Survival vs Beast Mastery

[Deleted]

Hi!

Me and my friend both play hunters about the same gear and item level. He is slightly better geared [me 485, him 489] and thus does more damage than me.

However, his Beast Mastery specc does more damage than his survival. [He reforges etc to fit the speccs]
And my Survival specc is better than my Beast Mastery.

We discussed alot on how we do our ratations and alike but we do play the same.

Why is this? What is better for endgame dps?

Also, according to some sites it's crit>haste>mastery for Survival. Some sites says crit>mastery>haste, [I do more damage with crit>mastery>haste]
It's hard when I cannot confirm. Anyone else has this experience?

Thank you
TURTLE

[Cyph3r]

I'd wager that even though you compared rotations, chances are you're just more "attuned" to SV, while he's more adept at beastmastery. There's a ton of little stuff that goes into maxing dps potential, and it's perfectly normal for a spec to just "click" with a person, and they're able to squeeze more out of it than the alternatives, even if it's not mathematically the best spec.

All throughout Cata I was always able to pull my highest personal numbers using BM than either of the others. I never got beat by another BM hunter in similar gear, and I would typically outperform others using one of the other specs as well (the 3 specs were much closer together in Cata than most would believe). In other words, I doubt either of you is doing anything wrong. I say if you perform better with SV, and you enjoy it... well then you've found your spec.

[ElboWw]

I say if you perform better with SV, and you enjoy it... well then you've found your spec.

^ great advice

[eschatological]

It's all a matter of what you're comfortable with. If you're a good hunter, you can switch to BM primarily and start to pull better numbers with time, even with no gear upgrade. If your friend is a good hunter, he'd have similar experience with SV. They're close enough in DPS that "personal comfort" can become a factor in how well you do in a spec, which, IMO, is a good thing. Unlike MM, which, no matter how much personal comfort you have, you're not going to compete with similarly geared/skilled SV/BM hunters.

[cheddargrits]

Personal preference is a huge factor, Ive been running SV since Naxx/wrath and I find that no matter what the cookie cutter highest theoretical dps spec is I am always competitive dps wise due to the fact that Im super comfortable with the spec.