[Guide] The Beast Within: Beast Mastery in PvP
The Beast Within: Beast Mastery PvP Guide Revised
I'm getting back from a long break and rolling out on the Icecrown realm. I will rewrite this guide fully. Sorry for the missed private messages.
Table of Content
1. Introduction
2. Race
3. Talents & Glyphs
4. Itemization
5. Professions
6. Pets
Introduction
Best Mastery Hunter while not considered as a meta spec is still can be incredibly fun to play and fairly viable. It's maybe the best way to level your hunter of course but will fall off fast in terms of DPS as soon as end-game PvE content kicks in. However, in PvP it's a bit of a difference. Marksmanship Hunter sure will perform better in the arena and have an overall better chance to win a fight in a controlled environment. Also, Marksmanship will have a more "fair" chance in a duel. Beastmastery Hunter on another hand will crush pretty much any low-skill player and be incredibly strong against several classes in a mid to high-skill bracket but at the same time, it will have next to zero chance to win a fight against any skilled Warrior, Death Knight, or a Paladin. As a bonus, Beast Mastery also has a better chance of winning a fight if you are ambushed.
To put it more simply:
Advantages:
- You have an extra trinket and CC immunity in the form of The Beast Within.
- Some minor amount of extra healing due to Spirit Bond
- Opt-in access to exotic pets.
- Element of surprise.
Disadvantages:
- Any skilled PvP Plate Spec will kill you unless you run away.
- Your pet is your life, damage, utility, buffs... everything. And it sorta dies easily in any massive fight.
Race
Alliance
- Night Elf. The main point to roll this race would be a Shadowmeld. If used correctly it can save your life. By "melding" in a fly time of a spell you can avoid its effect completely. As an example now warlock won't lend a death coil on you.
- Draenei. Heroic Presence is nice to tweak your stats a bit more. Gift of the Naaru can save you a bit but also is affected by healing reduction talents and can be dispelled (I'm not 100% sure about a dispel).
- Dwarf. Stoneform in my opinion is the weakest racial from the Alliance side. Gun Specialization is completely useless except if you are going to use a Wrathful Gladiator's Shotgun.
Horde
Please, note that I did skip all resistance racial skills and racial skills that don't have a direct impact on a hunter's gameplay.
Also, you are free to pick any race just based on appearance and it won't be any problem most of the time.
Talents & Glyphs
I was mostly used to having 2 talent specs. One with Exotic Beasts and another one with Readiness.
Here are links and some extra explanations:
Exotic Pets spec
Link: https://wotlk.evowow.com/?talent#cqb...Rt0eVso:0VbM0V
This is a fairly standard spec I used to do World PvP and Arenas with. You can take out 3 points from Improved Arcane Shot and 2 points from Spirit Bonds and put them elsewhere.
Readiness spec
Link: https://wotlk.evowow.com/?talent#cqb...beVso0z:0VbM0V
Sacrificing Exotic pets for a utility that Readiness provides
Glyphs are included in talent builds.
Itemization
I really can't give you a BiS list for this spec but rather stat caps you need to reach and some general recommendations.
Stats:
Hit - 5% is a cap but you can go for some swap part to get an extra 2% hit against Rogues and Paladins because since they have talents that makes them 2% harder to hit.
Resilience - for the most part I would sit around 1.2k and it should work just fine.
Prio for rest: Attack Power > Agility > Crit chance > ArP > Haste.
Main set I would keep full Warthful as well as all offsets that give you agility. The rest are PvE items.
As for a melee weapon, it's a good idea to have one PvE two-hander with attack power enchant and two PvP one-handers with attack power and titanium chain enchant. Normally you are going to use two-hander for more stats and swap for one-handed weapons against classes that have a disarm.
For Trinkets, you normally want to use your best DPS trinket paired with a Medalion of Alliance/Horde. Sometimes, in BGs or the open world, you can switch to having double DPS trinkets and deal some fancy damage while using your Bestial Wrath to get out of crowd-control effects.
Gems and enchants are mostly a personal thing in my opinion. Mainly you try to reach your resilience and hit caps. After that just try to get as much Attack Power as possible. Do not gem/enchant ArP and Haste.
Professions
Almost for any PvP spec Engineering is just a very nice thing. Same for a Hunter so I would 100% pick it as a first profession.
As for a second option, I think the most useful would be either jewelry crafting or Blacksmithing. They give you the biggest stat amount and versatility.
