This Survival hunter fights in melee with two one-handed weapons and no pet, for 
Lone Wolf's 20 % more damage. It spends mana, and never runs out. You queue 
Raptor Strike onto your swings, press 
Strider Kick and 
Immolation Trap on cooldown, and bite with 
Mongoose Bite whenever Expose Prey opens it on a boss carrying 
Hunter's Mark. 
Wing Clip fills the gaps. On a one-minute single-boss fight the build does 1,005.7 DPS, 3rd of 25 damage specs.
It is a community build, the way beta players already fight. Classic's Survival tree served a ranged hunter, but Forever removed Wyvern Sting and added melee talents such as 
Predator's Edge and 
Lacerating Strikes. The build gives up the pet and the bow that the Beast Mastery and Marksmanship guides are built on.
Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- One boss. It places 3rd on a three-minute single-boss fight and 3rd over one minute, above both ranged hunter builds in our benchmark.
- No mana trouble.
Major Mana Potion and 
Mageblood Elixir are worth 0.0 %, because you never run short. - The melee group's buffs. Windfury Totem procs from your abilities as well as your swings, and its extra swings are 16.5 % of your damage. Battle Shout counts in full too.
- A short list. No pet to manage, one mark to keep up, and no cooldown to save for the end.
Weaknesses
- Packs of bosses. Every ability hits one target. Against three bosses for three minutes it drops to 10th, behind both ranged hunters, with only
Dragonbreath Chili and the sapper reaching the other two. - Its best hit waits on luck. The boss attacks the tank, so Mongoose Bite opens only through Expose Prey's 10 % chance on each hit you land. The window is open 37.5 % of the fight.
- Expensive weapons. Both factions' sets use
Teebu's Blazing Longsword and 
Julie's Dagger, world drops that bind on equip. - Unsettled talents.
Savage Strikes is crit in the game data and damage in Blizzard's notes. Our simulator uses the game data.
On every fight
Survival ranks 3rd on a single boss whatever the length. It scores highest on one minute, where Rapid Fire and the sapper at the pull cover more of the fight: the sapper is worth 1.5 % there and 0.5 % on three minutes. On three bosses its abilities still hit one. Choosing a fight in the table re-reads every page of this guide for it.
Races
Night Elf is the Alliance pick on a one-minute single-boss fight. Humans take the two- and three-minute fights through Sword Specialization's 2 % crit, which any sword in either hand turns on, and each Alliance set carries a sword. Night Elves take the one-minute fights, because Elune's Light, popped at the pull for 10 % crit over 15 seconds, lasts a quarter of the fight.
The Horde answer is Orc on every fight. 
Blood Fury gives 15 seconds of 10 % more attack power, and Axe Specialization's 1 % crit counts only in a set that holds an axe.
What a Hunter brings to the raid
A melee Survival hunter adds no party buff. Hunter's Mark gives ranged attack power to everyone shooting the boss, but every benchmark hunter marks its own target, so it shows almost nothing. The boss already carries Scorpid Sting.
Changes
The chart tracks this build's score from one simulator or game-data update to the next. Its jump on 10 October came with the hunter fixes: Mongoose Bite opens off Expose Prey, and every Lacerating Strikes bleed now ticks. What went into each one is on the Updates page.