Survival Hunter DPS Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot (Legion 7.2.5)

Table of Contents

• +Introduction
  • 1. Class Overview
  • 2. What Has Changed in 7.2.5?
    • 2.1. Tomb of Sargeras Set Bonus Simulation
  • 3. How Does it Work?
  • 4. Viability of Spec Choices in Patch 7.2.5
    • 4.1. Tier 20 - Tomb of Sargeras Mythic Gear - Single-Target Spec Comparison
    • 4.2. Raiding — Single-Target Focus with AoE as a secondary objective.
    • 4.3. Mythic+ — AoE Focus with single-target as a secondary objective.
  • 5. Strengths
  • 6. Weaknesses
  • 7. Contents
  • 8. ChangeLog
• +Easy Mode
  • 1. The Basics
  • 2. Talent Choice
  • 3. Stat Choice
  • 4. Basic Rotation
    • 4.1. Cooldowns
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Builds and Talents
  • 1. Talent Cheat Sheets
    • 1.1. For Raid Encounters
    • 1.2. For Mythic+ Use
  • 2. Tier 1 (Level 15) Talents
  • 3. Tier 2 (Level 30) Talents
  • 4. Tier 3 (Level 45) Talents
  • 5. Tier 4 (Level 60) Talents
  • 6. Tier 5 (Level 75) Talents
  • 7. Tier 6 (Level 90) Talents
  • 8. Tier 7 (Level 100) Talents
  • 9. Pet Talents
  • 10. ChangeLog
• +Artifact Traits and Relics
  • 1. Artifact Progression
    • 1.1. Early Progression
    • 1.2. Patch 7.2 Progression
  • 2. Artifact Ability
  • 3. Traits versus Item Level
  • 4. Relic Choice
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities
  • 1. Single Target Rotation
    • 1.1. When Mongoose Fury is not active (Filler Phase)
    • 1.2. When Mongoose Fury is active (Bite Phase)
  • 2. Multiple Target Rotation
  • 3. Legendaries & Rotational Changes
  • 4. Cooldown Usage
  • 5. Opener Sequence
  • 6. Optional Read: Mastering Your Survival Hunter
    • 6.1. Trinket Usage
    • 6.2. Focus
    • 6.3. Detailed Cooldown Usage
      • 6.3.1. Aspect of the Eagle
      • 6.3.2. Fury of the Eagle
      • 6.3.3. Snake Hunter
      • 6.3.4. Tier 1 Talents
      • 6.3.5. Tier 2 Talents
      • 6.3.6. Tier 4 Talents
      • 6.3.7. Tier 6 Talents
      • 6.3.8. Tier 7 Talents
  • 7. ChangeLog
• +Stat Priority
  • 1. Basics
  • 2. Getting a Better Understanding
    • 2.1. Choosing Gear
    • 2.2. Stat Softcaps, Distributions & Other Clarifications
    • 2.3. Statistics Explanations
  • 3. ChangeLog
• +Gems, Enchants, and Consumables
  • 1. Gems
  • 2. Enchants
  • 3. Consumables
  • 4. ChangeLog
• +Macros and Addons
  • 1. Macros
    • 1.1. Generic Macros for Hunters
      • 1.1.1. Aspect of the Turtle Cancelaura Macro
      • 1.1.2. Misdirection Mouseover/Focus Macro for Marksmanship/Beast Mastery
      • 1.1.3. Trap Macros for Survival
      • 1.1.4. Petattack Macros
    • 1.2. Specific Macros for Survival Hunters
  • 2. Addons
    • 2.1. Generic Addons for Hunters
      • 2.1.1. ElvUI
      • 2.1.2. Weak Auras
      • 2.1.3. Boss Mods: Deadly Boss Mods or Bigwigs
      • 2.1.4. GTFO
      • 2.1.5. JSHB 4
      • 2.1.6. Pawn
    • 2.2. Specific Addons for Survival Hunters
  • 3. ChangeLog
• ×Gear, Legendaries, and Best in Slot
  • 1. Best in Slot List
  • 2. Trinket & Legendary DPS Rankings
  • 3. Legion Legendaries
    • 3.1. Survival Legendaries
      • 3.1.1. Survival Legendary Ranking
  • 4. Loot Competition
  • 5. ChangeLog
• +Simulations
  • 1. Disclaimer
  • 2. Racial Bonus Simulation
  • 3. Legendary Simulation
  • 4. ChangeLog

