Survival Hunter Rotation Guide - Midnight

By DoolB Updated: 2026/09/23

Survival Hunter Rotation in Kill CommandTip of the SpearKill Command

Resource Management: By far, the most important core to learn as a Survival Hunter is your resource management. Your Kill Command ability is limited by charges and cooldown, and Kill Command is responsible for generating both your resources: Focus and Tip of the Spear. The best way to improve your play is to use Kill Command as much as possible in any given encounter, without over-capping on Focus or Tip of the Spear stacks. In practice, with the optimal talent build, this means you are using two abilities between each use of Kill Command.

Resource Spending: Tying into the above point, it's very important you're spending your resources in a controlled way, while also maximizing the uses of your Raptor Strike without idling too much. Due to our Apex node, more Raptor Strike means more Raptor Swipe, which means you're missing tons of free damage if you're either spending too much (or too little!) Focus.

Cooldown Management: Two of your strongest abilities, Wildfire Bomb and Boomstick are limited by cooldowns. It's important you're keeping these cooldowns in mind, as if you miss a use this can have a cascading effect further down the line and greatly lower your damage over any given encounter, especially in AoE.

Best Survival Hunter RotationKill CommandTip of the SpearStrike as OneWildfire BombBoomstickHero Talent Master Switchesentire page's Options Options Best Survival Hunter Single Target Rotation Please select a Hero Talent option to generate a Single Target priorityThe builds used below are covered in the Talents page. Anywhere you see the icon, you can hover over it for additional notes.Priority

Cast Hunter's Mark if it is not yet active.

Cast Kill Command whenever any of the Howl of the Pack Leader beasts are available to summon, without wasting any Tip of the Spear stacks. .

Cast Wildfire Bomb if you have a Tip of the Spear stack to spend.

Cast Boomstick if you have a Tip of the Spear stack to spend.

Cast Raptor Swipe if you have a Tip of the Spear stack to spend.

Cast Raptor Strike with or without a Tip of the Spear to spend.

Cast Kill Command.

The builds used below are covered in the Talents page. Anywhere you see the icon, you can hover over it for additional notes.Priority

Cast Hunter's Mark if it is not yet active.

Cast Boomstick.

Cast Wildfire Bomb under the following circumstances:
- If your target is affected by Sentinel's Mark.
- If there is around 4-6 seconds remaining until Wildfire Bomb is fully recharged.

Cast Moonlight Chakram

Cast Raptor Swipe

Cast Raptor Strike.

Best Survival Hunter AoE RotationBoomstickLethal Calibration Please select a Hero Talent option to generate a Single Target priorityThe builds used below are covered in the Talents page. Anywhere you see the icon, you can hover over it for additional notes.Priority

Cast Hunter's Mark if it is not yet active.

Cast Kill Command whenever any of the Howl of the Pack Leader beasts are available to summon, without wasting any Tip of the Spear stacks. .

Cast Boomstick if you have a Tip of the Spear stack to spend

Cast Wildfire Bomb if you have a Tip of the Spear stack to spend.

Cast Raptor Swipe if you have a Tip of the Spear stack to spend.

Cast Raptor Strike with or without a Tip of the Spear to spend

Cast Kill Command.

Pack Leader in AoE is much more fast paced, so even though your priority remains similar to your ST priority, everything, most notably your cooldown reduction effects are much more abundant.

The builds used below are covered in the Talents page. Anywhere you see the icon, you can hover over it for additional notes.Priority

Cast Hunter's Mark if it is not yet active.

Cast Kill Command whenever you run out of Tip of the Spear stacks.

Cast Boomstick if you have a Tip of the Spear stack to spend/

Cast Wildfire Bomb if you have a Tip of the Spear stack to spend. Ideally you should directly target mobs that have Sentinel's Mark if available, but this can be ignored if you are trying to prioritise a bulky mob.

Cast Takedown if you have a Tip of the Spear stack to spend. If your target already has Sentinel's Mark on them, try to swap to another target first.

Cast Moonlight Chakram if you have a Tip of the Spear stack to spend.

Cast Raptor Swipe. if you have a Tip of the Spear stack to spend.

Cast Raptor Strike.

