Makes sense considering they pretty much were stances once upon a time. I can’t help but feel like they might be more magical however.
Think of it as a watered down version of the powers of JLA’s Vixen.
You’re not going to find anything about it in Lore as the closest thing we have to a Lore Hunter is Rexxar and he’s handled more as a Ninja Assassin than a Hunter.
This both makes sense and sounds really cool! If blizz ever comes out and says anything about it I hope they say it works this way.
Well, Hunters seem to use some minor nature magic. I always imagined it involved invoking the archetypal spirit of a specific animal, and in doing so temporarily gaining certain beneficial characteristics. Sort of like a very primitive version of the same sort of magic that druids use to physically transform into an animal.
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Is it that big of a deal if blizzard declares that hunters are fake druids or loa practitioners? Taking on animal traits doesn’t seem difficult compared to turning into one.
I’d actually hope they went a different route with hunters and rather than say they’re fake druids. Say that they, similar to druids respect nature, but rather than revere it as druids do, they see it as a worthy opponent to be dominated. The little bit of hunter lore we have suggests this too with Nesingwary always wanting to be apex predator and that one guy in underbog enslaving a druid. Thusly implying tame beast is something akin to domination forced upon animals.
It’d also make hunters something of a darker class to boot and give them a natural enemy in druids. Could be a fun thing.
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I guess one could role-play them invoking the Wild Gods or Loa of the associated aspect - for a breath of their power.
Keep in mind one doesn’t need to be a druid to associate with such beings or creatures born of divine life.
- The Night-Elven & High-Borne people rotated many skills around nature, even their magi whom sought to interweave Nature & Magic in much creations (Including the Arcan’dor)
- There’s Zandalari of multiple attributes that invoke their Loa for various subjects … On top of which, heck the Paladins of their ranks were created by Rezan.
- The Pandaren Monks were created by the teachings combined from Xuen.
Beings of both or either, Divinity & Life - Are existent in more than just Azeroth, hence having multiple races, regardless which path they choose - despite where they are from or otherwise to receive boons of such aspects would hardly be far-fetched.
Having the hunters among them have the utility, mindset, spirit & skills to do such with various aspects, with keeping all this in mind I’d say would be understandable.
What Hunter’s do is no more fake than what Vixen does. They evoke the spirit of the animal rather than physically transform.
As a Hunter since BC (Sorry did not play in Vanilla) Allow me to stem some possible light on the Hunter Aspects and similar abilities. But first…
Was there something in Legion about Rogues going invisible? I know that in the new cinematic there are some undead rogues whom could vanish.
Hunters in Vanilla were not the same as they are now. While not casters they still called upon the magic known as mana to perform their abilities. One could argue this being their spirit or chi as the monk class use.
Now while it is argued that Hunters were not casters they used mana a magical resource. Now as mentioned there really is not the same representation for our class as with others such as Warlock, Mage, Warrior, and even Priest, Druid or Shaman. Rexxigar being one of the main ones.
It is strange, it almost seems like Hunters are the most divided among their 3 specs. We have the marksman; whom is a strong user of the rifle or bow. The theme is typically companionless. You see this with Nessingwary. He is a Gunman. A Hunter for sport rather than for the nature of it.
If you go to the Hunter page here:
It reads the following:
Inescapable Stalkers
From an early age, the call of the wild draws some adventurers from the comfort of their homes into the unforgiving primal world outside. Those who endure become hunters. Masters of their environment, they are able to slip like ghosts through the trees and lay traps in the paths of their enemies.
This is what a hunter is suppose to be in the Lore. Not simply someone whom fires a Bow, or a Rifle. Any Race whom can be a hunter should be able to embody this to some degree.
Now onto the Aspects.
Each of them represent some animal. Cheetah for example are fast, Monkeys are agile. Eagles have sharp eyes. Tigers are stealthy and powerful.
There was a class in the old RPG called a Primal. I think part of this class crossed over into the playable hunter with these aspects. Think Tarzan, someone whom was raised in the Jungle by apes and the other animals. One who is one with nature on a level similar to Druids but different. They became more animalistic, long teeth, claws, hair. Instincts become prominent. Things modern civilizations choose to ignore because they are civilized.
Hunters, real Hunters are the Tarzans of Warcraft. They are one with the wild, becoming a part of it rather than trying to dominate it. A Hunter whom takes on the Aspect of an animal totem embodies that totem. Cheetahs are fast, the fastest land animal known to man. Mind you the in-game aspects have their limitations as do all spells and abilities due to balancing reasons. In the Lore there are fewer restrictions.
In the Hunter Order Hall we ask for the blessing of an Eagle Spirit. There very Spirit the Eagle Lodge, our Order Hall is named after. There is no reason to believe that the Real Hunters like Rexxar don’t do the same for each aspect. There is a reason you can only have one active at a time. Similar to how a druid can only take one form at a time.
In later expansions they changed up how aspects work. You could in theory have several active, such as the nerfed Cheetah and Turtle. I don’t know much on the apparition of the shell during Aspect of the Turtle. It’s possible that’s how it does work. The other Aspects are easy enough to explain.
Cheetah: With training anyone could become faster. Train the right muscles.
Monkey: Much like cheetah, the right kind of training would allow for someone to hone their reflexes to a point they react without thinking. Avoiding blows like they weren’t even there.
Tiger: This one is a bit harder because I am not even sure how it works. The tooltip only says the user become untrackable. This could also lend itself to aspect of the chameleon or the Cloaking ability Hunters got some time back. Their ability to blend into nature. Night Elves do this with their Shadowmeld racial. Think of it like camo or cover scents. Staying down wind (or is it up wind?) so their target cannot smell or sense them coming.
Eagle: This one is easy as just one being more attentive to detail. Eagles and other birds have binocular vision but that alone is not what makes them apex predators. It is their attention to the smallest of details. a single blade of grass out of place, or the twitch of a shadow revealing the prey item. Once their prey makes that fatal mistake. That one false move it is over in seconds.
It’s called taking the talent called Camouflage.