Suppose it has gotten to that point where I should do some read-up in terms of optimising dps output as the M+ difficulty keeps scaling up. I haven't even thought about opting into different talents since when I started doing M+ it was more about mechanically getting myself in check and then focus on the damage when it starts being an issue (I understand that more damage would make things easier). My knowledge is pretty much limited to how hunters functioned back around when ToV came out.

The reasons for choosing Stampede was because at the time I thought I'd get more use out of it than Killer Cobra; it provided more upfront burst damage. I then molded my playstyle around this where being able to skip an entire phase of a boss seemed rather decent. My burst currently on Tyrannical (including lust) gets a boss down by 30% in the 35 seconds; that can still push phases even at M+15. With that being said though, I haven't read enough in the whole deal with Stampede vs Killer Cobra to make an informed decision (the general consensus was Stampede for AoE on mobs and Killer Coba for smaller/single target dps).

I agree with Dire Frenzy, since 7.2 came out it started performing more than Stomp. That was just me being lazy and not keeping myself informed on current talent selections. Will be looking to make this change and seeing how it goes.

In terms of gear, I agree obtaining those pieces are going to be difficult especially since I just recently secluded myself from the raiding scene however tier sets produce damage spikes; one that I'd prefer if I choose to take Mythic+ seriously and grind higher. It's also something you have to do proactively as well since gearing 5 characters with tier pieces (890+) can be rather.. time consuming. All I can do it take it a step at a time.