Many Hunter players are in agreement that the state of the Hunter class is not very good, so just as I did with my thread specifically about a ranged Survival spec, I will make this thread with the intention of detailing the Hunter class as a whole; possible changes that could be made to the general class, specs and pets, in order to make the Hunter class more engaging and to better fulfill its class fantasy. I will include four specs in this post; Beast Mastery, Marksmanship, Ranged Survival (Survival) and Melee Survival (Wild). Optimally, all four specs would exist simultaneously, so that both the old ranged SV players can have their spec, while the new melee SV players can have their spec too.
The purpose of this post is not to give examples of properly tuned abilities, but rather abilities that are engaging that can have their damage and what not tuned to be balanced. If anyone would like to provide feedback I am ready and willing to add or remove things from this post, in order to hopefully provide a better potential design. So here ya go (many abilities will be the same as their current iteration or their SL iteration. Abilities that I sufficiently alter or that are new will be signified with an asterisk following their names):
~ ~ Hunter Base Abilities ~ ~
These are abilities that ALL Hunter specs would have access to (with the exception of Wild, whose melee abilities replace the majority of the baseline ranged abilities).
~ Beast Mastery Abilities ~
Beast Lore
40 yd range
Instant
Gathers information about the target beast, displaying diet, abilities, specialization, whether or not the creature is tameable, and if it is exotic.
Call Pet
Instant
Summons your pet to you.
Feed Pet
10 yd range
Instant
10 sec cooldown
Feeds your pet the selected item, instantly restoring 50% of its total health. Not usable in combat.You may use the Beast Lore ability to identify what types of foods your pet will eat.
Revive Pet
35 Focus
6 sec cast
Revives your pet, returning it to life with 100% of its base health.
Tame Beast
30 yd range
Channeled (6 sec cast)
Tames a beast to be your companion. If you lose the beastâs attention for any reason, the taming process will fail.You must dismiss any active beast companions and have an empty Call Pet slot before you can begin taming a new beast. Only Beast Mastery specialized Hunters can tame Exotic Beasts.
Scare Beast
25 Focus
30 yd range
1.5 sec cast
Scares a beast, causing it to run in fear for up to 20 sec. Damage caused may interrupt the effect. Only one beast can be feared at a time.
Mend Pet
45 yd range
Instant
10 sec cooldown
Heals your pet for 35% of its total health over 10 sec.
Play Dead
100 yd range
Instant
30 sec cooldown
Command your pet to play dead, tricking enemies into ignoring them. Lasts up to 6 min.
Dismiss Pet
Unlimited range
3 sec cast
Temporarily sends this pet away. You can call it back later.
Recall Pet *
Instant
10 sec cooldown
Causes your pet to leap to your location, regardless of distance and through terrain or similar obstructions. The act of recalling resets all threat on your pet, causes enemies to ignore them, and pauses the duration of all active buffs and debuffs.
The purpose of Return Pet is to be a workaround to many pet issues and bugs. Pet stuck? Return Pet. Moving to a different area in a raid encounter and pet wonât follow? Return pet. Pet spasms and accidentally pulls enemies? Return pet (though Play Dead would also work here). Return Pet can also be used strategically in combat, but I think the extent of its usefulness there is not too strong, and a 10 second cooldown is plenty sufficient.
Eyes of the Beast *
Unlimited range
2 sec cast
Take direct control of your pet and see through its eyes for 10 min. Wandering too far away from the Hunter cancels this effect.
Arbitrary 1 minute duration was arbitrary.
Eagle Eye
Unlimited range
Channeled (1 min cast)
Changes your viewpoint to the targeted location for 1 min. Only usable outdoors.
Fetch
50 yd range
0.1 sec cast
Command your pet to retrieve the loot from a nearby corpse within 40 yards.
~ Marksmanship Abilities ~
Arcane Shot
30 Focus
40 yd range
Instant
Requires Ranged Weapon
A quick shot that causes X Arcane damage.
Multi-Shot
40 Focus
40 yd range
Instant
Requires Ranged Weapon
Fires several missiles, hitting up to 5 targets within 8 yards of your current target for X Physical damage
Kill Shot
10 Focus
40 yd range
Instant
10 second cooldown
Requires Ranged Weapon
You attempt to finish off a wounded target, dealing X Physical damage. Only usable on enemies with less than 20% health.
Misdirection
100 yd range
Instant
30 sec cooldown
Misdirects all threat you cause to the targeted party or raid member, beginning with your next attack within 30 sec and lasting for 8 sec.
Concussive Shot
40 yd range
Instant
5 sec cooldown
Requires Ranged Weapon
Dazes the target, slowing movement speed by 50% for 6 sec.
Counter Shot
40 yd range
Instant
24 sec cooldown
Requires Ranged Weapon
Interrupts spellcasting, preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 3 sec.
Tranquilizing Shot
40 yd range
Instant
10 sec cooldown
Removes 1 Enrage and 1 Magic effect from an enemy target.
~ Survival Abilities ~
Serpent Sting *
15 Focus
40 yd range
Instant
Requires Ranged Weapon
Fire a shot that poisons your target, causing them to take X Nature damage instantly and an additional X Nature damage over 12 sec.
Freezing Trap
40 yd range
Instant
30 sec cooldown
Hurls a frost trap to the target location that incapacitates the first enemy that approaches for 1 min. Damage will break the effect. Limit 1. Trap will exist for 1 min.
Tar Trap
40 yd range
Instant
30 sec cooldown
Hurls a tar trap to the target location that creates an 8 yd radius pool of tar around itself for 30 sec when the first enemy approaches. All enemies have 50% reduced movement speed while in the area of effect. Trap will exist for 1 min.
Immolation Trap *
40 yd range
Instant
30 second cooldown
Hurls a fiery trap to the target location that causes X fire damage over 16 seconds to the first enemy that approaches it. Limit 1 fire trap. Trap will exist for 1 minute.
Explosive Trap *
40 yd range
30 second cooldown
Hurls a fiery trap to the target location that causes X fire damage and burns X enemies within 8 yards for X additional fire damage over 10 seconds. Limit 1 fire trap. Trap will exist for 1 minute.
Feign Death
Instant
30 sec cooldown
Feign death, tricking enemies into ignoring you. Lasts up to 6 min.
Disengage
Instant
20 sec recharge
1 Charge
Leap backwards.
Camouflage *
Unlimited range
Instant
1 min cooldown
You and your pet blend into your surroundings, gaining stealth until cancelled, but reducing your movement speed by 30%. Cannot be activated while in combat and is broken from taking damage.
Camouflage returning is welcome, and gives more strategic gameplay to the Hunter prior to combat. Removing the nameplate allows Camouflage to somewhat function as real Camouflage (and we know it is possible to remove nameplates as players have the option to do so with enemies/pets in the settings menu), instead of your presence being immediately known to anyone with eyes.
Edit: Changed Camouflage to be more useful and less confusing. It is baseline stealth while moving, but having a baseline movement speed slow. The cooldown will still only begin once Camo is broken, but it no longer has a limited duration.
Flare
40 yd range
Instant
20 sec cooldown
Exposes all hidden and invisible enemies within the targeted area for 20 sec.
~ Wild Abilities ~
Aspect of the Hawk *
Instant
Increases your Attack Power by X%. Mutually exclusive with Aspect of the Gazelle, Aspect of the Crane and Aspect of the Chameleon.
Aspect of the Crane *
Instant
You and your pet both heal for 4% maximum health every 3 seconds. Mutually exclusive with Aspect of the Hawk, Aspect of the Gazelle and Aspect of the Chameleon.
Aspect of the Gazelle *
Instant
Increases your movement speed by 30%. When taking direct damage, this effect is removed for 3 seconds. Mutually exclusive with Aspect of the Hawk, Aspect of the Crane and Aspect of the Chameleon.
The return of Aspects, including Hawk, allows for more engaging moment to moment gameplay and decision making. Hawk (and Aspect of the Mongoose for Wild) is the definitive damage Aspect, and as such it is optimal to stay in it during combat as much as possible. Its mutual exclusivity with Crane and Gazelle forces the Hunter to make the choice between improved mobility or self-healing, allowing them to opt for stronger utility over damage when necessary.
Aspect of the Cheetah *
Instant
1.5 min cooldown
Increases your movement speed by 90% for 4 sec. Aspect of the Cheetah places Aspect of the Gazelle on a 15 second cooldown.
Kept it as a cooldown, and reintroduced its older iteration in the form of Aspect of the Gazelle. The very short burst movement speed is interesting, especially when it doesnât come at the cost of Cheetahâs old iteration. Placing Gazelle on cooldown when used makes Cheetah a meaningful choice, encouraging you to plan ahead and allowing for counter play. It also makes sense thematically as the huge speed boost of Cheetah would tire one out.
Aspect of the Pack *
Instant
2 min cooldown
Grants you and surrounding allies Aspect of the Pack, increasing movement speed by 30% for 2 minutes. Taking direct damage or moving more than 40 yards away from the Hunter removes this effect.
Wanted to return it, but with the way Gazelle would be designed Pack would be the clearly superior option, granting movement speed to everyone instead of just the Hunter. So made it a 2 minute cooldown that can theoretically have 100% uptime, but is still countered by direct damage. Note that the buff it grants is not an aura on the Hunter; it functions more like a 2 minute duration Stampeding Roar. But to keep the idea of a pack, it still requires being near the casting Hunter.
Aspect of the Turtle
Instant
2 min cooldown
Deflects all attacks and reduces all damage you take by 40% for 8 sec, but you cannot attack.
Aspect of the Chameleon *
Instant
The Hunter takes on the aspect of a chameleon, becoming untrackable. Mutually exclusive with Aspect of the Hawk, Aspect of the Gazelle and Aspect of the Crane.
~ ~ Specializations ~ ~
Each talent tree contains 1 AoE talent tier and 2 utility talent tiers. Of the 2 utility talent tiers, I tried to make one very useful in both PvP and PvE, while the other can see minor situational use in PvE but is focused on being a PvP talent. This way there hopefully arenât any no brainer talents in each row, such as having 1 talent give self-healing, 1 talent giving stronger defensive cooldowns, but then the third talent giving you a root or a stun or something.
~ Beast Mastery ~
Mastery: Master of Beasts *
Increases the damage, maximum health and movement speed of your pets by X%.
Barbed Shot *
40 yd range
Instant
12 sec recharge
2 charges
Requires Ranged Weapon
Fire a shot that tears through your enemy, causing X Physical damage and then causing them to bleed for X additional physical damage over 8 sec.Grants your pet a stack of Frenzy, increasing their attack speed by 8% for 8 seconds, stacking up to 5 times.
