I vaguely remember some tidbits of advice on the new expertises and hometerrains from the old forum but can't find them any more.

I tried a wood-elf hunter once, I loved the power of the combo but couldn't enjoy trying to RP a wood-elf for the life me, so going Felar or Svirf this time.

The two main classes I am interested in are the Explorer and Animist expertises. I have played a wood-elf hunter swamp ht to near hero before so I am pretty familiar with that setup (if you need a baseline to compare to.)
So questions

1. What are the main ups and downs of the Explorer.
1a. Specifically how does wanderlust work, you get some bonuses in terrains other than your home, is this just stuff like better wilderness fam, camo, herb, and creep, or does it extend to automatic skills like pursuit, bramble pit, mountaineer bearcharge, sure footing, ect?
1b. I remember hearing somewhere that explorers don't get fast camo. Is there anything to this any hidden disadvantages to the kit?

2. Questions on Animist.
2a. About how much does symbiosis heal at hero? Is it out of combat only?
2b. How good are spirit guardians/ in a straight up fight?/ utility for warning?/how much control over them do you have?/Can you keep one up all the time or is there a long downtime between callings?
2c. How big of a boost do you get to terrain based spells (like boreal winds), compared to a non animist?

3. Any big advice or suggestions on hometerrains?

Thanks in advance for any advice.