hunters are gonna start getting nerfed again!
Before reading the WHU blog, I was a somewhat mediocre hunter. I had an idea of what to do, and my DPS was pretty much always in the bottom third of the charts.
AFTER coming here, within a matter of days, my DPS went to #1 on the charts, with the same players, and my understanding of tactics increased a bit. Everyone I grouped with couldn’t believe a hunter could do so much.
Now, with a PvP guide to help us learn that aspect of the game, we are gonna get too powerful. I can hear all the non hunters complaining now, “Blizzard secretly buffed hunters”.
Oh well, meantime, I’m gonna read up, absorb what I can, and do some serious PvP!
not to be rude….but you are leading your flock down the wrong path…suv sux balls this patch and every one knows it….tap dud your a fake…your info is so far in left field it make me sad for you…I hunt all day long….i arena i do rated….i never lose….suv is for the ones that cant figure out how to use a hunter…stick to raiding…pvp is not yalls stong point….
Perhaps you could say something constructive in your disagreement? For example, Tap is making a pvp build for each spec (which is only logical). So what about his SV build do you disagree with.
If you’re just arguing that no one should ever use a SV build in arena or bgs, then you’ll need some serious substantiating data (beyond “I just know”).
Rhonan makes me wish this site had an ignore feature.
“Tap’s Commentary:
Overall, Marksmanship is the clear winner for PvP. You just can’t go wrong with its burst damage, Readiness and Silencing shot…..but Survival is really suffering from the recent nerfs…”
I think Tap agrees, that SV is pretty weak for PvP.
any dots while near a guard will activate them…if your hunting solo..only way to do it…wait till the oposing team has tol bard go inside…hook a left after bridge go inside where all the npc friendly’s are set up camp…taunt all the players yell out…so on and so on …if more than 2 show up…run to the back all the npcs will agro hehehe…if its 2 of them..scatter, freeze one kill the other..trap healers…palys are the ones you cant keep cced..burn him till he bubbles..hehehe then own him after it…if you are not strafing with your controls…you will lose allot…our only defense is not to be in range of melee…fighting any blood dk your pet is useless..get out disarm pet”carrion bird”scorpion” at start you run…no snake traps he will heal off damage..set you frost trap…”aoe slow trap…with points in it youll get a 4 sec stun out of it.run on the out side of your trap in a circle…as soon as he gets close disarm him…no weapons no heals…..your pet is on passive…aspect dancing is important in this part..after opener you’ll have to switch…un less your using a cunning pet…”roar for focus”
@rhonan:
If you had bothered to read the post, you’d notice that he flat out states that “Overall, Marksmanship is the clear winner for PvP. You just can’t go wrong with its burst damage, Readiness and Silencing shot.”
He has also posted that he himself uses MM. He is doing the community a favor by posting alternate spec builds that can be used, so that people who enjoy a particular spec are able to PvP in comfort. This isn’t the home of “go top spec or u sux n ima insult u”.
Well, your whole post was rude despite the initial qualifier. In addition, if I wasn’t distracted by the poor grammar and lack evidence in your post, I might have actually read through it. Do us all a favor and try to proof what you write and actually post some evidence for what you say. By the way, have you ever reached gladiator status and in which season(s)? What’s your toon’s name so we can see it in wowarmory?
i have just started pvp’ing a lil more seriously. im using sv, i tried mm, and have trouble with it atm. but having said that, im always in the top 5 , usually in the top 3. so instead of whining, back up your whining with some meat and potatoes. or you risk sounding like a whining swine..
Nice to see another PVP guide posted, thank you, and don’t understand the negative feedback it got from Rhonan… oh well.
On a side note, has/does anyone else enjoy world PVP in Tol Barad in the questing area? Since patch 4.1 I have noticed a lot of changes which I consider “nerfs”, which are as follows
1. You can no longer run up the side of bridges and get to the top of them (which I used frequently to kite players, and to pick players off and watched them keyboard turn as they looked around to see where the damage was coming from)
2. They added more ranged guards within the opposing factions base.
3. You can no longer pick off players who are afk in their base, attacking them automatically triggers the guards to come after you, where you get a heap of arrows shot at you with almost instant certainty of death.
4. I also noticed that if you are near an opposing factions base and the other player attacks you, this also causes the guards to come after you as well which I dislike immensely.
Are there any blue post anywhere showing the changes made to Tol Barad, I have been unable to locate them anywhere. Please let me know!!
