Comments on: WotLK Beta Build 8788

By: Boobah

Boobah — Sun, 17 Aug 2008 22:22:22 +0000

@Palladiamors: Shamans are getting the exact same melee AP as Hunters: 1 per Strength, 1 per Agility. And just like every other class in the game that gets AP from agility, they will now stack that in preference to any other source of AP. Heck, cat druids stack Agi before Str and they still get 2 AP/Str.

@Dweezil: Intellect doesn’t boost spell power, but for caster-type pets it does increase spell crit chance. The Elitist Jerk-based theorycrafting thinktank concluded that the lost physical damage cannot be made up by the higher crit-chance of Lightning Bolt at any reasonable gear level, thanks in large part to the 8% lower hit chance of spells vs. raid bosses. The lower stamina on the casters sealed the deal.

By: Dweezill

Dweezill — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 17:19:21 +0000

Ketari,
So, even if I stack a ton of INT on my hunter, it still wouldn’t be worthwhile to try to boost it’s lightning breath that way?

By: Ketari

Ketari — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 15:19:44 +0000

Dweezill – yes, but. The scaling factor is so bad (maximum synergy) that even in the best circumstances it can only just about match normal pets, and without that it falls well below. Stay clear.

By: Seidouyumi

Seidouyumi — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:07:01 +0000

Well, Nim, I only just found out about it, and thought I would send it along since the Crab ability Pin is channelled, and there are a few Hunter skills/spells that are cast.

By: Nimizar

Nimizar — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:57:20 +0000

The spell pushback change was actually in the previous build – I agree it is somewhat interesting when it comes to making use of Steady and Aimed Shot in PvP.

As far as Heart of the Phoenix goes, I think only 51-point BM hunters are going to take it on raiding pets. MM and SV hunters would have to sacrifice DPS pet talents in order to pick it up at level 80. And of course, hunters can only take it for PvP if they actually use a Ferocious pet like a devilsaur or raptor, which may not be the best option for PvP when utility pets with stuns (e.g. Ravage, Sonic Blast), roots (e.g. Web, Venom Web, Pin), snares (e.g. Tendon Rip, Froststorm Breath) and interrupts (e.g. Nethershock) will be more useful. (although it is possible to pick up both Tendon Rip and Heart of the Phoenix if you use a hyena for PvP)

At a 10 minute CD (7 minutes with Longevity), Heart of the Phoenix should actually be usable in the arena (I believe the cut-off is abilities with a CD longer than 15 minutes), so I expect Blizzard will be taking another look at the effectiveness of this once more zones are open and beta PvP gets to the level 80 mark.

By: Dweezill

Dweezill — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 20:42:29 +0000

OK, I have a question. For Winsd Serpents… is their lightnign breath considered a talen or a spell? If it is a spell, wouldn’t having a “caster” wind sepent give it’s lightning breath a boost since spell power is helped by INT, and “casters” have raised INT. I coould be waaay off on this, that is why I am asking. I have never had one as a pet and i was just curious to know how the mechanics of “caster” pets work. Thanks.

By: Seidouyumi

Seidouyumi — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:53:27 +0000

I forgot to mention that there is some information that has surfaced out of this last build that is not totally Hunter related.

Casting knockback has been altered. Casting spells (of which there are a small few for Hunters) will now have a knockback of .5 seconds for the first and second hit, and after that, no further knockback will occur. For channelled spells, the first two hits will drop the spell length by 25% each, but after two hits, it will not be altered. This will affect any and all abilities that aren’t instant casts.

By: Seidouyumi

Seidouyumi — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:47:47 +0000

Mania-

Ah, ok, I knew only of the one. Then again, Star Trek has had a lot of issues with video games on the whole.

Featherkitty-

I think everyone hopes that it won’t go back to the 10% rez health as well.

By: Mania

Mania — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:20:26 +0000

Seidouyumi: Actually STO has been floating around the game dev world for quite some time. Perpetual was only the most recent casualty. A friend of mine worked on oneof the early versions (before these games were known popularly as MMOs) back in the 90s.

Okay, okay, now I’ll get back to pets. *grin*

By: Featherkitty

Featherkitty — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 19:00:13 +0000

I hope they wont turn it back