Personally I prefer the turtle because of the shield wall racial. That followed by cower (or the other way around, I forget which way the cooldowns align better) gives your pet some nice damage reduction for a good while.
Doesn't cower reduce threat?
I forget if it still does that, but at some point they changed it to reduce damage taken and movement speed.
Threat generally isn't a problem when soloing old content as a Hunter. Misdirect and Feign Death keep threat on your pet.
People usually recommend 2pT5 in addition to a BM spec and tank pet/spec that both focus heavily on pet survivability (i.e. take Pet Stam over Imp Hawk) for soloing instances. Thunderstomp is pretty nice for AoE tanking. Don't forget you can use trap and Volley damage with MD for some additional AoE threat.
Turtles are pretty kickass because they show up with high armor and their racial is great (as said above).
I'm still pretty crappy at timing cooldowns properly so I'm recruiting help to work on farming up a He-Man tiger before it potentially goes away.
The Venom Removal might just be a weird mistake of some sort.
GC was commenting on hunters and mentioned this:
As an example, Chimera Shot now says: "An instant shot that causes weapon damage plus N, refreshing your Serpent Sting and triggering an effect depending on the venom on the target...".
If they're keeping only Widow (although I don't know why they would), his statement is still true.
No it isn't. The highlighted portion specifies (or at the very least, heavily implies) there is more then one type of venom. And if there wasn't, they would have phrased it differently.
As an example, Chimera Shot now says: "An instant shot that causes weapon damage plus N, refreshing your Serpent Sting and triggering an effect depending on whether or not the only venom hunters have is on the target...".
amirite
I kind of doubt they're going to remove 2/3 of the venoms and leave hunters with just one.
So, interesting new build. Venoms are all gone by the looks of it, no more tracking dancing, they finally gave up trying to make cobra shot the BM shot and pets got... well.
* Play - New spell. Puts your Fox into a playful state. (Bonus Ability, Pet - Fox, None)
* Tailspin - New spell. Your fox twirls its tail around, kicking up an obscuring cloud of dust, causing all enemies within 10 yards to have their melee and ranged attack speed reduced by 20% for 8 sec. (Level 30, Special Ability, Pet - Fox, None)
* Ancient Hysteria - New spell. Increases melee, ranged, and spell casting speed by 30% for all party and raid members. Lasts 40 sec. Allies receiving this effect will become Sated and be unable to benefit from Bloodlust or Time Warp again for 10 min. (Level 20, Pet - Exotic Core Hound, None)
* Lava Breath - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown increased to 8 sec from 10 sec. Your pet breathes a double gout of molten lava at the target, reducing the target's casting speed by 25% for 10 sec.
* Stampede - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. Cooldown increased to 15 sec from 1 min. Duration reduced to 30 sec from 1 min. Your rhino slams into a nearby enemy, causing it to take 30% additional damage from bleed effects for 30 sec.
* Sting - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown decreased to 45 sec from 6 sec. Duration reduced to 2 sec from 20 sec. Your wasp stings the target, stunning them for 2 sec.
* Acid Spit - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. Duration reduced to 25 sec from 30 sec. Your worm spits acid, causing the enemy target to take an increased 4% physical damage for 25 sec.
* Qiraji Fortitude - New spell. Increases party and raid members' Stamina by 0.
* Venom Web Spray - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 0. Duration increased to 5 sec from 4 sec. Sprays toxic webs at the target, preventing movement for 5 sec.
* Serenity Dust - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. Range of 25 yd added. Duration reduced to 2 sec from 15 sec. The moth's wings produce a cloud of dust that interrupts the enemies spellcasting and preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 2 sec.
* Corrosive Spit - Name changed from Poison Spit to Corrosive Spit. Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown increased to 6 sec from 10 sec. Duration increased to 30 sec from 8 sec. Spits poison at an enemy, corroding their armor, reducing it by 4%. Stacks up to 5 times. Lasts 30 sec.
