For leveling, I’m not sure which tree to begin with. If I go through MM to get Aimed Shot, that will be level 20. I can then jump to BM, and get Endurance and Thick Hide, rounding out the second tier by level 30, 35 for increased pet damage.
Or I could go BM first, going all the way to Ferocity, by 29, and then switch to some MM. Or, of course, go through the 31st talent in one tree, then do another.
TLDR: Which tree should I start with, so that my pet can hold agro, and I can still do good damage? Would you recommend going through the 31 talents, then switching, or going back and forth?
I’m the epitome of a huntard. When I play hunter, it’s always BM as, to me, it’s easy mode.
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BM all the way. Your pet has static scaling whereas you rely on gear, so your pet will do a lot of damage (as well as auto shot) while you level. Aimed Shot hits like a wet noodle for how long it takes to cast it until you have the gear to make it do more.
Go BM all the way until you have BW, then go into MM - and Aimed Shot can actually wait, it still won’t hit hard whereas extra range is always good. As for what talents to get in BM, the first choice is Imp. AotH or ET. There’s an argument for both but I personally feel the extra health isn’t as needed as Imp. AotH for increased kill speed when it does proc. Thick Hide is a much better talent for soloing as the armour will do significantly more. Pathfinding is also very good, as is Imp. Revive Pet and also Mend Pet.
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BM first, remember no misdirect in vanilla so you will pull aggro off your pet regardless of spec unless your just auto-shotting. More pet damage as BM helps but if you send your pet in let it get 1 hit + growl then go all out you will be in melee quite often.
The trick is balance pet threat and having him switch targets efficiently. For example a simple 2 mob pull… target Mob1 send pet to attack and get 1 hit + growl then target mob2 and pet attack, wait for another growl (watch the cooldown on the pet bar) then start DPSing mob2 when mob2 is at ~30-40% have pet go back to mob1 while you finish off mob2 then finish off mob1.
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I’m likely starting as BM this time around, and then going down MM for aimed shot afterwards. If I decide It’s a bit dull and I want Aimed shot earlier to spice it up I’ll respec (after at least lvl 20), grab aimed shot and then work my way down BM. But I’ll likely just hit 31 BM and then work my way down to aimed shot.
BM and MM will play almost exactly the same until lvl 20 (when MM opens up aimed shot) so I don’t see any downside to starting at BM to see how I like it. Outiside of the cost of the first respec if I decide to switch anyway (which I think is 1g, a noticeable cost at low levels and I’ll save accordingly, but not significant in the long run).
That’s my personal thoughts of my plan. The pathfinder talent (BM tier 3) is also really great pre-mount and when you can’t mount (and aren’t going to be attacked).
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Thank you all for the advice. You’re good hunters, and I really appreciate it.
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