cataclysm-hunter
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Scattered Shots: Nerf bat hits the beta hunter
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of dwarven stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. Old Grandpappy Frostheim used to have a saying: "There's nothing so ugly as a face that's been smashed in by the nerf bat. Not even an elf. Well, maybe a space goat, and certainly them Hordies -- but you know, nothing natural is that ugly." The latest Cataclysm beta build has brought a handful of changes to the hunter class, including a Kill Command nerf that makes Kill Command worse than Arcane Shot, even for BM, and Camouflage got nerfed so hard the cool leaked right out and gnomish repair crews just barely kept all the cool from leaving entirely. It isn't all bad news, however; we got some minor buffs to a handful of abilities and some cost reductions, including the removal of a focus cost from the BM bonus ability Intimidation, a new raid buff and an adorable new pet animation. Join me after the cut for the changes in the latest build and some of the ramifications on the current state of the Cataclysm beta hunter.
Scattered Shots: The patch 4.0.1 hunter -- what you should know
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of dwarven stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. Patch 4.0.1 is now on the PTR. This means that everyone can charge to the PTR and try the new hunter changes. You won't be able to level or see the changed Azeroth or new content, but you can try out focus, the new talent trees, pet abilities and our stat changes. I thought this would be an excellent time to recap some hunter Cataclysm info and talk a bit about what you should and should not be worrying about in the beta. In all honesty, this is somewhat a matter of pre-emptive self-defense. Through long experience and the ancient yet time-honored art of beer foam reading, I know -- know, deep in that instinctive part of my brain that is designed to save me from fire and bears -- that I'm about to be flooded with emails about how this spec is doing more damage than that spec and "OMG X spec is OP WTF!?" So join me after the cut for a recap of some key hunter concepts in Cataclysm, as well as a rundown of what you should not be paying any attention to at this stage of the PTR.
Scattered Shots: Cataclysm pet design pass
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of dwarven stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. After endless waiting and so much patience it tried even the saintlike souls of us hunters, the pet design pass has finally come to pass. Probably the most important change was Blizzard's finally giving in to hunter demand and creating a dance ability for our fox pet, but there were several other lesser changes that are probably worth noting as well. Specifically, our pets are now providing a variety of raid buffs, as promised. But instead of giving minor versions of the raid buffs like we thought, our pets are actually providing the full raid buff: armor debuff, 5 percent crit buff, physical damage debuff, and even Heroism/Bloodlust. Join me after the cut for the full list of new pet special abilities.
Scattered Shots: Gear for Cataclysm leveling
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of dwarven stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. I'm getting an increasing number of requests to know what kind of gear we should be hoarding for leveling up to 85 in Cataclysm. A lot of hunters are still grinding through ICC and want to know if they should bother with four-piece tier 10, or if making that final push to armor penetration gemming is going to be worthwhile since those ArP gems will change to something else. And what will those gems change to, anyway? What stat are we going to want to stack in Cataclysm? Well first of all, let me say this: We don't even have a release date for Cataclysm yet. We don't know when it's coming out, but we do know it's not going to be any time real soon. I had originally planned on waiting until Cataclysm was a bit closer before hitting this, but if the amount of emails I'm getting is any indication, people want to know now. So join me after the cut to learn what you should be paying attention to now and how best to plan for your Cataclysm hunter leveling experience.
Scattered Shots: Camouflage
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of dwarven stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. The level cap in the Cataclysm beta has been raised up to level 85, which means that we finally get to have a look at our badass level 85 ability: Camouflage. While it's true that this is primarily a PvP ability, it does not in any way disappoint. It looks amazing. It works even more amazingly, granting us more than we had ever imagined based only on the description. You can only enter Camouflage while out of combat. It lasts a minute and has a 1-minute cooldown. When you're standing still, it is stealth. When you're moving, it's sweet-looking awesomeness. You can target someone moving in Camouflage, but you cannot cast any spell at him. Camouflage makes you immune to ... just about everything. You can't be tracked, your nameplate doesn't show up, you aren't affected by AoE, fears, mass dispels. If you attack, you leave Camouflage. If you take damage -- say, from a DoT ticking -- you leave Camouflage. Everything else you're are safe from, as long as you aren't fighting. The video gives a pretty good preview both of how Camouflage looks, and how the mechanics of it work. Enjoy! [Update: Question: would a rogue be willing to give up Stealth -- and all its associated combos and benefits -- for Camouflage? If they answer is yes, then I'll agree that this is OP, otherwise nerf the rogue first.] [2nd Update: Please keep personal attacks out of the comments! You can disagree with someone's point without insulting the person. Instead, stick to the point.] Scattered Shots is dedicated to helping you learn everything it takes to be a hunter. See the Scattered Shots Resource Guide for a full listing of vital and entertaining hunter guides, including how to improve your heroic DPS, understand the impact of skill vs. gear, and getting started with Beast Mastery 101 and Marksman 101.
