Blizzard released some updated patch notes for Patch 3.3 today. Wow… there are some amazing changes in store for Hunters, both for PvE and PvP.

Let’s discuss these things shall we…

First off, pets will now be inheriting 100% of their master’s resilience. That is an absolute godsend for Hunter PvP. Along with a few of the other changes being introduced, which I’ll get to in a second, this is going to make Ferocity pets a viable option for BGs and arena. 100% of their master’s resilience! I love it! 😀

Avoidance is gone. Pets will now innately take 90% less damage from AoE effects, but only in PvE. Pets will still be subject to AoE damage done by other players. Blizzard has been talking about this change for the past several weeks, and it looks like it’s finally going to happen.

This avoidance change is huge. It’s going to increase pet survivability in raids, therefore increasing Hunter DPS across the board. But wait… there’s more…

Avoidance is being replaced with a new pet talent called, “Culling the Herd”. This new 3 point talent increases Hunter and pet damage by 1/2/3% respectively for 10 seconds after dealing a critical strike with claw, bite or smack. How awesome is that!? A Ferocity pet with enough focus (1 point in GftT) should provide close to, if not 100% uptime on this, therefore resulting in a 3% DPS increase for Hunters!

Cower has also been reworked and will now act as sort of a pet shield wall. Instead of affecting threat, it provides the pet with a 40% damage reduction for 6 seconds, on a 45 second cooldown. While cowering, the pet’s movement speed is reduced to 50%. Cower has a single rank and will be available at level 20.

Cower will obviously become a hotkeyed situational ability. I like this change a lot. Combined with the avoidance change, this is going to further ensure that our pets will have a much higher survival rate in boss encounters. Furthermore, it just became a tremendous ability for use in PvP. Not only will pets be inheriting full resilience from their master, but they’ll also have a mini shield wall every 45 seconds for when they do get focused. Good stuff indeed.

Along with the Cower change comes a reworking of Improved Cower. Improved Cower will reduce the movement speed penalty by 50%/100%. This looks to be primarily a PvP talent and is only available to Ferocity pets, furthering my belief that ferocity may be worth a look for Hunter PvP in 3.3. Hyena anyone?

This next change has me intrigued… Wolverine Bite has had its prerequisite removed and now becomes active after a pet crit, as opposed to a target’s dodge. This one has me thinking…

Pets now inheriting 100% of the Hunter’s resilience, Improved Cower reducing damage by 40% for 6 seconds, 3% damage buff, and frequent Wolverine Bite procs… I’m starting to miss my Chimaera. 😉 This patch is going to help Beast Mastery out a lot, let me tell ya… I may have to respec back and get revenge on the Locks and Rogues that are now my bane as a Survival Hunter.

Changes to Unique Pet Abilities

• Demoralizing Screech – The attack power reduction debuff has been increased by 40%. At level 80, it looks to reduce melee attack power to all targets within 8 yards by 574. That’s pretty decent considering it lasts for 10 seconds, and has a 10 second cooldown.
• Web – RANGE INCREASED TO 30 YARDS (up from 20)!!! How incredible is that?! Spiders are going to be the undisputed champs of arena pets come 3.3 – for non-BM Hunters anyway.
• Venom Web Spray – Silithids have also had their similar effect increased to a 30 yard range. Expect to see a few more of these things skittering about BGs and arenas.

Another exciting change planned for patch 3.3, is a much shorter cooldown of only five minutes for Call Stabled Pet. We’ll be able to swap out pets at will, plus the shorter cooldown may even make the skill available for arena. It’s probably a lot to ask, but you never know. Abilities with a CD of that length are available for arena use. Imagine how powerful it would be to have the ability to choose your pet at the start of the match depending upon the opposition’s team makeup. 😀

Deterrence is now going to block all ranged attacks as well. Finally! Deterrence will now be usable against other Hunters in PvP.

Concussive Barrage is no longer subject to spell reflects. Having not PvP’d extensively as a MM Hunter, I’ve never had this happen to me, but it’s a minor buff nonetheless.

Lastly, there’s one small nerf… Point of no Escape will no longer stack and will only apply to the Hunter’s damage. Your teammates won’t benefit from the crit buff anymore when your target is snared.

Like I said, lots of good stuff coming our way in 3.3. I can’t wait for these changes myself. I’ve got a lot of speculation to do now as far as PvP builds and pets are concerned.

I’m excited. 😀