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  1. #1

    Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    This is a compilation of the Cataclysm-related information released this week, including the official previews and important blue posts. I do realize that some of the class forums already have sticky topics, this topic is merely here to discuss this week's preview and changes and will eventually fall into the abyss of the class forums.

    Official Class Preview
    Originally Posted by Nethaera (Blue Tracker)

    With the upcoming World of Warcraft: Cataclysm many game elements will be changing, and each class will be receiving a number of tweaks. Here, we will explore the changes that are being made to the gun-wielding, pet-training hunter. The information you’re about to read is certainly not complete, and is only meant to act as a preview of some of the exciting new things to come. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the new hunter abilities!

    New Hunter Abilities

    Cobra Shot (level 81): A new shot that deals Nature damage instead of Physical damage. This ability will share a cooldown with Steady Shot. This will give hunters an alternative to Steady Shot on heavily-armored targets, and we will have talent incentives in the Beast Mastery tree to make this a signature shot.

    Trap Launcher (level 83): When used, the next trap can be shot to a location within 40 yards. This provides the current Freezing Arrow treatment to all traps and, as a result, we will be removing the current ability Freezing Arrow. 1-minute cooldown. No global cooldown.

    Camouflage (level 85): The hunter enters an obscured state that prevents him or her from taking ranged damage. The character would still be subject to melee or area-of-effect attacks, and dealing or taking damage will break the Camouflage effect. The hunter can move and set traps when under Camouflage, and will receive a damage bonus when attacking while under Camouflage (which will then break the effect).


    Resource Mechanic Change

    Here we come to the meat of the upcoming hunter changes.

    HTML Code:
    <ul>[*]Hunters will no longer use mana; instead the class will use Focus. Focus generates much like Energy, by building up. It will not be affected by Intellect at all. Haste will improve its generation. Hunters will generate roughly 6 Focus per second, slightly less than rogues' Energy generation rate of around 10 Energy per second. Below, we have listed some examples of how we intend Focus costs to operate:
    
<ul>[*]Steady Shot/Cobra Shot: No cost. Generates 9 Focus per shot (or 12 per second instead of 6).
[*]Arcane Shot/Chimera Shot /Explosive Shot: 45 Focus.
[*]Aimed Shot/Multi-Shot: 60 Focus.
[*]Concussive Shot/Tranquilizing Shot: 35 Focus.
[*]Rapid Fire/Master’s Call/Disengage: 30 Focus.
[/list][/list]

    Changes to Abilities and Mechanics

    In addition to the resource change and new abilities listed above, we intend to make adjustments to some of the other abilities and mechanics you already know well. This list and the summary of talent changes below it are by no means comprehensive, but they should give you a good sense of what we’re going for with each spec.

    HTML Code:
    <ul>[*]A major change coming for the hunter is the removal of ammunition. Guns, bows, and crossbows will now do damage without consuming ammunition at all. There will be no more ammo slot on the hunter’s character display. Any ammunition that a hunter has at the time of the change will become gray sellable items. Existing quivers will be converted into large bags -- though each hunter can only have one and non-hunters will not benefit from this change -- and we will not be making any additional quivers.
    

[*]Pet management will also change. Hunters will now have two types of attainable pets: active pets and stored pets. Hunters will be able to have up to three active pets (perhaps five for Beast Mastery specialized players) and will have the ability to switch among these pets any time they are out of combat, without going to town. They will also be able to have a large number of pets in storage at the stables. In order to swap a pet from active to passive, a hunter will still need to visit their local Stable Master. However, this should afford ample storage for the many Spirit Beasts wandering the lands of Azeroth.
    

[*]Additionally, hunters will now start with a race-appropriate pet at level 1 and will be able to tame a different pet at level 10. We are also changing many pet family abilities to provide important buffs and debuffs. The intention is to allow the hunter to be able to swap pets and fill a position if a certain role is missing from the group. The goal is to have all pets provide a damage increase that is very similar and no greater than any other pet. Some examples of the changes we are making to the pet families are listed below:
    

<ul>[*]Wind Serpents: Will provide a debuff that increases the amount of spell damage taken by an enemy (similar to a weaker version of the warlock ability Curse of Elements).
[*]Ravagers: Will provide a debuff that will increase an enemy's Physical damage vulnerability (similar to a weaker version of the warrior ability Blood Frenzy).
[*]Hyenas: Will provide bleed damage (similar to a weaker version of the druid ability Mangle).
    
