Listed below are various viable talent builds, mainly to give players who aren't sure what talent build is right for them, an idea on where to put their points. Since everyone has their own playing style, and most talents are fairly balanced out now, there are no 100% correct builds but some may be slightly better than others.

Note that the talent builds and comments are made with the lvl 70 cap in mind and the latest 2.0.6 patch. I will keep the old talent builds as a reference for those without TBC.

--- Solo / Leveling ---

When it comes to leveling and questing, you will be playing solo a lot of the time. For this I can only recommend the BM tree. Your pet can be a great tank, add a good amount of damage, are very gear-independent and make grinding very mana-efficient, decreasing downtime in between fights considerably. On top of that, they are fun and obedient companions to have with you on your journeys, and improving them by talents will let you kill enemies while leveling faster than any other build!

PvE Solo / Leveling build (1-60) - 43/5/3

http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?0500320152501225013510500000000000000000000300000000000000000000

Mainly improving your pet, this will make leveling and questing solo a lot faster. If you're wondering what pet to get, it doesn't really matter since they are all similar, but some are slightly better than others. Just make sure you take pets you like, since you'll be spending a lot of time with them! Boars/bears are good to start off with since they are quite tough and eat pretty much everything (except gnomes). The boar charge & gore ability is quite nice too. Later on you might want to get a high damage pet like a cat to make grinding faster.

I'll give some advice on in what order you might want to spend your talent points while you are leveling:

Lvl 10-14: BM: Endurance Training 5/5
Lvl 15-17: BM: Thick Hide 3/3
Lvl 18-19: BM: Improved Revive Pet 2/2
Lvl 20: BM: Bestial Swiftness 1/1
Lvl 21-25: BM: Unleashed Fury 5/5
Lvl 26: BM: Improved Mend Pet 1/2
Lvl 27-29: BM: Ferocity 3/5
Lvl 30: BM: Intimidation 1/1
Lvl 31-32: BM: Ferocity 5/5
Lvl 33-34: BM: Bestial Discipline 2/2
Lvl 35-37: BM: Frenzy 3/5
Lvl 38-39: BM: Animal Handler 2/2
Lvl 40: BM: Bestial Wrath 1/1
Lvl 41-43: BM: Catlike Reflexes 3/3
Lvl 44: BM: Frenzy 4/5
Lvl 46-49: BM: Serpent's Swiftness 5/5
Lvl 50: BM: The Beast Within 1/1
Lvl 51: BM: Frenzy 5/5
Lvl 52-56: MM: Lethal Shots 5/5
Lvl 57-59: Surv: Hawk Eye 3/3
Lvl 60: BM: Improved Mend Pet 2/2

PvE Solo / Leveling build (60-70) - 48/13/0

Starts at lvl 60 with:

http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?0520300151521225010510550000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Lvl 61-62: MM: Go for the Throat 2/2
Lvl 63: MM: Aimed Shot 1/1
Lvl 64-66: BM: Catlike Reflexes 3/3
Lvl 67-69: BM: Ferocious Inspiration 3/3
Lvl 70: BM: Improved Revive Pet 1/2

Ends at lvl 70 with:

http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?0520310151521225313510550201000000000000000000000000000000000000

Note that the build is mainly BM and starts with a different spec than the lvl 1-60 build ended, so you may have to respec.

A viable build, regardless of gear. I find Spirit Bond a nice HP regen for the player (while solo) so even if you occasionaly take a hit you won't need to worry about your HP, as it will regenerate even in combat. Aimed Shot won't be needed much at all, but it can be a great opening shot (like after you trapped someone that tried to gank you or in instances combined with the Misdirection ability). Hawk Eye is always nice to have, but it does not contribute as well to solo or instance play as Ferocious Inspiration.

--- Raiding ---

Raiding builds are designed to improve your or your guild's overall damage in current end-game content. Following builds try to increase your damage and usefulness in raids the most.

Consider having at least one hunter with you with the Impr. HM talent, for the boost to the melee damage from other classes (ideally this talent is best taken by hunters with a BM raiding build).

