As BRK would have put it, I managed to level a Death Knigget to 80.

...and you know what, they're pretty f**king fun to play. Of course, what imbalanced "hero class" wouldn't be fun to play.

I'm still learning the DK resource system, but already I can confirm they require a lot less keybinds than Hunters.

Some of you are like... yea, neat Gar... bring on the UI post. Reason this is important is... leveling the DK was the impetus I needed to finish the UI.

Related posts:

1. Lots Happening
2. Death Knights

If you guys aren't into it, that's cool too. Just let me know...

*winks slyly*

Related posts:

1. New Hunter Forum and User Registration
2. Lots Happening
3. The Garwulf UI

The latest Hunterlings who'd sought my tutelage have all reported moderate to massive gains in their DPS. The BM Hunter I mentored increased their DPS by about 80% and is no longer getting kicked from heroics and raids. *warm fuzzies*

One of our latest recruits who consulted me for advice on his Survival build and rotation, has actually surpassed me on some fights. He's got me trumped a bit as far as gear is concerned, but nothing pleases me more than to see another Hunter apply what he's learned from me and enjoy success with it.

I knocked out my first guide yesterday, which is entitled, "The Raiding Hunter: Beast Mastery". I decided to just get to them in order of left to right in the ol' talent pane. Marksmanship is next on my list, then Survival of course.

I found out something interesting when putting this guide together. I'm sure a lot of it has to do with some of my remaining Naxx relics, namely the Valorous 2 pc bonus, but I found that the best possible DPS BM build for me was only 6% below my current SV build. Either way, 6% is still 6%, which is why I choose to raid as Survival. However, I think for a lot of players that 6% gap can easily be overcome by playing a less convoluted spec that they feel more comfortable with.

I feel as if the best possible spec depends a lot upon the player. If you don't feel like trying to wrap your head around how the other two specs work and you like your big red pet, then represent!

Click here to find out how to build a better Beast Master.

Related posts:

1. Dear Hunter Community,

I have loads of ideas for posts, but I just haven't had as much time lately to blog. The few extra hours per week that I normally would spend blogging are now being spent in-game. Our guild's been trying hard to progress through the Trial of the Crusader, and since I'm among the top DPS in the guild, I've felt compelled to lend a hand.

Good news is, we not only managed to down Anub'arak this past Sunday in TotC 25 man, but we also came out of the gates very strong this week by one shotting the first four bosses in there. It was getting late and we started losing some members of the raid by the time we reached Anub on Tuesday, but he'll most definitely be going down tonight.

I'm used to raiding maybe 3-4 times per month is all, so with my recent raid attendance of 2-3 times per week, it would explain why I've been a little less attentive with the site.

At any rate, I aim to roll out some fresh Huntery Goodness within the next few days. I've got two big posts I plan to get to hopefully within the next week, including one about my UI. I know I've been promising this for awhile, but lord willin', this time I intend to do it.

More on the way...

Related posts:

1. We Can Rebuild It. We Have The Technology.
2. Arena = Frustration
3. Good Intentions

"Arcturis" is a neutral level 74 Elite Spirit Beast that can be found on the Patch 3.3 PTR in Grizzly Hills.

So far the only known spawn location is just north of Amberpine Lodge.

Head over to Mania's site to view the original post from the Hunter who first discovered this new Spirit Beast on the PTR.

Related posts:

1. New Spirit Beast in Patch 3.3?
2. Introducing… Gondria, The New Spirit Beast
3. Halfway there, and on to Grizzly Hills

Hunters are one of 4 pure DPS classes in the game. The rogue, mage, and warlock are the other three. What makes us different? What makes us unique and fun to play? For starters, we are the only ranged physical damage class of the 4. Secondly, we have the best threat redirection and reduction abilities. With Misdirection, Distracting Shot, and Feign Death we can control mobs like no other class. The ability to completely drop threat every 30 seconds for minimal mana means we can always pour on our heaviest damage and never gain threat over a tank. Even today, I still have the “WTF?” moment when the boss decides to turn on me, only to realize that the tank actually died and thankfully I didn’t get us wiped. Even if I had pulled threat, it means I forgot to Feign Death and if I am quick I can still mitigate my mistake. Show me another class that can do that consistently.

Our primary role in early, pre-TBC WoW, was pulling mobs to the tank. This was done mostly with trash mobs so the group wouldn’t aggro more than it could handle at any one time. Pulling more than one group in UBRS at level 60 would mean a wipe almost every time. Things are considerably different now, since doing pulls are far from required. They can be helpful from time to time, but mostly tanks just charge in from group to group. This is also aided by the dungeon design that Blizzard has changed to, with less trash mobs in general. Chain pulling Molten Core for a less than 3 hour completion was hella-fun.