* Ravage - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. Cooldown decreased to 15 sec from 40 sec. Duration increased to 25 sec from 2 sec. Violently attacks an enemy, causing the enemy target to take 4% increased physical damage for 25 sec.
* Time Warp - Name changed from Warp to Time Warp. Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned decreased to 20 from 60. Range decreased to 25 yd from 30 yd. Duration increased to 6 sec from 4 sec. Slows time around the enemy, reducing their movement speed by 50% for 6 sec.
* Spore Cloud - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown increased to 12 sec from 10 sec. Dusts nearby enemies with spores, reducing all enemy targets within 6 yards casting speed by 25% for 9 sec.
* Nether Shock - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. Instantly lashes an enemy, interrupting spellcasting and prevents any spell in that school from being cast for 2 sec.
* Fire Breath - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Range increased to 40 yd from 20 yd. Cooldown increased to 30 sec from 10 sec. Duration increased to 45 sec from 2 sec. Breathes Fire on the target, increasing magic damage taken by 8% for 45 sec.
* Lightning Breath - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Range increased to 40 yd from 20 yd. Cooldown increased to 30 sec from 10 sec. 45 sec duration added. Breathes lightning, increasing magic damage taken by % for 45 sec.
* Snatch - New spell. The bird of prey grabs the enemy's weapon with its talons, disarming them for 10 sec. (Level 20, Special Ability, Pet - Bird of Prey, None)
* Tendon Rip - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown decreased to 10 sec from 20 sec. Duration increased to 15 sec from 6 sec. Tears at an enemy's legs, increasing damage taken from bleed effects by 30% for 15 sec.
* Sonic Blast - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 80 Focus cost removed. Emits a piercing shriek, stunning the target for 2 sec.
* Wild Hunt - When your Pet is at or above 50 Focus, your Pet's Basic Attacks will deal 60/120% more damage, but cost 50/100% additional focus.
* Serpent Swiftness - Name changed from Cobra Reflexes to Serpent Swiftness. Increases your pet's attack speed by 5/10%.
* Roar of Recovery - Your pet's inspiring roar restores 30 focus over 9 sec.
* Culling the Herd - When your pet's Basic Attacks deals a critical strike, you and your pet deal 1/2/3% increased damage for 10 sec.
* Clench - Name changed from Snatch to Clench. Went from Pet - Bird of Prey to Pet - Scorpid. Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Duration increased to 10 sec from 6 sec. The scorpid clenches the enemy's weapon with its talons, and disarming their main hand and ranged weapons for 10 sec.
* Dust Cloud - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 6. 20 Focus cost removed.
* Tear Armor - Name changed from Savage Rend to Tear Armor. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown increased to 6 sec from 1 min. Duration increased to 30 sec from 15 sec. Tears at the enemies armor with the raptor's talons, reducing it by 4%. Stacks up to 5 times. Lasts 30 sec.
* Pummel - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed.
* Pin - Level earned increased to 20 from 1.
* Ankle Crack - Name changed from Bad Attitude to Ankle Crack. Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. Cooldown decreased to 10 sec from 2 min. Duration reduced to 6 sec from 45 sec. Snap at the target's feet, reducing movement speed by 50% for 6 sec.
* Gore - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. 15 sec duration added. Your boar gores the enemy, causing it to take 30% additional damage from bleed effects for 15 sec.
* Demoralizing Roar - Name changed from Swipe to Demoralizing Roar. Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown decreased to 10 sec from 5 sec. 15 sec duration added. The bear roars, reducing the physical damage caused by all enemies within yards by 10% for 15 sec.
* Prowl - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 11.
* Claw - Now costs 25 Focus, down from 35 Focus.
* Furious Howl - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown increased to 45 sec from 40 sec. Duration increased to 1 min from 20 sec. The wolf lets out a furious howl, increasing the critical strike chance of all party and raid members by 5%.
