Haste Rating

Updated: January 26th 2009

Haste Rating, at the moment, is overrated for Survival Hunters.
I will explain, but first:

Ghostcrawler on the forums:

Haste is a worthwhile stat to some casters but it is not useful for many melee. We are trying some different things to make it more apealing.

Armor Pen I think is just undertuned. It is a good stat in general, but the amount of +armor pen you need to get to something noticeable is too high. We would like to buff it. 

So Haste might get a boost in the future.  As for now, right after the 3.0.8 patch, Haste is not very good for Survival Hunters (it is merely okay).


Facts:
After 3.0.8, Steady Shot damage is nearly cut in half.
This nerf to Steady Shot also lowers the value of Haste Rating, as it was the only shot which benefited from Haste Rating (except for Auto Shot).


Haste Rating and Steady Shot calculations:
2.0 (Steady Shot) / 1.15 (Quiver) * 1.0958 (my 9.58% Haste Rating)
2.0 / 1.26
1.59 Steady Shot cast time with Quiver + Haste Rating


Basic Shot Rotation
Explosive Shot - x3 Steady Shot

1.5 sec (GCD ES) + 1.59 + 1.59 + 1.59 = 6.27 sec

I am slowing down my next Explosive Shot by .27 seconds.

On the Training Dummy:
Since I spam Steady Shot after the Explosive Shot, even with 300ms, I notice that with about .3 seconds left on the third Steady Shot, Explosive is off cooldown.

I noticed that if I did not spam Steady Shot, and waited until the casting time was done, Explosive Shot came off cooldown right after the 2nd Steady Shot.  So lag can be beaten by spamming a key.

After some very limited testing trying a 2 Steady Shot rotation vs. 3 Steady Shot rotation the 3 SS rotation won out by about 150 DPS.

Attribute DPS
+1 Haste Rating at my level of Haste gives only .400 DPS (when Haste is soft capped it's merely .254 DPS).
+1 Agility gives me .829 DPS.
+1 Intellect gives me .773 DPS (I do run out of mana since I mainly run 10 mans).

+2 Attack Power gives me .688 DPS.
+1 Crit gives me .557 DPS.


This page will be a main page on this site and be updated when needed.

Hunter vs. Rogue & 1815 2v2

As a Survival Hunter I have to worry about melee more than a BM Hunter would.  The transition from BM Hunter to Survival Hunter was a rough one, as I didn't know how to vs. Melee without Bestial Wrath.

After dueling my Rogue friend, and learning what most Rogues do when they open on a Hunter, this is the strategy to use vs. Rogues:

Note: The beginning of the fight is the most important part for a Rogue.  Since burst damage is so high at the moment, it's very important for the Hunter as well (since you can die in 5 seconds to a Rogue's burst).

First 5-10 seconds of a fight vs. Rogue

Rogue Cheap Shots Hunter and starts doing massive damage
Hunter Trinkets Cheap Shot and Scatter Shots Rogue
Hunter Disengages from Rogue and Concussive Shots Rogue
Hunter Explosive Shot Rogue and sends pet on Rogue
Rogue Sprints / Vanish toward Hunter
Hunter Flares in between where the Rogue was and where the Hunter is
Hunter Aimed Shots Rogue for more damage
Hunter casts Deterrence and lays a Frost Trap when Rogue gets close

The point is to save Deterrence since it is on a long cooldown.  Scatter Shot is on a relatively short cooldown (30 sec) and so is Disengage.  When the Hunter Trinkets and Scatter Shots the Rogue and Disengages, the Hunter has saved himself from death and has put distance between him and the Rogue.  This is the most important part of the fight.  The Hunter has to be quick on the Trinket and the Scatter Shot.

This strategy has helped me win 90% of the duels with my Rogue friend, and has enabled me to not fear Rogues in Arena.  Whenever our 2v2 (Rogue / Hunter) faces off against a Rogue Healer we win 95% of the time.  Whenever we face off against a Mage / Rogue we win 70% of the time.