One boss pull that was always fun for me:

General Drakkisath in Upper Blackrock Spire

The group starts on the opposite side of the room facing the General. The fight opens with the tank and off-tank charging the two adds, and the hunter grabbing aggro on the General. Immediately the hunter starts running back out the entrance towards the room where The Beast slumbered. General Drakkisath moved very slow and did no ranged damage past 30 yds, so it was easy to keep him kited as long as you kept popping arcane shots and left serpent sting up to keep threat. The trick to it was staying over 30 yards away, but within shooting range. He casts conflagration, which essentially meant you got killed if he got it on you. Once the group gave you the ok that the two adds were down, you feign death and run back in to finish him off. It was always a blast, and every once in a while I did get conflagrated.  This was also possible with another ranged class, but since we have Distracting Shot it made it a lot easier for us. Plus, at the time when 60 was the max level, no other class had a FD-like ability.

One role that we have, while limited, is crowd control. Primarily we are only asked to do this in 5 man pug groups and occasionally in 10-mans (but very limited). With our ability to freeze something for 20 seconds untalented which works on any mob type, we have one of the best CC abilities in the game. The only problem is they have to walk onto our trap, while the other classes can do it from a distance. This was changed slightly with a ranged version, but too little too late to be honest. Still though, in lower level dungeons, having every bit of CC you can is key to a successful run.

Another role we play is the “enrage dispeller”, for lack of a better term. Tranquilizing Shot was added solely for the purpose of one boss in Molten Core. Whether it was an excuse to bring Hunters, or just a perk thrown in, it made for a fun time on an already chaotic boss fight. For those that don’t know what I’m referring to, you should go into MC and fight against Magmadar. Sadly, with the changes they have made to Tranquilizing Shot, it actually no longer works on the fight, but it still brings back great memories.

There are also miscellaneous tasks here and there that you might be asked to do. One in particular, I was called upon to do last night. In the Trial of the Crusader, the final boss is Anub’arak; a giant undead beetle who summons other undead spawn and large beetles. During one of the phases in the fight he burrows and sends spikes in the ground to chase people. When they hit, they hurt everyone in the area for a good amount of damage. The one thing that halts his spikes is something on the ground called Permafrost. Permafrost is created from floating orbs. The orbs, when killed, drop to the ground and create the patch of Permafrost. My job in the fight was to kill the orbs to make the Permafrost appear. A second perk to having these on the ground is that the undead that are summoned can’t burrow while on them, which causes them to return to full health. If it weren’t for me and my orb killing, we wouldn’t have been able to take Anub down (that’s me kneeling in the front on the left, btw).

It was something more than just standing and shooting for me, which is always a plus. Secondly, it was our first kill of this boss and it made it all that more important.

This should provide you up and coming hunters with what to expect when you hit the end-game scene, or if you just like to tinker with dungeons once in a while. For those veterans out there, I hope I brought back some good memories of fights long past.

- Drackmire

Related posts:

1. The Fall of Naxxramas… and Garwulf
2. Naxxramas
3. Black Ice

Could this "Spectral Bear" model perhaps be the new Spirit Beast in Patch 3.3? I'd say there's definitely a pretty good chance that this might in fact be the possible new Spirit Beast that could be introduced in Patch 3.3. How's that for a wishy-washy prediction..?

This was no doubt data-mined from the Patch 3.3 game files, so not much is really known at this time. I must say though, this new bear model looks very Spirit Beasty in nature. Both major content patches that have been added since Wrath of the Lich King have featured Spirit Beasts. Being that 3.3 is the third major content patch since WotLK's release, it is quite probable that another one will be added.

These are a few reasons why I think this is the next Spirit Beast...

With the introduction of Skoll in Patch 3.2, Blizzard did away with the notion that all Spirit Beasts must be cats. Bears are popular models and a likely candidate for a new Spirit Beast skin after cats and wolves.

The bear model has no saddle, indicating that it's most likely not a mount.

It seems unlikely that it would be a non-combat pet, because it's a full grown mature bear. A Non-combat pet would most likely be a spectral bear cub.

The bear model is sort of a bear and Druid Bear Form hybrid, unlike any current bear model that I've seen in the game.

It just looks like a f**king Spirit Beast. 'Nuff said.

So if it is in fact the new Spirit Beast, in which zone do you think it will spawn? If I had to guess, I'd say Grizzly Hills of course, but who knows... it could be anywhere. Dragonblight and Howling Fjord also have bears, as do Zul'Drak and Storm Peaks. I doubt that Zul'Drak or Storm Peaks would feature another Spirit Beast though.

I suspect we'll know one way or another in the next few days whether or not this is a new Spirit Beast. In the meantime, if any of you on the PTR are able to confirm these suspicions, please forward me a screenshot and I'll gladly post it.

Related posts:

1. New Spirit Beast Bear in Grizzly Hills
2. Introducing… Gondria, The New Spirit Beast
3. Devilsaur Vs. Spirit Beast

Last week I surprised some of you by announcing that I'd respecced to Beast Mastery for PvP. In fact, this move surprised even myself. After all, it had been just three short weeks earlier that I had completely discredited Beast Mastery as a PvP spec. I was so frustrated over what Patch 3.2.2 did to my beloved spec, that I abandoned both of my exotic PvP pets, went and tamed a crab, then immediately switched to Survival.

