10.2 Beast Mastery Hunter First Impressions - Kill Command, Talent Point Reductions, Cooldown Rework

PTR Posted 2023/09/26 at 1:30 PM by Tarlo

This Public Test Realm (PTR) is a testing environment for the content coming with the Dragonflight: Guardians of the Dream update.
Dragonflight: Guardians of the Dream Update Development Notes

HUNTER

Fixed an issue where Entrapment didn’t share diminishing returns with other root abilities.
Beast Mastery

Developers’ note: Aspect of the Wild and Call of the Wild have struggled to be compelling choices during Dragonflight. Both of these cooldowns were competing for similar design space to make you and your pets feel stronger in a way that feels different than Bestial Wrath. After evaluating these abilities, we have decided to replace Aspect of the Wild entirely and convert it into passive options on the talent tree. The removal of Aspect of the Wild allows us to double down on Call of the Wild being a strong pet summoning cooldown for the Beast Mastery spec. We’re also lowering the number of talent points in the Thrill of the Hunt and Dire Command talent nodes from 3 to 2, which should give you some extra flexibility in your talent choices.
Aspect of the Wild has been removed.
New Talent: Savagery (Passive) – Kill Command damage is increased by 10%. Barbed Shot lasts 2 seconds longer. Replaces Aspect of the Wild.
Master Handler has been redesigned – Each time Barbed Shot deals damage, the cooldown of Kill Command is reduced by 0.5 seconds.
Call of the Wild has been slightly redesigned – Cooldown reduced to 2 minutes (was 3 minutes) and the base ability now also has the added functionality: Whenever Call of the Wild summons a pet, the cooldown of Kill Command and Barbed Shot are reduced by 50%.
Choice nodes for Call of the Wild updated:

While Call of the Wild is active, all of your pets are affected by Beast Cleave. Each time Call of the Wild summons a pet, all of your pets Stomp.
While Call of the Wild is active, each time you Kill Command, your Kill Command target takes 3% more damage from all of your summons. This effect stacks.

Thrill of the Hunt is now a 2-rank talent (was 3). Each point grants 2% critical strike chance, stacking up to 2/4 times (was 3%, stacking 1/2/3 times).
Dire Command is now a 2-rank talent (was 3). Each point grants 15/30% chance to trigger (was 10/20/30%).
Snake Bite has been removed.

A Step Forward - Reactions to Beast Mastery Talent Changes on the 10.2 PTR.

Hello! The purpose of this article will be to go over all the changes made to Beast Mastery Hunter Talents on the 10.2 PTR, and discuss where they have gone right, where they have gone wrong, and what''s left to be done. Let's get to it:

Point Deductions

Thrill of the Hunt is now a 2-rank talent (was 3). Each point grants 2% critical strike chance, stacking up to 2/4 times (was 3%, stacking 1/2/3 times).
Dire Command is now a 2-rank talent (was 3). Each point grants 15/30% chance to trigger (was 10/20/30%).

Thrill of the HuntThrill of the HuntFrenzyBeast CleaveMulti-ShotKill CleaveNew Talents

Aspect of the WildSavageryBarbed ShotFrenzyThrill of the HuntFrenzyThrill of the HuntMaster HandlerKill CommandBarbed ShotKill CommandA Cooldown!

Call of the Wild has been slightly redesigned – Cooldown reduced to 2 minutes (was 3 minutes) and the base ability now also has the added functionality: Whenever Call of the Wild summons a pet, the cooldown of Kill Command and Barbed Shot are reduced by 50%.
Choice nodes for Call of the Wild updated:

While Call of the Wild is active, all of your pets are affected by Beast Cleave. Each time Call of the Wild summons a pet, all of your pets Stomp.
Wild Instincts: While Call of the Wild is active, each time you Kill Command , your Kill Command target takes 3% more damage from all of your pets. This effect stacks.

Call of the WildWild InstinctsBloody FrenzyCall of the WildBeast CleaveKill CleaveBloody FrenzyWild InstinctsDire PackEverything other than Kill Command Kill CommandKill CommandKill ShotSerpent StingBarrageA Murder of CrowsKindred SpiritsKill CommandCobra ShotKiller CobraKiller InstinctAlpha PredatorStampedeArctic BolaCobra ShotWailing ArrowHunter's PreyCobra SensesExplosive ShotArctic BolaOne with the PackSteel TrapSteel TrapBugs

Animal Companion will still reduce the damage dealt by Call of the Wild pets by 35%.

Stomp from new pets during Call of the Wild with Bloody Frenzy will often miss if you are far enough away from your target (further than 15 yards or so). This is because new pets will spawn next to the player character and Stomp shortly afterwards. This gives them a high chance of not reaching their target and missing entirely.

Pets will not gain Beast Cleave during Call of the Wild with Bloody Frenzy unless you first cast a Cobra Shot or Serpent Sting.

Picking Bloody Frenzy without picking Beast Cleave will result in a Beast Cleave doing 100% of your pets damage during Call of the Wild, rather than 70%.

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Comment by Veza28Umm what mount is that in the thumbnail!Comment by TryndisThat's a lot of words for a 3 button rotation.Comment by ShyNidaleeI got baited by this banner, and I am now greatly disappointed. :( I would have played my hunter if we truly can ride our pets.Comment by OmarcominPut another way: BM hunter currently gives up around 9% Single target DPS to swap to full AOE talents; Elemental Shaman gives up 44% single target to do the same. Having to spend 4 talent points to swap into AOE spec sounds like the kind of problem I'd love to have.Comment by zulefUmm what mount is that in the thumbnail!Comment by Cross1776That's a lot of words for a 3 button rotation.Comment by TryndisThat's a lot of words for a 3 button rotation.Comment by deathlavitzThe stomp bug has been around for a while, mainly when the second pet has died and is summoned and you don't happen to notice until it stomps and you see you just aggro'd another mob that was neutral between you and your target.Comment by biggiy05That's a lot of words for a 3 button rotation.Comment by AvaylaUmm what mount is that in the thumbnail!Comment by DekardcaiinLess emo demo lock is already (too) powerful in pvp, I wonder what this will do in 10.2.Comment by JaiiePut another way: BM hunter currently gives up around 9% Single target DPS to swap to full AOE talents; Elemental Shaman gives up 44% single target to do the same. Having to spend 4 talent points to swap into AOE spec sounds like the kind of problem I'd love to have.Comment by TryndisThat's a lot of words for a 3 button rotation.Comment by KnotMeHarderProblem is classes need entire reworks like ret got, but are really only getting talent reworks and not much in the ways of entirely changing how it plays.Comment by LautnerThat's a lot of words for a 3 button rotation.Comment by Y0L0Aaaaaaaaaaaand... were still made of glass.Comment by KenjiT28These changes are in the wrong direction.
As a decade+ long BM main I am disgusted at most of this terrible news.
Looks like I need to relearn the rotation for MM in the upcoming patch or switchto surv, as BM is getting scrapped basically.Comment by irmosjust tragic.....Comment by irmosbuff hunters/warriors/dh/monks/ more and more because they have to be better than outlawComment by CertifiedUmm what mount is that in the thumbnail!

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