Hunter DPS Trends in 4.3.2

We have been in 4.3.2 for two weeks now, meaning that raidbot‘s two-week sample period is full of 4.3.2 data.  What are some of the trends in hunter DPS since the patch?

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SV Talent Builds in 4.3.2

Survival is the spec of choice these days thanks to the buffs it received in 4.3 and 4.3.2.  This means that the spec is receiving closer scrutiny than it has in the past.  The consensus build appears to involve SV taking three points in One With Nature, two points in Sic ‘Em! and none in Careful Aim.  However, often left out of talent discussions is how this build’s optimality is conditional upon pet talents.

Edit: Post updated to include Frenzy builds.  Thanks to Harvoc for the suggestion.

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A Blue Post on the State of Hunters in PVE

It looks like 4.3.2 will hold a nice change for SV according to MMO-Champion: Lock and Load will no longer consume Arcane Shots.  Kaivax embellished on this change and Blizzard’s thoughts on hunters in general in an informative post:

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Launching Explosive Traps

In light of the increased attention being paid to SV these days, this post offers tips on how to launch Explosive Traps quickly and effectively.

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Survival Rotation Changes

Survival is changing for the better in 4.3.  Its DPS is going up both in relative and absolute terms, leaving it more appealing than it has been since its nerf after Cataclysm launched.  What is there to know about SV gameplay that might be different for returning hunters?

edit: The post now includes updates resulting from conversations held in the comment section.

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Blue Posts on Hunter Scaling and the Survival Rotation

Following the class Q&A the blues hit the forums in force to clear some things up, and some of those things related to hunters. One post, found here, relates to hunter scaling.  Others relate to the SV rotation and are found here and here. You can find all three posts in full after the cut.

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Friendly Reminders for Patch 4.3

Patch 4.3 is available for download, and so now seems like an appropriate time to offer some friendly reminders about the patch.

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A Quick State of Hunter DPS

I haven’t seen any “state of hunter dps” posts in a while so I thought I’d throw one together.

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Comparing the Hunter Talent Trees for PVP

This post goes over the relative pros and cons of the different hunter talent trees for PVP.  It leaves aside the strengths and weaknesses that hunters have in general, focusing instead on how the specs compare to each other.

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A Note on the Careful Aim Change for BM and SV

MM will want to keep its points in Careful Aim despite the nerf, but what about BM and SV, specs for which CA is weaker?  At least according to tentative results from a warf that’s been femaled, BM should keep points in CA (like this) if the PTR change goes live.  SV will be better off putting three points in OWN, two in SE and zero in CA (like this).  This is categorically true in my estimation for SV hunters with cunning pets.  SV hunters with ferocity pets will want to have their pets have at least one point in Wild Hunt (rather than going 2/2 Shark Attack).  The best SV results I found were with the SV spec I recommend and a ferocity pet with one point in Wild Hunt and one in Shark attack (like this). 

Note that these results were found using my gear and the femaledwarf setting that allows you to manipulate the percentage of the fight spent in CA range.  I reduced it from 20% to 10%.  I additionally disabled AS during CA.  Note also that these results assume a tank and spank fight and that I committed no errors.  Thanks as always to Zeherah.

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Ability Spotlight: Explosive Shot

I started the Ability Spotlight series to shed light on commonly misunderstood hunter tools.  I imagined writing about abilities that are underused but useful, abilities that improve huntering at the margins.  However, as the hunter recruits to my guild and the hunter forums have shown me, even signature abilities can be persistently misunderstood.  That is why we turn to Explosive Shot (ES) this week, an ability at the core of the SV rotation but also at the center of a lot of misinformation and uncertainty.  

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Survival and One with Nature

The recent buff to Aspect of the Hawk left Survival with an interesting choice: 3/3 talent points in One with Nature (OWN) or just 1/3?  The question isn’t whether One with Nature is good.  OWN is good.  The question is whether or not it is better than the other good dump talents that Survival can spec into, Sic ‘Em! (SE) and Careful Aim (CA).  SV can’t have all three maxed out and so it’s a matter of opportunity cost: where should the four points we can spend go amongst the six possible options?

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Bloodthirsty PVP Gear Possibly Better than Dungeon Gear for PVE DPS

I was playing around with Zeherah’s online dps modeler and found that four pieces of ilvl 352 Bloodthirsty pvp gear were better for my dps than the pieces of ilvl 346 pve gear I had equipped.  This was true for all three specs (an SV dungeon build, an MM dungeon build and a standard BM build) that I ran through the modeler.  The difference ranged from a few hundred dps (MM) to several hundred dps (SV) for me.  Your mileage may vary, though, so I offer this post only as an encouragement to check out the merits of the pvp set gear for yourself at Zeherah’s site.

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Likely Nerf to Survival, Buffs to Beast Mastery and Marksmanship

In Ghostcrawler’s new post on upcoming class changes, all three hunter specs get mentioned by name in the first body paragraph.  Survival hunters are brought up twice, for having suspiciously high single target damage and for having possibly too-high AoE damage.  Beast Mastery and Marksmanship hunters get singled out as having damage that is definitely too low.  This much attention, this prominently in the post suggests that some significant changes to all three hunter specs are on the horizon.  We know for sure, at least, that improvements to Aimed Shot, Chimera Shot, Kill Shot and Kill Command are in the works to buff BM and MM (as noted in the “Potpourri” section of the post).

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Hunters in Cataclysm Beta!

Hi guys! The non-disclosure has been lifted, and what we know about hunters in Cataclysm’s beta is postable. I’m not in the beta or alpha because I didn’t sign up for it, however my co-host and dwarven chauvinist, Frostheim, has been chewing his tongue trying not to tell us all on the podcast about the cool stuff he was seeing in Alpha.

Well, I’m glad that’s over! He just posted everything we know about hunters so far on his site. Here’s some of my favorite parts:

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Addons and Mods: DoT/Proc Timing!

editor’s note: Please put your hands together again for the newest OutDPS writer, Shadowstreak! You might know of him as the artist for the Frostheim Goggles comic, over at WHU. If not, go check it out- it’s some funny stuff!

There are a few different DoT/Proc timing mods available. They all have their own different pros and cons and different selling points. Some of which might actually influence which one players end up settling with.

Hunters in their own aren’t all about the DoTs. We have Serpent Sting and that’s just about it. Unlike marks hunters with Chimera Shot, its much more vital for survival and BM hunters to track the duration of SS so they can refresh it on their own when it runs low.

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Cataclysm Hunter Changes Live!

Nethaera posted the hunter changes. Reposting now, analysis and follow up quotes will be edited in at the end.

Of course this would happen while I was at lunch. I called it.

With the upcoming World of Warcraft: Cataclysm many game elements will be changing, and each class will be receiving a number of tweaks. Here, we will explore the changes that are being made to the gun-wielding, pet-training hunter. The information you’re about to read is certainly not complete, and is only meant to act as a preview of some of the exciting new things to come. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the new hunter abilities!

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