Talents
Luckily for Beast Mastery Hunters, most of our talents are set in stone. They do differ slightly from raid however. For raiding, we use primarily single target focused talents (namely Killer Cobra) and different utility talents (Natural Mending and Posthaste). Mythic+ is formatted a bit differently and is inherently more AoE focused. Below I talk about the different talents we take and why.
Animal Companion
Tier 1 (Level 15)
Animal Companion is generally better in all situations. Animal Companion forces us to use two pets, which means double the annoying pet AI. If you're able to manage them properly, AC will always beat out Killer Instinct, however Killer Instinct isn't far behind. If you want to play it safe, Killer Instinct is more than acceptable to use. Check the section below for a more detailed explanation. If you're using Animal Companion, make sure to have a pet in the first slot of your stable (else you won't summon a second pet).
One with the Pack
Tier 2 (Level 30)
One with the Pack is typically the go to talent now a days, once you have enough Critical Strike. If you’re just starting out, Chimaera Shot may be better for you. I go more in depth on this subject here.
Camouflage
Tier 3 (Level 45)
Camouflage is used in almost every dungeon. It’s an excellent way to RP as a rogue. The healing it gives is also nothing to scoff at, and is an easy button to push to top yourself off and to help your healers out.
Thrill of the Hunt
Tier 4 (Level 60)
As of patch 8.2.5, Thrill of the Hunt was stealth buffed. The crit now benefits our pets, as well as us. It is now better in every situation and should almost always be used over A Murder of Crows.
Binding Shot
Tier 5 (Level 75)
Binding Shot is huge in M+. An 8 sec root allows gives tanks a break and allows them to be topped off. It’s also a god-like ability for Affixes such as Necrotic. It does not work on some mobs so be aware.
Stomp
Tier 6 (Level 90)
Stomp is the go to talent in this row for both single target and in AoE. It deals consistent damage with every cast of Barbed Shot. This synergizes extremely well with Thrill of the Hunt and One with the Pack.
Aspect of the Beast
Tier 7 (Level 100)
This is the standard talent in this row and is the only talent that increases AoE damage. It is slightly behind Killer Cobra in pure single target but gives a significant boost to AoE.
Situational Talent Usage
Animal Companion
VS.
Killer Instinct
The bug with Animal Companion has been fixed! It is now the go-to talent in Mythic+ (as well as raid). Since there are no longer any bugs with Animal Companion, it's generally best to use it over Killer Instinct, however, Killer Instinct can still be viable. Animal Companion still has some minor issues regarding your secondary pet AI. Sometimes it will lag behind your main pet, resulting in a delay of DPS. Thus, while Animal Companion sims much better than Killer Instinct, in reality, it's not that much better. Similar to your main pet, your Animal Companion pet can also get stuck and you may have to summon/dismiss it to fix it.
If you're confident in your ability to manage both pets, Animal Companion is better in all situations. If you're having issues with pet AI or just want to play it safe, I recommend using Killer Instinct for Fortified weeks and Animal Companion for Tyrannical weeks.
If you're confident in your ability to manage both pets, Animal Companion is better in all situations. If you're having issues with pet AI or just want to play it safe, I recommend using Killer Instinct for Fortified weeks and Animal Companion for Tyrannical weeks.
Natural Mending
VS.
Camouflage
Your go-to talent in this row will always be Camouflage. Its stealth is very useful in dungeons, allowing you to skip certain packs. It also gives you passive healing, which can be used to heal yourself in between packs, instead of eating food, or to help your healer top you off (think Grievous weeks). That being said, Exhilaration does have merit when dungeons get rough and the stealth from Camouflage isn't needed. Sometimes having one or two extra Exhilarations may make or break certain dungeon encounters.
One with the Pack
VS.
Chimaera Shot
One with the Pack is generally the go-to in this talent row. Chimaera Shot used to be the go-to, however it has been outscaled and is no longer recommended (especially in AoE) for most Hunters. Chimaera Shot can be better for you if you’re a new Hunter with little to no gear, however as soon as you get a decent amount of Critical Strike with a couple of Dance of Death traits, One with the Pack should be your default choice.
There is no specific break point regarding Critical Strike which determines when you should swap so don’t ask! As always with these types of decisions, it is best to sim yourself to determine your own personal break point on when to switch. At this point in the expansion if you aren’t sure, stick with One with the Pack.
