Cataclysm Classic Beast Mastery Hunter Leveling
On this page, you will find our level-by-level Beast Mastery Hunter leveling guide for WoW Cataclysm Classic.
Level by Level Rotation, Talents, and Trainer Skills
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Leveling Talent Tree & Build
Your first talent unlocks at Level 10.
To start out, One with Nature offers a sizeable attack power bonus that will always be active, as you'll always be using Hawk.
To start out, One with Nature offers a sizeable attack power bonus that will always be active, as you'll always be using Hawk. Next, Bestial Discipline will allow your pet to start using more abilities through having more focus, which means more damage and more threat generation.
In the second row, Frenzy is a core pet damage talent and should not be passed up.
In the second row, Frenzy is a core pet damage talent and should not be passed up. Pathfinding is not a DPS increase, but instead gives you more movespeed through mounted speed, which should make your leveling experience faster overall. If you are purely spamming dungeons, you can skip this talent in favor of an earlier Improved Kill Command.
In the third row, both Fervor and Focus Fire are nice cooldowns to pick up early on, and Fervor is required to get further talents anyways.
In the third row, both Fervor and Focus Fire are nice cooldowns to pick up early on, and Fervor is required to get further talents anyways. Cobra Strikes is the next obvious DPS talent to grab and will be a huge boost to pet damage.
Longevity is again a huge boost to pet damage by allowing them to cast more abilities.
Longevity is again a huge boost to pet damage by allowing them to cast more abilities. Improved Kill Command will be the next best option at this point, giving more crit chance to one of your strongest damage abilities.
Bestial Wrath is a critical DPS talent as it will be your strongest cooldown by far. Ferocious Inspiration is a solid 3% damage buff to you, your pet, and any raid members you may have.
Bestial Wrath is a critical DPS talent as it will be your strongest cooldown by far. Ferocious Inspiration is a solid 3% damage buff to you, your pet, and any raid members you may have. The next 2 points are free, but Spirit Bond will be a decent boost to passive healing, which Hunters sorely lack. Finally, Killing Streak is a decent DPS talent to grab, but ultimately isn't that good while leveling. Feel free to spend these points elsewhere if you wish.
This entire row of talents is critical, but you really don't have many options left at this point anyways. The Beast Within will massively improve your Bestial Wrath.
This entire row of talents is critical, but you really don't have many options left at this point anyways. The Beast Within will massively improve your Bestial Wrath and Invigoration will give you lots of focus generation through your pet.
This entire row of talents is critical, but you really don't have many options left at this point anyways. The Beast Within will massively improve your Bestial Wrath, Invigoration will give you lots of focus generation through your pet, and Kindred Spirits will give you and your pet a higher max focus. All of these are solid DPS talents.
This entire row of talents is critical, but you really don't have many options left at this point anyways. The Beast Within will massively improve your Bestial Wrath, Invigoration will give you lots of focus generation through your pet, and Kindred Spirits will give you and your pet a higher max focus. All of these are solid DPS talents. Finally, take Beast Mastery to get access to exotic beasts and finish your tree.
Once you're done with the BM tree, head over to Marksmanship to immediately pick up Go for the Throat, which will give your pet basically limitless focus. Next start leveling Efficiency for the reduced focus cost of Arcane Shot.
Once you're done with the BM tree, head over to Marksmanship to immediately pick up Go for the Throat, which will give your pet basically limitless focus. Next start leveling Efficiency for the reduced focus cost of Arcane Shot.
Take Improved Steady Shot for an extremely consistent haste bonus that works wonders while leveling. The last 2 points are really yours to do with as you please, but Careful Aim gives some added damage when you open on enemies out in the world, making it a solid choice for questing.
Leveling Glyphs
In your Prime Glyphs we recommend Glyph of Kill Command, Glyph of Arcane Shot and Glyph of Kill Shot All three of these Glyphs act as passive damage increases to abilities we will already be using in our DPS rotation so they do not require you to do anything differently but will greatly increase your kill speed.
For your Major Glyph slots we recommend Glyph of Bestial Wrath, Glyph of Misdirection and Glyph of Mending. These will make your major cooldown better, allow your pet to tank and heal much easier utilizing Misdirection.
For your Minor Glyphs we recommend Glyph of Revive Pet, Glyph of Feign Death, and Aspect of the Pack. The first two are just nice quality of life buffs to abilities you will be using regularly, the last one is really personal preference, but Aspect of the Pack is great if you are ever going to be in a group.
Leveling Rotation
- Command your pet to attack the target;
- Misdirection on your pet;
- Hunter's Mark;
- Kill Command on cooldown;
- Kill Shot when target is below 20%;
- Serpent Sting;
- Intimidation;
- Arcane Shot to dump focus;
- Fill with Steady Shot.
- Fill with Cobra Shot.
Do your class quest to get your pet. Once you have your pet, your kill speed and efficiency should become much better. Make sure you are careful with your threat, and try to let your pet tank whenever possible.
Feign Death is a great way to drop threat while fighting enemies. Utilize this if you ever need to reset threat back to your pet.
Continue Improving at Level 85
Congratulations on hitting Level 85 in Cataclysm! Now that your leveling process is over, you can learn more about Level-85 Beast Mastery Hunter gameplay by reading our fully detailed guide below.
More Cataclysm Hunter Guides
More Cataclysm Spec Guides from Other Classes
This guide has been written by Impakt, an Officer in BDGG, the #2 North American guild on retail. In addition to live WoW, he has also been a classic theorycrafter and enthusiast for many years. You can watch him stream on Twitch, or follow him on Twitter.
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