Warlords of Draenor had a limited playable version during Blizzcon this weekend and we were able to see the new level 100 talents in their current form. As my main is a hunter, I’ll be focusing on this class only for now.
Bola Shot: 30 focus. 40-yard range. Instant. Fires a bola at the target which wraps around them, and after 1 second it explodes, dealing 3000 fire damage to them. Adds an additional 2000 fire damage to all enemies within 5 yards. Replaces Arcane Shot.
This looks like a really cool alternative to Arcane Shot. I can’t wait to see what it looks like. I haven’t played Diablo3 since the beta but I think the demon-hunter class has (had?) something similar? I guess we’ll know soon enough.
Snipe: 40-yard range. 2.77-second cast. Carefully line up the perfect shot, dealing 150% weapon damage. Generates 60 focus. Cannot be cast while moving. Replaces Steady Shot and Cobra Shot.
Beast Mastery and Survival: Also refreshes Serpent Sting.
Marksmanship: Also triggers Steady Focus.
This takes away some of our mobility, but since we can still use all of our other shots while moving, it’s probably not a big deal. It generates a lot more focus than Steady Shot and Cobra Shot, too, which means we may need to use it less frequently, but we might need to carefully plan when we need to use it. It could be fun to see how it can be added to our current rotation.
With Or Without You
Beast Mastery — Versatility: Passive. Increases the effect of your pet’s Combat Experience to 70% increased damage. Your pet now gains the following abilities, regardless of spec: Rabid, Spiked Collar, Thunderstomp, Blood of the Rhino, Great Stamina, Bullheaded, Cornered, and Bull’s Speed.
Marksmanship and Survival — Lone Wolf: Passive. Increases all damage dealt by 30% when you don’t have a pet active.
This one really upsets me for some reason. Pets are supposed to be a big part of our damage, right? How can there be any positive effect on a hunter not having his pet out? But maybe this could be good for fights where our pets are more difficult to manage. General Nazgrim from Siege of Orgrimmar comes to mind. Sending the pet on the boss, then making sure he doesn’t hit the boss but hits the adds can be a pain to manage sometimes. Don’t get me wrong, it’s totally doable. But maybe with this kind of talent, we could just not use the pet and not lose dps because the pet is on passive and you forgot to send him on the adds, and then Nazgrim gets out of Defensive stance and the pet stays on passive because I’m a noob. Ahem. Anyway, you get the point.
So these look like pretty interesting choices for hunters. This class is a ton of fun to play already, and these talents would make a fun addition to our arsenal. Obviously things could change a million times before the expansion goes live, and these talents may never make it to the live realms, but I’m very excited to see how this develops.