Let me first start off by saying I am not the best Hunter or player in the world. I have just recently come from Ragnaros with my guild <Care> to join Sargeras and progress into Cataclysm as we had cleared all content on Ragnaros and it posed no fun for our guild anymore. I am learning Survival just as everyone else, but I thought I could be of help with my current knowledge to Hunter's who are learning just as I am. The reason I am writing this guide is because I remember when I started Cataclysm on Sargeras, I came looking for a guide and found nothing with great detail so I decided that it was time this section for such an amazing class had one.

This guide will contain information that may help any new Hunter's on the path to enjoying one of the most fun classes in the game. Currently Survival is the best tree available to Hunter's for most encounters inside of Cataclysm 4.3.4 but each is viable to be played and maintain high damage per second output with the current available gear. I will test each specialization as more content is released and update accordingly.

Talent Tree Glyphs

Stat Priority (w/ enchants)

Gemming

Rotation

Pet Choices

Pet Talents

BiS List - Non-Donor, Donor, and End Game

Professions

Macros

Skill Knowledge

Ending

The talent tree I am currently using is this. I will explain why below.This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 676x403.

The reason I chose to take Entrapment over Survival Tactics is because you encounter more instances where you will need to be using Traps and Multi-Shot to help the tank as well as

nuking the adds that spawn not to mention trash clearing. Another reason is because you do not receive resists on Molten, for some reason.

Encounters where this may occur are, in instance order:Blackwing Descent - Magmaw, Omnitron Defense System, Maloriak, and Nefarian.Bastion of Twilight - Halfus Wyrmbreaker, Cho'gall and Sinestra.Firelands - Beth'tilac, Lord Rhyolith and Ragnaros.Dragon Soul - Yor'sahj, Hagara Stormbinder, Warmaster Blackhorn, Spine of Deathwing and Madness of Deathwing.

The reason I took two points in Sic Em' over maximizing Serpent Spread and taking points in Careful Aim is based off personal preference because the overall damage in most fights will be much higher due to the opening ten percent health being shaved off fairly quickly currently with the available progression content (Firelands being only 10-man). I will more than likely change this on bosses with insanely large healthpools like Ragnaros and Deathwing. The talent tree below is an alternative method that allows you to put some extra damage on an already Frost Trapped mobs.

This image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 683x408.

The glyphs you will want will change as content is released, but I will again explain that below after I have listed what glyphs you want.

Prime Glyphs:Glyph of Explosive ShotGlyph of Kill ShotGlyph of Serpent Sting

Major Glyphs:Glyph of Ice TrapGlyph of MendingGlyph of Trap Launcher

Minor Glyphs:Glyph of Feign DeathGlyph of Aspect of the PackGlyph of Revive Pet

These are currently the best glyphs available to a Survival Hunter. However, with the release of Dragon Soul gear you will obtain the Haste soft cap with your T13 fairly easily and it will cause you to remove the Glyph of Serpent Sting and replace it with Glyph of Arcane Shot due to the amount of focus you generate.

Glyph of Mending is to help sustain your pet in fights where you will be required to heal him since Molten is bugged on certain aspects of pet damage. This is also the reason for the Glyph of Revive Pet as if you do not have a pet, you will lose an insane amount of damage.

Stat Priority is tricky. Personally, I currently maintain a balance between Haste and Critical Strike rating due to being unable to hit the Haste cap which is 2665 but at the same time I aim for Haste before Critical Strike. I will be adding enchant selection within this sub-section as well.

Agility > 8% Ranged Hit > Haste Cap > Critical Strike > Mastery > Haste

The reason you want to be hitting the Haste Cap is to make sure you can fit in 3 Cobra Shots between each Explosive Shot cooldown. However, once Tier 13 becomes available you will want to drop that Haste down to 757 total Haste once you obtain 4 Pieces of T13. Sadly, it will be impossible to go that low but still try to minimize the total Haste at this point by reforging to Critical Strike and then Mastery.

