We'll be discussing the various buffs and nerfs that went into effect on January 11th. These buffs and nerfs are going to be affecting 2 main classes. That’s going to be our Beast Mastery Hunter and our Priest. I’m going to share with you some tweaks that you can make to your Beast Mastery Hunter that might counter some of the craziness that Blizzard is going to nerf in this upcoming update in WoW Classic Season of Discovery. We have a lot need to be covered, so let’s get started.

Buffs & Nerfs Update

In a recent January 10th post, Blizzard stated: We intend to make the following adjustments via hotfixes for hunters:

• Chimera Shot weapon damage is increased to 100%, was 85%.
• Explosive Shot base damage increased by 25% before any attack power modifiers.
• Mana cost of Chimera Shot, Explosive Shot, Carve, Kill Command, and Flanking Strike is reduced by 50%.
• Beast Mastery rune bonus health and damage provided to the hunter's pet is reduced to 20%, was 30%.
• Beast Mastery rune bonus Focus regeneration provided to the hunter pet is reduced to 50%, was 80%. (That’s a 30% nerf to the amount of focus our pets receive, and that’s definitely going to change up what pets I use post nerfs. We’ll talk more about that here shortly.)

In the developer notes, they put, 'We remain concerned that hunter pets are still too powerful and believe that the best way forward is to reign in the Beast Mastery rune while compensating via the Hunter's main spells.' I guess they’re trying to get more and more Beast Mastery Hunters to go Marksman.

Runes Change

Beast Master Hunters are going to take a hit in DPS once these nerfs go into effect. Now, here are some of the changes that I’m going to make to my Beast master Hunter that's going to help me to counter some of these nerves. Let’s first discuss the runes. So before this update, I was running hard of the line Beast Mastery rune, and I’d switch back and forth between Flanking Strikes and Sniper Training. I wasn’t using the Kill Command cause my primary pet that I was using was a Wind Serpent.

Now, post-January 11th update, I’m going to be running a hard of the line Beast Master rune and Kill Command cause I’m going to be switching out my primary pet. Additionally, if you don’t have access to a harded line, you could always use the Master Marksman. And if you’re one of those Hunters that really enjoy weaving in and out, you can always interchange between Kill Command and Flanking Strike.

New Talent Tree

So as far as the talent tree, my primary build is going to be 2 in Improved Aspect of the Hawk, 5 in Endurance Training, 3 in Thick Hide, 5 in Unleashed Fury, and 1 in Ferocity.

Yes, if you’re in a raid situation where you know that your pet’s going to be taking a lot of damage and dying a lot, then I would definitely recommend taking the 2 points out of Improved Aspect of the Hawk and getting Improved Revive Pet. Because, as we know, with a dead pet as a Beastmaster Hunter, that’s going to take out a gigantic chunk of our DPS. But when I’m out in the world soloing and whether it be experience farming or gold farming, my pet really doesn’t die that much. So it makes no sense to waste 2 points in the Improved Revive Pet.

And additionally, in the raids I’ve been in, my pet hardly ever dies. So it just felt like a waste of points to put into Improved Revive Pet when I just improved my all-out DPS so much more by putting those extra 2 points in Improved Aspect of the Hawk. So I would definitely recommend that you try both ways to see what fits your playstyle better. If you lean towards having that extra DPS and Improved Aspect of the Hawk, or if you just need that Improved Revive Pet because your pet keeps on dying.

New Hunter Pet

Now that we talked about runes and talents, let’s talk about pets. Before this update, I was using a Wind Serpent. And Wind Serpents are also awesome pets. That Lightning Strike is just catastrophic. But it came at a price of 50 focus and getting nerf 30% in our Focus regeneration for our pets and 10% for damage. Doesn’t make sense to continue using a Wind Serpent.

So what I’m going to end up doing is switching back to my Ghost Saber, which is a 2.0 attack speed cat. That’s going to do really nice damage in conjunction with that Kill Command rune. And if I ever switch out with a Flanking Strike rune, that 2.0 attack speed is going to give me more attack damage. Therefore, I’m going to be able to pull out more damage by using a 2.0 attack speed cat.