By Axe and Arrow

[Medicine Man]

I just can't resist the urge to talk about talent builds now. I was thinking much the same thing as you, Lochnar. 8 points survival, 22 points marksmanship, 21 points beast mastery. My initial plan would prolly look something like this:

Marksmanship:

5/5 Improved Concusive Shot
5/5 Lethal Shots
1/1 Aimed Shot
2/2 Barrage
2/5 Efficiency
5/5 Mortal Shots
1/3 Improved Scorpid Sting
1/1 Scatter Shot

Beast Mastery:

5/5 Endurance Training
3/3 Improved Aspect of Monkey
2/3 Bestial Discipline or Improved Aspect of Hawk
5/5 Unleashed Fury
1/1 Bestial Swiftness
5/5 Thick Hide

Survival:

5/5 Precision
3/3 Lightning Reflexes

I figure this build will make me well prepared for whatever comes. For those times when melee combat becomes inevitable, I have over a 20% dodge, mongoose strike and a 5% boost to hit rolls. Unlike the vast majority of hunters, I actually prefer Aspect of Monkey over Hawk, at least when soloing. When grouped, Aspect of Hawk is probably ok -- although I find I still get lots of agro in most groups.

I haven't decided yet, but I may drop the Survival talents and redistribute them across my other trees. I may reduce Unleashed Fury to 4/5 and purchase:

3/3 Hawk Eye
5/5 Ranged Weapon Specialization
1/1 Trueshot Aura

Or I may go the pet route and do this:

5/5 Ferocity
3/5 Frenzy

Or:

2/2 Improved Mend Pet
1/1 Spirit Bond
2/5 Ferocity

I'm not sure how much focus I want to put on pet talents, but I'm fairly certain that any of these builds would pay handsome dividends. Any thoughts on the matter, Loch?