* Web - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 0. Duration increased to 5 sec from 4 sec. Encases the target in sticky webs, preventing movement for 5 sec.
Interesting how foxes got moved into their own pet family. Also I've seen some things about shale spiders.
Exotic pets get all kinds of shit now. Raid buffs, HEALS, BLOODLUST!?!
I just hope it doesn't end up giving BM hunters, the pet spec, LESS choice in pets. "Oh no shaman today? Guess I'm forced to bring my corehound " I'd almost prefer it was more tied to pet talents than to families.
Also I like exotic pets, but not much of a fan of the idea that a BM hunter MUST use an exotic pet. Seems that could be more than ever the situation if they get all these crazy new abilities.
I dunno, they plan on making damage and such equal, right? I like the idea of being a swiss army knife through pets. Something that annoyed me at various levels was that hunters had jack shit for utility, and this really fixes that.
Plus, having heroism for elite quests will be tits.
These abilities are so awesome if they makes it to live. Us hunter's could fill buff holes in our raid! No longer would we have to bring X class for Y buff. We have pets to do it for us!
Also I was skeptical of Camouflage, but since it makes you stealthed when not moving.. man.. the gank potential is through the fucking roof. i always hated those stupid Night Elf Hunters and their Shadowmeld. Now I too can be that jackass Feigning death and becoming invisible. Or guarding a point in a BG without resorting to using LOS cover or hiding in a bush. Haha this is gonna be awesome.
The loss of Venoms really sucks imo. That looked like some neat debuffing.
shryke on
0
HalfmexI mock your value systemYou also appear foolish in the eyes of othersRegistered Userregular
edited September 2010
I really wish they'd revise Stampede. It makes absolutely no sense to read "* Stampede - Your rhino slams into a nearby enemy, causing it to take 30% additional damage from bleed effects for 30 sec." and then just below it, Sting: "Stuns the target". So, massive rhino slamming into you, you get to take more damage, y'know, in case you bleed at any point. Wasp stings you: you're stunned. Hoo-kay.
Halfmex on
0
reVerseAttack and Dethrone GodRegistered Userregular
edited September 2010
Maybe there's someone working at Blizzard whose father was killed by a rhino and now he's dead set on making video game rhinos as terrible as possible.
Also seems like they had a thing against Hyenas and Boars. Gore and Tendon Rip on that list have become +bleed with half the duration of stampede. Also my worm no longer sunders , instead my raptor (!?) does. Not on that list I think but spirit beasts get a heal as their "exotic skill".
Other new pet stuff in the latest build, and other stuff trawled from petopia forums and other places-
New Family: Shale Spiders (little elemental spiders, they have party/raid buff "embrace of the shale spider", which is kings!)
Beetles have been reported as a new family, although they just have the silithid skills. Not sure about this although there's also tameable silithid collosi! Also silithid wasps, which is awesome since I wasn't much of a fan of the other wasps ingame.
Hellboars are now all beasts and tameable.
Seagulls are tameable birds of prey?!?
I'm excited to see how this all pans out. Lots of cool stuff coming in and this is only the very start of pet testing by the looks of it.
Eh. It's a move in the right direction. I had different aspirations.
I wanted the Beast Mastery talent to add a combo point system instead of more talent points. Something to make a Hunter's pet a bit more useful than just a DoT that can debuff. I think a system that would highlight the interaction between Hunter and Pet would have made sure BM wasn't simply a 2-button spec while keeping it interesting.
But apparently that's not an obvious idea. Or, "fun."
................
E: also apparently they're moving class changes to the PTR. I wonder if this is hints of 4.0 sooner rather than later.
So BM would have to maintain a full shot rotation/priority like MM/Surv (minus about one major DPS ability) and keep track of some complicated pet combo mechanic? Yeah, I don't think BM needs to be turned into the most complex hunter spec.