The haste you want is 29.17% (1794 Haste Rating - This is the lowest I got it to without breaking the 1.5 to 1.6 barrier) total Haste to obtain a 1.5 second cast on your Cobra Shot. Once you hit this percentage, it is more profitable to stack Critical Strike or Mastery. Credit to Skiploom for finding out what percentage of Haste you want.

Enchants:Head - Arcanum of the RamkahenShoulders - Greater Inscription of Shattered Crystal OR Greater Inscription of Vicious AgilityChest - Enchant Chest - Peerless StatsBack - Enchant Cloak - Greater Critical StrikeWrist - Enchant Bracer - AgilityGloves - Enchant Gloves - HasteBelt - Ebonsteel Belt BuckleLegs - Dragonscale Leg ArmorFeet - Enchant Boots - Major Agility OR Enchant Boots - Assassin's StepWeapon - Enchant 2H Weapon - Mighty AgilityRanged Weapon - Gnomish X-Ray Scope

Gemming is very easy and straight forward, I will list both the current available gems and the ones you will want in the future once Dragon Soul gems become available.

Meta Gem:Agile Shadowspirit Diamond - 54 Agility and 3% Increased Critical Effect.

Pre-Dragon Soul Gems:Red Socket - Delicate Inferno Ruby - 40 Agility.Yellow Socket - Deft Ember Topaz/Deadly Ember Topaz - 20 Agility and 20 Haste/Critical Strike Rating.Blue Socket - Delicate Inferno Ruby/Glinting Demonseye - 40 Agility/20 Agility and 20 Hit Rating.

You can socket determining on what you require most. Remember to look for beneficial socket bonuses that will give you that increase in agility as well as another stat for free.

Dragon Soul Gems:Red Socket - Delicate Queen's Garnet - 50 AgilityYellow Socket - Deft Lava Coral/Deadly Lava Coral - 25 Agility and 25 Haste/Critical Strike Rating.Blue Socket - Delicate Queen's Garnet/Glinting Shadow Spinel - 50 Agility/25 Agility and 25 Hit Rating.

Same rules apply from the above gemming.

The rotation is a fairly simple one but I will start with the priority and work from there.1) Explosive Shot2) Kill Shot3) Black Arrow4) Serpent Sting5) Cobra Shot6) Arcane Shot

Explosive is the highest priority in the rotation because it will be your number one damage output. You want to keep this always on cooldown. You will be using Arcane Shot, Killshot, and Cobra Shot as fillers between Lock and Loads procs to minimize dot clipping.

The opening rotation I use is Serpent Sting -> Hunter cooldowns (listed below) -> Explosive Shot -> Black Arrow -> Cobra Shot <Lock and Load Proc> Explosive Shot -> Arcane Shot -> Explosive Shot -> Cobra Shot -> Explosive Shot -> Cobra Shot

<Lock and Load Proc> Repeat Prior.

The standard rotation for me after the Lock and Load Fix is Explosive Shot -> Black Arrow -> Cobra Shot -> Cobra Shot -> Cobra Shot -> Explosive Shot -> Arcane Shot -> Cobra Shot -> Arcane Shot -> Cobra, rotating depending upon your focus until either Black Arrow or Explosive Shot comes off cooldown.

Lock and Load Rotation:<Lock and Load Procs> Explosive Shot -> Arcane Shot/Cobra Shot -> Explosive Shot -> Arcane/Cobra Shot -> Explosive Shot -> Arcane/Cobra -> Repeat normal rotation.

The AoE rotation is Misdirection -> Trap Launcher -> Explosive Trap -> Multi-Shot until out of focus -> Cobra Shot -> Explosive Shot -> Cobra Shot -> Multi-Shot -> Rinse and repeat.

**Note** If you do not misdirect, you will more than likely strip aggro from the tank unless they are very aware as to what they are doing.

The Hunter ability you should use before the fight begins is Hunter's Mark. Make sure it is always on the target you plan on DPSing.

