WotLK Beta Build - 8962

Hunter Changes in Beta Build - 8962

Beast Mastery

• Master's Call: Now has a 25 yard range.
• Separation Anxiety - When your pet is greater than 20 yards from you or is out of line of sight of you, its damage is increased by 20%, and when you and your pet are within 20 yards of each other, you and your pet's movement speed is increased by 10%. (Rank 5) Several numbers reduced
• Aspect of the Viper: Now each ranged attack regenerates a percentage of maximum mana equal to twice your base ranged weapon speed (instead of just base ranged weapon speed).

Marksmanship

• Steady Shot: Base damage reduced slightly. Mana cost increased from 4% to 5% of base mana.
• Auto Shot now has a 35 yard range.
• Mortal Shots reworded: Now "increases the critical strike damage bonus of your ranged abilities" instead of "increases your ranged weapon critical strike damage bonus..."
• Tranquilizing Shot: No longer removes Frenzy effects.
• Master Marksman: Now increases your critical strike chance by 1/2/3/4/5, and increases your total ranged haste by 1/2/3/4/5% (Previously increased your ranged attack power by 2/4/6/8/10%).
• Focused Fire: Reworded for clarity. No change to actual talent.
• Rapid Killing: Now effects Chimera Shot instead of Auto Shot.
• Wild Quiver: now deals 50% nature damage (down from 60%).
• Hunter's Mark: No longer adds additional attack power per attack.
• Kill Shot': Now has a 35 second cooldown. Now you attempt to finish the wounded target off, firing a long range attack dealing 205% (up from 200%) weapon damage plus [RAP * 0.4 + 820.0] (base damage greatly increased). Kill Shot can only be used on enemies that have 20% or less health. (No longer causes knockdown effect.) Ranks 2 and 3 added for 1000 and 1200 base damage.
• Chimera Shot: Now does 125% weapon damage (up from bugged 1%).

Survival

• Surefooted: Now increases hit chance by 1% and reduces the duration of movement impairing effects by 10/20/30% (down from 16/25/50%).
• Combat Experience: Now increases your total Agility, and Intellect by 2/4% (down from 3/6%).
• Survival Instincts: Now increases the critical strike chance of your Arcane Shot, Steady Shot, and Explosive Shot by 2/4% (instead of attack power by 2/4%) in addition to reducing damage taken.
• Hunting Party: Now grants mana regeneration equal to 0.25% of the maximum (down from .5%).
• Lock and Load: Now effects you next 2 Arcane Shot or Explosive Shot spells (instead of just the next one).
• Explosive Shot: Base damage reduced. Ranks 2-4 added. (Rank 4 at level 80: "You fire an explosive charge into the enemy target, dealing [RAP * 0.2 + 273.0]-[RAP * 0.2 + 329.0] Fire damage. The charge will blast the target every second for an additional 2 sec. Each charge also deals [RAP * 0.2 + 68.25]-[RAP * 0.2 + 82.25] Fire damage to all nearby enemies within 5 yards of the target.")
• Sniper Training: No longer requires the targert to be below 30% health.

Pet Abilities

• Boar's Speed: Now increases all movement speed instead of just outdoor.
• Demoralizing Screech: Now lasts 10 seconds (up from 4).
• Furious Howl: Now increases both ranged and melee attack power. Now effects the raid. Range increased to 45 yards (up from 40).
• Thunderstomp: Now costs 25 Focus.
• Fire Breath: Now does base fire damage as well as a fire DoT.
• Warp: Now gives the pet a 50% chance to avoid the next 3 melee attacks (instead of just the next attack).
• Poison Spit: Now also reduces the target's casting speed by 50% for 8 sec.
• Ravage: Cooldown removed.
• Lick Your Wounds: Now your pet heals itself for 100% of its total health over 5 sec (down from 10 sec) while channeling.
• Taunt: Cooldown removed.
• Roar of Sacrifice reworked: Now your pet absorbs damage from a party or raid member, transfering 30% damage taken to the pet. (Previously: Your pet absorbs damage from the friendly target up to a maximum of 50% of the pet's total health. Lasts 12 sec.)
• Bullheaded: Focus cost removed.
• Roar of Recovery: Now your pet's inspiring roar restores 30% (up from 20%) of your total mana over 9 sec (up from 8 sec).
• Nether Shock: Cooldown removed.
• Froststorm Breath: Damage ranges added to tooltips.
• Heart of the Phoenix: Reworded for clarity. Now "When your pet dies, it will miraculously return to life with full health."
• Spider's Bite: Now increases the critical strike chance of your pet by 3/6/9% (instead of the critical strike damage bonus of your pet by 10/20/30%).
• Rake (New Cat Family Ability): (6 Ranks @ level 1/16/32/48/64/80) Rake the target for 4 to 6/8 to 10/11 to 15/18 to 24/28 to 38/59 to 83 bleed damage and an additional 1/2 to 4/3 to 6/6 to 8/10 to 12/21 to 27 damage over 9 sec.
• Feeding Frenzy: 2 ranks added for 6 and 12%.
• Pet Barding - Increases your pet's armor by 5/10%, up from 3/6%.
• Grace of the Mantis - Changed to reduce the chance your pet will be critically hit by melee attacks by 2/4%.

Source: http://www.wotlkwiki.info/index.php/Main_Page

I'll comment more on these changes later when I can digest all these different changes.


Pet Changes Discussion

There are way too many changes to think that these will be final. I don't understand removing the cooldown on some of these abilities, seems impossibly overpowered, so I won't comment on them.

Spider's Bite: This is a huge change for BM hunters, especially in PvP! BM hunters will have 19% crit added onto the 5% base crit to make it 24% crit. Even if pet crit does not scale with Hunter crit, this will keep pets from having almost zero crit vs full resilience targets (BM pets). With max resilience you can cut off about 13% of that crit, which would bring it down to 11%. So basically in arena pvp, pet crit just went from 2% to 11% if your a BM hunter.

Furious Howl: Range increased to 45 yards and effects range and melee attack power throughout the raid! An amazing ability, but it won't stack with some other buffs (I think they are Trueshot Aura, maybe a Paladins BoM, etc.).

Lick Your Wounds still seems terrible. Reason being: we have mend pet and Ferocity pets have Bloodthirsty which is much better. The only way this ability could ever be good would be to remove the channel effect. I would also remove the time on it and reduce the healing to 50%. So it would be in an instant 50% heal on your pet usable every 3 minutes, now that would be something interesting.

Pet Barding needed the buff but it still seems rather disappointing. Instead of increasing pet armor I wish it would decrease the damage it receives by 2/4%.

Boar's Speed change to work indoors is a convenient buff. Should help your pet get to targets a little bit better in instances.