As I'd mentioned in last week's post, my 3v3 team comprised of an Unholy Death Knight, Prot Pally and myself, started hitting a proverbial wall in our second week of play. Although we started our team with "fun" being the main concept, I'm not the type of guy who enjoys losing all that much. I don't care how much you like your teammates... if you're getting your ass kicked match after match, it starts to get old real quick.

It pretty much got to the point where I'd about had it, but instead of giving up, I decided to give Beast Mastery a shot. I was becoming increasingly frustrated with my healer's inability to keep me up, so I thought that maybe with me as Beast Mastery, I wouldn't have to worry about things as much. When I say "things", I mean BoP, HoF, dispels, and of course... heals. Our healer is a solid player, but he's definitely a PvE guy with very little experience in arena.

So if we couldn't cut it with me playing either of the two top Hunter PvP specs, what made me think that the recently nerfed Beast Mastery tree would be the answer..? Well... I thought that Beast Mastery would provide me with some additional mobility and survivability. I figured that if I could stay up long enough to keep Aimed Shot up on our focus fire target and just generally be a pest, we could probably win some games. Between the 10 seconds of Master's Call, 3 second pet stun, increased movement speed, plus the 10 seconds of CC immunity, I felt Beast Mastery would provide me with enough "defensive" abilities to stay up long enough to eek out some wins.

Was I right? Sort of. I was right about Beast Mastery providing me with more survivability and mobility. The part I underestimated was my damage output. Once I respecced to Beast Mastery I started out-damaging our Death Knight in nearly every single match.

Now don't think that me speccing Beast Mastery set our team on a tear to 2250. We still suck, it's just that now we don't suck quite as bad. More importantly, we started having fun in arena again.

In addition to my 3v3 team, I also have a casual 2v2 with a Ret Pally friend in my guild. We queued for the first time last week and stunk it up bad, winning only 35% of our matches. Since my respec, we went to a 63% win percentage and boosted our rating by 760 points. Now that's what I call a noticeable improvement.

In addition to arena, I've also rediscovered the joys of being a Beast Mastery Hunter in BGs. Oddly enough, I feel just as powerful as I did before the nerf.

At this point you're probably dying to know the trade secrets I've uncovered which have allowed me to enjoy success as a Beast Master once again. Apart from a couple of minor tweaks to my spec and play style, the only other thing that's changed is gear. When I say "gear", I'm mainly talking about Talonstrike. If I didn't have such a high DPS weapon, I really don't think the spec would be working out so hot.

Without at least a 187 DPS weapon, I don't think Beast Mastery has what it takes to apply enough pressure. That was made evident to me when I first tried a few BGs after the patch. At that time, I was still sporting a 141 DPS crossbow and having extreme difficulty finishing off moderately geared players.

Now that I have a 212 DPS weapon with nearly 700 top-end damage, I'm nuking players. With the high damage weapon, I feel the 10% passive damage increase for the Hunter starts to become more of a factor. As a Beast Master, I'm delivering Kill Shots that are critting in the 10-12K range.

I've also adapted to the shorter duration of big red and have adopted a somewhat more calculated play style. I'm less apt to use The Beast Within for defensive purposes now, and instead I try to pop it strictly for offensive pressure. Unless we get a good strategic advantage right off the bat in arena, I'll usually wait as long as I need to before popping TBW, and instead utilize many or all of my defensive cooldowns in order to stay alive.

Before, I would be a lot more apt to use TBW to escape CC, knowing that I had a full 18 seconds of enrage. With only 10 a second duration, I find it's too valuable to waste as a defensive cooldown. This is ironic considering Ghostcrawler referred to it as such. Sure it breaks all CC just like a PvP trinket, but if you have to use it like a trinket while your kill target is bubbled, ice blocked or LoSing you, then it's going to be an uphill struggle.

One thing that is nice about the new dynamic of TBW is that we actually do more damage for that 10 seconds of the enrage, due to Hunter's 20% damage increase as opposed to the 10% that it was before. I get some nice kill burst going when I'm able to get a target out in the open, then pop Bestial Wrath, Rapid Fire and Intimidation. This works especially well with a Chimaera, because my target will still be slowed by 50% even after the stun wears off. If I get at least a 5-6 second window of pure burst, it usually means good night for my target.

All in all, I'm back to Beast Mastery and loving it. So far it's worked out well for me both in arena and BGs. Although I credited my ranged weapon with most of the success I've had, the other factor has to be my comfort with the spec.

In my case, you can spec the Hunter out of Beast Mastery, but you can't spec the Beast Mastery out of the Hunter. I love the spec - always have and probably always will. Furthermore, my story is a testament to playing the spec you enjoy, not the one that is supposedly the best. Unless your goal is to achieve a Gladiator title, play the spec you're most comfortable with and you'll probably not only be more effective, but also have more fun while doing it.

If you're surrounded by pro players and are an ace yourself, then by all means go with the spec that offers the best advantage. For more casual players such as myself and those around me, I find it's better to play to your strengths. If you feel more confident and able playing one spec over another, then go with it. I'm a firm believer in testing things for yourself before you make a judgment call. I've retested Beast Mastery and have concluded that it's what I do best, and what works best for those around me.