Critical Strikes with Barbed Shot grant your pet a stack of Ferocious, increasing their critical strike chance by 6% for 8 seconds, stacking up to 5 times.
Kill Command *
30 Focus
50 yd range
Instant
6 sec cooldown
Give the command to kill, causing your pet to savagely deal X Physical damage to the enemy.Kill Command has a 20% chance to grant you a charge of Barbed Shot.
Cobra Shot *
40 yd range
1.75 sec cast
Requires Ranged Weapon
A venomous shot that causes X Nature damage and generates 10 Focus.Usable while moving.
Bestial Wrath *
100 yd range
Instant
2 min cooldown
Sends you and your pet into a rage, increasing all damage you both deal by 40% for 10 sec and reducing the focus cost of both of your abilities by 50%. While active, your pet is immune to fear, horrify and sleep effects.Consumes all stacks of Frenzy and Ferocious on your pet, granting them double their effects for the duration of Bestial Wrath. For every stack of Frenzy and Ferocious consumed this way, the cooldown of Bestial Wrath is reduced by 6 seconds.
The intention behind the new mechanics for Barbed Shot and Bestial Wrath are to simulate an actual enraging effect. The Barbed Shots ramp up your petâs Frenzy and Ferocious stacks, and once you and your pet really let loose they go all out gaining double their benefit, and calming done afterwards.
This allows for Bestial Wrath to feel very powerful, but not too strong as the bonus pet damage during it is linked to Barbed Shot. A Bestial Wrath without those buffs wonât be as intimidating. The cooldown reduction is to further discourage players from treating BW as something you just press the instant it comes off of cooldown, as waiting an extra 12 seconds for another stack of Frenzy would be cause the pet to deal more damage during BW as well as negating the cooldown waste a bit, but still contains risk if you have any stacks of Ferocious that may fall off, with an even greater reward from potentially critting Barbed Shot and getting stacks of both Frenzy and Ferocious and cutting BWâs CD by 10 seconds, making the risk well worth it. Lucky strings of Barbed Shot crits could lead to a very exciting and powerful BW, and the cooldown reduction would give you shorter and shorter windows to earn back those stacks in, but again potentially providing great excitement if you manage to do so even with the much shorter CD.
Barbed Shot can grant your pet Frenzy and Ferocious stacks during BW just like normal. They are only consumed and doubled upon using Bestial Wrath.
Intimidation
100 yd range
Instant
1 min cooldown
Commands your pet to intimidate the target, stunning it for 5 sec.
Beast Cleave
Passive
After you Multi-Shot, your petâs melee attacks also strike up to 5 other nearby enemy targets for 75% as much for the next 4 sec.
Exotic Beasts
Passive
You master the art of beast training, teaching you the ability to tame Exotic pets.
Kindred Spirits *
Passive
Your pet now also benefits from Aspect of the Hawk.Also Increases you and your petâs maximum Focus by 20.
The pet benefits from Hawk, to ensure that the gameplay of choosing between damage and utility is still there even for BM.
Ferocious Inspiration *
Passive
Your petâs Basic Attack critical hits increase the chance that Kill Command will grant a charge of Barbed Shot by an additional 20%, stacking up to 4 times and lasting 16 seconds or until Kill Command grants a charge of Barbed Shot.
Ferocious Inspiration builds into the Barbed Shot, Frenzy/Ferocious, Bestial Wrath playstyle by allowing crit to also ramp up how often you are granted free charges of Barbed Shot. Wild Call was boring because it was just auto-shots, while Ferocious Inspiration involves extra synergy with the pet (pet inspires your Kill Command, which commands the pet to attack, which then has a chance to grant the Hunter Barbed Shot, which sends the pet into Frenzy/Ferocious, which can then increase the crit chance of your petâs basic attacks), as well as scaling with crit. Obviously, numbers can be tuned to reach a balanced point.
~ Beast Mastery Talents ~
Tier 1
Animal Companion
Your Call Pet additionally summons the first pet from your stable. This pet will obey your Kill Command, but cannot use pet talents or family abilities.
Dire Beast
25 Focus
40 yd range
Instant cast
20 sec cooldown
Summons a powerful wild beast that attacks the target and roars, increasing your Haste by 5% for 8 sec.
Aspect of the Beast *
Increases the damage and healing of your petâs abilities by 20%.Increases the effectiveness of your petâs Predatorâs Thirst, Endurance Training, and Pathfinding passives by 50%.
Tier 2
Scent of Blood
Activating Bestial Wrath grants 2 charges of Barbed Shot.
One with the Pack *
Kill Command now only consumes 2 stacks of Ferocious Inspiration when it grants a charge of Barbed Shot.
Mood Swings *
Critical hits with Barbed Shot now grant your pet 2 stacks of Frenzy, and Frenzy may now stack up to 8 times.
This tier gives two options that grant more charges of Barbed Shot over the duration of a fight, and for those with more crit and therefore more regular Barbed Shot charge generation (or who just want to take it) they can take Mood Swings for better scaling.
Tier 3
Spirit Bond *
While your pet is active, you and your pet regenerate 2% of maximum health every 3 seconds.
Reunion *
8 - 25 yd range
Instant
30 second cooldown
Rush to your petâs current location and free them of all root and movement impairing effects.
Reverse Masterâs Call. Allows for setup prior to PvP combat, or tricky setups during PvP combat using the pet âmove toâ command. Can be used for phases in raids where you must rush into melee, or for again setting up your pet to help you handle specific mechanics that require quick movement.
Loyal Protector *
Aspect of the Turtle lasts an additional 4 sec, and while active your pet also gains the deflection and damage reduction benefits of Aspect of the Turtle but can still attack.
Minor buff to turtle for the Hunter, but allows the pet to benefit heavily from it. This effect also essentially allows the pet to tank boss attacks for the duration, without losing out on the petâs damage.
Tier 4
Sated *
When Bestial Wrath ends, your pet gains 10% increased Focus generation for every stack of Frenzy and Ferocious that were consumed by Bestial Wrath. Lasts 12 seconds.
The stronger the Bestial Wrath, the more focus regen after, the quicker the basic attacks, which means more potential for Ferocious Inspiration.
A Murder of Crows
30 Focus
40 yd range
Instant cast
1 min cooldown
Summons a flock of crows to attack your target, dealing X Physical damage over 15 sec. If the target dies while under attack, A Murder of Crowsâ cooldown is reset.
Thrill of the Hunt *
Barbed Shot now also grants the Hunter Thrill of the Hunt, increasing attack speed by 6%, stacking up to 5 times. Bestial Wrath consumes these stacks and grants double their effect over the duration of Bestial Wrath.
Essentially Frenzy stacks for the Hunter, so that the Hunter and pet can both experience a more intense Bestial Wrath.
Tier 5
Trailblazer *
You automatically gain the benefits of Aspect of the Gazelle after not attacking for 3 seconds. This effect will be active regardless of whether you have Aspect of the Hawk or Aspect of the Crane active, but it does not stack with Aspect of the Gazelle or other movement speed increasing effects. This effect can activate while Aspect of the Gazelle is on cooldown.
Menacing Glare *
Intimidation now roots the target for 2 seconds once the stun wears off, and slows the target by 60% for 4 seconds once the root wears off.
Adaptive Camouflage *
Reduces the cooldown of Camouflage by 20 seconds and removes the movement speed penalty.
Tier 6
Stomp
When you cast Barbed Shot, your pet stomps the ground, dealing X Physical damage to all nearby enemies.
Feeding Frenzy *
40 yd range
Instant
1 min cooldown
Throw a heap of your petâs favorite food at the target location. Your pet will run to the food and begin devouring it, ignoring all commands from the Hunter and dashing to and fro in furious glee dealing X Physical damage per second to up to X enemies within the foodâs radius and healing for 5% total health per second. Your pet will consume all the food after 8 seconds and the effect will end.
Volley but with pets. Similar to Lynx rush, but ground targeted and intended for AoE damage rather than burst. The healing is just a bit of flavor.
Rabid Strikes *
Kill Command now causes the target and up to X nearby enemies to bleed for X damage over 8 seconds.
Tier 7
Blood Soaked *
While Bestial Wrath is active, Barbed Shot resets the cooldown of Kill Command.
High stacks of Ferocious Inspiration and lots of pet basic attack crits can lead to a lot of satisfying back and forth between Barbed Shot and Kill Command.
Bestial Fusion *
Unlimited range
Instant
8 min cooldown
Your soul fuses with that of your pet, stunning your pet for 3 seconds and then granting you control over them for 1 minute with access to all of their abilities and double their normal focus generation. Bestial Wrath is automatically activated and lasts the entire duration of Bestial Fusion. Frenzy and Ferocious are consumed normally and grant double their effects for the duration. Using Bestial Fusion during Bestial Wrath carries over the doubled effects of Frenzy and Ferocious.While active, the Hunter is intangible, immune to all effects, but if the pet dies the Hunter also dies.
Eyes of the Beast but a big DPS cooldown. Not for everyone but it makes sense as big long cooldown for BM Hunters. You lose the Hunterâs DPS while gaining Bestial Wrath and the doubled effects of your petâs current Frenzy and Ferocious stacks for a full minute. Using this at the end of Bestial Wrath will carry over the lasting effects of the doubled Frenzy/Ferocious stacks, as well as consuming any additional Frenzy/Ferocious stacks your pet gained during BW and adding their doubled effects to the doubled effects that were already active. Itâs a high high point best used during the BM Hunterâs regular high point.
Killing Frenzy *
Replaces Kill Command
30 Focus
50 yd range
Instant
6 sec cooldown
Give the command to slaughter, causing your pet to instantly leap behind its target and savagely deal X Physical damage. Your pet will repeat this attack once per second for 2 seconds, for a total of three attacks.Each attack of Killing Frenzy has a 20% chance to grant you a charge of Barbed Shot.
This talent would be better for lower geared players who donât have as much crit, as it grants more chances at additional barbed shot charges. However, each individual attack of Killing Frenzy that takes advantage of Ferocious Inspiration stacks would consume those stacks, so you canât get 4 stacks of Ferocious Inspiration and then get three 100% chance Barbed Shot charges in a row.
~ Marksmanship ~
Mastery: Sniper Training *
Range of all your ranged abilities is increased by X% and the damage of your ranged abilities against targets with your Hunterâs Mark is increased by X%.
Aimed Shot *
50 Focus
40 yd range
2.5 sec cast
Requires Ranged Weapon
A powerful aimed shot that deals X Physical damage.Castable while moving.
Kept Aimed Shotâs necessity to stand still. But placed a talent that allows casting while moving in one of the non-DPS tiers. Many may take it as default, but it competes with a similar talent allowing you to DPS during Turtle, as well as passive healing and damage reduction. So it isnât a no-brainer. It would depend on the fight.
