Thread: 3.3 Beast Master Raiding Guide

By: DreamScaper of Malfurion. Feel free to whisper me in game if I can help.

3.3.3 BM Raiding Guide

Bringing BM back to an entry level raiding spec.

This is strictly a BM raiding guide, not a leveling or PvP guide. Questions of those sorts are better asked/answered in other threads. Please don't ask here.

BM can be competitive with SV and marks if you have the appropriate gear, so refusing to consider BM strictly because it is an entry level spec should be ignored.

0. Thoughts on raiding BM
1. Minimum gear to start BM
2. Sample top DPS spec and talents.
3. Glyphs
4. Pet and pet spec
5. Stat Priorities
6. Addons
7. Macros
8. Shot prioritization and maximizing burst DPS
9. FAQ
10. Useful Links
11. Entry level tips for new 80s to raiding.
12. More advanced tips to help maximize your dps.
13. DPS differences between BM/SV/MM.
14. Micro-managing your pet
15. Mana conservation
16. Tank and spank DPS
17. On the move DPS
18. Fast Switching

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0. Thoughts on raiding BM

There is no known gear level which BM > SV (or MM). This is the foundation of the whole argument that BM simply should not be played. However, at higher gear levels BM can start narrowing the gap between SV and BM. At higher gear levels, the gap is about 5% to 15% on pet unfriendly fights. While 5% is huge for min/maxers, the difference between a #1 parse and a #20 parse was approximately 6%. Same gear, same spec, differently skilled players. While you'll never see a BM hunter in a top 20 parse (or top 100 for that matter) it still can do competitive dps for non min/max guilds.

This guide isn't suggesting people switch to BM though I personally believe hunters can benefit from playing an easier spec better. It is only for those who want to raid as BM (for whatever reason) and try to get more dps out of their toon.

BM is no longer the spam one button while you AFK and top meters. And it will under perform if you don't practice it and are sloppy with your Cool Downs (CDs). BM is also more affected by Random Number Generator (RNG) then the other specs. Mainly, if all your Internal Cool Downs (ICDs) always proc at the same time and you're able to hit Bestial Wrath (BW) during those times, you can do some very serious burst DPS to make your highs higher. If you happen to get lucky with crits during this time it's even better.

BM gets a bad enough name as it is. I can always be certain when I see a dino in a pug that person will be towards the bottom of DPS. That said, you really want to make it work, otherwise you'll find less runs as people don't want noobs.

Some of my best dps came from BM (10s). Koralon, Festergut, Lady Deathwhisper. i think even a Deathbringer Saurfang (I could be wrong on this one though. I'd have to check all my logs). What do these fights have in common? Pet doesn't move. LD and DS even though I move, my pet doesn't.

Maximizing your BM DPS is simple. you want to line up as much as you can while BW to do as much burst damage as you can during those short periods of time. Shooting on the move, proper viper management, etc, is also important, but these skills are essential with all trees. Proper CD usage is also essential with all trees, but it becomes easier with BM.

When you decide to switch (or switch back) to SV you'll have a solid foundation of CD management already built in. And properly using your cds is probably the biggest dps increase for all 3 specs.

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1. Minimum gear to start BM

With any class and any spec, ideally, the minimum gear you'll want is a tier behind current tier. With last tier's gear being available through heroic emblems, that is the way to go. You shouldn't expect to get into an ICC guild coming from questing blues, neither should you expect to need the current tier gear if your guild is working it's way through Naxx.

You will want all of your gear gemmed and enchanted properly. By properly, I don't mean that 78 blue chest you got from a quest to enchant it with 10 stats. 8 stats are fine, 16 agi is fine. If you anticipate/hope on replacing the gear quicker, at least do 14 agi instead of leaving it empty. If you think/hope the item you have will last you a very long time (based on your current progression) get the best enchant and gems for it.

As of 3.3, the current raiding content is ICC. If you plan to contribute towards ICC level content, you'll want 4 t9 as a minimum. If your guild is working on easier content, you still want to be a tier behind.

Pre ICC welfare list - [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] - Not suggesting BiS here, but more of what should be obtainable while working towards 4 piece t9. If you do pug raids, use the better gear there that you might win. If you are lucky enough to win a trophy or 2 upgrade you t9 before you buy it. If you run VoA 25 weekly you can get t9.25 pants and gloves. Any better gear will be ideal, but this entry level ICC gear should hopefully help you contribute towards your raid.

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2. Sample top DPS spec and talents.

53/13/5 - [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Q u o t e:

Basic 53/11/7 spec (using Imp. Mend instead of Spirit Bond): [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

54/12/5, taking the points out of Survival Instincts to pick up 1/2 Invigoration and 3/5 Mortal Shots: [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

55/11/5, going to 4/5 Frenzy (low crit variant on the above): [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Most of your variation here is going to be based on how badly you're hurting for mana, how reliable your healers are with keeping your pet cleansed (Imp. Mend vs. Spirit Bond), and how much crit you have.

