Beast Mastery Hunter DPS Rotation, Cooldowns, and Abilities — The War Within (11.2)

Last updated on Aug 17, 2025 at 12:50 by Azortharion 158 comments
General Information

On this page, you will learn how to optimize the rotation of your Beast Mastery Hunter in both single-target and multiple-target situations. We also have advanced sections about cooldowns, procs, etc. in order to minmax your DPS. All our content is updated for World of Warcraft — The War Within (11.2).

If you were looking for WotLK Classic content, please refer to our WotLK Classic Beast Mastery Hunter rotation.

1.

Beast Mastery Hunter Rotation Guide for The War Within

Welcome to our Rotation page for Beast Mastery Hunters. On this page, you will find everything you need to know about actually playing the spec in Raiding and Mythic+ scenarios.

1.1.

How To Read A Priority List

The rotation here, aside from the more concrete Openers, is laid out in a conditional priority list. Essentially, for every single spell that you cast, you should cast the highest-priority spell you can, for which the conditions are met. After the spell is cast, you should start over from the top of the priority list, and repeat the process. Becoming competent at the rotation comes down to memorizing the priority list and its conditions, and always knowing what is the highest priority in any given situation. Mastering the rotation is being able to "see ahead" of the current global, and knowing what the best casts will be for the next 3-4 globals or beyond, based on your understanding of how the conditions will change as you move through the rotation and use different spells.

What is also worth knowing is that if something is not mentioned, it is not worth worrying about. What the priority guide doesn't say can be just as important as what it does say.

2.

Beast Mastery Hunter Rotation

3.

Tier Set Rotation for Beast Mastery Hunter in The War Within Season 3

For Dark Ranger, the set bonus is entirely passive, reducing the cooldown of Call of the Wild Icon Call of the Wild and boosting the effect of Withering Fire Icon Withering Fire. This has no rotational impact.

For Pack Leader, meanwhile, the 2PC Set Bonus is entirely passive, while the 4PC Tier Set Bonus has major rotational implications and things worth knowing.

3.1.

Stampede

Whenever you summon a Beast during Lead From the Front Icon Lead From the Front, a buff that you get for the first 12 seconds of any Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath, you summon a Stampede of beasts that charge at your target in a a line, dealing heavy damage. This line, once spawned, is static, which means that it is prone to losing damage if the target moves. Sometimes, if the target is currently moving, it can be best to hold a Beast-spawning Kill Command Icon Kill Command to allow the target to stand still before you send your Stampede. But remember, only Beasts spawned during Lead From the Front Icon Lead From the Front spawn a Stampede.

The fact of this Set Bonus gives rise to a playstyle quirk called Double-Stampedeing. Performing this is explained in our rotation, and a detailed explanation of the logic behind it can be found here, if you are interested.

The buttons below can be used to select between curated Single-Target and AoE/Mythic+ loadouts. You can also use the switches below to add or remove individual talents you may also be using.

To see our recommended Talent Builds in detail, visit the Talent page:

Pack Leader
Single-Target/NoMulti
Pack Leader
Mythic+/AoE
Dark Ranger
Single-Target
Dark Ranger
Mythic+/AoE
Hero Talents
Pack Leader Dark Ranger
Talent Selections, etc.
Single-Target Rotation AoE Rotation Beast Mastery Explained
4.

Single-Target Opener for Pack Leader Beast Mastery Hunter

  1. Ensure Hunter's Mark Icon Hunter's Mark is active on the target from you or another Hunter in the group!
  2. Use Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath. It is extremely important that you do not precast this before boss combat begins. Wait until the boss has definitely been pulled, then you can press it, otherwise you will lose the Howl of the Pack Leader Icon Howl of the Pack Leader proc it gives.
  3. Use Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot.
  4. Use Kill Command Icon Kill Command
  5. Use Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot.
  6. Use Bloodshed Icon Bloodshed alongside your Potion and stat-granting on-use Trinkets.
  7. Use Call of the Wild Icon Call of the Wild alongside your Potion and stat-granting on-use Trinkets.
  8. Proceed with your normal Rotation according to the priority list below.
4.

