Forever splits the hunter into three clearly different classes. Beast Mastery sends a pet and a pair of hawks after the target, Marksmanship is the shot-weaving sniper, and Survival is now a melee spec that dual-wields if it wants to. Aimed Shot moved to the trainer, mana problems got real answers, and Humans can be hunters for the first time.
At a glance
| Topic | Details |
|---|---|
| Roles | Ranged damage (Beast Mastery, Marksmanship), melee damage (Survival) |
| Resource | Mana, plus Focus for your pet |
| Armor | Mail from level 40 |
| Races | Human (new), Dwarf, Night Elf, Orc, Tauren, Troll and both Skyborne factions |
| Moved to the trainer |  Aimed Shot at 20, sharing its cooldown with Multi-Shot |
What changed from Classic
- Aimed Shot is baseline. Every hunter learns it at 20, so Marksmanship no longer spends a point on it. It shares a cooldown with Multi-Shot.
- Intellect is a damage stat.
Careful Aim adds Attack Power equal to 100% of your Intellect. Both the Beast Mastery and Marksmanship builds take it, and so does Survival. - Hawks.
Summon Hawk sends a hawk to dive-bomb the target and keep attacking for 18 seconds. Two can be out at once, and they share a cooldown with Arcane Shot. 
Unleashed Fury and 
Ferocity now buff hawks as well as your pet. - Sniper Shot caps Marksmanship: ranged damage plus a flat bonus, and 10 more yards of range on your next three shots.
- Lone Wolf gives 20% more damage with no pet out, for fights where the pet only dies.
- Mana answers.
Rapid Recuperation restores casting regeneration when Serpent Sting lands or Rapid Killing is consumed. 
Bestial Discipline keeps 50% of regeneration while casting, and Survival's 
Resourcefulness cuts trap and melee costs by 60%. - Survival fights in melee.
Predator's Edge, 
Expose Prey, 
Strider Kick and 
Lacerating Strikes build a melee rotation around Mongoose Bite. - One slaying talent. Monster Slaying and Humanoid Slaying are gone.
Improved Tracking adds 5% damage against whatever creature type you are tracking. - Removed: Wyvern Sting, Trap Mastery, Killer Instinct, Lethal Shots (now
Lethal Attacks, which covers melee as well), Improved Feign Death, Thick Hide, Improved Aspect of the Hawk, Improved Eyes of the Beast, Improved Hunter's Mark and the Serpent and Scorpid Sting improvements, which merged into 
Improved Stings.
Beast Mastery
Pet and hawks do the heavy lifting: Unleashed Fury and Ferocity buff both, and Summon Hawk keeps up to two hawks diving at the target.
Beast Mastery is the easiest hunter to play well and the best leveling spec. Your pet does a large share of the damage, and 
Bestial Wrath at 40 sends it into a rage for 50% more damage over 18 seconds.
Single target:
- Hunter's Mark, then Serpent Sting.
- Summon Hawk whenever fewer than two are out. It shares a cooldown with Arcane Shot, so the hawk replaces Arcane Shot in your rotation.
- Aimed Shot on cooldown, or Multi-Shot on packs.
- Bestial Wrath and Rapid Fire together for burst.
- Keep Aspect of the Hawk up.
Deadly Aspects gives Auto Shot a 10% chance to add 30% ranged attack speed for 12 seconds.
Frenzy gives your pet 30% attack speed after every critical strike, and Ferocity adds 10% pet crit, so the two feed each other. 
Focused Fire adds 2% to everything you and your pet deal while it is out.
The Marksmanship points buy Lethal Attacks, Careful Aim, 
Rapid Killing and Trueshot Aura.
Marksmanship
Shot-weaving with Sniper Shot at the top. Rapid Killing and Rapid Recuperation keep mana and Rapid Fire flowing on trash.
Marksmanship trades the pet's damage for your own. The tree turns every shot into a crit chance and every crit into more damage: Lethal Attacks adds 5% crit and 
Mortal Shots 30% critical damage on ranged abilities.