I plan on posting my talent spec, pet choice and spec, along with a couple other miscellaneous tidbits of info later on today.

By the way... I'm really looking forward to Patch 3.3 now in case you hadn't already guessed.

Related posts:

1. Beast Mastery Changes: Acceptance and Ponderings
2. Taking One for the Team
3. Patch 3.3 aka the “Pet Buff Patch”

Ironic huh... Only a few short weeks have passed since I swore off Beast Mastery, yet here I am returning to my beloved PvP spec.

This time's it's business though. A few guildies and I started a 3s team mainly for fun, but after getting our asses handed to us the other night, it wasn't so much "fun" for me anymore. My healer is new to arena, and is still working on his game and his gear. Meanwhile, he's been having a terrible time trying to keep me up, as I'm the opposing team's focus-fire target about 99.9% of the time.

I tried Marksmanship out for about a dozen matches and had similar results to that of Survival. My survivability was about the same, burst and Readiness were awesome, but it didn't really seem to be the answer for us. If I were an elite Hunter I suppose I would be able to lead us to 2200 and beyond, but "elite" I am not. I'm pretty good, but unless I have fairly strong teammates, I'm not going to be able to do anything spectacular.

Our team composition isn't bad (Unholy DK, Prot Pally and Hunter), so I feel like we can end up being somewhat competitive with a little more practice. I'm hoping that Beast Mastery will allow us to overcome the slump we're in, then maybe once our Pally's up to speed a bit more I can respec back to SV or MM and make a run for our S7 weapons. Meanwhile, I'll have a level 80 Chimaera chilling in the stable waiting to unleash his fury in 3.3.

Anyway... combined with our need to shake things up, the increased survivability Beast Mastery will offer me, and the exciting pet buffs headed our way in 3.3, suddenly Beast Mastery is looking like a decent option right now. I'll let you know how it works out.

One thing worth mentioning... I had a tense 1v1 with a Ret last night in Wintergrasp. We were alone outside the fortress and I'd say the "duel" lasted nearly two minutes. He killed me with about 1% left, then he died about 2 seconds later to my poison DoTs.

The cool thing was... my pet was level 75, I was still glyphed for Survival, and he had 3 stacks of Tenacity. Maybe BM isn't dead... I'll let you know.

Related posts:

1. Patch 3.3 aka the “Pet Buff Patch”
2. The Week in Review: Another Trip to the Hunter Trainer
3. The Verdict

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.

Offensive Attacks & Shot Priority for PvP

There is obviously no specific rotation for PvP, as encounters are ever changing and unpredictable, not to mention we're almost never afforded the luxury to sit back and settle into a raid rotation. There are however a few basic things to note when it comes to knowing which shots to use and when.

Just as in PvE, Kill Shot is always going to be your highest priority shot in PvP. As soon as it's available, use it. Now let's move on.

Aimed Shot - This should be utilized at the beginning of every encounter. Maintaining uptime of the 50% healing debuff is extremely important when trying to take your target down, especially in arena. Use this shot each and every time the cooldown is up.

Properly glyphed, a Hunter will have this shot available every 8 seconds. You may wonder why we need to glyph it considering the effect and cooldown are both 10 seconds. The reason is, not only can Aimed Shot be dispelled, there are times where you may be CC'ed or LoS'ed and are unable to refresh it right away. The 2 second shorter CD helps to deal with those variables and allow for more uptime on the healing debuff.

Explosive Shot - Following the application of Aimed Shot, I'll usually deliver some explosives. Explosive Shot is Survival's highest damage shot, plus it has an incredibly high crit rate when properly talented and glyphed. If you get lucky with RNG, these two opening shots can take your target down to nearly 50% within seconds.

Depending upon what buffs my target has up, I'll often switch to Tranquilizing Shot at this point to start knocking off buffs. If I have a Ret chasing after me with HoF up and/or Avenging Wrath, I'll typically hit them with this even before Explosive Shot. Depending upon your target and what buffs are on them, Tranq Shot may need to be used right away.

Unfortunately, it doesn't always remove the buff you want it to, and sometimes it can be resisted. However, don't hesitate to use it at the start in an attempt to dispel an enemy's offensive or defensive buffs.

After the MS has been applied and I've hit them with Explosive and/or Tranq Shot, then I apply Black Arrow. Black Arrow not only adds a nice DoT and damage debuff to your target, but it also starts the proc timer running on Lock and Load.

I'd suggest applying Serpent Sting if no other cooldowns are up, or if your target is a Rogue. Since PvP is all about burst, Serpent Sting isn't terribly important, especially since it can be cleansed pretty easily by many classes. Unless you're a MM Hunter, Serpent Sting uptime need not be too high on the priority list.

Steady Shot is seldom used, but if you're in a BG or arena and are unmolested, feel free to blow Rapid Fire and break off a few steadies if your other higher priority shots are on cooldown.