Edit: Gave it back baseline ability to cast while moving, and added an older iteration of Sniper Training in as a talent for those who want to stand still in MM.
Chimaera Shot *
25 Focus
40 yd range
Instant
9 sec cooldown
Requires Ranged Weapon
A powerful two-headed shot that hits your target twice, dealing X Nature damage and X Frost damage.
Changed to remove the cleave, to more emphasize MMâs strength in exclusively single target scenarios.
Quick Shot
Replaces Arcane Shot
30 Focus
40 yd range
Instant
Requires Ranged Weapon
A quick shot that causes X physical damage.
A physical damage Arcane Shot counter part for MM Hunters. You can still talent back into Arcane Shot if youâd like.
Steady Shot
40 yd range
1.75 sec cast
Requires Ranged Weapon
A steady shot that causes X Physical damage and generates 10 Focus.Usable while moving.
Rapid Fire *
30 Focus
40 yd range
Channeled (3 sec cast)
20 sec cooldown
Requires Ranged Weapon
Shoot a stream of 10 shots at your target over 3 sec, dealing a total of X Physical damage.Usable while moving.
Hunterâs Mark *
100 yd range
Instant
1 minute cooldown
Apply Hunterâs Mark to the target for 10 minutes (2 minutes against players), increasing the critical strike chance of the Hunterâs ranged attacks against the target by 10%. The target can always be seen and tracked by the Hunter, even while stealthed or invisible. Only one Hunterâs Mark can be applied at a time, but it cannot be dispelled or removed even by the most powerful effects.
Simultaneously shifting the Marksmanship fantasy just a smidge. It would now be a very strong single target spec with somewhat weaker AoE. Hunterâs Mark is at the core of that. Wanted to change Hunterâs Mark to not just be a boring set it and forget it +5% damage buff. The duration still allows you to use it sparingly during an encounter, but the cooldown encourages decision making in who/what you mark in multi-target encounters, as you wonât just be able to swap back and forth often while retaining full damage. Hopefully Blizzard could program it so that certain raid boss phases where the boss disappears wouldnât make Hunterâs Mark drop off.
Trueshot *
Instant
2 min cooldown
Increases the damage of your ranged attacks against your Hunterâs Mark target by 20%, reduces the cast time of Aimed Shot and the channel time of Rapid Fire by 50%, and causes Steady Shot to be instant cast. Lasts 16 seconds.
Changed a bit to allow it to feel more like old Rapid Fire. The instant cast Steadies will allow more Aimed Shot spam, and feel better than a Steady Shot with a 0.4 second cast time.
Bursting Shot
10 Focus
Instant
30 sec cooldown
Requires Ranged Weapon
Fires an explosion of bolts at all enemies in front of you, knocking them back, snaring them by 50% for 6 sec, and dealing X Physical damage.
Binding Shot *
30 yd range
Instant
45 sec cooldown
Fires a magical projectile, tethering the enemy and any other enemies within 5 yards for 10 sec, stunning them for 6 sec if they move more than 5 yards from the arrow.
Piercing Shots *
Your critical Aimed Shots, Chimaera Shots and Rapid Fires cause the target to bleed for 30% of the damage dealt over 8 seconds.
Trick Shots *
Passive
When Multi-Shot hits 3 or more targets, your next Aimed Shot or Rapid Fire will ricochet to hit your Hunterâs Mark target and up to 5 additional targets for 50% of normal damage.
The AoE passive changed a bit to give more strength to MMâs single target focus, even while AoEing.
Steady Focus *
Passive
Steady Shot increases the Focus generation of Steady Shot by 50%, stacking up to 2 times and lasting 6 seconds. Steady Focus is lost anytime the Hunter uses a ranged attack other than Steady Shot.
Was a boring talent. Made it baseline passive.
~ Marksmanship Talents ~
Tier 1
Sniperâs Stance *
Standing still for 3 seconds grants you Sniperâs Stance, increasing Mastery by X%, stacking up to 3 times. 2 seconds after moving, a stack of Sniperâs Stance is removed.
Careful Aim
Aimed Shot deals 50% bonus damage to targets who are above 80% health or below 20% health.
Spray and Prey *
Damage caused by your shots and stings have an X% chance to generate 30 focus for your pet and increase your petâs critical strike chance by 6% for 6 seconds, stacking up to 3 times.
Here (and in SVâs talent tree) is a pet centric talent. The only one in MM and SV, but still for those who want more emphasis on the pet in these specs.
Tier 2
Volley
40 yd range
Instant
45 sec cooldown
Rain a volley of arrows down over 6 seconds, dealing up to X Physical damage to any enemy in the area, and gain the effects of Trick Shots for as long as volley is active.
Bombardment *
When Multi-Shot hits 3 or more targets, the Focus cost of Multi-shot is reduced by 10 and its total number of targets is increased by 1, stacking up to 3 times and lasting 4 seconds.
Returning Bombardment as an AoE option, for lots and lots of multi-shot spam. Seeing all those shots spraying off in different directions so often was always fun.
Barrage
60 Focus
40 yd range
3 sec cast (Channeled)
20 sec cooldown
Requires Ranged Weapon
Rapidly fires a spray of shots for 3 sec, dealing an average of X Physical damage to up to 8 enemies in front of you. Usable while moving.
Tier 3
Breathing Techniques *
Aimed Shot heals you for 1% Maximum Health per second for 3 seconds. This effect is removed by beginning to cast Aimed Shot.While casting Aimed Shot, you take 10% less damage from all sources.
Repositioning *
Aimed Shot increases movement speed by 50% for 3 seconds.
Back to the Wall *
Aspect of the Turtle no longer prevents you from attacking, but now prevents you from moving instead.
The tier with the Aimed Shot while moving talent. It is objectively worse in fights where you donât need to move much, would still be a question to take it or not in medium movement fights, and likely essential in high mobility fights. Back to the Wall is situational, but can allow for the Hunter to DPS during times where Turtle may be essential. Breathing Techniques is the passive option for a bit of healing and damage reduction without requiring the Hunterâs attention.
Tier 4
Steady Aim *
Steady Focus now increases the damage of Steady Shot by 40% per stack, and you generate 8 Focus per stack whenever Steady Focus expires or is removed.
A bit more interesting than the previous Steady Focus. Grants more Focus regen but in a more interesting way, and bonus damage to boot.
Streamline *
While Rapid Fire is active, scoring a critical hit with Rapid Fire increases the critical hit chance of Rapid Fire by 5%, stacking up to 10 times and lasting the remaining duration of Rapid Fire. Reaching 8 stacks of Streamline resets the cooldown of Rapid Fire and causes your next Rapid Fire within 4 seconds to consume no Focus.
A big RNG talent that can allow for crazy Rapid Fire strings. Eight hits must be crits to grant the free Rapid Fire, and that many crits from one Rapid Fire is already exciting enough. Free Rapid Fireâs can also trigger more free Rapid Fires. Lets the Rapid Fire button feel more exciting to press. The old Streamline talent was the garbageâs garbage.
Temporal Shot *
Replaces Quick Shot with Arcane Shot. Arcane Shot has a 20% chance to cause you to fire another Arcane Shot at the same target at 30% reduced damage. These bonus Arcane Shots can also trigger Temporal Shot.
Makes Arcane Shot spam for focus dump feel more exciting, and strings of free Arcane Shots will look really cool, especially when in conjunction with Wild Quiver (which can be triggered by the free Arcane Shots btw).
Tier 5
High Impact *
Bursting Shot knocks enemies back 50% further, and now also knocks the Hunter back in the opposite direction.
Adds a bit of risk depending on the circumstance, but in general allows Bursting Shot to be a stronger gap opener and knockback. But ya just be careful at the flag in Eye of the Storm so you donât blow yourself off too.
Binding Shackles *
Binding Shot now slows enemies by 90% decaying to 60% over 4 seconds once the stun wears off.
Adaptive Camouflage *
Reduces the cooldown of Camouflage by 20 seconds and removes the movement speed penalty.
Tier 6
Dead Eye *
Kill Shot now has 2 charges, and Aimed Shot now has a 0.5% chance per 1% of missing health on your Hunterâs Mark target to grant you a charge of Kill Shot and allow your next Kill Shot to be used against your Hunterâs Mark target regardless of health percent.
More emphasis on your Hunterâs Mark target. Aimed Shot still has a chance to grant a free use of Kill Shot against your Hunterâs Mark target based on Hunterâs Mark target health % even if Aimed Shot is used on a target that isnât your Hunterâs Mark target.
Double Tap *
Instant
15 sec cooldown
Your next Aimed Shot or Kill Shot will fire a second time instantly at 100% power without consuming Focus.
Cool talent. Made it affect Kill Shot as well to make it cooler.
Focus Fire *
While Trueshot is active, Aimed Shot increases the duration of Trueshot by 1 second.
Tier 7
Chimaera *
Splits Chimaera Shot into two separate shots; Chimaera Shot V and Chimera Shot F.Chimaera Shot V
12 Focus
40 yd range
Instant
6 sec cooldown
Requires Ranged Weapon
A powerful shot laced with chimaera venom that deals X Nature damage. If Chimaera Frost is on the target, Chimaera Shot V will consume Chimaera Frost and cause X additional Nature damage over 30 seconds (additional applications will roll the damage of the previous effect into the new effect). Otherwise, inflict Chimaera Venom on the target.Chimaera Shot F
12 Focus
40 yd range
Instant
6 sec cooldown
Requires Ranged Weapon
A powerful shot imbued with the frost of a chimaera that deals X Frost damage. If Chimaera Venom is on the target, Chimaera Shot F will consume Chimaera Venom and cause X additional Frost damage instantly. Otherwise, inflict Chimaera Frost on the target.
Splitting up Chimaera Shot into two separate shots. Their combined instant damage would total a bit more than a single Chimaera Shotâs damage, but the real power comes from their bonus effects.
If Chimaera Shot V or F consumes the debuff of the other Shot, then it will not apply its own debuff. The intention is that depending on whether you need burst or sustain, you would use one or the other first, and then cycle through them back and forth. The poison DoT from Chimaera Shot V would deal a bit more damage pound for pound than the instant frost damage from Chimaera Shot F, but it is dealt over a long 30 seconds. So if you need to burst you use Chimaera Shot V first, then Chimaera Shot F to consume Chimaera Venom to deal the instant frost damage. Then Chimaera Shot V would come off cooldown first, so you use it and apply Chimaera Venom again, then Chimaera Shot F would come off cooldown, rinse and repeat. If the target will stay alive for over 30 seconds, then you would do the reverse in order to apply the 30 second DoT.
