Full post(incl general changes): [Shadowlands and Hunter] Thoughts on General changes + Beast Mastery
Going into BfA:
They removed the option for BM hunters to choose between Dire Beast and Barbed Shot(Dire Frenzy). Why?
Sure, some players did not like using Dire Beast, that’s understandable. But why remove the option to choose between them?
They also introduced the Animal Companion-talent which allows you to have 2 permanent pets of your choice out.
Looking at Shadowlands:
Animal Companion in itself is awesome for BM. Although why make it/keep it as a talent?
We’ve just gone through several expansions of seeing how Lone Wolf was received for MM, and people wanting it as a baseline option and not a talent. For BM, it’s the same thing with Animal Companion(2 pets).
Give us that option as a baseline passive choice for us to make.
Baseline, the spec could use something more indeed.
My vote goes towards making the talent A Murder of Crows a baseline mechanic. With the addition of allowing for Kill Command to extend it’s remaining duration on a target.
That in itself isn’t overly complicated but it would add some more things to work with that isn’t just another “press-on-cd ability”. It would also be more rewarding to our performance if executed properly.
Other than this…
Stampede should be reworked to become a passive tied to Bestial Wrath, causing you to summon 2 more of your stabled pets to fight for you for a set duration.
Using auto attacks and benefiting from Kill Command + Beast Cleave.
Barrage? Yeah, remove this please.
Would love a talent that, when picked, increases the duration and damage of Beast Cleave and causes Kill Command to also be affected by Beast Cleave if combined with Bestial Wrath.