Hunter Class Preview: Candy & Questions
Today Blizzard posted a preview of changes to the hunter class in the upcoming Cataclysm expansion.
I’m not going to repost the entire thing here (although I did post it on the Petopia forums for those who can’t get to the WoW forums for whatever reason).
But suffice it to say that it is both full of intriguing information … and yet somehow just a tad disappointing. A tasty M&M, if you will, when you are really hungry.
There are no huge surprises here — we’d had hints about most of these changes already — and an awful lot of questions yet unanswered. Of course, questions are to be expected: this is just a preview; not, you know, a systems doc.
So, let’s pull it apart, shall we?
There’s Abilities and Stuff
First off, I’ll say up front that I barely read the sections on new abilities, new talents, and changes to both. There are new talents and abilities (and some resurrected ones, like Camouflage), but this stuff just doesn’t interest me as much as the pets do.
Slightly more interesting: We are finally going to see the complete removal of ammunition. If you happen to still have a quiver somewhere it will turn into a bag, and the ammo itself will turn into grey, sellable items. Oh, and as expected, we hunters will be switching to a focus system rather than using mana.
Pets Right From the Start
Blizzard is tweaking hunters from level 1 onwards. New hunters will start with some ranged abilities and — get this! — a ‘race-appropriate’ pet. No more slogging away in melee for 10 levels!
I’ve wanted hunters to start with a pet for some time, especially since warlocks now start with their imp. But moving the taming quests back from level 10 to level 1 would be a headache, and probably overwhelm level 1 hunters to boot.
Blizzard seems to have gotten around that by assigning us a pet based on our race. Then, according to the preview, we “will be able to tame a different pet at level 10″ — presumably by going through the existing level 10 taming quests.
I am very curious about that race-appropriate pet. First off, which pets will each race get? And will it be a real pet — with family abilities, happiness, and a need to be fed — or something more like the pets that you ‘tame’ with a taming rod during the level 10 taming quests?
And will we get to keep these pets if we want to? Considering the bond between hunter and pet, hanging on to your level 1-9 pet in some capacity will probably be quite common.
Family Abilities = Buffs and Debuffs
Blizzard has obviously been thinking about how to even out the usefulness of pet families without losing their unique flavors. They are accomplishing this by changing pet families 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.
The preview gives three examples:
- 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).
I’m really glad that Blizzard has clearly stated their goal for this change and given some examples.
Wind serpents are a particularly good example, I think, since right now wind serpents have a simple damage-dealing ability. Giving them an increased spell damage debuff clearly adds some utility, and we don’t have to worry about them losing the extra damage since Blizzard has already stated that they want damage to come out about even between the families.
But while we know Blizzard’s goal, we don’t have the specifics yet — not that I expect all the specifics in a preview, but man is it frustrating not to know!
For instance: What’s going to happen to pet talent trees? Will Ferocity talents continue to be focused on damage and Tenacity on survival, for instance — meaning that Ferocity pets will end up with more damage than Tenacity pets regardless? Did they just mean that pet damage would be very similar within each tree?
And what happens with exotic pets? Will their damage also be “very similar and no greater than any other pet”? If so, will Beast Mastery hunters get more pet talent points to compensate? Or is the concept of exotics going away completely?
I’m anxious to get these questions answered, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to wait for the beta to start.
The Infinite Stable
And now for the best change: More stable slots! Well, sort of — but this change is even better than simply getting a few more slots. According to the preview:
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.
So let me get this straight: I’ll be able to have 3 (or maybe 5) pets that I can switch between without going back to town (like using Call Stabled Pet right now). I’ll be able to keep ‘a large number’ of pets in the stable rather than having to release them when I fill up. And I can swap pets between active and inactive by going back to a Stable Master — which is pretty much what I always do now to switch pets.
Yep — that rocks.
My biggest concern here is how the mechanics here interact with level. My low-level hunters were terribly disappointed when they couldn’t use Call Stabled Pet, and unless you have a sugar-parent to help you out, buying all the stable slots at level 10 right now can be a tad difficult. (What? Doesn’t everyone buy all the slots at level 10?)
And no, I don’t actually expect the new stable to be infinite. But that sounds so much better than: ‘The Probably-pretty-large-but-we-don’t-have-numbers-yet Stable!’
Candy
So there you are: lots of delicious, sweet news about hunter pets in Cataclysm, but relatively little meaty information. That’s a preview for you, though.
I can’t wait for the beta to start. Even if I’m not lucky enough to be invited, I’m sure someone will post some answers to these questions!
21 Comments
Mmm, Blizz’s stable slots idea is similar to a sort of “What if…” dream I had a while back. Glad to see it’s on its way to becoming reality! :D
“No more slogging away in melee for 10 levels!”
You’re doing it wrong :(
Has BRK taught you nothing?!
http://www.bigredkitty.net/2009/03/09/brk-baby-hunter-movie-part-one/
The “pet abilities bringing buffs/debuffs” thing will do nothing, because everyone seems to miss the critical delimiter – “weaker version“.
