Beast Mastery Hunter DPS Easy Mode — 12.1

This build is our best Pack Leader single-target build, used for most raid encounters.

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!

This is the optimal Pack Leader build for Mythic+, and other AoE-focused content. It is based on simulating the conditions found in real Mythic+ dungeons and seeing not just what does the most DPS, but what actually clears the dungeon quicker in a group. There are builds that do more AoE, but they all lose more single-target than they gain in terms of AoE, and vice versa.

Be sure to make use of the 'Export Talents' button to import the best build directly into your game!

Not all Utility Talents are relevant for every dungeon. We have created these Talent builds under the assumption that you are not going to be very diligent about swapping talents on a per-dungeon basis. However, the goal is to never be left at a disadvantage by lacking a super impactful Talent for a particular dungeon. This means we do omit some occasionally useful picks.

• Your "flexible" Talent points are, in our recommended order of most disposable:
  • Misdirection only affects your personal threat, so it is quite weak for us.
  • Kodo Tranquilizer
  • Emergency Salve is only useful in certain dungeons, and is worthless in others.

Treat this as a priority list of the most important spells to cast. When in doubt, simply cast the highest priority spell. You should aim to have no "downtime" in your rotation. It is better to cast the wrong spell immediately than to hesitate for 1 second and then cast the right spell. As you improve, this priority should become second nature to you.

1. Cast Bestial Wrath whenever possible. It buffs all your damage massively and does good damage on its own, too.
2. On two targets and up, use Wild Thrash whenever possible. Never use it on just a single target.
3. Cast Kill Command whenever possible.
4. Cast Barbed Shot whenever possible.
5. Cast Cobra Shot as a "filler", an ability you only use when none of the more important things are available.

Your Apex Talents add one rule to how you play. You should try not to cast 2 Kill Commands in a row, always weaving a Barbed Shot or Cobra Shot between them. This holds on AoE as well as single-target.

The 2-set makes Barbed Shot cause an extra Stomp, and the 4-set makes each Stomp build up the Cobra Fang on your next Cobra Shot, up to 4 stacks. When you have 3+ stacks, you should prioritize Cobra over Barbed Shot.

Exhilaration is your primary self-heal with a 1-minute cooldown. Use this when you drop below 50% HP to help out your Healer!

Aspect of the Turtle is your immunity. It can be used to completely negate the damage and effects of most spells targeted on you. Use it if you are assigned to, or in a pinch if you worry that an upcoming mechanic will kill you! It is also a 30-50% damage reduction, though it is not so commonly used for simple damage reduction purposes.

Survival of the Fittest is our most powerful defensive besides Turtle, a 30-40% damage reduction with 2 charges on a 1.5-minute cooldown each. Use it to reduce damage taken from hard-hitting mechanics. Optimal use of this ability entails using it proactively, before heavy incoming damage.

Feign Death is a very unique Hunter ability. It can be used to drop aggro and combat, and it can also be used to stop casts on you. Mobs will usually stop casting mid-cast if you appear to be dead! With the Emergency Salve Talent, it will also dispel all Poison and Disease effects from you.

The most important thing to say about Pets is that they all deal the same base DPS. The differences come from utility, defensive capabilities, and how quickly they reach a moving target.

First of all, you need to find out if you need to be using Bloodlust/ Heroism in your group. Only Hunters, Mages, Evokers, and Shamans can use Bloodlust, so if there is no one else of those classes in your group, then it is on you!

If you do need to Bloodlust, you need to use any Ferocity Pet, since these come with the Primal Rage Bloodlust ability. Use this website to find a cool Ferocity Pet for Lusting purposes!

If you do not need to Bloodlust, then the best Pet is an Aqiri set to Tenacity. Their +30% passive movement speed means they spend less time chasing moving targets, which is a small DPS gain over other pets.

With that said, this is a pretty small bonus and if you do not need to Bloodlust, you can basically use any kind of pet that you want. Tenacity is ideal as your default Pet Spec for its survivability.

The general stat priority for a Beast Mastery Hunter is seen below. This is very much a rough guideline, and is designed for players who do not wish to sim their character. If you are simming your character, please disregard this stat priority completely and follow your sim! For more information on what's presented on this page, check out our main Stat Priority page.

Item Level tends to beat out better secondary stats on gear.

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 ~1-2% DPS loss compared to playing perfectly (which almost nobody does). Using the one-button mode on top of it takes the total loss to ~9-12%.

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.