As of 2026-11-06, first draft. Forever build 1.60.1.70790. Nothing below was checked in game.
Hunter hotkeys by spec: Beast Mastery, Marksmanship, Survival
The idea
- Movement: WASD, with A and D strafing and the mouse turning. WERD and QWES versions of every chart are further down.
- Main bar: shots and stings on the top keys, melee (Raptor Strike, Wing Clip, Mongoose Bite) on the bottom row, Feign Death on V, Auto Shot on 1 and Mend Pet on 2.
- Aspects are on the number row: 3 to 6, with Wild and Beast on Shift-5 and Shift-6, and tracking on Shift-1 to Shift-4. No source says aspects swap Action Bar 1, so it never pages here.
- Layers:
- Shift: the other shots and stings, then all four traps on the bottom row.
- Ctrl: the pet bar, then rare tools.
- Alt: escapes and talent cooldowns, then Call Pet and Revive Pet.
- Racials: Alt-Q is your race's combat racial and Ctrl-Z its utility racial (table below).
- Pictures:
hunter-keys-beast-mastery.png,hunter-keys-marksmanship.pngandhunter-keys-survival.png: the keyboard per spec at level 60.hunter-wiring.png: each key, its binding command, the action slot or pet bar button, and what each spec gets there.
Setting it up by hand
- Turn on the bars: Settings > Gameplay > Action Bars: turn on Action Bars 2, 3, 4 and 5. A hidden bar's buttons don't respond to keys, and its bindings don't show in Key Bindings.
- Movement: Key Bindings > Movement:
- Bind your scheme's four keys (Movement schemes, below).
- Unbind Turn Left and Turn Right; the mouse turns.
- Bind each key to the button the wiring diagram names:
- ACTIONBUTTON is Action Bar 1.
- MULTIACTIONBAR1BUTTON is Action Bar 2, MULTIACTIONBAR2BUTTON is Action Bar 3, MULTIACTIONBAR3BUTTON is Action Bar 4 and MULTIACTIONBAR4BUTTON is Action Bar 5.
- BONUSACTIONBUTTON is the pet bar: "Pet Action Button 1-10" in Key Bindings.
- Fill the bars:
- Drag each spell onto its button.
- In Forever, new spells and ranks no longer go onto your bars by themselves. Drag each one on when you learn it.
- Optional: the "Auto Attack/Auto Shot" setting switches between melee and Auto Shot for you.
- Default keys you lose: binding a key replaces its default job. C no longer opens the Character pane; open it from the menu bar, or bind Toggle Character Pane to Shift-C.
Main bar
| Key | Spell | Key | Spell |
|---|---|---|---|
| Q | Arcane Shot | Z | Raptor Strike |
| E | Serpent Sting | X | Wing Clip |
| R | Multi-Shot | C | Mongoose Bite |
| F | Aimed Shot | V | Feign Death |
| T | Hunter's Mark | 1 | Auto Shot |
| G | Concussive Shot | 2 | Mend Pet |
Other bars
| Layer | Keys |
|---|---|
| Aspects and tracking (Action Bar 5) | 3 Hawk, 4 Monkey, 5 Cheetah, 6 Pack, Shift-5 Wild, Shift-6 Beast; Shift-1 Track Beasts, Shift-2 Track Humanoids, Shift-3 Track Undead, Shift-4 Track Hidden |
| Shift (Action Bar 2) | Q Sniper Shot, E Scorpid Sting, R Volley, F Rapid Fire, T Viper Sting, G Scatter Shot, Z Freezing Trap, X Frost Trap, C Immolation Trap, V Explosive Trap, B Distracting Shot, N Tranquilizing Shot |
| Ctrl: pet bar | Q Attack, E Follow, R Stay, F/T/G/V the pet's abilities (pet bar buttons 4-7), 1/2/3 pet bar buttons 8-10 (stances) |
| Ctrl (Action Bar 3) | X Eyes of the Beast, C Eagle Eye, 4 Feed Pet, 5 Dismiss Pet, 6 Tame Beast, B Beast Lore, N Scare Beast, Z utility racial |
| Alt (Action Bar 4) | Q combat racial, E Disengage, R Deterrence, F Counterattack, T Strider Kick, G Intimidation, Z Bestial Wrath, X Summon Hawk, C Trueshot Aura, V Flare, 1 Call Pet, 2 Revive Pet |
The pet bar:
- The Attack, Follow and Stay positions are Classic's defaults.
- Forever brought back Aggressive mode, in the Pet tab of the spellbook. Drag it onto a free pet bar button if your pet bar lacks it.