Also, hunter Bloodlust. Wow. Although I disagree that this stuff will make hunter pet choices more rigid, unless you have a super consistent 10-man raid every week that never has, say, a mage or shaman.
I think that will generally only apply to casters, who are dealing with cast time abilities, rather than the physical classes who are typically pumping out instant attacks. Then again, I also figured the physical DoTs wouldn't get faster ticks from haste at all.
I don't think their intent is for things like Rend, Rip, Deadly Poison, etc. to get DoT hasting, but I could be wrong.
Maybe hunters/serpent sting will be an exception? Or maybe it's mistakenly getting hasting now?
Haste does not affect Rend ticks. Our general philosophy is that melee dots do not need to be sped up. Melee benefits from haste by generating more resources. Thus, there should be no Taste for Blood losses with haste. Rend can crit however.
So do I get double forum points for this one!?
forty on
Officially the unluckiest CCG player ever.
0
reVerseAttack and Dethrone GodRegistered Userregular
edited September 2010
It's really quite sad that you keep track of months old discussions just so that every now and then you can prove that you're not wrong about every conceivable thing like you usually are.
So BM would have to maintain a full shot rotation/priority like MM/Surv (minus about one major DPS ability) and keep track of some complicated pet combo mechanic? Yeah, I don't think BM needs to be turned into the most complex hunter spec.
Unless I missed something, the only thing BM does is Arcane + Steady/Cobra. MM and SV have Chimera, Aimed, Black Arrow, LnL, etc. I'm about 90% sure that the instant-Aimed talents for MM are too deep for BM to pick up so the shot is relegated to opener territory.
I'm not arguing so much as stating my position (i.e. I'm not saying you're wrong). With the simple 2-shot rotation in mind, adding some mechanics that are more pet-focused would have been interesting without making it overcomplicated. In the end it's all moot anyway. We've got what they're giving us.
So BM would have to maintain a full shot rotation/priority like MM/Surv (minus about one major DPS ability) and keep track of some complicated pet combo mechanic? Yeah, I don't think BM needs to be turned into the most complex hunter spec.
Unless I missed something, the only thing BM does is Arcane + Steady/Cobra. MM and SV have Chimera, Aimed, Black Arrow, LnL, etc. I'm about 90% sure that the instant-Aimed talents for MM are too deep for BM to pick up so the shot is relegated to opener territory.
I'm not arguing so much as stating my position (i.e. I'm not saying you're wrong). With the simple 2-shot rotation in mind, adding some mechanics that are more pet-focused would have been interesting without making it overcomplicated. In the end it's all moot anyway. We've got what they're giving us.
Aimed is off limits regardless, you can't get it without being MM spec since it's the signature level 10 ability.
Anyway, Kill command will be the major part of the BM cata playstyle, it's going back to being an instant attack rather than a buff. And I guess there will be a lot of building up focus and getting killing streaks and keeping focus fire up as much as possible while juggling frenzy as well.
BM will have gameplay hooks, but without firsthand experience it's hard to compare them to the MM/SV ones.
It's really quite sad that you keep track of months old discussions just so that every now and then you can prove that you're not wrong about every conceivable thing like you usually are.
It seems like you're the one who's demonstrably wrong more often than I am. There there, reVerse. It'll be OK. You don't have to be jealous that my brain remembers things and yours apparently doesn't.
And it's even more sad how mad you get at posters on this forum.
So BM would have to maintain a full shot rotation/priority like MM/Surv (minus about one major DPS ability) and keep track of some complicated pet combo mechanic? Yeah, I don't think BM needs to be turned into the most complex hunter spec.
Unless I missed something, the only thing BM does is Arcane + Steady/Cobra. MM and SV have Chimera, Aimed, Black Arrow, LnL, etc. I'm about 90% sure that the instant-Aimed talents for MM are too deep for BM to pick up so the shot is relegated to opener territory.
