ATTN: Hunter talents are UP!

Q u o t e:
http://worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-hunter/talents.html
http://worldofwarcraft.com/info/classes/bc-hunter/spells.html

It's true.

Q u o t e:


any word on all the rumors of changes to our class mechanics and spells?

Yes, there are several notable changes.

1. Traps are now on a 30 sec cooldown, but can be used in combat (you no longer need to feign/trap).

2. When feign death is resisted, you are still reduced to 0 threat for any targets that did not resist feign death (although if any creature resists the feign, you won't be taken completely out of combat, you'll still be on the creature group's target list).

3. Attack Power and Crit related changes:
a. Hunters now get 1 AP per Agility rather than 2. This change helps us provide more interesting stat distributions on hunter items. Previously, Hunters valued Agi significantly above any other stat, such that it was extremely difficult for us to create variety among Hunter items. For example, before this change, we could have spent 1 stat point on an item to give you either 2 AP or 1 Agi (which gave 2 AP along with a small bonus to crit and a small bonus to dodge... clearly the better choice). However, several changes have been made along with this change in order to offset the AP loss.

b. Hunters now get significantly more crit per point of Agility than before (about 33agi/crit at level 60).

c. Hunters now get more dodge per point of Agility than before (about 20agi/dodge at lvl 60).

d. Ranged weapons have had their damage values significantly increased (and consequently the weapon's dps)... this also helps make weapon upgrades feel more meaningful for Hunters than it did previously (along with the other changes, this change is retroactive).

e. Most Hunter equipment has been updated to have a better distribution between +Attack Power bonuses and Agility.

4. Aimed Shot related changes:
a. Aimed Shot now resets the Hunter's shot timer. This talent was always intended to be an "opening" shot, and not something that would be woven between shots. However, since Aimed Shot became such a core element for Hunter DPS, we didn't want to make this change until we were prepared to make several other changes to increase hunter DPS to offset it. Fortunately, this means that some of the odd side effects of the old Aimed Shot are no longer relevant, such as requiring hunters to use extremely slow weapons to maximize their DPS (weapons slow enough to be able to use Aimed Shot in between auto shots)

b. Arcane Shot now does substantially more damage than it did before, and scales with AP.

c. Steady Shot has been introduced as a core ability in the expansion, and provides much the same kind of gameplay as Aimed Shot did in the past (a shot you weave in between your normal shots), but to a much more managable degree (since it's a 1.5 sec shot, it doesn't require as slow of a weapon to take advantage of, and doesn't require to stand still for as long).

5. Other note: Wyvern Sting may now be used in combat.

Q u o t e:


Not that this really matters, but do the legacy epics that get stats reallocated include agi-heavy rings, necklaces and weapons? I'm looking really at stuff like Prestor's, Band of Reanimation, Signet Ring of the Bronze Dragonflight (Conqueror edition!) and Eye of Nerub.

Then again, it doesn't really matter since we'll replace that stuff soon enough, but I'm just curious.

Yes, a handfull of items that were not explicitly hunter-only but were clearly designed as "hunter items" with disproportionately high Agi values are having some of their stats shifted to AP (although they'll still be agi-heavy in general).

Q u o t e:
Kalgan
The talent Calculator still lists Wyvern sting as only usable Out of Combat...

The Talent Calculator will be updated to remove the "out of combat" requirement. However, Wyvern Sting did gain a 1.5 second cast time instead.

Q u o t e:


I <3 Blizz!!! That is some of the best news for trapping hunters ever!



A few quesitons about this, does Stead Shot have a cooldown? (it doesn't on the spells page) If it does have a cooldown, is it on the same timer as arcane shot? Also, what is the new Arcane Shot's AP scaling (and why didn't it get put on the new/changed spells webpage?)?

Steady Shot does not have a cooldown. The AP scaling on Arcane Shot is 20% of AP.

Q u o t e:
Thanks for the release and the two-way communication!

I have a question about the Snake Trap: How does it work?

- Can the snakes be targeted by their victim? If so, are there multiple snakes that must be killed separately?

- Do the snakes just do physical damage, or do they poison etc.?

- How much damage do they do?

- Is there a range on how far the snakes will chase their target?

- Will the victim be able to outrun the snakes?

1. Yes, snakes are mobs that can be targeted. There are 6 to 10 snakes that come out of the trap (oh $h1%, we've got Snakes on a Trap!) and attack random targets within 10 yards of the trap.

2. The snakes do physical damage and apply random poisons (ie: mind numbing, crippling, and a deadly poison).

3. They don't do a lot of damage individually, but in total the damage is meaningful.

4. The snakes will chase the same distance mobs normally chase.

5. The snakes move at normal mob speed (although their victims may be affected by crippling poison).

Q u o t e:
Blue.....any word on the leaked pet talent updates that were posted last week?

Is that real?


Also I like just about everything except moving Hawkeye.

Now you make me waste 8 points to get something almost every hunter needs.

Why not just make it a learned talent???

1. The pet abilities that have been "leaked" are pet abilities that have been in the database for at least 3 years now, but never went live because they were considerably overpowered. So, ignore those. More information on new pet types/abilities will come at a later time.

2. We moved Hawkeye in order to shift a meaningful talent from MM (which we felt had too many) to Survival (which we felt could use another).

3. It is a learned talent. You click the button in your talent pane, and you learn it. :P

Q u o t e:



Omg!
1. He's answering questions!
2. We've got snakes on this mo%#@ f^@!*&# trap!
3. /delete, /reroll.
4. Fix Steadiness in the talents (reqs only 1 talents in Master Tactician).
5. Lol I'm responding to a blue!
6. What is the normal chance for equal level enemies(60vs.60, 70vs70) to resist effects
such as feign death, traps and anything of the sort?


Thanks enormously for the feedback!

6. base resist chance for equal level enemies is 4%

Q u o t e:
Resourcefulness: Reduces damage taken by 2%/4%/Undefined

what does this mean?

It means the talent calculator had the effects of Resourcefulness and Survival Instincts swapped by accident (being fixed).

Also, to answer another question that has come up, Arcane Shot and Aimed Shot no longer share the same cooldown.

Q u o t e:
Kalgan: Clarification on Misdirection description, please. The description reads "target raid member." Does this mean that MIsdirection is usable only in a raid, and not in parties?

It can be used in a 5 person party too.