Having trouble with BM rotation D:

[Miraga]

So my hunter Cyleine has been BM for a long time (used to be MM in pre-BC but she was only level 27 ) and I'm going to start leveling her up. Since she has some pretty terrible gear, I'm going to quest my butt off and do 5 mans when I can. Here's a link to her if you wanted to see (lolz at my PvP gear): http://us.battle.net/wow/en/character/s ... ine/simple

Anyway, I tried to be BM on my orc Miraga but I just can't get it all down! lol. I play SV usually so I can just /faceroll and top the charts (I'm actually glad it's being nerfed). I can't seem to get the priority down right. I've been going off of this website, as I like it better than WHU, just a personal preference. http://elitistjerks.com/f74/t110880-cat ... ry_4_0_3a/

The problem I'm having is this part: If you have enough focus to cast Kill command on CD, Arcane Shot. I see that I have excess focus and spam arcane shot but then KC will be ready and my whole rotation will just go blah. Is it like in SV where you make sure you have enough focus for explosive shot? I'm actually pretty good about timing that but KC just seems to slip by and I have no focus! Any tips? I guess I just can't keep the math going or whatever while I'm doing arcane shot. For BM, how much focus does KC cost and how much does arcane shot cost? Maybe I can stop/keep going based on how much focus I have left.

Also, for cobra shot, I'm assuming it's just sort of a weave in thing for when you need focus/renew SS?

Thanks for any help, guys! I haven't been BM for realz in a while!

/gasp. If I have BM I will need to get myself a corehound! And of course I will want Chromaggus because he is purple-y.

[Royi]

I think its more about priorities, I'm not a expert but I generally would do

Kill Shot > Kill Command > Arcane Shot > Cobra

As far as you're main question goes, I generally just would do another Cobra to gain more focus, you can always dump focus quick after Kill Command with several Arcanes if needed.

(repeat not a expert)

[Cozzene]

The thing with Surv is you generally don't have excess focus (sometimes, but it's infrequent). You have to make sure you havethe focus for ES, but keep in mind that when BA comes off CD, you need to have focus for that as well, so you want to start stockpiling the focus at ~10sec left with the CD. Opening with Sting/BS/ES, rebuild with Cobra, blow it all on ES, repeat 1-3x, then you want to save it for BA leaving you with very little need to dump focus (again, generalising).

With BM, I have SO much focus at the beginning, then don't have enough for a proper rotation. I tried doing something similar to the MM rotation of Chimera/Arcane/Steady(Cobra)x2/Arcanex2/Steadyx2/Chimera. I end up with KC/Arcanex2/Cobrax2/KC... then out of focus. Build up, KC, Arcanex2, out of focus but KC is off cool down... so I end up wildly mashing buttons trying to use my KC as much as possible while having no focus due to too many Arcanes (oh lookit the shiny button!) vs not enough Cobras. It's hectic, and I don't like it, but i still somehow manage ~11k or so.

So basically, I'm not any help at all.

[TygerDarkstorm]

I think its more about priorities, I'm not a expert but I generally would do

Kill Shot > Kill Command > Arcane Shot > Cobra

As far as you're main question goes, I generally just would do another Cobra to gain more focus, you can always dump focus quick after Kill Command with several Arcanes if needed.

(repeat not a expert)

Royi has the priority right. You will want to serpent sting once as an opener in combat though; you won't have to worry about it after that since cobra refreshes it.

Press focus fire every time it lights up. If it gets too confusing for you, just get used to practicing hitting kill command every time its available. Kill command is BM's big hitter and you want to be using all your focus for it. Don't use arcane shot unless you know you'll have enough focus for KC when it comes off CD.

[Royi]

(oh lookit the shiny button!).............So basically, I'm not any help at all.

Basically you nailed it right there! I press the shinies mainly. Game begins to be too confusing maping every second of a rotation. Find a sight with a good priority list. those are a lot easier to follow.

And for the love of Thor, don't listen to someone who wants you to spec in Improved Steadyshot and weave in Steadyshots and Cobra shots together.

@Tyger yay for saying I'm right at something! I AM SO SMRT S, M, R ,T!

