Melee hunter built on a Kill Command and Tip of the Spear loop with bombs and Takedown.
Damage
Gear: Method.ggBuilds: Archon consensus, M+ This Week (+7–+19)Updated 10/29/2026 by Guild guides
Playing
Survival fights in melee alongside its pet. Kill Command builds Tip of the Spear stacks that empower your next abilities, Raptor Strike spends Focus, and Wildfire Bomb and Boomstick deal cone damage. Takedown is the main cooldown. Sentinel is the hero tree for raid and Mythic+: Takedown applies Sentinel's Mark, and Wildfire Bombs into marked targets are the payoff.
Difficulty
A melee spec built on a Kill Command and spender loop through Tip of the Spear stacks, with Wildfire Bomb charges to manage around Sentinel's Mark and frontal cones to aim.
Resource
Focus
Hero talents in keys
Sentinel
Standing this patch
CRaid
Brings to the group
InterruptMuzzle (15s)
StunBinding Shot, Intimidation
Dispelnone
PurgeTranquilizing Shot
Battle resnone
LustPrimal Rage
MobilityDisengage, Harpoon
Pick any button below to follow it through the guide: where it sits in the opener, which rung of the priority fires it, and every mistake it is part of.
15sKill Command
2Raptor Strike
3Raptor Swipe
418sWildfire Bomb
51mBoomstick
61m 30sTakedown
7Moonlight Chakram
81mFlamefang Pitch
s120sHarpoon
s215sMuzzle
s32mExhilaration
s41m 30sSurvival of the Fittest
s53mAspect of the Turtle
s61mIntimidation
s745sBinding Shot
s810sTranquilizing Shot
s96mPrimal Rage
Rotation
What do I press?
Press order
1Kill Command0.0s
2Boomstick1.5s
3Wildfire Bomb4.5s
4Kill Command6.0s
5Takedown7.5s
6Moonlight Chakram9.0s
7Flamefang Pitch10.5s
8Kill Command12.0s
9Wildfire Bomb13.5s
10Raptor Swipe15.0s
11Raptor Strike16.5s
12Kill Command18.0s
13Boomstick19.5s
Kill Command0.0s
Fires because you have no Tip of the Spear stacks.
0s5s10s15s20s25s
One press per global at base haste (1.5s), longer for casts. Real pulls drift with haste and procs; the order is what matters.
Cooldowns and when to use them
90 seconds. You and your pet leap in; as Sentinel it applies Sentinel's Mark.
What the simulations press
Executed every time the actor is available.
Retargetfight style.dungeonroute
Auto Attack
active enemies<3 and howl of the pack leader
active enemies>2 and howl of the pack leader
active enemies<3 and not howl of the pack leader
active enemies>2 and not howl of the pack leader
From SimulationCraft's hunter_survival.simc, changed Oct 27, 2026. This is what the simulations behind most guides press; conditions are shown as SimC writes them.
What top players actually cast
Below are the opening rotations from a small sample of recent top Survival Hunter rankings for Altar of Fangs. You can use this to compare to your own opener and find potential points of improvement. Note that the opener for some specs may vary based on when certain buffs proc.
Kill CommandBuilderInstant · 5s cd ×2 · +Focus, +1 Tip of the SpearGenerates Focus and a Tip of the Spear stack (up to 3) that buffs your next spenders; press it when you run out of stacks.
Raptor StrikeSpenderInstant · -30 FocusMelee Focus spender and your filler; it can upgrade into Raptor Swipe.
Raptor SwipeProcInstantRaptor Strike's frontal upgrade (25% chance); spend it with a Tip of the Spear stack.
Wildfire BombOver timeInstant · 18s cd · -10 FocusFire cone and burn; as Sentinel, throw it into Sentinel's Mark targets and never let a charge cap.
Moonlight ChakramProcInstantSentinel: replaces Takedown for 15 seconds after you cast it; throw it with a Tip of the Spear stack.
