Pathfinding
2 Point Talent
Description: Increases the speed bonus of your Aspect of the Cheetah and Aspect of the Pack by 4/8%, and increases your speed while mounted by 5/10%. The mounted movement speed increase does not stack with other effects.
Overview
Pathfinding increases your speed on foot when Aspect of the Cheetah is active and also gives you a passive mounted speed bonus.
Why take it?
This talent will basically decrease the time it takes to get from point A to Point B, thus making the job of leveling a lowbie Hunter a bit easier.
Why not take it?
Aspect of the Cheetah and/or Pack are seldom used talents due to the daze effect they have if you’re to take damage while they’re active. Aside from using Pack for running back through an instance after a wipe, neither one’s widely used for PvE. Pack can be somewhat handy for speeding a flag carrier down the tunnel or across the field in WSG, but it’s still very risky to use in PvP.
While those aspects still have their use at times, the points here just aren’t worth investing in place of something better. The base speed boost they give you is plenty.
The same goes for the mounted speed increase. Since it doesn’t stack with other mounted speed buffs such as Crusader Aura, this talent has little use outside of leveling.
Aspect Mastery
1 Point Talent
Description: Aspect of the Viper – Reduces the damage penalty by 10%.
Aspect of the Monkey – Reduces the damage done to you while active by 5%.
Aspect of the Hawk – Increases the attack power bonus by 30%.
Aspect of the Dragonhawk – Combines the bonuses from Aspect of the Monkey and Hawk.
Overview
This talent buffs your most widely used aspects. It lessens the damage penalty while in Aspect of the Viper, reduces damage taken while in Monkey or Dragonhawk (if you’re lvel 74 or above), and increases the attack power bonus while in Hawk or Dragonhawk (if above level 74… yea, yea, yea).
Why take it?
It’s a mandatory talent for all BM builds and is also a good choice for some MM builds as well. MM doesn’t have really anything beyond 7 points in the SV tree that wil add to overall DPS. This talent can be had with 7 points in SV, while still being able to dump 53 points into the MM tree. Aspect Mastery provides a nice passive buff for your priority aspects.
Why not take it?
SV Hunters won’t go for it. It’s too deep in the BM tree for them, and not worth the investment due to much better talents being available in the MM tree.
PvE MM Hunters will need to invest 3 points in non-dps talents in order to pick it up. In essence, it’s a 4 point investment beyond the typical 7 which are placed in the BM tree for MM. Some Hunters look at it as spending 4 talent points for 99AP (w/ Trueshot Aura), and thus making it not as valuable as other talents deeper in the MM tree.
PvP MM Hunters will explore the SV tree and most likely not even venture into the BM tree, and if they do, it probably won’t be more than 7 points for Improved Revive Pet. This talent will be excluded from MM specs for PvP.
Unleashed Fury
5 Point Talent
Description: Increases the damage done by your pets by 15%.
Overview
This talent makes your pet hit more harder.
Why take it?
Another mandatory talent for BM Hunters, and one that MM Hunters may dabble in. A BM Hunter’s pet accounts for nearly half of the Hunter’s overall damage, so this talent is a must-have for BM spec. MM Hunters going for Aspect Mastery may want to toss a couple of points in here as well. In fights where your pet should be up the entire time, this talent will provide a nice passive damage boost for MM Hunters provided a Ferocity pet is used.
* I’m not entirely certain if it is the top spec, but I have seen some MM DPS builds that include 2-3 points in here. In fact, one of the top raiding Hunters on my server rolls with 3 points in here as MM.
Why not take it?
Survival Hunters don’t need no stinkin’ pet buffs. Of the three specs, they rely the least upon pet damage. SV Hunters won’t be needing to go past a couple of points in the BM tree, whether it be for PvE or PvP.