I really want to play a physical ranged DPS and WoW doesn’t give me much options and since I don’t know how conduits and and covenants add into how each of the specs play, I am curious as to which one is more fun at the endgame of SL: Marksman or Beast Mastery Hunter?
What’s your definition of fun
I guess engaging, not boring. I don’t know how to define fun.
BM hunter hasn’t changed for like, three expansions, so if you’re curious you can power level an alt and experience it for yourself in all its 4 button, 100% mobile glory.
I like to bounce in elaborate patterns around the mob while my pets carry me, like a mandela made of barbed shot. It gives me something to do.
It’s so easy to switch between the two that you really don’t need to pick, unless you are trying to push the limits.
Sniper shot, double tap aim shot is pretty fun atmo.
4 Likes
I love the Marksman hunter design. I’ve always wanted the no pet hunter, and it’s not a class I’ve played a lot, so I had a lot of fun with it in the weeks before prepatch. I will say that, while it is a ton of fun to play in the open world, and pulling off huge AOE damage with Trick Shots is very gratifying, you don’t have a very interesting single target rotation. MM hunters capitalize on moments and opportunities and deal huge burst damage, but they deal burst damage in a game that is completely designed against burst damage even existing, so the fun kind of… dries up at points, and Trueshot is probably one of the most boring cooldown abilities in existence and just feels like a meaningless throughput tool without any remotely logical fit into what the class fantasy is.
2 Likes
That makes it really hard to recommend a spec for you but I’ll try.
Do you like streams of arrows coming from you like Legolas? Do you prefer the vast majority of your damage to be coming from yourself rather than your pet? Do you mind having a more generic pet, or the option to not use a pet at all? MM is probably what you want then.
Do you prefer a more even split in damage between yourself and your pet? Do you like being the most mobile ranged class in the game? Do you like min-maxing your pet based on family, abilities, food etc? Do you like exotic pets that stand out when you’re idling in town? Then BM is probably for you.
3 Likes
MM is much more fun IMO. You have great control over your damage, and if you do things correctly, your damage can be pretty good! It can be very bursty - when a mob is between 20% and 70% health, you’ll be a little less effective (depending on talents) to be incredibly effective in your opener sequence.
Hunter’s Mark isn’t part of the rotation anymore, which is disappointing IMO but makes the rotation a bit smoother. If you’re comfortable with keybinding and macros, that will help a great deal. The rotation for MM is approximately 6 buttons (depending on talents), and with my current set-up, I have three big cooldown spells, misdirect to help out with aggro (important because you’ll be doing a lot of damage with your pre-pull + opener), and every cc spell that BM has minus Intimidation plus Bursting Shot, which is very helpful in PvP and during Sanguine weeks in M+.
And if you can get a tank who remembers to get 3 or more mobs at a time for you, you can benefit from the Trick Shots buff to do lots of AoE damage.
It might be a good idea to start out with Beast Mastery for a few reasons - the damage is more consistent (which means that you don’t have to coordinate your bursts with your groups) and the rotation is arguably smoother than that of MM. If you are going to switch from BM to MM later on, consider saving three or four keybinds.
BM is fun to solo stuff but Cobra Shot is super lame. MM if had the same dps would be super fun.
BM most definately. You also great to train the koolest pets.