Here is the standard twenty-point marksman configuration we recommend for all BM hunters. If you’ve got a hunter in your raid who has Improved Hunter’s Mark, Efficiency can be used instead, but be sure to let him do the marking.

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But what are some of the variations in BM hunter specs? We can talk about those, sure thing.

Well, let’s start with the pre-Kara, level 70 hunter.

You’re running 5-man instances getting your Beastlord gear, working your way towards revered with Cenarion Expedition and your Glyph of Ferocity. Here’s our recommended talent spec.

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We don’t think Improved Aspect of the Hawk is as critical as maxing your pet’s ability to off-tank, so we’ll go max health and armor with Endurance Training and Thick Hide. Generally, in both normal and heroic-mode, 5-man instances have harder trash mobs than bosses. Using your pet to save your healer, or off-tank that one un-crowd-controllable mob, is more important than the bonus DPS from IAotH.

Why only 4/5 in Frenzy? Because with Serpent’s Swiftness, your pet will be attacking so quickly that even if only 80% of your pet’s crits result in a Frenzy proc, Frenzy will be up all the time.

Must you have Animal Handler? The pet +Hit isn’t critical in normal 5-man instances, but the bosses in heroics are considered level 72; the pet +Hit from Animal Handler will be quite helpful against these mobs. And the increased mount speed is handy for completing those level 70 quests you haven’t yet finished.

Poof! You’re invited to Kara and the rules change. Now the bosses are the big challenge, not the 5 or 6 or 7-mob pulls in the 5-man instances. Your pet is not going to be off-tanking and the boss fights are going to be much longer than you’ve seen before. You’ll need some modified talents to maximize your damage potential now.

Here’s our recommendation for a Karazhan-raiding BM hunter, Attumen through Prince.

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We’ve added IAotH for those long boss fights. You’ll proc that frequently and it’ll make a very nice addition to your DPS.

You’ll have to learn how to manage your mana so you don’t have to switch to Aspect of the Viper, though. Learning this skill is critical and we cannot emphasize that enough. Running Aspect of the Viper all the time hurts your Ranged Attack Power and eliminates your ability to use IAotH.

Notice that we’ve lost the two points in Bestial Discipline. Once a BM hunter’s crit rate hits 20%, his Go For The Throat talent should be providing enough Focus that BD isn’t necessary. Your pet cannot store excess Focus; there’s no point in over-generating it.

Once you’ve cleared through Prince, you might go for Nightbane and Netherspite, and you’ll definitely want to think about getting into your first 25-man instance, Gruul’s Lair.

Once you go to these bosses, pet-survivability is going to go down and there’s little you can do about it. But you can adjust your talent points to get your pet and his Ferocious Inspiration buff back into the fight quickly.

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Improved Revive Pet is highly recommended for the 25-man raiding hunter. Yes your pet will come back with a loss of Happiness if he’s rez’d, but he needs to get back in the battle, start fighting, and provide his 3% bonus damage buff. IRP will also reduce the rez-time from ten to four seconds, bring the pet back with 30% more health, and reduce the rez mana-cost by 40%. All of these are critical for the BM hunter to continue to deliver massive quantities of sustained, ranged DPS.

If you ever do Gruul’s Lair, your pet dies and you don’t rez him because it’ll take too long, and your raid wipes with a boss at 4%, you’ll wish you had had IRP. Believe us now and listen to us later!

Do you need IRP before Prince? Not really. If you want to train it for Shade of Aran we won’t get upset, but with proper pet-control Aran probably won’t nuke your pet.

Is there ever a time to train Spirit Bond? Now that we have a Heal Over Time spell, we say No, not even when grinding.

Is there ever a time for Bestial Swiftness? For leveling, you bet. If you’re running lots of Zul’Aman, go for it and snag a point from Endurance Training. Yes, Zul’Aman is an “outdoor” instance and Bestial Swiftness allows your pet to run 30% faster in there.

Is there ever a time for Catlike Reflexes? Unfortunately, taking that talent requires too great a sacrifice for hunters who wish to do anything that isn’t solo. Giving up Ferocious Inspiration just cannot be justified.