This will do nothing to remove the Wolf dominance currently present, unless it also involves removing Furious Howl, at which point the best pet will become the one that doesn’t have its family ability weakened because of a stupid “weaker version” of a raid debuff.
This does absolutely nothing for the 25-man raider (the one already locked into wolves to begin with), and it’s absolutely exasperating that everyone keeps praising this as some sort of triumph when it’s full of sound and fury and signifies exactly nothing as far as change goes.
YAAAAAY MORE STABLE SLOTS GOD IM SO HAPPY ILL CRY :’)
Fenrisulfr: Heh! You know how many hunter alts it took me to learn that?
Rilgon Arcsinh: Balance rage will have to wait until we have more details, I think. At the moment it’s too easy for me to say “Well they might do it this way …” and for you to counter “But they might not!”
*yawn*
Wait, was I supposed to be excited?
Rilgon: removing Furious Howl, or reverting it to its old raid-wide version (which didn’t stack with Battle Shout) is exactly what I expect to happen.
My prediction:
- selectable pet talent trees
- streamlined pet talent trees, with tree appropriate mastery bonuses (e.g. damage for Ferocity, damage reduction for Tenacity, and maybe crit chance or armour penetration for Cunning)
- pet families with a primarily damage dealing special ability will lose their “focus dump” ability (Bite/Claw/Smack) in favour of making the damage dealing special do the same amount of damage as the focus dump would have
- pet families with a pure utility special ability will keep their focus dump to bring their damage up to par with the families with a damage dealing special
I would also expect exotics to bring “full power” versions of raid buffs, while non-exotics bring inferior-but-still-better-than-nothing versions (i.e. similar to the way worms currently bring a Sunder Armour equivalent armour debuff, while wasps brings a Faerie Fire equivalent).
However, as Mania rightly points out, this is all pure speculation at this stage, and we’re unlikely to learn more until the beta starts.
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
DEADLOCK! HEY DEADLOCK! YA CAN COME OUT NOW!
<3 <3 <3 <3 <3
Sorry, just talking to my sad, stabled wind serpent.
ALSO LEVEL 1 PETS.
<3 you Blizzard :D
Enjoy my 15$ a month forever and ever! :D
Also, Mania, about Camoflauge – Camoflauge with a cat. That would be awesome.
The pet news was about the only thing I’m happy with about the preview. It’s pretty sweet. The new abilities are pretty meh. The switch to focus seems full of problems. We all knew that was coming, but the more I’ve thought about focus, the more I think it’ll be at least 4 patches before Blizz gets it right.
One minor concern I have is with the new “trap arrow” thing. Does that mean I’m going to have to find room on my bars for 4 more buttons? Gah. I’m already using Dominos just to get more buttons.
Dunno, really don’t want to rain on the parade here. Just not impressed, ‘cept with the pet bits. That’ll be nice.
I am SO psyched about the “start with pet” thing because I have one space free on my home server already set aside for worgen (have ended up with a horde alt server now because I have to try goblin too, not to mention a growing crowd of horde alts already) – and I’ve been planning from the start on a worgen hunter, and have been looking through all pets thinking Which Goes Best With Worgen? Now that worgen will have its own starter pet I’m dying to know what and also – oh no! – does this mean one less space in my stable because it’s already filled with that starter pet?! (Which I will of course love and have to keep! Probably anyway.) I’d already mentally filled those stable slots with pets my current hunter wants but has no space for. But maybe the more stable slots thing will help/cure me of that problem.
Goblins can be hunters right? Because something tells me I’m going to have to have two new hunters with this expansion.
Ok I’m totally counting on you to get into the beta! I’m pretty sure I’ll be either not able to get in or not have time (real life n stuff) so we need Mania in there to do the scouting of the important stuff!
I persoanlly wish Furious Howl was removed from Wolves and made a ferocity talent (ala Thunderstomp and Tenacity), and just give Wolves something else. That’d help make other pets more diserable than just wolves.
Though honestly, no matter what, there will always be one pet that outdps the others. That’s how the cookie crumbles unless there’s homogenization.
BUT
Overall, I liked this preview ALOT more than the other class changes. I’m excited for the new BM shot and the active/passive pet change. Sounds awesome.
I LOVE the starter Pet idea! (it’s like Pokemon! What? Shut up nerd!)
and I immediately began assigning pet partners:
Dwarves with Boars. Boars are in their starting area, I think they look handsome together. *OR* Dwarves with Bears seems plausible too. (see Dun Morogh cub) Actually a lot of Races have pre-assigned pets:
Tauren and Tallstridgers (duh)
Orcs and either Wolves or Scorpions
Trolls and Raptors.
Blood Elves and Dragon Hawks.
Undead and Diseased anything. or Bats. or diseased bats.
Draeneai and Ravagers.
Night Elves and…Owls? Nightsabers?
Goblins and Parrots!
Worgen and…what?? Boars?
Humans and Pikachu. (It could happen*)
*it will never happen.
OH! it is fun to guess. I just hope, hope, hope they let us keep them. It would be awful if they gave us like a cub or a young what have you and then when it’s time to venture out into the world it had to stay behind, but never fear adventurer you just tamed this new beast that will never, ever replace your first pet.