Thanks to nuline for this.

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3. Glyphs

Kill Shot - 3 out of the first 4 bosses in ICC have adds. 4 out of 5 bosses in ToC either have adds or just simply multiple kill targets. Even a single target kill you can get a couple extra kill shots glyphing for it as opposed to not glyphing for it. Kill shot is your hardest hitting shot and if you can buff it further with a well time Bestial Wrath and or other cds/pots, you can do serious burst damage at the end of the fight.

Serpent sting - It gives you more GCDs to fire off better shots during the fight, and this is always good. Maximizing your GCDs will increase your dps. It allows you to add more of your key shots before reapplying it and if you are dotting up adds it simply adds more dps if you don't refresh those stings. For example, if you are on kobolds duty in Beasts you might forget to reapply serpent to the boss once they start coming out, so you get a few extra ticks in.

Steady shot - This is your most fired shot so buffing it is good. You'll always be keeping up serpent sting on the boss so its a personal damage boost to you. It is a guaranteed increase per shot.

Alternates -

Bestial wrath - This glyph was nerfed when they nerfed the duration of BW. A glyphed BW will be off cd every 1:04 as opposed to 1:24. Fights shorter then 5:20 minutes will not see an additional BW in the fight. Now, if you can line up your cds with the shorter length you might be able to optimize it more. An example of unglyph being better is Greatness deck procs nearly ever 45 seconds. So, on average it will proc 2 times in 90 seconds. Bestial wrath is up in 84 seconds, so delaying bestial wrath by 6 seconds you can line it up with greatness. Putting a pot or a 2 min cd on top of that can give you good burst damage. In order to do this with a glyph, you'd need something that procs every 70 seconds.

Improved Hawk - The problem with glyphing for improved hawk is it's 6%. This was a good glyph pre 3.1, but at 6% you're talking about getting 1 extra auto shot in every 17 autos. If your auto shots are firing every 2 seconds (as an example) you'd have to be standing still for 34 seconds for one free shot. Some fights this is possible. But not all fights.

4. Pet and pet spec

Devilsaurs and wolves are currently the top DPS pets for BM.

Devilsaurs edge out on more tank and spank fights with little or no pet movement. These fights AP will probably generally be better for you since your pet will be attacking something near 100% of the fight. It makes them even better if the hunter is having to move and lose potential GCDs or autoshots. Examples would be Lady Deathwhisper, Deathbringer Saurfang, Festergut, and Rotface.

Wolves can edge out on fights where the pet has to move too much and so you are actually more interested in buffing your own dps and not your pets as much. These fights AGI will be better. Any time your pet isn't attacking something hurts your dps since your dps relies more on your pet then it does with SV/MM. Examples of fights would be Lord Marrowgar, Gunship Battle, and Professor Putricide (if you move pet to slimes instead of keeping them on boss. Wolves will also be better on aoe type fights or any fight where you need to rely more on personal dps over pets dps.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

Only comment about this is 2 points in bloodthirsty - The reason behind this talent is to make sure your pet doesn't get unhappy mid fight and does help a little with healing.

A worm is a solid 3rd choice of a pet. It is probably the best solo pet you can use, but if you are running 10s and sometimes you don't have a warrior or rogue for ArP, a worm can be a good candidate. You end up taking a personal hit on your dps, so consult with your raid lead if it's worth it to the raid.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]

There isn't many dps stats for worms, so putting 2 in Blood of the Rhino is mostly to help healers toss a heal on him if he is taking any damage. He shouldn't, but if you are raiding with a worm then he's offering a debuff your raid won't otherwise have, so keeping him alive is important.

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5. Stat Priorities

Pets Gain 22% of hunter AP and truncated 100% hit (ie if you have 7.99% hit, your pet will only gain 7% hit)

For gear, hunter gear will have agi/int/sta and maybe some sockets. From there it will also have 3 of 5 stats. ap/crit/arp/hit/haste. Haste will still boost your auto shot dps but it's not important since you already have so much haste in your talents. Hit is another stat that is just everywhere. So, ideally you want to find gear that has ap/arp/crit on it. If you need hit then any of those 2 stats plus hit. And if you are still unlucky, try to get 2 of those stats plus haste.

1. Hit - Hit is important for all stats but more so for BM. you don't want your pet to be missing. Against level 83 bosses you'll want 263 hit. If you are at 262 hit your pet will miss 1% of it's hits. This may not seem like a big deal, but if your pet is doing a decent enough portion of your dps (around 40%) it is important.

2. Agi/AP Debate - If all else fails, use the spreadsheet. If your crit is low go agi.

If your pet can stay on one target without having to move and you need to move, AP will be better simply because you are buffing your pet when you rely more on his dps.

