Update: For a more complete version of this guide, please refer to this page. It includes pet build information current through Patch 3.3.5.
AKA Dalaila’s In-Depth Response…
Excerpt from one of Dalaila’s recent comments…
OFFTOPIC
I’m currently using a wolf for raiding and I’d like to ask you what talents are you placing for maximum dps (ferocity). Got a tree/link?
You Betcha. I’ll do ya one better though… here’s a post about it. 😉
My 16 Point Ferocity Pet Talent Build
For when I raid as Marksman
- 2 Points in Cobra Reflexes – Straight DPS boost. Although the attacks don’t hit as hard, the added haste = more DPS, especially for BM Hunters.
- 1 Point in Dash – This enables my pet to get to the fight quicker, as well as move from add to add faster, etc.
- 1 Point in Bloodthirsty – I just dont want him to lose happiness in the middle of a long boss fight.
- 3 Points in Spiked Collar – Straight DPS boost.
- 3 Points in Avoidance – Mandatory for pet survivability in raids, plus it’s needed for Rabid.
- 3 Points in Spider’s Bite – 9% more pet crit… Yum.
- 1 Point in Rabid – DPS boost.
- 1 Point in Call of the Wild – DPS boost. Macro it with Rapid Fire.
- 1 Point in Wild Hunt – 10% more AP > 3% damage from Shark Attack, especially for MM due to Trueshot Aura Attack Power scaling.
Some Hunters go for Improved Cower over Bloodthirsty, but not me. Improved Cower reduces damage, but I’d rather not take a chance on the pet happiness. Both choices are fine IMO.
So there ya have it. That’s how I choose to spec my only non-exotic Hunter pet, my ghost wolf, for when I raid as MM.
Happy, Dalaila..? 😉
I agree with you on this spec 100%, but for one thing, The point in “Wild Hunt” can be better served in “Charge” IMO because first of all, my wolf has 23k Health in ICC 10 buffed up, so no need for the Stam IMO, and Charge saves me about 2.5-4 seconds of downtime depending on boss. Downtime for pet running to boss that is.
can anyone explain to me why my ferocity pet hyena have a different talent tree as the one posted?
They must have changed it. And this was an old post.
mario,
This is an old post, but the build is basically the same. The only difference is that the Avoidance talent has been done away with and Culling the Herd has been put in place of it.
Ferocity pet talent points still go in the same slots, in the same quantity.
Sorry I’m late in replying to this (missed it…). If you don’t happen to see it, hopefully it will at least clear some things up for others.
@ Racuya
Cobra Reflexes is a DPS boost. In fact, the only time I’d opt for Great Stamina over it would be for PvP.
Although the pet’s attacks hit for less, the DPS ends up being greater. For one, more hits = more crits.
Try it out and you’ll see what I mean.
Your build shows a pet talented with 20 points. If you raid as BM with a build like that, you’re losing a lot of DPS by doing so. Furthermore, never ever, ever, ever… go without Cobra Reflexes as a Beast Master. You hinder your chances of proccing Frenzy without it.
Let me know if you have any questions.
When spending talents for raiding you should always consider boss fights, therefor cobra reflexes is not a good choice in long fights. Here is my build http://www.wowhead.com/?petcalc#0c0c0fczzhoob. As you can see I have nothing in speed boosters as I find it useless for max DPS, also for when avoidance fails it is good to have extra health thus the points in stamina. The rest should be self explanatory but if you have any questions feel free to ask :).
Side note. Recount said that my pet dealt 13% of the total damage (hunter+pet). The same exact value I got before using Cobra Reflexes with an old build. I should notice a little more damage here, am I wrong?
With the above pet-talent-build I pushed 3200 DPS on Heroic Boss dummy in IF while under these conditions:
– started after 3 min to “clear” trinket/pet CD’s
– did not use Kill Shot, Rapid Fire, Call of the wild
– used Call of the wild once (autocast)
– used normal ammos (Terrorshaft) on a 129DPS bow
– penalty: no bleed (0 boss health)
– penalty: no tracking (it’s a dummy)
Of course “real” situations make my DPS go down as I never stand still shooting stuff with a perfect rotation… But I’m pretty happy of this DPS, considering I’m not wearing an amazing gear (have a look on armory-Europe-shadowsong just in case).
It’s also sad to notice how DPS tests on dummies change so much every single time. I can read 2200DPS the first time, 2800 the second time… 3000 the 3rd one… then back to 2100… Missing procs, bad luck, misclick, …argh! 🙂
Hmmm interesting, interesting. I never used Rabid and opted for other options but I’ve been considering it and trying to build this one:
http://www.wowhead.com/?petcalc#0Mbz0cs00hooo
I’ll explain why:
Cobra Reflexes: as you said in your post
Boar’s Speed: instead of Dash, a constant +30% movement speed helps target-swapping of your pet and does not consume focus.
NO Blood Thirsty: to be honest happiness shouldn’t be a problem anymore thanks to Glyph of Mend Pet. You will be constantly healing the pet while running the instance/raid and in case you really need to get more happiness in a short time (for example after 2-3 deaths in a row) just keep a stack of good food in your bags.
Of course Cobra 2/2 Reflexes would help a lot in self-healing with Bloodthirsty but… let’s face it: if a pet dies in a boss/elite fight, self-healing wont help that much. I see it more useful while grinding/questing maybe.
/discuss… 🙂