Undocumented PTR Hunter patch changes
Posted by Vixenytli & Chuck on January 9, 2009
I have no words for this tragedy. All I can do it /sadpanda
-From MMO Champion-
Hunter (Skills List / Talent + Glyph Calc.)
Beast Mastery
- Ferocious Inspiration now also increase the damage of Arcane Shot by 3/6/9%
Survival
- Lock and Load now has a 30 seconds cooldown.
- Explosive shot damage has been slightly decreased and now deal {RAP*0.16+428}-{RAP*0.16+428} Fire damage at level 80. (Down from {RAP*0.18+476}-{RAP*0.18+476})
Marksmanship
- Improved Stings now reduces the chance your Sting damage over time effects will be dispelled by 10/20/30%. (Old – Affected all stings)
Pet
- Spirit Strike (Spirit Beast) damage has been decreased and now Burns the enemy for 49 to 65 Arcane damage and an additional 49 to 65 damage over 6 sec at max rank. (Down from 85 to 115)
- Rake (Cat) damage has been increased, now deals 47-67 (Up from 24-34) bleed damage and an additional 19-25 (up from 10-24) damage over 9 seconds at max rank.
- Scorpid Poison damage has been increased. (From 45 to 100 Nature damage over 10 sec for the last rank)
ok- I have words now. I’m So glad they’re increasing scorpid damage what being a scorpid and all, but it just doesn’t make sense. A hunter that specs points into their pet’s DPS that could otherwise be used for shot DPS should not be penalized. We have tested pets- a wolf v. the spirit beast, with the exact same ferocity spec, for the exact same amount of time, with the exact same buffs and – guess what?- they had the EXACT same damage. And now they’re going to HALVE that damage? /shakesfist So- are you telling me that the Vix spent those extra points in BM to get the SAME DPS? There should be some sort of difference in the DPS of a BM vs. an MM.
It could also be argued that those extra +4 pet skill points make some sort of a difference but we haven’t yet tested how much. If Blizz is going by the logic that all hunters should be able to choose whatever petskin they want and consequently make them all the same damage- it could then be rational for the BM difference to be the extra +4 points. But (and here I bring out my uber 5th grader arguing skills) That’s dumb! 
A pet that is, well, Awesom-er should be awesomer in every way. Not just look cool. If Vix could have the exact same DPS but any pet she wanted she’d pick ME, but i’m Tenacity and that isn’t as much good in raiding. Though with this buff, it merits testing.
Vix is very excited though about the Ferocious Int change- she has always loved arcane shot and now she has a reason to use that mana! woo!
I’m getting irritated waiting for this patch. I realize this is the first big one after the expansion and all, but it seems like it’s taking forever.
Ziv said
The fact that they keep adjusting Spirit Strike, Rake, and Scorpid poison is further acknowledgment that’s those three are completely borked in the game right now. Maybe they’ll get it right this time, and I surely hope that they make the Spirit Beast and it’s Spirit Strike a viable raiding pet. It’s a unique skin and I know Blizzard has said that it’s mostly there for looks, but it is an exotic pet and they’ve even said that it should be approximately 10% more DPS than a non-exotic.
There’s one other thing that is borked, the Devilsaur and Monstrous Bite. Well it’s not exactly Monstrous Bite itself, but rather what happens when Monstrous Bite occurs. What happens is that the Devilsaur grows in size, and when that happens his hit box grows and it has to keep taking a step back every time it grows. What that means is that he could be quite far away from the target. Typically this isn’t a huge problem, but ever try raiding Naxx with one and using it on Heigan the Unclean? The fact that he’s so far away from Heigan means that it is almost always within the affect of the poison splash while other pets are not.
Well, I won’t go into more about this, but as a BM hunter I’m as passionate about my pets as I am about the class.
Vixenytli & Chuck said
I didn’t know that about the Devilsaur- I never tamed one myself. the Only scaly pet i really like is Chuck. (though I once broke down and got a red crab I names “Sebastion.”
) I can certainly see how that would be a problem. I actually dislike the size of the BM pets- I have a Chimera (named Bellerophon) but as pretty as his is it annoys me that just standing there (not even big-red) his wings go through me. Just more evidence that while Blizz really did try to give us some good variety, they had so much fun they ran out their budget before they had time to fix it.
I hope they do get it right this time, and I have seen what you mentioned about the 10% better for BM pets but since I couldn’t remember the source I didn’t want to mention it. Good to know I’m not imagining things.
Blizz has also said that they will “probably” be making Loque more available- I think that sucks. Maybe more spirit beasts, sure, but that skin and that name should stay unique and difficult to get. Maybe a slighty different one and it could be “offspring of Har’koa” or something. (damn would that be an adorable Mini-pet. /want )
TY for the comments- We love comments!
Pike said
“she has always loved arcane shot and now she has a reason to use that mana!”
Mana cost of Arcane Shot will be the exact same as Steady Shot, even more reason… cause you won’t be using much mana at all =P