So today I respec’d from my normal “utility/PvP/marksman-ish” build into classic 41/20 Beast Mastery. It was a very incomplete build, however, because I’m not even close to level 70 yet, but I will go more into that later in this post.

My reasons for respec’ing were three-fold; firstly I was sort of getting bored with my current spec (not that I don’t like it, because I do, but I felt like spicing things up a little), secondly because I wanted to see Beastial Wrath/The Beast Within in action, and thirdly because I wanted to see if I can live without Hawk Eye, since it’s odd having those three points randomly in Survival if I don’t have anything else over there.

The initial verdict:

Stuff dies, and stuff dies fast. I seem to be critting a lot, which sort of amuses me because my crit chance % took a nosedive when I respec’d, thanks to not having enough points to put into the MM side of 41/20/0. But I seem to be critting left and right anyway. I think maybe because the Serpent’s Swiftness gives me more shots, that adds up to more crits. But I’m not sure, that’s just my initial thought. It could just be that I was getting lucky!

My trusty friend Tux has gone from doing about 30% of my total DPS to about 55%. Again, I’m sure I’d be doing more of the DPS if I had the points to put into MM but I don’t, so it amuses me that my pet is now my better half, so to speak. And is he a machine! He has gone from being my mild-mannered little pocket tank into a big red deadly ball of feathers. It’s an unusual thing which I’m not used to, but is it ever fun. Oh, and being a big red hunter is pretty fun too. ^^

Things that I am not too fond of: I miss a lot of my old marks talents. Granted I will get a lot of those back as I earn more talent points, but right now not having stuff like Mortal Shots, Lethal Shots, and Go For The Throat is a bit painful. I also sort of miss being able to put up those big crit numbers; even if BM does more overall DPS as I think it probably does, I’m a sucker for big crits. I’m an agility junkie so I’m still doing a lot of damage, but not as much as I enjoy doing.

I burn through mana even faster in BM than I did in Marks, and I’m not quite sure how or why.

Also the overall “feel” for BM is different than the overall “feel” for Marks in a way that I find hard to pin down and explain. It’s more… fast-paced, almost? More frenzied as opposed to calm and calculating, red as opposed to blue. Both specs require quick thinking, but they require it in different ways. It’s not bad, it’s just different, and different people will like different things and if you’ve been one spec for a long time it takes a while to get used to another, I think.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I’ve decided to ditch Hawk Eye. If I ever start doing tons of PvP again or mess with a survival spec (which I know I will at some point), I’ll definitely pick that talent up again, but for a BM/MM PvE spec it doesn’t really seem needed to me. Better off putting those three points elsewhere!

Anyways, there you have it, my initial thoughts on my most recent respec. I think I’ll stick with it and play with it for at least a few days before I respec again, probably to something close to my “utility spec”. I’m definitely going to return to BM and try it out again later on down the road when I have more talent points, and I’m also going to give Survival a big test run at some point, but probably not right away.

I hope to be able to spend lots of time with and thoroughly learn each of the specs, because I feel that each spec has things to teach you and by spending time with each of the specs, you will become a better hunter.