Now I’ve been waiting for a while hoping that a certain someone would’ve already posted about this on a couple of places. Well, I only saw a passing mention of it over on TribunalX. (Great catch man!) Otherwise, I haven’t seen it mentioned. (Talk about trying to ignore one’s biasness against the possibility of change, eh? Really though, why hasn’t this been shouted from the rooftops of hunterdom!!)
(Update note: Nochecazador from Of Marks and Beast had a mention that I missed. Thanks Noche!)
See, earlier this month Ghostcrawler made a simple post clarifying the Patch 3.3.3. Ferocious Inspiration buff.
Before we all were saying how it was the 3/6/9 Aura (Which everyone wants to say BM Hunters have already and isn’t really a buff. Phooey! It’s now an Aura and is a buff to everyone not just me.). Add to that we thought Steady Shot was replacing Arcane shot.
Well no more!! As you can see, Ghostcrawler clearly states that the Steady Shot buff is IN ADDITION and not a replacement to Arcane Shot!
Okay, so what does this really mean to all the BM Hunters in the world?
Well, it means (contrary to some that would argue anyways) that BM is getting an honest to goodness buff!
How much of a buff? I’m not sure, but it’s enough to say that it’s an honest that should go a long ways towards helping BM Hunters secure a few more raid spots! (Hmmpf! Put that in your pipe and smoke it naysayers!)
So BM Hunters rejoice!! Feel free to cast off those chains of “Not Viable” and strut over and RAWR! in their face in all of your Big Red Glory!!
Eddie “Brigwyn” Carrington is often known as being that crazy dwarf on Twitter.
He's also a blogger, podcaster (Hosts Brigwyn's Corner, Co-host of Everything Blah! and of course Redneck Geek and Cajun Gamer with his good friend Andy "Daewin" Dino. 
I’m glad to see a beastmaster hunter get a buff. That spec to me is what makes a hunter. It shouldn’t always be on top but it should be comparable to the demonology spec trhat warlocks have. But that’s just an opinion of a warlock…what do I know?
The FI change was originally the aura nonsense, and switching the 3/6/9% bonus damage to Steady Shot instead of Arcane Shot. Beast Mastery hunters were like “Uh, sure, thanks?” because Arcane and Steady shot made up pretty similar amounts of their total DPS, so it wasn’t really a buff. Then they revised the shot change to be 3/6/9% to both Arcane and Steady. Overall a definite buff that will help, but not make a HUGE amount of difference overall (9% buff to 15-20% of HUNTER dps, which of course for BM is only 60% of total dps…)
Still! Better than nothing, that’s for sure!
It doesn’t replace, it buffs both Arcane Shot in addition to Steady Shot/
That’s what he said.
but thanks for making sure the point was clear! 
The napkin math shows that this will be in the range of a one or two percent overall buff for BM- a welcome increase, but nowhere near enough.
@Euripides
Something tells me that the napkin math might not be completely right on this one. Mostly because I’m not sure I agree with Frost’s approach. I have a feeling shot priorities or something might change.
But I do agree with you on the fact it’s not going to be enough for the min/max crowd. Then again, if it wasn’t for replenishment, neither would the SV damage.
Actually, my SV spec does more than my MM spec- MM is only top if you have MM specific gear.
I’m really interested to know why BM hunters seem to think/act like they are a class of their own, you are a Hunter class, within this class there are 3 specs for you to choose from. 1 which at top end gear does the most DPS, another which does very competitive DPS midrange gear and a 3rd which is a fantastic levelling spec to introduce you to the game, can be used to solo pet tank and have a much simpler rotation to master before you progress to challenging raiding content. With this in mind and taking your BM hat off please explain why you believe BM should do more raid DPS over spec’s which have more complex rotations and shots to manage? Instead of isolated comments like “So BM Hunters rejoice!! Feel free to cast off those chains of “Not Viable” and strut over and RAWR! in their face in all of your Big Red Glory!!” rejoice that within your chosen class you have 2 specs you can raid with and 1 which you can obtain rare pixel pets and have alot of fun with after you’ve used it to get you from 1 – 80 and still effectively use through HC’s.
