Beast Mastery Hunter Raid Guide

11.0.2 - The War Within

Last Updated:October 4, 2024|Change Log|FAQ

Welcome to the Beast Mastery Hunter Raid guide for the World of Warcraft patch 11.0! This guide covers everything you need to know to understand your character! Are you starting out and leveling up from 70? Check out the leveling guide!

Overview

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Beast Mastery Hunter
Beast Mastery HunterRaid
Single-Target
Strong
AoE
Average
Utility
Weak
Survivability
Excellent
Mobility
Excellent
Beast Mastery Hunter Raid Best in Slot

Hero Talents

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Beast Mastery Hunter
  • Dark Ranger and Pack Leader perform similarly in pure single-target. Dark Ranger does not bring anything significant in AoE while Pack Leader has a lot of passive damage increases that contribute more towards your AoE.
Dark Ranger
Pack Leader
  • You gain access to a 30 second cooldown called Black Arrow.
  • Black Arrow has multiple interactions with different talents within the hero talent tree.
    • Black Arrow has a 10% chance to reset Barbed Shot with each damage instance.
      • If this occurs then you and your pet gain the benefit of Withering Fire.
    • Each damage instance of Black Arrow also has a 10% chance to proc Shadow Hounds.
    • Black Arrow also gives you Death Shade when cast.
  • Your Black Arrow is further empowered during Call of the Wild through Shadow Lash.
  • Every other Kill Command you cast also casts Vicious Hunt.
    • During Call of the Wild you always have Vicious Hunt active.
    • Additionally whenever Vicious Hunt is triggered your next Barbed Shot causes your pet to also use its basic attack regardless of its current focus.
  • Your Kill Command is further empowered through Frenzied Tear.
    • Your Frenzied Tear also has a chance to proc Furious Assault.

Talents

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Beast Mastery Hunter
Dark Ranger Single-Target
Pack Leader AoE
Dark Ranger Beast Mastery Hunter Single-Target talents in Raids

Gameplay Altering Talents

Discover all talents that significantly alter your gameplay within the Spec and Class Talent trees. This section gives a concise overview of these talents and their applications but for a more detailed look check out the Rotation and Deep Dive sections below.

Spec Tree

  • Animal Companion
    • Large single-target increase since your secondary pet now casts Kill Command.
  • Thrill of the Hunt
    • This is a crucial buff to maintain through proper Barbed Shot usage.
  • Venom's Bite
    • Since Black Arrow also gives you a free Hunter's Prey proc this allows for a nice 10% bonus damage through Basilisk Collar.
  • Dire Beast
    • Medium amount of damage on a short cooldown.
    • This also gives you access to Huntmaster's Call which is a large single-target increase.
  • Dire Frenzy
    • Medium single-target increase.
  • Killer Cobra
    • Large single-target increase during your Bestial Wrath windows as you aren't relying on random resets to cast the maximum amount of Kill Commands.
  • Basilisk Collar
    • A large passive damage increase as you always have 2-3 DoT's on your target at all times.

Class Tree

  • Padded Armor
    • A large survivability increase since you gain an extra charge of Survival of the Fittest.
  • Scout's Instincts
    • Nice quality of life passive in case there are slow effects during encounters.
  • Implosive Trap
    • Can be exchanged with High Explosive Trap if you need a knockback effect instead.
  • Emergency Salve
    • A survivability increase on encounters with poisons or diseases present.

Hero Talents

  • Dark Empowerment
    • Outperforms Grave Reaper on single-target since you want to cast Black Arrow on a target that lives through the duration.
  • Smoke Screen
    • Only taken because it turns Exhilaration into a proactive spell instead of a reactive one.
  • Darkness Calls
    • Outperforms Shadow Erasure as Kill Shot doesn't get cast enough for Shadow Erasure to gain any benefit.
Pack Leader Beast Mastery Hunter AoE talents in Raids

When to use this Spec

Use this spec if you're fighting 4 or more enemies for an extended period of the fight.

Talent Adjustments

Listing all the changes within the Class and Spec tree compared to the default build.