Our Arena team ended up at 1815 this week.  We were able to get to 1840 before getting a few back to back losses and dropping a bit.

The new Arena Rating system is definitely different.  We ended up gaining 6-10 points every time we won and losing 2-8 points every time we lost.  The other strange thing is that my personal rating is only 1787 while my Rogues rating is 1805, and before this week we were only 4 personal rating apart. 

It seems that a lot of teams are finding their personals ratings are seperating from their team rating.  This is going to be very annoying if I find that our Team Rating is enough to get Deadly gear but my personal falls short (and we only 2v2 with each other, no one else to skew the personals).
  

Survival Hunter

Updated:  April 23rd 2009
(Updated DPS on Go for the Throat)


Talent, Glyph and Attribute DPS are calculated given the following:
My base spec, shot rotation, 25 man raid buffs (all class buffs) and gear.
  
The closer you are to my spec, shot rotation, buffs and gear, the more accurate the following DPS #'s will be for you.
  
All of these #'s come from Shandara's Spreadsheet.

 

Base Spec: Survival PvE Spec 0/16/55 (post 3.1)

  

    

Normal Shot Rotation:

Rapid Fire / Blood Fury / Trinkets > Explosive Shot > Kill Shot > Black Arrow > Serpent Sting > Aimed Shot > Steady Shot

 

Aimed Shot only provides a 22 DPS increase from using Multi-Shot in its place.  But I take Aimed Shot because I like to be able to use it on the move.

   

Lock & Load Shot Rotation:

Explosive Shot - 0.5 sec - Explosive Shot - 0.5 sec - Explosive Shot

 

This is the optimal shot rotation to use while under the effects of Lock and Load.  It allows all the ticks to proc after each Explosive Shot since you wait the GCD + 0.5 sec after every ES.

  

If lag is a problem or if you do not want to deal with timing issues this L&L rotation is only slightly less damage:

Explosive Shot - Steady Shot or Aimed Shot or Serpent Sting (if it just fell off) - Explosive Shot - SS or AS or SS - Explosive Shot

 

 

 

Attribute DPS (post 3.1)
  

 

Agility is by far the best stat to stack as a Survival Hunter.  One Agility is worth almost 50% more than two Attack Power. 

 

  

 

Survival Hunter Talent DPS (post 3.1)   

Amazing Talents:
Go for the Throat - 1st point gives over 300 DPS, and the 2nd point even gives over 100 DPS!
Careful Aim - Over 100 DPS per talent point!
Lock and Load - Over 100 DPS per talent point!
Hunter vs Wild - Over 100 DPS per talent point!
Expose Weakness - 150 DPS for the 1st talent point!

Overrated Talents:
Trap Mastery - Only 21 DPS per talent point, merely okay.


 

Survival Hunter Glyph DPS (post 3.1)

The glyphs of Explosive Shot and Kill Shot are must have glyphs for Survival.

For my 3rd glyph I would most likely pick up the Serpent Sting glyph, which would make my shot rotation a bit easier.

Even though the Serpent Sting glyph in theory is less DPS than the Steady Shot or IAotH glyph, in real practice with errors involved, I would bet the Serpent Sting glyph would always be better for DPS.
      

Hunter / Rogue 2v2 @ 1758

Yesterday Siphter and I (my Rogue friend) decided to try our hand at getting to 1720 so we could pick up the Deadly Boots. 

After our first ten games this week going so poorly, (50/50) and coming up against a lot of DK / Paladin teams, my expectations were low.  But we did not queue any Paladin teams (are they all 1800+?) .  Against non-Paladin teams we are about 90% successful, so we managed to perform quite well.  We ended up versing mostly Mage / Rogue or Priest / Rogue teams. 

Priest / Rogue being the easy team for us, as I can pressure the Priest and make the Rogue pop on me and then we just burn down the Rogue.  As BM 50/21 a Rogue is not going to touch me with x2 Deterrence and Bestial Wrath.