One shot I purposely left out is Arcane Shot. Arcane Shot is not used by Survival hunters at all because it shares a cooldown with Explosive Shot. This is a given for any experienced Hunters, but this guide isn't necessarily intended for them.

If you're new to the class or the Survival spec, just pull Arcane Shot off of your action bar as soon as you spec SV, then stick Explosive Shot in its place. Now you're good to go.

Lock and Load Procs

Lock and Load is an important part of Survival's burst capability, so understanding how to effectively use it is critical. Lock and Load procs are pretty easy to obtain in PvP due to the frequent usage of traps. The beauty of Lock and Load is that your focus fire target need not be the snared target in order to trigger the proc. Firing a Freezing Arrow on top of a healer mid-cast is an excellent way to provide you with more burst damage while nuking down a DPS target, plus it'll prevent that healer from topping off your target.

Alright, so when Lock and Load procs, how do you handle it? Just as in PvE, the trick to handling Lock and Load procs is to allow enough time in between Explosive Shots so that you get the full damage from the intial blast, plus the two subsequent ticks. If you fire off your second and third explosives immediately, you will actually do less damage to your target than if you had fired off an alternative shot in between cooldowns, or just simply waited. What's more important, is that each tick of Explosive Shot can crit, so it's crucial that you allow the shot to run its full course before firing off another Explosive Shot.

Since as Hunters we're constantly on the move in PvP, the best bet is to hit your target with Aimed Shot, Black Arrow, Serpent Sting, Conc Shot, or any other insta-cast shot in between procs. If no shot is available, then just simply delay the next Explosive until the previous one has fully ticked.

Crowd Control Abilities

Scatter Shot is not only a great spell interrupt and distance creator, but most important is its use as a setup for trapping. Since traps possess an arming time of 2 seconds, it is often necessary to set your target up beforehand. Experienced PvPers can pretty easily avoid a trap unless they're cc'ed in some way. If you're lucky, your target may trinket the Scatter Shot only to find themselves in deep freeze immediately there after.

Wyvern Sting is nice for a long ranged sleep, or to pre-emptively interrupt a heal or offensive spellcast. Since Wyvern Sting has a posion DoT immediately following its sleep effect, one trick is to follow it with a Scorpid Sting in order to re-trap the target in a Freezing Trap or Freezing Arrow. The Scorpid Sting debuff will overwrite the nature DoT, thus allowing for a freeze trap.

With Scatter Shot available every 30 seconds, Wyvern Sting every minute, traps as quickly as every 22 seconds (w/ 4 pc PvP set bonus), along with pet stuns or snares, Survival has a lot of CC at its disposal. The trick is to use the cooldowns wisely. This is more easily said than done, but one thing I try to do is utilize an ice trap of some sort every single time the cooldown is up.

Because BGs are often chaotic and sometimes lacking in coordinated team efforts, I often use frost traps to try and keep melee targets under control, as well as enabling my melee teammates to lock down casters. I use Freezing Traps mainly for self-defense purposes if I see a melee target coming after me. If I see a healer or caster DPS all alone and in mid-cast, then I'll go for a Freezing Arrow. Unless you know your Freeze trap target will be left alone, Frost Trap is almost always a better option, especially if you're specced into Entrapment.

Apart from the obvious benefit of CC'ing your target(s), another reason to heavily utilize your freezy traps is for Lock and Load procs. When used with 3/3 Resourcefulness and the 4 pc PvP set bonus, trap cooldowns exactly match the 22 second internal cooldown on Lock and Load. Isn't that convenient..?

Although Snake Trap can be pretty quickly neutralized through even the weakest AoE, they can be pretty handy at times. They are especially useful vs casters who are susceptible to interrupts, along with the chance that the snakes might apply Mind Numbing poison. Another good tactic can be to drop one and then feign death after the snakes release. This will cause a lot of problems for tab targeters. Snake Traps can also proc entrapment

Useful Addons for Survival Hunters

One addon that I find very handy for Survival spec is Power Auras. This addon is one of my absolute favorites, and one I highly recommend for all Hunters, not just Survival Hunters. When properly configured, Power Auras can be a powerful tool for both PvE and PvP.

Power Auras can literally do just about anything, but here's a quick look at what I use it for.

This looks like a bit of a mess, but the reason is I have all of my Power Auras activated for demonstration purposes. Typically only a handful will be visible at one time.

Starting from the top...

The green maple leaf with the timer above it is my Mend Pet spell. The pulsing green leaf and timer show me how many ticks are left on the heal so that I don't overwrite it.

The yellow puss-cat just below the leaf is a warning telling me that my pet is taking damage and his health is below 60%.

Just below that is my Mirror of Truth buff, complete with timer. I don't use Mirror for PvP, but if you have a PvP trinket such as Anvil of Titans for example, Power Auras can be used to notify you of the proc and time remaining.

The purplish outer ring tells me that Black Arrow is available, but not up on my target. It stays there until I cast it, then it disappears until the cooldown comes back.

The green ring is for Serpent Sting. It notifies me that my target doesn't have any of my poison on it.