Single target:
- Hunter's Mark and Serpent Sting. Each Serpent Sting hit grants Rapid Recuperation.
- Aimed Shot on cooldown.
- Arcane Shot on cooldown.
Improved Arcane Shot takes 1.5 seconds off it. 
Sniper Shot on cooldown.- Rapid Fire on cooldown. Rapid Killing cuts its cooldown by 2 minutes and buffs the shot after a kill.
Barrage adds 10% to Multi-Shot, Aimed Shot and Volley, which makes Marksmanship the stronger area spec. If your pet keeps dying to a boss mechanic, move a point into 
Lone Wolf and leave the pet at home for 20% more damage.
Survival
Forever’s Survival is a melee spec: Mongoose Bite procs from Hunter’s Mark, bleeds through Lacerating Strikes, and Strider Kick hits for full weapon damage while speeding you up.
Survival is a melee spec in Forever. It still uses Hunter's Mark, stings and traps, but most of its damage comes from melee weapons.
Single target:
- Hunter's Mark and Serpent Sting.
- Mongoose Bite whenever it is usable. Expose Prey gives your attacks on a marked target a 10% chance to enable it, on top of the usual dodge trigger, and Lacerating Strikes makes every Bite leave a bleed for 40% of its damage.
- Raptor Strike on cooldown.
- Strider Kick for full weapon damage and 30% movement speed for 3 seconds.
- Keep Wing Clip, traps and Feign Death for when something goes wrong.
Predator's Edge raises melee critical damage by 30% and off-hand weapon damage by 50%, so dual-wielding two fast one-handers is a real option. 
Lightning Reflexes adds 10% Agility, 
Surefooted 3% hit.
Stat priorities
Forever converts 10 Hit Rating to 1% hit and 14 Critical Strike Rating to 1% crit. Blizzard has not published raid hit caps for Forever yet, so these lists will shift once the first raids are measured.
| Spec | Priority |
|---|---|
| Beast Mastery | Hit, Agility, Attack Power, Critical Strike, Intellect |
| Marksmanship | Hit, Agility, Critical Strike, Attack Power, Intellect |
| Survival | Hit, Expertise, Agility, Critical Strike, Attack Power, Intellect |
Intellect sits in every list because Careful Aim turns it into Attack Power one for one. Mail with Intellect on it is not caster gear for you any more. Compare pieces in the gear planner.
Leveling
Level as Beast Mastery. The pet tanks, the hawks add damage from 31, and Bestial Wrath arrives at 40.
- Pick a pet with good armor or health for tanking. Endurance Training adds 15% health and armor at five ranks.
- Pull with Hunter's Mark and Serpent Sting, let the pet take aggro, then Arcane Shot or Summon Hawk and Auto Shot.
- Aimed Shot is yours from 20 in any spec.
Pathfinding and 
Bestial Swiftness come early in the Beast Mastery order: a faster Aspect of the Cheetah for you and 30% movement speed for your pet.- With the Talented Legacy perk, Summon Hawk arrives at 26 and Bestial Wrath at 35.
Races
- Night Elf:
Elune's Light adds 10% crit for 15 seconds, 
Shadowmeld drops you out of combat, and 
Quickness adds dodge and movement speed. - Dwarf:
Big Game Hunter adds 5% damage against Beasts, and Stoneform clears bleeds and poisons. - Troll:
Berserking adds 10% attack speed, and 
Beast Slaying another 5% against Beasts. - Orc: Blood Fury adds 10% attack power for 15 seconds; Survival hunters with axes also get 1% crit from Axe Specialization.
- Tauren: 5% health and 1% hit from Endurance, plus War Stomp.
- Human: new to the class. The Human Spirit and Will to Survive, and 2% crit for Survival hunters who wield swords.
- Skyborne: 1% haste from Wind Blessed and 5% damage against Elementals.