Beast Mastery Hunter DPS Easy Mode — Battle for Azeroth (BfA) 8.3

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.

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.

If you are completely new to Beast Mastery and need more information on the abilities available to you, you can check out our Spell Summary page.

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: Animal Companion
• Level 30: One with the Pack
• Level 45: Natural Mending
• Level 60: Thrill of the Hunt
• Level 75: Posthaste
• Level 90: Stomp
• Level 100: Aspect of the Beast

If you are looking for the absolute best talents for Beast Mastery, which do not compromise on performance for ease of use, you can find a more in-depth analysis on our full talents page below.

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

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

While the stat priority for classes is normally the same for both the Easy Mode page and our full guide, subtle differences can still occur. If you want to see the full explanation of the stat priority, as well as the absolute top choices for the priority, head to our full stats page below.

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 Barbed Shot on cooldown.
4. 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. For a more detailed and optimized version of the priority list, you can find that on the rotation page.

Generally speaking, the best traits for Beast Mastery Hunters are Dance of Death and Primal Instincts. The best Middle Ring traits is Overwhelming Power.

Azerite Traits play an important role for Beast Mastery Hunter. This means you need to decide which Azerite items you should choose.

Given the minor differences between the best traits, we recommend heading to our full Azerite page to learn exactly which to choose and when, depending on your requirements.

There are 3 different pet specializations. These specializations are determined by your pet family and they cannot be changed. We recommend having a variety of pets of each spec, so that you can cover any situation.

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.

Every Pet Family has a special ability. We recommend having at least one of every special ability and spec combination.

Special Ability	Description	Pet Families
Damage Reduction Cooldown	Reduces the damage taken of your pet by 50% for 12 seconds. This has a 1-minute cooldown.	Core Hound (Exotic), Scalehide.
Dispel Enrage/Magic	Removes 1 Enrage and 1 Magic effect from your pet's target. This has a 10-second cooldown.	Bat, Nether Ray.
Healing Reduction	Reduces the healing taken of your pet's target by 25% for 10 seconds. This has a 6-second cooldown, which means that it will be active all the time.	Carrion Bird, Ravager, Scorpid, Wasp.
Damage Reduction On Low Health	Reduces your pet's damage taken by 60% for 15 seconds when your pet falls below 40% health.	Gorilla.
Dodge Chance Cooldown	This ability increases your pet's Dodge chance by 30% for 20 seconds. It has a 1.5-minute cooldown.	Cat, Wind Serpent
Slow/Snare	Reduces the movement speed of your pet's target by 50% for 6 seconds. It has a 10-second cooldown.	Crocolisk, Spider, Tallstrider, Wolf, Chimaera.

Special Ability	Description	Pet Families
Damage Reduction Cooldown	Reduces the damage taken of your pet by 50% for 12 seconds. This has a 1-minute cooldown.	Krolusk (Exotic), Beetle, Turtle.
Dispel Enrage/Magic	Removes 1 Enrage and 1 Magic effect from your pet's target. This has a 10-second cooldown.	Spirit Beast (Exotic), Crane, Stag.
Healing Reduction	Reduces the healing taken of your pet's target by 25% for 10 seconds. This has a 6-second cooldown, which means that it will be active all the time.	Direhorn, Hydra, Riverbeast, Lizard.
Damage Reduction On Low Health	Reduces your pet's damage taken by 60% for 15 seconds when your pet falls below 40% health.	Oxen, Bear.
Dodge Chance Cooldown	This ability increases your pet's Dodge chance by 30% for 20 seconds. It has a 1.5-minute cooldown.	*Feathermane, Dragonhawk, Toad.
Slow/Snare	Reduces the movement speed of your pet's target by 50% for 6 seconds. It has a 10-second cooldown.	Worm (Exotic), Crab.

*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.

Special Ability	Description	Pet Families
Damage Reduction Cooldown	Reduces the damage taken of your pet by 50% for 12 seconds. This has a 1-minute cooldown.	Shale Spider (Exotic), Boar, Mechanical.
Dispel Enrage/Magic	Removes 1 Enrage and 1 Magic effect from your pet's target. This has a 10-second cooldown.	*Water Strider (Exotic), Moth, Sporebat.
Healing Reduction	Reduces the healing taken of your pet's target by 25% for 10 seconds. This has a 6-second cooldown, which means that it will be active all the time.	Hyena, Rodent, Raptor.
Damage Reduction On Low Health	Reduces your pet's damage taken by 60% for 15 seconds when your pet falls below 40% health.	Goat, Pterrodax
Dodge Chance Cooldown	This ability increases your pet's Dodge chance by 30% for 20 seconds. It has a 1.5-minute cooldown.	Fox, Monkey, Serpent.
Slow/Snare	Reduces the movement speed of your pet's target by 50% for 6 seconds. It has a 10-second cooldown.	Basilisk, Bird of Prey, Dog, Warp Stalker, Silithid (Exotic).

* 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.

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.

For your Major Essence, we recommend Vision of Perfection ( Vision of Perfection) for Raiding, and Essence of the Focusing Iris ( Focused Azerite Beam) for other types of content. Both are quite easy to get.

If you have 2 or more Primal Instincts Traits and your item level is 460 or above, you can use Vision of Perfection as your Major Essence in all situations.

For your Minor Essences, we recommend Breath of the Dying ( Lethal Strikes), The Crucible of Flame ( Ancient Flame), and The Unbound Force ( Reckless Force), in that order of priority. You will not unlock all 3 Minor Essence slots until you have leveled up your Heart of Azeroth quite far.

Note that the choices above may not be the perfect choices for performance, instead opting to account for ease of use. For a full write-up on Essence choices for Beast Mastery, you can check out the full Essences page below.