Scattered Shots: The golden age of pet tanking
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of dwarven stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. I have a suspicion that Wrath will go down in the history books as the golden age of pet tanking and extreme soloing. I think that Wrath hit the precise perfect balance for extreme pet antics, whether by design or by accident. We have solo'd from Molten Core to Violet Hold and everything in between (and more). We have used our pet to tank for our raids, from Naxx to Ulduar to TotC, all the way to ICC. Our pets have tanked Marrowgar, Deathwhisper, Gunship and Blood Princes, and our pets have even solo-tanked Sindragosa. We can pet tank Rotface while we kite the slimes. The beauty and balance of the Wrath pet tanking, however, is that we're generally only able to do it after we're a tier or two of gear beyond the content (or with the ICC raid buff). This way, we aren't taking tank spots away from actual tank classes -- something that would get our pet tanking nerfed in a heartbeat. But these are still impressive feats, challenging feats -- and they are big fun. While it's too early to say how pet tanking will work out in Cataclysm -- the pet design pass has not yet been done -- I keep getting emails about it, and we have seen enough to do some speculation. Join me after the cut for a look at what made pet tanking work so well in Wrath and what we know about it so far in Cataclysm.
Cataclysm Beta: Hunter changes in latest build
The hunter class received handful of tweaks in last night's Cataclysm beta build 12803, but by far the most significant among them is the removal of the minimum range (sometimes referred to as the dead zone) for hunter special shots. However Ghostcrawler, lead systems designer, was quick to jump into a thread to point out that it was only a bug. Ghostcralwer - Lead Systems Designer We did not remove the minimum range of hunter shots intentionally. If it's happening, it's a bug. source It's as if a million voices all cried out in joy and then were extinguished. Read on after the cut for a full list of the hunter changes in the latest build. As if life were worth living while Blizzard toys with our hearts this way.
Scattered Shots: Beast mastery rotation in Cataclysm
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of dwarven stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. We've now covered what the MM Cataclysm rotation and the SV Cataclysm rotation are looking like in the beta, so it's time for BM. Ghostcrawler, lead systems designer, recently identified SV as the least-polished spec in the beta currently. While that may be true, it is also true that BM is the least functional spec at the moment. While BM has come a long way in the beta, it still has not-yet-implemented talents and not-yet-functional talents. But the main problem with BM is that the pet design pass hasn't been done yet. BM relies on its pets far more than any other spec, and until we know how the pet design will play out, we are left with big questions in our rotation. Join me after the cut as we take a look at exactly where BM is right now, why our pets are more important than ever, why big red pet is better than ever, and why we can't say for certain just what the final BM rotation will look like.
Scattered Shots: Survival rotation in Cataclysm
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of dwarven stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. Last week, we covered what the new PvE rotation is looking like for MM hunters in Cataclysm, and today we're going to move along to the SV PvE rotation. Currently in Wrath, the MM rotation is more fixed and requires some careful forethought and planning. In Cataclysm, it is more so. In Wrath, the SV rotation is more reactionary, and in Cataclysm, it is that and more so. Despite the frantic gyrations from being focus-starved to actually having too much focus, the SV rotation is probably the least-changed hunter spec rotation in Cataclysm. We use Cobra Shot instead of Steady Shot, we don't have to worry about reapplying Serpent Sting and instead we get to actually use Arcane Shot from time to time. Join me after the cut and we'll take a look.
Scattered Shots: Marksman rotation in Cataclysm
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of dwarven stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. As the Cataclysm beta continues, the different hunter specs are finally beginning to settle into place. There are still a lot of bugs, a lot of things not working or working oddly, and some talents that clearly need tweaking -- and of course, focus regen is being tuned weekly at this point -- but the overall PvE feel of each spec is becoming increasingly solid. Today we're going to start by looking at the MM spec in Cataclysm, which seems to be the most polished spec at the moment. We are not forgetting SV or BM, which we'll hit up next week (though BM, as the most changed spec, is also the least finished, with big stuff not working right now). Join me after the cut for rotations, key abilities, how those talents really work and to bask in the awesomeness of the Cataclysm hunter.
