Hi everyone,
I’d like to share some thoughts on the design of Mastery skills in general, and propose a rework idea specifically for the Beastmaster.
General Thoughts on Mastery Skills
I believe Mastery skills should serve as the defining feature of a class, the signature that makes the class feel unique and opens up its core identity. The best examples of this are the Falconer, Lich, or Runemaster, where the Mastery skill offers distinct gameplay or a universal addition to the rest of the kit. Ideally, the Mastery skill should be flexible enough to have synergies acrolls every other skill from the mastery, so it feels like a foundation and not a niche option (like Meteor currently does for Sorcerer).
The Case for a Beastmaster Rework
Right now, Beastmaster minion builds tend to feel very similar across the board. Whether you’re running Wolves, Raptors, or another Companion, the gameplay loop often revolves around the same set of core skills: Swipe, War Cry, Frenzy Totem, and Fury Leap + one Companion. This leads to a sense of repetition and lack of identity between different minion setups.
Another issue is that the current itemization heavily favors quantity focused builds. We have unique items that support “lots of Wolves (Squirrels)” or “lots of Raptors”, but there’s little incentive or support for a single-companion playstyle, even though the passive tree does allow you to limit yourself to just one. That path just doesn’t feel rewarding or viable enough yet.
Rework Idea 1: Unified Companion Mastery Skill
One solution would be to consolidate all Beastmaster Companions into a single Mastery skill. The skill tree could then allow players to specialize in a specific Companion, modifying its behavior, stats, and synergy. This would make the Companion system feel like a true core identity of the class and offer more clarity and cohesion.
By centralizing Companions into the Mastery skill, you’d also free up design space to rework or replace existing staple skills like Swipe, War Cry, Frenzy Totem, and Fury Leap, many of which currently feel obligatory and a bit stale.
An additional idea could be to introduce more interactive gameplay with Companions like reaction based bonuses, or even cooperative attack mechanics.
Rework Idea 2: Mounted Gameplay as a Mastery Skill
Alternatively, you could keep Companions as separate skills and instead make the new Mount system the Beastmaster’s Mastery skill. This would give Beastmaster a unique identity as the only class that builds around riding and fighting alongside their Companion. From there, you could branch into:
Quantity builds (lots of Companions)
Quality builds (single strong Companion)
Mounted builds (fighting while riding)
Each of these could be supported with dedicated nodes in the passive tree and new unique items. This would allow for vastly different playstyles, improve class fantasy, and finally make a single companion build both viable and appealing.
In summary, Beastmaster has a lot of potential for a compelling identity, but right now that potential feels a bit underused. Reworking the Mastery skill either through a unified Companion system or a unique mounted gameplay identity could make a huge difference in making the class feel as unique and exciting as it deserves to be.
Thanks for reading!