Beast Mastery Hunter PvP Guide — The War Within (Season 1)
This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to play Beast Mastery Hunter in a PvP environment. The guide will cover everything from talent choices, PvP talents, gameplay and rotation, and useful racial bonuses. It is most applicable to Arena content, but most talents and racial bonuses will work in Rated Battlegrounds and skirmishes.
If you were looking for TBC Classic content, please refer to our TBC Hunter PvP guide.
Beast Mastery Hunters in the Current Meta
Beast Mastery Hunter is a powerful specialization with high single-target damage, the highest mobility of any ranged DPS specialization, a mortal strike, and a damage profile that is difficult for enemies to disrupt.
The Beast Mastery rotation is easy to pick up, and the skills that separate the best Beast Mastery Hunters are positioning and how to use their mobility and range to always be safe while keeping their enemies in danger while still using their crowd control to create kill windows.
As the bulk of a Beast Mastery Hunter's damage comes from their pets, it is difficult for enemies to avoid their damage, and Beast Mastery does not suffer from the line of sight issues other ranged DPS specializations are prone to.
The high damage, mortal strike, and ability to lock down a healer independently make Beast Mastery a versatile and powerful specialization in the solo shuffle format.
In the War Within, Beast Mastery has received a comprehensive rework offering more utility, more crowd control, more survivability, and some more specialized Hunter tree talents that are invaluable in certain matchups.
Beast Mastery Hunter Strengths and Weaknesses
- The highest mobility of all ranged specializations
- High single target damage which is difficult to disrupt
- Mortal Strike from pets
- Lots of defensive options and cooldowns
- Support for team with Roar of Sacrifice, Master's Call, or Interlope
- Multiple control crowd options in Intimidation, Binding Shot, Freezing Trap, High Explosive Trap, Scatter Shot/ Bursting Shot and Entrapment
- Intimidation to Freezing Trap combination can be countered by many specializations
- Not many support options to keep a teammate alive when they're being trained
- Requires consistently strong positional awareness to truly excel
- Easy to break crowd control with Stomp
- Requires some awareness of crowd control effects on primary pet
Beast Mastery Hunter Hotfixes in Patch 11.0.2 (The War Within Season 1)
8 October 2024
Hunter
- Survival of the Fittest now provides 25% damage reduction in PvP combat (was 30%).
- Survival Tactics (PvP Talent) now has a 2 second duration (was 3 seconds).
Hero Talents
- Dark Ranger: Smoke Screen now applies Survival of the Fittest at 50% effectiveness in PvP combat.
Beast Mastery
- Basilisk Collar damage bonus per damage over time effect reduced to 2%/4% (was 5%/10%).
- Kill Command damage increased by 18%.
- All damage dealt by you and your pet's abilities increased by 8%.
This round of PvP tuning aims to reduce Hunter's survivability. The nerf to Survival Tactics particularly will make it so that you are less likely to survive a stun using only a pre- Feign Death.
The survivability bonus from Dark Ranger has also been reduced by both the nerf to this talent and the nerf to Survival of the Fittest, which indirectly makes Pack Leader a more viable defensive choice because Den Recovery has not been reduced.
The damage buffs to Beast Mastery are a welcome change that will increase the power of Beast Mastery in Arena, even though they are slightly offset by the Basilisk Collar reduction.
September 25 2024
Beast Mastery
- Beast Cleave damage increased to 90% (was 80%).
- Kill Cleave damage increased to 90% (was 80%).
These are mostly PvE focused buffs to Beast Mastery's area of effect damage and are insignificant in PvP. Kill Cleave and Beast Cleave are not taken in Arena builds and the only time the Beast Cleave buff will be active when using a currently meta PvP build is during Call of the Wild when talented into Bloody Frenzy. These changes will not affect the viabilty of Beast Mastery or the talent builds played in Arena or Battleground Blitz.
September 17 2024
Beast Mastery
- Kill Command damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
- Cobra Shot damage increased by 15% in PvP combat.
- Kill Shot damage increased by 40% in PvP combat.
- Barbed Shot damage increased by 20% in PvP combat.
These much needed throughput buffs to your most commonly used abilities will help Beast Mastery become a competitive DPS spec in the current meta, where it was previously underperforming.
4 September 2024
Pack Leader (Hero Talent Tree)
- Vicious Hunt damage increased by 10% for Beast Mastery.
- Howl of the Pack critical strike damage bonus increased to 5% for Beast Mastery (was 3%).
These are small tuning adjustments, the more significant being the Vicious Hunt damage increase, as Kill Command forms the basis of your rotation outside of maintaining Frenzy stacks. Even with the buffs, Dark Ranger will be the generally preferred Hero Talent tree.