I'm not arguing so much as stating my position (i.e. I'm not saying you're wrong). With the simple 2-shot rotation in mind, adding some mechanics that are more pet-focused would have been interesting without making it overcomplicated. In the end it's all moot anyway. We've got what they're giving us.
Assuming Chimera still auto-refreshes Serpent Sting, that's actually one less thing MM has to watch that BM does. And the "consume frenzy" mechanic seems to leave them about on par for complexity when you figure that BM has an extra DPS cooldown to coordinate.
What can they really do with pet trees? Yeah, a bunch of damage modifiers doesn't really fit in with their philosophy of more fun talents, but are there really more options? It's been pretty straightforward since the big overhaul. They've come a long way since pre 2.0, when you could have one or not because the damage was horrible, and they were only really mandatory for Huhuran as a dot sponge. Having the hunter be a handle to a swiss army knife made of furry, scaly, occasionally flaming animals is enough.
edit- also, from the PTR, does survival feel really clunky to anyone else? marks and BM felt like an easy transition to me.
What feels clunky about survival? I speced the worgen hunter I was leveling survival, but didn't get him high enough to get all the various rotational abilities.
I've heard people complaining about focus regen in Surv compared to the other two specs, but haven't heard more generalized complaints about how it's playing.
martini on
I raised the wall. And I will be the one to knock it down.
I haven't really looked at the talent trees in a while. Do BM and MM have some focus regen/proc talents where Survival doesn't? Or they just have more or what?
Posts
I forget if it still does that, but at some point they changed it to reduce damage taken and movement speed.
Threat generally isn't a problem when soloing old content as a Hunter. Misdirect and Feign Death keep threat on your pet.
My turtle tanks Garr and his adds, you just have to be smart about it.
For any other hunter raid soloing question you have, I refer you to the Warcraft Hunter's Union.
http://www.warcrafthuntersunion.com/guides/
Check out the "Extreme Soloing Guides" towards the bottom.
Turtles are pretty kickass because they show up with high armor and their racial is great (as said above).
I'm still pretty crappy at timing cooldowns properly so I'm recruiting help to work on farming up a He-Man tiger before it potentially goes away.
GC was commenting on hunters and mentioned this:
No it isn't. The highlighted portion specifies (or at the very least, heavily implies) there is more then one type of venom. And if there wasn't, they would have phrased it differently.
I kind of doubt they're going to remove 2/3 of the venoms and leave hunters with just one.
* Tailspin - New spell. Your fox twirls its tail around, kicking up an obscuring cloud of dust, causing all enemies within 10 yards to have their melee and ranged attack speed reduced by 20% for 8 sec. (Level 30, Special Ability, Pet - Fox, None)
* Ancient Hysteria - New spell. Increases melee, ranged, and spell casting speed by 30% for all party and raid members. Lasts 40 sec. Allies receiving this effect will become Sated and be unable to benefit from Bloodlust or Time Warp again for 10 min. (Level 20, Pet - Exotic Core Hound, None)
* Lava Breath - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown increased to 8 sec from 10 sec. Your pet breathes a double gout of molten lava at the target, reducing the target's casting speed by 25% for 10 sec.
* Stampede - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. Cooldown increased to 15 sec from 1 min. Duration reduced to 30 sec from 1 min. Your rhino slams into a nearby enemy, causing it to take 30% additional damage from bleed effects for 30 sec.
* Sting - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown decreased to 45 sec from 6 sec. Duration reduced to 2 sec from 20 sec. Your wasp stings the target, stunning them for 2 sec.
* Acid Spit - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. Duration reduced to 25 sec from 30 sec. Your worm spits acid, causing the enemy target to take an increased 4% physical damage for 25 sec.
* Qiraji Fortitude - New spell. Increases party and raid members' Stamina by 0.
* Venom Web Spray - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 0. Duration increased to 5 sec from 4 sec. Sprays toxic webs at the target, preventing movement for 5 sec.
