Overview
Your strength is disengaging: Freezing Trap, Scatter Shot, Wing Clip and the raw range let you reset fights, protect your healer, and force the enemy to fight on your terms.
Strengths
- +Bestial Wrath gives an unpeelable, CC-immune pet burst window
- +Trap + Scatter + kiting is elite disengage and CC
- +Strong ranged uptime with Steady/Arcane/Aimed Shot
Weaknesses
- −Dead zone and melee range weakness if trained by a fast melee
- −Pet can be killed or LoS'd, cutting a big chunk of your pressure
Stat priority & caps (arena)
Stat caps (arena)
| Stat | Cap | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Resilience | 490 rating | No hard cap — ~350 is the 2v2 entry point, 490+ is competitive. Reduces crit chance, crit damage and DoT damage taken. |
| Hit Rating (vs players) | 79 rating | 5% (~79 rating) caps yellow special-attack misses against same-level players. White dual-wield misses stay high but matter less in arena. |
- Resilience: No hard cap — ~350 is the 2v2 entry point, 490+ is competitive. Reduces crit chance, crit damage and DoT damage taken.
- Hit Rating (vs players): 5% (~79 rating) caps yellow special-attack misses against same-level players. White dual-wield misses stay high but matter less in arena.
Full gear with usage %, gems and enchants is on the Beast Mastery Hunter PvP BiS list.
Recommended talent build
41/20/0 · RaidThe 41/20 BM standard: Serpent's Swiftness and The Beast Within driving the highest sustained hunter damage in TBC, Marksmanship filled to Mortal Shots. There is very little flex here — BM's power is concentrated in exactly these points.
Beast Mastery
41While Aspect of the Hawk is active, all normal ranged attacks have a 10% chance of increasing ranged attack speed by 3% for 12 sec.
Increases the Health of your pet by 2% and your total health by 1%.
All damage caused by you is increased by 1% while your pet is active and the critical strike chance of your Kill Command ability is increased by 10%.
Increases the Dodge bonus of your Aspect of the Monkey by 2%.
Increases the armor rating of your pets by 7% and your armor contribution from items by 4%.
Revive Pet's casting time is reduced by 3 sec, mana cost is reduced by 20%, and increases the health your pet returns with by an additional 15%.
Increases the speed bonus of your Aspect of the Cheetah and Aspect of the Pack by 4%.
Increases the outdoor movement speed of your pets by 30%.
Increases the damage done by your pets by 4%.
Reduces the mana cost of your Mend Pet spell by 10% and gives the Mend Pet spell a 25% chance of cleansing 1 Curse, Disease, Magic or Poison effect from the pet each tick.
Increases the critical strike chance of your pet by 2%.
While your pet is active, you and your pet will regenerate 1% of total health every 10 sec.
Command your pet to intimidate the target on the next successful melee attack, causing a high amount of threat and stunning the target for 3 sec.
Increases the Focus regeneration of your pets by 50%.
Increases your speed while mounted by 4% and your pet's chance to hit by 2%. The mounted movement speed increase does not stack with other effects.
Gives your pet a 20% chance to gain a 30% attack speed increase for 8 sec after dealing a critical strike.
When your pet scores a critical hit, all party members have all damage increased by 1% for 10 sec.
Send your pet into a rage causing 50% additional damage for 18 sec. While enraged, the beast does not feel pity or remorse or fear and it cannot be stopped unless killed.
Increases your chance to dodge by 1% and your pet's chance to dodge by an additional 3%.
Increases ranged combat attack speed by 4% and your pet's melee attack speed by 4%.
When your pet is under the effects of Bestial Wrath, you also go into a rage causing 10% additional damage and reducing mana costs of all spells by 20% for 18 sec. While enraged, you do not feel pity or remorse or fear and you cannot be stopped unless killed.
Marksmanship
20Gives your Concussive Shot a 4% chance to stun the target for 3 sec. (Proc chance: 4%)
Increases your critical strike chance with ranged weapons by 1%.
Causes 20% of your Hunter's Mark ability's base attack power to apply to melee attack power as well.
Reduces the Mana cost of your Shots and Stings by 2%.
Your ranged critical hits cause your pet to generate 25 Focus.
Reduces the cooldown of your Arcane Shot by 0.2 sec.
An aimed shot that increases ranged damage by 70 and reduces healing done to that target by 50%. Lasts 10 sec.
Reduces the cooldown of your Rapid Fire ability by 1 min. In addition, after killing an opponent that yields experience or honor, your next Aimed Shot, Arcane Shot or Auto Shot causes 10% additional damage. Lasts 20 sec.
Increases the damage done by your Serpent Sting and Wyvern Sting by 6% and the mana drained by your Viper Sting by 6%. In addition, reduces the chance your Stings will be dispelled by 6%.
Increases your ranged weapon critical strike damage bonus by 6%.
Your successful Auto Shot attacks have a 2% chance to Daze the target for 4 sec. (Proc chance: 2%)
A short-range shot that deals 50% weapon damage and disorients the target for 4 sec. Any damage caused will remove the effect. Turns off your attack when used.
Increases the damage done by your Multi-Shot and Volley spells by 4%.
Increases your total Agility by 1% and your total Intellect by 3%.
Increases the damage you deal with ranged weapons by 1%.