Single-Target Rotation for Pack Leader Beast Mastery Hunter

This priority list describes the optimal single-target Rotation for Beast Mastery Hunter:

  1. Trinket Usage Try to maximize the number of uses of all on-use Trinkets as your first priority. We are not a bursty spec, but the closest we can get is Howl of the Pack Leader Icon Howl of the Pack Leader Bear spawns during Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath, so if you are ever going to hold a Trinket for a bit, it should be for this.
  2. Activate Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath on cooldown. As a minmax worth ~1%, if Howl of the Pack Leader Icon Howl of the Pack Leader's remaining cooldown is above ~16 seconds, you should hold Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath until the cooldown is below 16 seconds. The logic behind this is explained in detail here. This WeakAura can help you nail this window. When it says HOLD, do not press Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath yet!
  3. Prioritize using Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot over Kill Command Icon Kill Command under either of the following conditions:
    • If Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot is at, or close to, 2 charges.
    • If Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot is closer to reaching 2 charges than Kill Command Icon Kill Command is.
    • Alternatively, just prioritize Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot over Kill Command Icon Kill Command whenever this WeakAura tells you to.
  4. Use Call of the Wild Icon Call of the Wild whenever possible.
  5. Use Bloodshed Icon Bloodshed whenever possible.
  6. Use Kill Command Icon Kill Command whenever possible, if none of the Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot conditions above are true. During Lead From the Front Icon Lead From the Front, if Howl of the Pack Leader Icon Howl of the Pack Leader is coming up imminently, hold a Kill Command Icon Kill Command charge to be able to send it immediately. You do not want Lead From the Front Icon Lead From the Front to expire while you have a Howl charge ready, as that is a lost Stampede Icon Stampede from your 4PC!
  7. Use Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot whenever possible, as a low-priority fallback if none of the higher Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot conditions are true.
  8. Use Cobra Shot Icon Cobra Shot when you have nothing else to do.
5.

Single-Target Opener for Dark Ranger Beast Mastery Hunter in The War Within

  1. Ensure Hunter's Mark Icon Hunter's Mark is active on the target from you or another Hunter in the group!
  2. Use Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath. It is extremely important that you do not precast this before boss combat begins. Wait until the boss has definitely been pulled, then you can press it, otherwise you will lose the Howl of the Pack Leader Icon Howl of the Pack Leader proc it gives.
  3. Use Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot.
  4. Use Kill Command Icon Kill Command
  5. Use Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot.
  6. Use Bloodshed Icon Bloodshed alongside your Potion and stat-granting on-use Trinkets.
  7. Use Call of the Wild Icon Call of the Wild alongside your Potion and stat-granting on-use Trinkets.
  8. Proceed with your normal Rotation according to the priority list below.
5.

Single-Target Rotation for Dark Ranger Beast Mastery Hunter

This priority list describes the optimal single-target Rotation for Beast Mastery Hunter:

  1. Trinket Usage Try to maximize the number of uses of all on-use Trinkets as your first priority. We are not a bursty spec, but the closest we can get is Howl of the Pack Leader Icon Howl of the Pack Leader Bear spawns during Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath, so if you are ever going to hold a Trinket for a bit, it should be for this.
  2. Cast Black Arrow Icon Black Arrow whenever possible.
  3. Activate Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath on cooldown. Hold it for up to 20 seconds for Call of the Wild Icon Call of the Wild.
  4. Use Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot if it is about to reach 2 charges.
  5. Use Bloodshed Icon Bloodshed whenever possible.
  6. Use Call of the Wild Icon Call of the Wild whenever possible.
  7. Use Kill Command Icon Kill Command on cooldown.
  8. Use Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot on cooldown.
  9. Use Cobra Shot Icon Cobra Shot when you have nothing else to do.
6.

