As many of you already know, tomorrow is the scheduled date for the official posting of the Cataclysm Hunter class preview. Seeing the proposed changes that have been announced for some of the other classes has me quite excited (concerned…?) over what Blizzard has planned for hunters in Cataclysm. The anticipation of tomorrow’s news is not unlike the eve of the NFL Draft, for me anyway. 😉 I’m quite anxious to see what’s in store.
Some of what lies ahead has already been revealed.
We know that our resource system is changing from mana to focus. This will no doubt be the biggest change of them all, as it will have us relearning how to play our class. Instead of having a predictable pool of mana to draw from, we will have to more carefully budget our shots, as we’ll be using a more limited resource system much like what Rogues and kitty Druids have.
Agility will once again provide us with 2 points of attack power per point of agility. Agility will be thee stat for hunters in Cataclysm, just as it was in the days of old. No more theorycrafterizing and mathematicalization of stats like armor penetration. In fact…
Armor Penetration will no longer be included in gear itemization. From what I understand, Armor Pen will not be a stat placed upon gear, but will exist in talents and talent masteries.
Haste will become more important because it will directly affect how quickly we regenerate focus. All throughout WotLK haste has been at the bottom of the barrel in terms of stat weight for hunters. Not in Cataclysm however.
As with all the class trees, hunters will have a mastery for each spec which will buff certain stat(s). Instead of just a spec defining talent at the end of each tree, classes will also have certain boosts to various stats depending on their specialization. For example… Beast Mastery hunters may receive a boost to raw attack power, MM will likely see Armor Penetration buffs, and SV might receive more haste, thus quicker Focus regen. We don’t know exactly what these will look like just yet, but perhaps we may have a better idea come tomorrow.
It’s also been mentioned that hunters may be able to choose any of the three family talent trees for their pets. This would provide for some interesting results, as we would then be able to create such things as ferocity worms, tenacity moths, cunning turtles, etc. A change like this will no doubt provide hunters with a little more in terms of variety when it comes to choosing a pet for whatever application.
So those are just a few glimpses of what the future will, and could bring.
Now that we’ve reviewed some of the foretold class changes, here are a few things I wouldn’t mind seeing tomorrow…
More stable slots. I know this sounds cliché, but I don’t care. I want moar pets. Not just because I want more pets, but because I want more versatility. At the very least, I’d like to see Beast Masters be granted additional stable slots. Heck, if I could have five stable slots for non-exotics and another five slotter for exotics, I’d be happy.
Scatter Shot becomes a baseline ability. I’ve wanted this for a long time. It’s wishful thinking, but then again, this is my wish list. 😉
WTF happened to Camoflauge..?! It was rumored that hunters were going to be given some sort of stealth/sniper ability, but it has yet to see the light of day. Maybe tomorrow?
New and exciting ammo choices. This is on many a hunter’s wish list I’m sure. Situation specific ammo for PvE and PvP.
Apart from those things, I wouldn’t mind seeing more defining talent specializations, ie: a more savage and fierce Beast Mastery tree, Marksmanship being thee spec for ranged damage, and Survival being the most tactical spec.
This may sound crazy to some, but I think it would be kind of cool if Beast Mastery moved towards a more ferocious type of spec with some melee mixed in. I know Survival has classically been the tree associated with whatever limited melee viability we have, but to me BM seems the more appropriate place for hand to hand combat – man and beast fighting side by side.
Of course, I’d like to see all three specs be viable for PvE and PvP, but it’d be nice to see things shaken up some. It could even go to the extent that Marksmanship hunters rely almost exclusively on ranged weapon damage and don’t even use a pet.
Hmmm… that might be crazy talk there. I know I’d hate not having a pet, but I’m sure there are many hunters out there who would kick fluffy to the curb for the sake of higher DPS.
Enough of my wishes and speculation… what would you like to see happen with hunters in Cataclysm? What are your thoughts, wishes, fears..?
Being a hunter, i have had situations were i wish i had Specific things to help my game play;
Aspect of the Fish- 30% speed under water (or faster)
Aspect of the Shark- +5% damage under water (or more)
Aspect of the Marksmen- Chance to inc Agi/crit/armorpen/ap (highest stat inc)
Another good aspect would be somthing to be able to spring when we get ganked in a battle ground/arena/1v1 battle. Just to keep it on until we get to a more comfortable range.
Aspect of the Bear- +10% armor (or more)
I Know they already have aspect of the monkey, but i think they should change it because Dragonhawk already gives i think 300 ap and 18% dodge.
Aspect of the Monkey- +10% melee/Ranged Haste (or more)
These are just some ideas. It would give each hunter a newer roll in the group, more variety of aspects to chose from and making thier pvp/pve gameplay a little bit different for a change. Having only a few aspects isent as interesting.
Now, having read the hunter changes (I have so many… just…) it’s interesting to see how many people’s predictions came true. One question that lingers in my mind is this: Without ammo, will our bows/crossbows/guns/harpoon launchers/beaver-throwers be receiving a general damage boost to make up for the lack of that Iceblade Arrow in my paper doll slot?
Also, thank goodness for giving other pet types a reason to exist! I thought I was going to be stuck with my plaguehound forever, not that I don’t love him to death, but I envy BM hunters for their variety. In slight response to the idea of making MM the single-most dps spec: Please Blizzard no! Survival is way too much fun to give it up in favor of a boring rotation just for the sake of numbers. I’m not exactly sure I understand the Surv. mastery bonus however, because all of those things already DO those types of elemental damage. Explanation please?
