Beast Mastery, an idea for a better future

[Danteroth]

Beast Mastery hunters have always gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to raiding, and the only reason theyre any good in pvp is because of the stun and beast within cooldown. Blizzard stated that they dont want to make the class pet dependant, but have failed to make the spec just as good as the other two. I believe it is mainly because they try and make beast mastery a copy of the other trees minus the high tier skill (like explosive shot) but withthe addition of very little extra pet dmg. I have an idea for BM hunters, that would add flavor to the class. Hold on to your seat, this may shock some people.

Make Beast Mastery a Melee tree.
nownownow befor everyone starts screaming "HERESY" I want you all to hear me out.

A Hunter isint someone that just specializes in using a gun or bow, no, they're hunters they hunt. Thats why they have a marksman tree for gunning. the Survival tree has stuff for traps and explosives and other talents used to help "survive". But beast mastery should be what it is, a Mastery of Beasts. A hunter who looks and learns form his beastial companions, who prides himself by fighting with them. Blizzard gave hunters melee skills for a reason, and I say instead of erasing them they should change and make use of the idea. make the hunter fight as a beast. Up close and personal. It could take advantage of dual wielding since hunter can already use just about everything (even fist weapons) except for maces. Now befor telling me this is an old outdated idea that didnt work really well in vanilla, let me tell you was was also a ridiculous idea in vanilla. Enhancement shamans. back in the day ALL they had was auto attack with wepon enhancements and instant shocks. That was it. now? they have theyre own melee skill and are a viable raiding spec.
Hunter also wear mail gear, just like shamans, making them less squishy in a melee fight. it can be done blizzard has proven already that they can take a spec that makes no sense and turn it into something unique. Im a firm believe that if BM were to become a melee tree it would add a fun tree to hunter who only have rdps/rdps/rdps. Its a chance to make the Hunter feel different with each spec instead of them being so similar you only choose a spec based on the dps it can throw out.

And if that wasint enough we have the perfect role model for BM melee. Rexxar.

Now more than ever, since hunters are getting a new resource, it would be a good time to try this. they could take a spell like mongoose bite and turn it into a melee version of steadyshot. Heck they could have so much liberty while modifying the melee skills and talents that you get from BM, like what they did to enhancement shamans.

Its an interesting idea to breathe some life into BM
Shamans can melee dps/ranged dps
Druids can melee dps/ranged dps

I cant see why it'd be a bad idea to have hunter melee dps at the cost of their ranged, if anything it would also make their traps more useful. It would also make 1handers alot more useful. It would also give flavor to the class, to have a spec thats still DPS but that feel completly different from the other trees. because lets face it beast mastery is just a ranged tree thats trying to act like the other 2 trees, but will never be as good.

I would like to discuss the matter further and see what other think about the idea.


I would also be super grateful if someone with a working wow account would post this in the suggestion forums on the main site. My account is dead and im gonna wait till cata to re-open it.

[Anjerith]

Survival Hunters tried this back in the F&F Alpha of vanilla WoW and to some extent during the early days of Vanilla itself.

That said, what you are suggesting is essentially a Survial Hunter anyway, minus the melee attacks which Blizzard is mostly removing in Cata anyway. I would suggest attempting to roll a SV Hunter when you come back and simply taking talents that emphasize the type of Hunter you want to be.

I also want to stick up for the really hardcore BM Hunters out there that have stuck with it as the crock is getting a little full on this "BM Sucks" thing. BM was exceptional until 3.1 when they mega-nerfed it due to the fact that the rotation was simple and yielded insane dps for the effort required. Which is ironic given that the BM rotation at high gear lvls is essentially the same thing.

The point of Beast Mastery is to do your job through your pet. Again, your idea is interesting (I'd love a melee hunter) but it really needs to be in the tree that it would fit best rather than simply saying "I don't like beast mastery, we need a second tree for more survival talents".

[Dannyboy]

Beast Mastery hunters have always gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to raiding

Guess you didnt play TBC

[shadey]

This had been discussed to death, really.. why do people make a new thread about something without hitting the search button first?

OT: As much as it is an interesting idea i just dont see it happening, i think blizz even said they dont want to do this(not sure, but hey).

[Danteroth]

I wouldnt post this if i didnt have a hunter. Survival may have a bit of talents that are handy in melee but they're not for fighting, they're mainly used to flee and get some range, to "survive" if you will. its a very trap and poison focused tree with explovise shot being its staple skill, and the tree works fine the way it is. the whole "bm works through your pet" has been tried and blizzard themselves said they dont want the pet to do most of the work. I think its time they "reimagined" the tree

As for BM back in TBC, yeah they were great i raided kara a bit back in its earlier days but the thing is, they didnt really do anything different from the other hunters. They would essentially press the same things, save for the few skill you no only got since you were BM.

As for it being discussed to death, yes melee hunters is a touchy subject but most threads usually involve people talking about "I once used melee skills and it was funny". Im talking about taking the BM tree and changing it to kater fighting with your pet and your instincts. Because right now BM plays exactly like marks and survival minus the new shots