/point to classic WoW opening cinematic. If dwarves don’t start with a bear, Blizzard are doing it wrong. You could make the case for boars or wolves due to their presence in the starting area though, but I hope the cinematic will win out.
That cinematic is pretty much the reason my two level 80 toons are a male dwarven hunter and a female nightelf druid (more accurately, the cinematic is the reason those toons were created in the first place – its the gameplay of the two classes that got me to level them both to 80).
Chanteloup’s list looks pretty good to me. If we assume no two races start with the same pets, then it narrows things down a bit too.
For classes with a racial mount that is also a pet family, I think it makes sense to pair them up that way, so:
Night Elf and Cat
Troll and Raptor
Orc and Wolf
Similarly for races and their associated flying mounts for flight paths:
Undead and Bat
Blood Elf and Dragonhawk
For the remaining races, it is a matter of looking at what is around in their starting areas (both the 1-5 starting area and the rest of the zone that contains the starting area) and considering what is most likely (e.g. I doubt Blizzard would ever use spiders as a default pet, because they wouldn’t want to scare off arachnophobes)
To me, that suggests:
Human and Boar (bear and wolf already taken by other races)
Draenei and Ravager (Moths in the newbie area, Ravagers, Crabs, Cats and Spiders on Azuremyst, of which, ravagers are the most alien and hence most appropriate for the space goats)
Tauren and Carrion Bird (yes, Tallstrider is an option as well, they just strike me as an unlikely choice for a default pet, since they’re likely to be a love-it-or-hate-it prospect, while carrion birds should be more neutral from the point of few of a new player).
Goblins and worgen are anybody’s guess at this stage, but given the goblins’ island origins, a crab strikes me as a fairly likely option. For worgen, I’m going to riff off a Ladyhawke vibe and predict Birds of Prey.
My complete list:
Dwarf and Bear
Draenei and Ravager
Human and Boar
Night Elf and Cat
Worgen and Bird of Prey
Blood Elf and Dragonhawk
Goblin and Crab
Orc and Wolf
Tauren and Carrion Bird
Troll and Raptor
Uh, “point of view”, not “point of few”.
well i can´t remember any wolves in durotar?
would say orc and scorpion or boar, because my guess is that you get one of those pets which are avaible in your starting area
@Seryth I don’t think there are wolves in Durotar but orc’s have a strong wolf connection with the clan and the mounts and blah.
Secretly I hope that they let us chose from three pets, one from each group:
Tenacity: Turtle
Ferocity: Raptor
Cunning: Bulbasaur
#Pokemon4life
It’s kinda funny to me as a die hard Wolf fan, who slogged all thru TBC raiding with my Wolf/Raptor or Bird at my side because i flat out refused to have a cat and all the grief i got then, to now hear ppl moaning because Wolves are everywhere and want to make FH a baseline ability.
I dunno as Rikaku said – unless all pets do the same damage there will ALWAYS be “the one pet for raiding” – I think Blizz know this and are trying to work on it and i hope they’ll get it sorted.
Umm, is it just me or does the new pet/stable system sound a lot like pokemon? Here’s hoping there will be enough stable slots to catch ‘em all ;)
That’s cool that we wont be using ammo any more. Sadly I’m guessing they’re just gonna change pets current abilities not ADD more abilities to them. But I do like that. I doubt they’re gonna “do anything” to pets’ Talent Trees. And I doubt they’re gonna “do anything” to Exotics. That’s kinda the “bread and butter” for Beast Mastery Hunters. Duh. Exotics are gonna do more damage than normal pets!
I’m hoping to get into the beta……lets face it they need ppl to test out the game on both good specced and bad specced PC’s (mine is the second :D) so if I do get inot the beta I’ll post whatever info I find.
As for the preview, I’m not getting too excited just yet. Have a feeling they’re gonna do the same thing they always do with us – promise us the things we want then take them away again without giving a specific reason why (ghost wolf anyone? ammo removal a few patches ago?)
Time to kick back, relax and wait till we get a few more specifics……..oh and squeal at the forums for more info on when beta starts!
I am so glad that hunters will no longer have a need for ammunition for their guns/bows/crossbows. Not only will this save some gold, but it will also give us hunters a nice way to not ever be scared to death when our ammo runs out. Even if that loses a bit of business with engineers, engineers can still make guns for us, and I think that has always made bigger business than selling bullets/arrows in the AH anyway. Ever wonder when or if those arrows and bullets wasting space in the guild bank will ever be used?
I’m also happy we get a chance to have a pet right from the very beginning rather than brave through the first nine levels while we beg for mercy in wanting a pet so badly. I’ll even be happy if our “race pets” will be a pet or a pet with a unique skin color that’s found nowhere else, and better yet if we can keep it even after level 10. I am kind of disappointed that our melee abilities will disappear, but since weapon skill will be gone also, I guess that will work out after all. I am always concerned in making sure my skills are always to their maximum before gaining another level and that is time consuming.
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