If you are having to pull back your pet to heal it or your pet changes targets or simply isn't attacking something 100% of the time AGI is better to boost your own personal dps.

Now some fights your pet will be stand still chewing face, and other fights he'll be running around. What to gem then? Agi. The truth of the matter is you want to fire off as many shots in the duration of the fight as you can. So, even if you are on kite duty, you should be firing something every GCD when possible.

Also, if you are going to plan to switch specs at sometime in the future, you'll want to switch all gems to agi. The exception is if you stay in BM long enough to get about 600 arp on your gear and a trinket, you might switch to MM and change some gems to ArP.

SV is clear cut Agi. Marks is clear cut Agi (unless you are near soft cap then gemming for ArP is better). BM, however, is situational which is better, and then, it's not as clear cut.

3-4. Crit/ArP. Entry level gear crit will be a more important stat. But as you start gearing up in current season gear most pieces you'll want will have crit on it raising it up. At the same time you'll start picking up ArP on your gear and the more ArP you get the better of a stat it becomes. Partial gemming for Crit is fine (agi/crit to satisfy a good yellow socket) however, ArP should not be gemmed for. The exception would be once you hit 600 ArP and have an ArP trinket, it might be argued you can actually gem for ArP and drop Arcane shot.

5-6. Int/Haste. Int is same as AP. Int is slightly better pet 1 then AP since it also helps with mana. However, the itemization is 2 ap = 1 int. When you switch out to leather pieces though (if considering a piece of leather) all you should really do is convert that Int to an AP loss. Haste will still boost your auto shot dps. If it's on gear, great. If not, it's not a stat you want to actively search for.

6. Addons

*** Raiding Addons ***

Omen - Threat meter addon to make sure you don't pull aggro.

Deadly Boss Mods - Will inform you of boss abilities etc.

Ora2 - Tank frame addon. Your guild might not use it or may use something else.

*** Hunter Related Addons ***

Power auras - I use it to give me a nice big visual of my active aspect so I don't forget what is on. Also to tell me when serpent sting falls off, and when all of my abilities are ready. I have it set up to show the icon in the order of priority. And next level is my cds like bestial wrath, rapid fire, etc.

OmniCC - Puts 10th of seconds on all bars so i can see exactly when items are off cd.

Range Display - Very useful when i don't know exactly where something is that I need to shoot. Also useful for deciding it's not worth spending the time to get to the target and let others deal with it.

Viper Notify - Useful if you are like me and forget to look at your aspects to make sure you aren't in Viper all the time. Also warns you when you are low on mana instead of finding out when you are OOM.

Heat Sink - Addon to keep track of ICDs on my trinkets, etc.

7. Macros

#showtooltip
/castsequence [nomodifier] !Aspect of the Hawk, !Aspect of the Viper; [modifier:alt] !Aspect of the Pack

#showtooltip Steady Shot
/console Sound_EnableSFX 0
/cast [target=pettarget, exists] Kill Command
/cast Steady shot
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()
/console Sound_EnableSFX 1

#showtooltip Arcane Shot
/console Sound_EnableSFX 0
/cast [target=pettarget, exists] Kill Command
/cast Arcane Shot
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()
/console Sound_EnableSFX 1

#showtooltip Multi-Shot
/console Sound_EnableSFX 0
/cast [target=pettarget, exists] Kill Command
/cast Multi-Shot
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()
/console Sound_EnableSFX 1

#showtooltip Serpent Sting
/console Sound_EnableSFX 0
/cast [target=pettarget, exists] Kill Command
/cast Serpent Sting
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()
/console Sound_EnableSFX 1

***

/cast Aspect of the Dragonhawk
/cast Aspect of the Viper

#showtooltip Bestial Wrath
/console Sound_EnableSFX 0
/cast [target=pettarget, exists] Kill Command
/cast !Aspect of the Beast
/cast Bestial Wrath
/in 8 /w DreamsDrunk DRAGONHAWK
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()
/console Sound_EnableSFX 1

#showtooltip Rapid Fire
/console Sound_EnableSFX 0
/cast [target=pettarget, exists] Kill Command
/cast blood fury
/cast Rapid Fire
/cast Call of the Wild
/use 13
/use 14
/cast Bestial wrath
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()
/console Sound_EnableSFX 1

#showtooltip Mongoose Bite
/console Sound_EnableSFX 0
/cast [target=pettarget, exists] Kill Command
/cast Raptor Strike
/cast Mongoose Bite
/script UIErrorsFrame:Clear()
/console Sound_EnableSFX 1

/petpassive [target=pettarget,exists]
/petdefensive [target=pettarget,noexists]

#showtooltip misdirection
/cast !aspect of the dragonhawk
/cast [target=focus, help] misdirection; [help] misdirection; [target=pet, exists] misdirection
/assist pet
/assist focus

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8. Shot prioritization and maximizing burst dps

Kill Shot - Arcane Shot - Multi Shot - Serpent Sting - Steady Shot

The key to every spec is maximizing your CDs, but with BM it's even more important since you are taking a personal dps loss to buff your pet.