“Now, having read the hunter changes (I have so many… just…) it’s interesting to see how many people’s predictions came true. One question that lingers in my mind is this: Without ammo, will our bows/crossbows/guns/harpoon launchers/beaver-throwers be receiving a general damage boost to make up for the lack of that Iceblade Arrow in my paper doll slot?”
I’m assuming they’ll factor in the damage just as they did with haste when our quivers were rendered useless.
“In slight response to the idea of making MM the single-most dps spec: Please Blizzard no! Survival is way too much fun to give it up in favor of a boring rotation just for the sake of numbers. I’m not exactly sure I understand the Surv. mastery bonus however, because all of those things already DO those types of elemental damage. Explanation please?”
I’m with you there on the SV mastery. Some info seems to be left out, but it looks as if SV will receive some sort of modifier which will boost the damage of their “elemental” attacks.
MM looks to be largely physical based, BM as well, but with some nature based damage mixed in, and survival seems to be the “spell damage” tree. My guess is that certain specs may perform better on certain fights, but they will all have their advantages. With gear itemization being simplified, I’d imagine hunters will swap in and out of specs based on the various encounters.
Well the changes are up and personally, I think it’s looking good… BM gets a signature shot, we all get more stables.. and the focus thing is looking like it might work out fine?
I had to grin at the line “this should afford ample storage for the many Spirit Beasts wandering the lands of Azeroth.” Awesome.
Yea, the spirit beast line was funny. 😉
Considering that making Hunters use focus is like creating a class from the scratch, Blizzard will – as always – either make it insanely overpowered, or terribly underpowered. At start, that is. I, for one, don’t like this change. I’m fine with mana. Especially that I’m afraid this change might really suck for pvp.
You’re right… this could suck for PvP. However, the other changes may offset some of the sucking.
With Viper Sting receiving bonuses from crit and haste, it may be possible to get our focus back pretty quickly while on the move. Camoflauge is probably going to have a lot of the other classes crying. Also, there’s still quite a bit yet to discover. Keep your chin up. It’s gonna be alright, you’ll see. 😉
One of the biggest things I’m waiting on (besides the game-changing focus mechanic) isn’t likely to be mentioned any time soon. What new beasties will we have to tame!? Really looking forward to see what comes with Cataclysm.
You ‘n’ me both!
Thnx for being one of the few, if not the only, blog to mention the fact that today is one of the most important days in the current to near future of us hunters.
Anyways: I don’t like the idea of multi ammo, like blizz said that would only be more to manage, and let’s be honest in the end(after 2 weeks more likely) one will be best for a specific situation and we all dump the rest. Like aspects and traps, we only use 2 or 3 at all and 1 of each most often.
What I like to see is the hunt in hunter. Some sort of continious epic end-game quest line. Not for gear, just the glory. This week solo an instance, next week slay a dragon that spawned and ate someone’s baby. All with different tactics, specs needed etc.
I like your idea about “epic hunts”. In general, think this game could benefit more from grand solo quests. I wish there were more ways for casual players to advance their gear, gain achievements, etc… without having to be dependent upon large raid groups.
I notice that rogues might be getting the ability to put poisons on their ranged weapons – I hope this an indicator that we’ll get the ability to do something to our arrows/get specialist arrows!
That would be cool. I’d love to have some sort of reduced damage “frost arrow” with a slowing effect.
I remember reading that bit as well, though I can’t seem to find that post now. I’m pretty sure the guy said we’d have three “active” pets that we could switch between, as he put it, similar to warlocks. We’d only visit the stables to switch one out with a stabled pet.
I like this too and hope it’s what they roll with. We can have our pet collection stabled away and keep three with us, specced for different situations. Woo!
Man, all those suggestions sound awesome, but as a die-hard BM hunter I would have to say that i really, really would like more stable slots. I currently have 3 spirit beasts, a wolf for raiding, and a core hound for pvp. I would love to be able to go get a silithid, worm, chimaera, etc for pvp, but i just cant bring myself to part with any of my laser kitties, or my laser bear. But as for the spec itself, I’ve always kinda hoped the the devs would give BM a spec-specific shot, possibly something that boosts the damage of the hunter and pet for a certain amount. But yeah, as far as Scatter Shot goes, I totally agree that it should be baseline, and with the camo thing, well that would be the greatest thing I’ve ever seen.
It’d be nice to see a BM specific shot, but it’s doubtful they’ll get one. However, I’m willing to bet they get something. I’d be happy with an additional pet ability, along with maybe a new Kill Command mechanic. Anything to make the spec a bit more interesting.
I just remembered that there was something mentioned some weeks back about hunters having expanded stable slots, but with only five pets “on call” via Call Stabled Pet. I like this plan a lot, and I certainly hope it comes to fruition.
I said jokingly earlier today how cool it would be to have a grappling-hook/hookshot arrow, where you fired it at a distant point (like freezing arrow) and then it pulled you to that spot. After all, Blizz is seemingly gung-ho about the “leap about” mechanic, what with the priests getting Leap of Faith and warriors getting Heroic Leap. I just meant it as a joke, but the more I think about it the more awesome it would be. And it’s already designed! It could just function like the rocket packs on the ICC Gunship (although a bit faster).
Otherwise, more stable slots OF COURSE, and the timeless “let us ride our pets as mounts” desire. I’d be happy if they also gave us the Booty Bay Bruiser’s net shot, for an instant-cast, instant-effect snare. It would work mechanically and thematically (not magic) and would be fun.
That’s an interesting Batman type ability you’ve got there Rades. Even if it weren’t a hunter ability, it seems like it could make for an interesting engineering device. I REALLY like the net shot idea. To me, that sounds very huntery, plus it would be an awesome PvP snare.