Specs and roles
| Spec | Role | PvE tier | Key point |
|---|---|---|---|
| Beast Mastery | Damage | A* | Pet and hawks; the pet scales with your stats |
| Marksmanship | Damage | A* | Trueshot Aura for the group, area damage |
| Survival | Damage | A | Melee from level 30 |
Tiers come from the beta tier list. The talent tables show only what Icy Veins and Wowhead agree on; each spec says where they differ.
A* for Beast Mastery and Marksmanship: Noobtoboss puts them in S, RankedBoost in A.
Beast Mastery: damage
Beast Mastery runs on the pet: in Forever it inherits part of your stats and grows with you. Summon Hawk unlocks at level 25 (20 with Legacy points): a hawk attacks your targets for 18 seconds, and two can be active at once. It shares a cooldown with Arcane Shot.
| Talent | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Deadly Aspects | 5 | With Aspect of the Hawk, Auto Shot can grant +30% ranged attack speed for 12 seconds |
| Unleashed Fury | 5 | Pet and hawk damage |
| Ferocity | 3 | Pet and hawk crit |
| Summon Hawk | 1 | A hawk helper, the key new button |
| Intimidation | 1 | The pet stuns the target for 3 seconds |
| Bestial Swiftness | 1 | +30% pet movement speed |
| Improved Revive Pet | 2 | A faster, cheaper Revive Pet you can use in combat |
Both Icy Veins and Wowhead take these talents. Three points differ: Icy Veins adds a second point in Pathfinding (a faster Aspect of the Cheetah) and Endurance Training, Wowhead one point in Pathfinding and Focused Fire: more damage while your pet is out. With the five points of the Legacy Talented perk, both add the same: Ferocity to 5, Bestial Discipline 2 and Frenzy 1.
- 1Before the pull
Hunter’s Mark; the pet attacks first.
- 2Serpent Sting
Once the pet has the target.
- 3Summon Hawk
On cooldown; keep two hawks out.
- 4Aimed Shot
On cooldown; Multi-Shot instead against a group.
- 5Arcane Shot
Only at full mana, when both hawks will last another 6 seconds.
- 6An enemy turns to you
Disengage.
TipStats according to Icy Veins: weapon damage first — a slow weapon is better, since Aimed Shot is based on weapon damage. Then hit, Agility and crit: the pet inherits your crit chance. Bestial Wrath needs 31 points in the tree, so it is out of reach before launch.
Marksmanship: damage
At level 30 Marksmanship is a dungeon spec: Trueshot Aura gives ranged attack power to the whole group. Icy Veins says plainly that the Beast Mastery build is better for leveling; Wowhead says leveling as Marksmanship is fine too.
| Talent | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lethal Attacks | 5 | Crit chance with all attacks |
| Careful Aim | 5 | Attack power from Intellect |
| Trueshot Aura | 1 | Ranged attack power for the whole group |
| Mortal Shots | 4 | Ranged crit damage |
Icy Veins and Wowhead agree; Icy Veins takes Mortal Shots to 5. Beyond that they differ. Icy Veins takes Lone Wolf (+20% damage without a pet) for Multi-Shot in dungeons, Rapid Killing and Efficiency. With 21 points Wowhead skips Lone Wolf — in its view the pet hits harder — and puts 5 points into Improved Arcane Shot and one into Scatter Shot.
- 1Before the pull
Hunter’s Mark; the pet attacks first.
- 2Serpent Sting
Once the pet has the target.
- 3Aimed Shot
On cooldown; Multi-Shot instead against a group.
- 4Arcane Shot
On cooldown if you have the mana.
- 5Auto Shot
The rest of the time: most of a Hunter’s damage comes from basic attacks (Icy Veins).
TipStats according to Icy Veins are the same as for Beast Mastery: weapon damage, hit, Agility, crit; Mortal Shots scales with crit. With Legacy points, Icy Veins suggests 5 points in Deadly Aspects, and Rapid Recuperation later on for mana problems.
Survival: damage
In Forever, Survival is a melee Hunter. Until level 30 it lacks tools: Icy Veins advises against this tree for fast leveling, and Wowhead suggests a hybrid playstyle until you have Strider Kick. Strider Kick hits for 100% weapon damage and gives +30% movement speed for 3 seconds, so you can step out and shoot while your strikes are on cooldown (Wowhead).
| Talent | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Improved Tracking | 5 | Damage to the tracked creature type |
| Savage Strikes | 2 | Melee ability crit |
| Surefooted | 3 | Hit, shorter slows |
| Predator’s Edge | 4 | Melee crit damage and off-hand damage |
| Strider Kick | 1 | A strike and +30% movement speed for 3 seconds |
Icy Veins and Wowhead agree; Icy Veins takes Predator’s Edge to 5. They differ: Icy Veins takes traps — Entrapment 3 and Clever Traps 2, Wowhead takes Deflection 4, Deterrence and Counterattack. Both spend the Legacy points on Resourcefulness 2, which saves mana, and Expose Prey 2: attacks on a target with Hunter’s Mark sometimes enable Mongoose Bite.
- 1Before the pull
Hunter’s Mark, the pet attacks first, then Serpent Sting.
- 2Raptor Strike
On cooldown in melee.
- 3Mongoose Bite
As soon as it is available.
- 4Strider Kick
On cooldown.
- 5An enemy leaves the pet
Disengage.
TipStats according to Icy Veins: weapon damage, hit, Agility, crit, then Strength — it gives melee attack power, but less than Agility. Strider Kick, Predator’s Edge and Expose Prey are new Forever talents.
Questions
Which Hunter spec is best in WoW Forever?
For leveling, both sources recommend Beast Mastery. For dungeons, the beta tier list has Beast Mastery and Marksmanship at A* and Survival at A.
Should I take Lone Wolf?
Only for area damage in dungeons: +20% damage without a pet. Icy Veins puts it in its Marksmanship build; with 21 points Wowhead does not, since the pet hits harder.
Which pet should I tame?
Icy Veins recommends a bear: its Swipe hits several targets and keeps them on the pet. On the beta Wowhead named a fast cat as the best pet, but because of bugs that may be fixed.
When will the full level 60 build be out?
After the Nov 4 launch: the beta only went up to level 30, and raids open on Dec 9. Then we will add the layout for all 51 points.