Spec Tree

  • Added
    • Multi-Shot
      • Only casted to maintain Beast Cleave.
    • Hunter's Prey
      • Small single-target increase, not used in AoE.
    • Beast Cleave
      • Your main source of AoE damage.
    • Kill Cleave
      • Large AoE increase since Kill Command is your #1 damage source.
    • Scent of Blood
      • Nice passive damage source as Barbed Shot also triggers Stomp.
      • Allows for more focus generation.
  • Removed
    • Thrill of the Hunt
      • Removed for Scent of Blood.
    • Wild Call
      • Removed for Multi-Shot.
    • Venom's Bite
      • Removed for Hunter's Prey.
    • Training Expert
      • Removed for Beast Cleave and Kill Cleave.

Hero Talents

Changed Dark Ranger to Pack Leader for more info visit the Hero Talent section above.

  • Covering Fire
    • Nice quality of life passive that gives you a few extra globals before needing to refresh Beast Cleave.
  • Tireless Hunt
    • Pairs well with Scout's Instincts.
  • Furious Assault
    • Outperforms Beast of Opportunity.

Rotation

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Beast Mastery Hunter

Tier Set

  • 2-Set: Barbed Shot further increases your pet's attack speed by 5%.
  • 4-Set: Your pet's attacks have a 10% chance to increase all pet damage you deal by 10% for 10 seconds.

Single-Target

Dark Ranger

Opener

  • Your goal is to cast as many Kill Commands as possible while also keeping at least 1 Barbed Shot charge on cooldown and also keeping relevant abilities on cooldown.
Beast Mastery Hunter Single-Target opener in Raids
  • Use your active trinkets, Tempered Potion and racials like Blood Fury or Berserking after using Call of the Wild or Hunter's Prey proc.

Priority List

This is a general priority you aim to maintain throughout the fight.

  1. Cast Dire Beast.
  2. Cast Bestial Wrath.
  3. Cast Kill Command.
  4. Cast Barbed Shot if Kill Command is on cooldown.
  5. Cast Black Arrow.
  6. Cast Kill Shot when you have a Hunter's Prey proc or in execute to keep up Venom's Bite.
  7. Cast Cobra Shot if Barbed Shot and Kill Command are on cooldown.

AoE

Pack Leader

Opener

  • Your goal is to cast as many Kill Commands as possible while maintaining uptime on Beast Cleave and while keeping other relevant abilities on cooldown.
Beast Mastery Hunter AoE opener in Raids
  • Use your active trinkets, Tempered Potion, and racials like Blood Fury or Berserking after using Call of the Wild.

Priority List

  1. Cast Multi-Shot if Beast Cleave isn't active or expires in less than 2 seconds.
  2. Cast Bestial Wrath.
  3. Cast Kill Command.
  4. Cast Barbed Shot if Kill Command is on cooldown.
  5. Cast Explosive Shot if there are 4+ stacked targets.
  6. Cast Dire Beast.
  7. Cast Black Arrow.
  8. Cast Cobra Shot if Barbed Shot and Kill Command are on cooldown.

Deep Dive

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Beast Mastery Hunter

Maximizing your damage output during Bestial Wrath

  • Ensure you are going into Bestial Wrath with at least 1 charge of Kill Command, but having 2 is best.
  • Make sure you don't focus starve yourself by weaving in Barbed Shots during this window and not letting it over-cap on charges.
  • Try to line this damage window up with either of the buffs provided by Huntmaster's Call. These are quite large and Bestial Wrath windows are further buffed by these.

Tracking Thrill of the Hunt and knowing when to use Barbed Shot

  • Unless you have 1 point in Scent of Blood, never cast 2 Barbed Shots back-to-back.
  • Outside of Bestial Wrath you want to have at least one spell cast between Barbed Shot casts.
    • The amount of casts you should have between Barbed Shots increases the less haste you have.
  • High Thrill of the Hunt uptime comes from doing these things and just naturally spacing out uses of Barbed Shot.

Below, you find an example of how to correctly manage Barbed Shot casts.

Beast Mastery Hunter Thrill of the Hunt uptime in Raids

Maximizing your damage output during Bloodshed

  • The damage you deal during Bloodshed should be consistent because you should always pair it with Bestial Wrath.
    • Since you are pairing Bloodshed and Bestial Wrath together you also follow the Bestial Wrath rotation.

Below is an example of what happens when you correctly manage your Bloodshed window and you are talented into Killer Cobra.

Beast Mastery Hunter Bloodshed window in Raids
  • This is not a fixed rotation; This is just one example of how to play during your Bestial Wrath window. War Orders procs can increase your amount of Kill Command resets without needing to cast Cobra Shot along with Wild Call increasing the amount of Barbed Shot resets you can have.