Best Survival Hunter OpenerWildfire BombKill CommandTip of the SpearHero Talent Please select a Hero Talent option to generate an Opener sequenceThe builds used below are covered in the Talents page. Anywhere you see the icon, you can hover over it for additional notes.Pack LeaderHowl of the Pack LeaderStampedeTakedownUse the ✖ markers next to pick a fight style. Other talent options will populate underneath.The build options used below are covered in the Talents page. Swaps not included should not change the priority in any meaningful way unless covered elsewhere. Anywhere you see the icon, you can hover over it for additional notes. Fight StyleSelect a Fight Style to Generate a SequenceSingle Target Sequence

Continue by following your Single Target priority.

Sample TimelineAoE Sequence

Pre-Cast Hunter's Mark on the chonkiest target in the pack.

Cast Misdirection on the tank or your pet.

Cycle between Kill Command, Raptor Strike and Raptor Swipe until mobs are sufficiently stacked.

Cast Takedown.

Cast Boomstick.

Cast Wildfire Bomb.

Cast Kill Command .

Cast Wildfire Bomb.

Continue by following your AoE priority.

Sample Timeline Pack Leader Notes

There is very little mechanical RNG in the Pack Leader opener, or its entire rotation for that matter. You could technically end up doing the exact same thing every single pull, global to global.

SentinelSentinel's MarkLunar CallingUse the ✖ markers next to pick a fight style. Other talent options will populate underneath.The build options used below are covered in the Talents page. Swaps not included should not change the priority in any meaningful way unless covered elsewhere. Anywhere you see the icon, you can hover over it for additional notes. Fight StyleSelect a Fight Style to Generate a SequenceSingle Target Sequence

Pre-Cast Hunter's Mark on the boss.

Pre-cast Wildfire Bomb ~1 GCD (~1.25sec) before the pull timer ends, making sure to stand far away from the boss.

Cast Kill Command (optional)

Cast Raptor Strike

Cast Raptor Swipe

Cast Raptor Strike

Cast Boomstick.

Cast Takedown.

Cast Wildfire Bomb.

Cast Moonlight Chakram.

Continue by following your Single Target priority.

Sample TimelineAoE Sequence

Pre-Cast Hunter's Mark on the chonkiest target in the pack.

Cast Misdirection on the tank or your pet.

Cycle between Kill Command and Raptor Strike until mobs are sufficiently stacked.

Cast Boomstick.

Cast Wildfire Bomb.

Cast Takedown.

Cast Wildfire Bomb.

Continue by following your AoE priority.

Sample Timeline Sentinel Notes

The Sentinel opener is slightly less predictable due to the random nature of Sentinel's Mark procs, However, you can somewhat see them coming because their condition to proc is for you to spend a stack of Tip of the Spear. In other words, they can never proc from a Kill Command, but it can proc from anything else that spends Tip of the Spear.

A single Wildfire Bomb can consume multiple Sentinel's Mark. In AoE, try to make sure a target that whichever target is affected by Sentinel's Mark is always the primary unfortunate recipient of your Wildfire Bomb, to further empower its innate primary target damage bonus.

Pre-Combat Check Survival Hunter Major Cooldowns Takedown TakedownTip of the SpearTakedown

Flanked turns Takedown into an impressively powerful AoE attack. This doesn't inherently change the way your cooldown works, but it may affect the way you'd want to time your cooldown. For instance, without Flanked, you may want to use Flanked before the adds even spawn in, so you don't have to spend the global cooldown during the add's lifespan.

Twin Fangs allows Takedown to generate 3 stacks of Tip of the Spear, meaning less of your extremely short cooldown window is spent pressing Kill Command, allowing you to press the buttons that deal more meaningful damage more often.
This talent somewhat conflicts with Pack Leader's Stampede! talent, which already incentivizes you to follow up your Takedown with a Kill Command to trigger the stampede and beast as soon as possible.

FlankedPack LeaderTakedownStampede!Kill CommandStampedeHowl of the Pack LeaderStampedeSentinelTakedownMoonlight ChakramLunar CallingCan't Miss, Won't Miss

Moonlight Chakram directly replaces Takedown, using the same keybind, and is a powerful follow-up attack. Moonlight Chakram by itself can be further modified by a choice node, either Twilight Requiem or Stalk and Strike.