Wild Quiver *
40 second cooldown
Increases your attack speed by 40% and your Aimed Shot, Chimaera Shot, Steady Shot, Arcane Shot, Kill Shot, Rapid Fire and auto-attacks have a 40% chance whenever they deal damage to also fire an additional free shot at your target for X Physical damage. Lasts 8 seconds.
Combines the effects of old Rapid Fire with an altered Wild Quiver. Itâs got about a medium cooldown so it can be used more often, but not short enough to use it rotationally. The bonus attack speed would stack with the bonus casting speed for Aimed Shot from Trueshot, so it may or may not be worth casting them simultaneously depending on how much extra damage you may get from the Wild Quiver effect.
Marked for Death *
Hunterâs Mark now lasts indefinitely (duration against players unchanged). Every 15 seconds Hunterâs Mark will apply Marked for Death to the target, causing them to take 20% additional damage from your next Aimed Shot or Kill Shot. Consuming a stack of Marked for Death in this way applies Hunterâs Prey to the target, increasing the damage bonus of Marked for Death by 2%, stacking up to 20 times.Casting Hunterâs Mark on a different target removes Marked for Death and all stacks of Hunterâs Prey.
The intention here is two-fold. Make Hunterâs Mark stronger for openers set up in advance in the world, and stronger in encounters the longer the encounter lasts. The longer the target survives, the quicker their death approaches. Marked for Death doesnât have a limited duration (but will fall off if Hunterâs Mark falls off, against players for instance), but it cannot stack.
~ Survival ~
Mastery: Wild Hunt *
Damage over time effects deal X% increased damage.The cooldown of traps are reduced by X%, and they last X% longer on the ground before expiring.
Explosive Shot *
25 focus
40 yd range
Instant
6 second cooldown
You fire an explosive charge into the enemy target, causing X fire damage initially and every second for 2 seconds.
Black Arrow *
30 focus
40 yd range
Instant
30 seconds cooldown
Fires a black shot at the target, causing X shadow damage over 20 seconds.
Cobra Shot *
40 yd range
1.75 sec cast
Requires Ranged Weapon
A venomous shot that causes X Nature damage and generates 10 Focus.Usable while moving.
Lock and Load *
Passive
Black Arrow has an X% chance per tick, and traps affected by Waylay have a 100% chance when sprung, to reset the cooldown of Explosive Shot and cause your next two Explosive Shots to cost no focus and to trigger no cooldown.
Made it so that only Waylay traps can trigger Lock and Load, making it so that the Hunter isnât obligated to constantly launch traps at bosses, but encouraging them to set up traps beforehand if the boss is going to be moved. Survival Hunters will not only be highly mobile themselves, but will excel at encounters that involve mobile targets and lots of boss repositioning.
Waylay *
Passive effect
After 3 seconds, your traps become fully armed, making them especially devastating:Freezing Trap - Once broken, slows the enemy by 70% for 4 seconds.
Tar Trap - Moving while affected by Tar Trap has an X% chance per second to stun the enemy for 1 second.
Immolation Trap - Damage increase by X%.
Explosive Trap - Damage increased by X%.
Waylay was way too fun to be removed. So brought it back, and allowed it to further emphasize the use of traps in Survival to give Survival an even more defined identity. Without Waylay, Immolation Trap would be a DPS loss. With Waylay, it would be a DPS gain. So non-SV Hunters wonât have to string it into their rotations, and SV Hunters wonât have to use it on cooldown at all times, instead setting it up beforehand if the target is going to be moved.
Serpent Spread *
Passive effect
All enemies hit by Multi-shot are also affected by Serpent Sting for 9 seconds.
Survivalâs baseline AoE talent, similar to Beast Cleave or Trick Shots.
~ Survival Talents ~
Tier 1
Caustic Venom *
Explosive Shot ticks against targets with your Serpent Sting have an X% chance to change your next Serpent Sting into Acid Sting:Acid Sting - Fires a shot that sears the target, causing X fire nature damage over 12 seconds and causing your Serpent Sting on the target to deal X% more damage while active.
Allows for more poisons without adding more buttons, and gives Serpent Sting a bit more engaging gameplay and fantasy than just âKeep it upâ. With lots of Explosive Shots going off, you would get more procs, but Acid Sting doesnât stack, so it would encourage multi-dotting with Serpent Sting even more.
Just as Planned *
Lock and Load now also generates 20 focus over 10 seconds.
Spray and Prey *
Damage caused by your shots and stings have an X% chance to generate 30 focus for your pet and increase your petâs critical strike chance by 6% for 6 seconds, stacking up to 3 times.
Tier 2
Airborne Toxins *
Multi-shotting a target already infected with Serpent Sting causes 2 enemies within 8 yards of the target to take X nature damage and be infected with Serpent Sting for 9 seconds. Also increases the damage over time of Serpent Sting by 20%.
Amped up Serpent Spread, putting Serpent Sting on more enemies, and dealing bonus damage for lots of yellow numbers.
Wildfire Bomb *
40 yd range
Instant
18 sec recharge
2 Charges
Hurl a bomb at the target, exploding for X Fire damage in a cone and coating enemies in wildfire, scorching them for X Fire damage over 6 sec.
Copied from melee SV (Wild) as an AoE talent option. Makes more sense here though.
Boom Operator *
The radius of Explosive Trapâs damage effect is increased by 100%, and Explosive Shot now also deals a bonus X% damage to its target and up to X enemies within 10 yards of the target.
The AoE damage boost is packed into Explosive Shot, but allows for Explosive Trap to be used for AoE damage more reliably.
Tier 3
Deterrence *
Replaces Aspect of the Turtle
Instant
1.5 min recharge
2 charges
You deflect all attacks and take 40% less damage for 8 sec, but you cannot attack.
Brought back Deterrence to replace Aspect of the Turtle. Uses the same old animation, but it is basically just a straight upgrade of Turtle with 2 charges and a reduced cooldown.
Survivalism *
While below 30% health you automatically gain the benefits of Aspect of the Crane. These benefits will be active regardless of whether you have Aspect of the Hawk or Aspect of the Gazelle active, and they stack with Aspect of the Crane.
Passive healing below a low amount of health, to emphasize Survivalâs strive to actually survive.
Endurance Running *
Aspect of the Gazelle is now only removed for 1.5 seconds upon taking direct damage, and its movement speed bonus is increased by 5%.
Tier 4
Steel Trap *
40 yd range
30 sec cooldown
Hurls a Steel Trap to the target location that snaps shut on the first enemy that approaches, immobilizing them for 20 seconds and causing them to bleed for X damage over 20 seconds.Damage other than Steel Trap may break the immobilization effect. Trap will exist for 1 minute. Limit 1.
- Waylay effect - Root and bleed duration increased by 50%.
Snake Trap *
40 yd range
30 second cooldown
Hurls a Snake Trap to the target location that spawns multiple snakes to attack the first enemy that approaches. The snakeâs melee attacks will apply a stacking nature damage over time effect, and have a chance to inflict a 40% movement speed slow and a 30% casting speed slow. Snakes take 90% less damage from area of effect attacks, have 10% the health of the Hunter, and will exist for 9 seconds. Limit 1.
- Waylay effect - Snakes now last 15 seconds and apply the movement speed and casting speed slow 50% more often.
Trap Launcher *
While Trap Launcher is activated, all traps will be transformed into projectiles, immediately triggering their effect at the location of the target enemy within 40 yards. When Immolation Trap is fired this way, it will also gain the effects of Waylay.
The trap talent tier. Any of the choices could improve DPS and has use in PvP. Trap Launcher is for those who donât want to worry that much about setting up traps in raids/dungeons. It allows Immolation Trap to always benefit from Waylay. This is how the talent provides a DPS benefit, as Immolation Trap can become a rotational ability, which is much better since you no longer need to launch it with a targeting reticule as it would now essentially be a âshotâ.
Tier 5
Parting Gift *
Disengage now drops a bomb at your prior location that explodes 1.5 seconds later, knocking down and stunning enemies within 8 yards for 2 seconds.
I didnât include Posthaste, as now with both Aspect of the Gazelle and Aspect of the Cheetah the Hunter has multiple speed boosting options, and can use them without having to put Disengage on cooldown.
Adaptive Camouflage *
Reduces the cooldown of Camouflage by 20 seconds and removes the movement speed penalty.
Master of Ploy *
While Feigning Death, you may now use Aspects, Traps and Camouflage without breaking Feign Death and while in combat.
Can be used to Camo, essentially Feigning and then disappearing after a few seconds. But DoTs would still break Camo so it should be used tactically. The ability to change Aspects and Traps allows for more versatility, and allows for the Hunter to maintain Feign Deathâs Feign effect for longer without wasting global cooldowns.
Tier 6
Night-Watch *
Duration of Black Arrow increased by 12 seconds.
The passive option. Allows for 100% uptime of Black Arrow, and gives 2 seconds of wiggle room.
Exotic Munitions *
Allows you to modify your ranged weapon to use Exotic Munitions that last for 1 hour:
- Incendiary Ammo - Each auto shot deals X additional Fire damage to X enemies within 8 yards of the initial target, and increases the duration of Immolation Trap by 1 second.
- Poisoned Ammo - Each auto shot deals X additional Nature damage over 16 sec, and while active refreshes the duration of Serpent Sting to 3 seconds whenever it would otherwise expire.
- Frozen Ammo - Each auto shot deals X additional Frost damage, reduces the targetâs movement speed by 30% for 4 sec, and no longer breaks Freezing Trapâs effect.
The pseudo-passive option. Depending on the situation one would be preferable. Incendiary for AoE/Cleave. Poisoned for pure single target. Frozen for kiting, though all of them could see use in PvP. I added their bonus effects to make them feel more exciting and impacting. Frozen Shotâs in particular allows you to auto-shot enemies frozen in your Freezing Trap (though other shots and sources of damage will still break it).
Sticky Bomb *
20 second cooldown
Hurls a grenade at your target which sticks to them and explodes after 6 seconds, knocking them down and dealing X fire damage. Explosive Shot triggers this effect immediately and causes it to deal X% more damage.
A more active option that combines the max damage increase with some crowd control (unlike Exotic Munitions). The 6 second timer that can be skipped with Explosive Shot allows for more tactical use, though still requiring ramp up time.
Tier 7
Potency *
Explosive Shot, Serpent Sting, Black Arrow and Immolation Trap damage ticks have a 20% chance to deal damage twice, an 8% chance to deal damage three times, and a 2% chance to deal damage 4 times.
Passive option for those who really like the DoTs.
Fully Loaded *
3 minute cooldown
Instantly activates Lock and Load and for 9 seconds afterwards causes Black Arrow to have a 100% chance to trigger Lock and Load.
A Survival unique cooldown that, when combined with Black Arrow, allows for what is essentially constant Explosive Shots for 9 seconds.