AoE Opener for Beast Mastery Hunter in The War Within

  1. Ensure Hunter's Mark Icon Hunter's Mark is active on the target from you or another Hunter in the group!
  2. Use Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath. It is extremely important that you do not precast this before raid boss combat begins. Wait until the boss has definitely been pulled, then you can press it, otherwise you will lose the Howl of the Pack Leader Icon Howl of the Pack Leader proc it gives. Outside of raid, it is generally fine to send it a little early.
  3. Use Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot.
  4. Use Call of the Wild Icon Call of the Wild alongside your Potion and stat-granting on-use Trinkets.
  5. Activate Beast Cleave Icon Beast Cleave with Multi-Shot Icon Multi-Shot. If specced Bloody Frenzy Icon Bloody Frenzy, simply activate Call of the Wild Icon Call of the Wild to activate Beast Cleave Icon Beast Cleave for 20 seconds.
  6. Use Kill Command Icon Kill Command
  7. Use Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot.
  8. Use Bloodshed Icon Bloodshed alongside your Potion and stat-granting on-use Trinkets.
  9. Proceed with your normal Rotation according to the priority list below.
6.

AoE Rotation for Beast Mastery Hunter

This priority list describes the optimal AoE Rotation for Beast Mastery Hunter:

  1. Trinket Usage Try to maximize the number of uses of all on-use Trinkets as your first priority. We are not a bursty spec, but the closest we can get is Howl of the Pack Leader Icon Howl of the Pack Leader Bear spawns during Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath, so if you are ever going to hold a Trinket for a bit, it should be for this.
  2. Activate Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath on cooldown. Note that holding Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath is not worth it on AoE, even if your WeakAura suggests to.
  3. Prioritize using Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot over Kill Command Icon Kill Command under either of the following conditions:
    • If Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot is at, or close to, 2 charges.
    • If Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot is closer to reaching 2 charges than Kill Command Icon Kill Command is.
    • If your next Kill Command Icon Kill Command has a Howl of the Pack Leader Icon Howl of the Pack Leader proc, and Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot is within 8 seconds of reaching 2 charges.
    • Alternatively, just prioritize Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot over Kill Command Icon Kill Command whenever this WeakAura tells you to.
  4. Apply and maintain Beast Cleave Icon Beast Cleave using Multi-Shot Icon Multi-Shot. It is not absolutely imperative that you refresh it before it falls off if higher-priority abilities are available, but this is the priority that applying it falls under. In any case, you should never refresh it any earlier than ~0.4s remaining. This WeakAura can help you with this. Note that Black Arrow Icon Black Arrow also applies Beast Cleave Icon Beast Cleave, and is a much better way of doing so than casting Multi-Shot, but you need Deathblow Icon Deathblow procs to do so.
  5. Use Call of the Wild Icon Call of the Wild whenever possible. This activates Beast Cleave Icon Beast Cleave for 20 seconds.
  6. Use Bloodshed Icon Bloodshed whenever possible.
  7. Use Kill Command Icon Kill Command whenever possible, if none of the Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot conditions above are true. During Lead From the Front Icon Lead From the Front, if Howl of the Pack Leader Icon Howl of the Pack Leader is coming up imminently, hold a Kill Command Icon Kill Command charge to be able to send it immediately. You do not want Lead From the Front Icon Lead From the Front to expire while you have a Howl charge ready, as that is a lost Stampede Icon Stampede from your 4PC!
  8. Use Cobra Shot Icon Cobra Shot when you have nothing else to do.
7.

Single-Target Opener for Dark Ranger Beast Mastery Hunter in The War Within

  1. Ensure Hunter's Mark Icon Hunter's Mark is active on the target from you or another Hunter in the group!
  2. Use Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath. It is extremely important that you do not precast this before boss combat begins. Wait until the boss has definitely been pulled, then you can press it, otherwise you will lose the Howl of the Pack Leader Icon Howl of the Pack Leader proc it gives.
  3. Use Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot.
  4. Use Kill Command Icon Kill Command
  5. Use Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot.
  6. Use Bloodshed Icon Bloodshed alongside your Potion and stat-granting on-use Trinkets.
  7. Use Call of the Wild Icon Call of the Wild alongside your Potion and stat-granting on-use Trinkets.
  8. Proceed with your normal Rotation according to the priority list below.
7.