Racials by race
Hunters in Forever can be Dwarf, Night Elf, Orc, Tauren, Troll, Human (new in Forever) or either Skyborne race (Windshaper on the Horde, High Order on the Alliance).
| Race | Alt-Q (combat) | Ctrl-Z (utility) |
|---|---|---|
| Human | Will to Survive: removes stuns | Perception: detect stealth for 20 s |
| Dwarf | Stoneform: immune to Bleed, Poison and Disease, less Physical damage taken, 8 s | Find Treasure |
| Night Elf | Elune's Light: +10% crit for 15 s | Shadowmeld |
| Orc | Blood Fury: +10% Attack Power and Spell Power for 15 s | Shatter Curse |
| Tauren | War Stomp: 2 s stun | Cultivation |
| Troll | Berserking: +10% attack and cast speed for 15 s | Rapid Regeneration |
| Windshaper Skyborne | Skysight: +15% run speed for 15 s | Walk on Air: glide for 10 s |
| High Order Skyborne | Read Leyline: +50% Health and Mana regeneration for 15 s | Walk on Air |
Orc's passive Command adds 5% pet damage.
What changes by spec
| Key | Beast Mastery | Marksmanship | Survival |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shift-Q | (empty) | Sniper Shot | (empty) |
| Shift-G | (empty) | Scatter Shot | (empty) |
| Alt-R | (empty) | (empty) | Deterrence |
| Alt-F | (empty) | (empty) | Counterattack |
| Alt-T | (empty) | (empty) | Strider Kick |
| Alt-G | Intimidation | (empty) | (empty) |
| Alt-Z | Bestial Wrath | (empty) | (empty) |
| Alt-X | Summon Hawk | (empty) | (empty) |
| Alt-C | (empty) | Trueshot Aura | (empty) |
Forever changes that shaped this
From Blizzard's beta development notes (the October updates and the Nov 2 update):
- Shooting:
- Auto Shot needs you to stand still for 0.5 s first. It keeps firing while you cast Aimed Shot or Sniper Shot.
- Aimed Shot bonus damage is up about 110%.
- Arcane Shot and Serpent Sting hit harder.
- Traps: all traps share one 30 s cooldown.
- New talent spells:
- Sniper Shot, the Marksmanship 31st talent: 45-yard range, and your next 3 shots gain 10 yards.
- Strider Kick (Survival): +30% move speed for 3 s, usable unarmed.
- Summon Hawk (Beast Mastery): the hawk appears at your target.
- Trueshot Aura is now raid-wide.
- Pets:
- Aggressive mode is back.
- You can't tame beasts above your level.
- Pets get Expertise and your higher crit chance.
Sources
- Blizzard "Beta Development Notes - Updated November 2", captured 2026-11-04. Its hunter and pet sections run from the first post to the Nov 2 post, and the newest wins.
- ForeverAuras 1.2.2
SecretAuraRanks.lua(beta data from before Nov 2, read 2026-11-05) gives the spell names. ForeverAurasPlayerSpecialization.luagives each tree's final talent (Bestial Wrath, Sniper Shot, Lacerating Strikes). - Racials: the racial pass in the same Blizzard thread, and foreverdb "Races, classes and reworked racials" (Sep 29, updated later) for the race list and the actives.
- Bindings:
- Warcraft Wiki "BindingID" (fetched 2026-11-06) lists BONUSACTIONBUTTON1-10.
- A Blizzard Classic forum thread (Aug 2023) names them "Pet Action Button 1 - 10" in Key Bindings.
Unverified
- Tree placement of Intimidation, Scatter Shot, Counterattack and Deterrence follows Classic. The notes don't place them.
- Lacerating Strikes, Survival's final talent, reads as a passive, so it has no key.
- Strider Kick and Summon Hawk come from the October notes; the Nov 2 post doesn't mention them.
- Racials: the race list and the actives come from sources older than the Nov 2 notes (foreverdb, Sep 29, and the October racial pass). Of the actives here, the Nov 2 post mentions only Blood Fury, Berserking, Skysight and Read Leyline.
- Skyborne racials. foreverdb gives Skysight to Windshaper and Read Leyline to High Order; the Blizzard notes list both under "Skyborne". A Skyborne may have both.
- Pet bar: the default positions of Attack, Follow, Stay and the stances on Forever's pet bar.
- Aspects: whether they swap Action Bar 1.
- Spell levels aren't shown. A key stays empty until you learn its spell.
- Pictures assume the spec's full talent set at 60.
