Getting Battle-Ready: More BM PvP notes

Hunter PvP in 4.0.1

This past weekend I finally felt ready to swallow some pride and go get my ass handed to me in some BGs. The result… I didn’t fare as bad as I thought I would. While I was by no means a “force” in the BGs, I didn’t feel like a punching bag either.

Although I’m still stumbling around trying to find my way, I feel like I’m headed in the right direction. The following are some tips and suggestions which I’d like to offer up, in hopes that they may help some of you overcome difficulties or trepidation. Albeit a humbling experience right now, competing in BGs is a great way to learn the 4.0.1 hunter and find out what your weaknesses are.

As I’ve mentioned, a lot of this info is subject to change in the coming weeks, but I’ll try to update as it does. In the meantime, these posts will be more like notes & progress reports, rather than guides.

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Taming The Beast

Taming The Beast from Upper Blackrock Spire is one of those huntery-type of achievements I’d been meaning to check off the list over the past few months. Last night I finally decided to tackle it. Truth be told, it was really quite easy. Perhaps I was exceptionally lucky, but here’s how I did it… First off, I grabbed any and all of my haste gear out of the bank, along with some Potions of Speed. Same as with attempting a …

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Beast Mastery PvP Spec Redux

Visit this post for an updated look at my current Cataclysm BM PvP Build.

So last you heard from me, I was getting ready to try out a Core Hound for use in arena. To bring some of you up to speed, my only arena team this past season has been a 2v2 with a Ret Paladin. I like 2v2 because it only requires one other person, and in my case, I don’t need to rely upon a healer. I’ve never had very good luck with 3v3 either due to schedule conflicts or just not being able to find the right people.

I also like double DPS 2v2 because the matches are over quickly. Either we get our asses handed to us or we do the ass-handing, but either way they’re quick. πŸ˜‰ That is unless my partner gets stuck 1v1 vs a Resto Druid. In that case, I may as well go make a sammich, then possibly take a nap or learn a foreign language. πŸ˜† It’s nearly impossible for a Ret to kill a Resto druid and even more impossible for a resto drood to kill a Ret. πŸ™„

At any rate, my partner and I are what most would consider casual, as we “mainly” PvP for fun and typically only queue one night a week, for maybe an hour or less. Anyway, after several weeks of a slow ascent, we hit our proverbial wall at about 1800. Now granted we’ve only made it as high as 1849, I feel like we’ve gotten better over the past two weeks. We’d just made some careless mistakes that otherwise would have resulted in wins for us, and would probably have us on our way to 1950 by now. ‘Course that’s what they all say… πŸ˜‰

Oh yea, so what’s changed over the past two weeks to give us a slight edge? Well, for one, I’m using a Core Hound instead of a Chimaera. Second, I changed my spec up a bit. I didn’t change my build too much, in fact I only moved two points around. However, I feel it’s made a noticeable impact on my DPS without sacrificing much of anything really.

Here’s a looky at my new build.

Gar’s New and Improved Beast Mastery PvP Spec

Beast Mastery PvP Spec - BM PvP Build

This is the build you need to be using if you want to PvP as a BM Hunter. It’s not vastly different from the one I posted just a few weeks back, yet the subtle differences make it much improved.

As I’d said before, if you find that your pet is being focus fired down a lot, or if you’re lacking resilience, then 1/3 Thick Hide and 2/2 Improved Revive Pet is probably the way to go. I don’t lose my pet(s) too often, so I prefer the increased physical damage mitigation. However, results may vary.

The primary difference… 3/3 Cobra Strikes.

I had dismissed this talent before as being too much of a gamble for PvP, as it only gives you a 60% chance to proc even when maxed. However, after thinking about it I realized I was pretty wrong in my assumption. This talent needs to be maxed for an effective BM PvP build. Here’s why…

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