* Serenity Dust - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. Range of 25 yd added. Duration reduced to 2 sec from 15 sec. The moth's wings produce a cloud of dust that interrupts the enemies spellcasting and preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 2 sec.
* Corrosive Spit - Name changed from Poison Spit to Corrosive Spit. Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown increased to 6 sec from 10 sec. Duration increased to 30 sec from 8 sec. Spits poison at an enemy, corroding their armor, reducing it by 4%. Stacks up to 5 times. Lasts 30 sec.
* Ravage - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. Cooldown decreased to 15 sec from 40 sec. Duration increased to 25 sec from 2 sec. Violently attacks an enemy, causing the enemy target to take 4% increased physical damage for 25 sec.
* Time Warp - Name changed from Warp to Time Warp. Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned decreased to 20 from 60. Range decreased to 25 yd from 30 yd. Duration increased to 6 sec from 4 sec. Slows time around the enemy, reducing their movement speed by 50% for 6 sec.
* Spore Cloud - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown increased to 12 sec from 10 sec. Dusts nearby enemies with spores, reducing all enemy targets within 6 yards casting speed by 25% for 9 sec.
* Nether Shock - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. Instantly lashes an enemy, interrupting spellcasting and prevents any spell in that school from being cast for 2 sec.
* Fire Breath - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Range increased to 40 yd from 20 yd. Cooldown increased to 30 sec from 10 sec. Duration increased to 45 sec from 2 sec. Breathes Fire on the target, increasing magic damage taken by 8% for 45 sec.
* Lightning Breath - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Range increased to 40 yd from 20 yd. Cooldown increased to 30 sec from 10 sec. 45 sec duration added. Breathes lightning, increasing magic damage taken by % for 45 sec.
* Snatch - New spell. The bird of prey grabs the enemy's weapon with its talons, disarming them for 10 sec. (Level 20, Special Ability, Pet - Bird of Prey, None)
* Tendon Rip - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown decreased to 10 sec from 20 sec. Duration increased to 15 sec from 6 sec. Tears at an enemy's legs, increasing damage taken from bleed effects by 30% for 15 sec.
* Sonic Blast - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 80 Focus cost removed. Emits a piercing shriek, stunning the target for 2 sec.
* Wild Hunt - When your Pet is at or above 50 Focus, your Pet's Basic Attacks will deal 60/120% more damage, but cost 50/100% additional focus.
* Serpent Swiftness - Name changed from Cobra Reflexes to Serpent Swiftness. Increases your pet's attack speed by 5/10%.
* Roar of Recovery - Your pet's inspiring roar restores 30 focus over 9 sec.
* Culling the Herd - When your pet's Basic Attacks deals a critical strike, you and your pet deal 1/2/3% increased damage for 10 sec.
* Clench - Name changed from Snatch to Clench. Went from Pet - Bird of Prey to Pet - Scorpid. Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Duration increased to 10 sec from 6 sec. The scorpid clenches the enemy's weapon with its talons, and disarming their main hand and ranged weapons for 10 sec.
* Dust Cloud - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 6. 20 Focus cost removed.
* Tear Armor - Name changed from Savage Rend to Tear Armor. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown increased to 6 sec from 1 min. Duration increased to 30 sec from 15 sec. Tears at the enemies armor with the raptor's talons, reducing it by 4%. Stacks up to 5 times. Lasts 30 sec.
* Pummel - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed.
* Pin - Level earned increased to 20 from 1.
* Ankle Crack - Name changed from Bad Attitude to Ankle Crack. Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. Cooldown decreased to 10 sec from 2 min. Duration reduced to 6 sec from 45 sec. Snap at the target's feet, reducing movement speed by 50% for 6 sec.
* Gore - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. 15 sec duration added. Your boar gores the enemy, causing it to take 30% additional damage from bleed effects for 15 sec.
* Demoralizing Roar - Name changed from Swipe to Demoralizing Roar. Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown decreased to 10 sec from 5 sec. 15 sec duration added. The bear roars, reducing the physical damage caused by all enemies within yards by 10% for 15 sec.