The next tier for the second profession would be Enchanting and Leatherworking for a static Attack Power bonus or Tailoring as a burst option. Alchemy is also very nice and can be fun to play around in the open world or BGs.
The rest of the professions are around the same.
Pets
So pets are a complicated topic for a Beastmastery hunter.
For a simple answer, you can go with Core Hound to the arena and with Chimeara to everywhere else.
A more detailed tier for pets from my experience would be:
Ferocity
[b]S Tier[b]
Core Hound (Exotic pets) for Lava Breath. It's a nice thing to have on an enemy caster. As a bonus, it is magical damage so it ignores armor but the target may have a spell resistance.
Wolf (Readiness spec mostly) for Furious Howl. Same reason as for a PvE. More attack power = better.
A Tier
Devilsaur and Spirit Beast (both are exotic). They both deal nice damage and might suit your playstyle better. No specific PvP ability, just damage.
B Tier
Cats are good for their Rakeagainst rogues. Pretty much makes stealth impossible and makes fighting a rogue much easier. As a downside, it's maybe the only thing they are good for.
Hyenas for Tendon Rip. Hyenas deal less damage than a wolf and can be justified only for open-world PvP for this slow ability if you are playing a Readiness spec.
C Tier
Raptors and theirs Rend. It's a low-key Devilsaur wannabe. I wouldn't use them unless you just like the looks.
D Tier
Moths and Wasps. They both have the weakest spells. I would never pick one for PvP.
I dare you to kill me
https://huntsmanslodge.com/images/hunter_pvp_pets.jpg
Tame Mazzranache.
Get Dust Cloud.
Play good and make people hate you!
It's a pet for those who just love to piss others off!
Ferocity specs
For Exotic Beasts specced hunters: https://wotlk.evowow.com/?petcalc#mqd00bszzhoRb
For Readiness spec: https://wotlk.evowow.com/?petcalc#0Md00bszzh0oo
Cunning
S Tier
Chimaeras. Froststorm Breath is just a perfect thing for kiting. As a bonus, it can't be dispelled!
A Tier
That will be a skip tier for a cunning.
B Tier
Silithids. They are big, scary exotic spiders. Venom Web Spray is a nice addition. Just make sure to cast a trap right before the Web wears off so it won't disrupt a trap with damage.
C Tier
Bats, Nether Rays, Birds of Prey, Ravagers, and Spiders are rather very situation pets used for some fun as a Beastmaster Hunter.
D Tier
I don't see any reason to pick Sporboats, Dragonhawks, Serpents, and Wind Serpents.
Cunning specs
For Exotic Beasts specced hunters: https://wotlk.evowow.com/?petcalc#cibo0zsh0boRd
For Readiness spec: https://wotlk.evowow.com/?petcalc#cMd00och0b0Rz
Tenacity
S Tier
Worms and their Acid Spit
Situational Tier
Pretty much every other pet except one in a tier above and one in a tier below is situational and if you pick them then you should know what are you doing.
"Blizzard, why?" Tier
Rhino, Stampede. Really?
Tenacity specs
For Exotic Beasts specced hunters: https://wotlk.evowow.com/?petcalc#mVzhubh0bokM
For Readiness spec: https://wotlk.evowow.com/?petcalc#0wzhzbh0bokz
Rotation or whatever you call it
There's no exact rotation in a PvP. However, you do have some sort of a priority list that you would follow as a BM.
The main thing that you should note is that you don't use Bestial Wrath right away.
Why? Well, because it is not only DPS cooldown but also it practically makes you and your pet unstoppable. So in many fights, it is a much better idea to wait until you catch any sort of a CC (a.e. Fear/Stun, etc.).
Your general priority would be to keep Aim Shot up all the time for a heal reduction, Arcane shot, and serpent sting goes the last. Also, don't forget to use utility spells such as Traps, Concussive Shot, and Tranquilizing Shot.
I usually use Bestial Wrath right after I catch the first CC, unless I can use Master's Call instead. Roar of Sacrifice (Cunning/Tenacity pet) when I expect some heavy damage.
Sidenote: it is pretty much all as for now. You can contact me for more info in-game or for any other reason. I honestly don't have energy to finish it as a complete manual. Maybe latter someday. Plus I don't think many people actually will play BM for more than few BGs anyway.
In-game I play on Gwathriel | Icecrown most of the time. You can also try discord.