For the best use of the GftT ability, get a Wind Serpent, since their Lightning Breath ability has no cooldown and is instant, making it a good focus dump. On top of that Lightning Breath scales the best with the Hunter's Attack Power, making it especially useful for MM builds.

On the topic of Aot Hawk vs Aot Viper, i think AotH might still be useful for fights where mana is not a big issue, doing as much damage as possible in a short time, which could make Impr. AotH still a useful talent to have.

PvE MM raiding build - 4/47/0 - 7/49/5

Lvl 60: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?4000000000000000000000505251205013053135100000000000000000000000

Lvl 70: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?5020000000000000000000505251205013253135102300000000000000000000

A decent raid build, mainly focusing on damage. It puts the focus on lots of crits combined with GftT, which will let your Wind Serpent do an additional 200-300 damage with Lightning Breath every time you crit.

PvE MM raiding build (with Impr. HM) - 7/44/0 - 7/51/3

Lvl 60: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?5020000000000000000000555051205010053105100000000000000000000000

Lvl 70: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?5020000000000000000000552251205013253135100300000000000000000000

It's a good idea to have a hunter with you in your raid with improved hunters mark for a nice damage boost to your melee classes. Although it would make some more sense to have a BM hunter use Impr. HM, this is good in case there isn't always one of those around.

PvE BM raiding build - 39/12/0 - 41/20/0

Lvl 60: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?5020300050521224310400550200000000000000000000000000000000000000

Lvl 70: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?5020300050521224310510550201205000000000000000000000000000000000

This is a bit of an out of the ordinary build, mainly relying on your pet to do a lot of damage. You won't have Hawk Eye, but you'll have GftT and Mortal Shots. Combined with Impr. AotH, Serpent's Swiftness, Lethal Shots and a fast ranged weapon, you will be doing a lot of crits and as a result your pet will be doing damage like crazy. Make sure you have a pet with a good focus dump ability like Lightning Breath (best) or Gore to take full benefit of GftT.

Also this build is ideal to use with Impr. HM, since you don't need Efficiency as much as MM Hunters.

PvE Surv raiding build - 5/5/41 - 5/14/42

Lvl 60: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?5000000000000000000000500000000000000000033320000500312300530350

Lvl 70: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?5000000000000000000000505200200000000000033320000500312300530351

Having a hunter (with the most agility) with you in the raid with this build can increase DPS of the other physical damage classes considerably, thanks to the Expose Weakness proc. Most useful in 40-player instances since there are a lot of players that can take advantage of this talent, but in it's current state not as good for the new max 25-player instances in TBC. Readiness in combination with Rapid Killing lets you use the Rapid Fire ability approximately every 90 seconds. Make sure you use a fast ranged weapon for best use of the abilities.

Unfortunately for optimal raid DPS, it does not give much room to put points in useful PvP abilities such as Wyvern Sting or Deterrence.

--- PvP ---

In Player versus Player combat, following builds can prove most effective in killing other players and / or helping your team win.

PvP MM / Surv build - 0/43/8 - 0/41/20

Lvl 60: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?0000000000000000000005500031205013053135100323000000000000000000

Lvl 70: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?0000000000000000000005500021215013051135102323030311200000000000

Mainly for Group PvP, this combines very high damage output with some useful talents from the survival tree.

PvP Surv / MM build - 0/21/30 - 5/11/45

Lvl 60: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?0000000000000000000005500021205010000000000323030511302313000000

Lvl 70: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?0500000000000000000005500001000000000000003323030511302313501051

Your damage will be lower than the MM / Surv build but you get higher survivability, faster traps and more hit/crit chance. This build is most useful in arenas, although it is upto you to decide whether or not the extra crowd control possibilities are worth sacrificing some of your DPS for.

