Blizzard just released the latest patch notes for 4.3.
Beast Mastery and Survival have both received some minor buffs to try and bring the specs more in line with Marksmanship’s DPS.
- Beast Mastery
- Animal Handler now increases Attack Power by 30%, up from 25%.
- Survival
- Explosive Shot damage has been increased by 15%.
(Source)
Neither buff is that noteworthy from a PvE standpoint, as both specs will likely still trail behind MM, but buffs nonetheless.
However… I’m pretty excited about the buff to Animal Handler – especially for my Orc BM Hunter. 🙂 I’m not too concerned with end-game DPS these days, but a buff that’s going to help my pets to rip players up just a little more efficiently in BGs… oh yea, that’s good stuff.
Right now, Survival PvP is a bit of an oxymoron, but the %15 damage boost to Explosive Shot will certainly help those repping the spec in battlegrounds.
My orc bm hunter cant wait as well 😉 Still hoping they would do something to KC tho.. :/
A commenter over at WHU suggested making Kill Command like Intimidation, in that it would be ‘activated’ then used as soon as the pet’s within range. I like this idea. The cooldown would activate as soon as it was used, with a 6 sec effect on your pet.
I also had the idea of adding a Charge mechanic to KC that would be a gap-closer, but wouldn’t possess the immobilize or ap boost. It would essentially put your pet immediately within KC range, provided they weren’t CC’d or outside of 25 yards. I think that would be awesome, but it would probably prove a little OP for PvP. 😉
They could also make KC like Pounce. No stuns or interrupts, but it could close the gap immediately. A shorter range would suffice if it would prove to be OP for PvP (say, 20 yards).