I've been browsing here for a while, but in all the hunter discussions I must have missed any direct math comparisons between Survival and Marksman spec. So I started doing one myself. So far I've only done auto-shot stats but I'm wondering if I haven't made a mistake somewhere along the way, as my Survival spec numbers (when stealing buffs from MM) come out higher than Marksman, and I had thought the opposite would be true, although Aspect of the Hawk would bump Marksman back on top overall.
Anyways, the numbers:
First we compare self-buffed damage, against the same target, so Survival is leeching a few AP from Imp. HM
Slaying Talents not in calculations as both specs have them.
Marksman Spec Damage
http://www.ctprofiles.net/3217784
Buffs: Trueshot (100 AP), Max. Rank Imp. Hunter's Mark (126 AP), Aspect of the Hawk (120 AP)
Normal Auto-Shot : 453-519
Buffed Auto-Shot : 537-603
Buffed + RWS Auto-Shot : 564-633
Average Buffed + RWS Auto-Shot : 786.7881
(564+633)/2 * (1.00 - 0.242) + (564+633)/2 * 0.242 * 2.3
598.5 * .758 + 598.5 * 0.242 * 2.3
453.663 + 333.1251
Survival Spec Damage
http://www.ctprofiles.net/3217616
Buffs: Max. Rank Imp. Hunter's Mark (126 AP), Aspect of the Hawk (120 AP)
Normal Auto-Shot : 479-542
Buffed Auto-Shot : 539-602
Average Buffed Auto-Shot : 765.331455
(539+602)/2 * (1.00 - 0.2627) + (539+602)/2 * 0.2627 * 2.3
570.5 * 0.7373 + 570.5 * 0.2627 * 2.3
420.62965 + 344.701805
Not a huge difference, but Marksman is better.
Next we'll compare buffed damage, against the same target, both hunter's in the same group, so Survival is leeching
Trueshot Aura and a few AP from Imp. HM
Marksman Spec Damage
http://www.ctprofiles.net/3217784
Buffs: Trueshot (100 AP), Max. Rank Imp. Hunter's Mark (126 AP), Aspect of the Hawk (120 AP),
Kings (43 agi - 86 AP, 0.81% crit), MotW (17 agi - 34 AP, 0.32% crit)
Normal Auto-Shot : 453-519
Buffed Auto-Shot : 566-632
Buffed + RWS Auto-Shot : 594-664
Average Buffed + RWS Auto-Shot : 836.12341
(594+664)/2 * (1.00 - 0.2533) + (594+664)/2 * 0.2533 * 2.3
629 * .7467 + 629 * 0.2533 * 2.3
469.6743 + 366.44911
Survival Spec Damage
http://www.ctprofiles.net/3217616
Buffs: Trueshot (100 AP), Max. Rank Imp. Hunter's Mark (126 AP), Aspect of the Hawk (120 AP),
Kings (60 agi - 120 AP, 1.13% crit), MotW (17 agi - 34 AP, 0.32% crit)
Normal Auto-Shot : 479-542
Buffed Auto-Shot : 605-668
Average Buffed Auto-Shot : 865.86914
(605+668)/2 * (1.00 - 0.2772) + (605+668)/2 * 0.2772 * 2.3
636.5 * 0.7228 + 636.5 * 0.2772 * 2.3
460.0622 + 405.80694
So Survival is coming out ahead when it can steal Trueshot from Marks and because Kings does more for a Survival hunter.