[TygerDarkstorm]

[Tahlian]

According to Elitist Jerks, Beast Mastery's rotation is based around the 6-second kill command cooldown. If your Cobra shot takes 1.6 seconds to cast, then you can cast Kill Command, one arcane shot, and 2 cobra shots in time for KC to be ready again. Under BW, it's KC and spam arcane until KC comes back off cooldown unless you just need the focus. And yes, Serpent Sting does come first and you generally don't have to worry about it again because Cobra shot refreshes it. You Focus Fire when it's up, of course, and Kill Shot before Kill Command when it's available. BW every time it's off cooldown, and you should have fewer focus problems. BM has it's problems, but difficulty with focus is rarely one of them. Hope this helps!

[Felidire]

If you have say 35 focus and KC is 1 second from being refreshed I personally wait for it as opposed to hitting arcane shot. Take a look at these three examples, the damage won't be much different unless you miss KC by a sizeable amount:

have 35 focus - arcane / cobra / arcane / ... (immediately following KC)
have 35 focus - cobra / arcane / arcane / ... (immediately following KC)
have 35 focus - arcane / cobra / cobra / KC (building up energy for next KC)

What i'm saying is there's a lot of room for you to alternate, doesn't really matter what you choose.. Just make sure you have the energy available for when KC is back up and you're fine. If you're having issues deciding between using arcane shot or waiting 1-2 seconds for KC to finish the CD, just use a cobra shot, followed by KC and then Arcane.

When you use Rapid Fire, you want to just sit there spamming cobra shot as well - I don't know if that's common knowledge or not, but it'll do more damage than arcane based on the global CD.

[Miraga]

thanks for all the help, guys! I think I'm going to have to sit myself down in front of a target dummy on my orc and practice for a bit! Especially after today's patch!! I think I need to watch my KC closer. The CD is always so much shorter than I think it is.

[Corwyn]

Try this, go to a training dummy:

Kill Command, Cobra Shot, Cobra Shot, Cobra Shot, Kill Command,....

Get that so you can do it consistently. Then add Serpent Sting at the beginning, and Focus Fire whenever it procs.

Now, start looking at your focus. When it is about to be capped substitute an Arcane Shot (or 2) in place of a Cobra Shot.

The trick is to think of Cobra Shot as part of your rotation, and Arcane shot as something to add when you have a lot of focus, rather than the other way around.

[Lyiar]

This is what my hubby tells me to do:

Serpent (if its just trash mobs or low hp mobs, don't worry about it) > Kill command > Cobra shot and keep yourself at 50% focus roughly. Arcane shot to dump focus. Make sure to hit all the shiny buttons when it pops up.

If it's a lasting fight, make sure to prioritize rapid fire with trinkets. Don't do it the same time as bloodlust, too much haste will go to waste. Kill shot when it's less than 20% every time it's up.

I think that's it. Works well for me. =D

[Boven]

Don't forget Bestial Wrath (and thus, The Beast Within). When that's off cooldown you can get a number of arcane shots off at reduced cost before hitting Kill Command or a Cobra Shot to keep your Serpent Sting up and returning to your normal rotation.

[Miraga]

Well I just did 1.5mil damage on a target dummy (I think that's a pretty good time range for my DPS meter) and it was sitting at about 9k without BW or anything else. With BW and call of the wild it went up to about 9.6k. Does this sound okay? I'm not sure what numbers are needed in things like heroics. In SV before the patch I was doing roughly the same, although with AoE I did a lot more.

EDIT: This was with a level 85 spirit beast.

[Kaelys]

What Tahlian said. My DPS has gone up tons since I started following that rotation.

[Miraga]

I did some random, normal dungeons last night to see how I was doing. When my devilsaur hit 85 I was able to do 11k dps! I still miss a KC here and there but I know I'll get better with practice! Thanks so much for your help, guys! I had all these fun pets and now I can finally use them!

[Royi]

I did some random, normal dungeons last night to see how I was doing. When my devilsaur hit 85 I was able to do 11k dps! I still miss a KC here and there but I know I'll get better with practice! Thanks so much for your help, guys! I had all these fun pets and now I can finally use them!

Esp with the buffs to Kill Shot, and Kill Command it really helps us BM's

They also buffed 1 or 2 things about BM talents or pets too, cant member,.... but Hah Zah!