Increases your ranged attack power by an amount equal to 15% of your total Intellect.
Increases the attack power of party members within 45 yards by 50. Lasts until cancelled.
Increases the critical strike chance of your Multi-Shot ability by 4% and gives you a 33% chance to avoid interruption caused by damage while channeling Volley.
Increases your ranged attack power by 2%.
A shot that deals 50% weapon damage and Silences the target for 3 sec.
Survival
0Increases all damage caused against Beasts, Giants and Dragonkin targets by 1% and increases critical damage caused against Beasts, Giants and Dragonkin targets by an additional 1%.
Increases all damage caused against Humanoid targets by 1% and increases critical damage caused against Humanoid targets by an additional 1%.
Increases the range of your ranged weapons by 2 yards.
Increases the critical strike chance of Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite by 10%.
Gives your Immolation Trap, Frost Trap, Explosive Trap, and Snake Trap a 8% chance to entrap the target, preventing them from moving for 4 sec. (Proc chance: 8%)
Increases your Parry chance by 1%.
Gives your Wing Clip ability a 7% chance to immobilize the target for 5 sec. (Proc chance: 7%)
Increases the duration of Freezing and Frost Trap effects by 15%, the damage of Immolation and Explosive Trap effects by 15%, and the number of snakes summoned from Snake Traps by 15%.
Increases total health by 2%.
When activated, increases your Dodge and Parry chance by 25% for 10 sec.
Decreases the chance enemies will resist trap effects by 5%.
Increases hit chance by 1% and increases the chance movement impairing effects will be resisted by an additional 5%.
Reduces the chance your Feign Death ability will be resisted by 2%.
Reduces all damage taken by 2% and increases attack power by 2%.
Increases your critical strike chance with all attacks by 1%.
A strike that becomes active after parrying an opponent's attack. This attack deals 40 damage and immobilizes the target for 5 sec. Counterattack cannot be blocked, dodged, or parried.
Reduces the mana cost of all traps and melee abilities by 20% and reduces the cooldown of all traps by 2 sec.
Increases your Agility by 3%.
Gives you a 33% chance to regain 40% of the mana cost of any shot when it critically hits. (Proc chance: 33%)
A stinging shot that puts the target to sleep for 12 sec. Any damage will cancel the effect. When the target wakes up, the Sting causes 300 Nature damage over 12 sec. Only one Sting per Hunter can be active on the target at a time.
Your ranged criticals have a 33% chance to apply an Expose Weakness effect to the target. Expose Weakness increases the attack power of all attackers against that target by 25% of your Agility for 7 sec. (Proc chance: 33%)
Your successful ranged attacks have a 6% chance to increase your critical strike chance with all attacks by 2% for 8 sec. (Proc chance: 6%)
When activated, this ability immediately finishes the cooldown on your other Hunter abilities.
Points are filled on each tree above — hover a talent for its tooltip; highlighted talents are the build's key picks.
Burst & control
- 1Send the pet + Bestial Wrath (The Beast Within) for the unpeelable burst window.
- 2Aimed Shot → Arcane Shot burst on the kill target inside the pet's window.
- 3Freezing Trap the healer or off-target; Scatter Shot to chain CC or peel a melee off you.
- 4Wing Clip / Concussive Shot and disengage to keep range; never sit in the dead zone.
- 5Deterrence or trinket + trap to reset when trained; Feign Death to drop a cast or reset threat/CC.
Create distance and dictate range. Use pillars and traps to reset, then burst with Bestial Wrath when the enemy healer is CC'd or out of position. Protect your pet — it's half your damage — and keep the healer trapped during your kill attempts. Against melee, kite with Wing Clip, Scatter, and Frost Trap rather than trading in the dead zone.
Hunter macros
Focus macros
Focus Scatter Shot
Scatter a focus target to set up a Freezing Trap or peel without swapping.
#showtooltip Scatter Shot /cast [target=focus] Scatter Shot
Focus Silencing Shot
Silence a focus caster mid-cast while keeping your damage on your target.
#showtooltip Silencing Shot /cast [target=focus] Silencing Shot
Arena target macros
Pet on arena1
Send your pet at the first arena enemy — quick-swap your pet's target in 2s/3s.
/petattack [target=arena1]
PvP addons
Full list on the Hunter addons page.
Best race (PvP)
Hardiness stun-resist keeps you kiting, and Blood Fury + Command (pet damage) boost your burst. Best Horde PvP hunter.
Shadowmeld resets fights and drops targeting; Quickness adds dodge for the inevitable melee train.
More on the best race for Hunter page.
Best professions (PvP)
Common mistakes
- ✕Bursting into a free healer instead of trapping them first.
- ✕Letting the enemy sit in your dead zone (5–8 yards) where you can't shoot.
- ✕Losing the pet to cleave or LoS and keeping only half your damage.
Best arena comps
FAQ
Is Beast Mastery the best Hunter arena spec?
Yes — Bestial Wrath's CC-immune pet burst and BM's survivability make it the standard arena build over Marksmanship and Survival.
How do I deal with being trained by melee?
Kite with Frost Trap, Wing Clip, Scatter Shot and disengage around pillars; use Deterrence and the PvP trinket to buy trap resets. Don't fight in the dead zone.