The Hunter cooldowns you should use at the beginning of the fight are Rapid Fire, Call of the Wild, Engineering Abilities, Trinkets, Potion of the Tol'vir, etc. to maximize how many times you may use these during the entire encounters duration. Be sure to use them each time they are available to maximize your damage per second!

Pet choices will come down to raid composition and players within the raid, as well as what is stackable on Molten itself as well as the base overall damage.

Using a Cat is only beneficial to the raid if you do not have a Warrior, Death Knight or Shaman within the raid.Using a Wolf is only beneficial to the raid if you do not have a Subtlety Rogue, Fury Warrior, Elemental Shaman, or a Feral Druid within the raid.Using a Dragonhawk or Wind Serpent is only beneficial to the raid if you do not have a Warlock, Death Knight, Balance Druid or Assassination Rogue within the raid.

Using a Raptor is only beneficial to the raid if you do not have a Protection Warrior or Arms Warrior within the raid.

** NOTE **Some of these buffs stack within 25-man.

What pet do you choose when all of the above are within your raid? Make your decision based off the raid members and who is most likely to die, or if you just want straight damage - either a Cat or a Wolf is fine.

Cat provides - Roar of Courage - 549 Agility and Strength.Wolf provides - Furious Howl - 5% Critical Strike.Wind Serpent or Dragonhawk provide - Lightning Breath or Flame Breath - 8% Increased Magical Damage.Raptor provides - Tear Armor - 12% Reduced Armor.Hyena provides - Tendon Rip - 30% Increase Bleed Damage Taken.Ravager provides - Ravage - 4% Increase Physical Damage Taken.

There are other various abilities that are the same as the listed above but these are the most common you will see on Hunter's as they are currently the best available abilities out there.

These are just my personal preferences which I will explain below.

Cat:

The reason I choose Wild Hunt over Shark Attack is that your pet will maintain high focus due to Sic 'Em! proccing often.

Wolf:The same talent tree and reason as the Cat's tree.

Wind Serpent:

These talents I chose to maximize damage output, sadly though, Wolverine Bite is

bugged and does not always cast making it a pet that does less damage overall but still offers the 8% Spell Damage increase when your raid lacks a Warlock or an Unholy Death Knight.

Raptor:The same talent tree and reason as the Cat's tree.

Non-Donor BiS List:Head - Ragnaros Heroic - Flamewaker's HeadguardNeck - Ragnaros Heroic or Valor Points - Choker of the Vanquished Lord OR Cameo of Terrible MemoriesShoulders - Majordomo Heroic - Flamewaker's SpauldersChest - Valor Points - Dragonflayer VestBack - Lord Rhyolith Heroic - Dreadfire DrapeWrist - Crystallized Firestone - Hide-Bound ChainsGloves - Baleroc Heroic - Flamewaker's GlovesBelt - Valor Points - Cord of Dragon SinewLegs - Shannox Heroic - Flamewaker's LegguardsFeet - Valor Points - Boneshard BootsWeapon - Crystallized Firestone or Majordomo Staghelm Heroic - Ranseur of Hatred OR Fandral's FlamescytheRanged Weapon - Ragnaros Heroic - Arathar, the Eye of FlameRing #1 - Avengers of Hyjal - Viridian Signet of the AvengersRing #2 - Valor Points - Emergency Descent LoopTrinket #1 - Ragnaros Heroic - Matrix RestabilizerTrinket #2 - Majordomo Staghelm Heroic or Valor Points - The Hungerer OR Kiroptyric Sigil

** You have a choice, based off the Haste or Critical Strike Rating you need. However, my suggestion is to take the Tier Helmet as well as Flickering Shoulders with 192 Haste, Critical, or Mastery (depending on your luck or desire) but you can take Tier Shoulders and Shannox's Helmet.

** If you are looking for a Normal Mode BiS - All of the items above are currently best-in-slot normal but there are other variants that can be just as good or better depending on the stats you need.

