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BM PvP Build Redux

by Garwulf on July 9, 2011 · 16 comments

As is the case with an ever-evolving game like World of Warcraft, it’s often that we bloggers have to go back and revisit or adjust articles and guides that we’d just written…

As some of you may have heard, Blizzard fixed a bug which was affecting (i.e., enhancing) the way pets regenerate focus. Hunter pets were mysteriously returning to full focus whenever the hunter’s stats would change, e.g., trinket procs. This has been corrected, leaving hunter pets more focus starved these days. :(

In a recent BM PvP Guide, I showcased my BM PvP build which did not feature any talents from the MM tree. I had pointed out the fact that I felt Go for the Throat and Sic ‘em were not needed since I hadn’t noticed my pet ever becoming focus starved.

Well that has since changed.

Since the fix, I noticed my pet’s focus nearing empty many times. To counter this, I’ve pulled two points from Survival Tactics and placed them into Go for the Throat. It’s not an answer to this recent fix (i.e., problem), but it has helped a bit with keeping my pet’s focus pool replenished.

The good news is… as of Patch 4.2, Spell Penetration is now affecting trap resistances! Because of this, Survival Tactics has become a slightly less attractive talent for PvP. The more serious PvP hunters will be running with at least 100 Spell Penetration, offsetting the need for the 4% trap resistance. The shorter Disengage cooldown is tough to give up, but at least it’s the only sacrifice.

Update: 10/05/11 – It’s been discovered that traps have an inherent chance of ‘missing’ no matter your hit rating or spell pen. See this post for more information on whether or not you should spec 2/2 Survival Tactics.

In short, my build is quite similar to what I was running before, with only a couple of trade-offs..

The advantages of my new BM PvP build:

  • My pet now instantly generates 10 focus after I crit with an auto-shot.

…and disadvantages:

  • My Disengage cooldown is 4 seconds longer.

Because of the pet focus fix, a BM PvP build like this one is quite attractive, but I still really like having the benefit of a build with 2/2 Entrapment.

My New Patch 4.2 BM PvP Build

My Cataclysm BM PvP Build

My glyphs are unchanged.

If you missed the first post and would like to read a bit more info on my chosen BM PvP build, you can find the guide here.

Tagged as: cataclysm patch 4.2 bm pvp build, go for the throat, survival tactics

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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Sphagnum July 9, 2011 at 11:00 am

Blizzed again. They fix our good bugs and yet my pet still spawns with 7k health. The fairness is overwhelming.

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2 Darrwyn July 9, 2011 at 9:11 pm

You know, I was wondering it was so hard for my pets to hold agro as well as they used to these days. This certainly explains it.

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3 Ltradium July 11, 2011 at 1:20 pm

the reason why our pets spawn with 7k health is because thats there base HP, sadly it takes a few seconds for the game to calculate how much Armor, HP, AP, Resil etc. of all the stats of the hunter and update the pets stats accordingly.

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4 Darggo September 9, 2011 at 5:55 pm

This doesn’t make sense. I do understand the premise, of the original level of the pet coming into play. But if that were so, then why does Sambas come out with 7k health? He was, is, an 85 level mob. His original level is 85, he never had 7k health.

Now, if you were to say, “but it’s his BASE stats, or health, or something” and that it’s being modified up to 85, then why in the wild does he spawn at his full health? Why do any of the mobs spawn at 80k or more? Shouldn’t they be spawning at BASE levels and then auto correcting for the spawned level?

It would seem that, if my pet gets a debuff, and I dismiss the pet, and bring out another, his state (computer jargon) is saved. In other words when I call him out, tomorrow, he still has the remaining time left on that debuff. So why can’t his current maximum health also be a saved state?

The answer is obvious, programming changes. It would most certainly mean reprogramming, most likely from scratch, to get the health issue fixed correctly. Although, a nice fix could be a buff the pet gets when called out, making it either non targetable until his health normalizes, or non damageable until that time, and then apply that damage AFTER normalization occurs.

