Comments on: Pet Specs: 3.1 Beast Master Edition

By: Unsolicited "Advice" : A Jess of All Trades

Unsolicited "Advice" : A Jess of All Trades — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 18:17:30 +0000

[...] the fact that I chose this spec because I enjoy it. I even search OUT good advice. In fact my Spirit Beast spec is a result of Pike, as is most of my BM spec (53/11/7 with some variation). And you know what? Good advice has helped! [...]

By: Aspect of the Hare » So You Want to Raid as a Beast Master Hunter

Aspect of the Hare » So You Want to Raid as a Beast Master Hunter — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:09:03 +0000

[...] The important thing when it comes to pets is to have them spec’d for pewpew! [...]

By: Pike

Pike — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:59:13 +0000

@ Payne – Tawyn’s current BM build or a very similar variant of it (for example, swapping one point in Improved Mend Pet for one point in Spirit Bond) will net you maximum Beast Master DPS according to Elitist Jerks and their spreadsheets. I have found it myself to work very well. I was originally iffy about dropping so many points from Marksman and plunking them in SV… but really, the DPS is quite, quite good.

By: Payne

Payne — Wed, 06 May 2009 00:51:53 +0000

Can someone please post a link for a good BM raiding build. I am an SV hunter with dual spec I would like to put into BM. Preferably something that includes the 61 point talent.

I was going to just steal Tawyns off the armory but was worried I would end up with some crazy spec you were just trying for a day for kicks.

Thanks in advance,

Payne (Madoran)

By: eresin

eresin — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:11:34 +0000

WTB more pet points!

By: The Orc

The Orc — Tue, 05 May 2009 15:00:40 +0000

Turtle, the best pet to level with? Thunderstomp, 50% damage reduction when withrawn into shell and glyph of mending. As most Hunter’s know, keep your pet alive and you are doing ok!
Even at a high level it has it’s uses. Very easy to transfer aggro onto with Misdirection.
Haven’t tried it myself, but it makes sense to me!
The Orc

By: Torgall

Torgall — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:42:55 +0000

Sarai mentions another reason why Dash > Charge for raids (notice I said for raids, I leveled with Charge and love it). There are many situations when we have to pull our pets back to us. Put /petfollow /cast Dash /cast Mend Pet (and as mentioned add /cast Lick Your Wounds for those that have it talented) into a macro and you’ve just increased your pet’s ability to do the Safety Dance or survive a Flame Wall.

And Pike, I feel your pain with Heart of the Phoenix. There are many times where I fired off HotP only to watch my poor pet die again seconds later. And FYI, you should not be able to put HotP on autocast anymore. The bug wasn’t that it wouldn’t autocast, it was that it was looking like it should autocast. I think it was allegedly fixed with 3.1 (where you can’t set it to autocast anymore) but none of my 3 Ferocity pets currently have it specced so I can’t check it.

By: Pike

Pike — Tue, 05 May 2009 04:41:48 +0000

@ Heart of the Phoenix – I suppose my deal with Heart of the Phoenix is…

a.) regardless of how many of you other people it worked for, it did not work for me unless I manually pressed it… which I often forgot to do… and
b.) when I did remember to use it, my pet invariably died again five seconds later. Every. Single. Time. So it was one big waste. See, when my pet dies, it either means it’s gonna be a wipe, or it’s just a really pet-unfriendly fight. Whether it’s because I am just raiding easier content, or because I am OCD about watching my pet, or because I am just getting lucky, I dunno, but that’s just how it has been for me. So… it really never helped me much I fear =/ Subject to change if I run into content where I need it more often.

Of course, what I want to make clear here, is that if it has worked for you, then please keep it! These are just intended as guides, not gospel. Pike =/= be-all-and-end-all-hunterdom. I want you guys to experiment and do what works best for you. ^_^

@ Charge vs. Dash – Basically what Faulsey said. Because you can get Dash in the first tier you can optimize talent placement. For example, putting a point in Charge means you can’t max out both Wild Hunt and Shark Attack, and the DPS gain from Charge does not compare to the extra point in the aforementioned bottom-level talents. That would be my thoughts anyways, though I’d be curious to see math if my conclusion is wrong.

@ Armor vs. Stamina – I have always been under the impression that Stamina was better in more situations than Armor was, which is why you stick your BM filler point in Endurance Training over Thick Hide. I saw a bunch of math once supporting this, however, it was a long time ago, so things could have changed. Regardless, I would be curious to see if anyone has done any theorycraft regarding Wild Hunt vs. the armor talents, if so, I would *love* to see it. I am still learning just like everyone else, and am often wrong, and would love to correct myself if I can.

By: Phyllixia

Phyllixia — Tue, 05 May 2009 00:43:20 +0000

I’m with a few posters here – HotP works fine and dandy, and is great for fights where if you make one mistake (not pulling it back in time for Sarth flame waves, for instance) your pet dies.

By: Sarai

Sarai — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:56:05 +0000

I personally wouldn’t have a tank-pet spec without last stand, but I wish they hadn’t made roar of sacrifice a must-get in order to get wild hunt. I’ve never used ROS so to me it’s a wasted point. >.<

For my kitty Samurai I only have 1 point each in shark attack and wild hunt, so I could get HotP and lick your wounds. Both of those have helped a ton in keeping her alive during raids, especially at Heigan. (she gets hit with a wave, I call her back to me and pop LYW, then send her back at full health.)