Hunter Hero Talents — The War Within (11.1.0)

This page is specifically about Hero Talents in The War Within. If you want to learn more about the best regular talents for Survival Hunter, check out our Talents page:

Pack Leader has by far the strongest single-target DPS and is the default pick for raiding.

Sentinel has superior AoE to Pack Leader, but this is almost never relevant enough to choose over Pack Leader's single-target advantage.

Pack Leader has by far the highest single-target and priority-target DPS of our two Hero Talents, and will complete most dungeons faster. However, it is significantly (~10%) weaker on AoE, and to many people, Mythic+ is synonymous with AoE and AoE is the primary thing they are looking for, which is reasonable. Still, I highly recommend trying out Pack Leader in single-target heavy dungeons like Theater of Pain and Workshop.

Sentinel has the strongest AoE and defensive profile, but is significantly behind for single-target and priority-target damage.

2.

Best Hero Talent Builds for Survival Hunter

Sentinel Single-Target Build Sentinel Mythic+ Build Pack Leader Build

3.

Best Sentinel Single-Target Build for Survival Hunter

Sentinel is very straightforward to build. The only thing we swap for AoE is Overwatch/ Crescent Steel, with the latter providing more Sentinel hits overall on a single target, because you will generally only get the Overwatch trigger once in such scenarios.

We also have a choice between Sentinel Watch and Eyes Closed. The former offers a shorter cooldown, and the latter offers a stronger cooldown. Generally speaking, we pick Eyes Closed, although if you are running Symbiotic Adrenaline in your Spec Tree, Sentinel Watch usually becomes better, though this is not typically recommended.

3.

Best Sentinel Mythic+ Build for Survival Hunter

Sentinel is very straightforward to build. The only thing we swap for AoE is Overwatch/ Crescent Steel, with the former providing a lot more Sentinel hits in AoE scenarios. Get a single target below 20% HP, and watch mobs melt from 20-0% HP.

We also have a choice between Sentinel Watch and Eyes Closed. The former offers a shorter cooldown, and the latter offers a stronger cooldown. Generally speaking, we pick Sentinel Watch, although if you are running Relentless Primal Ferocity in your Spec Tree, Eyes Closed becomes better, though this is not typically recommended.

3.

Best Pack Leader Build for Survival Hunter

Pack Leader is very straightforward to build, with the same setup being optimal for nearly all scenarios. The only real flex pick here might be Horsehair Tether, which you can swap to Slicked Shoes when and as needed, but it is a pretty minor effect.

Sentinel will regularly change the way we think about using our second Wildfire Bomb charge. In essence, if the remaining "internal cooldown" of Lunar Storm is up in a couple of seconds, you will want to hold your second/final Wildfire Bomb charge for that moment, ensuring we squeeze out as much uptime as possible. Our Rotation page covers this.

But, other than that minmax, Sentinel is completely passive.

Pack Leader has a fairly modest effect on your rotation. Kill Command will get bumped in priority whenever it can summon a Beast thanks to Howl of the Pack Leader, and Raptor Strike/ Mongoose Bite can become important on AoE when you have Hogstrider stacks. You will occasionally get significant Wildfire Bomb cooldown reduction. For the most part, though, Pack Leader plays fairly close to a "baseline" Survival Hunter.