Mage / Rogue was still an easy team to face off against, but if luck goes their way, the Mage might get a couple of lucky crits and kill you in the beginning with a Rogue ambush.  If you can LoS the Mage a little bit and force the Rogue to pop on you, without losing half your health, than you should win this game as a Hunter / Rogue.  Just quickly switch to Rogue while LoS'ing Mage and then finish Mage afterwards.

Today Siphter and I finished getting to 1720, as we had to quit early yesterday due to it being too late.  After 1720 (and after picking up our Boots), we thought we might as well try our hand at 1750 for the Deadly Cloaks.  We continued to face non-Paladin teams and were rewarded with win after win.

I have the utmost confidence in our ability to play any team that does not have a Paladin.  Rogue / BM Hunter seems to do be able to beat almost any team that does not have a Paladin bubble.  After the 3.0.8 patch BM is getting a big hit for PvP as Readiness will not reset Bestial Wrath.  I think BM can do okay without Readiness, but it will be an uphill battle as burst gets lessened.

Looking forward to being able to play with Survival come 3.0.8 as well.  Crossing my fingers for this Tuesday.
 

Changing the World of Warcraft Gun Sound

Updated:  May 14th 2009

The World of Warcraft gun sounds have always been terribly annoying to me.  This insanely loud sound that guns make are the opposite of what I envision Hunters to be in the Warcraft setting.  For the first 4 years of Warcraft I would not touch guns because of the loud gun sound.

About 4 months ago this all changed when I found Silencer Reborn.  It is an "addon" that changes the sounds that all guns make in the game.

Now I call it an "addon" because it's not a normal addon that installs to the interface/addons directory.  It requires you to create a few folders if you have not meddled with game sounds before (this is not illegal or against the terms of service).

This is the required folder structure for all mods that change the gun sounds:
(wowfolder)\Data\Sound\Item\Weapons\Gun\

In the Gun folder you will need these six file types as .ogg (thanks people that commented) files (each addon gives you these files):
GunFire01, GunFire02, GunFire03, GunLoad01, GunLoad02, GunLoad03


4 Gun Sound modification addons:

Silencer Reborn
Makes guns sound more like lasers.

Gun Silencer/Suppressor 
A more realistic Gun Silencer sound.

EarPlugs
Same exact sound that the current Guns in WoW use, but quieter.

Make Guns Sound Like Bows
Self explanatory.


If it weren't for these type of addons, my character would never know the joys of using a gun.
 

Survival Talent & Glyph DPS Guide

For an updated analysis of Survival view my Survival page.


Note: The DPS of each talent for a Survival Hunter can vary with Gear, variance of Spec, Buffs and Shot Rotation. The closer you are to my Gear, Spec, Buffs and Shot Rotation, the more more accurate these Talent DPS numbers will be for you.

Talent DPS

Glyph DPS

The glyphs I will end up using as Survival will be Serpent Sting, Steady Shot and Aimed Shot (as I will not put a point into IAotH).

My Base Survival Spec for 3.0.8

My shot rotation will be this:

Blood Fury / Rapid Fire / Trinket > Explosive Shot > Kill Shot > Serpent Sting > Aimed Shot > Steady Shot


Buffs in my 10 man raid that would affect my talent DPS:

Greater Blessing of Might
Mana Spring Totem
Horn of Winter
Improved Gift of the Wild
Improved Prayer of Fortitude
Replenishment
Blackened Dragonfin
Elixir of Mighty Agility
Judgement of Wisdom
Sunder Armor


Attributes fully buffed in a 10 man raid:

Mana - 11,444
Hit - 8.05%
Crit - 35.79%
Agility - 1,457
Stamina - 1,397
Intellect - 445
Attack Power - 5,121
Haste Rating - 227
ArP Rating - 130

Survival Q&A

Warning: This page is old and outdated, go to my Survival page to view updated information.