Trinkets are based off of your own preference if these items above are not available. The best trinkets currently available in normal mode are:Matrix Restabilizer from Ragnaros.The Hungerer from Majordomo Staghelm.Arrow of Time from Murozond in End Time.Ancient Petrified Seed from the Avengers of Hyjal.Essence of the Cyclone from Halfus Wyrmbreaker.Fluid Death from Justice Points.Key to the Endless Chamber from Corborus in Stonecore Heroic mode.

Current Donor BiS:Head - Wyrmstalker's HeadguardNeck - Cameo of Terrible Memories ** This can be obtained in-game **Shoulders - Wyrmstalker's SpauldersChest - Wyrmstalker's TunicBack - Dreadfire Drape/Sleek Flamewrath Cloak ** This can be obtained in-game **Wrist - Bracers of Looming DarknessGloves - Sporebeard GauntletsBelt - Belt of the Beloved CompanionLegs - Wyrmstalker's LegguardsFeet - Treads of Dormant DreamsWeapon - Spire of Coagulated GlobulesRanged Weapon - Horrifying Horn Arbalest ** Read Below ** OR Arathar, The Eye of FlameRing #1 - Signet of Grasping Mouths OR Emergency Descent Loop ** This can be obtained in-game **Ring #2 - Viridian Signet of the Avengers ** You can farm this reputation **Trinket #1 - Vial of ShadowsTrinket #2 - Wrath of Unchaining

The Horrifying Horn Arbalest currently is showing 583.6 damage per second on the coin shop which is wrong, even for Raid Finder gear so be warned when purchasing this that it may not be correct.

End Game BiS List:Head - Warmaster Blackhorn - Wyrmstalker's HeadguardNeck - Valor Points - Cameo of Terrible MemoriesShoulders - Hagara the Stormbinder - Wyrmstalker's SpauldersChest - Ultraxion - Wyrmstalker's TunicBack - Lord Rhyolith - Dreadfire DrapeWrist - Ultraxion - Bracers of Looming Darkness ** Below **Gloves - Morchok - Sporebeard GauntletsBelt - Warmaster Blackhorn - Belt of the Beloved Companion

Legs - Yor'sahj - Wyrmstalker's LegguardsFeet - Hagara the Stormbinder - Treads of Dormant DreamsWeapon - Madness of Deathwing - Kiril, Fury of BeastsRanged Weapon - Madness of Deathwing - Vishanka, Jaws of the EarthRing #1 - Hagara the Stormbinder - Signet of Grasping MouthsRing #2 - Valor Points - Emergency Descent Loop ** No Heroic Available*Trinket #1 - Shared Boss Loot - Vial of ShadowsTrinket #2 - Spine of Deathwing - Wrath of Unchaining

** NOTE **This is different from Molten's server, this is comparative to retail. I compared a planned setup and my current setup has more damage output than what this planner would say. This has only the two buffs shown on the screen, just like in-game as well.

** Note ** All of the above items except the marked one are Heroic quality.* Bracers are difficult to weigh up as the crafted bracers have more agility, yet Bracers of Looming Darkness from Ultraxion have more secondary stats leading to easier

reforging optimization (no haste so it gets you closer to the ~758 cap).

These are the benefits to our class, choose which one you think is the most beneficial to you.

Alchemy - 80 Agility with the use of the flask.Blacksmithing - 80 or100 Agility based on the gems you use.Enchanting - 40 Agility per ring.Engineering - 480 Agility for 10 seconds on a one minute cooldown.Inscription - 130 Agility and 25 Mastery to shoulders.Jewelcrafting - 27 stats per gem, maximum of three gems, which equals 81 bonus stats.Leatherworking - 130 Agility to Bracers.Tailoring - 1000 Attack Power for 15 seconds.Herbalism - 480 Haste for 20 seconds, two minute cooldown.Mining - 120 base stamina.Skinning - 80 base Critical Strike rating.