There is no specific break point regarding Critical Strike which determines when you should swap so don’t ask! As always with these types of decisions, it is best to sim yourself to determine your own personal break point on when to switch. At this point in the expansion if you aren’t sure, stick with One with the Pack.
Stat Priority
Critical Strike
Crit is by far our most valuable stat in Mythic+, primarily because of it’s interaction with our Dance of Death Azerite traits. Dance of Death’s proc rate is directly proportional to our Crit %. In addition, Beast Mastery Hunter’s have a passive ability called Wild Call, which causes our Auto Shot Critical Strikes to have a chance to give us additional Barbed Shot casts. A high base Crit % synergizes with our talents One with the Pack and Thrill of the Hunt to give us a TON of Barbed Shot casts which not only increases our base damage and our Focus generation, but can give us nearly 50% up time on Dance of Death (with 3x DoD traits at mythic level, that’s nearly 50% up time on 4500 Agility!).
Haste
Haste is our second best stat for Mythic+. In a similar fashion to Crit, Haste increases our Auto Shot frequency, causing more Wild Call procs. This means more Barbed Shot casts which has the same synergy as mentioned above. Haste also increases the frequency of our pets attacks, increases Focus generation and reduces the cooldown of some of our abilities by a small amount.
Versatility
Vers comes in third for stats in Mythic+. Versatility simply increases your damage by a flat amount. It also slightly increases your damage taken. Items such as the Shiver Venom Crossbow or essences scale with Versatility. Versatility is not a bad stat to have, however point for point, Crit and Haste are far more valuable.
Mastery
Mastery is our final stat. While Mastery is good in AoE, the value of Mastery as a base stat is severely devalued due to our Azerite choices. We typically want to stack Primal Instinct Azerite traits a well as a single Rapid Reload trait. Due to this interaction, we have a huge up-time on Primal Instincts (an extremely large Mastery proc), which lowers our need for passive Mastery.
Crit is by far our most valuable stat in Mythic+, primarily because of it’s interaction with our Dance of Death Azerite traits. Dance of Death’s proc rate is directly proportional to our Crit %. In addition, Beast Mastery Hunter’s have a passive ability called Wild Call, which causes our Auto Shot Critical Strikes to have a chance to give us additional Barbed Shot casts. A high base Crit % synergizes with our talents One with the Pack and Thrill of the Hunt to give us a TON of Barbed Shot casts which not only increases our base damage and our Focus generation, but can give us nearly 50% up time on Dance of Death (with 3x DoD traits at mythic level, that’s nearly 50% up time on 4500 Agility!).
Haste
Haste is our second best stat for Mythic+. In a similar fashion to Crit, Haste increases our Auto Shot frequency, causing more Wild Call procs. This means more Barbed Shot casts which has the same synergy as mentioned above. Haste also increases the frequency of our pets attacks, increases Focus generation and reduces the cooldown of some of our abilities by a small amount.
Versatility
Vers comes in third for stats in Mythic+. Versatility simply increases your damage by a flat amount. It also slightly increases your damage taken. Items such as the Shiver Venom Crossbow or essences scale with Versatility. Versatility is not a bad stat to have, however point for point, Crit and Haste are far more valuable.
Mastery
Mastery is our final stat. While Mastery is good in AoE, the value of Mastery as a base stat is severely devalued due to our Azerite choices. We typically want to stack Primal Instinct Azerite traits a well as a single Rapid Reload trait. Due to this interaction, we have a huge up-time on Primal Instincts (an extremely large Mastery proc), which lowers our need for passive Mastery.
Professions
Some professions give you access to gear, while some give you access to some unique utility that’s useful within dungeons. Below is a list of items that are useful in dungeons, followed by my recommended professions for Mythic+.
- Belt Enchants – Personal Space Amplifier & Miniaturized Plasma Shield (Engineering)
- Battle Rez – Unstable Temporal Time Shifter (Engineering)
- Keys – Scroll of Unlocking (Inscription) & Monelite Skeleton Key (Blacksmithing)
- Drums – Drums of the Maelstrom, Fury & Mountain (Leather Working)
- Repair – Auto-Hammer & Jeeves (Blacksmithing/Engineering)
- Speed Potions – Lightfoot & Skystep Potion (Alchemy)
- Invisibility Potions – Demitri’s Draught of Deception, Skaggldrynk & Draenic Invisibility Potion (Alchemy)
Profession Recommendations
Engineering
Engineering is the only profession that's crucial to have if you plan to do Mythic+ seriously. Similar to previous expansions, it gives us some unique tools which make dungeons way easier in general. Below are a few of the unique and useful tools that only Engineers have access to.