Lionâs Den *
Traps now instantly deal X physical damage to the target that triggers them, and all traps now cause the target who triggered them to take X additional physical damage whenever they trigger one of your traps, stacking up to 3 times and lasting 15 seconds. Damage from Lionâs Den is increased by 100% for traps that are affected by Waylay.Freezing Trap and Steel Trap are not broken by damage from Lionâs Den, and no longer break from your Serpent Sting, Black Arrow or Immolation Trap damage over time effects.
The trap tier 7 talent. Encouraging you to string lots of trap triggers in a row, and rewarding lots of set up time both in PvE and PvP encounters. Again, Waylay is used here to ensure you arenât lobbing Tar Traps at bosses on cooldown. The damage, when not affected by Waylay, would be a DPS loss, but if the trap is affected by Waylay then it would be a DPS gain. Itâs a talent that would likely result in a fair amount higher DPS than the other two lvl 7, but would require more attention from the Hunter.
The Snake Trap and Steel Trap talents allow for more traps to trigger the Lionâs Den effect, but Trap Launcher would see a small direct DPS increase while allowing for more breathing room to maintain Lionâs Den stacks on the enemy for periods when they are not moving.
~ Wild ~
Mastery: The Beast Within *
Increases the damage bonus of Mongoose Fury by X%, and causes your auto-attacks to restore X Focus.
Since melee SV (Wild) doesnât have any abilities/attacks to regen focus, I gave them passive focus regen via auto-attacks. So their focus regen would essentially double dip from haste, as well as increase dramatically during attack speed buffs/cooldowns like the Aspect of the Eagle talent and Heroism/Bloodlust.
The idea behind this spec would be not always having an attack button to press, but having moments when you string many attacks in a row in quick succession for huge burst damage.
Raptor Strike *
Replaces Arcane Shot
30 Focus
Melee range
Instant cast
Requires Melee Weapon
A vicious slash dealing X physical damage.
The Focus dump. Just melee Arcane Shot really.
Carve *
Replaces Multi-Shot
35 Focus
Instant
Requires Melee Weapon
A sweeping attack that strikes up to 5 enemies in front of you for X physical damage.
Mongoose Bite *
Replaces Kill Shot
Melee range
Instant
14 second recharge
3 charges
Requires Melee Weapon
Attempts to sever the targetâs limbs with a brutal attack that deals X Physical damage and grants you Mongoose Fury.Mongoose Fury increases Mongoose Bite damage by 50% for 14 sec, stacking up to 6 times. Successive attacks do not increase duration.
Lacerate *
Replaces Serpent Sting
35 Focus
Melee range
Instant
Requires Melee Weapon
Tears a bleeding wound in the target, dealing X Physical damage over 14 sec.
Flanking Strike *
15 yd range
Instant
20 sec cooldown
You and your pet leap to the target and strike it as one, dealing a total of X Physical damage.
Aspect of the Mongoose *
Replaces Aspect of the Hawk
Instant
While active, Mongoose Bite recharges 20% faster. Mutually exclusive with Aspect of the Gazelle and Aspect of the Crane.
Aspect of the Wild *
3 minute cooldown
While active, Mongoose Bite increases the duration of Mongoose Fury by 2 seconds and Mongoose Bite recharges 100% faster. Lasts 12 seconds.
Wing Clip *
Replaces Concussive Shot
Melee range
Instant
Requires Melee Weapon
Maims the target, reducing movement speed by 50% for 15 sec.
Muzzle *
Replaces Counter Shot
Melee Range
Instant
15 sec cooldown
Requires Melee Weapon
Interrupts spellcasting, preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 3 sec.
Tranquilizing Dart *
Replaces Tranquilizing Shot
40 yd range
Instant
10 sec cooldown
Removes 1 Enrage and 1 Magic effect from an enemy target.
Harpoon
Replaces Disengage
8 - 30 yd range
Instant
30 sec cooldown
Hurls a harpoon at an enemy, rooting them in place for 3 sec and pulling you to them.
Furious Assault *
Passive
When your Raptor Strike critically hits, or when Carve hits 5 targets, you gain a charge of Mongoose Bite.
Vigorous Strikes *
Passive
Mongoose Bite critical hits grant 10 Focus.
Seeing Red *
Passive
Lacerate critical hits reduces the current recharge time of Mongoose Bite by 1 second.
A large emphasis on Mongoose Bite, with many of its attacks and passives benefitting it in some way. Aspect of the Wild allows you to cheat Mongoose Biteâs limited duration effect by allowing you to extend it with every Mongoose Bite. This way you would still rely on the RNG for more Mongoose Bite charges, but it would be more forgiving and make reaching 6 stacks much more likely.
Vigorous Strikes allows Mongoose Bite crits to allow more uses of Raptor Strike, resulting in more chances at a Raptor Strike crit and therefore more chances at more charges of Mongoose Bite.
~ Wild Talents ~
Tier 1
Way of the MokâNathal *
Raptor Strike also grants you MokâNathal Tactics, increasing your attack power by 3% for 10 sec, stacking up to 4 times.
Throw Axe *
40 yd range
Instant
20 sec recharge
2 Charges
Hurl an axe at your target, dealing X Physical damage.
Pack Tactics *
Flanking Strike now generates 40 focus for you and your pet.
There are a bit more pet centric talents in Wild, to allow it to be more similar to a Rexxar style playstyle and to be more similar to current and Legion melee SV.
Tier 2
Butchery
Replaces Carve
30 Focus
8 yd range
Instant cast
9 sec recharge
3 Charges
Attack up to 5 nearby enemies in a flurry of strikes, inflicting X Physical damage to each.
Venom Coated Weapons *
Targets hit by your Raptor Strike and Carve are also inflicted with Serpent Sting, dealing X nature damage over 9 seconds.
You donât get Serpent Sting as an ability, but can still apply its DoT.
Wildfire Bomb *
40 yd range
Instant
18 sec recharge
2 Charges
Hurl a bomb at the target, exploding for X Fire damage in a cone and coating enemies in wildfire, scorching them for X Fire damage over 6 sec.
Tier 3
Thrill of the Chase *
Aspect of the Cheetah lasts an additional 3 seconds and removes all roots and slows once activated.
Makes Cheetah last 6 seconds, allowing for a long stretch of super high movement speed to catch up to unmounted targets even a long ways off and get in Harpoon range.
Dual Natures *
Aspect of the Mongoose is no longer mutually exclusive with Aspect of the Gazelle or Aspect of the Crane.
Allows for utility by way of having either Aspect of the Crane or Aspect of the Gazelle active at all times, even while Aspect of the Mongoose is active.
Turtling *
Aspect of the Turtle now reduces all incoming damage taken by 100%, but slows your movement speed by 50% over its duration.
Makes you essentially invincible, but at a huge movement speed cost. So donât use it when fleeing or transitioning during raid encounters.
Tier 4
Bloodseeker *
Flanking Strike causes the target to bleed for X damage over 8 seconds.You and your pet gain 10% attack speed for every enemy within 12 yards affected by Bloodseeker or Lacerate.
Where the Wild Things are *
Aspect of the Wild now has two charges.
They can be stringed back to back if you get good Aspect of the Mongoose procs, but it is risky if the remaining duration of Mongoose Fury during the first Aspect of the Wild is getting low.
Hydra Strike *
15 Focus
Melee range
Instant cast
10 second recharge
3 charges
A ravenous strike that deals X physical damage. Hydra Strike recharges all three charges at once.
Another melee attack button for those who want more melee buttons to press. Encourages you to use all three within the 10 second recharge.
Tier 5
Rangerâs Net *
30 Focus
40 yd range
Instant cast
6 sec cooldown
Hurls a net at the enemy, rooting the target for 3 sec and reducing movement speed by 50% for 15 sec. Damage may break the effect.
Farstrider *
Reduces the cooldown of Harpoon by 6 seconds, and increases its range by 10 yards.
Adaptive Camouflage *
Reduces the cooldown of Camouflage by 20 seconds and removes the movement speed penalty.
Tier 6
Anticipation of the Kill *
When using Mongoose Bite against targets with less than 20% health remaining, reduce the remaining cooldown of Mongoose bite by 2 seconds.
A pretty big effect when combined with all the other effects that reduce Mongoose Biteâs cooldown, allowing for even bigger and more likely burst phases during the execute phase.
Tip of the Spear *
Mongoose Bite increases the damage of your next Raptor Strike by 25%, stacking up to 3 times.
Aspect of the Eagle *
1.5 minute cooldown
Increases the range of all of your melee attacks to 30 yards and increases your melee attack speed by 80% for 15 seconds.
Wanted to make Wild definitively melee, so took this out of the baseline. But kept it as a talent and buffed it with bonus attack speed for those who liked it.
Tier 7
Chakrams
15 Focus
40 yd range
Instant cast
20 sec cooldown
Throw a pair of chakrams at your target, slicing all enemies in the chakramsâ path for X Physical damage. The chakrams will return to you, damaging enemies again.Your primary target takes 100% increased damage.
Coordinated Assault *
100 yd range
Instant
1.5 min cooldown
You and your pet attack as one, increasing all damage you both deal by 20% for 20 sec. While active, the cooldown of Flanking Strike is reduced by 14 seconds.Flanking Strike reduces the cooldown of Coordinated Assault by 2 seconds.
Again, to emphasize that baseline Wild is not just melee BM, but allowing Hunters to take the pet talents if they wish to be. You get lots more Flanking Strike use over its duration, and allows more Flanking Strike use in general to increase Coordinated Assault uptime.
Mongoose Rampage *
Each stack of Mongoose Fury increases the range of Mongoose Bite by 2 yards, causing you to leap to your targetâs location, and gives Mongoose Bite a 20% chance per stack to randomly use Raptor Strike, Carve or Lacerate on the enemy with no Focus cost.
The passive option but heavily affects the feel of Mongoose Bite. Allows Mongoose Bite to be a mini-gap closer. Looks cool when you keep leaping at enemies over and over in quick succession with lots of Mongoose Bite charge gains, and allowing higher stacks to feel even more exciting with the free Raptor Strikes, Carves and Lacerates, which can all still benefit Mongoose Bite via Furious Assault and Seeing Red.
~ ~ Pets ~ ~
In this section I will give suggestions as to how to design pets. In recent xpacs they have suffered many blows that make them more homogenized and bland. Many suggestions here will be apparent in that some are objectively better than others for certain circumstances, and that there indeed may be a âbest petâ for single target Patchwerk style boss fights. The reason for this is that I believe that it is better that pets be unique and interesting than perfectly balanced. One pet with a damaging family ability may indeed do 2% more DPS than another pet with a damaging family ability, and in turn many Hunters may feel obligated to roll that 2% higher DPS pet, but the goal is to make the DPS disparity minor enough to be mostly negligible. Worst case scenario, Hunters will have designated raid pets or designated rated PvP pets. But I believe such a scenario to be much more preferable than the current scenario we see pets in, where the only differences they possess is whether they have a defensive CD, mortal strike, redundant slow or dispel.