The gold symbols on the inside left and right of the Serpent Sting aura notify me when Lock and Load procs. That aura comes on and pulses until I've cast my first Explosive Shot.

Those six little red candy corn looking thingies flash when my health goes below 50%, letting me know I'm in a bit of trouble.

The blue circular aura around my toon shows when I am in Aspect of the Viper, and the bright star-like aura dead-center tells me that I am not in Dragonhawk.

Lastly, the red jolly roger at the bottom signals that my target is below 20% and ready to die. That aura displays when Kill Shot is available.

Basically, if I'm on top of my game, I should only have a few auras visible at one time. Most of them are notifications or warnings, which go away once a certain action is taken.

As I said, Power Auras is one of the top addons worth having, especially as a Survival Hunter. If you're interested in playing around with it, you can download it here.

It can be a little tricky if you're a first-time user, so if you want to try out some of my auras and tailor them to your needs, then here ya go...

After copying the Power Auras strings below, just simply open the Power Auras interface by typing /powa into chat, then import the codes and start tinkering. Here's a quick visual reference...

Kill Shot

gcd:bofalse; soundfile:stLEVELUP; owntex:bofalse; b:nu0; anim1:nu1; duration:nu0; g:nu0.007843137254902; thresholdinvert:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; opt2:nu0; speed:nu1; finish:nu1; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Hunter_Assassinate2; size:nu0.19999998807907; torsion:nu1; multiids:st; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; sound:nu1; optunitn:bofalse; off:bofalse; symetrie:nu0; begin:nu0; x:nu0; texmode:nu1; textaura:bofalse; timer:bofalse; target:bofalse; timerduration:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:nu1; y:nu-105; randomcolor:bofalse; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu7; r:nu1; aurastextfont:nu1; stacks:nu0; opt1:nu82; focus:bofalse; customtex:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu10; anim2:nu0; buffname:stKill Shot; isenchant:bofalse; party:bofalse; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; alpha:nu1; aurastext:st; customname:st; isdebuff:bofalse; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; mine:bofalse; isinraid:bofalse; stance:nu10

Aspect of the Viper

gcd:bofalse; soundfile:st; owntex:bofalse; b:nu1; anim1:nu1; duration:nu0; g:nu0.058823529411765; thresholdinvert:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; opt2:nu0; speed:nu1; finish:nu1; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Hunter_AspectoftheViper; size:nu0.39999997615814; torsion:nu1; multiids:st; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; sound:nu0; optunitn:bofalse; off:bofalse; symetrie:nu0; begin:nu0; x:nu0; texmode:nu1; textaura:bofalse; timer:bofalse; target:bofalse; timerduration:nu0; wowtex:botrue; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:nu0; y:nu-30; randomcolor:bofalse; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu1; r:nu0; aurastextfont:nu1; stacks:nu0; opt1:nu0; focus:bofalse; customtex:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu13; anim2:nu0; buffname:stAspect of the Viper; isenchant:bofalse; party:bofalse; threshold:nu50; exact:botrue; alpha:nu1; aurastext:st; customname:st; isdebuff:bofalse; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; mine:botrue; isinraid:bofalse; stance:nu10

Get in Dragonhawk You Fool!

gcd:bofalse; soundfile:st; owntex:bofalse; b:nu1; anim1:nu1; duration:nu0; g:nu1; thresholdinvert:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; opt2:nu0; speed:nu1; finish:nu1; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Hunter_Pet_DragonHawk; size:nu0.29999998211861; torsion:nu1; multiids:st; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; sound:nu0; optunitn:bofalse; off:bofalse; symetrie:nu0; begin:nu0; x:nu0; texmode:nu1; textaura:bofalse; timer:bofalse; target:bofalse; timerduration:nu0; wowtex:botrue; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:nu0; y:nu-30; randomcolor:bofalse; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu1; r:nu1; aurastextfont:nu1; stacks:nu0; opt1:nu0; focus:bofalse; customtex:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu44; anim2:nu0; buffname:stAspect of the Dragonhawk; isenchant:bofalse; party:bofalse; threshold:nu50; exact:botrue; alpha:nu1; aurastext:st; customname:st; isdebuff:bofalse; inverse:botrue; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; mine:botrue; isinraid:bofalse; stance:nu10

Pet Low-Health Warning

gcd:bofalse; soundfile:st; owntex:bofalse; b:nu0; anim1:nu4; duration:nu0; g:nu0.64705882352941; thresholdinvert:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; opt2:nu0; speed:nu1; finish:nu1; icon:stInterface\icons\Spell_fire_meteorstorm; size:nu0.29999998211861; torsion:nu1; multiids:st; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; sound:nu0; optunitn:botrue; off:bofalse; symetrie:nu0; begin:nu2; x:nu0; texmode:nu1; textaura:bofalse; timer:bofalse; target:bofalse; timerduration:nu0; wowtex:botrue; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:nu0; y:nu150; randomcolor:bofalse; unitn:stpet; bufftype:nu8; r:nu1; aurastextfont:nu1; stacks:nu0; opt1:nu0; focus:bofalse; customtex:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu35; anim2:nu0; buffname:st???; isenchant:bofalse; party:bofalse; threshold:nu60; exact:bofalse; alpha:nu0.75000005960464; aurastext:st; customname:st; isdebuff:bofalse; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; mine:bofalse; isinraid:bofalse; stance:nu10