Scattered Shots: New beta build for happy hunters
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of dwarven stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. We got a new Cataclysm beta build filled with delightful hunter treats, and that was promptly followed up with some blue posts with more good hunter news. From the hunter point of view, this beta build seemed mostly aimed at refining focus and focus regen -- basically getting our focus into a better spot. For the first time in beta we are able anticipate hunter movement DPS being back to a good place. I shall manfully refrain from saying I told you so to everyone who cried that the world was ending. Our ability to shoot on the move was too drastically low, and Blizzard recognized and is fixing it. In practice, I should note, most of these new changes are bugged. The result is we can't actually do a lot of testing on what the new rotations feel like in the beta, but I'm certainly very positive on how they'll work out. Heck, MM and SV rotations already had a similar instant to steady ratio as they do on live. With these changes, we'll be using a lot more instants (BM is still bugged and can't be tested well). Join me after the cut for the list of all important hunter changes in the latest Cataclysm beta build, our blue post on raid buffs, and the latest measure of our new base focus regen rate!
Scattered Shots: Cataclysm beta hunter video sneek peek
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of dwarven stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. Today, rather than telling you all about what's happening for hunters in the Cataclysm beta, I'm going to show you. This video goes through a handful of the hunter changes, including the tracking update, new pet skins, the new stable master and the improved pet stay command. Before anyone asks, the beta currently has a level cap of level 83 and Camouflage cannot be learned until level 85. It's still very early in the beta, and we have a way to wait before we can see how that one works out. Scattered Shots is the WoW.com column dedicated to helping you learn everything it takes to be a hunter. See the Scattered Shots Resource Guide for a full listing of vital and entertaining hunter guides, including how to improve your heroic DPS, understand the impact of skill vs. gear, get started with Beast Mastery 101 and Marksman 101 and even solo bosses with some extreme soloing.
Cataclysm Beta: Hunter talent overhaul
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of Dwarven Stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. As promised, Blizzard has completed a massive overhaul of the talent system in the Cataclysm beta. It's a change of biblical proportions: only 31 points to the bottom of the trees, no more Mortal Shots, no more Hawk Eye, Explosive Shot for free at level 10, dogs and cats living together ... mass hysteria! A lot of what we're seeing right now looks a little bit crude. We have vastly different numbers of talents in different trees as well as some truly odd choices of what talents remain and which ones were removed. Suffice it to say (as we always say), this is just the beta; this is a first implementation of the new talent system, and expect many changes moving forward. Join me after the cut for a complete look at what the talent system overhaul is currently doing for hunters in the beta.
Scattered Shots: Cataclysm beta info on BM and hunter pets
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of Dwarven Stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. On Thursday we talked about some of the biggest hunter news in the Cataclysm beta, from Aspect of the Fox to the new Chimer/ Widow Venom combo. But of course that was only the tip of the of the deadly hunter iceberg. Today we're going to focus on the news about our better halves, our lifelong companions and platonic life partners: our pets. It would be inappropriate of us to claim the title of most-changed class in Cataclysm without some major changes to our pets, and that's just what we're getting. Some of this was expected from blue posts in the months after our class preview, some of it was promised to us years ago, and some of it is entirely unexpected and wonderful. Across the board, however, I think you'll agree that it's good news for our pets in Cataclysm. Join me after the cut to learn all about it. Since no discussion of pets is complete without the true pet hunter, BM, we'll be taking a look at the BM talent changes and how they interact with the pet changes to make Cataclysm the most exciting time to be a BM hunter in the history of WoW.
Scattered Shots: Cataclysm beta hunter info
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of Dwarven Stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. Okay, take a deep breath. The NDA has been lifted and we're about to take a look at what's been going on with the hunter class behind closed doors. Those of us who have been desperately keeping our mouths shut until we were vibrating with the secret knowledge we possess can finally climb to the rooftops and start shouting about the awesomeness contained within. Because those hunter class previews we had earlier in the year? That was nothing. Nothing I tell you compared to the sweet, sweet huntery goodness lurking behind the closed beta doors. Join me after the cut as we begin to scrape the surface of some of the awesomesauce hidden in the Cataclysm beta. I think you'll join me in agreeing that it's been worth the wait. Hold tight to your seat, folks; this is a killer ride.
Scattered Shots: Pistols for hunters?
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of Dwarven Stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. The idea of hunters dual-wielding pistols has been around since the beginning of WoW. The reason it keeps coming up is because it's frickin' awesome. It was even recently addressed by Ghostcrawler (lead systems designer) himself in the Developer Twitter Chat back in January. Specifically, he said: Ghostcrawler The pistol idea for hunters gets suggested a lot. It could either be an alternate to the gun / bow / crosssbow or something they use for short-range attacks. source I should stress here that Blizzard has never said that they are going to do this, and they have never even said that they're considering it. However, we certainly know that they are aware of the idea. I started thinking about this again when BRK brought it up as a guest on the Hunting Party Podcast a couple weeks ago, and my half-formed ideas on how pistols could fix some problems with the hunter class grew into fully formed ideas. Join me after the cut as we take a look at why I think this is more than just something cool, but also a much-needed change for the hunter class.