Content of the Guide
- On the Beast Mastery Hunter PvP Talents page, you will find an analysis of the talents available to Beast Mastery Hunters, as well as an overview of the PvP talents, with advice on which ones to take and under which conditions.
- On the Beast Mastery Hunter PvP Rotation and Playstyle page, you will learn how to use your spells, depending on the situation (dealing damage, surviving, controlling enemy players, etc.), and what is generally expected of your class and spec in PvP.
- On the Beast Mastery Hunter PvP Stat Priority and Gear page, you will find the stat priority to follow in PvP, as well as advice for choosing your gear, which may vary depending on your playstyle and composition.
- On the Beast Mastery Hunter PvP Best Races page, you will find lists of the Alliance and Horde races, ranked by how good they are for Beast Mastery Hunters in PvP, as well as explanations regarding why and how their racials benefit you.
- On the Beast Mastery Hunter PvP Useful Macros page, you will find a collection of useful PvP macros for Beast Mastery Hunters.
- On the Beast Mastery Hunter Arena Composition page, you will find the list of the most powerful Arena compositions featuring Beast Mastery Hunters in both 2v2 and 3v3 modes.
- On the Beast Mastery Hunter in Battleground Blitz page, you will find a summary of how to play Beast Mastery in Battleground Blitz specifically, including the playstyle, role in specific battlegrounds, talent builds, and macros.
Changelog
- 11 Oct. 2024 (macros): Updated notes with targeting macro advice.
- 11 Oct. 2024 (talents): Rearranged PvP talent priority.
- 08 Oct. 2024 (playstyle): Updated defensives and trapping.
- 08 Oct. 2024 (blitz): Updated talent builds.
- 08 Oct. 2024 (gear): Updated tier section.
- 08 Oct. 2024 (talents): Updated talent builds.
- 08 Oct. 2024 (this page): Added 8 October 2024 hotfixes.
- 08 Oct. 2024 (this page): Added 8 October 2024 hotfixes.
- 25 Sep. 2024 (blitz): Updated Defensives, Resource Race, Hybrid, Embellishment and Macro sections.
- 25 Sep. 2024 (this page): Added 25 September 2024 hotfixes.
- 25 Sep. 2024 (this page): Added 25 September 2024 hotfixes.
- 22 Sep. 2024 (races): Updated Night Elf description.
- 22 Sep. 2024 (playstyle): Updated rotations.
- 22 Sep. 2024 (blitz): Updated talent builds and mobility section.
- 22 Sep. 2024 (talents): Slight updates to talent builds.
- 19 Sep. 2024 (talents): Added burst talent build.
- 18 Sep. 2024 (this page): Added 17 September hotfixes.
- 18 Sep. 2024 (this page): Added 17 September hotfixes.
- 14 Sep. 2024 (blitz): Updated recommended PvP talents.
- 13 Sep. 2024 (gear): Expanded on how to craft PvP gear and Algari Diamond gems.
- 13 Sep. 2024 (talents): Changed recommended talent tree.
- 11 Sep. 2024 (gear): Changed suggested Embellished items.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (pets): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (races): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (macros): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (playstyle): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (comps): Updated comp tier lists based on current meta.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (blitz): Updated embellishments.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (gear): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (talents): Reviewed for The War Within Season 1.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (this page): Added link to Blitz page.
- 09 Sep. 2024 (this page): Added link to Blitz page.
- 03 Sep. 2024 (this page): Added September 4 Hotfixes.
- 03 Sep. 2024 (this page): Added September 4 Hotfixes.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (pets): Reviewed for The War Within Launch.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (races): Added the new Earthen race.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (macros): Updated for The War Within launch.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (playstyle): Updated for the War Within Launch.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for The War Within Launch.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (blitz): Page added.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (gear): Updated for The War Within launch.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (talents): Updated for The War Within launch.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (this page): Updated for The War Within launch.
- 21 Aug. 2024 (this page): Updated for The War Within launch.
- 10 Aug. 2024 (this page): Updated with August 14 hotfixes.
- 10 Aug. 2024 (this page): Updated with August 14 hotfixes.
- 26 Jul. 2024 (pets): Page created.
- 26 Jul. 2024 (races): Re-written for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 26 Jul. 2024 (macros): Re-written for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 26 Jul. 2024 (playstyle): Re-written for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 26 Jul. 2024 (comps): Re-written for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 26 Jul. 2024 (gear): Re-written for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 26 Jul. 2024 (talents): Re-written for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 26 Jul. 2024 (this page): Re-written for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 26 Jul. 2024 (this page): Re-written for The War Within Pre-Patch.