PvP BM build - 43/5/3 - 43/13/5

Lvl 60: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?0500320152501225310510500000000000000000000300000000000000000000

Lvl 70: http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/basics/talents/hunter/talents.html?0520300152501225310515500201000000000000000320000000000000000000

In PvP Hunter pets are often underestimated. They can deal a nice amount of damage, and in the meantime interrupt caster's so it takes a lot longer for them to cast spells. Intimidation is a useful 3 second stun, giving you the chance to wingclip your target and get back into range if timed perfectly. With Bestial Wrath and The Beast Within, you and your pet will even be unstoppable for 18 seconds every 2 minutes! Make sure you get a high damage pet like a cat, since the extra armor and/or HP that non-offensive pets bring will have little use in PvP.

hey man nice post!

I'm already lvl 32 and was pretty clueless about talents so i usually picked something random lol but after reading this post i have decided i like the look of that solo leveling tree.

Is it as simple as going to a hunter trainer and unlearning my talents then choosing new ones? does it cost? and will i have all my talent points again?

thanks very much and sorry for sounding like an idiot...

Ehm, one, at your leveling build, you have 52 points ;) i think you want 51 points in it.

Second, maybe you can take the "-Raid dps pet spec" in it too, with FI and with or without GftT etc. that is the (39/12/0) or a (43/5/3)

@Yellowlizard: You can relearn your talent points as much as you want. However, each time the cost will increase. The first time it will cost 1g, the second time 5g, then 10g, 15g etc. If the cost is above 10g there is also a small decay which means the cost will go down by max 5g / month.

@Toetje: Thanks, i fixed the leveling build link now. As for the "raid dps pet spec" i'm not sure, but would it look something like:
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/underdev/burningcrusade/hunter/talents.html?0520300151501224310400505200000000000000000000000000000000000000

Looks like an interesting build, i'm just concerned how long your pet can survive, and the viability considering there are probably certain boss fights where your pet simply can't DPS at all.

Great thread and talent builds! I just have to add my "optional BM PVP specc" :)

http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/underdev/burningcrusade/hunter/talents.html?5020300152521005013515500000000000000000000000000000000000000000

It might not be the most effective PVP build for wellgeared players, but I personally LOVE beastial wrath + beast within! Makes PvP more fun imo, wich i need since im not a big PVP fan :p
The serpent swiftness talent gives me a static dps of 206 (using Xbow of smiting + tier2-aq40 gear), And i can get some really fun seconds when i procc some cds :D

If you are in a naxxguild you don't need hawk eye...

my build is http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/underdev/burningcrusade/hunter/talents.html?3000000000000000000000555151205013053105100000000000000000000000

I am CL ´that's why i have improved hunters mark.

use this if you don't wanna gimp yourself with mark.

http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/underdev/burningcrusade/hunter/talents.html?5020000000000000000000505251205013053105100000000000000000000000

Ur raid build has 53 points, needs level 62. Also please for the love of god get 5/5 improved arcane shot in raids.
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/underdev/burningcrusade/hunter/talents.html?3000000000000000000000505051205013053135100300000000000000000000
My raid build for level 60.

Ur saying that BM is the best leveling build, but u kill mobs faster with MM and ur pet holds more aggro in MM excluding Intimidation (tested in BC). I am going MM 2 level :P.
Only problem would be mana usage, but yay we have new water that regens a hunters mana in no time and we can just send our pet to the next target in advance.

Hi, I'm going with this spec:

http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/underdev/burningcrusade/hunter/talents.html?0100000000000000000000505051205013253135100300000000000000000000

Why does nobody else go with Combat Experience? I think it's rather useful as you get some more Mana and some more AP. But now that I see that nobody else in this thread has any points in this Talent im not sure anymore. So why don't you spec it?

for one reason:
points better spend alsewhere.

I am going for it once I level.

I am looking for a Surv / MM PvP build, just for the fun of it.

I need some feedback, since I haven't been anything else than a MM hunter for a long time now.
Could this be any good?
http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=VZVZ0GhhtcMhAhAo

Added 2 raid builds and one BM PvP build, also changed the raid build a bit. It is hard to choose between barrage, improved barrage, go for the throat, imp AotH and FF cause the damage bonus seems all so close together.

