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Beast Mastery (WoW Talent Tree)  

See Hunter Talent Builds

Beast Mastery represents the hunter's focus on his/her connection to nature and the beasts that live within in. Most Beast Mastery abilities and talents are centered around the hunter's pet, and the rest are on the use of aspects.

Contents [hide]

Primary uses

Beast Mastery is generally considered the best leveling tree for hunters, who are already arguably the best levelers in the game. Additionally, Beast Mastery is capable of some very good damage output once you get down to Serpent's Swiftness, which makes them very desirable in raids. Although not the best PvP'ers, The Beast Within is certainly useful for keeping the hunter from being crowd controlled.

Tier 1

Tier 2

(5 points must already be spent in the tree)

Tier 3

(10 points required)

Tier 4

(15 points required)

Tier 5

(20 points required)

Tier 6

(25 points required)

  • Animal Handler (2) - Pet's miss rate is reduced by up to 4% and mount speed is slightly increased.
  • Frenzy (5) - Pet attacks 30% faster after scoring a crit. It is common to only spend 4 points in Frenzy since the return on the final point is questionable.

Tier 7

(30 points required)

Tier 8

(35 points required)

Tier 9

(40 points required)

  • The Beast Within (1) - Makes hunter immune to crowd control while Bestial Wrath is active.

Typical Points Spent

A hunter that is still leveling or that primarily solos might choose to assign some of these points differently, but a typical level 70 hunter talent build designed for DPS will include:

Typical 41/20/0 build
  • 5/5 Improved Aspect of the Hawk
  • 2/2 Focused Fire
  • 2/2 Improved Revive Pet
  • 1 loose point (Endurance Training, most likely)
  • 5/5 Unleashed Fury
  • 5/5 Ferocity
  • Intimidation
  • 2/2 Improved Mend Pet
  • 2 loose points (often Bestial Discipline, but Go For the Throat often makes these points wasted)
  • 4/5 Frenzy
  • 2/2 Animal Handler (second point is usually spent after Ferocious Inspiration)
  • Bestial Wrath
  • 3/3 Ferocious Inspiration
  • 5/5 Serpent's Swiftness
  • The Beast Within

This makes 41 points spent. The remaining 20 are usually spent in Marksmanship.

  • 5/5 Lethal Shots
  • 5/5 Efficiency (or maybe Improved Hunter's Mark)
  • 2/2 Go For the Throat
  • Aimed Shot
  • 2 loose points (often Rapid Killing or Improved Hunter's Mark)
  • 5/5 Mortal Shots

See Hunter Talent Builds for other common and not-so-common specs.

Common Questions

How do I play a Beast Master?
All hunters play more or less the same during a group or raid, with the exception of the shot rotations used by Beast Mastery. Beast masters are also more likely to use Kill Command in their cycles. During PvP, beast masters

Why skip Bestial Discipline?
The Marksmanship talent Go For the Throat also helps the pet regain focus. Since there is a limit to the amount of focus a pet can actually use up all their focus, there is often no need for both if your crit rate is high enough. The exception would be if using a Wind Serpent, since Lightning Breath uses focus more quickly than other abilities.

If talents are usually maxed, why only put 4/5 in Frenzy?
Frenzy gives the pet an effect. It's either there or it's not. The number of points you spend determines how likely it is to be active, but because of how often your pet will crit as a beast master, it's essentially always up with just 4 points spent. The fifth point becomes wasted, and Animal Handler is an excellent talent as well since it reduces pet misses.

What gear do I look for as a beast master?
All hunters generally look for the same gear. Survival has special interests in agility, and marksmanship wants more intellect and mana regen. Beast mastery doesn't have any special needs, other than maybe a slight focus on attack power since that directly benefits the pet as well. A beast master should still give attention to crit rating, hit rating, mana regen, etc.

This page last modified 2008-05-20 11:58:58.