K…first for this patch…youll need mm trap speck for 3s teams and rateds teams…dueling and 2s youll need bm trap speck, with those 2 set ups their isn’t a class out their that can beat a hunter,and yes this site is the one where i found my dps for raids and my secret weapon in duels,and i am sorry for my prior statment…its just i see so many bad hunters in pvp to even sugest suv will make more bad pvp hunters…suv at the start of this x pack was indeed the “pwnstr”now its a wet noodle…i even giggel when i see a red name plate suv hunter….recount will not pick up your pet damage in pvp….have to turn on setting…in bm im doing 22k my pets doing 40k…its your los speck basicly..
You sound like a true superstar.
SV spec (not speck, as it’s short for specification and NOT speckification), does have its place in PVP. SV allows one to do more dmg on the move, which is definitely useful in certain arena situations and can be quite useful in BGs. By the way… suv is a vehicle isn’t it? I’ve been having a hard time trying not to giggle (NOT giggel) at your poorly written post, but decided in the end to simply give in. LOL
lol….gratz spelling police
Just to throw my petty 2c in, Spec isn’t short for specification, it’s short for specialization.
Derp.
I didn’t know preschoolers were allowed on the internet, but it seems to me that they’re starting so much earlier nowadays. Congratulations on your “coherent” argument against the guide. I think I have stretch marks from all the laughter I got trying to decipher what you wrote. Thank you.
I just had a good amount of emails from “Warcrafthunterunion.com” spam through my main email address and decided I’d come to see what all the fuss was about. I forgot I still had an account active and working, and guides that are still on the way. I think I may have to write a few more, perhaps a few thoughts on the game and community is in order as well.
As for my abscentness(is that a word?) I haven’t really “left” the WHU team. I don’t think anyone ever stops being themselves for any extended period of time, except for certain mental disorders (looking at you Rhonan, tsk tsk). Playing and growing up with WoW has become a small part of who I am now, and if those occasional awkward moments of congratulating the microwave for leveling up when it goes off, and trying to tame the neighborhood dog doesn’t bring back a certain sting of nostalgia, I don’t know what would. Anytime I see an abbreviation or a saying, or a picture, or a movie, or a song, or anything that reminds me of WoW, it comes with flashbacks of sleepless nights exploring an epic world of unaccountability, badassness and naked night elves. It’s the sort of world that junkies sought for, the reason people create hallucinogenics in the first place. The atmosphere of mystery that was your only companion during the first encounter with the game is what hooked me. It was the red pill. It was, for me, the delicious taste of adrenaline of a thousand victories, of fits of laughter, of daring escapes, of shotgunning through player after player in an endless battle for the pride of your faction, of the World of Warcraft.
The game is not just a game, it’s a lifestyle. One that I can’t support with my current circumstance. I’d still like to be thought of as a less-active member of the WHU team, but without the actual experience of playing the game there’s only so much accuracy a writer can put into words about a subject unknown. It’d be like Rhonan talking about what the sun feels like, or the beautiful scent of fresh outside air, or the emotion that comes with kicking ass(I went there boy). My feelings on WoW can be summed up as this “http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOhPx06FTuk”
I’m not sure if I’ll ever come back to WoW, it really depends on my time constraints. The main reason I lost interest in the game was my inability to pick up the game and only play it casually, without trying to be the best. I excel at trying to excel. I eventually lost patience with the game’s “Random RNG” in PvP, compared to more competitive games like Starcraft 2, or Counter Strike 1.6.
If you were to poll the WoW population on why they continue to play, even through countless buggy patches, 23 hour maintenance, or broken scripts and game breaking glitches, it’s the people. The friendly voices that at times raised eye brows with their left-field comments, but were for the most part, your colleague. Your friend. Your com padre. They are, in the most role playing sense, the men and women your fight alongside one or twice every weekend for a few hours against a burning object with legs(More legs!). Those people who play the game with a smile on their face, with light hearted humour, who treats others with humility, kindness, and respect, are the heart and the soul of this game. At the end of the day, they are what makes the game enjoyable.
For me it may very well be the end of WoW, but for you, not the end of Tapington. Your feedback and words of kindness are much appreciated. Until the BM guide is posted, I’ll see you all then.