What Shot Rotation do I use for Survival in PvE?

Rapid Fire/Blood Fury/Trinket > Serpent Sting > Kill Shot > Explosive Shot > Aimed Shot > Steady Shot

Note: Come 3.0.8 Kill Shot will be on a 15 sec cooldown. This will help make Kill Shot a more interesting ability once a bosses health is lower than 20%.



What Shot Rotation do I use when Lock and Load procs?

Explosive Shot - Steady Shot - Explosive Shot - Steady Shot - Explosive Shot

Note: You could replace a Steady Shot with an Aimed Shot or a Serpent Sting if it has expired.

or

Explosive Shot - 0.5 sec - Explosive Shot - 0.5 sec - Explosive Shot

Note: Waiting for .5 sec in between ES shots is to ensure that your ES gets 3/3 ticks. The reason the 2nd rotation exists is that it allows you to gain almost one whole Explosive Shot in your full rotation every L&L proc. This is because your ES starts its cooldown on the 3rd ES after a L&L proc.

I also like the 2nd rotation because half the time your L&L procs right after an ES, and since L&L does not reset the CD on ES, you have to wait 6 seconds before you can even begin the L&L rotation. This leaves you about 6 seconds, at worst, to complete the rotation.

Top 100 Arena Stats: S5 Week 3

For 2v2, 3v3 and 5v5 Week 3 Arena Stats, along with other misc. stats, visit WoW Reports.

3.0.8 looks to go live today or next tuesday.  I'm hoping today, as Survival is fun to play, even without burst.  With burst its going to be awesome.  Pew pew Explosive Shot.
  

Scorpid

Post 3.0.8

Scorpid pets are tenacity pets.  Tenacity pets have an okay tree, but not nearly as good as Ferocity for PvE and PvP.  Scorpid Poision is a dot that does 100-130 damage, which scales with the pets attack power (much less than before, and it does not stack).

The major spell they bring as Tenacity is Roar of Sacrifice which is useful in PvP and PvE (mostly on the tank).  30% damage mitigation for 12 seconds for any target you choose is great utility, and its only on a 30 second cooldown (your pet absorbs the damage).

In PvP Scorpids have been popular in drain team setups, as a Paladin has more trouble removing Viper if you have other poisons up.  Drain teams are not quite a part of the game yet, since burst is so powerful at the moment.  Since Scorpids no longer stack their poision, they are no longer popular for drain team setups.

My problem with a Scorpid in PvP is that it is a bit too fragile without Heart of the Phoenix and Lick Your Wounds.  I believe a Tenacity pet will only get better once pets are not so easily killed, but as of right now, if you find your Tenacity pet dieing too quickly I would just switch over to Ferocity at the moment.
 

Hunter / Rogue 1663 2v2 Rating

I had my sights set on 1660 this week so I could pick up the deadly bracers, deadly belt and hateful leggings.

Of course I was using 50/21 to my advantage, as I'm tired of playing with a broken class in arenas.  I figured I might have to partner with a healer, preferably paladin, to get there.  To my surprise I was able to make a good push with my Rogue friend.

We would win 2 and lose 1 pretty consistently all the way up to 1663.  The rating wasn't all that difficult to attain as Hunter / Rogue.  Some teams (any team with a Retribution Paladin or a Death Knight) we would lose to almost every time and other teams we could pretty much destroy every time.  Double dps remains my favorite way to play 2v2, love quick games. 

In the future with the nerf to BM Hunters I plan to try my hand with Survival in both PvE and PvP.  I've tried it currently and it lacks the punch that 3.0.8 provides.  I am very excited to try it again when the patch comes out.

Sidenote: I tried my hand at Marksmanship with my gear and was pleasantly surprised with the amount of burst available to me (BGs).  Having 3 instant shots is very nice in PvP (4 if you count Silencing).  It is definitely the glass cannon spec for Hunters in PvP.