General Information

This page is a gear reference for Survival Hunters. It lists your best items and Legendaries, gives you gearing advice, and shows you how you will be competing for loot with other classes.

The other pages of our Survival Hunter guide can be accessed from the table of contents on the right.

About Our Author

This guide has been written by Azortharion, the main theorycrafter of the spec. He is also an accomplished player who raids in Solaris. You can also watch his stream on Twitch.

1. Best in Slot List

Bear in mind that all of this is subject to change based on Warforging and Titanforging happening on gear, so this is absolutely a guideline and not a rule. Note that it is also just dealing with gear from raid environments, so this could change if you are spending a large amount of time in Mythic+ and gaining different, rarer pieces.

Slot	Item	Source
Helm	Wildstalker Helmet	Demonic Inquisition
Neck	String of Extracted Incisors	Demonic Inquisition
Shoulders	Wildstalker Spaulders	Fallen Avatar
Cloak	Wildstalker Cape	The Desolate Host
Chest	Hauberk of Frozen Mist	Harjatan
Wrists	Pain-Singed Armguards	Goroth
Gloves	Vicegrip of the Unrepentant	Kil'jaeden
Belt	Pristine Moon-Wrought Clasp (Trash drop) or Waistguard of Interminable Unity	Trash mobs in Tomb of Sargeras or Sisters of the Moon
Legs	Wildstalker Leggings	Mistress Sassz'ine
Boots	Star-Stalker Treads	Kil'jaeden
Ring #1	Seal of the Second Duumvirate	Kil'jaeden
Ring #2	Scaled Band of Servitude	Harjatan
Trinket #1	Specter of Betrayal	Kil'jaeden
Trinket #2	Cradle of Anguish	Demonic Inquisition
Storm Relic	Felsoul Vortex for a single-target focus. Preserved Starlight Incense for a multi-target focus.	GorothThe Desolate Host
Iron Relic	Reactive Pylon Casing	Fallen Avatar
Blood Relic	Man'ari Blood Pact	Kil'jaeden

2. Trinket & Legendary DPS Rankings

Right-click the image and open in a new tab, or access the sheet directly with the link below to see it in full.

This trinket/legendary simulation spreadsheet is inherited from this spreadsheet, where you can also see the underlying data. Note that sometimes the spreadsheet on this link may be slightly broken as it is tinkered with by me. The screenshot above reflects the most recent, up-to-date version of the trinket sim.

For Survival in particular, it is worth noting that when a simulation has a lot of one stat to start with, statsticks with that stat on it will be devalued somewhat. We recommend simming statstick trinkets for yourself to decide between them.

3. Legion Legendaries

This is a comprehensive list of the non-spec specific legendaries that are available to Hunters in Legion. Legendaries can drop from daily loot chests, the Class Order Hall Mythic+ loot chest, the PvP loot chest, 5-man dungeons of all kinds, world bosses, and raid bosses from all difficulties. The spec-specific Legendaries will be listed under their respective class guide.

The Shadow Hunter's Voodoo Mask is a Legendary helmet which heals you for 20% of your maximum health whenever you use Feign Death, as well as an additional 5% of your health every second for 10 seconds for as long as you remain feigned. This can be an extremely useful self-heal when needed during raid encounters and Mythic+ encounters.

