Five Days Out: Hunters

Hunters are another one of those classes that got their big revamp in Cataclysm, and so the Mists changes are not quite as huge. That said, there is one major change that I think is going to actually mean some significant changes to the way the Hunter plays, and that is the removal of the Ranged slot.

Now, obviously Hunters are still going to use their ranged weapons. The real meaning of this is that the days of the stat-stick (at least for any physical dps or tanks) are gone. Say goodbye to your polearms and staves (and hand them off to your nearest Monk) and say adieu to Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite. Now, you can technically still equip those old melee weapons for cosmetic reasons, but they’re going to be useless in combat.

There are three implications here: One cosmetic, one for gameplay, and one for gearing.

The cosmetic change is that you will now see your ranged weapon slung on your back when not in combat. Ordenar, my Dwarf Marksmanship Hunter, now has Vishanka transmogged to Rifle of the Platinum Guard from Ulduar, and man does that look menacing with the stock visible over his shoulder.

The gameplay change is that there is no minimum range for Hunters anymore. Gone are the days of staying back a couple yards while everyone else is stacked on the tank for big heals. This is going to be a more noticeable change than you’d think, especially when soloing. For anyone whose pet couldn’t quite hold your enemies off of you, you had to be a little jumpy with your shots, getting a Concussive Shot off as you try to open distance with a rapidly approaching Fel Boar or some such thing. Now, should you choose, you can just sit there and take it as you fire point-blank into that demon-pig’s face. You’ve got Mail armor, might as well use it.

Finally, the gearing change is actually pretty profound. Three entire weapon types: Bows, Guns, and Crossbows, are now Hunter-exclusive. Oh sure, Warriors and Rogues can equip them cosmetically, but any and all ranged weapons (save Wands) are firmly in the domain of the Hunter. (Thrown weapons are now all grey-quality.) So, this means that in Dungeon Finder, where they basically never put two hunters together, you will never have gear competition for your weapon. It also means that actually getting a decent weapon set will take only one step. I would only hope we could start to see scopes have an actual visual effect (unlike a lot of people, I love having my weapon glow with a crazy enchant or rune.)

Another class-wide change is that you can now respec your pet, regardless of pet family. Boars can be Ferocity, Raptors can go Cunning, and Birds of Prey can go Tenacity. They’ll still have the pet-family exclusive abilities, but you can basically bring whatever pet you want. You can also respec your pet on the fly for free, so if you want, you can just keep one pet for everything.

Ok, now the Spec-by-Spec, though be warned, they’re mostly unchanged:

Beast Mastery: The only big difference I can tell is that Kill Command can be used before the pet gets into melee range, and they’ll charge right in there. BM Hunters still have exclusive access to Exotic Pets, and it’s possible some of those pets have had their buffs reworked, but it works pretty much the same.

Marksmanship: Again, not much changed except that Chimera Shot now heals you for a percentage of your health. Marked for Death and Posthaste are now a Glyph and Talent respectively, though you’ll also get access to some nice things from other specs, so it’s a trade-off.

Survival: I could be wrong, but I think Black Arrow was changed to allow for greater, if not constant uptime. It’s still all about Black Arrow and Explosive Shot for Survival, and Serpent Spread sadly comes later (meaning I don’t have it anymore on my Goblin.)

Despite all the shock of the talent overhaul, some of the classes came out of it pretty much unscathed. Hunters, like Death Knights, play almost exactly as they used to. We still don’t have Volley back yet, which makes me sad, but what are you going to do? (I know they say it was a boring Blizzard clone, which was true, but what if they made it more like Flame Strike or the new, non-channeled Rain of Fire? You throw down a Volley and an Explosive Trap and then you start Multishotting? I miss the visual more than the ability itself.)