[/list]
[*]Stings and other periodic effects will now benefit from haste and critical strike ratings. Hasted damage-over-time abilities do not lose duration, but instead add additional damage ticks.
    

[*]Viper Sting will now restore 9 Focus every 3 seconds.
    

[*]We are reinforcing hunters as a ranged class. To this end, the class will now start with ranged abilities at level 1, and we will be removing some melee abilities, such as Mongoose Bite.
    
[/list]

    New Talents and Talent Changes

    HTML Code:
    <ul>[*]Beast Mastery hunters will have a new talent called Careful Aim, which increases the damage of the next Steady Shot or Cobra Shot, but also increases the cast time of these abilities. The intention is to make the combination of spells into a decent damage opener, especially in conjunction with the new ability Camouflage.
    

[*]Beast Mastery hunters will also have talents that make Cobra Shot superior to Steady Shot, such as Longevity reducing the cast time of Cobra Shot to 1.5 seconds.
    

[*]Rapid Recuperation will cause Rapid Fire to give 20/40/60 Focus immediately and will cause Rapid Killing to generate 3 Focus per second.
    

[*]Efficiency will reduce the Focus cost of Chimera Shot, Aimed Shot, and Arcane Shot.
    

[*]Thrill of the Hunt grants Focus when you land a critical strike.
    

[*]Hunter vs. Wild increases the hunter’s Focus generation when his or her pet is snared, stunned, or rooted.
    
[/list]

    Mastery Passive Talent Tree Bonuses

    Beast Mastery
    • Ranged Damage
    • Haste
    • Pet Damage

    Pet Damage: Many of the passive benefits to pet damage will no longer be available in the Beast Mastery talent tree. However, these will be provided through the new Mastery mechanic.

    Marksmanship
    • Ranged Damage
    • Armor Penetration
    • Double Shot

    Double Shot: The hunter will have a chance to launch a free attack off of the global cooldown for 50% damage.

    Survival
    • Ranged Damage
    • Ranged Critical Damage
    • Elemental Damage

    Elemental Damage: Hunter abilities such as traps, Black Arrow, and Explosive Shot will do elemental damage of the following types: Arcane, Fire, Frost, Nature, and Shadow.

    We hope you enjoyed this preview, and ask that you provide your initial thoughts and feedback on what was presented here. Please keep in mind that what you’ve just reviewed is a work in progress and as we move closer to the Cataclysm beta, you’ll see these planned changes as well as others continue to develop in response to feedback and testing.
    Additional Information
    Originally Posted by Blizzard Entertainment

    How much focus Hunters will get?
    100. (Source)

    Abilities focus cost
    The focus costs are just examples. I wouldn't obsess too much with trying to min / max your rotations just yet. In general, the basic rotations of all three hunters work okay on live today. With focus you might hit moments where you don't need to Steady at all, and you'll never run dry again for long periods of time like you might with mana.

    If the costs of some of the defensive cooldowns are too expensive or even need to be free that's certainly the kind of thing we'll consider. (Source)

    Ammo in Cataclysm
    There is no ammo slot on your character sheet in Cataclysm. It no longer exists. (Source)

    Elemental Damage clarification
    Improves the Arcane, Fire, Frost, Nature or Shadow damage of abilities like traps, Black Arrow and Explosive Shot. (Source)

    Camouflage
    It is *not* stealth. Your enemies will never wonder where you are. We're trying to use the new Cataclysm water effect to put a shimmering PREDATORy visual on you. It's protection from ranged attacks and it gives you some combat bonuses, but it's not like Shadowmeld or rogue / druid stealth where players can't find you.

    As most of you know, we tried Camo once before, but because it was true stealth it was very hard to balance, plus it felt like we were just handing out the same cool abilities to every class instead of coming with unique mechanics. Hunters were so overwhelmingly excited about the basic idea that we wanted to try it again, but not as stealth.