@Frutiedrops: that build is missing wyvern sting and counterattack, with only 1 point left. Either way the reason i didn't add a build with 41 points in Survival yet cause of the little usefulness / bonus you get compared to putting those extra points in MM. The situations where this can be useful are fairly limited. One would be as a sort of support role in raiding, with Expose Weakness. The other would be in arenas, where you could use Traps, Wyvern Sting, Deterrence and Rapid Fire twice in a short time period. However, you are missing out on aimed shot, which is still kind of nice for PvP...

But if you really want to try it, get rid of Expose Weakness and put at least 1 point in Trap Mastery so that your Freezing Traps will get resisted nearly never. For example: http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=VZVZzGhhtsMuAuVo

http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/underdev/burningcrusade/hunter/talents.html?5000000000000000000000505031205013053135100300000000000000000000

thats mine.. and it works great

---

Q u o t e:
Hi, I'm going with this spec:

http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/underdev/burningcrusade/hunter/talents.html?0100000000000000000000505051205013253135100300000000000000000000

Why does nobody else go with Combat Experience? I think it's rather useful as you get some more Mana and some more AP. But now that I see that nobody else in this thread has any points in this Talent im not sure anymore. So why don't you spec it?

---

Hello,

in my opinion, if you want a MM build, Combat Experience is a must !!!

if you have a hunter with say.... 500 agility and 250 intellect, then combat experience gives you:

10 agility and 15 intellect (225 mana)

imo those points can be well-spent on other things :)

http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/underdev/burningcrusade/hunter/talents.html?0000000000000000000002505001205313253135101300000000000000000000

My personal build, quite good for pvp and pve, but, the main damage comes from bursts of crits.

I use 5/40/6
good for pvp and pve also.
gives nice dps, high crits, and the improved AotH procs hell offten.

http://www.wowhead.com/?talent=mxZVVbRqzhest0h

Thats my build.Works good in PvP and PvE for me. ;)

---

Q u o t e:

PvE Raid Beastmaster / Pet damage build (with impr. hunter's mark) - 39/12/0

http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/underdev/burningcrusade/hunter/talents.html?5020300050521224310400550200000000000000000000000000000000000000

This is a bit of an out of the ordinary build, mainly relying on your pet to do a lot of damage. You won't have The Beast Within, but you'll have Go For The Throat, and combined with Impr. AotH, Serpent's Swiftness and Lethal Shots and a fast ranged weapon, your pet will be doing damage like crazy. Just make sure they have the highest rank Bite (8), Claw (8) and/or Furious Howl (4) to fully take use of their focus. Also this build is ideal to use with Impr. Hunter's Mark, since you don't need Efficiency as much as MM Hunters, giving them the opportunity to put those 5 points elsewhere, to increase their ranged damage!

---

You might want to rewrite this.
39/12/0 is build that in combination of Fast weapon( r14 bow, Toxin injector), Windserpent, SS and GFTT deals by far most damage in raid situations where pets are no risk/no worry.

We are seeing hunters coming out first on PW fight using this.

Alliance hunters will find it very useful also due insane mana regain trough JoW. (~218mp/5 using 1.8 speed weapon - simulated trough 1.000.000 second test, more info on EJ forum)

Hi, Fez.

Nice builds. but i'm really thinking. you see so many Bm leveling build, great for solo/leveling.
but is this build really good? is it really to go on your build while i'm lvl 40. for the last time. there are nice builds. Grats

/Greetings

Ps. sorry for ruining your topic a little.

Hi,

I would like to suggest this talent build:
0/10/41
http://www.wow-europe.com/en/info/underdev/burningcrusade/hunter/talents.html?0000000000000000000000550000000000000000023320000500322300530350

The idea behind this build is ofcourse the Expose Weakness talent.
Imho every raiding guild should have 1 hunter with a talent build similar to this one. Obviously this should be the hunter with the highest agility.
I myself have 600 agility raidbuffed now, without using Elixir of the mongoose. So my expose weakness gives everyone in the raid 150 AP when it procs and it does proc quite often ;)

This build is pure pve. However, there are some points u can play with (improved feign death for example, kinda sucky talent).

Greetings,

Ekko