Deeds not words Rohnan, show your spec and glyphs and explain why is that way and you might have a point to look up.
while in bm..and your out hunting…use the unsolvable riddle as your hot…the added mastery will give your pet the desired 25 percent added pet damage…we are talking 61k crit kill commands with hots running..with all vicious your resil will be at 3200″about” and how and why i do things are my secret…why no one can beat me.Old raiders trick you have to put in the time to get where im at,i dont spoon feed,but i will hint..and not miss lead you…go to the 3s ladder look for a hunter on a 3s team at or around the top…youll have my speck and gems hehe
Just 1 pet you’re forgetting: Warp Stalkers.
It has a ranged slow (6 sec duration, 15 sec cd) making it great for both yourself but also to help others. Its always ready when you need it, and doesnt take you pet to move ‘over there’. Place it on somebody vital (melee, healer) and be annoying as hell to the point people want it down instead of a teammate.
Its tank pet. Soo.. 12 sec crit immunity every 2 min. Intervene is also there to completely absorb an attack. So.. not limited like snatch (which is physical damage only) but its also without target limit. If your friendly target is attacked by more then 1, they all dont crit. Making the damage reduction scale with how many are attacking, where (again) something like snatch is limited to just 1 attacker.
Intervene is full off rng, but still some damage reduction. Also helps for some quick movement so your pet can charge (=1sec immobilize) whatever target much faster.
Why black arrow isnt filled? I want to know why?
Hey Tap, great article, but can you please differentiate between arena and battleground specs. I only run battlegrounds and my Black Arrow isn’t dispelled at all. Plus, Serpent Spread is an awesome talent for battlegrounds as well because it allows you to DOT up a lot of enemies at once. It seems that all of your articles are centered on arena. Can you please do some battleground ones as well?
Tap is no longer with the WHU team, only the articles he previously wrote and to be released at a undetermined time is what is left of him.
“Tap is no longer with the WHU team,”
HUH??? When did this occur? What happened?
I’m very sadface right now. . . .
suv in a rated bg…every thing you do is dispellable..running the right comps your healers should be on top of your dots…any dots for that matter…as a hunter we are burst damage in a rated bg…..we kill people not dot them…save your hots….have one bm hunter and one mm hunter in your group…they are your kill the healers team…they have to communicate silence and 2 scatter shots and one intimidation,,,your bm hunter can have 2 pets..devilsaurs or core hound ,the core hound has ancient hysteria…upon that bm hunter dieing it resets hahahahahahahaha shhhhh
they will fix it…any way use it to your advantage like when thier fc just grabs the flag..pulling 4 million damage in one rated is always fun.
I am new to PvP this xpac and I would also love to see some battleground information. I don’t really care for arenas but that seems to be mostly the information that I can find. Thanks to both Frost and Tap for your time and guides. They have been very informative.
Re: Tap’s comment about Black Arrow.
In my opinion it is a true gaming design pity when the top of a talent tree is not even worth a talent point in PvP (and that point is even debatable in PvE).
Sorry to hear you are gone from the WHU, Tap. Thanks for all your contributions.
Tap left about a month ago or so, he posted on here stating that RL situations needed attended to I believe, and would be unable to continue on, but did have several more post ready to go at Frost’s disgression.
Whaaat?? Tap’s gone? Why??
I guess you don’t read?
Oh… hadn’t updated the page when you posted that. Now I see.
I’ve been waiting for a new post from you Tappy, gotta say though, a bit dissapointed. For every hunter wanting to step into the arena, or the bg; arena junkies tells us to spec MM. I don’t see a reason why you would post a SV build/strat first, and then in the end say MM is the winner. It’s.. no offense, kinda a waste of time.
I’ve read up on everything out there on the wonderful internet; but I (because im not that clever) can’t figure out what my resi should be in arenas (mainly 3v3, 5v5), and i cant figure out when to do what, in which situations; and i want to make rogues bleed from their anus’.. Death knights too.
Can you please, level up the info just a bit, for us who are not beginners at all, but aren’t that serious that we’ll lvl up a rogue, play pvp with him, just to know when to do what as a hunter to make him bleed from his anus.
Damnes just got bored and read all of the comments.. Feeling like an ass. My hopes of making rogues bleed from their anuses are getting smaller.. Good luck out there where the graphics aren’t entertaining Tappy
-Damsbo, brokenarrow to the left and the number three.
Just like how Frost posts builds for the less than optimal DPS specs, Tap has done the same for PvP and I see no problem with it.
One of the hunters in my guild loves Survival in arenas and he’ll thoroughly enjoy this guide. Great job Tap, your posts are always good to read as well mate. Keep up the good work.
Gaeb
Nice, I started of pvp’ing as SV. I liked it a lot, and I am now liking MM.