Also, potions of wild magic is probably your best bet for potions. I'll always carry around potions of speed, however, the crit is always useful and BM has a lot of haste built in already.

#1 - Know how long the fight is. Lets assume a 5 minute fight.

#2 - Know how many of each CD you should fire for that duration.

#3 - Pop Aspect of the Beast right before bestial wrath and don't forget to change back.

Rapid Fire - 5 minutes - 1 times
Call of the Wild - 3.5 minutes - 2 times
Blood Fury - 2 minutes - 3 times
Bestial Wrath - 1.4 minutes - 4 times
2 pots

Pre-pot the first pot, save 2nd pot for Bloodlust. Save rapid fire for bloodlust. Now we just work out the rest

1 - (right before pull) MD, Pot, Call of the wild, blood fury #1, bestial wrath #1.

2 - 1.5 minutes in fight - Watch your heatsink for when greatness deck is about to proc (if you are using greatness. It procs every 45 seconds so makes it nice) - Bestial wrath #2.

3 - 2.25 minutes in fight - pop blood fury #2 with trinket proc.

4 - 3 minutes in fight - Bestial wrath #3 with trinket.

5 - Near 20% - Bestial wrath #4, Blood fury #3, Call of the Wild #2.

Blood lust is a 40 second buff so if you can line up CDs within that then hold off on rapid fire and potting until you can line up more.

If you noticed, we used the appropriate amount of CDs during the fight and we lined them as best as we could with gear procs.

9. FAQ

Will update as questions are frequently asked.

Q. Do you really raid BM (etc).

I personally get asked this question many times a day, do I raid BM, is it just for fun, is raiding bm even possible. Yes i raid BM (for now). Yes my DPS is either top or competitive with other top DPS. Depending on skill level, BM can either flat out perform other specs at lower skill levels but will still lag behind other specs at higher levels. It really isn't as bad as people try to make it out to be if played properly.

Q. Should I gem ap or agi?

AGI for several reasons. 1. Your BM gear will be almost identical to your SV/MM gear. So if you dual spec you won't be gimping your dps in your other spec. 2. You may decide you're not getting enough mileage as BM and go back to another spec. Regemming will then be very expensive. 3. At certain gear levels, AP will slightly be better in a tank and spank fight. However, AP you are straight buffing your pets dps while taking a hit on your own dps. So, if pet is having to move and isn't attacking something 100% of the time then you start losing out why AP might be better.

Q. What enchant for my gloves?

While not frequently asked, it does raise a good question. For BM AGI = AP (for the most part). The difference is minimum either way and depends on your stats. So 44 ap on gloves > 20 agi even when agi > ap. I stil recommend agi unless you have zero desire to ever switch specs. You maybe doing 10s with your guild and need a replinishment. Having 44 ap on your gloves hurts your sv/mm dps if you are ever asked to switch for a fight/night.

Q. Haste and Hawk glyph questions?

While we all strive to stand still as much as possible during raids, sometimes it's just not possible. Even if you use an autoshot timer and autoshoot on the move there is enough situations where you simply can't stop for .5 seconds to fire off an auto. And once you start skipping your auto shots is when the value of haste you've been building up is completely lost.

Lets consider a simple example. Suppose you figure out that glyphing hawk you can gain 1 extra auto shot every 15 seconds (making up numbers here so don't quote me on this). If you stand till for 15 seconds you get a free shot and all the goodness it brings with it. A free shot is always welcomed. But lets say on the 14th second that fire is right underneath you. You have to move. All the little increments of a second you saved up for the previous 14 seconds is now wasted because you need to move an lost your free shot.

Haste is still a solid boost to your white damage, however, in my opinion, it's more of a freebie stat. If it's on a piece of great, great! If not, I won't go looking for it specifically.
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10. Useful Links

femaledwarf.com - Web based gear optimizer. Person who created the site is a very active poster in hunter forums here so any questions asked they respond very quickly.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] - original excel spreadsheet.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] - The resource for everything pet related. Even shows different skins if you want something a little more unique and gives pet talent info on all pets. Links to thottbot, wowhead, etc, if you need more information on each individual pet.

- When you are ready to change specs

I'd recommend before switching (to any other tree) be very comfortable following the priority and be keen on your CD usage and watching your ICDs and timing your CDs when it is most beneficial while making sure you don't skip any.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] - Survival Raiding Guide. When you are ready to leave BM the "normal" entry level raiding spec was/is 0/15/56 or some variation of.

[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] - MM Raiding Guide. Marks is more gear dependent then SV so check out the pre-requisites first before jumping to marks. At high end gear, 7-57-7 is currently the top dps spec for hunters.