Mend Pet

gcd:bofalse; soundfile:st; owntex:bofalse; b:nu0.26666666666667; anim1:nu4; duration:nu0; g:nu1; thresholdinvert:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; opt2:nu0; speed:nu1; finish:nu1; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Hunter_MendPet; size:nu0.19999998807907; torsion:nu1; multiids:st; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; sound:nu0; optunitn:botrue; off:bofalse; symetrie:nu0; begin:nu0; x:nu0; texmode:nu1; textaura:bofalse; timer:botrue; target:bofalse; timerduration:nu0; wowtex:botrue; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:nu0; y:nu210; randomcolor:bofalse; unitn:stpet; bufftype:nu1; r:nu0.29411764705882; aurastextfont:nu1; party:bofalse; opt1:nu0; focus:bofalse; isenchant:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu23; anim2:nu0; buffname:stMend Pet; customtex:bofalse; stacks:nu0; threshold:nu50; exact:bofalse; alpha:nu0.75000005960464; aurastext:st; customname:st; isdebuff:bofalse; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; mine:bofalse; isinraid:bofalse; stance:nu10

Player Low-Health Warning

gcd:bofalse; soundfile:stRaidWarning; owntex:bofalse; b:nu0.015686274509804; anim1:nu4; duration:nu0; g:nu0; thresholdinvert:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; opt2:nu0; speed:nu2; finish:nu1; icon:stInterface\icons\Spell_fire_meteorstorm; size:nu0.39999997615814; torsion:nu1; multiids:st; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; sound:nu11; optunitn:bofalse; off:bofalse; symetrie:nu0; begin:nu2; x:nu0; texmode:nu1; textaura:bofalse; timer:bofalse; target:bofalse; timerduration:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; combat:nu0; y:nu5; randomcolor:bofalse; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu8; r:nu1; aurastextfont:nu1; party:bofalse; opt1:nu0; focus:bofalse; isenchant:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu7; anim2:nu0; buffname:st???; customtex:bofalse; stacks:nu0; threshold:nu30; exact:bofalse; alpha:nu1; aurastext:st; customname:st; isdebuff:bofalse; inverse:bofalse; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; mine:bofalse; isinraid:bofalse; stance:nu10

Black Arrow

gcd:bofalse; soundfile:st; owntex:bofalse; b:nu1; anim1:nu1; duration:nu0; g:nu0; thresholdinvert:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; opt2:nu0; speed:nu1.5; stance:nu10; icon:stInterface\Icons\Spell_Shadow_PainSpike; size:nu1; torsion:nu1; multiids:st; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; mine:bofalse; optunitn:bofalse; x:nu0; inverse:bofalse; begin:nu2; off:bofalse; isdebuff:bofalse; timer:bofalse; customname:st; target:bofalse; combat:nu1; wowtex:bofalse; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; timerduration:nu0; exact:bofalse; threshold:nu50; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu7; stacks:nu0; aurastextfont:nu1; party:bofalse; customtex:bofalse; focus:bofalse; isenchant:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu28; buffname:stBlack Arrow; anim2:nu0; opt1:nu0; r:nu0.50196078431373; randomcolor:bofalse; y:nu-25; alpha:nu1; aurastext:st; textaura:bofalse; texmode:nu1; symetrie:nu0; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; sound:nu0; isinraid:bofalse; finish:nu1

Lock and Load

gcd:bofalse; soundfile:stReadyCheck; owntex:bofalse; b:nu0; anim1:nu4; duration:nu0; g:nu0.54117647058824; thresholdinvert:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; opt2:nu0; speed:nu2; stance:nu10; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Hunter_LockAndLoad; size:nu0.60000002384186; torsion:nu1; multiids:st; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; mine:bofalse; optunitn:bofalse; x:nu0; inverse:bofalse; begin:nu2; off:bofalse; isdebuff:bofalse; timer:bofalse; customname:st; target:bofalse; combat:nu0; wowtex:bofalse; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; timerduration:nu0; exact:bofalse; threshold:nu50; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu1; stacks:nu0; aurastextfont:nu8; party:bofalse; customtex:bofalse; focus:bofalse; isenchant:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu5; buffname:stLock and Load; anim2:nu0; opt1:nu0; r:nu1; randomcolor:bofalse; y:nu-30; alpha:nu1; aurastext:stLock 'n' Load Bitch; textaura:bofalse; texmode:nu1; symetrie:nu0; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; sound:nu10; isinraid:bofalse; finish:nu1

