Cataclysm Classic Survival Hunter Leveling

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Your first talent unlocks at Level 10.

Pathing is a generic haste increase and is the best DPS option to start off your first row of talents.

Pathing and Improved Serpent Sting are both solid DPS options to start off the tree. As you go down the tree, generally the options for what talents to take will be reasonably obvious as you'll want to grab the DPS focused talents and skip most of the utility based ones.

Next, you'll want to take Trap Mastery for the utility and damage increase to your best AoE skill.

Next, you'll want to take Trap Mastery for the utility and damage increase to your best AoE skill. From here, you have a few options depending on what you prefer. Point of No Escape is generally quite good if you plan to make good use of Frost Trap, which you absolutely should while leveling.

Lock and Load is a core talent and should be picked up immediately. This will start allowing free Explosive Shots, which is invaluable for leveling.

Lock and Load is a core talent and should be picked up immediately. This will start allowing free Explosive Shots, which is invaluable for leveling. Thrill of the Hunt is the next obvious choice for DPS as it'll save you a ton of focus.

T.N.T. will give you far more options for how to proc Lock and Load.

T.N.T. will give you far more options for how to proc Lock and Load. Resourcefulness will lower your trap cooldowns, and there are not any other good options to take before moving on. Every talent from this point onward is critical, so we'll be grabbing all of the remaining talents in the tree from here on out.

T.N.T. will give you far more options for how to proc Lock and Load. Resourcefulness will lower your trap cooldowns, and there are not any other good options to take before moving on. Every talent from this point onward is critical, so we'll be grabbing all of the remaining talents in the tree from here on out. Take Hunting Party first for the raid buff.

Toxicology is the first choice, but really you can follow any order you want since it's only the difference of a few levels for each of these. Just keep going row by row.

Toxicology is the first choice, but really you can follow any order you want since it's only the difference of a few levels for each of these. Just keep going row by row. Wyvern Sting, Noxious Stings, and then a single point in Serpent Spread are the next best options. You only need 1 point in Serpent Spread for the talent to be good; the second point is very low value since you'll be using Multi-Shot once every 6 seconds during AOE anyways.

Finish out the Survival tree with Sniper Training.

Finish out the Survival tree with Sniper Training, the final point in Noxious Stings, then grabbing Black Arrow. This will give you a strong new option for anything single target.

Once you're done with the Survival tree, head over to Marksmanship to immediately pick up Go for the Throat.

Once you're done with the Survival tree, head over to Marksmanship to immediately pick up Go for the Throat, which will give your pet basically limitless focus. Next start leveling Efficiency for the reduced focus cost of Arcane Shot.

Take Improved Steady Shot for an extremely consistent haste bonus that works wonders while leveling.

Take Improved Steady Shot for an extremely consistent haste bonus that works wonders while leveling. The last 2 points are really yours to do with as you please, but Careful Aim gives some added damage when you open on enemies out in the world, making it a solid choice for questing.

In your Prime Glyphs we recommend Glyph of Explosive Shot, Glyph of Steady Shot and Glyph of Kill Shot All three of these Glyphs act as passive damage increases to abilities we will already be using in our DPS rotation so they do not require you to do anything differently but will greatly increase your kill speed.

For your Major Glyph slots we recommend Glyph of Mending, Glyph of Misdirection and Glyph of Trap Launcher. These will allow your pet to tank and heal much easier utilizing Misdirection. Glyph of Trap Launcher is optional and can be replaced if you want.

For your Minor Glyphs we recommend Glyph of Revive Pet, Glyph of Feign Death, and Aspect of the Pack. The first two are just nice quality of life buffs to abilities you will be using regularly, the last one is really personal preference, but Aspect of the Pack is great if you are ever going to be in a group.

1. Command your pet to attack the target;
2. Misdirection on your pet;
3. Hunter's Mark;
4. Explosive Shot on cooldown;
5. Kill Shot when target is below 20%;
6. Serpent Sting;
7. Black Arrow;
8. Arcane Shot to dump focus;
9. Fill with Steady Shot.
10. Fill with Cobra Shot.

Do your class quest to get your pet. Once you have your pet, your kill speed and efficiency should become much better. Make sure you are careful with your threat, and try to let your pet tank whenever possible.

Feign Death is a great way to drop threat while fighting enemies. Utilize this if you ever need to reset threat back to your pet.

Congratulations on hitting Level 85 in Cataclysm! Now that your leveling process is over, you can learn more about Level-85 Survival Hunter gameplay by reading our fully detailed guide below.