Surv spec...worth it for soloing?Follow

I am primarily a solo player, because RL constraints keep me from doing many heroics and raids. I am, however, starting to get into heroics a little bit more, as well as the occasional 10-man Naxx and OS run.

Now that BM has been nerfed all to hell and gone, I'm getting complaints about my DPS (yes, I know I'm WAY undergeared, but I'm working on it as circumstances allow.) Admittedly, most of those complaints came from a heroic HoL run where I wasn't allowed to make the most of my DPS. The first fight, which was a fairly straightforward tank-n-spank, I screwed up. I forgot I had disabled AutoAspect the night before while farming because it was annoying me, and therefore had Viper on for the whole fight. The second fight, we were running all around during the Disperse phase, which reduced my DPS significantly on the meters. The last fight, I was meleeing so that we were all clustered around Loken. I was around 800-900 DPS on all those fights. Today, during a heroic CoT run when all the mobs were tank-n-spank, I was around 1300 DPS.

Still not great, but like I said, I AM working on it. I'm in the process of collecting mats and/or money for buyable epics, farming rep for the rep-purchased stuff, and will be enchanting the hell outta myself as I get the mats and skill. So don't rake me over the coals for my lameass gear--I'm trying to fix it.

Which brings me to my spec. I've been going BM/Surv which probably wasn't the best choice, but the last time I was an active raider was 3 years ago at lvl 60 and back then, my raid utility was almost all about the traps so that's what I know. Nowadays, I don't seem to get called upon for traps all that much, so I'm not sure its worth it. My groups seem to be all about DPS, so I figure that's where my focus needs to be.

So...I am thinking of going with this spec but wonder how this will affect my solo ability, and if it's really where I can get the most bang for my buck for DPS.

Opinions?

hey, I think your gear is great. I am in the same boat as you are with RL things not letting me "be all I can be." So don't bash yourself too hard. Being stuck in viper is funny though, just because I do it myself like every freaking day.

I made the switch last night. OMG Explosive Shot is the best. shot. ever.

Now I need to figure out a good shot rotation both for soloing and raiding that will make the most of it while soloing and avoid grabbing too much aggro while raiding. I suspect it will become my first shot after Misdirect, at least while soloing...might as well funnel that wonderful aggro to my pet.

Agreed. Watching explosive shot crits ticking while having the mob stunned is great. Half the time I can send pet on one, EW + aim a second then steady shot down the one on the pet while the second mob dies to the DoT. All the while it's very mana efficient.