11. Entry level tips for new 80s to raiding:

1. Know the fights before hand to know what you might expect. Go to Tankspot.com and watch appropriate encounters (10/25).

Your guild will probably do the encounters different - whatever works best for them in the past. At least you'll have a good foundation of what to expect. Your guild will also explain enough of the fight to get you up to speed and will be more specific to what your roll will be. If unsure of anything, ask for clarification. It always looks better to ask even a stupid question so you understand something better then assume and end up dying early because you didn't know.

2. Come prepared. Make sure you have enough ammo, you have enough gold for a session of wiping, you have your own food and pet food, flasks, and enough pots for every single attempt. Normally, I keep on hand a stack of buff food for me, a stack of buff food for my pet, 5 stacks of epic ammo, 2 stacks of pots. Rarely do we use up any of these, but always good to have. Using the fish feast might actually be better then 40 agi food, and when it's dropped I eat that for BM. However, if you die on a trash pull or boss fight, it would be better to eat your own food then for them to waste another feast (unless a few people died).

Make sure your addons are up to date and you are using what is required (dbm, omen for threat, ora2 for raid frames) along with those that help you play better (power auras for visuals, heatsink for CDs, vipernotify for better vipering, rangedisplay for finding adds faster). Make sure pet is on defensive (or passive), growl is off,

3. Know who the MT is and who to assist off of for adds duty. MD MT every pull. Usually after the first pull on boss fights it's no longer needed. My MD macro assists my focus (which is tank). For assisting, you can simply make an /assist GuildiePlayersName, bind it to a key and spam away.

4. If you have to make a choice between dpsing and not dying, don't die. So, if you see a blue flame coming towards you in the middle of a steady shot, just stop casting and side step it. Getting hit by a tick or two won't kill you, but you want the healer to have to use as little mana and GCDs on you as possible. You won't dodge everything, but try to do your best to dodge what you can.

5. Don't click. Figure out bindings that work for you and get comfortable using them. i use all my f keys, 1-4, qwe, asd, zxv, and numpad to strafe (not suggested but it works for me).

6. Don't fat finger your keybindings. Even though i was clocked at typing 90wpm in my last job (where I typed for a living) I actually just use my index finger and usually have little trouble finding keys even in the dark. However, my kill shot is e, and reply is r. So, everyone in awhile i'm thinking i'm spamming e, but i look at chat and see i'm responding to someone with a string of rs. You don't want to fat finger kill shot. Also, my rapid fire macro is s, and md macro is a. It doesnt happen as much but i've fat fingered both of those and not using your cds properly is a major dps loss.

7. If your dps is low, don't be discouraged. But simply push yourself between bosses to do a little bit better, and always try to do better next week. DPS isn't as much of a competition with your guildies, though healthy competition can always be helpful, but should be a competition against yourself. You always want to come out after every encounter thinking that even if you weren't top dps, you did the very best that you could.

8. Even if you are the new guy in town, don't be afraid to speak up (between pulls, in /raid not vent). Maybe whatever you might say might help the raid better, and maybe someone can just point out that you are doing something wrong and here is how you can fix it. Its a team effort. Don't nitpick, don't be so oppiniated that nobody wants to hear from you, but speak up if you have a suggestion or issue.

9. Common raiding etiqute:

a. Don't leave early. If something is known in advance inform your RL. It's not fair to the other 9/24.

b. Know where your upgrades are. Even if open rolls or council system, I'd rather other mail users get upgrades before me so that when the stuff drops that I want, maybe I'll win it.

c. Know the loot rules. If its epgp, dkp, open roll, whatever. Knowing what the rules are helps to make you not look greedy if you want to roll on everything.

d. Don't be greedy. Sure many items might be an upgrade for you, but if you win something, don't ask to roll on other things even if they would let you. Let the RL decide to give you more gear if they think it will go best to you.

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12. More advanced tips to help maximize your dps

1. Know the approximate length of the fight and work out beforehand how you'd ideally want to stack your cds.

2. If you run into mana problems, don't use multi-shot unless it hits more then 1 target.

3. Configure powerauras to show a nice big icon of what aspect you are in, your shots, your cds, and any gear that has a "chance on hit/crit". Make sure to include when your serpent sting falls off boss. Anytime your gear procs, you'll want to be in dragonhawk, even if low mana.

4. If mana is an issue, ideally you'll want to use aspect of the viper when you are using steady shot, switch back to hawk for arcane shot and serpent sting (when needed) then back in viper. if this is too confusing, then just stay in viper to fill up your mana while watching heatsink and powerauras for your buffs. If you have enough mana you can pop back into dragonhawk a GCD before heatsink says something is available, or if you are just really low on mana to begin with, wait until you see your buff then switch. You won't get the fullest benefit of the buff, but you might get a couple extra viper ticks in.