Serpent Sting

gcd:bofalse; soundfile:st; owntex:bofalse; b:nu0; anim1:nu1; duration:nu0; g:nu1; thresholdinvert:bofalse; ignoremaj:botrue; opt2:nu0; speed:nu1; stance:nu10; icon:stInterface\Icons\Ability_Hunter_Quickshot; size:nu0.89999997615814; torsion:nu1; multiids:st; stacksOperator:st=; realaura:nu1; mine:bofalse; optunitn:bofalse; x:nu0; inverse:botrue; begin:nu0; off:bofalse; isdebuff:bofalse; textaura:bofalse; timer:bofalse; target:botrue; combat:nu1; wowtex:bofalse; groupany:bofalse; customsound:st; timerduration:nu0; exact:bofalse; threshold:nu50; unitn:stOnly for raid/group.; bufftype:nu2; stacks:nu0; aurastextfont:nu1; party:bofalse; customtex:bofalse; focus:bofalse; isenchant:bofalse; raid:bofalse; isdebufftype:bofalse; texture:nu18; buffname:stSerpent Sting; anim2:nu0; opt1:nu0; r:nu0.094117647058824; randomcolor:bofalse; y:nu-25; alpha:nu1; aurastext:stSerpent Sting; customname:st; texmode:nu1; symetrie:nu0; ismounted:bofalse; targetfriend:bofalse; sound:nu0; isinraid:bofalse; finish:nu1

Here's another gratuitous shot of my UI, err... I mean, an example of Power Auras doing its thing in a live setting...

Other addons that I like for PvP are MikScrollingBattleText, AZ Cast Bar, Satrina Buff Frames and Gladius.

MSBT is a replacement combat text addon which is highly configurable. You can set all sorts of filters for it so that your screen isn't so spammy, plus you can configure triggers that will notify you of certain hostile spellcasts or enemy heals. For more info on it, I suggest you watch Daniel Moy's video tutorial for MSBT.

AZ Cast Bar is a modular cast bar that I use to show my target's and focus target's cast timers, along with my cast bar and swing timer. This addon, or similar ones such as Quartz, are helpful in allowing you to customize how you want enemy cast bars, buff and debuff timers to display. These aren't critical for success, but I find them to be useful.

Satrina Buff Frames is a fantastic addon, and another of my new favorites. This highly configurable addon allows for a myriad of customization. It can be setup to display both bars and icons, with or without timers. As a Survival Hunter, I find the addon very useful for displaying a modular debuff timer for Explosive Shot. In the screenshot below you will see two bars just above my unit frames. Those give me a quick reference timer for Explosive Shot and Serpent Sting. This makes it quite easy for me to time my Explosive Shots.

If you want to arena, then you're probably going to need Gladius. For those unfamiliar, Gladius is a unit frame addon for showing specifically your opponents in arena. It's highly customizable and can display all sorts of things including, health, mana, enemy cast bars, and even pvp trinket cooldowns.

That's about it for recommended addons. I could go on and discuss a few more, but then we'd be getting into a discussion more about my UI, and I know you don't want to be bored to tears over that.

Macros

I find macros to be invaluable for PvP. With the amount of split decision making that goes on in PvP, anytime you can combine multiple spells or commands into one keybind, the better off you'll be. Hunters have quite a bit to worry about due to the abundance of abilities at our disposal, in addition to a pet to control and look after.

Rather than list all of the useful Hunter macros I can think of, instead I'll just refer you to my macros page. There are however a couple of Survival specific macros that I've yet to include on that page. They are...

Wyvern Sting

#showtooltip Wyvern Sting
/cast [target=mouseover, harm] Wyvern Sting

Scatter Shot

#showtooltip Scatter Shot
/cast [target=mouseover, harm] Scatter Shot

These are pretty simple macros which allow you to CC another target without deselecting your current target. If no other target is highlighted, it will cast the shot at your current target.

You can also switch the "mouseover, harm" to "focus" if you arena, and set your CC targets as your focus.

Ideally, I'd like to be able to combine the above features into one macro, but I've not been able to get it working properly with a modifier key. If anyone has one that they use, please post it in a comment.

In Closing...

Well hopefully some of the things I've covered in this two part series helps a few of you out there. As I said, I didn't write these posts to teach players the art of owning in PvP as a Hunter. In fact, if someone has a guide like that, I'd love to read it. My intention was to cover some quick tips and suggestions that will help less experienced players who want to give the Survival spec a whirl for BGs or arena.

Are there some things I missed. Definitely.

Could I have expanded on certain areas. Sure.

Is this post over 3500 words and probably adequate for giving the newbie a jump-start in Survival PvP? I'd assume so.

If anyone has any other tips or suggestions, please send 'em my way in the form of comments.

Also, please forgive me for not getting all WoWHead on this post with the tooltips. I didn't foresee part two being this labor intensive, so when I got to the end and thought about linking all of the info to WoWHead, I said f**k it.

Well now that I'm done with this, I suppose it's probably a good time to start talking about my user interface. I'll get to that as soon as I can, but don't hold your breath. While my intention is to roll out post after post and cover all of the topics I have stored in my brain, life doesn't always allow me the time for such things. Plus, I gotta play WoW sometimes..!

Related posts:

1. My Survival Guide to Surviving in PvP as a Survival Hunter: Part One
2. SV Talents Overview: Tier 4
3. More UI Screenshots