Frankly it comes down to your skill and play style that will decide on victory. Also your opponents, a challenging battle can be used as a learning experience. You must lose many times before you begin to win.
I loves my MM spec but for Warsong Gulch and Twin Peaks, I enjoy playing as survival. I make it my job to slow and cc the flag carrier or peel off healers as needed. If it’s a lone Enemy Flag Carrier, I can make his journey to the other side very slow and painful. If the EFC has got a healer with him, I’ll hit em with a Wyvern Sting or Concussive Shot while keeping Widow Venom up on the EFC. Trap mastery is also a great tool in these battlegrounds. Sure, I’m not getting the kills or doing the damage I can do with my MM but sometimes is just fun to frustrate ‘em rather than kill ‘em.
As Kitty said in a recent podcast, play the spec you enjoy as that is the one you will play best.
I play BM for questing (pvp server) and BGs (I don’t arena) and find it gives me great damage and the only MM thing I miss is Silencing Shot. But I love playing BM so I’ll stick with that. What isn’t there to like about a sparkle-wolf?
I recall the days of SV uberness and flying over WG with my rogue and getting shot to half health by an SV hunter. Each spec has it’s day I guess.
I hope that one of the articles that Tap left behind was the PvP spec for BM!
One pet thats ignored is the dog. Ferocity pet with lockjaw, self healing and all those buffs to damage? It can become a target, but HOTP is there, and anyone taking time to kill a pet twice is going to lose.
I enjoy using survival spec in battlegrounds. I tend to adopt a support roll, and as recount is still on my screen I can see I do a lot of damage. In Tol Barad bg I will use multishot to spread my sting, why sting one when u can sting four?. The sting/black arrow/conc shot combo is very good for dealing with fleeing targets( as they usually have low hp by then).I think ur dots are less likely to be removed in busy battles like TB. I tend to use tank pets in TB as they survive longer, using scorpion and warpstalker, in smaller battles I tend to use bird or spider.
In battlegrounds, its my opinion, that u will always do better with a spec u like playing, regardless of the latest fashion on websites.
Tap is right to show Surv pvp guide as its our choice to use it or not.
A great guide as always, happy hunting.
I looked all over cant seem to find the number.
If 8% = 961 hit rating what does 5% = in hit rating ?
To answer Johnhn:
If 961 = .08 and you want x = .05 then 961/.08 = x/.05 … (961/.08).05 = x = 600.625
But my reason for the comment was to inquire now that Tap is gone are these pvp articles going to be checked for freshness and updated?
The Spec listed at the top was great when Black Arrow was nerfed but now it is sort of buffed again and is it desirable to have as a pvp talent or still too focus costly?
I am not sure of my questions are answered in other parts of the site and to be further all over the place I’d like to comment on no date stamp for when any of the comments were posted. A time stamp on everyone’s post is great but not so helpful since I know they haven’t been posted today.
Cheers
Why No Black Arrow?
I see that the SV spec might be a little off since 4.3 as black arrow is not present. Is this intentional? Is it acceptable to use the 4.3 PVE spec for PVP ? Will this post be updated in the future as I think you guys did a great job at it.
this info works for 4.3?? cuze SV got buffed i was thinking spec into Sv pvp,so im will glad to know if black arrow must be specced now,thx for the web! i love WHU and thx to tapitong for hes awesome pvp guides,make me a better hunter!!
I think u need to change mend pet glyph to Glyph of Mending, right?
All the PVP sections have not been updated since 4.0 – Frost doesn’t PVP. As far as SV spec is concerned for 4.3 I’d recommend: http://www.wowhead.com/talent#ccbbZcZIrhcMhrRkz:sRmVd0zMm
As for glyphs,
Prime: Kill Shot, Arcane Shot and Explosive Shot
Major: Disengage, Master’s Call and either Raptor Strike or Trap Launcher
Minor: Feign Death, Scare Beast and Revive Pet
@Rhonan.. I guess you didn’t read the title.. this is a beginner’s guide not a pro’s guide.. this is just for beginners so stop telling us that “oh I’m pro and I can’t lose, you all suck”.. jeez.. acting so childish.. just get the fuck out and make your own forum.. god damn it!..
@Pepprdgefarm this guide doesn’t need proofs, if you need proofs then why won’t you try for yourself and see the results.. what an idiot.
@ZumioNET.. nice guide by the way.. im gonna use this guide for raiding and MM for pvp.. thanks..