During the class panel at today’s BlizzCon festivities, Ghostcrawler announced some of the major changes in store for Hunters with the next expansion, “World of Warcraft: Cataclysm”.

They are:

• Mana will be gone. Hunters will now utilize focus.
• Intellect will be a needless stat for Hunters.
• Focus will regenerate at a rate of 6 focus per second.
• Steady Shot improves the rate of focus regeneration to 12 focus per second.
• Shots are estimated to cost between 30 and 60 focus.
• Hunters will have fewer cooldowns on abilities.
• Hunter ammo will be an item and no longer a consumable.
• Ammo may possibly be purchasable via emblems or it could be a boss drop. This is undecided.
• Humans, Undead, Goblins and Worgen will all have access to the Hunter class.

Other changes that affect Hunters:

• Agility will now grant Hunters and Rogues 2 AP per point. AP will most likely not be an itemized stat any longer.
• Armor penetration is going to be removed.
• Haste will also increase the rate at which Hunters regain focus.
• Shadowmourne, a 2H axe,  is the next legendary weapon that will be introduced. This will of course be available to Hunters. 😀

This is just a quick highlight of some of the more notable updates that will be affecting the Hunter class.

On a side note, the Worgen racials look amazing for PvP.

• 70% movement speed increase for 6 seconds, on a 3 min cooldown.
• They have a 1% passive damage bonus called Viciousness.
• They have a passive ability called Abberation which reduces curse and disease durations by 15%.

The last racial is a +15 bonus to skinning which doesn’t really offer any benefits other than ease of leveling, but the fact that a skinning knife is not needed is pretty cool. Worgen skin their kills using their claws! That is pure win.

The Goblin racials are pretty great too.

• Goblins will have a passive 1% increased attack speed with all spells and attacks called, “Time is Money”. lol

Goblins also have two rocket based racial abilities which share the same cooldown, so only one can be utilized every 2 minutes. They are:

• A 20 yard Rocket Jump available every 2 minutes.
• Fire a Rocket Barrage at any enemy within 30 yards, also on a 2 min cooldown.

Not to be left out of the profession bonuses, Goblins have a passive boost to Alchemy.

• “Better Living Through Chemistry” gives Goblins a +15 bonus to Alchemy, along with a 15% bonus to health and mana regen from crafted potions.

The other Goblin racials are more for convenience and comic relief…

• Goblins will receive the “Best Deals Anywhere” providing the best possible prices on goods and services regardless of reputation.
• Goblins will have a personal servant called a “Pack Hobgoblin” which can be summoned every 30 minutes, and will offer bank access from anywhere in the world.

Well, that’s all I have for now… I’m watching a rebroadcast right now of the footage I missed earlier this afternoon.

There were a ton of exciting announcements made today, so if you were unable to attend the convention or view the pay per view event, head over to the new Cataclysm site that just launched today.

All I can say… HEROIC LEVEL 85 DEADMINES..! Woot!!!