Survival Hunters have gone through a ton of changes over the years and have a pretty different play style from Beast Mastery andMarksmanship Hunters. TheWorld of WarcraftDPS spec is pretty unique and players who want to climb the charts in Mythic dungeons and Raids with this spec are going to need to take some time to research all the best talents, rotations, and stat priorities.
WoW Dragonflight’smetagame does leave some room for Survival Hunters to hold value in endgame team formation, but players will need to optimize their build in order to really perform. One of the most important steps in preparing forendgame PvE and PvP contentis going to be fully understanding the Survival Hunter stat priorities and how each one impacts potential DPS and self-healing.
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An interesting note about Survival Hunter stat priorities is that the bottom two stats will flip in importance based on whether the Hunter is concentrating on single-target damage or AoE damage. For single-target, Mastery is going to lead to higher DPS, but once a Hunter switches over to AoE rotations, then Versatility will leapfrog ahead in importance. Players will likely want to have abuild saved for each situation and swap out as appropriate.
Survival Hunter Stats Explained
Agility
Just like for any Hunter, Agility is the primary stat for the spec and increases attack power and damage done with abilities.
Weapon DPS
Survival Hunters will also benefit from stacking Weapon DPS. Higher Weapon DPS increases damage done with weapons and abilities that rely onweapon damage, which are essential for maximizing damage as a Hunter of any spec.
Haste
Survival Hunters will need to pile up the Haste stat in order to increase Focus regeneration, attack speed, and reduce the Global Cooldown significantly.
Critical Strike
Survival Hunters should stack Critical Strike to increase their chance to strike critically with spells and abilities. Crits are crucial to increasing damage, so this is an essential stat for Hunters who want to reach the top of those DPS charts.
Mastery
The Mastery stat connects directly to Mastery: Spirit Bond for Survival Hunters. This helps increase damage from the Hunter and their pet’s Focus-spending abilities. As an added bonus, this ability will also help the Hunter and their pet heal a bit of health every 5 seconds.
Versatility
This stat boosts all damage and healing done and decreases all incoming damage.
Ideal Stat Caps
Players at the highest level of the game may end up having the luxury of maxing out the benefits from some of these stats. At that point, the stats reach a point of diminishing returns and players should reprioritize their stat order. This is something that only endgame, top-tier players usually need to worry about. If players do find themselves in that situation, they should follow these guidelines for determining when to stop stacking a particular stat and prioritize differently.
Haste - Cap at 30%
Critical Strike - Cap at 40%
Versatility - Cap at 30%
Mastery Rating - Cap at 1050
Survival Hunters should be able to follow the advice in this guide to figure out their stat priorities and begin dominating theWoW Dragonflightendgame content. Be sure to check back for moreWoW Dragonflightnews, updates, and strategy guides in the near future. Until then, For the Horde!
World of Warcraftis available now on PC.Dragonflightlaunches on November 28.
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