5. If you know the exact start of a fight, IE the transition from not in combat to in combat, you can use a crit pot at that point, get in combat and start dpsing. 1 minute later your pot will be available again. Ideally you'll want to use it when all your CDs line up for the biggest line up. IE, if you can pop rapid fire with blood fury and call of the wild with bloodlust, then that's the best time since you'll be doing a great amount of damage in a short period of time. If not, judge when you think you'll have the greatest number of buffs.

6. If you need to do something do it when only steady shot is available. Steady shot is your 2nd most damaging shot, however, it is the lowest dps shot you have. So, if you need to FD, MD, mend pet, etc, do it then.

7. If your pet dies, you have to rez it asap.

8. When using Bestial Wrath, use a macro to switch to aspect of the beast.

9. Use a macro to assist a raid member and have your pet attack that target. This would be on fights where your pet isn't parked on a boss but sometimes just doesn't do anything (ie gunship battle). If you notice your pet isn't attacking anything simply hit that macro and it will start doing something.

13. DPS differences between BM/SV/MM.

BM is about 10% lower then SV. If you get unlucky with RNG as BM it could drop upwards of 20%. RNG probably hurts/helps BM more since you are relying on stacking as many CDs with ICDs as possible to do burst damage. On the flip side, lucky with RNG can actually narrow the gap or even make BM better then SV. However, on average BM will be about 10% lower then SV.

So, why BM and not SV or MM? Because most hunters don't play to their potential in any spec. And if you are not playing to within 90% your potential as SV or MM switching to BM and using an easier "rotation" and better CD management you have a better chance of playing to your potential as BM thus increasing your dps.

SV is slightly below MM at appropriate gear levels. In my experience, ArP MM hunters would out dps me by about 5%. I assume they are equally skilled as me (maybe even better) but probably out geared me since ArP MM is very gear dependent. I'd guess the difference is probably closer to 2% but this is just a guess since I don't play MM so harder to judge.

These numbers are just numbers not to be taken as gospel. I have compared parses from SV and BM and have compared how I thought I would have done if I was SV. Different people may have different results.

14. Micro-managing your pet

reserved

15. Mana Conservation

Ideally you want to be OOM just at the kill shot. OOM too early and you miss out on some last second dps (kill shots?) Have plenty of mana? You were in viper too long. Of course this isn't applicable to fights where you naturally don't OOM.

1. Remove Multi-Shot from your non buffed rotation, unless you are hitting more then one mob. It uses too much mana for what it does. So your rotation, when non buffed, is kill - arcane - serpent - steady.

How do you know when you are buffed? I use power auras to show my internal cool downs (ICDs). Any time I see those that's my buff rotation. If I don't then it's my non buff rotation. The exception is your 4 piece t9 bonus only goes to your pet, so no buffs to multi-shot.

2. When you are not buffed by your ICDs or your pot/cds, then regen mana with viper. If you are really hurting on mana, stay in viper until you see an ICD buff or until you feel you have regenned enough mana for the fight/time being. If mana isn't so much of an issue pop dragonhawk for arcane and serpent then back to viper for steady shots.

3. Don't wait unitl 20% mana to start doing this. Start doing it after all your initial ICDs are on CD if you know you'll need help with mana. You always want to make sure you have enough mana for bloodlust, your cds, last 20% of the fight, or parts that are gimicky. You never want to set yourself to be forced into viper when you have the potential to do some serious burst damage.

4. Know how much mana you'll need to get from 20% to zero and make sure you have that amount at 20%. If your mana is starting to dip low, start regenning early. If you have too much mana oh well just try to burn thru it as much as possible.

5. Having mana pots on standby is always good. Ideally once 20% hits you want to have a bestial wrath queued up and perhaps blood fury, cotw, and rapid fire. Ideally you want to also use your crit pot at this point if everything is ready but if you are really low on mana using a mana pot before that is also an option.

6. Regen mana during parts of the the fight you know you can get away with it so that you'll have plenty of mana during parts you simply need high dps. For example on Deathbringer Saurfang I'm obviously on kite duty. So, when there isn't a beast up, I'll try my best to regen as much mana on the boss as I can. Right before a beast comes I switch to dragonhawk, drop a trap, wait to tab to my best, hit it disengage and unload. When he's dead I go back to regen mode when I need to.

7. Viper sting is always good. You can even set up a macro for it for certain bosses if you think it would help. An idea of this macro might be (I'm not sure if this works since I don't use it).

/cast @Lady Deathwhisper "viper sting"
/in 15 /w dreamsdrunk VIPER

The idea behind this (if it works) to not lose your current target and casting viper sting on a mob you know has a mana bar. Now, when all the adds are down in this fight, go back to using serpent sting on boss, but this can help for fights you know at least a boss or an add or something will have a mana bar you can leech off of.

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In conclusion, when you don't have any significant buffs to speak of use aspect of the viper to regen mana. Avoid using multishot at this time, and if you must, switch to dragonhawk then back. When a piece of gear procs or you used a CD or something in the raid gave you a good buff, make sure to be in dragonhawk and blast away.