~ Pet Talents ~
I also wish to suggest the return of pet talents. These talents will not be as game changing as player talents, but they will allow the customization of the pet to suit the Hunterâs need or desire. It will allow pets to feel more personal, and will make pets more exciting.
It should be said that I suggest that we return to pets not being designated ferocity, cunning or tenacity. This will allow customization even further, rather than making certain pets automatically much worse for certain scenarios. Various ferocity, cunning and tenacity talents/abilities are then changed into optional talents.
~ Tier 1 ~
Pathfinding
You and your pet gain 8% increased movement speed.
Predatorâs Thirst
You and your pet gain 10% Leech.
Endurance Training
You and your pet gain 5% increased maximum health.
~ Tier 2 ~
Natural Adaptability
When the pet receives healing from any source, it has a 50% chance to remove one magic, poison, disease, curse or bleed effect from itself.
Clever Positioning
Misdirection lasts until cancelled when cast on your pet.
Distracting Growls
Misdirection now also redirects threat from your pet, including threat generated by Growl.
~ Tier 3 ~
Mobility
Reduces the cooldown of Dash/Dive by 6 seconds.
Natural Armor
Increases the petâs armor by 20%.
Blood of the Rhino
Increases all healing effects on the pet by 40%.
~ Tier 4 ~
Heart of the Phoenix
When the pet dies, they will automatically return to life with 30% maximum health. This effect has a 3 minute cooldown.
Last Stand
Instant
1 min cooldown
Immediately gain 30% maximum health for 20 seconds. When the effect expires, the health is lost.
Lick your Wounds
Channeled (5 sec cast)
2 min cooldown
Heal for 15% maximum health every second while channeling.
~ Tier 5 ~
Pathfinding
You and your pet gain 8% increased movement speed.
Predatorâs Thirst
You and your pet gain 10% Leech.
Endurance Training
You and your pet gain 5% increased maximum health.
This tier is identical to tier 1, however the talents of the same effect do not stack and cannot be chosen together. This tier essentially allows you to choose two of the three effects, rather than only one.
~ Tier 6 ~
Masterâs Call
40 yd range
Instant
45 sec cooldown
Your pet removes all root and movement impairing effects from itself and a friendly target, and grants immunity to all such effects for 4 sec.
Primal Rage
Instant
6 min cooldown
Increases haste by 30% for all party and raid members for 40 sec.Allies receiving this effect will become Sated and unable to benefit from Primal Rage or similar effects again for 10 min.
Survival of the Fittest
Unlimited range
Instant
3 min cooldown
Reduces all damage you and your pet take by 20% for 6 sec.
~ Tier 7 (Exotic Talent - Requires Beast Mastery) ~
Spiked Collar *
Increases the damage done the petâs basic attacks by 10%, and increases the petâs attack speed by 10%, and increases the petâs critical strike chance by 10%.
Bullheaded *
Reduces the duration of crowd control effects on the pet by 50%, and while below 35% health the pet is immune to critical hits.
Bodyguard *
Growl heals the pet by 3% total health, and reduces the damage of the next direct attack against it by 60%.
~ Pet Family Abilities ~
Again, in this section I want to emphasize that these abilities are made with the intent of making pet families unique and interesting rather than perfectly balanced. A forewarning that the last xpac I played was mid-Legion, so some of the newer families I will not have as much experience with, and as such I may be lacking in inspiration for them. Some pet families will have multiple abilities, but I will aim to make their sum roughly equal to those families with just one. Exotic pets will still have particularly strong additional exotic abilities though.
Finally, I will be giving hypothetical damage numbers here to exemplify how damage abilities could be roughly balanced to be very similar in Patchwerk style fights. The target is 10 DPS (again, hypothetically). Some may be better for burst, while others may be better for cleave, while others may be better for sustain. The goal is to make them similar enough to not encourage the common playerbase to only use one family against their wishes to have a choice between many. Some pets will have abilities more specialized for PvP, or for pet tanking/soloing, and these may come at the cost of DPS. Again, this is intended, as even if pets are not perfectly balanced, they will be interesting and engaging. To better emphasize this, all pet family abilities should not share global cooldowns with other pet abilities. This way family abilities with shorter cooldowns would not be more likely to disrupt bite/claw/smack rotations and what not.
Basilisks
Petrifying Gaze
15 yd range
Instant
1 min cooldown
Gazes at an enemy, petrifying them for 4 seconds. While petrified, they are stunned, their buffs and debuffs are paused, and they are immune to all effects.
Bats
Sonic Blast
10 yd range
Instant
1 min cooldown
The bat emits a sonic pulse towards the target enemy, silencing them for 3 seconds.
Bears
Swipe
Melee range
Instant
8 sec cooldown
Swipes at the target and up to 2 nearby enemies, dealing 70 damage to each.Demoralizing Roar
Instant
12 sec cooldown
The bear roars, reducing the physical damage caused by all enemies within 8 yards by 10% for 15 seconds. Does not work against very powerful foes.
Beetles
Compress Exoskeleton
Instant
30 sec cooldown
The beetle compresses its exoskeleton, reducing damage taken by 20% for 15 seconds. If the beetle is brought to zero health while this effect is active, it will be healed to 10% maximum health and Compress Exoskeleton will be removed.
Birds of Prey
Snatch
Melee range
Instant
1 min cooldown
The bird of prey grabs the targets weapon with its talons, disarming them for 4 seconds.
Blood Beasts
Blood Bolt
8 yd range
Instant
20 sec cooldown
The blood beast belches boiling blood all over the target, dealing 80 damage instantly and an additional 120 damage over 6 seconds.
Boars
Charge
8 - 25 yd range
Instant
14 sec cooldown
The boar charges the target, rooting them for 1 second and increasing the damage of the next Gore by 50%.Gore
Instant
6 sec cooldown
The boar gores the enemy, causing 55 damage.
Carrion Birds
Demoralizing Screech
8 yd range
Instant
10 sec cooldown
Blasts a single enemy with a high pitched screech, dealing 95 damage and reducing the physical damage caused by all enemies within 8 yards by 10%. Very powerful foes are immune to the physical damage debuff.Carrion Feeder
Channeled (4 sec cast)
1 min cooldown
The carrion bird consumes a corpse, healing 10% maximum health per second for 4 seconds. Cannot be used in combat and does not work on elemental or mechanical corpses.
Cats
Prowl
Instant
10 sec cooldown
Puts the cat in stealth, but slows its movement speed by 50%. Prowl increases the instant damage portion of the catâs next rake by 100%. Cannot be used in combat.Rake
Melee range
Instant
12 sec cooldown
The cat rakes the enemy, dealing 80 damage instantly and an additional 38 damage over 8 seconds.
Chimaeras - Exotic
Froststorm Breath
Channeled (8 sec cast)
The Chimera channels a frozen breath attack, causing 25 Froststorm damage every 2 sec for 8 sec to up to X enemies within 12 yards and slowing them by 30% for 2 seconds.Frost Breath
30 yd range
Instant
6 sec cooldown
The chimaera blasts the target with frost breath, reducing movement speed by 30% for 8 sec.Storm Breath
30 yd range
Instant
6 sec cooldown
The chimaera blasts the target with storm breath, causing 55 nature damage.
Clefthooves - Exotic
Charge
8 - 25 yd range
Instant
14 sec cooldown
The clefthoof charges the target, rooting them for 1 second and increasing the damage of the next Horn Toss by 50%.Horn Toss
Melee range
Instant
1.5 min cooldown
The clefthoof punts the enemy with its might horn, knocking them back a great distance and dealing 800 damage.Thick Hide
While above 40% maximum health, the clefthoof receives 15% less damage from all sources.
Core Hounds - Exotic
Lava Breath
8 yd range
Instant
25 sec cooldown
The core hound breathes a double gout of molten lava at the target for 200 damage, slowing their casting speed by 25% and causing an additional 45 fire damage over 10 seconds.Molten Hide
The core houndâs blistering hide reduces all physical damage taken by 10% and damages melee attackers for 10 damage. This effect can only occur once per second.
Crabs
Pin
Melee range
Instant
40 sec cooldown
Pins the target in place, rooting them for 3 seconds and dealing 390 damage over the duration.Tough Shell
Reduces all physical damage taken by 10%.Air Bubbles
40 yd range
Instant
Grants the Hunter underwater breathing for 1 minute.
Cranes
Chi-jiâs Tranquility
40 yd range
Instant
30 sec cooldown
The crane soothes the allied target, healing them for 300 health. Autocasting this ability will target the ally with the lowest health percentage.
Crocolisks
Ankle Crack
Melee range
Instant
10 sec cooldown
The crocolisk snaps at the targetâs feet, causing 98 damage and slowing them by 50% for 6 seconds.
Devilsaurs - Exotic
Monstrous Bite
Melee range
Instant
20 sec cooldown
The devilsaur ferociously bites the enemy, causing 180 damage.Terrifying Roar
10 yd radius
Instant
12 sec cooldown
The devilsaur lets out a terrifying roar, causing 9 damage to up to X enemies within 10 yards and slowing them by 30% for 4 seconds.Feast
Channeled (4 sec cast)
1 min cooldown
The devilsaur feasts on a nearby Humanoid or Beast corpse, restoring 15% maximum health per second for 4 seconds. Cannot be used in combat.
Direhorns
Reflective Armor Plating
Reduces all spell damage taken by 30%, and gain Reflective Armor Plating every 30 seconds, nullifying the next offensive spell cast on the direhorn.Gore
Melee range
Instant
6 sec cooldown
The direhorn drives its horn into the target, causing 50 damage.
Dogs
Lockjaw
Melee range
Instant
40 sec cooldown
Bites into the target and holds them in place, rooting them for 3 seconds and dealing 390 damage over the duration.Bark
20 yd range
Instant
30 sec cooldown
Barks at the target, interrupting spellcasting and preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 1 second.
Dragonhawks
Fire Breath
25 yd range
Instant
6 sec cooldown
The dragonhawk breathes fire on the target, causing 40 fire damage and an additional 18 fire damage over 2 seconds.
Feathermanes
Updraft
40 yd range
Instant
The feathermane beats its powerful wings, slowing the falling speed of both itself and the Hunter for 30 seconds.Downdraft
Instant
30 sec cooldown
The feathermane flaps its powerful wings, forcing a large amount of air into the ground, knocking back nearby enemies.
