Warcraft Web - Tips On Choosing Hunter Talents Part 1

When choosing hunter talents in World of Warcraft, remember that whichever of the three trees you choose to specialize in, the hunter is going to be effective at leveling. As you start getting into raiding or high level player versus player combat, you have to get a little more judgmental about the talent builds.

Specializing heavily in Beast Mastery is commonly known to be the most efficient way of leveling a hunter, enough that players usually refer it to as 'easy mode.' This tree strengthens a hunter's pet in terms of damage per second and survivability. One disadvantage of Beast Mastery that carries through the game is that it's highly dependent on the hunter pet. If the pet dies, there isn't really a good way to bring it back under heavy pressure.

As of patch 3.2. 2, BM is not considered to be a great specialization for end-game raiding or player versus player. Even an optimally built, excellently equipped beast mastery Hunter is currently going to fall behind Marksmanship and Survival specialized Hunters.

All great talent builds take some points in Marksmanship, which boosts the damage and effectiveness of a Hunter's ranged attacks. Lethal Shots, Mortal Shots, Careful Aim are usually maxed out, and at least one point is put into Go for the Throat. If a player chooses to specialize in Marksmanship, the talent tree is considered to be very powerful in raids and player versus player combat.