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Stacking Ammunition, Viper Sting, Pet Buffs and Other PTR Updates

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Here’s another list of the recent changes the Hunter class has undergone on the Patch 3.1 PTR. Good stuff, have a look…

  • Ammunition: All types of gun and bow ammunition now stack to 1000. All quivers and ammo pouches no longer provide haste. 15% ranged haste is now built in to Hunter Autoshot.
  • Call Stabled Pet: This new ability lets the hunter remotely access the stable. 30 min cooldown.
  • Cunning, Ferocity and Tenacity pets now all have +5% damage, +5% armor and +5% health bonuses. This should make more pet families feel viable, while additional talents have been added to distinguish a pet’s abilities based on its specializations.
  • Disengage: Cooldown increased by 5 sec.
  • Pets now inherit more spell hit from the hunter. Pets with magic attacks should not require a player to stack additional hit compared to pets with physical attacks.
  • Viper Sting re-designed: Stings the target, draining 4% of mana over 8 sec (up to a maximum of 8% of the caster’s maximum mana), and energizing the Hunter equal to 300% of the amount drained. Only one Sting per Hunter can be active on any one target.

The ammo change is nice. That should translate into roughly around 15 more bag slots, by being able to tote around an extra Frostweave Bag.

The Call Stabled Pet skill sounds great. Switching pets on the fly is going to be a nice luxury. No more hearthing back to town, or flying to the nearest stable master to switch pets before a dungeon. Or perhaps your groups struggling and needs an OT… no problem… just call your Tenacity pet.

The pet stat normalization is interesting. Provided the new pet talents that go live are viable enough, this seems like a positive change.

5 more seconds on Disengage. Somewhat of a trivial change in my opinion. It may be a slight nerf for some high ranking arena Hunters, but pretty inconsequential to me.

The +spell hit change is exciting. This is going to bring Loque’nahak’s damage up to par with the Devilsaur I’m thinking. The main problem the Spirit Beast was contending with was Spirit Strike misses. Good job Blizzard.

Viper Sting’s mana drain acting as a Life Steal..?! Oh yeah! This change is almost too good to be true. I just hope it sticks and doesn’t see the nerf bat or get removed before the patch goes live. [Read more…] about Stacking Ammunition, Viper Sting, Pet Buffs and Other PTR Updates

Thunderstomp, Furious Howl, Savage Rend and Pummel

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Hunter Pet Skill Changes in 3.1

Raptors, Wolves, Gorillas and the rest of the Tenacity tree are getting some love in 3.1.

  • Savage Rend (Raptor) now temporarily boost the raptor’s damage by 10% for 30 seconds.

That looks like a pretty huge buff to me. It gives the Raptor Exotic Pet damage for 30 seconds and a 5% damage increase overall.

  • Furious Howl (Wolf) now only affects the wolf and its master, duration increased from 10 to 20 seconds.

I was really hoping they’d make this change. I had thought it would be so easy to fix the stacking issue by just applying the buff to the Hunter and the Wolf like another Call of the Wild. With the 20 second uptime I have to wonder what the cooldown is now. Hopefully it’s not longer than 30 seconds.

  • Thunderstomp (Gorilla) has been removed as a pet skill and replaced by Pummel – Pummel the target, interrupting spellcasting and preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 4 sec. (20 Focus, 5 yd range, Instant, 10 sec cooldown)
  • Thunderstomp is now a pet talent available to any Tenacity pet. Now your bears, crocs or ESPECIALLY CRABS can join in the AE tanking fun.

I love this change. Gorillas just got awesome for arena. Depending upon what they do with BM before the next patch (based on this post things are looking up), I may unleash Uhk’loc upon casters in the arena. With 5/5 Serpent’s Swiftness, 2/2 Cobra Strikes and Pummel on a 7 second cooldown with 3/3 Longevity… Gorillas are going to make healers yell to their teammate(s), “OMG… KILL HIS PET, I HATE THOSE THINGS”, just like Scorpids used to do.

On a side note, what the hell is up with stomping crabs…? Rhino, definitely. Bear, sure. Warp Stalker, alright. Crocolisk, ok, but… stomping crabs, turtles and worms..? Well, like my wife says, “I don’t think that realism is what they’re going for in Azeroth”.

This change is going to make Bears the new AOE pet supreme. Thunderstomp + Swipe = aggro magnet. I also like the idea of Turtledins. This change might make turtles great for picking up adds in heroics with the option of switching to Shell Shield for 12 seconds if they get in touble.

Get yer butt over to MMO-Champion if you haven’t checked their site in the past day or two. They have loads of new information and screenshots coming in. Many more details have been posted about the new Argent Tournament, as well as dozens of screenshots showing rewards, etc. I am all over the Argent Hippogryph. While that is a nice looking mount, the Ironbound Proto Drake just may be the best looking epic flyer ever. Check this thing out…

Ironbound Proto Drake

Ironbound Proto Drake

photo courtesy of: MMO Champion

My monkey is 70

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Uhk'loc the Rare White GorillaA few hours in the Netherwing Mines, followed by some ogre-killin’ in the Barrier Hills and MONGO reached level 70. He never died, nor did I have to feed him… not even once. These new pet changes are simply superb. Behold the stats of a level 70 tanking machine. This is without any buffs by the way, and only Apsect of the Hawk active. He’s a monster.

I read on the Hunter forums that a gorilla main tanked Gruul. It seems a little far-fetched, but with the right group who knows. All I can say is Tenacity pets are really impressive at the moment. Let’s hope they stay this way.