    [...] The idea is you are only vulnerable to melee attacks or ranged AEs.

    [...] If you target a camo hunter or a rogue using Smoke Bomb, you will get an error message saying something like "Target obscured." You can see them and target them, but can't use your attacks. Imagine they are behind a pillar or something. You can try and get off an AE near them or you can move to melee.(Source)

    Cobra Shot / Steady Shot shared "cooldown"
    At this point in time it's not actually a cooldown. Cobra Shot has a 2 sec cast time, but Beastmaster has a talent to reduce the cast time to 1.5 sec (as well as a few damage hooks). Both generate focus so there is no reason for BM to ever use Steady again. (Source)

    Healing reduction effects in Cataclysm
    "All equivalent debuffs" means if you have the debuff today, you will have it in Cataclysm, but at 20% healing received. To avoid further confusion, we are talking about Mortal Strike, Furious Strikes, Wound Poison, Aimed Shot, Permafrost and Improved Mind Blast.

    We are also strongly considering having all of these effect cause the same debuff, called Mortal Wounds, which is a physical effect and therefore undispellable. This allows the behavior to be more consistent regardless of who is applying it and lets us consider things like how easy it should be to dispel poisons (since Mortal Wounds would not be affected).

    Heals will be smaller and health pools will be larger in Cataclysm, so we don't expect Mortal Wounds to feel as mandatory as it does today, but this is clearly the kind of thing that will require a lot of playtesting and feedback. (Source)

  2. #2
    Deleted

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    Nice compilation, Boub, thanks. ;D

    first?

  3. #3

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    Quote Originally Posted by Thrakin
    Nice compilation, Boub, thanks. ;D

    first?
    indeed =)

  4. #4

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    maybe i missed something but if they are getting rid of hunter's melee abilities does that mean they are also doing away with our "dead zone"?

  5. #5
    Bloodsail Admiral Direfen's Avatar
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    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    Quote Originally Posted by Issege11
    maybe i missed something but if they are getting rid of hunter's melee abilities does that mean they are also doing away with our "dead zone"?
    I think they meant most of your Melee Abilities.

    Mongoose Bite inparticular was just a plain terrible move, did nothing but deal a tiny non-existant amount of damage.

    Raptor Strike should still exist, and the same can be said for Wing Clip, however I can see Wing Clip gaining Mongoose Bites damage and Raptor Strike gaining something else.
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  6. #6

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    I hate you, Boubouille!

  7. #7

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    Nice. The hunter might not be so bad in Cata after all.

  8. #8

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    Quote Originally Posted by Boubouille
    Originally Posted by Nethaera (Blue Tracker)

    Elemental Damage: Hunter abilities such as traps, Black Arrow, and Explosive Shot will do elemental damage of the following types: Arcane, Fire, Frost, Nature, and Shadow.
    so just a damage increase of exp shot etc?

  9. #9
    Dreadlord Kyocere's Avatar
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    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    Quote Originally Posted by Direfen
    I think they meant most of your Melee Abilities.

    Mongoose Bite inparticular was just a plain terrible move, did nothing but deal a tiny non-existant amount of damage.

    Raptor Strike should still exist, and the same can be said for Wing Clip, however I can see Wing Clip gaining Mongoose Bites damage and Raptor Strike gaining something else.
    Mongoose Bite was also better then nothing. There have been times that my traps were used and disengage and yet the enemy was still on top of me. Having any ability to do any damage is better then nothing.

  10. #10

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    just got 1 question will aspect of the viper restore x focus like it done with mana or will they just remove the aspect as there no mention of this just courious

  11. #11

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    did anybody actually realize that the current content (and with 99% prob the future one) implies being on the move constantly, thus reducing even further the focus income ?

  12. #12
    Deleted

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    Quote Originally Posted by thunderdragon
    just got 1 question will aspect of the viper restore x focus like it done with mana or will they just remove the aspect as there no mention of this just courious
    It's most likely going away or being changed. Making it a "gimp combat, focus back" aspect like it is now would be useless, since focus regens pretty fast by itself.

