Cataclysm Classic Beast Mastery Hunter Rotation and Cooldowns

There are two major changes in the Hunter rotation transitioning from Wrath to Cataclysm. First, Hunters now use Focus as a resource instead of Mana. Focus operates similar to a Rogue's energy, meaning our rotation now involves spending Focus to deal damage and then using filler shots such as Cobra Shot to generate Focus. Second, Hunters can now fully attack on the move, which includes auto shots. You will always continue auto shotting your target as long as you are in range and facing them, so you will never need to worry about stutter stepping while moving like in Wrath.

Overall, our rotation looks very similar to how it did in Wrath. We still maintain a priority system, with the big difference being managing your focus.

Always start by ensuring all the required buffs are active, you have Aspect of the Hawk up, and Hunter's Mark is on the target. From there, this is your priority:

1. Kill Command;
2. Kill Shot below 20%;
3. Cast and maintain Serpent Sting;
4. Focus Fire when your pet has 5 stacks of Frenzy. Do not use this before using Bestial Wrath;
5. Arcane Shot at 60+ focus;
6. Cobra Shot as your filler, which will also maintain your Serpent Sting.

For multi-target, Beast Mastery Hunters have an extremely simple rotation. This should be your rotation on three or more targets.

1. Multi-Shot to spend your focus;
2. Explosive Trap if the targets will be in one spot for more than ~8 seconds;
3. Cobra Shot to generate focus.

Hunter has several cooldowns that can be lined up for huge burst windows.

• Bestial Wrath is a late tier Beast Mastery talent. This is a 2-minute cooldown that lasts for 10 seconds, massively increasing your pet's damage while active. With the The Beast Within talent, this will also increase your damage and reduce your Mana costs while active. Try to maximize the number of Kill Commands you use during this cooldown.
• Rapid Fire is a another important Hunter's cooldown. It increases your ranged attack speed by 40% for 15 seconds.
• Call of the Wild is a cooldown that Ferocity pets can talent into. It gives both you and your pet 10% more AP for 20 seconds.
• Fervor is a Beast Mastery specific cooldown that gives 50 focus to you and your pet instantly. Use this during burst windows when you are low on focus.

For most classes, the standard rule is to line up all of your cooldowns for a better burst window. However, for Beast Mastery, this is not the case. Because of Bestial Wrath's effect of reducing focus costs by 50% for its duration, you will focus cap and waste lots of its potential if you line it up with Rapid Fire. Additionally, you want to maximize your pet's damage during the window, so always try to have 5 Frenzy stacks on your pet going in, meaning you should not use Focus Fire ahead of time. You should chain maximize their uses in a fight, but try not to overlap them to get the maximum effectiveness out of both cooldowns.

Hunters have several aspects that you can utilize in combat, but only two will be your primary choices: Aspect of the Hawk and Aspect of the Fox. Use Aspect of the Hawk during your normal rotation and whenever standing still. If you ever need to move, you can use Aspect of the Fox to be able to cast some shots while moving. You should always switch to Aspect of the Hawk for any instant shots however. The only reason to ever use Fox is for movement.