Understanding Mechanics

Rotational min-maxing is just one aspect of mastering a specialization, but there are numerous other key mechanics that influence your performance. Use the following guides to improve them.

Nerub-ar Palace

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Beast Mastery Hunter

The following tips are mainly applicable to Heroic Bosses. Mythic tips are released after our progression concludes.

← Scroll for more Bosses

Ulgrax
Bloodbound Horror
Sikran
Rasha'nan
Broodtwister
Nexus-Princess
Silken Court
Queen Ansurek
Beast Mastery Hunter Ulgrax talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • You can immune Stalker Netting with Aspect of the Turtle if you need to clear space for your raid.
  • Use Disengage or Aspect of the Cheetah to resist the pull in from Carnivorous Contest.
Beast Mastery Hunter Bloodbound Horror talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Defensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • Always line up Exhilaration for Crimson Rain and Survival of the Fittest with Gruesome Disgorge.
  • You can use Aspect of the Turtle to immune the damage of Goresplatter making it so you won't have to run out.
  • Try to stay on the outer edge of the platform if you get targeted with Grasp From Beyond so that you aren't taking up the melee's space.
Beast Mastery Hunter Sikran talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • Use Exhilaration if you are targeted by Phase Blades.
  • You can also use Survival of the Fittest if you are targeted by Decimate. Try to use this toward the end of the cast as you will likely have the Cosmic Shards debuff as well.
Beast Mastery Hunter Rasha'nan talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • Move out with Spinneret's Strands and use either Disengage or Aspect of the Cheetah to get back in quickly.
  • Use either Survival of the Fittest or Exhilaration if you are targeted by Rolling Acid.
Beast Mastery Hunter Broodtwister talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • Use Disengage to remove Unstable Web from yourself.
  • Use Binding Shot on the Blood Parasite egg stack. This keeps them stacked for AoE while they are near the boss.
  • Use Counter Shot to interrupt Poison Burst.
  • Rotate between your defensives for Experimental Dosage and Unstable Web.
Beast Mastery Hunter Nexus Princess talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • Generally you should use your defensives for Assassination and Twilight Massacre as these also apply Queensbane.
  • The main thing to keep an eye out for on this boss is the position of each Nether Rift. Their placement dictates how much you get pulled towards them. Try to position yourself in a way that each Nether Rift is at a similar distance to you.
Beast Mastery Hunter Silken Court talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Defensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • In Phase 1 you should try to use a defensive for each Venomous Rain as this is the only constant damage source in this phase.
  • You can use Disengage after getting pulled in by Web Vortex to save yourself some movement. On Mythic don't do this, because you will spawn a Mote of Overwrought Paranoia from where you were pulled in.
    • Alternatively, if one is available you can use Demonic Gateway to negate the pull in effect.
  • In Phase 2 and 3 your defensives aren't as hard assigned. Generally you should use one on Web Vortex and whenever the stacks of Stinging Swarm start to become lethal.
  • Try to get some good distance from the adds that spawn from Call of the Swarm since they fixate the closest target.
Beast Mastery Hunter Queen Ansurek talents in Raids

Offensive Cooldown Usage

Boss Tips

  • Utilize Disengage and Feign Death to immune every Silken Tomb of the fight.
    • You can also use a pet that gives you access to Master's Call so you can freedom others and then quickly swap back to a Fortitude of the Bear pet before you are knocked to the 1st platform of Phase 2.
  • Use whatever defensive you've assigned to Reactive Toxins 1-2 seconds after all of them have been triggered to cover the hit from Frothy Toxin as well.
  • You can use Binding Shot for the Gloom Hatchlings that spawn in Phase 3. This is mostly just a failsafe incase cc isn't used quick enough and they start running towards the boss early on.

Stat Priority

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Beast Mastery Hunter

Understand your secondary stat priority and the tertiary stats needed for optimal performance during Raid boss fights as a Beast Mastery Hunter. For more detailed information, visit the Stats and Attributes guide.

Beast Mastery Hunter Stat Priorities in Raid

Higher Item level items are better in most scenarios. For an accurate representation of what item to equip you should use Simcraft! A static "Stat Priority" is just a starting point and can easily shift depending on your individual gear.

