Let me start by saying this post is not intended to convey that I am the best BM hunter ever, or to illicit either a buff to BM hunters or nerfs to any of the other classes mentioned herein. It is just meant to provide observations about my experiences as a BM hunter in M+ keys (14-19 range) with an eclectic mix of dps and tanks. Most if not all of the players involved have at least two pieces of tier gear equipped (like myself) while the rest have the full four piece set. In the past two weeks, I ran 10 fortified keys and so far this week 10 tyranical keys.
First observation: my dps range was between a low of 9.3K (Top 15) to a high of 12.6k (PF 17) I finished as top dps in 40% of the runs, middle dps in 20% of the runs and bottom dps in 40% of the runs… I did better overall in tyranical keys than fortified keys overall.
Second observation: Wild Spirits accounts for between 14 and 20% of my overall damage done, followed by beast cleave and barb shot. My groups defaulted to using Uhr in almost all situations (Wu being the exception on some skips) which increased barb shot’s damage contribution considerably.
Third observation: In comparison to other classes, BM’s AoE outside of Wild Spirits is pretty poor. MM hunters, Warriors (fury), Mages (fire and frost), Havoc Demon hunters, Subtlelty Rogues, Shamans (enhancement and elemental) and Protection Paladins routinely exceed my AoE contribution, sometimes by as much as 50%. In addition, as pull size increases, my AoE dps contribution as a percentage of the total actually decreases even with Beast cleave going from 5 to 8 targets.
Fourth observation: single target boss damage is NOT where BM hunter excels in M+ keys, especially in forified weeks. We have all heard the statement "yeah your AoE is bad but you make up for it boss (priority) damage. In a little over 60% of the boss encounters in fortified weeks, I finished second in boss damage overall. Only about 20% of the time did i finished first, and in roughly an equal percentage last. In tyranical keys, it’s a little better percentage wise, but that is only attributable to get multiple uses of Wild Spirits per boss which inflates my single target damage considerably.
Fifth observation: As key difficulty increases, the damage contribution of BM hunters decreases, but is offset marginally by utility (binding shot, tranq shot and freezing trap).
Sixth observation and speculation: Having a “good” BM hunter in your group will not hurt your chances of timing a key in the 15-19 range at this point and can even help carry less qualified or undergeared players. Where BM hunters will start to struggle is in keys 20 and above, mainly due to AoE damage throughput but also to a lesser extent having a lack of survivability tools. Obtaining a four piece set of tier gear will not make BM hunters competitive with other classes in similar gear. There are multiple reasons for this: 1) adding 6 seconds to Beast cleave negates the value of Dreamweaver soulbind in AoE situations with three or more targets. We will be forced to either change to a less proficient soulbind (Niya) or ignore the timer and refresh Beast cleave on a four second cycle. 2) The increased damage of cobra shot, while marginally effective for single target, is virtually lost in any AoE situation. 3) Even in a single target fight, the real power of the four set bonus is in chaining KC-CS as many times as possible, which is only possible using the Killer Cobra talent. Under no situation however, is the Killer Cobra talent better than Aspect of the Beast in any 2+ target environment. Simply put, the 4 piece bonus in M+ has very little
real value.
