Hunter Basics: Explosive Shot

Explosive Shot

Explosive Shot is the signature ability of the survival tree. However, I often find that many hunters are unaware of how and when to properly use it, especially in the event of a Lock and Load proc.

Until Kill Shot becomes available (once the kill target is at or below 20% health), Explosive Shot is the number one priority shot. In other words, its cast should not be delayed for anything. Many players have the wrong impression, thinking that Black Arrow and/or Serpent Sting should be applied first in order to further buff the shot. This is incorrect. Delaying Explosive Shot for any shot besides Kill Shot results in a DPS loss.

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My Survival Guide to Surviving in PvP as a Survival Hunter: Part Two

Welcome to part two of my Survival Hunter PvP guide. The purpose of this two part post is to offer up some basic tips and suggestions for those new to Survival Huntering, a quick-start-guide if you will. After a lengthy career as primarily a BM PvP Hunter, I’ve made the transition to Survival pretty easily, and I’m here to help you do so as well.

In part one I covered my talent build, pet choice & pet spec, glyphs, enchants and gear itemization. The purpose of that post was to offer a brief overview of the spec and to help better optimize your toon for success in BGs or arena.

In part two, my goal is to provide you with a few tips and pointers on getting the most out of your new build and play style. This post will not be an all encompassing guide on “How to Own as a Survival Hunter”, but more of a primer to get you up and running. In this part of the guide, I’ll give you an overview of the basic PvP shot selection, Survival Hunter mechanics, as well as show you some useful addons and macros.

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SV Talents Overview: Tier 4

T.N.T. 3 Point Talent Increases the damage done by your Explosive Shot, Explosive Trap, Black Arrow and Immolation Trap by 2/4/6%. Overview This talent increases the damage done by the Hunter’s three fire based skills: Explosive Trap, Immolation Trap and Explosive Shot; as well as the DoT effect on Black Arrow. Why take it? This talent is very important for …

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