Overview
Beastcleave/KFC is a pure pressure comp built around the strongest healing-reduction package in the game. Mortal Strike and Aimed Shot apply the same 50% healing debuff, so between the warrior and hunter you keep it glued on the target with no gaps, and none of it is a magic dispel the enemy healer can shrug off. That constant debuff turns every cooldown window into a real kill threat: the paladin only has to survive, not out-heal the entire lobby.
The skill lives on the hunter and the paladin. The hunter has to manage deadzone, LoS casters, and time Bestial Wrath, Intimidation, and Scatter Shot to both enable the go and peel the return train. The paladin is the only healer, so pillar-hugging, pre-Cleansing, and mana discipline decide long games. Get controlled and you do nothing; get to press your buttons and you kill almost anything with a cloth target.
Win condition
Pick the squishiest target — the enemy healer or a cloth DPS — and keep Mortal Strike plus Aimed Shot's healing reduction permanently glued on it. Then open the burst window: warrior Charge/Intercept into Death Wish and Recklessness, hunter pops Bestial Wrath and sends the pet, and the paladin lands an offensive Hammer of Justice on the enemy healer. Layer Intimidation's stun into that window and finish the target before their trinket or a Blessing of Protection comes up. Scatter Shot into Freezing Trap locks the off-healer or second threat out of the go.
Strengths
- +Two overlapping healing debuffs — the warrior's Mortal Strike and the hunter's Aimed Shot each cut incoming healing 50%, giving near-permanent uptime that no single dispel can clear.
- +Layered swap burst: Death Wish and Recklessness stacked with Bestial Wrath and the pet delete a target inside one Intimidation or Hammer of Justice stun.
- +Split ranged/melee pressure — the hunter freecasts from max range while the warrior sticks the swap, so a single peel rarely stops both damage threats.
Weaknesses
- −The hunter lives and dies by deadzone and LoS — Polymorph, Fear, and Frost Nova chains shut BM off and collapse the comp's whole damage output.
- −Only one healer with no offensive dispel beyond Cleanse; against double-healer control it can't kill through the CC and gets ground out on mana.
Cooldown timeline
Opener: hunter Freezing Traps or Scatter Shots the off-target while the warrior Charges, Hamstrings, and lands Mortal Strike; Aimed Shot double-stacks the healing debuff immediately. Hold the real go — Death Wish, Recklessness, Bestial Wrath, and the pet all committed at once — for a clean swap, not the opener, since a telegraphed all-in into a fresh trinket and BoP is wasted. Stagger Intimidation and Hammer of Justice rather than overlapping them so you chain two lockouts back-to-back (watch stun diminishing returns). The paladin holds Blessing of Freedom for Hamstring and Frost Nova and trinkets kidney/fear to keep the team topped through the return.
Positioning
The hunter plays pillars at max range, staying 8+ yards off the warrior's target so nothing falls into his 5-8 yard deadzone, and using terrain to LoS Polymorph and Fear. The warrior stays glued with Intercept and Charge on every pillar reset, keeping Hamstring up so the target can't kite. The paladin LoS-heals from behind a pillar and never gets caught in the open by a mage or rogue swap. Keep the pet parked on the kill target, and recall it the instant it's about to be kited or CC'd off so Bestial Wrath damage isn't wasted.
Vs. the meta
Rogue/Mage/Priest kites and CC-chains you into oblivion — the mage sheeps your hunter and Frost Novas the warrior while blind and fear reset the entire go. Play tight to pillars so Polymorph and Fear eat LoS, save Berserker Rage and Bestial Wrath to break the fears, and force the kill onto the priest: Scatter Shot into Freezing Trap the mage, then train the priest under the double healing debuff before they can sit and drink. The paladin pre-Cleanses sheep off the hunter and holds trinket for the setup stun.
Mage/Lock/Druid is a kite-and-drain nightmare — the druid Cyclones and roots while the mage and lock peel with Frost Nova, Fear, and Howl of Terror. Cleanse and Blessing of Freedom the warrior aggressively so he stays on target, and commit the full burst — Intimidation plus Hammer of Justice plus every cooldown — into the druid or mage in a single window, because if they survive it they reset and drink you out. Don't chase the warlock through his pet, teleports, and portals.
Gear requirements
- ▸Warrior and hunter prioritize a fast, high-top-end weapon (S2 mace / crossbow) and Attack Power over stacking resilience — you need burst that beats a defensive cooldown — while keeping ~150 resilience to survive the return train.
- ▸Paladin stacks resilience plus mana regen (Intensity, mp5) and what Spell Damage the gear allows; as the only healer you must LoS-heal through long games without going OOM.
Tips
- •Never let both Mortal Strike and Aimed Shot drop off the kill target — the entire win condition is that healing debuff, so refresh Aimed Shot even mid-swap.
- •Stagger Intimidation and Hammer of Justice instead of stacking them; two back-to-back lockouts kill more than one overlapped one, and mind stun diminishing returns.
- •Hunter: own your deadzone — sit at max range on a pillar so you keep freecasting and never get juked into the 5-8 yard gap where you can't shoot.
- •Save Death Wish, Recklessness, and Bestial Wrath for a committed hard swap; blowing them into a fresh trinket and a Blessing of Protection throws the game.
Gear & talents for this comp
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