The specs they are a-changing.

Strike up the band and lead a fanfare for what must me my one-millionth respec with Wulfsblood.

Until recently, Wulf was using a variation on the same Beastmastery-heavy build he'd been using since the Burning Crusade was first released. Beastmastery is pretty amazing for the levelling grind since you can effectively kill mobs almost constantly with little mana use, which means you rarely need to stop to eat and drink. In the pre-70 instances, having a pet that can act as an offtank is also pretty amazing, and it can do craploads of damage.

However it's greatest strength is also it's greatest weakness: the pet. Pets can be tough up to a point, but it's going to have less armor, resistances and most importantly, health than a decent Warrior, Paladin or Druid. In the level 70 instances, it severely limits it's ability to do damage or keep a mob busy unless there's a healer keeping a constant eye on it.

To this end, I've decided to try a spec focussing on the Survival tree. With Clever Traps, Resourcefulness and the 2-peice bonus on my Beast Lord set, I now have traps that can last 26 seconds and are available every 20 seconds. This means I can essentially keep one mob out of combat indefinately. Add to that Wyvern Sting, and my pet in emergencies, and Wulf now has the potential to keep two-three mobs off the tank from a pull.

It's a completely different style of play than I'm used to. I'll give it a few weeks to see if it works out or not. One thing I've noticed is that my current bow is a bit slow since I don't have Serpent's Swiftness anymore. I may need to look into something faster to fit the new style.