Prydaz, Xavaric's Magnum Opus is a Legendary necklace which gives you an absorb shield for 25% of your maximum health for 30 seconds, every 30 seconds. This makes it the strongest survivability legendary, especially since you will passively benefit from it. From a progression raiding standpoint where damage output is often not the primary concern, it is an incredibly strong legendary from a survivability standpoint, and it gives a lot of secondary stats which is a significant boost to DPS as well.

Roots of Shaladrassil are a pair of Legendary leggings that cause you to gain 3% health every second for as long as you stand still. The first heal occurs 1 second after you stop moving. This is the weakest survivability legendary, since the healing done does not add up to nearly as much damage prevented as Prydaz does, although the high item level of a high-budget item like legs makes it decent as far as non-DPS legendaries go.

Sephuz's Secret is a Legendary ring that gives you 70% increased movement speed and 15% Haste for 10 seconds whenever you apply a crowd control effect (stun, roots, silenced and so on) to non-boss enemies. It also increases movement speed by 10% and Haste by 2% passively. It can act as a damage and mobility boost on add-heavy encounters where you have to slow enemies, and it is a decent legendary for most Mythic+ dungeons.

Kil'jaeden's Burning Wish is a Legendary trinket that gives you a ton of stats passively, and has an on-use proc with a 1:15 minute cooldown that deals heavy, critical AoE damage around the target it hits. This is a powerful burst AoE legendary, and its heavy base stats makes it very powerful in general. Because it always crits, it has good synergy with Marksmanship's Trueshot cooldown, which increases critical strike damage by 50%, and it should be used together with Trueshot as often as possible.

3.1. Survival Legendaries

Unseen Predator's Cloak is a new Legendary cloak. It causes you to have 10% increased critical strike chance against enemies that are affected by Explosive Trap, emphasizing the importance of using this on cooldown. It is moderately powerful.

Soul of the Huntmaster is a new Legendary ring that gives you the Serpent Sting talent without having to choose it, letting you choose another Level 90 talent to use at the same time. On AoE-based fights, this ring can be exceptionally powerful as it allows you to use Butchery for the burst AoE, which will then spread Serpent Sting to everything it hits. For single-target, it is fairly weak.

Call of the Wild are a pair of Legendary bracers which reduces the cooldown of all Aspects by 35%. This applies to Aspect of the Wild, Aspect of the Cheetah, Aspect of the Turtle,and Aspect of the Eagle for Survival Hunters as well. On top of being a very powerful DPS Legendary, it also brings a good survivability and mobility boost in reducing the cooldown of Aspect of the Turtle and Aspect of the Cheetah.

Helbrine, Rope of the Mist Marauder is a Legendary belt that causes your Harpoon ability to increase your damage done by up to 30% for 10 seconds after using it on a target. The damage bonus increases the further away you were from the target when you pressed your Harpoon ability. This is an especially powerful opening burst legendary, and it can help when dealing with lots of adds in a large room. It goes without saying that you should attempt to use Harpoon from as far away as possible when using this Legendary.

Nesingwary's Trapping Treads are a pair of Legendary boots which causes your traps (and Caltrops) to give you 25 Focus whenever they are triggered. In a DPS context, this mostly applies to Explosive Trap and Caltrops // Steel Trap, but it can also be a DPS gain when using Tar Trap or Freezing Trap to deal with certain adds.

Frizzo's Fingertrap is a Legendary ring that causes your Carve ability to spread the Lacerate debuff to another, nearby target whenever you use it on a target that already has the Lacerate debuff. This is a very useful cleave Legendary, since the Lacerate ability does a lot of damage. Using it involves casting Carve to refresh Lacerate instead of the Lacerate ability itself, as well as Serpent Sting, even on a single target.

Butcher's Bone Apron is a new Survival legendary chest added in Patch 7.1.5. It causes Mongoose Bite to increase the damage of your next Carve or Butchery by 10%, stacking up to 10 times, meaning that consecutive Mongoose Bites can stack up significantly, leading to extremely big hits of Butchery in Mythic+ particularly. It is a useful Legendary for Mythic+, and situationally very useful for AoE fights in raids.

