Classic Hunter DPS Spec, Builds, and Talents (2024)

Last updated on Jun 12, 2019 at 19:29by Impakt53 comments

Hunters have unique utility that makes them a vital part of any raid group.Initially, in raids like Molten Core and Onyxia when gear levels are low,Hunters deal very competitive damage. However, in later phases, Hunters quicklyget out-scaled by classes like Warriors, Rogues, Mages, and Warlocks. In anoptimized raid group, you should expect anywhere from 1-3 Hunters in laterraids, but potentially more in MC and Onyxia. Every raid group will require atleast 1 Hunter for Tranquilizing Shot and for the ability to pullenemies from far away using your pet.

For Hunters, Marksmanship is the best PvE spec. Beast Mastery andSurvival will not be as good, with a minor exception for Beast Mastery at veryearly gear levels (explained below). If you want to play one spec for all PvEcontent, go for Marksmanship.

If you were looking for leveling builds, please refer to our leveling guide for Hunters.

This is the standard talent build that you should take for raiding. Trueshot Aura is a powerful buff for Warriors and Rogues, makingHunters a great choice to place in a melee group. This build is designed aroundpicking up Trueshot Aura while also maximizing the damage you will deal.

If you are planning to raid Molten Core, consider swapping 3 points out of Ferocity into Monster Slaying in the Survival tree. If you areable to benefit from the damage bonus that either Monster Slaying or Humanoid Slayingprovide, then it is worth taking one of those over the extra points in Ferocity,making it important to think about what type of enemies you will be fighting inwhatever raid or dungeon you plan to do.

You can choose to put all 5 points into Endurance Training insteadof 2 points into Improved Revive Pet. This is personal preference anddepends on how often you think your pet will die during raids. It is recommendedto take the points in Improved Revive Pet if you are uncertain.

You can also choose to pick up Scatter Shot instead of a thirdpoint into Improved Hunter's Mark if you anticipate having to PvP at alloutside of the raids and do not want to change specs. It is also worth notingthat only 1 Hunter in the raid needs to use Hunter's Mark for allhunters to benefit from it. This means that if you have more than 1 Hunter in araid, one of you should take all 5 points in Improved Hunter's Mark instead ofeither Ferocity or Hawk Eye, so that all the Hunters willbenefit from the extra Attack Power.

This is the same idea as the standard raid spec above, but instead ofbuilding into BM as a secondary spec, you build into Survival to take Surefooted. This is only worthwhile to do if you you are at 6% hitor less without the talent, and can make use of the extra 3% hit to reach thecap or at least get closer to the cap. This is a much more popular spec veryearly on, but quickly becomes worse once you start getting dungeon and raidgear at Level 60.

If you want to raid as Beast Mastery, this is the spec to use. Before you startgetting raid gear, this will actually out-damage the standard raid spec. However,that does not take into account the extra AP you give to 4 party members, and willbe worse overall than the standard raid spec. You should only use this spec ifyou are in dungeon gear and the members in your group do not benefitfrom Trueshot Aura.

This is also a great spec for solo play. Playing as a Beast Mastery hunter,you can farm some dungeons solo, the most notable being Maraudon. Farming soloas a Hunter is a great way to make gold early on, without relying on the auctionhouse or professions.

Survival is the worst of the Hunter specializations. You should not playthis spec if you want to be optimal. Not only will your individual damage beworse than Marksmanship Hunters, but you do not bring Trueshot Aura,making you significantly less valuable to the raid. This spec technicallybecomes better for personal damage when you reach very high levels of Agility,due to Lightning Reflexes, but you will not reach that amount ofa*gility until you are in full Naxxramas gear with full buffs and consumables.Even then, only your personal DPS will be slightly higher, and your overallcontribution to the raid will still be lower, since you do not bring TrueshotAura.

You can find PvP talent builds for Hunters in our Hunter PvP section.