I currently play as a beast mastery-specced hunter on World of Warcraft. Since I’ve been playing the game for a few months now, I decided to write this guide to tell you of my experience with this talent tree and tell you how it performs in-game. Note that this guide was written on version 2.3.3 of the game. For a description of each talent, you can refer to the official talent calculator.
Tier I
Improved Aspect of the Hawk – consider maxing this out if you like keeping Aspect of the Hawk active. While the attack speed boost is significant, the low proc rate means that it can trigger during ill-timed moments, such as when the fight is three to five seconds away from concluding. It truly shines against foes with high health, so if you want to spec for raiding, you should go for this talent over Endurance Training. When you get Aspect of the Viper later on, try to be conscious of which aspect you prefer to use. This talent is absolutely useless without Aspect of the Hawk. I know it’s obvious, but this is one of those things that are easy to forget.
Endurance Training – this is a straightforward health boost for you and your pet. If you’re having problems with pet survivability or don’t use Aspect of the Hawk often, max this talent out.
Tier II
Focused Fire – this gives you a 1% per point damage increase as long as your pet is alive. It’s small, but it’s better than nothing. It will also increase the critical strike chance of the Kill Command ability for your pet, an ability that becomes active only after you land a critical hit on your target. As long as you fulfill the requirements, this is a solid talent to invest in.
Improved Aspect of the Monkey – improving your dodge rating means that you engage in melee combat often, which is what the Survival tree is for. As a beast master, the focus is supposed to be on your pet, not you.
Thick Hide – again, another straightforward talent, this time improving your armor as well as your pet’s. Like Endurance Training, pet survivability is improved.
Improved Revive Pet – as the name states, this improves your Revive Pet ability, making it cheaper, faster and more effective. It sounds good, but you’re not being a very good beast master if your pet dies often. The focus is on pet survivability, not pet recovery.
Tier III
Pathfinding – gives a speed boost to your on-foot travel Aspects. Since getting hit in Combat while in these Aspects leave you dazed, it’s not a talent I would recommend. Still, if you’re in a hurry…
Bestial Swiftness – improves the outdoor movement of your pets. It’s handy for pets all around, but it’s especially useful for those who don’t have the Charge or Dive ability. This allows your pets to close the gap between you and your target faster, creating more distance between you and your foe. I had it before I respecced, so I have to say that it’s one of those things that you will definitely miss if you removed it for one reason or another.
Unleashed Fury – this provides a significant damage increase for your pets. Simply put, max it out.
To be continued in Part 2.