Cataclysm Classic Beast Mastery Hunter Guide (2024)

Last updated on Apr 28, 2024 at 00:00by Impakt

Welcome to our Beast Mastery Hunter guide for Cataclysm Classic, tailoredfor PvE content. Here, you will learn how all you need to know to playBeast Mastery Hunter proficiently. Click the links below to navigate the guideor read this page for a short introduction.

This page contains all relevant information needed for Beast Mastery Hunterbefore the release of Cataclysm Classic. Be sure to check back as we get closerto the release date, as this page will be updated with the latest informationas it becomes available.

Yes! All of the Hunter specs are viable in Cataclysm, but it is important to note that BeastMastery is going to be weaker than Survival all the way through Cataclysm. Beast Masteryis still a solid choice however, bringing some exceptional burst damage thanks to the powerof Bestial Wrath combined with the valuable Ferocious Inspirationraid buff. Beast Mastery Hunters are also one of the best classes for any solo content thanksto the incredibly powerful pets you have access to.

Cataclysm has several new race options for Hunters, including Human, Undead, Worgen,and Goblin. For Horde players, Orc is going to be the best option due to the 5% pet damagebonus from Command and the cooldown Blood Fury. Trollis a close second with the 1% crit from using bows and the Berserking cooldown.

As Alliance, Worgen is your best choice due to their passive 1% crit and their movement cooldown Darkflight. Draenei are also a strong choice because of their 1% passive hit.

Beast Mastery is one of the only classes to provide the 3% damagebuff, along with the unique ability to choose a missing raid buff through yourpet selection. Hunter additionally has some incredibly utility options.

• Ferocious Inspiration provides a 3% damage buff and is probably one of the harder raidbuffs to get, as it is only available from Beast Mastery Hunter, Retribution Paladin, and Arcane Mage. Thisis the most valuable raid buff from any Hunter spec;
• Tranquilizing Shot;
• Misdirection;
• Widow Venom;
• Master's Call;
• Aspect of the Pack;
• Aspect of the Wild;
• Freezing Trap;
• Ice Trap;
• Your choice of pet – There are tons of pets to choose from, all of which give different raidbuffs or debuffs. Hunters are the only class that can actually pick a missing raid buff tofill in by choosing the right pet. For Beast Mastery, this includes a few additional options dueto Beast Mastery, which allows you to tame exotic pets.

At level 80, you'll have enough points for a full 31 points into the Beast Mastery tree plusan additional 5 points in Marksmanship. The 31 points in Beast Mastery leave no room for interpretation;all 31 points are used on damage boosting talents while all 3 choices that we skip are rathermediocre utility options.

Glyph choices are going to be quite similar. Ultimately, none of the glyphs will modify yourrotation in any meaningful way, but rather will slightly buff the abilities you already use.Glyphs such as Glyph of Kill Command and Glyph of Kill Shotwill be exceptional choices to make your rotational spells better. While there are plentyof useful options to choose from, since most of them provide no change to your rotationor game play, you'll want to choose whichever provide the biggest DPS increase.

To start, make sure you have Aspect of the Hawk on at all times.

Your rotation overall will function very similarly to what it was in Wrath of the Lich King.However, the big change will be that instead of using mana as a resource, you'll now be usingfocus. Focus works exactly how it does for your pet, and is very similar to energy for rogues.Ultimately this is a good change for Hunters, but it does mean that you have an additionalresource to track. You will not be able to spam abilities on cooldown as you did in Wrath, but willneed to sometimes use Steady Shot as a filler spell to regenerate focuswhen it's low.

For cooldowns, you have Rapid Fire, Bestial Wrath, and Focus Fire.Always prioritize using Bestial Wrath first along with Rapid Fire, combining them with trinkets,other buffs such as Engineering, and Call of the Wild. Use Focus Fire after BestialWrath is over.

1. Hunter's Mark before the pull;
2. Kill Command on cooldown. This is the most important part of yourrotation;
3. Kill Shot when the target is below 20% health;
4. Maintain Serpent Sting;
5. Arcane Shot to spend excess focus;
6. Steady Shot to generate focus;

For AoE, you can use the same priority system as above just with some slight modifications.Beast Mastery unfortunately is quite lacking in AoE spells and abilities, so your AoE damage is goingto rely entirely on Multi-Shot and Explosive Trap.

1. Hunter's Mark before the pull;
2. Explosive Trap on cooldown;
3. Kill Command on cooldown;
4. Kill Shot when the target is below 20% health;
5. Maintain Serpent Sting;
6. Multi-Shot to dump focus. At 4+ targets, this becomes top priority;
7. Steady Shot to generate focus;

You will mostly be using the same gear as was recommended for Wrath Classic Phase5. Keep in mind that with the addition of armor specialization bonuses, you now get 5% morestats for wearing all mail gear. You should never wear leather off-pieces like you may have previouslydone in Wrath.

Reforging is now available and allows you to swap 40% of a secondary stat foranother not already present in the gear piece. Allowing you to maximize the amountof your preferred secondary stat with the gear you have available.

Agility > Hit Rating (to cap 8%) > Critical Strike > Mastery > Haste

For enchants, you'll be using the same enchants that were previously BiS in Wrath.

Slot	Enchantment
Head	Arcanum of Torment — Revered with Knights of the Ebon Blade.
Shoulders	Greater Inscription of the Axe, — Exalted with Sons of Hodir
Back	Enchant Cloak - Major Agility
Chest	Enchant Chest - Powerful Stats
Bracers	Enchant Bracer - Greater Assault
Gloves	Enchant Gloves - Major Agility
Legs	Icescale Leg Armor
Feet	Enchant Boots - Superior Agility
Melee Weapon	Enchant Weapon - Superior Potency or Enchant 2H Weapon - Massacre
Ranged Weapon	Heartseeker Scope

For gems, use Relentless Earthsiege Diamond are your meta game.Socketing one Nightmare Tear will be useful to activate it, and then you'llwant Delicate Cardinal Ruby for most sockets. In general, if the socket bonus isa DPS stat, it is worth getting. If you need to match the socketcolor, then go for Shifting Dreadstone and Delicate Cardinal Ruby.