Stalk and Strike is the only Moonlight Chakram node that directly impacts the way you use Moonlight Chakram, delaying its use until you can benefit from the 10 seconds of Wildfire Bomb Cooldown Reduction.

Lunar Calling noticeably boosts the proc chance of Sentinel's Mark during Takedown, allowing you to chuck more dramatically stronger bombs. Stalk and Strike can be especially helpful for this in the event you continue to proc a bunch, reducing the odds for you to run out of bombs to spend your Stalk and Strike procs with.

Boomstick BoomstickTip of the SpearDisengage

Boomstick is functionally a 45-second cooldown for single target purposes, or it can have cooldowns as low as 15 seconds while AoEing thanks to Lethal Calibration, a staple talent pick for AoE builds.

Wildfire Shells can be paired with this to create a feedback loop, causing a drastically more fast paced AoE rotation.

Survival Hunter Advanced TipsStrike as One Strike as One Strike as OneKill Command Positioning Wildfire BombBoomstickRaptor SwipeStampede!Pet Utility View ChangelogNavigation BarRelated GuidesTable of ContentsStrike as OneSentinel's MarkCan't Miss, Won't MissStargazerRaptor StrikeStrike as OneBetter TogetherHowl of the Pack LeaderNo MercyShrapnel BombBloodseekerWildfire BombSentinel's MarkFlamebreakExplosives ExpertRaptor StrikeTakedownRaptor StrikeTakedownTwin FangsHatchet TossRaptor StrikeHatchet TossDire SummonsAspect of the EagleKill CommandTenacityFortitude of the BearEndurance TrainingFerocityPredator's ThirstPrimal RageCunningMaster's CallMaster's CallPathfindingWildfire BombBoomstickSentinel's MarkMongoose FuryTakedownTip of the SpearBoomstickTip of the SpearMongoose FuryWildfire BombKill CommandHarpoonRaptor StrikeTip of the SpearTip of the SpearSentinel's MarkSentinel's MarkLunar CallingTakedownStalk and StrikeWildfire BombTwin FangsTip of the SpearHarpoonRaptor StrikeTip of the SpearFury of the WyvernBoomstickWildfire BombBoomstickLunar CallingSentinel's MarkTakedownBoomstickTakedownSentinel's MarkTip of the SpearTip of the SpearSentinel's MarkTip of the SpearTwin FangsTakedownSentinel's MarkWildfire BombTip of the SpearStampedeHowl of the Pack LeaderTakedownFury of the WyvernBoomstickLethal CalibrationWildfire BombBoomstickDire SummonsBoomstickWildfire BombBoomstickTakedownTakedownStampedeTakedownMongoose FuryWildfire BombWyvern's CryRaptor SwipeBoomstickTip of the SpearRaptor SwipeBoomstickWildfire BombKill CommandTakedownPack MentalityHunter's MarkHunter's MarkHunter's MarkBoomstickWildfire BombSentinel's MarkSentinel's MarkTip of the SpearTakedownWildfire BombSentinel's MarkWildfire Bomb

Tags: PvE

Comments

Comment by eli2112

Could you expand on the opening sequences? I find the rotation quite organic to follow once you get rolling with the encounter, but since most of the priorities are based on our current focus and charges available, I struggle a bit to settle on the optimal opener sequence.

Comment by eli2112

Comment by Zeaket

So I'm just curious, in the little explanation for the opener in 11.0 you state

Our opener is relatively predictable, with the exception of potential Deathblow and Grenade Juggler (if talented) procs to react to. Outside of this, the goal of our opener is to get rid of of our Wildfire Bomb charges and get Explosive Shot on cooldown in an efficient manner before using Coordinated Assault.

The actual opener listed does not mention Explosive Shot getting used at all, and it's shown pretty low on our single target priority list.

I know last season we did want to use Explosive Shot before Coordinated Assault - is the explanation out of date and it isn't that important to use it in the opener anymore? Or is Explosive Shot just missing from the opener for some reason?

Survival Hunter Rotation Guide - Midnight

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