Foxes
Agile Reflexes
Instant
1 min cooldown
The fox heightens its senses, increasing dodge chance by 100% for 8 seconds.Tailspin
Instant
16 sec cooldown
Your fox twirls its tail around, kicking up an obscuring cloud of dust, increasing the cast times of all enemies within 10 yards by 25% for 8 seconds.
Goats
Head-butt
Melee range
Instant
10 sec cooldown
The goat head-butts the target with its massive horns, causing 95 damage.Kick
Melee range
Instant
30 sec cooldown
The goat kicks the target with its hooves, interrupting spellcasting and preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 2 second.
Gorillas
Thunderstomp
Instant
6 sec cooldown
Shakes the ground with thundering force, causing 50 damage to up to X nearby enemies.Silverback
While below 40% maximum health, the gorilla takes 15% less damage and will heal for 2% maximum health every 5 seconds.
Hydras
Acid Bite
Melee range
Instant
9 second recharge
3 charges
The Hydra bites into the target with its acidic fangs, causing 30 damage. All charges are returned at once.
Hyenas
Tendon Rip
Melee range
Instant
8 sec cooldown
The hyena tears at an enemyâs leg, causing 35 damage and reducing movement speed by 60% for 3 seconds.Infected Bite
Melee range
Instant
6 sec cooldown
The hyena sinks its fangs into the target, causing 20 damage and infecting the target with Mortal Wounds, reducing the effectiveness of any healing received for 10 seconds.
Krolusks - Exotic
Bulwark
Instant
2 min cooldown
The krolusk assumes a defensive posture, reducing damage taken by 60% for 20 seconds.Jagged Barbs
Melee range
Instant
30 sec cooldown
The krolusk stabs the target with its jagged barbs, poisoning them and causing 290 nature damage over 20 seconds. This damage is dealt slowly at first, and builds up as the poison reaches its full duration.Calcified Carapace
Reduces physical damage taken by 15%.
Lizards
Shed Skin
Instant
30 sec cooldown
The lizard sheds its old skin, healing itself for 20% maximum health.Grievous Bite
Melee range
Instant
6 sec cooldown
The lizard bites with toxic venom, causing 56 damage and infecting the target with mortal wounds, reducing the effectiveness of any healing received for 10 seconds.
Mechanicals
Zap
10 yd range
Instant
8 sec cooldown
The mechanical contraption zaps the target, causing 65 nature damage.Defense Matrix
Instant
45 sec cooldown
The mechanical contraption creates a personal defense matrix around itself for 12 seconds, absorbing damage equal to 40% its maximum health.Auto-repair
The mechanical contraptionâs inner workings automatically repair itself over time, healing it for 1.5% maximum health every 4 seconds.
Monkeys
Primal Agility
Instant
1 min cooldown
The monkey heightens its senses, increasing dodge chance by 100% for 8 seconds.Bad Manners
20 yd range
Instant
1 min cooldown
The monkey hurls a handful of something special at the target, blinding them for 3 seconds. Rude.
Moths
Serenity Dust
Instant
10 second cooldown
The moth vibrates its wings, scattering tranquil dust onto up to 4 allies within 20 yards, healing them for 40 health. Prioritizes allies with lower health percentages.
Oxen
Charge
8 - 25 yd range
Instant
14 sec cooldown
The ox charges the target, rooting them for 1 second.Niuzaoâs Fortitude
For every 10% of missing health, the ox takes 5% reduced damage from all sources.
Pterrodaxes - Exotic
Updraft
40 yd range
Instant
The pterrodaxe beats its powerful wings, slowing the falling speed of both itself and the Hunter for 30 seconds.Piercing Screech
10 yd radius
Instant
12 sec cooldown
The pterrodaxe lets out a high pitch terrifying screech, causing 70 damage to up to X enemies within 10 yards and stunning them for 1 second.Ancient Hide
The pterrodaxe takes 10% reduced damage from all sources.
Quilen - Exotic
Eternal Guardian
While alive, the Quilen will redirect 15% of all physical damage done to the Hunter to itself. When the quilen dies, it will miraculously return to life with full health. This effect has a 6 minute cooldown.Stone Armor
Reduces all physical damage taken by 20%, and regenerate 2% maximum health every 4 seconds.
Raptors
Savage Rend
Melee range
Instant
20 sec cooldown
The raptor slashes the enemy with its talons for 100 damage, and causing the target to bleed for an additional 100 damage over 15 seconds.
Ravagers
Ravage
Melee range
Instant
1 min cooldown
The ravager violently attacks the enemy, causing 575 damage and stunning them for 2 seconds.
Rays
Nether Shock
20 yd range
Instant
40 sec cooldown
The ray instantly lashes the enemy for 370 shadow damage, dispelling 1 beneficial magic effect and interrupting spellcasting, preventing any spell in that school from being cast for 2 seconds.
Riverbeasts
Gruesome Bite
Melee range
Instant
10 sec cooldown
The riverbeast bites gruesomely at its target, causing 96 damage.Thick Hide
The riverbeast takes 10% reduced damage from all sources.
Rodents
Gnaw
Melee range
Instant
6 sec cooldown
The rodent gnaws a gaping wound in the target, causing 58 damage and inflicting them with mortal wounds, reducing the effectiveness of any healing received for 10 seconds.
Scalehides
Thunderstomp
Instant
6 sec cooldown
Shakes the ground with thunder force, causing 50 damage to up to X nearby enemies.Scale Shield
Instant
40 sec cooldown
The scalehide hardens its skin, reducing damage taken by 40% for 10 seconds.
Scorpids
Scorpid Poison
Melee range
Instant
12 sec cooldown
The scorpid stings the enemy with paralytic venom, reducing their melee attack speed by 25% and causing 118 nature damage over 10 seconds. The melee attack speed reduction does not work against very powerful foes.
Serpents
Poison Spit
20 yd range
Instant
16 sec cooldown
The serpent spits poison at the enemy, increasing their cast times by 25% and causing 150 damage over 12 seconds.Shed Skin
Instant
30 sec cooldown
The snake sheds its old skin, healing itself for 20% maximum health.
Shale Spiders - Exotic
Web Wrap
30 yd range
Instant
1.5 min cooldown
Encases the target in mineral laden webbing, stunning them for 3 seconds.Solid Shell
Instant
1 min cooldown
The Shale Spider hardens its rocky armor, reducing all damage taken by 50% for 12 seconds.Shimmering Shale
Reduces magic damage taken by 20%.
Silithids - Exotic
Venom Web spray
20 yd range
Instant
45 sec cooldown
The silithid sprays toxic webs at the target, rooting them for 4 seconds and causing 440 nature damage over the duration. Enemies immune to the root effect will still take damage.Dune Strider
Increases the silithidâs movement speed by 50%.Qiraji Fortitude
Increases the maximum health of the silithid by 10%.
Spiders
Web
20 yd range
Instant
45 sec cooldown
The spider sprays sticky webs at the target, rooting them for 4 seconds.Venomous Bite
Melee range
Instant
20 sec cooldown
The spider bites the enemy with its fangs, causing 8 damage and an additional 190 nature damage over 12 seconds.
Spirit Beasts - Exotic
Spirit Shock
30 yd range
Instant
12 sec cooldown
The spirit beast burns the enemy for 70 arcane damage, and an additional 45 arcane damager after 10 seconds.Spirit Mend
30 yd range
Instant
20 sec cooldown
The spirit beast heals the ally for 70 health, and an additional 120 health over 10 seconds.Spirit Walk
Instant
10 sec cooldown
The spirit beast phases into the spirit realm, gaining stealth and increasing the damage of its next Spirit Shock by 30% and the healing of its next Spirit Mend by 30%.
Sporebats
Spore Cloud
Instant
10 sec cooldown
The sporebat emits a cloud of toxic spores, causing 90 damage over 8 seconds to up to 5 nearby enemies.
Stags
Head-butt
Melee range
Instant
10 sec cooldown
The stag head-butts the target with its massive horns, causing 98 damage.Hoofin it
Increases the stagâs movement speed by 50%.
Tallstriders
Stomp
Melee range
Instant
4 sec cooldown
The tallstrider stomps on the enemy, causing 38 damage.Dust Cloud
Instant
10 sec cooldown
The tallstrider kicks up an obscuring cloud of dust, causing all enemies within 10 yards to miss their next attack. Lasts for 8 seconds. Does not work against very powerful foes.
Toads
Tongue Lash
20 yd range
Instant
10 sec cooldown
The toad whips the target with its tongue, causing 96 damage and slowing them by 40% for 6 seconds.Air Reserve
Instant
Grants the Hunter underwater breathing for 5 minutes. Cannot be cast underwater.
Turtles
Shell Shield
Instant
1 min cooldown
The turtle partially withdraws into its shell, reducing damage taken by 60% for 10 seconds.Hardened Shell
Reduces all damage taken by 15%.
Warp Stalkers
Warp Strike
35 yd range
Instant
10 second cooldown
The warp stalker warps behind the enemy and strikes them from behind, causing 96 damage.
Wasps
Sting
Melee range
Instant
25 sec cooldown
The wasp stings the target, causing 240 damage and stunning them for 1 second.
Water Striders - Exotic
Soothing Water
40 yd range
Instant
20 sec cooldown
The water strider sprays soothing water on the target ally, healing them for 100 health. Autocasting this ability will target the ally with the lowest health percentage.Soothing Tide
Instant
12 sec cooldown
The water strider pulses soothing water on up to 4 nearby allies, healing them for 36 health. Autocasting this ability will target the allies with the lowest health percentages.Surface Trot
Instant
Allows the water strider and the Hunter to walk across water. Any damage taken will cancel the effect.
Wind Serpents
Lightning Breath
25 yd range
Instant
6 sec cooldown
The wind serpent breathes lightning on the target, causing 58 nature damage.
Wolves
Furious Howl
Instant
10 sec cooldown
The wolf lets out a howl, increasing the damage of it and the Hunterâs next physical attack by 50.
Worms - Exotic
Burrow Attack
Channeled (8 sec cast)
16 sec cooldown
The Worm burrows into the earth and shakes the ground above, dealing 40 Nature damage every 2 sec for 8 sec to up to X enemies within 12 yards.Coil
Melee range
Instant
40 sec cooldown
Coils around the target, rooting them for 3 seconds.Acid Spit
30 yd range
Instant
16 sec cooldown
The worms spits acid at the target, causing 146 damage over 6 seconds.
~ Pet Loyalty ~
Now donât worry, you wonât be having to haul around multiple stacks of food just for your pet to maintain its maximum damage. Instead, pet loyalty will be limited to practical benefits that wonât increase combat ability in instances, aesthetic bonuses and âfor funâ abilities. The purpose of pet loyalty is to make pets again feel more engaging and interesting, being a true companion to the Hunter rather than just a class mechanic that only serves the purpose of being âfor the dpsâ.