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16. Tank and spank DPS

The focus this week is upping your dps in fights you don't have to move and don't have to worry about your pet. Patchwerk (naxx) is probably the best example of the, and to a lesser extent Festergut (ICC) and Koragan (VOA). However, in all fights there will be times you simply get to sit back and DPS.

Depending on how this section evolves this week, things may get moved around to more general areas. However, standing still and DPSing, no matter how simple it may seem, is key to doing more DPS.

As of now, these are very basic suggestions while I'm drunk.

1. Clean up your computer. Delete un necessary items off your comp you don't use, free up as much space as you can, defrag your drive, run blizzard diagnosis, update all your addons, etc. Reboot your computer and run a system diag to make sure nothing wrong with your system. Turn off any processes that might at up your memory, turn off any apps you don't specificially need for raiding, and play with a fresh reboot with nothing else running besdies WoW and ventrilo (and anything else you think is must have). Turn off all addons you don't need when raiding. turn down video settings if you need to. Turn off your virus scanner and anything else that might run int he background.

All of this is simply maximizing your computer to perform at it's best playing wow and cut down on potential lag. This is especially important in any progress nights.

2. The "rotation" is more of a rotation then other specs, but it is still a priority. Since there are no special shots and nothing gimicky, BM dps is more of a dance (don't move though!). 1-1-1-2 1-1-1-2. 1-1-1-arcane. So the base rotation will ALWAYS be:

Steady - Steady - Steady - Arcane

Repeat till boss is dead.

Now you'll have 1 or 2 more shots you may throw in. Serpent you'll be doing no matter what. Multi-shot you'll only be using if you don't run into mana problems or more then one target. Simply replace a steady shot with one of those shots when they are available so you'll still have 3 shots between each arcane at all times.

So potential rotations could end up looking like:

Serpent - steady - multi - arcane
Steady - steady - serpent - arcane

Now just because you count the shots between arcane's that's not how fast you are spamming buttons. You'll still be spamming at breakneck speed but you want to make sure you are only firing 3 shots between arcanes and not 4.

If you have 2 monitors, or a piece of paper you can read, you can even map out an entire fight and follow it shot for shot so to make sure you accidently don't fire off the wrong shot. If you do do this, you only need one list...if you use multi, put it in, if not, take it out.

Not only shots in between arcanes, but anything that eats a GCD. Aspects don't (I believe) eat a GCD so you can cycle them in easy. But like a pot will eat a GCD so if you are about to fire your iwin button do it when you would fire a steady shot. Same with mend pet, or anything.

3. Next is aspect dancing for mana conservation. if you manually click viper then your shot then hawk and a shot, you'll lose dps time. You can create secondary macros that use /cast !aspect of the viper, dragonhawk for each spell and spam those buttons when in regen mode. Switching aspects won't kill a GCD but will have a 1 second time to switch to another aspect, which is fine. You can bind these keys to shift main keys. I don't personally use modifiers so i'm sure you can clean up macros to include this line for each shot.

4. Create macros for your cd usage and put them on the other side of your keyboard. Figure out all the possible combos of cd usage (with and without pots) that you plan on using and bind them to your numpad. That way you can just go down the line...1 ... 2 ... 3 ... 4 etc. You don't have to worry about hitting the right keys or accidentally using pots on trash or non raids. Just make sure the corresponding cds are off cd and you have your buffs you want to time it with. You can even make a macro at the start of the fight to guess when you should do stuff. IE:

/w dream Numpad 1 now
/in 90 /w dream Numpad 2 soon
/in 180 /w dream Numpad 3 soon

Etc. Fire that macro right at the beginning of the fight and the only thing it will do is whisper you a friendly reminder what cd button you'll be wanting to use soon.

17. On the move DPS

Being able to DPS on the move is probably the biggest DPS upgrade you can do. There is a lot of movement in ICC and if you aren't DPSing while moving, your DPS will suffer. Which method you use depends on your own comfort level. If you know you are about to have to move it is okay to prioritize a steady shot over arcane shot just to make sure you have arcane shot available when moving. However, don't prioritize more then one steady doing this. If you do 2, that's 3 seconds in a 6 second cd, add in a serpent sting, that's 4.5 seconds and if you disengage that's the 6 seconds for the next one. So, one is fine. 2 you should try to avoid if possible.