- Ultimte Gnomish Army Knife is actually a rather old item that we've been using for years. It has a low chance to resurrect a fallen party member and it doesn't count as a battle rez! You should always try this out first in case you get lucky, it may save your butt!
- Disposable Spectrophasic Reanimator is Shadowlands version of the Engineering battle rez. Similar to previous expansions, it has a very low chance to backfire (sub ~1%). This is almost essential for Hunters since we don't have access to a natural battle rez.
- Dimensional Shifter is a new type of Engineering item added in Shadowlands. Who needs Rogues anymore when we can stealth ourselves?! This is quite a cool item especially for classes that have no form of stealth. Hunters have Camouflage though so we don't really need to have these on hand typically.
- Damage Retaliator allows us to attach an enchant to our belt that, when activated, deals a small amount of damage to enemies attacking you. This isn't a major deal considering we shouldn't be getting attacked (or else blame your tank) BUT, it does help a tad so it's worth equipping since Hunters typically don't need the stealth enchant.
Leather Working
Leather Working isn't a must have, however it's very nice to have and can provide you with some nice pieces of gear if you're lacking. With Leather Working, you can create BiS pants and boots with sockets (assuming you don't have any Titanforges + Sockets). It also gives you access to the Mallet of Thunderous Skins which gives you unlimited Drums. Hunters do have access to Bloodlust via our pets, but in most cases, our utility pets are far too valuable to give up, and often times its a waste to dismiss/resummon our pets every time we need Bloodlust. The alternative to Leather Working would be Jewelcrafting.
Enchants & Consumables
Enchants
Weapon Enchant - Gale-Force Striking
Up until recently, BM Hunters were using Deadly Navigation. However, since the switch to Thrill of the Hunt, Gale-Force has taken over as the best Weapon enchant for both single target and in AoE.
Ring Enchant - Accord of Critical Strike
Critical Strike should almost always be gemmed and enchanted, however you should always sim for the most accurate results.
Up until recently, BM Hunters were using Deadly Navigation. However, since the switch to Thrill of the Hunt, Gale-Force has taken over as the best Weapon enchant for both single target and in AoE.
Ring Enchant - Accord of Critical Strike
Critical Strike should almost always be gemmed and enchanted, however you should always sim for the most accurate results.
Potions
AoE Potion - Greater Battle Potion of Agility
This is your standard go-to potion, however it excels in AoE. In cases of large AoE (think Shrine), you may use Potion of Empowered Proximity, however note that you have to be in melee range.
Single Target Potion - Potion of Unbridled Fury
This is your best option for pure single target. It lasts a minute so be sure you are able to get full use of it. It also scales with haste so always try to use it during Bloodlust.
This is your standard go-to potion, however it excels in AoE. In cases of large AoE (think Shrine), you may use Potion of Empowered Proximity, however note that you have to be in melee range.
Single Target Potion - Potion of Unbridled Fury
This is your best option for pure single target. It lasts a minute so be sure you are able to get full use of it. It also scales with haste so always try to use it during Bloodlust.
Food
Personal Food - Mech-Dowel's "Big Mech"
More Crit! We love that Critical Strike food. Nom Nom.
Feast - Sugar Crusted Fish Feast
Sometimes, personal food takes too long to eat. If you need a quick buff or some quick health generation, use these!
More Crit! We love that Critical Strike food. Nom Nom.
Feast - Sugar Crusted Fish Feast
Sometimes, personal food takes too long to eat. If you need a quick buff or some quick health generation, use these!
Flask
Flask - Greater Flask of the Currents
Pretty standard, we want that Agility. You shouldn't really use any other Flask. On super high keys, a Stamina Flask maybe be used to survive some hits (think final boss in Tol'Dagor)
Pretty standard, we want that Agility. You shouldn't really use any other Flask. On super high keys, a Stamina Flask maybe be used to survive some hits (think final boss in Tol'Dagor)