It’s a very strange concept to understand why BM only 4 lyfe peeps limit your horizons within the game so much and have completely lost touch with the essence and variety of the hunter class has to offer not to mention seperating yourself from the rest of the hunter community taking comments personally when they are made about a talent tree NOT you as a person.
I would never stop a BM hunter attending a raid nor would i pull some elitist MM/SV is better chat on them but what i do find disapointing is how you isolate yourselves sitting in your BM bubble making out the world is against you when if you just showed a bit more flexibility and willigness to learn your class to it’s full you could easily experience all the things the game has to offer.
Hmm. It’s interesting that you quote my post, but you don’t seem to know me or the Lodge’s history. So let me educate you and maybe it’ll answer your question.
1. THL was created on the premise that WoW is a game designed for players to enjoy.
2. For many that fun goes beyond the class, but includes a specific Talent Tree.
3. I’m truly the most spec agnostic Hunter Blogger you’ll find.
4. Even if I don’t play a particular Hunter spec, I’ll defend it against the elitist that tend to voice and set “the standards”
5. I don’t play BM and haven’t for about 1 1/2 months now. Proof of #3 and #4.
6. Most BM Hunters don’t feel they own the Class. Those that do are just as guilty as those that insist BM Hunters shouldn’t be allowed in raids.
7. I’ve never said BM Hunters should do MORE DPS than the other trees, just be within a legitimate percentage. (Which is the same philosophy that Blizzard has for the game in general)
8. You asked why not rejoice that I can switch to 1 of 2 optimal specs when I begin raiding? I ask you the same in reverse. Why should I be forced to change at all? Many of the disenfranchised are upset now just like Marks were in BC. They are being excluded and forced to give up a spec they truly enjoy all in the name of “Optimization” So you teel me. Why should a hunter be forced to change?
9. Regarding your comment that I’ve lost concept of the joys of the class? For me personally refer to #’s 3 – 6.
10. Regarding Taking Spec Comments personally. To many players it’s a personal choice. Criticizing their playing choice IS criticising them personally. Understanding this will go a long ways towards helping people improve.
11. Actually I think you’ll find that many hunters are flexible. I know many (and many comment here) that have switched to either Marks or Survival. They don’t enjoy the playstyle and miss being able to play their preferred spec.
12. Re: Experiencing what the game has to offer? Again, I’ll ask you. Why should a hunter be forced to switch when the only reason they aren’t being included is because of misinformation and elitism insisting that everyone play at the most optimal level possible.
I hope I’ve addressed all your points.
Thx for the comments Flexible. Hopefully this will shed some light and help you understand our community a bit better.
I do want to point out. I’m encouraged and happy to see you’re not trying to pull the Elitist response but trying to get a better understanding of those hunters that are not only proud of their class. But their spec. My advice? Talk to some of the diehard Marks Hunters that were Marks during Burning Crusade. (e.g. Rilgon from Stabilized Effort Scope) You’ll get a really good idea of how this is not just a WoTLK or BM phenomenon.
Typo just after the bold text, ‘tat the Steady Shot buff’.
Sloooow progress but progress non the less. I’m afraid to say it but I doubt we’re ever going to get all three specs so close to each other that the dps difference will be minimal. BM will either end up still being the red headed step child in raids when Cat hits or it will have to surpass surpass like say sv, to the point where mm and bm are your 2 new “either or” dps specs. /sigh
Time to go find that Devilsaur that I let loose and throw ‘im in some raids ^_^
umm ok i understand a BM hunter is haste capped well thier steady shot is
I understand also at this point in raiding steady shot will be doing more damage than arcane shot (I am assumming u are using arp gear rather than haste gear)
so really we are back at meh minor buff whatever GC threw us a distracting shot .. remember the mention 100 patches ago about pets and getting more from our stats if anything still it could have been worse been expecting a wolf nerf for a while