Single-Target Rotation for Dark Ranger Beast Mastery Hunter

This priority list describes the optimal single-target Rotation for Beast Mastery Hunter:

  1. Trinket Usage Stat-granting on-use Trinkets should be used with Call of the Wild Icon Call of the Wild whenever possible, while still maximizing their total number of uses.
  2. Cast Black Arrow Icon Black Arrow whenever possible.
  3. Activate Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath on cooldown. Hold it for up to 20 seconds for Call of the Wild Icon Call of the Wild.
  4. Prioritize using Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot over Kill Command Icon Kill Command under either of the following conditions:
    • If Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot is at, or close to, 2 charges.
    • If Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot is closer to reaching 2 charges than Kill Command Icon Kill Command is.
    • Alternatively, just prioritize Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot over Kill Command Icon Kill Command whenever this WeakAura tells you to.
  5. Apply and maintain Beast Cleave Icon Beast Cleave using Multi-Shot Icon Multi-Shot. It is not absolutely imperative that you refresh it before it falls off if higher-priority abilities are available, but this is the priority that applying it falls under. In any case, you should never refresh it any earlier than ~0.4s remaining. This WeakAura can help you with this. Note that Black Arrow Icon Black Arrow also applies Beast Cleave Icon Beast Cleave, and is a much better way of doing so than casting Multi-Shot, but you need Deathblow Icon Deathblow procs to do so.
  6. Use Bloodshed Icon Bloodshed whenever possible.
  7. Use Call of the Wild Icon Call of the Wild whenever possible.
  8. Use Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot on cooldown.
  9. Use Kill Command Icon Kill Command on cooldown.
  10. Use Cobra Shot Icon Cobra Shot if you are above 90 Focus. Do not overcast this, as it will limit your ability to Multi-Shot Icon Multi-Shot for Beast Cleave Icon Beast Cleave.
8.

Single-Target Rotation Goals for Beast Mastery Hunter

  • Juggling your Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot and Kill Command Icon Kill Commands in accordance with the latest theorycrafting. This WeakAura takes care of much of it for you.
  • Maximize Bestial Wrath Icon Bestial Wrath uptime by using it on cooldown and maximizing the number of Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shots we are firing, as each Barbed Shot is worth 12 seconds of Bestial Wrath cooldown reduction.
  • As with every spec, maximizing actions cast per minute above all. Quantity always beats quality for a DPS rotation. You should never stop pressing buttons unless you are forced to due to resources, no matter what mechanics are happening. With how simple the spec is in general, how often you press your buttons will often be your primary form of skill expression.
8.

AoE Rotation Goals for Beast Mastery Hunter

  • All the same goals as the single-target Rotation.
  • Maintaining Beast Cleave Icon Beast Cleave (by using Multi-Shot Icon Multi-Shot) at close to 100% uptime, ensuring that all your pet abilities are constantly dealing AoE damage.
  • Being extra careful with Focus management to ensure that you can always refresh Beast Cleave Icon Beast Cleave as late as possible while simultaneously casting all your Kill Command Icon Kill Commands whenever possible.

Important Note: Because the in-game "auto-cast" system for Hunter pets is very slow, it is recommended to put these 3 lines into macros for all of your offensive spells.

  • /cast [@pettarget]Claw
  • /cast [@pettarget]Bite
  • /cast [@pettarget]Smack

We recommend adding these 3 lines to the end of your macros.

This ensures that you will always cast your pet's Basic Attack whenever possible since Blizzard's automatic cast will delay each cast by up to 0.1 seconds. It is a very small but real DPS increase. There is no reason not to do this, even if Blizzard eventually fixes it. For more macros, please refer to our Beast Mastery Hunter macro page.

8.1.

Rotation WeakAuras for Beast Mastery Hunter

I recommend that you grab my Barbed Shot Helper WeakAura. It will pop up when it is time to cast Barbed Shot Icon Barbed Shot automatically, and it lets you focus on the rest of the Rotation.

In the Single-Target and AoE sections, you will find a highly detailed priority list breakdown of the Rotation, as well as optimal openers.

9.

Combat Assistant & One-Button Mode for Beast Mastery Hunter

The game offers the option of an in-game "Combat Assistant", which has two modes; A Rotation Helper that will suggest spells to cast next, and a "One-Button Mode", that automatically performs this rotation for you if you simply press one button repeatedly.