- 07 May 2024 (races): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (macros): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (playstyle): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (comps): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (gear): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (talents): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (this page): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 07 May 2024 (this page): Reviewed for 10.2.7.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (races): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (macros): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (playstyle): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (gear): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (talents): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 22 Apr. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Season 4.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (races): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (talents): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 15 Jan. 2024 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.2.5.
- 06 Nov. 2023 (races): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (gear): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (talents): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (this page): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 06 Nov. 2023 (this page): Updated for Patch 10.2
- 04 Sep. 2023 (races): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (comps): Updated for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (talents): Reviewed and updated for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 04 Sep. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.7
- 11 Jul. 2023 (talents): Updated the Talent Build.
- 10 Jul. 2023 (races): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 10 Jul. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.1.5
- 09 May 2023 (races): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (macros): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (playstyle): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (comps): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (gear): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (talents): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 09 May 2023 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight Patch 10.1.
- 14 Mar. 2023 (gear): Updated the stat priority and BiS list.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (races): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (talents): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 30 Jan. 2023 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 10.0.5.
- 28 Jan. 2023 (talents): Updated the recommended talent build.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (races): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (macros): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (playstyle): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (comps): Reviewed for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (gear): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (talents): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 11 Dec. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight Season 1.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (races): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (macros): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (playstyle): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (comps): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (gear): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (talents): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 22 Nov. 2022 (this page): Updated for Dragonflight pre-patch.
- 29 Jul. 2022 (comps): Reviewed and updated for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 29 Jul. 2022 (gear): Reviewed and updated for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 29 Jul. 2022 (this page): Page reviewed for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 29 Jul. 2022 (this page): Page reviewed for Shadowlands Season 4.
- 31 May 2022 (races): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (talents): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 31 May 2022 (this page): Reviewed for Patch 9.2.5.
- 21 Apr. 2022 (gear): Updated the BiS list.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (races): Page reviewed and approved for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (macros): Page reviewed and approved for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (playstyle): Restructured and updated the burst and general rotation.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (comps): Page updated for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (gear): Updated the recommended Gear and Trinkets.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (talents): Updated the recommended talents and PvP talents. Updated the recommended pets.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.2.
- 28 Feb. 2022 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.2.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (races): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (playstyle): Updated Burst Damage rotation.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.5.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (talents): Updated Tier 4 Regular Talent.
- Updated PvP Talents.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.1.5.
- 10 Nov. 2021 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.1.5.
- 16 Aug. 2021 (playstyle): Updated all damage rotations.
- 25 Jul. 2021 (playstyle): Updated damage rotations.
- 09 Jul. 2021 (talents): Updated PvP Talents.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (races): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (playstyle): Reviewed for Patch 9.1.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (comps): Updated Best 2v2 Team Compositions.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (gear): Updated gear recommendations and added Shards of Domination section.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (talents): Updated Tier 3 regular talents and updated PvP talents.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.1.
- 06 Jul. 2021 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.1.
- 07 Jun. 2021 (talents): Updated Best Pets.
- 14 May 2021 (gear): Updated Gear Recommendations.
- 02 May 2021 (gear): Updated Stat Priority.
- 25 Apr. 2021 (playstyle): Updated Burst and Sustained damage rotations.
- 23 Mar. 2021 (races): Reviewed for Patch 9.0.5.
- 23 Mar. 2021 (macros): Reviewed for Patch 9.0.5.
- 23 Mar. 2021 (playstyle): Updated all damage rotations.
- 23 Mar. 2021 (comps): Reviewed for Patch 9.0.5.
- 23 Mar. 2021 (gear): Reviewed for Patch 9.0.5.
- 23 Mar. 2021 (talents): Updated Talent Table.
- Updated Tiers 1 and 2 Regular Talents.
- 23 Mar. 2021 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.0.5.
- 23 Mar. 2021 (this page): Updated for Patch 9.0.5.
- 10 Dec. 2020 (this page): Added Covenant page.
- 10 Dec. 2020 (this page): Added Covenant page.
- 06 Dec. 2020 (gear): Added BiS gear list for Shadowlands.
- 29 Nov. 2020 (playstyle): Removed outdated Traits and Essences.
- 29 Nov. 2020 (gear): Removed outdated Traits and Essences.
- Removed outdated gear.
- Added gems section.
- 29 Nov. 2020 (this page): Removed Azerite mentions and updated gear section.
- 29 Nov. 2020 (this page): Removed Azerite mentions and updated gear section.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (races): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (macros): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (playstyle): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (comps): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (gear): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (talents): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (this page): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
- 14 Oct. 2020 (this page): Updated for Shadowlands pre-patch.
Other PvP Guides
This guide is written and maintained by Slo, a Multi-Gladiator and Multi-Rank 1 Solo Shuffle Hunter. You can find Slo on YouTube, Twitch, and Reddit
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