3.1.1. Survival Legendary Ranking

This list seeks to rank all the Legendaries in terms of desirability. This will be done in different tiers rather than a hard 1-2-3 list. Tier 1 contains BiS legendaries for most encounters, Tier 2 are all contenders for the second BiS slot depending on the situation, while Tier 3 Legendaries are generally undesirable.

1. Tier 1 - Best in Slot
   • Call of the Wild
2. Tier 2
   • Soul of the Huntmaster
   • Kil'jaeden's Burning Wish - Best for AoE
   • Roots of Shaladrassil
   • The Shadow Hunter's Voodoo Mask
   • Sephuz's Secret (Tier 1 if you can proc it throughout the fight)
   • Butcher's Bone Apron (Only useful when using Butchery)
3. Tier 3
   • Unseen Predator's Cloak
   • Prydaz, Xavaric's Magnum Opus
   • Helbrine, Rope of the Mist Marauder
   • Nesingwary's Trapping Treads
   • Frizzo's Fingertrap

4. Loot Competition

Regarding the loot you will get from raid or dungeon bosses, you will compete with other classes in the following cases:

Item Type	Competing Classes
Tier Tokens	Beast Mastery/Marksmanship Hunters, Monks, Shamans, and Warriors
Mail Armor	Beast Mastery/Marksmanship Hunters and Shamans
Amulets Cloaks Rings	Everyone
Trinkets	Havoc Demon Hunters, Feral Druids, Windwalker Monks Beast Mastery/Marksmanship Hunters, Rogues, and Enhancement Shamans

5. ChangeLog

+ show all entries - show only 10 entries

• 25 Jun. 2017: Updated trinket simulations.
• 17 Jun. 2017: Updated trinket simulations for 7.2.5. Updated Best in Slot list for the Tomb of Sargeras raid.
• 13 Jun. 2017: Added new Legendaries. Removed "Trinket to look for section" and other sections that are now invalidated or no longer useful, to pave the path for something new in Tomb of Sargeras.
• 07 May 2017: Removed a confusing paragraph about what tier you should pick if you have certain legendaries.
• 06 May 2017: Added Convergence of Fates to trinkets to look for.
• 04 May 2017: Added experimental way of ranking Legendaries.
• 17 Apr. 2017: Trinket sim updated.
• 27 Mar. 2017: No changes needed for Patch 7.2.
• 17 Mar. 2017: The trinket spreadsheet now also has legendary sims in it.
• 27 Feb. 2017: Trinket sim update.
• 25 Feb. 2017: Update BiS belt and trinkets.
• 18 Feb. 2017: Updated legendary ranking.
• 16 Feb. 2017: Added link to trinket sim spreadsheet. Updated Legendary rankings. SimCraft's implementation of Aspect was fixed, vastly improving Call of the Wild.
• 13 Feb. 2017: Added new trinket sims. These sims test trinkets at a ton of different item levels, color coded for easy comparison.
• 11 Feb. 2017: Updated BiS legendary to Call of the Wild after SimCraft's issues with Aspect of the Eagle were fixed.
• 08 Feb. 2017: Updated "trinket to look for section", and legendary rankings + Frizzo description.
• 07 Feb. 2017: Trinket sim update.
• 26 Jan. 2017: Updated trinket sims with all the changes in hotfixes since 7.1.5. Updated BiS list accordingly. Added information about second-best tier item slots in case you have a Legendary that breaks the set. Updated legendary ranking.
• 17 Jan. 2017: Updated trinket sims. Add BiS list.
• 14 Jan. 2017: Update Call of the Wild description. Add Legendary trinket to description (but not ranking yet).
• 13 Jan. 2017: Legendary boots give 25 Focus, not 15 now.
• 12 Jan. 2017: Fresh trinket sims. Update Legendary ranking.
• 09 Jan. 2017: Updated for Patch 7.1.5.