Argument for a Hunter Beast Master Specialization in World of Warcraft

In WoW, a hunter/beast master specialization is arguably one of the most popular for solo leveling. For many, the reason for this is clear; a hunter's pet can do a huge amount of damage and serve as a great tank for the solo hunter. For those who haven't created a hunter, or who don't fully understand how the hunter class works, below I've outlined some of the major arguments for specializing in beast mastery when creating a hunter.

One of the biggest reasons to create a BM hunter is because of the additional damage bonuses that it gives to your pet. When solo leveling, the only limitation to your leveling is the health of your pet. If you specialize in BM talents, you will increase both the health and damage done by your pet and therefore will be able to stay out longer fighting mobs then you would be able to otherwise. Additionally, you will be able to use a pet with higher DPS than you would normally be able to because your pet will have higher armor and hit points from the talent points you have invested in BM.

Because of the higher DPS and HP that your pet will have when you specialize in beast mastery, there are a few things that you can do which another hunter would not be able to accomplish. One of the biggest things, as mentioned before, is the ability to have a higher DPS pet such as a cat, spider, etc. Since these pets have higher HP than they would otherwise have, they can still operate as very effective tanks. This means that you can often take on mobs that are many levels higher than yourself. For example, as a level 25 BM hunter, I was able to take on mobs up to six levels higher than me. Additionally, my pet cat is able to tank up to five equally leveled mobs at one time using only mend pet and additional ranged attacks during the battle.

One of the biggest negatives behind specializing in BM is that for the most part your pet is the primary damage giver and also the most effective tank. For higher level hunters this can sometimes be a problem for PvP because if an attacker realizes that you are specced BM they will often attack your pet first in order to disable you for the rest of the battle. Because of this, it is often a good idea to change her specialization after you have finished a majority of your leveling so that you will not be as unevenly balanced.

Hopefully this is giving you a good idea as to why BM is one of the better hunter specialization for leveling or solo work. Whenever you to build a new character, however, it is important that you understand exactly what you're getting into, and you prepare accordingly. If you do decide to build a hunter character at some point, or are in the process of doing so right now, you should definitely take a look at specializing in BM for your leveling needs.