Beast Mastery Hunters are one of the most powerful classes in TBC Classic (ranking in S tier in our tier list!) and an amazing choice for anyone wanting to dish out tonnes of damage. They excel in both single-target and AoE fights due to their powerful spells and provide solid utility with their traps. 

Playing a Hunter in PvE content is also surprisingly straightforward, as, despite being a complicated class, the full rotation can be bound to just a one-button macro. Additionally, a lot of BM’s focus is on empowering the Hunter’s pet, which generally does a lot of work all by itself. 

Below you can find everything you need to know about playing a Beast Mastery Hunter in TBC Classic. 

Best Beast Mastery Hunter pets and pet skills

Picking the correct pet should be priority number one for BM Hunters. Luckily, there are two easy to obtain choices and which one you pick mainly comes down to personal preference. These are Ravager and Cat. 

It doesn’t matter which Ravager or Cat you decide to tame as their stats are all the same at max level. The pet skills, however, do matter. You’ll need to make sure that your pet has Bite, Claw, or Gore, depending on which one you choose.  

Also, you’ll need to pick up the Avoidance, Cobra Reflexes, and Great Stamina talents from the pet talent tree to maximize damage and survivability. 

Beast Mastery Hunter talent build

When it comes to talent builds, the 41/20/0 has been agreed on as decidedly the best. It focuses on the damage aspects of the Beast Mastery tree and dips into Marksmanship for even more raw damage.

This build provides a ton of great damage increases for the Hunter and their pet, as well as an amazing buff to the Hunter’s group with Ferocious Inspiration, which increases all party members damage done by 3% after a pet’s critical strike. 

Gameplay and rotation

Gameplay for Hunters can be boiled down to a one-button macro. Generally, this boils down to keeping Hunter’s Mark active, then a rotation of Steady Shot, auto-attacks, and Kill Command, as well as using cooldowns like Rapid Fire and Bestial Wrath. 

You can do this manually, or you can use the following macro to relax and press just one button each fight: 

If using this macro, make sure to copy it exactly as above, including each line being a new line in the macro. 

Stat priority 

For Beast Mastery Hunters, the stat priority list is as follows:

• Hit (Up to 9% hit chance)
• Agility
• Attack Power
• Critical Strike Rating

These are the four main stats that Hunters should focus on in PvE. Things can get a little tricky when comparing Agility, Attack Power, and Crit as the stats somewhat overlap. Keep in mind that 1 Agility gives Hunters 0.552 Critical Strike Rating and 1 Attack Power. 

This means that Agility is overall the best stat, but if you can gain 1 AP and 1 Crit, it’s better than just 1 Agility - you might have to do a bit of math sometimes. 

Gems, enchantments, and consumables 

Now we take a look at all the extras. Gems, enchants, and consumables are all vital to Hunter’s and using the right ones can be a massive boost to damage. Here are all the best options:

Gems

Gems are pretty straightforward for Hunters, most sockets should be filled with red agility gems, although you may need to use some yellow or purple ones to match a meta gem requirement. Make sure to activate your meta gem, then focus on red gems, unless there is a particularly attractive bonus. 

Best gems:

• Swift Skyfire Diamond until Relentless Earthstorm Diamond is available 
• Delicate Living Ruby
• Deadly Fire Opal
• Shifting Tanzanite

Enchantments

Hunter enchantments are fairly simple, with Agility and Attack Power being the main focus, generally the more of your two key stats the better. Here is a list of all the best enchants for BM Hunters: 

• Head – Glyph of Ferocity 
• Shoulder – Greater Inscription of Vengeance 
• Cloak – Enchant Cloak - Greater Agility 
• Chest – Enchant Chest - Exceptional Stats 
• Bracers – Enchant Bracer - Assault 
• Gloves – Enchant Gloves - Superior Agility
• Legs – Nethercobra Leg Armor 
• Boots – Enchant Boots - Dexterity 
• Weapon – Enchant 2H Weapon - Major Agility 
• Ranged – Stabilized Eternium Scope

Consumables

Consumables are another vital piece of Hunter's arsenal. They provide a massive boost to stats and are vital for maximizing damage. Generally this includes flasks, elixirs, mana oils, food, and pet food. 

There is one key choice here, using either a flask or a combo of elixirs. Flasks last a long time and persist through death, while elixirs have a shorter uptime and are removed upon death, but provide more damage. This will come down to you, as flasks are a much cheaper and convenient choice, but if you want to maximize damage, elixirs are the way to go. 

Here are all the best options: 

• Flask: Flask of Relentless Assault
• Elixirs: Elixir of Major Agility and Elixir of Major Mageblood
• Mana Oil: Superior Mana Oil
• Food: Warp Burger or Spicy Hot Talbuk
• Pet Food: Kibler's Bits

Professions 

When it comes to the two professions a Hunter should pick, there’s one absolutely vital choice, while the other is a small, but helpful, boost. Leatherworking is the vital pick, as it allows for the crafting of multiple incredibly strong items. This includes very powerful gear like the Primalstrike set, as well as strong buffs through various Drum items. 

Meanwhile, the other best option is Enchanting. The main benefit of picking Enchanting is that there is an enchanter-only enchantment for rings, which can be used to boost all stats by four per ring. It’s not a massive boost to damage, but if you want to truly maximize your character, it’s the way to go. 

• Leatherworking
• Enchanting