    I'd like it if they changed it, making it simply increase focus generation by something like 60% and removing the penalty. That'd make Dragonhawk a more burst-ish aspect and Viper a more sustained one. Would be cool to actually have two combat effective aspects.

  13. #13

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    Imo the pvp will be total fck up. Hunter pvp was lot of different skills to kite enemy. Now u cant use it because u dont have focus.
    U cant use trianql - explosive -conclussive- aimed -FD- explosive.
    There will be no more burst because u dont have enought focus. Every melee class play with hunters as they wish.

  14. #14

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    Quote Originally Posted by mikena
    so just a damage increase of exp shot etc?
    Pretty much yes. Even if elemental damage happens to be something as intresting as an element jumping on the targets head : it will still be some extra damage.
    Quote Originally Posted by Cornu
    did anybody actually realize that the current content (and with 99% prob the future one) implies being on the move constantly, thus reducing even further the focus income ?
    Basing arguements on numbers which are not even Betaed (Yes... I just invented a verb) is not intelligent at all.

    I am really upset with the removal of ammo though. Common blizz... You said you will do something intresting with ammo and now you remove it? Who cares about spending some weekly gold on ammo? Give us an intresting mechanic like "poison arrow". (AKA Where is my pony GC?)
    80 Orc Hunter
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    To Be continued...

  15. #15

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    For pvp I both dislike and love the change to focs. The obvious "problem" is that unlike being a mana based class anymore, we can't just unload many abilities fast without worrying about having resuorces for it (like mages, locks etc.), like :

    Fight start:
    Put dow trap, shoot a sting, shoot a dmging shot, cuncussive shot, hunters mark (earlier ofc), silencing shot, dmging shot etcetc.

    We will have gaps where we have to stand still and do smaller dmg attacks to gain resources, or just wait, kind of like rogues and warriors (warriors as in: gaining resources by dmging, though different mechaninc), which I why I foresee hunters gaining more steady dmg, losing some OMGWTF burst, and gaining more controll over the battlefield, due to having to wait for resources. Ofc blizzard is going to tweak this ALOT, since it's something new.

    The BIG pro to this (if tweaked well) is that hunters will become more like warriors and rogues in the "juggernaut" department. Meaning:

    As long as the healer is alive, you can go ON and ON and ON and ON and ON, and your health is your only limit. That part I absolutely LOVE, as I HATE having mana for physical dmg. Good to see they are stearing away from mana for the classes that are "mostly" physicla dmg.

    I'm so exited
    Meh

  16. #16

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    Quote Originally Posted by thunderdragon
    just got 1 question will aspect of the viper restore x focus like it done with mana or will they just remove the aspect as there no mention of this just courious
    # Viper Sting will now restore 9 Focus every 3 seconds.

    U guys should read the hole thing...
    "Get rich or die grinding."

  17. #17

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    yeah i remember they talked about changing ammo mechanics as to have a special bullet/arrow to have an effect, i.e. maybe -resistances for certain fights/ fighting opponents with certain buffs on, armor pen for others/ against warriors in arenas etc? Would create a collect-them-all feel, would be cool. and wouldn't been as frustrating either as running out of ammo on a boss (happens now and then ). just taking ammo out is boring, i agree. but hey, they won't listen to us; it's their game.
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  18. #18

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    Quote Originally Posted by thunderdragon
    just got 1 question will aspect of the viper restore x focus like it done with mana or will they just remove the aspect as there no mention of this just courious
    I distinctivly remember them sying a while ago that they would remove AotV completely :P
    Meh

  19. #19

    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    Quote Originally Posted by Rifee
    I distinctivly remember them sying a while ago that they would remove AotV completely :P
    and you would have known that they aren't doing that if you actually read the preview.

  20. #20
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    Re: Hunter - Cataclysm Preview Compilation

    Quote Originally Posted by Dezeptor
    # Viper Sting will now restore 9 Focus every 3 seconds.

    U guys should read the hole thing...
    And Viper Sting is the same thing as Aspect of the Viper, amiright? :
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