Personally, I would use Tailoring and Engineering just for the extra burst damage over the fight when it is needed most. Even then, most of the professions come out to be equal at 80 bonus stats so it is not a huge loss to take any of the professions (except Mining and Skinning).

In this section, I will go through some macros that I use with the explanation as to why. I do not use many macros yet but I will update as the need arises for them.

#showtooltip/cast [target=focus] Misdirection

This macro will help enable you to have an easier time Misdirecting your target.

#showtooltip/cast [@targettarget] MisdirectionThis macro will Misdirect the target of the person or mob you are currently targeting, allowing you to have two quick Misdirection macros available if you have to swap tanks.

/petfollow [@pettarget,exists]/petattack [@pettarget,noexists]This macro will either make your pet attack the current target you are attacking, or pull him back to you.

#showtooltip Rapid Fire/cast Call of the Wild/use Potion of the Tol'vir/cast Rapid FireThis is the macro to use your cooldowns, as well as a Potion of the Tol'vir that gives you 1200 Agility for 20 seconds.

/script SetCVar ("cameraDistancemax" ,50)This is the max camera distance macro and it will help you be more aware of what is going on around you.

/script RepopMe();If you ever get stuck falling the world or unable to release - use this macro. It will save your unstuck on the website to enable you to hunt more pets efficiently.

Every skill in the Hunter spellbook is useful, even right down to the most unused talents. Do not forget to go through your book and read the use of every skill as it will improve your ability to play a Hunter ten fold.

Disengage - Currently one of the best gap closes, and gap making ability in the game. This ability will save you countless times during your Hunter career.

Deterrence - The best avoidance skill, in my mind, currently available to classes as it allows you to take next to no damage from almost any skill in the game if you use the

ability at the right time.

Feign Death - You will use this if you happen to pull aggro or a mob randomly targets you. It will save you almost as much as the above two skills will.

Camouflage - This is the best addition to Hunter's in Cataclysm. You can Feign Death and Camouflage right away, enabling you to remain out of combat for a fair duration until you are Healed or until an AoE ability hits you.

Trap Launcher - Ever since The Burning Crusade I have wished for this, and finally it is given to us. This makes our lives as Hunter's so much easier without having to get into a bad position to place a trap.

Scatter Shot - This is useful even in raid content, especially on mobs that need to be interrupted like on the Alysrazor. It may not always work though.

Wyvern Sting - Same as Scatter Shot, it helps you disable a mob that needs to be interrupted when you lack the ability. It may not always work though.

Explosive Trap - This trap, in combination with Serpent Spread and Multi-Shot makes Hunter's the best AoE damage available in the game currently.

Ice Trap - This skill is simply beautiful. Who does not want a massive AoE slow for an encounter where mobs must be kited or killed?

Distracting Shot - Tank is about to die? Save him for a few seconds with this skill and Deterrence by taunting the boss, or a mob off him. Feign Death drops aggro and the mob will run to a random raid member, not the tank like it normally would had the effect of the skill wore off.

Tranquilizing Shot - You will not use this skill that much in 4.3.4 but it is still a good skill to have on your bars for moments where you wish to dispel a buff that a mob or the boss has that is dispellable.

Master's Call - During encounters like Hagara Stormbinder, you can use this skill during the Frost Phase to clear your slowing debuff. It is just an amazing skill, it even removes daze effects.

Widow Venom - This is a useful thing to have on a boss like Maloriak where he will heal if it not dispelled by Tranquilizing Shot or a Mage's Spellsteal.

This completes the guide. Thank you for reading and I hope you will learn as much as I did while making this guide.

Skiploom and I went out to investigate and make certain that all of what I wrote here was correct and I was not leading anyone on or making them purchase an item incorrectly. Currently everything I have wrote is correct and in working condition unless specified.

I hope it teaches you a lot and you enjoy reading it as much as I did typing it.

If you have any questions, comments, etc. I will happily answer them as I see them.

Noobert

Credit goes to..Wolololol for the Banners and Headers design and my guildies on <Care> for the support and dedication to make me a better player and person.