Cooldowns
BoomstickCooldown3s cast · 1m cd · -50 Focus3-second frontal shotgun channel; aim it at as many enemies as possible.
TakedownCooldownInstant · 1m 30s cdYour main cooldown: you and your pet leap in together; as Sentinel it applies Sentinel's Mark. Cast a Kill Command right before it.
Flamefang PitchCooldownInstant · 1m cd · -20 FocusFire explosion on a 1-minute cooldown that also speeds up Wildfire Bomb; use it in AoE when the bomb is not about to cap.
Survival
ExhilarationDefensiveInstant · 2m cdHeals you for 30% and your pet to full.
Survival of the FittestDefensiveInstant · 1m 30s cd · 6s long30% damage reduction for you and your pet for 6 seconds.
Aspect of the TurtleDefensiveInstant · 3m cd · 8s longImmune to most attacks for 8 seconds, but you cannot attack.
Utility
HarpoonMovementInstant · 20s cdPulls you to an enemy 8 to 30 yards away and roots it; your gap closer.
MuzzleInterruptInstant · 15s cdMelee-range interrupt on a 15-second cooldown.
IntimidationUtilityInstant · 1m cd · 5s longYour pet stuns the target for 5 seconds.
Binding ShotUtilityInstant · 45s cdTethers a group and stuns any enemy that moves away.
Tranquilizing ShotUtilityInstant · 10s cdRemoves an enrage and a magic buff from the target.
Primal RageUtilityInstant · 6m cd · 40s longGroup Bloodlust from a Ferocity pet.
Builds / Talents
Raid and Mythic+ talents
SentinelRaid and Mythic+Ahead in raid and Mythic+ (about 2.5% without the tier set, around 4% with it) and what nearly every top-rated Survival runs in keys. Takedown applies Sentinel's Mark, and Wildfire Bomb into marked targets is the core payoff.
Pack LeaderSituationalBetter at 3 to 4 targets and on spread-out bosses like Twin Fangs where Raptor Swipe reaches but Wildfire Bomb does not; behind Sentinel elsewhere.
45 of the top 50 Mythic+ players run Sentinel (3743–4251 rating). Murlok.io
Mythic+
12,144 logs · 2026-11-05T12:00:00Z
Consensus loadoutRecommended
Popularity 98.7% heatmap match · 98.7% heatmap match
Recommended loadout is the closest match to Archon’s aggregate popularity across top parses — not a single one-off key.
Sample size: 12144 top parses. Only talents in the recommended loadout are drawn.
Class
Specialization
Hero
Only talents in this loadout are drawn (Sentinel). Hover a node for its Wowhead tooltip.
Across 12,144 logs. A talent has to show up in at least 40% of them before it is part of the build.
Gear
What do I wear and enchant?
Stats for Mythic+
1Agility
›
2Mastery
›
3Crit
›
4Haste
›
5Vers
Left to right — highest priority first. Sim your character when secondaries are close.
Based on data in the last 2 weeks, the stat priority for Survival Hunter looks to be Agility > Mastery > Crit > Haste > Vers. However, there may be bias based on what gear is available to players.
What the top Mythic+ players actually have
Mastery34% +1304
Critical Strike34% +907
Haste22% +868
Versatility2% +120
Average secondary stats of the top 50 Mythic+ players (3743–4251 rating), from Murlok.io, updated 2 hours ago.
4×piece set: Survival Hunter15×slots
Best in slot from Method.gg. Every slot is on the figure. Point at a piece to light it.
Wear 4 tier pieces. The 4-piece bonus is what this spec is tuned around.
2-piece: Mongoose Fury also increases the damage of Wildfire Bomb by 10%
Best-to-good single-target order from Liquid Armory (Oct 12, 2026). Filled marks = higher on the list. Your own gear can change the order — sim before you buy.
Forest Hunter's Armor Kit
Mark of the Worldsoul
Rite of the Hash'ey
Indecipherable Eversong Diamond
Flawless Deadly Amethyst
