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1. Even though the other build is better for raiding, is that a build that I'd want to switch to even before I start raiding, as in....50-ish? Or 60-ish? Or...where?
2. Is Imp. Hawk really that great? ...If it is, I actually may not need to respec to get the build that I was shooting for - I took it off, because it didn't proc that often, and I wasn't sure if it would be something worthwhile later.
3. What does that survival-spec build that every raid needs look like? I'm guessing that it's based primarily around stuns and traps - would that be anywhere near?
4. How much is not taking the three points in Hawk Eye going to hurt soloing? Or grouping?
1. The reason the other build is great for raiding is because it focuses on your damage-dealing potential. The first build gives your pet more survivability, which is very helpful for leveling or even for soloing at 70. The thing is, in raids your pet would probably be 1-shotted, so you're not likely to off-tank at all with it. So, only when you start doing raids or heroics regularly, which is at level 70, would I recommend a pure DPS build.
2. IAotH is the only first-tier BM talent that increases DPS, and therefore should be in every BM DPS build. However, if you go marksman or survival, it is still an easy 5 points to spend that will up your DPS. You will probably see a 4% increase in your damage-dealing potential by having hawk, so yes it is great. But, again, in solo play you would better off with a stronger pet than a stronger bow if you go down the BM line.
3. Actually, while some survival builds are based on traps (and are common for heroics), once you hit raids the survival spec is
this. It focuses on agility and crit, and every time you crit you get mana back and temporarily give all melee DPS and fellow hunters a huge increase in damage potential. This is a high-DPS build (albeit not as much as the BM spec, but you add more to the raid).
A trap-based SV spec wouldn't really use stuns, but would have a lot of crowd control, and would probably look something like
this. With this build, you may sacrifice 4-5% of your damage dealing potential to include longer traps with a shorter cooldown, scatter shot, deterrence, and wyvern sting.
4. Hawk eye will not really hurt soloing or grouping. In fact, in some ways it helps. It DOES increase your range to 41 yards, which means you can pull from farther. However, if you fight from closer to benefit from auras or totems, you may see some difficulties. Also, it is 3 talent points for no real difference if you're sitting there shooting at 20-30 yards, whereas if you were to put those 3 points into finishing mortal shots you could see a 3.6% increase in your damage from those 3 points if you have a 20% crit chance (which you should have for raiding, if you're BM).