Ela's Guide to Hunter Trees, v2.1

(This guide was created by Elakuan, level 70 troll hunter of the server Vashj. All credit goes to this great guide. Date: 05/15/2007 )

This is a re-post of my "Best 2.1 Spec". Reposted for better title and a few minor additions.

People who have read my posts on gear and dps always try to nail me down on the "best" spec. I'm not sure that was an easy question before. But after doing some serious damage tests on the PTR servers...I have a very boriing answer.

All 3 specs are viable in pvp, in 5 mans, and in raids. Depending on gear selection, each does pretty decent dps, even if you need to be creative about your gear.

The trees are balanced, finally. They're all fun to play and have their own unique challenges and rewards. Anyone who tells you you're going to do more dps with a particular spec without looking at your gear (and maybe even your playstyle) should be sent packing

I'll cut to the end conclusion: The hunters who are going to do the HIGHEST dps are those who parrty with hunters of other builds. No longer is it a good idea to have 3 marksmen hunters in a raid. Put one of each, all bringing their unique buffs into play.

Let's start with some review of trees:

Clearly, we were designed to be a dps class with one major buff to share with our melee friends and other hunters. The way our dps works and which buff we have, which pvp trick we bring to the table and how we all contribute to our pet dps are all dependent on our build. So let's review:

BEASTMASTER:
How they do dps: Increased bow speed. More shots = more damage, more procs for other talents/trinkets. With a well-timed bow they need less high-mana shots than others do for a full shot rotation. How they add to your raid: Ferocious inspiration. 3% damage to Party. How they add to pet dps: Increase focus regen, crit, attack speed, and 20% bonus damage. How they succeed in pvp: The Beast Within. The immunities make them scary, and own face in a lot of different ways.

Mage:"What do you do if a hunter turns all big and red?"
Warlcok: "Run."

With pet survivability added to 2.1, not to mention improvements to kill command, ALL hunters should be using pets, regardless of spec. Naturally BM's will get the most gain out of this, and as people start to realize that with slow bows, BM's have amazing shot rotation efficiency, this spec will catch on again soon.

MARKSMAN: How they do dps: straight up bonus to damage dealt and buff to AP. Lower rate of procs for talents/trinkets, but enough high damage shots to make up for it depending on gear. How they add to your raid: Trueshot aura. (A great standby, but it should be pointed out that in the end analysis this is the least scalable of raid buffs). How they add to pet dps: AP Scaling. More AP = harder hitting pets. How they succeed in pvp: Scattershot (which you can't have in other trees w/o giving up 41-point talents) and silencing shot.

With pet problems and the challenges facing survival gear accumulation, Marksman has been the "obvious" choice since BC release. As those challenges are overcome, many will switch into hybrid specs or move to another tree entirely. But this tree isn't going anywhere - AP is a lot easier to find in gear than AGI. Marksmen will be the safe bet for a long time.

SURVIVAL:
How they do dps: Added crit. Means more procs on trinkets/talents. Readiness to get double rapid fires in boss fights.
How they add to your raid: Expose Weakness. 3 points = 100% proc in 2.1. That's a buff to any melee in the raid, including the new super-rogues. This is probably the most valuable skill a hunter can bring to a raid, since it isn't party specific. Raid buffed, a hunter would only need 500 agility to match Trueshots's party-only contribution of 125 ap.
How they add to pet dps: High crit = massive focus regen for your pet (with Go For the Throat). Paired with a high dps focus dump pet (wind serpent/ravager) this is a LOT of special attacks for your pet.
How they succeed in pvp: Wyvern Sting, and readiness for an insta-trap.


It should be noted that some survival hunters are stacking agility…at the expense of their dps. As a survival hunter myself, I would recommend against it. Agility in itself isn’t the key to our dps, it merely has more relevance than it does in other trees. My guide to Gear and DPS can help if this is confusing.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=102930385

Which spec should you choose?

Comes down to 3 things:

Gear, Hunters around you, and Playstyle.

GEAR - Markmen hunters can easily embrace the hand blizzard dealt us. They can stack that AP quite high (but don't forget crit in the end analysis). They'll hit hard, but with few crits and slow bowspeed. Survivalists still need to be extremely creative as hell about (rogue gear) to get Agility as high as possible. But without sacrificing all to get there. Beastmasters with a perfect shot rotation can also give up some mana gear.

HUNTERS AROUND YOU - As of 2.1, the best hunter isn't any one of these...its the one who is buffed by others. So if your buddy is dead set on one spec...go the other way. Ferocious Inspiration, TSA, and Expose Weakness in the same party would be an incredible dps experiment.

PLAYSTYLE - most important of the three. Because its a BIG difference playing another tree. In my opinion, any serious hunter should spend time in pvp, 5 mans, and raids as each of the three. Once your guild is owning kara...go in as a Beastmaster for the first night. Once you get agility near 500 (lower threshold in 2.1, yay) give survival a serious try. Ultimately, IMO its the 41-point talents that make these trees, so give them a try. And if you don't find what you like, go back. It REALLY isn't that much gold.

Its been a hard run, but Blizzard has fine-tuned our trees. Raid leader who demands a certain raid spec need to be educated. I've made a post for them specifically.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=102937819

What they should be demanding is diversity in their hunter corps, because not only will that mean more dps from their hunters, but more dps from EVERYONE.

I CHALLENGE you to try a spec that isn't your "comfortable" spec.

Good Luck, Elakuan.