  • All secondary stats are affected by diminishing returns. Click here to learn more!

Tertiary

  • Avoidance - Great stat to reduce the damage intake of "Area of Effect" abilities.
  • Leech - Provides additional healing through damage dealing. The damage of your pets does not heal you thus Leech is an awful tertiary for you since most of your damage is coming from your pets.
  • Speed - Niche tertiary that can be very useful and has been proven useful in the past. Makes playing certain mechanics a lot easier.

Gear

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Beast Mastery Hunter
Best in Slot
Farmable Alternatives
SlotItemLocation
HeadLightless Scavenger's SkullThe Silken Court / Catalyst
NeckSureki Zealot's InsigniaSikran
ShoulderHook-Barbed SpauldersSiege of Boralus
CloakWings of Shattered SorrowRasha'nan
ChestLightless Scavenger's TunicBroodtwister / Catalyst
WristThrone Defender's BanglesSikran
GlovesLightless Scavenger's MittsSikran / Catalyst
BeltGlyph-Etched BindingCrafted
LegsLightless Scavenger's StalkingsNexus Princess / Catalyst
BootsRasha'nan's Grotesque TalonsRasha'nan
Ring 1Band of the Ancient DredgerSiege of Boralus
Ring 2Seal of the Poisoned PactQueen Ansurek
Trinket 1Skardyn's GraceGrim Batol
Trinket 2Ara-Kara SacbroodAra-Kara, City of Threads
WeaponP.0.W. x2Crafted

Below you are presented with a good list of farmable alternatives that are obtainable outside of WoW’s weekly lockout system. While replaced in time as you progress, these offer immediate character power.

SlotItemLocation
HeadWildhammer Riding HelmGrim Batol
NeckTrailspinner PendantMists of Tirna Scithe
ShoulderHook-Barbed SpauldersSiege of Boralus
CloakAnvilhide CapeThe Stonevault
ChestCoagulum CuirassCity of Threads
WristPenumbral RimeguardsCity of Threads
GlovesCorpseleecher GripsThe Stonevault
BeltCinch of Lingering InfluenceCity of Threads
LegsEntwined Chimeric LegguardsCity of Threads
BootsSilksteel StridersThe Dawnbreaker
Ring 1Band of the Ancient DredgerSiege of Boralus
Ring 2Devout Zealot's RingThe Dawnbreaker
Trinket 1Ara-Kara SacbroodAra-Kara, City of Echoes
Trinket 2Skardyn's GraceGrim Batol
WeaponRecurved Hull ImpalerThe Dawnbreaker

Trinkets

Below you can find active and passive alternatives to our recommended trinkets. Do note that some trinkets are better than others depending on the raid boss.

Active Trinket alternatives

  • Mad Queen's Mandate
    • This is the best on-use raid option. The crit it gives is already very good for Single-Target and the on-use effect can crit for upwards of 12-13 million.
  • Treacherous Transmitter
    • Requires you to meet certain requirements before giving you a very large amount of main stat. Some examples so far are jump 3 times or find an orb on the floor.
  • Imperfect Ascendancy Serum
    • 1.5 second channel that gives you a decently large amount of main stat. The main downside is the channel making you unable to do any other action until it's over.
  • Ovi'nax's Mercurial Egg
    • A worse option than the rest simply because it has no main stat baseline and you won't have the main stat it gives reliably while it stacks.

Passive Trinket alternatives

  • Empowering Crystal of Anub'ikkaj
    • Large amount of a random secondary.
  • Dead-Eye Spyglass
    • As long as you hit the target this proc's on it's very strong.
  • Bottled Flayedwing Toxin
    • Passive effect that gives you an average amount of overall damage.

Embellishments

  • x1 Darkmoon Sigil: Ascension and Writhing Armor Banding
    • This combo gives you 1600 of a random secondary stat once fully ramped and is by the best DPS option.

or

  • 2x Dawnthread Lining
    • It is a good choice if you have over 80% health most of the time and during your cooldowns.
    • The optimal slots to craft on are Wrists, Waist or Boots depending on your available gear.

Remaining Sparks

  • Crafted items are 636 item level and regular items are 636 on max item level, therefore, it's not beneficial to equip crafted items outside of your 2x embellishments unless you don't have access to other high item level gear on that slot.

