Nearly four years ago, I had just quit StarWars Galaxies where I had been a Master Creature Handler/Master Doctor. I had a sour taste in my mouth about the way pet classes were treated. Players hated us because some of us abused game exploits and Sony Online Entertainment decided the best course of action was not to fix the game exploits but to gimp our class beyond repair. It was disheartening to see the rancor that required nearly 50 attempts to tame gunned down in seconds by a pistoleer.

When I got World of Warcraft, I almost didn't make a pet class. While I had faith in Blizzard as a company, I was afraid a repeat of my SWG experience would happen. It was too tempting, though, and I eventually game in. Nukumi, a female Night Elf, was born on the Earthen Ring US server and soon had a Moonstalker Runt to "accompany" her on her adventures. I use quotations because it wasn't a very good companion. Then again, I guess I don't blame it. Nukumi went on a moonstalker murdering spree that I'm sure it was traumatized by.

Once I was able to enter Ashenvale, I noticed that I could tame wolves. Moonstalker was quickly traded in for a level 19 Ghostpaw Runner, which I named Antica. Since then, I've never used any other pet. Antica has solo'd with me, PvP'd with me, and raided with me. Offensive pets (cats, raptors, etc.) do more damage than wolves, but Antica always proved her worth no matter what situation I had her in. I did tame my fair share of pets, though, including Shy-Rotam and Sian-Rotam. I have a Springpaw Cub and a Surf Glider stabled and I plan on getting them to level 70 (soon-to-be level 80), but I haven't really had time to work on them.

I've never wanted to be a pet class in any game because they're "easy" or "end-game." I don't mind working on hard builds. I'm a very casual player so my only requirement in chosing a class is whether I can solo with that class because I spend a lot of my time soloing. I've always loved animals, so it comes naturally to me to pick a class that has animal companions. Since that's my motivation behind picking a Hunter, it never made sense to me to spec anything but Beast Mastery.

When I first started playing WoW, the choice Hunter build was Marksman. Us Beast Masters were the oddballs of the class. I got laughed at a lot for speccing Beast Mastery, especially because I sought out items that were high in intellect and spirit to help with my mana pool and its regeneration. When I focused on Hunter items with high agility and attack power, I would have to rest frequently between battles and I would almost always run out of mana during an average battle. Back then, gold wasn't as easy to come by and buying potions was expensive, especially just for soloing. I had a good theory that worked well for me and I proved my worth to everyone who grouped/raided with me. There was a lot of room for improvement in the execution of my theory, but I had the basics down pat.

As Beast Masters grew in numbers, Blizzard recognized that Hunters needed to be modified. They were in the process of fine-tuning all of the classes and they gave us a much needed tune-up that put Beast Masters in the lead and Marksmen as a second seat. We got gear that addressed our mana problems while beefing up our agility/attack power, Mend Pet was modificated, and Beast Mastery got an overhaul. All these changes made it much easier and more worthwhile to be a Beast Master. We can solo, we can raid, we can PvP... face it: we're awesome.

With all the changes the Hunter class has endured, my original theories are really no longer valid and I've switched my focus to agility/attack power gear. I still don't believe in cookie-cutter builds, though. I believe in doing what helps you get the most out of your gaming experience. That's the main reason I wrote this guide and it's the reason I keep it up.