Beast Mastery Hunter DPS Easy Mode — Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.1

1. Foreword

This section is intended for players who are new to the game or class, have no intentions of raiding Mythic difficulty, or simply want a more straightforward way to play their specialization without being overwhelmed by the numerous priorities and active abilities that need to be taken into consideration for optimal play.

2. The Basics of Beast Mastery Hunter

Beast Mastery is a strong single-target spec. It is quite simple in its execution and it is an ideal spec for someone new to raiding, or just WoW in general. It also has powerful stacked-target cleave.

3. Talent Choices of Beast Mastery Hunter

The talents listed below are selected either for ease of use, or for a more simple to understand gameplay style. Whilst in a number of cases there are alternatives on the tree that will provide more damage if played well, they create much more room to play incorrectly and reduce your performance. Due to this, treat this as a starting point and a primer.

• Level 15: Killer Instinct
• Level 30: One with the Pack
• Level 45: Natural Mending
• Level 60: A Murder of Crows
• Level 75: Posthaste
• Level 90: Stomp
• Level 100: Aspect of the Beast

4. Stat Choices of Beast Mastery Hunter

The general single-target stat priority for a Beast Mastery Hunter is:

1. Haste;
2. Critical Strike;
3. Mastery;
4. Versatility.

5. Single-Target Rotation of Beast Mastery Hunter

1. Cast Bestial Wrath and Aspect of the Wild on cooldown.
2. Cast Kill Command on cooldown. Always have 30 Focus when it comes off cooldown.
3. Cast A Murder of Crows on cooldown.
4. Cast Barbed Shot on cooldown.
5. Cast Cobra Shot when you have nothing else to do. Do not cast it too much, or else you will not have enough Focus to cast Kill Command.

When fighting more than 2 targets, use Multi-Shot to refresh the Beast Cleave buff on your pet while executing the rest of your rotation normally, but no more often than what is needed to keep it refreshed. Use this WeakAura to track Beast Cleave.

6. Azerite Traits

Azerite Traits play an important role for Beast Mastery Hunter. This means you need to decide which Azerite items you should choose. The traits are very close to each other in power, though, so we recommend our Azerite trait page for more details.

7. Pet Specializations

Pet Spec	Passive Effect	Active Ability
Ferocity	Predator's Thirst gives you and your pet 10% Leech. Leech heals you based on how much damage you do.	Primal Rage, which provides the Bloodlust/ Heroism effect, increasing Haste for you and all nearby allies by 30% for 40 seconds. This shares cooldown with Bloodlust/Heroism and similar effects.
Tenacity	Endurance Training increases the maximum health of you and your pet by 5%.	Survival of the Fittest is a defensive ability that reduces the damage taken by you and your pet by 20% for 6 seconds. It has a 3-minute cooldown.
Cunning	Pathfinding increases the movement speed of you and your pet by 8%.	Master's Call removes all movement-impairing effects from your pet and a friendly target, and makes them immune to movement-impairing effects for 4 seconds. The friendly target can be you. It has a 45-second cooldown.

8. Pet Families and Abilities

8.1. Ferocity Pets

8.2. Tenacity Pets

*Feathermane pets also have Updraft, which enables Slow Fall for you and your pet, allowing you to fall safely from almost any height while the pet is active for 30 seconds.

8.3. Cunning Pets

* Water Strider pets also have Surface Trot, a passive ability that lets you and your pet walk on water while out of combat. Damage will break this effect.

8.4. Exotic Pets (Beast Mastery-only)

Pet Family	Specialization	Special Ability	Exotic Ability
Core Hound	Ferocity	Obsidian Skin reduces your pet's damage taken by 50% for 12 seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown.	Molten Hide causes your pet to gain Molten Hide when it gets hit by a melee attack, causing it to deal slight Fire damage to all further melee attackers for 10 seconds. It can only activate every 60 seconds.
Chimaera	Ferocity	Frost Breath reduces the movement speed of your pet's target by 50% for 6 seconds. It has a 10-second cooldown.	Froststorm Breath is an 8-second channeled ability for your pet that deals AoE damage to all enemies within 12 yards every 2 seconds. It costs 10 Focus to activate, and then 5 Focus per second to maintain.
Devilsaur	Ferocity	Monstrous Bite reduces the healing taken of your pet's target by 25%. It lasts 10 seconds and has a 6-second cooldown, meaning it is up all the time.	Feast lets you order your pet to consume a nearby Humanoid or Beast corpse within 5 yards, healing your pet for 20% of its maximum health, and restoring 20 Focus over 6 seconds.
Clefthoof	Ferocity	Thick Hide gives your pet a 60% damage reduction for 15 seconds when it falls below 40% health. This can only occur once every 2 minutes.	Blood of the Rhino is a passive effect that increases your pet's armor by 10%, and increases the effectiveness of all healing done to it by 20%.
Quilen	Tenacity	Stone Armor buffs your pet when it falls below 40% health, reducing its damage taken by 40% and healing it for 3% of its maximum health every 1 second for 15 seconds. This effect can only occur every 2 minutes.	Eternal Guardian is an instant resurrection for your pet. If your pet has died, you can use it to instantly revive it with 100% of its health. It has an 8-minute cooldown.
Spirit Beast	Tenacity	Spirit Shock removes 1 Enrage and 1 Magic effect from your pet's target. It has a 10-second cooldown.	Spirit Mend heals a friendly target for a small amount instantly, and applies a small healing DoT for 10 seconds. It costs 5 pet Focus. It can be cast on yourself as well. Spirit Beasts also have the Prowl stealth ability, like Cats.
Worm	Tenacity	Acid Spit reduces the movement speed of your pet's target by 50% for 6 seconds. It has a 10-second cooldown.	Burrow Attack is an 8-second channeled ability for your pet that deals AoE damage to all enemies within 12 yards every 2 seconds. It costs 10 Focus to activate, and then 5 Focus per second to maintain.
Krolusk	Tenacity	Bulwark reduces your pet's damage taken by 50% for 12 seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown.	Calcified Carapace passively reduces your pet's Physical damage taken by approximately 10%. The proper spell data is not in the game for this ability yet.
Shale Spider	Cunning	Solid Shell reduces your pet's damage taken by 50% for 12 seconds. It has a 1-minute cooldown.	Shimmering Shale passively reduces your pet's magic damage taken by approximately 10%. The proper spell data is not in the game for this ability yet.
Silithid	Cunning	Tendon Rip reduces the movement speed of your pet's target by 50% for 6 seconds. It has a 10-second cooldown.	Dune Strider passively increases your pet's movement speed by 30%.
Water Strider	Cunning	Soothing Water removes 1 Enrage and 1 Magic effect from your pet's target. It has a 10-second cooldown.	Surface Trot allows you and your pet to walk on water. Any damage taken will cancel the effect and cause you to fall in the water.

9. Changelog