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5 Substance20 July 21, 2011 at 5:02 am

Gar, I checked out your build, and I went and did some theorizing. Assuming I can pull off Focus Fire, do you think this is a viable alternative to your build?

http://www.wowhead.com/talent#cfhfckhdRRobZhdM:zosVmcMz0

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6 Garwulf July 21, 2011 at 1:28 pm

I suppose it could work alright for BGs, as long as you maintain safe distance and try to blend with the herd, but I just don’t like the idea of eating my pet’s Frenzy. A fully stacked Frenzy effect is a nice DPS boost + cast interrupt. Focus Fire is more of a PvE talent, as it lends itself more to turret-style stand-and-shoot types of encounters, rather than the fast-paced, always-on-the-move nature of PvP.

Best advice I can give would be to try it and see. If it suits your style of play and you see the benefit, then by all mans spec Focus Fire.

As for the 1 point in Survival Tactics… I’d dump that. With the change to Spell Pen in 4.2, basically all that’s doing is giving you a 2 sec shorter CD on Disengage. I’d take 1/2 Imp. Mend Pet for the ability to cleanse DoTs and CC off of your pet.

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7 adam December 24, 2011 at 11:28 pm

Man it works great specially if u have high crit chance and decent haste. Because I shoot an auto attack every 2 seconds or even 1.00 with the two points that make ur steady shot twice give u 15% haste. Plus another 15% that’s 30 percent which also makes ur focus regen at about 6 a second on average 2x more then other hunters more focus = more burst damage and nearly constant damage with about 1.5 secs in between. Them taking damage from u and ur pet id say tahst about .5 sec they aren’t getting hurt.

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8 Darrkangel August 12, 2011 at 3:13 pm

hi dude you’ve gave me so much information about pvp as a hunter and now i really enjoy it. I’m quite new to pvp and your guide has helped alot. one thing tho. i know rotations vary in pvp depending on situation buy maybe you could give us a basic guide and best way to set action bars . i.e buffs ect first or attacks. thanks!

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9 Pilogbue September 1, 2011 at 6:36 am

Hey. just gotto say: LOVELY guide mate. helped me alot. but just one thing i didnt quite understand. 3/3 in Pathing instead of Imp serpent sting? that means you dont use it quite much, or? Just wondering. wud love a reply.

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10 Garwulf September 1, 2011 at 11:45 am

I don’t use Serpent Sting all that much as BM. There aren’t any damage modifiers for it, plus it can get cleansed easily in PvP. I prefer Pathing since haste is harder to come by on PvP gear, plus it boosts my pet’s attack speed a tad bit further. Neither talent is spectacular, but given the choice, I like Pathing.

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11 Matty010 September 12, 2011 at 6:36 am

He man very informative guide thanks fir that just one question in pvp what do u use steady shot or cobra shot?

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12 Garwulf September 12, 2011 at 7:19 am

Cobra Shot. The only hunters that should use Steady are MM. Once we gain access to Cobra Shot, it becomes the replacement for Steady for both BM and SV.

Cobra Shot refreshes Serpent Sting (if you have it up), plus it does nature damage instead of physical, which is nearly always preferred.

MM uses Steady only because their tree has damage modifiers for the shot, plus MM benefits more from pure physical ranged damage than the other two trees.

Glad you liked the guide. :)

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13 Matty010 September 12, 2011 at 8:10 pm

Well I’d appreciate any advice, my char Is torine on runetotem on eu servers, I’m gina change my spec soon and gona wait till I get new legs and gloves till I ench them but any thing u can add is welcome

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14 Lorelei September 27, 2011 at 11:18 am

One quick clarification: Pathing won’t affect pet attack speed. I’m not sure that tips the scales, but I specifically checked this a while ago.

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15 Cimitar December 22, 2011 at 5:29 am

Is there a reason you don’t take 3/3 in Efficiency? It just seems that AS is our main DPS shot and the focus saving would = more DPS. however I am new to PvP :)

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16 Garwulf December 22, 2011 at 8:27 am

Efficiency is great for BM PvP, but I don’t take it because I budget those points for other talents, such as Improved Traps, Survival Tactics, and the 1 point I have in Improved Mend Pet. I just don’t have any left for Efficiency, and I think it’s really only beneficial if you max it with 3/3.

Improved Traps is awesome due to the root it provides for Frost and Snake Traps, Survival Tactics is nice for making sure none of your traps get resisted, plus it gives my Disengage a really short cooldown (w/ the Glyph + Crouching Tiger, Hidden Chimera) and I like the 1 point in Improved Mend Pet for the cleanse.

It’s a matter of preference though, and depending upon your play style or arena team comp, you may want to go with some points in Efficiency instead.

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