* Prowl - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 11.
* Claw - Now costs 25 Focus, down from 35 Focus.
* Furious Howl - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 1. 20 Focus cost removed. Cooldown increased to 45 sec from 40 sec. Duration increased to 1 min from 20 sec. The wolf lets out a furious howl, increasing the critical strike chance of all party and raid members by 5%.
* Web - Now has a rank of Special Ability. Level earned increased to 20 from 0. Duration increased to 5 sec from 4 sec. Encases the target in sticky webs, preventing movement for 5 sec.
Interesting how foxes got moved into their own pet family. Also I've seen some things about shale spiders.
Exotic pets get all kinds of shit now. Raid buffs, HEALS, BLOODLUST!?!
I just hope it doesn't end up giving BM hunters, the pet spec, LESS choice in pets. "Oh no shaman today? Guess I'm forced to bring my corehound
Also rhinos still suck. BOOOOOO
Plus, having heroism for elite quests will be tits.
These abilities are so awesome if they makes it to live. Us hunter's could fill buff holes in our raid! No longer would we have to bring X class for Y buff. We have pets to do it for us!
Also I was skeptical of Camouflage, but since it makes you stealthed when not moving.. man.. the gank potential is through the fucking roof. i always hated those stupid Night Elf Hunters and their Shadowmeld. Now I too can be that jackass Feigning death and becoming invisible. Or guarding a point in a BG without resorting to using LOS cover or hiding in a bush. Haha this is gonna be awesome.
Other new pet stuff in the latest build, and other stuff trawled from petopia forums and other places-
New Family: Shale Spiders (little elemental spiders, they have party/raid buff "embrace of the shale spider", which is kings!)
Beetles have been reported as a new family, although they just have the silithid skills. Not sure about this although there's also tameable silithid collosi! Also silithid wasps, which is awesome since I wasn't much of a fan of the other wasps ingame.
Hellboars are now all beasts and tameable.
Seagulls are tameable birds of prey?!?
I'm excited to see how this all pans out. Lots of cool stuff coming in and this is only the very start of pet testing by the looks of it.
I wanted the Beast Mastery talent to add a combo point system instead of more talent points. Something to make a Hunter's pet a bit more useful than just a DoT that can debuff. I think a system that would highlight the interaction between Hunter and Pet would have made sure BM wasn't simply a 2-button spec while keeping it interesting.
But apparently that's not an obvious idea. Or, "fun."
................
E: also apparently they're moving class changes to the PTR. I wonder if this is hints of 4.0 sooner rather than later.
Also, hunter Bloodlust. Wow. Although I disagree that this stuff will make hunter pet choices more rigid, unless you have a super consistent 10-man raid every week that never has, say, a mage or shaman.
So do I get double forum points for this one!?
Unless I missed something, the only thing BM does is Arcane + Steady/Cobra. MM and SV have Chimera, Aimed, Black Arrow, LnL, etc. I'm about 90% sure that the instant-Aimed talents for MM are too deep for BM to pick up so the shot is relegated to opener territory.
I'm not arguing so much as stating my position (i.e. I'm not saying you're wrong). With the simple 2-shot rotation in mind, adding some mechanics that are more pet-focused would have been interesting without making it overcomplicated. In the end it's all moot anyway. We've got what they're giving us.
Uh .... Kill Command?
Anyway, Kill command will be the major part of the BM cata playstyle, it's going back to being an instant attack rather than a buff. And I guess there will be a lot of building up focus and getting killing streaks and keeping focus fire up as much as possible while juggling frenzy as well.
BM will have gameplay hooks, but without firsthand experience it's hard to compare them to the MM/SV ones.
And it's even more sad how mad you get at posters on this forum.
edit- also, from the PTR, does survival feel really clunky to anyone else? marks and BM felt like an easy transition to me.