Each pet will have its own loyalty bar, similar to the experience bar. There will be multiple ways to increase this, and each âtierâ of loyalty will unlock rewards.
As an example, your pet may gain 1 loyalty point for every minute your pet is out. You can use Feed Pet to feed your pet its diet food, and that would grant your pet 10 loyalty (but could debuff your pet with âFullâ or something for like half an hour, preventing your pet from gaining loyalty from Feed Pet). Perhaps killing exp/honor granting targets would also grant 1 loyalty, but perhaps limited to happening once per minute to avoid abuse. A special vendor could sell special pet food that grants 50% or 100% more loyalty when fed with Feed Pet.
In terms of the amount of loyalty required to reach certain tiers, it could require 30 total loyalty for the first tier, 100 total loyalty for the second (total loyalty would include all previous loyalty as well, such as the 30 needed for tier 1), 200 total for the third, 500 total for the fourth, so on and so forth with the final tier being something like 25,000 or something else really high like that.
~ Pet Loyalty Rewards ~
These abilities and effects are possible rewards for reaching different levels of loyalty with a particular pet. They would all go into the petâs spellbook, and would be able to be made into macros to put on the Hunterâs bars if they choose.
One thing to note is that some of these abilities will send your pet away for certain lengths of time. The way this works is that the Hunter will be given an unremovable debuff for X minutes that prevents them from summoning the pet from that âCall petâ slot. For example, if your cat is âCall Petâ slot 2, then sending them to put an item in the bank will debuff you with âPet Errand - Slot 2â. Another thing to note is that while you have this debuff, you cannot swap that pet at a stable master.
Scavenge
2 min cooldown
Your pet scavenges for food and goodies, returning with what it finds after 1 minute. Cannot be used while in combat or in major cities.This ability will use the âPet Errandâ debuff. Preventing you from calling that pet for 1 minute, allowing you to summon another pet in the meantime if you so choose.
Upon the debuffâs expiration you will receive a âPet Goodies - Slot Xâ, and when that pet is called the buff will be removed and the pet will place a temporary âpileâ in front of the Hunter that only the Hunter can loot.
This ability will send your pet away for 1 minute, to have it return with what it has found. There will be a random chance that determines what items you get when looting the âpileâ. For example, there would be a 50% chance of receiving two food items that are within your petâs diet that restore 3% health per second over 30 seconds (The food will be unique to Scavenge for each dietary food type, such as meat, fish, cheese, etc. and wonât be able to be vendored), a 20% chance of getting 5 of that same food item, a 10% chance of getting 10 of that same food item, a 10% chance of getting 5 of that food item and money (that would be worth about how much money you would get from looting a regular mob of your level), an 8% chance of getting 5 of that food item, money and cloth (again, in amounts and cloth type similar to what you would loot from a regular mob of your level), and a 2% chance of getting 10 of that same food item, money, cloth and an untradeable special pet treat that when fed to a pet greatly increases their loyalty to the Hunter (probably something like 150 or 200 loyalty, maybe more).
Patrol
Instant
Select two locations on the ground. Your pet will patrol between those two locations.
A variety of the pet âMove toâ command. It would be pretty fun, and if you wanted your pet to aggro mobs over a larger area than âMove toâ would allow, then this ability would allow you to do so.
Carrier Beast
Instant
30 min cooldown
Gives your pet an item or stack of items to take back and store in your bank. Your pet will return after 5 minutes, cannot be swapped at the Stable Master, and until then will act as if dismissed, allowing you to summon another pet.This ability will grant you the âPet Errandâ debuff. Preventing you from calling that pet for 5 minutes, allowing you to summon another pet in the meantime if you so choose.
This ability will be very useful, and the 5 minute duration will encourage the Hunter to use a wider variety of their pets. Since this is a pretty high loyalty requirement ability, it will mean that Hunters with lots of highly loyal pets will be able to store quite a few items in their bank just using their pets.
Duel of Companionship
60 hr cooldown
You and your pet engage in a duel, becoming attackable by one another and causing the pet to immediately enter combat with the Hunter. During the duel, the Hunter loses access to pet spells, abilities and talents, while the pet retains access to all of its spells, abilities and talents. The pet will also gain resistance to all crowd control effects, reducing their duration against the pet by 80%. Once either the Hunter or the pet reaches 10% health, the duel is over. If the Hunter wins, the pet will gain loyalty. If the Hunter wins while specced Beast Mastery, the pet will gain even more loyalty.
Allowing the Hunter to duel their own pet is an awesome idea imo. Especially since it grants a lot of bonus loyalty if the Hunter wins. The 60 hour cooldown prevents spamming it over and over to farm loyalty, and allows the loyalty bonus as well as the duel itself to have a greater impact. Since pets are much stronger in BM, and the Hunter weaker, there will be bonus loyalty for dueling while specced Beast Mastery. The loyalty reward if the Hunter wins could be something like 300 loyalty, and 450 loyalty if specced into BM.
Guard
Commands the pet to guard the allied target, attacking any enemy that attacks them. While guarding, the pet will follow the guarded target, but will despawn if they wander too far away from the Hunter.
Another âstanceâ command similar to âPatrolâ and âMove toâ. It essentially commands your pet to follow an ally and go into a special defensive stance that is triggered by the guard target being attacked rather than the Hunter. The maximum range for Guard is the regular pet range for the Hunter, but instead of despawning once it goes out of range the pet will simply run back to the Hunter.
Assist Ally
40 yd range
Instant
Commands your pet to assist a targeted ally player. Your pet will follow them for 1 hour and act as their pet. The allied player may set the petâs stance and dismiss the pet from assisting them, but otherwise the pet will use only abilities that were set to autocast when Assist Ally was used. Your pet will only accept the command to assist an ally if the ally is near your level. Cannot be used in instances, and if the target allied player enters an instance the pet will be automatically dismissed.This ability will grant you the âPet Errandâ debuff. Preventing you from calling that pet for 1 hour, allowing you to summon another pet in the meantime if you so choose.
So this ability may or may not be too strong to be associated with pet loyalty (and may be too strong in general), but dang is it awesome. You can lend your pet to a friend or guildy to help them while questing or even to protect them from player attacks. They can set them to Assist, Defensive or Passive, and can dismiss them to stop them from following them if they donât want them. You can even lend out your pets to players in the same group as you while leveling or questing, allowing a bunch of your pets to be out at once and assisting your party. If a target is killed by only the assisting pet the ally wonât get loot or exp though, and the limit of only allowing them to assist allies near your level will prevent you from just lending out a bunch of pets to trivialize leveling for lower level players. The one hour âPet Errandâ debuff will no go away even if the assisted player dismisses the pet, and while active you will effectively lose access to that pet slot, so use it wisely.
It is useless in instances, which include battlegrounds, so it wonât benefit dungeons, raids, BGs, arenas, etc⌠But it may still be a bit strong in non-instanced gameplay. I think Blizzard is more lax in the area of crazy awesome things out in the world though, so I think it could reasonably exist. Perhaps the limit of only assisting an ally of similar level could even be removed.
Memorize Scent
100 yd range
5 sec cast
Your pet memorizes the targetâs scent for 1 hour. Once memorized, you may use Pursue Scent to command your pet to either attack the target whose scent was memorized.
Pursue Scent
Instant
Commands your pet to attack the target whose scent they memorized with Memorize Scent. If the target is stealthed, invisible, too far away or otherwise unattackable the pet will not attack.
These two abilities are for convenience mostly. If the Hunter wishes to attack one target while having the pet attack another, then Pursue Scent can be macroed into abilities and attacks, saving the Hunter button presses and streamlining their macros. While this technically could be considered a combat benefit, the benefit is almost entirely just convenience for the Hunter. So I give it a pass.
Auto-Fetch
While set to auto-cast, your pet will automatically auto-loot its target when it dies if it is within range and if the Hunter is able to loot it.
A pet spell that allows them to loot slain targets immediately. This gives a stronger sense of the âHunterâ fantasy, where your pet is sent out to help kill and collect the beasts that the Hunter takes down. Also bypasses the archaic Fetch ability that doesnât let you choose a target.
Eternal Companion
Instant
Sets this pet as your Companion, granting you Call Companion in your spellbook. Only one pet may be your Companion at a time.While set as your Companion, your pet may be called to your side as your active pet regardless of whether they are with you or stabled.
Call Companion
Instant
Summons your Companion to you, regardless of whether it is with you or stabled. When called this way, your pet gains the Companion buff, slightly increasing their size, reducing the cooldowns of Scavenge and Carrier Beast by 50% and the cooldown of Dual of Companionship by 95%.
The ultimate pet loyalty ability. The mark of the true companion. While it will essentially allow you to have 6 pets with you at once, essentially having your companion pet in stable slot 6, the additional benefits such as the cooldown reductions will make it very useful. It encourages the Hunter to choose a single pet as their companion similar to Misha for Rexxar. The size increase would uniquely stack with other size increasing effects, and would probably increase size by somewhere in the range of 20%.
Unbreakable Bond
Instant
While active, your pet will no longer despawn from wandering too far from the Hunter, and instead Recall Pet will be used for free without triggering its cooldown.
A nice ability that can prevent your pet from despawning if it gets too far.
Cuddle
3 yd range
Channeled (10 seconds)
You cuddle with your pet.
While channeling, your pet would face you, and hearts would pop up during the animation.
Transmogrify Pet
1 hr cooldown
Transmogrifies your pet to look exactly like you, the Hunter, for fifteen minutes.
Transmogrify Hunter
1 hr cooldown
Transmogrifies the Hunter to look exactly like the pet for fifteen minutes.
Yep. With these two abilities you could swap looks with your pet. Imagine seeing a Hunter approach only for the pet to sit in the back firing arrows at you while the Hunter sprints up and starts biting you and punching you in the face. The cooldown and duration would vary, based on how much fun Blizzard would like to allow in their game.
These are the ideas that I had for Loyalty Rewards for now. Though of course there is great room for improvement, and Iâm sure lots of Hunters could come up with other great rewards for higher pet loyalty. So please be sure to comment with suggestions. Just remember not to make them beneficial to instanced content!
~ ~ End ~ ~
Thatâs the end of it for now. However like I said at the beginning give your suggestions or advice on how it could be improved to be the best that it can be. I may add more sections later as well.
Again, the purpose of this post was to give Blizzard suggestions for how the Hunter class could be improved to have both a strong class fantasy while still allowing the four specs to feel distinct and unique in their playstyle and fantasy, and to allow pets to feel unique and engaging again (even if they arenât perfectly balanced in every scenario).