Season of Discovery Survival Hunter Ranged DPS Guide

Hunters are one of the most sought after DPS early on, able to dish out incredible amounts of damage with very little gear. The combination of not being severely mana reliant, not using an alternative resource, and having a pet all work together to give Hunters the strongest early game experience out of any class. Hunters will be one of the strongest damage dealers in the Season of Discovery for both PvE and PvP content

At level 60, Survival is ultimately going to be the worst option out of the Hunter specializations, unless you need to utilize traps. Survival has the problem in Classic of lacking a real spec identity, which runes have not helped define. There are just better specializations available as a Hunter.

Strengths

• Powerful group buff from new runes
• Immense soloing capabilities
• Exceptional damage scaling with no gear and at low levels
• The most resource efficient class in the game

Weaknesses

• Poor AoE and cleave
• Worse damage overall out of any Hunter spec
• Limited options against targets stuck in melee
• Poor max level scaling at 60

Hunter has received no major changes for Season of Discovery, but instead have access to incredibly powerful new abilities and buffs in the form of runes. The most noticeable for every spec will be the addition of a new core shot to your rotation. This will either be Chimera Shot or Explosive Shot, which mirror the function of these abilities in Wrath of the Lich King Classic.

Through the addition of entirely new abilities and runes, the rotation, gearing options, and talent decisions for Survival Hunter has changed drastically with the coming of Season of Discovery. Use the guides located in the Table of Content at the top of this page to find all the information you'll need to master this new game mode!

One of the most important choices that you can make as a Hunter is your pet. Luckily, for optimal damage, that choice is relatively simple. While the best pet has changed frequently over the last couple of weeks due to constant tuning, the best pet for Hunters in Season of Discovery is currently a Cat. To be fully prepared, you should also consider getting a Wind Serpent in case pet spell power scaling is ever buffed again.

Make sure to check out our Rune Engravings guide to best understand what each rune does for your Hunter. Likewise, if you're unsure where to locate these runes, we've listed the location for every Season of Discovery Rune in the guide below to help you find the best available runes for your class!