Most of you are anxious to raid the Ice Crown Citadel in the Fall of the Lich King patch 3.3 and you’re looking for the best Hunter talent build you can find to use, well, I’m going to give you the main specs that are used in Raiding and you can tweak them from there.
Beast Mastery
Beast Mastery is rarely ever used for raiding, however, I’m still going to provide you with the best spec that has been tested out there.
53/14/4 – Highest DPS Beast Mastery Raiding Build Patch 3.3
Pet Choice: Devilsaur
Shot Rotation Priority: Kill Shot -> Serpent Sting -> Multi-Shot -> Steady Shot
That’s it, it’s actually very simple, but I doubt you’ll want to raid as a Beast Mastery Hunter. Depending on your playstyle you can move the 1 point in catlike reflexes into Improved Tracking.
Survival
This build is usually the most popular raiding build for Hunters out there. It allows for a high output of DPS while you are working on building up your raid gear, once you have a decent set of gear, most Hunters will switch to Marksmanship but this build is great for a Hunter that is gearing up or even one that is fully geared.
5/15/51 – Highest DPS Survival Hunter Talent Build Patch 3.3
Pet Choice: Wolf (for buff)
Shot Rotation Priority: Kill Shot -> Explosive Shot -> Serpent Sting -> Black Arrow -> Aimed Shot -> Steady Shot
This shot rotation get’s a little bit more complex and also situational. This is the recommended shot rotation order, but honestly I do it a bit differently. I usually open up with Black Arrow, then Serpent Sting, Explosive Shot, Aimed Shot, Steady Shot. I try to time my Aimed Shot to hit just before I launch Explosive shots.
I also do not use this build on my Hunter, I use a 0/18/53. I moved all the points out of Improved Aspect of the Hawk and put them into Improved Stings and Hunting Party for replenishment because I don’t always raid. You can tweak this to how you play.
Marksmanship
Marksmanship is typically used by higher geared Hunter’s that stack a lot of haste. It seems to underperform Survival builds without high end gear, but Survival doesn’t seem to scale as well as Marksmanship. It’s also a little bit different of a play style.
Highest DPS Marksmanship Hunter Talent Build Patch 3.3
Pet Choice: Wolf (for buffs)
Shot Rotation Priority: Kill Shot -> Serpent Sting -> Aimed Shot -> Chimera Shot -> Steady Shot
Remember that when you use Chimera Shot it automatically refreshes your Serpent Sting. This shot rotation is almost as boring as the Beast Mastery rotation, but hey it works. You can also throw in Arcane Shot if you’re bored, it’s going to depend on your gear and how good you are at pressing buttons. I’ve not seen many variations of this Marksmanship Build, but I’m sure you can be creative and figure something out.
Doesn’t chimera shot refresh your serpent sting which lasts 15 second to begin with? So why would you waste a glyph by adding glyph of the serpent sting if the chimera shot refreshes it each time before it runs out?
Your MM build is horrible.
You put 3 TPs into Imp Barrage, but fail to take Trueshot Aura, Are you kidding or just sloppy?
Then, 3 Talent Points (TP) in Focussed Aim? If you are raiding, you had better be hit capped without needing to spend TP’s. Those points are far better spent in either Imp Arcane Shot, Imp Hunter’s Mark or even Efficiency.
Also only 1 TP into Rapid Recuperation?
Wow – I may be a Huntard but damn – I would be embarrassed to show up to even Naxx10 with this spec.
As for your Shot Priority, Chimera > Aimed every single time. Chimera does more than ‘refresh Serpent Sting” . Next time try reading the ENTIRE tool tip.
Sheesh – to think I came here to learn something I didn’t know.
Dude – do all Hunters a favor and spend jyst a littel more time researching before spouting off as if you are an expert.
Dhatura – Moon Guard
One more thing.
Survival favors Haste. MM favors Armor Penetration.
Both builds favor Agility over eveything else.
Kind of useless to open with Kill Shot since your target needs to be at 20% health before it will work
Carlos.
Chimera shot adds 40% of the damage done by your serpent sting. If serpent sting lasts 6 seconds longer (an additional 2 ticks, if I’m not mistaken), meaning it does more damage, meaning it causes chimera shot to do more damage. These guys know what they’re talking about.
wow, I didn’t read that through. Forgive the grammar mistakes, haha.