These tools can be worthwhile for beginners, as they provide a reasonable "minimum" level of performance. For Beast Mastery Hunter, using just the Rotation Helper is a ~1-15% DPS loss compared to playing perfectly (which almost nobody does), the lower bound being single-target and the upper bound being AoE. Using the one-button mode adds another ~15-18% to this DPS loss, with the lower bound being for single-target and the upper bound being on AoE.

Obviously, peak performance cannot be obtained using these tools, but it is something worth considering if you are happy to take the DPS losses above for the sake of ease of play. Do not let anyone in-game or on a forum or Discord tell you that there is something inherently wrong with using these tools! Blizzard created them for a reason, and the game is about having fun, whatever that means for you.

9.1.

WeakAuras for Beast Mastery Hunters in The War Within

WeakAuras can have a tremendously positive effect on your performance. Since this is a broad topic, we made a page dedicated to it.

9.2.

Simplified Beast Mastery Hunter Rotation for Beginners

If the rotations above seem overwhelming to you, you might benefit from visiting our Easy Mode page, which outlines a close-to-optimal rotation in simpler terms.

9.3.

Mythic+ Tips and Tricks for Beast Mastery Hunter

For information about Mythic+ as a Beast Mastery Hunter, please refer to our Mythic+ page.

9.4.

PvP

The content on this page is purely PvE-related. If you are looking for PvP Rotation Tips, please visit our PvP page below.

9.5.

Addons and Macros for Beast Mastery Hunter Rotation

Check out our Addons/Macros page below for some recommended Addons and Macros to get the most out of your Beast Mastery Hunter!

10.

Questions for the Author

Thanks for reading my Rotation Guide for Beast Mastery Hunter If you have any questions about it that you would like to ask me directly, feel free to drop into my Discord Server and drop me (Azortharion) a ping at any time.

11.

Changelog

  • 17 Aug. 2025: Rotational updates and clarifications.
  • 16 Aug. 2025: Added info on DPS gain from holding Bestial Wrath.
  • 08 Aug. 2025: Added a note on Kill Command-holding for Howl during Lead from the Front with 4PC.
  • 05 Aug. 2025: AoE Rotation and opener changes.
  • 04 Aug. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.2.
  • 15 Jun. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1.7.
  • 20 May 2025: Added a small rotational minmax to the single-target rotation worth ~+0.3% DPS.
  • 29 Apr. 2025: Put the Barbed Shot Helper in a more obvious place.
  • 21 Apr. 2025: Reviewed for Patch 11.1.5.
  • 25 Mar. 2025: Updated for March 25 Updates.
  • 18 Mar. 2025: Updated the rotation defaults for new Talents.
  • 14 Mar. 2025: Single-Target opener change.
  • 09 Mar. 2025: Rewrote and simplified the Rotation significantly.
  • 24 Feb. 2025: Updated for Patch 11.1.0.
  • 15 Dec. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.7.
  • 04 Nov. 2024: Removed Withering Fire holding for Bestial Wrath.
  • 30 Oct. 2024: Small Barbed Shot AoE Priority change.
  • 25 Oct. 2024: Updated both rotations slightly.
  • 22 Oct. 2024: Updated for Patch 11.0.5.
  • 08 Oct. 2024: Updated default talent selections.
  • 02 Oct. 2024: Added more specific Trinket usage information.
  • 10 Sep. 2024: Updated the Dark Ranger Single-Target Opener slightly.
  • 09 Sep. 2024: Single-Target Opener update.
  • 30 Aug. 2024: Preliminary update pass in preparation for Season 1.
  • 26 Aug. 2024: Updated the Kill Shot priorities in the Single-Target Rotation based on APL updates by Yanix, +0.5% DPS.
  • 22 Aug. 2024: Updated for The War Within.
  • 01 Aug. 2024: Simplified Dire Beast rotation use. Small opener changes.
  • 24 Jul. 2024: Updated the rotation and openers based on the latest APL updates.
  • 23 Jul. 2024: Updated for The War Within Pre-Patch.
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