a. Jump shot (blood beasts and slimes chasing you on Professor Putricide)- This is the standard kiting method you should know. In addition to arcane shot and serpent sting you might be able to use concussive shot if the mob isn't immune. During this time you can also throw up a mend pet (if needed) or a viper sting on a mob (if a mob exists). It's harder maximizing your GCDs here but if you can do something every time your GCD is up then do it. If you use range display and the mob is like 30 yards behind you, you can stop kiting, fire off a multi-shot and/or a steady shot. If the mob is too close then you don't want to risk it. But you can always do things to different mobs if you have them keybound so you don't lose your current target (example: draining mana on a different mob, or even raptor striking a mob if you are near one). If there is nothing you can do while kiting simply pop into viper until an instant is available then switch, pop the instant, and switch back. As usual, don't do this if you have any procs on your gear so your pet's dps won't suffer.

b. Strafing (out of fire on Lord Marrowgar, other slimes out of range on Professor Putricide) - If you strafe after an instant you have the rest of the GCD to find a safe spot to start dpsing. Typically it isn't smart to finish a steady shot and risk taking damage because you end up losing a GCD doing nothing but moving. If you finish off a steady during that time make sure you are firing an instant shot while strafing. This is pretty common sense. But for slimes on Putricide what you want to do is if they are being kited out of your range, you want to strafe to intercept them so that you can add some steady shots in your rotation. The last thing you want to do is waste a GCD lining up steady shot just for it to not go off because you got ranged. Then you end up having to waste more GCDs catching up to the slime. So look to see where your target is likely going and strafe dps any targets while intercepting it then unload. Even if the kill target is say 60 yards away you can still dps a secondary target while going towards kill target. You don't technically lose dps on the kill target since you aren't in range to begin with, but your overall dps will increase because you are targeting something and shooting something on the way. Always remember you can stop whenever your autoshot timer is up so you can fire autoshots on the move if you can afford to stop for .5 seconds. You don't want to do this if that .5 seconds will help kill target get out of range from you.

c. Random movement - (Lord Marrowgar p2) - Always try to have your cam pointed towards the boss (or whatever) so you can be within dps range certain times. If you can tank and spank for a few seconds, get off the best shots you can. When that becomes an impossibility switch to viper (if you need mana) and try to get a couple jump shots in (even staying in viper). In fact, if you are struggling with mana, this is the perfect time to stay in viper to reload. Ignore gear procs since your pet is running all over the place also. And just because you are in mana regen mode doesn't mean you still can't dps. If its safe get some shots in. It might not be much, but every bit will help your over all dps. Another option is simply to FD if it will drop aggro. Before doing this understand the mechanics of doing so. On marrowgar he's just going to pick a new random target but he might not leave you yet, so you might be FDing in a fire. That's not good. For slimes you might be able to get away with it, but also realize, if you FD whatever was after you might pick your favorite healer and that's not good.

18. Fast target switching

There is zero reason why switching targets should ever drop your dps. But yet people think there is. In a LJ 25 fight people claimed i was 2nd dps (behind a mage) because I was on boss all fight long and easy to top meters being on boss. Someone else had to point out that I had the most damage done to infernos.

A. Position yourself in a key spot where you should be able to hopefully hit adds as soon as they spawn. For example, try to be in the middle of the pack in marrowgar so nobody is out of range for you. Even if you can't get such a good spot, do try to pick a spot where you can hit a majority of people (for that fight).

B. If you know where an add is going to be (emalon as an example), simply turn your cam around that direction, hover your mouse over where it will be and get ready to click (for fights you can't /tar)

C. Create a /tar macro. You can /tar mobs from different fights into the same macro. I wouldn't target 2 of the same mob in that macro because you wouldn't want it to track a dead mob. The macro might look something like:

/tar bone spike
/tar sno
/tar miss
/tar gas
/cast serpent sting

D. Now that the add is targetted, if it's in range, continue to blow it up. If it's not you have 2 choices to make. 1. Just ignore the add and let others kill it. Sounds lazy but if you don't think you can get to the add in time before it dies then it's simply not worth going for. 2. Switch back to boss, or an add closer to you, and dps on the move until you get to your kill target then back to your kill target.

E. Turn on enemy name plates - Shortcut V - and zoom cam back to a comfortable distance. This allows you to see more of what's going on and can see the nameplates faster. From there you can either tab tot he add, use your targetting macro, or simply click on it if all else fails. Clicking is typically the worse of the 3, but if you use range display you can see how far it is from you and start moving towards it if other side of room.

F. Find out who you can/should /assist in your raid and make a simple /assist macro

/assist buddy
/cast hunter's mark
/petattack

The hunters mark line might be a waste of a GCD if mob is close, however if mob is further away then why not? Also the /petattack is only for those fights you want your pets help (for example on putricide's slimes I find it better pet helping then pet staying on boss).

G. If your raid is using tank frames find out which one you can safely assist off of then click on that targets target when you are satisfied he is tanking the correct mob. Or if you are using xperl and see all of your party members targets you can stay on the boss until you see someone targetting a mob with a kill icon. For example deathwhisper - If yellow star if the kill target first, you can stay on boss for a second longer then others till you see someone attacking star, and click thru to it. No DPS time lost.

Thanks!

What to say ? thanks