Scattered Shots: Will Cataclysm lower our global cooldown?
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science mixed with a few mugs of Dwarven Stout to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. We recently got an exciting tidbit of hunter news from Ghostcrawler (lead systems designer) about potential chances in Cataclysm. You may have missed it, since it was buried in the warrior forums, of all places: Ghostcrawler - Lead Systems Designer Lowering the GCD is as close to anything on the never list. We will possibly do it for hunters, but that is because their resource system is going to prevent them from ever spamming multiple buttons at once (in the same way rogues have a lower GCD). Even with rage normalization there are going to be times when a warrior is at 100 rage and can unload with multiple attacks at once. The GCD is there for a reason, partially for game balance and partially to keep the server - client communication from getting gummed up. source Why hello there, tasty one-second global cooldown of scrumtiousness! This is of course not definite, not a promise and just something they are considering. But considering it they are, and if you were to put on your Frostheim Goggles and look into the future, you too would predict that a one-second hunter GCD will indeed come to pass. So what exactly might this (possible) change mean? Let's do some speculating after the cut.
Scattered Shots: Cobra Shot and Camouflage
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week, Frostheim uses logic and science (mixed with a few mugs of Dwarven Stout) to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. I have no doubt that, such astute and learned people as hunters tend to be, you are all well aware of the Cataclysm alpha leaks that have been piling up. If you were to follow your curiosity in hopes of getting a better mental picture of how we hunters will turn out, you would be sorely disappointed. Well, first you'd be disappointed, and then you'd probably get lost looking at pictures of new zones and old zones made new again for far, far too long ... But then some hours later, you'd remember why you went there in the first place and return to being disappointed. Unlike some classes whose talent trees have been showered with presents in the leaks, our talent trees appear mostly unchanged at the moment -- in fact, they're still filled with our mana regen and mana reduction talents. However, there were a couple of little nibblets of hunter goodness hidden in there -- the actual tooltips for our new spells, Camouflage and Cobra Shot. This is not official. The beta has not even started, and even if it was official it'd be subject to all kinds of change at any moment. This is stuff that, frankly, was never meant for our eyes to see. Also, these are spoilers. If you don't want to know anything about Cataclysm until it's released, don't click to read more. In fact, you really shouldn't go any further, if you're being good. If you do click to read more you will be rewarded with naughty goodies of secret hunter info. So those of you feeling just a bit naughty, join me after the cut.
Scattered Shots: Hunter pets in Cataclysm
Welcome to Scattered Shots, written by Frostheim of Warcraft Hunters Union and the Hunting Party Podcast. Each week Frostheim uses logic and science mixed with a few mugs of Dwarven Stout to look deep into the hunter class. Got hunter questions? Feel free to email Frostheim. Throughout the years of WoW, hunter pets have grown better and better with each expansion. In the beginning they were a pain to train and level, and we were rewarded for that pain with a pet that died in every boss fight. But over time, our pets have grown steadily stronger, easier and more customizable. While we still have some pet issues, those issues are no longer that our pets are too weak. Of course while we know how awesome and vital our pets have become, healers are still a few expansions behind on the learning curve. They continue to prioritize the tanks or themselves over our pets. But what are you gonna do? The healer's mind is an unfathomable thing -- after all, they rolled healers in the first place, which already establishes them as somewhat unstable. What I don't understand is why that nurturing impulse doesn't translate to adorably fluffy and cuddly minions of death. So our pets are certified mini-killing machines now, but with that improvement new problems have cropped up. While we still don't know exactly what Cataclysm has in store for our pets, the recent hunter class preview gave us a peek at the direction that Blizzard may have in mind. So join me after the cut as we take a look at the current problem with hunter pets and the possible solution that Cataclysm may present.
Cataclysm Class Changes: Hunter analysis
After days of watching other classes cheer and complain over their Cataclysm class previews, we finally got a chance for a look into what Blizzard has planned for us with the hunter class previews. Like a good first date, it leaves us excited and intrigued with the possibilities, but mostly it leaves us wanting more! Let's roll up our sleeves and both take a deeper look at what these changes mean for the best-looking class in WoW and just how much more we hope to see on our second date. Before we get started though, we have to be sure to keep our reactions in context. Everything is getting rebalanced in Cataclysm, every number for every class and every stat. We cannot look at these changes through our Wrath experience. Since we do not yet know how the numbers will play out with every class and spec being rebalanced, we cannot say whether our damage will go up or down compared to other classes or specs. We just have no idea, so we can only look at these changes with the assumption that our DPS will be equivalent to any other class in most situations. We'll also be using the Frostheim rating system to evaluate each of the changes, ranging from FAIL to Awesomesauce.