Simcraft

To find the best combination of gear available to you or identify the best possible upgrades, visit our Simcraft guide to learn how to utilize Simcraft easily and effectively.

Consumables

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Beast Mastery Hunter
  • Phials
    • Flask of Alchemical Chaos -- maximum DPS.
    • Flask of Tempered Versatility -- less DPS but more survivability.
  • Food
    • Feast of the Divine Day
    • Feast of the Midnight Masquerade
  • Weapon Oil
    • Algari Mana Oil
  • Combat Potion
    • Tempered Potion
  • Health Potion
    • Algari Healing Potion -- a big burst of healing
  • Augment Rune
    • Crystallized Augment Rune
  • Sockets
    • Deadly Onyx
    • Culminating Blasphemite -- Unique, use one of each gem color to enhance your Culminating Blasphemite.
      • Masterful Sapphire
      • Masterful Emerald
      • Masterful Ruby

Enchantments

HeadNerubian Gemweaver
NeckMagnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x
CloakEnchant Cloak - Chant of Winged Grace
ChestEnchant Chest - Crystalline Radiance
WristEnchant Bracer - Chant of Armored Avoidance
Nerubian Gemweaver
WaistNerubian Gemweaver
LegsStormbound Armor Kit
BootsEnchant Boots - Scout's March
Ring 1Enchant Ring - Cursed Haste
Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x
Ring 2Enchant Ring - Cursed Haste
Magnificent Jeweler's Setting 2x
WeaponEnchant Weapon - Authority of the Depths
Beast Mastery Hunter Enchantments in Raids

You buy Nerubian Gemweaver from the Great Vault Vendor to add sockets to your Helm, Wrists & Waist.

Races

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Beast Mastery Hunter

For min-maxing a Beast Mastery Hunter in raiding, different racial traits can provide a tremendous benefit to your character. If this is not your top goal, picking a race that fits your style works just as well.

  • Stoneform -- Dwarf
    • Dispels Magic and Bleed debuffs. Has been useful in the past on some bosses with Bleeds.
  • Rocket Jump -- Goblin
    • Do a small jump in the direction your character is facing.
    • While you're in the Rocket Jump animation you are placed on a global cooldown until your character lands.
  • Berserking -- Troll
    • Strong DPS racial but lines up poorly with Call of the Wild.
    • Reduce the duration of movement-impairing effects by 20%. This was only useful once in the recent history of progression raiding but is still worth noting.
  • Blood Fury -- Orc
    • Strong racial for damage because of both Command and Blood Fury which lines up with Call of the Wild.
    • 20% reduced stun duration on you which can be useful in some situations.
  • Spatial Rift -- Void Elf
    • Spawn a shadow traveling into your facing direction, and activate it again to teleport to it.
    • Maximum range of 100 yards.
Beast Mastery Hunter 5m ST race sims for Raid

Recommendation

In general, it's safe to say that if you care about min-maxing your DPS, you should go with the highest DPS racial. That being said, the story is a bit different if it's about progression raiding. Some help out massively to speed up the progression on certain bosses. Notably, Dwarf with their Stoneform helped out on Tindral Sageswift and Fyrakk the Blazing in the latest Race to World First by having easy access to dispelling yourself at crucial points of the fights mentioned.

Macros

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Beast Mastery Hunter

Discover recommended macros for Beast Mastery Hunter during Raid encounters and watch a quick video guide on creating simple macros for your character.

Macro Import Guide Video

Cursor Macros

Binding Shot -- Casts Binding Shot on your cursor without confirmation.

#showtooltip
/cast [@cursor] Binding Shot

Tar Trap - Uses Tar Trap on your cursor position without confirmation.

#showtooltip Tar Trap
/cast [@cursor] Tar Trap

Mouseover Macros

Pet Macros

Utility Macros

Addons

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Beast Mastery Hunter

Below, you see a screenshot of the author's User Interface for their Beast Mastery Hunter, outlining which addons are used and how they are utilized in Raids to make your life easier.

Beast Mastery Hunter Interface in Raids

Addons

WeakAuras

Changes this Patch

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Beast Mastery Hunter

Patch 11.0.2

Patch 11.0

FAQ

Patch 11.0.2 - The War Within
Beast Mastery Hunter

Q: Why is my Thrill of the Hunt uptime low / stacks dropping?

Credits

Written By: Shodam

Reviewed By: Soda

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