Hunter news

On the third podcast episode, the designers talked about whether tanks should need their own talent build for dungeons. Josh Greenfield said dual spec turns on at level 40 for now, that the team is discussing the right level, and half-jokingly floated level thirty. Nothing is decided. An earlier unlock would let you keep a second build for dungeons, such as a tank build, next to the one you quest with.

You start out with a weapon and some coins, and each race's starting area now has added quests to find. Cooks can light a fire and build a camp that other players can add to. The Skyborne quests open with an introduction to their culture, new story quests tell how the Forsaken came to have Paladins, and the Wetlands get more quests. On the travel route between the Wetlands and Darkshore, a new stop lets you get off in Hillsbrad.

Penance now costs more mana, 150 instead of 100 at rank 1, and deals less damage and healing. The Warrior talent that widened Battle Shout and Demoralizing Shout now covers every Shout and also cuts their Rage cost by up to 25%; a talent that raised maximum Rage by 30 is gone, and the off-hand talent swaps its hit bonus for more off-hand damage and Rage. Druids get Natural Instinct in place of Predatory Instincts, and Bear Form now forfeits the Energy you would get back on returning to Cat Form and stops it building. Low ranks of Wrath, Fireball, Frostbolt, Smite, Lightning Bolt and Shadow Bolt get new damage ranges, some higher and some lower.

Party XP now follows the Classic Era rule: each player's share depends on their own level, not on the highest level in the group, and Blizzard expects the two XP changes together to speed up dungeon leveling a lot. Rage from damage taken no longer drops as you add Stamina gear, now counts crits and crushing blows, ignores absorbs, and is tuned for 20% to 40% armor instead of 50%. All beta characters get the full 16 Legacy Points, the Cooldown Manager now covers every class, racials and trinkets, and crits in PvP are no longer weakened. Known issues include broken icons in the Professions window and a pet crit display bug for Hunters with Ferocity.

Until this build it was the only choice from that turn-in you could use at level 30. Blizzard's notes for the build call level 40 the correct requirement for it. Wowhead notes that every library reward so far has needed changes: the necklaces are now Uncommon rather than Rare, while the rings lost item level and their class limit and gained a quest level.

Honor comes from kills, battlegrounds and PvP quests; Rank Points come from battlegrounds and PvP quests, and holiday-week battlegrounds give more of both. Honor rates are now closer across maps, so Alterac Valley is no longer the obvious choice. Honor buys a blue set; each epic piece is an upgrade of the blue one using an Emboldened Seal, and seals unlock by rank, from bracers and belt at rank 8 to weapons at rank 14. Specs that lacked PvP gear get it, such as Shaman healer, melee and caster sets, and the PvP tab of your character pane shows your rank and what you can buy.

Library books are spread across Azeroth and go to your faction's librarian: Garion Wendell in the Stormwind Mage Tower, or Owen Thadd in the Undercity Magic Quarter. Earlier turn-ins take 10 and 20 books. The 25-book quest offers a bow, a crest or a night light; the other two need level 40, so Wowhead thinks the bow may get a level lock too.

The Hunter and Druid deep dive covers talent updates and core abilities; the Priest and Warrior one covers new and changed baseline spells, the racial Priest spells, and changes to Rage and stances. On the podcast, Blizzard designers Josh Greenfield, Aidan Moon and Kris Zierhut talk about class design with the streamer Sodapoppin. The rest of the post is about Midnight, the current retail expansion, and Blizzard's own post also mentions a keynote at PAX Aus. Blizzard's post and Wowhead's copy give release days one day apart for the next Midnight update.

Library books found around the world unlock quests, and 20 of them open the Greater Friend of the Library quest, with a choice of two rings. One of them, Field Researcher's Loop, was limited to Rogues and is now open to every class. A Wowhead reader shared which books an Alliance player can collect to reach 20, and with the level cap now at 30 some of them should be easier to get.

Moonkin Form now raises party crit by 3%, not stacking with Leader of the Pack, and Druids get Shifting Power, which turns mana into 40 Energy. One Hunter shot now lets the 3 shots after it reach 10 yards farther, and its own range goes up to 45 yd. The Fire talent Hot Streak is renamed Heating Up, Holy Shield's block bonus rises to 30% from 20%, and Disease Cleansing Totem lasts 300 sec instead of 120. Some Warrior lines don't match Blizzard's notes for the same build: the datamine still shows Unbridled Wrath giving more Rage with two-handed weapons.

Druids lose Tiger's Fury, every form now ignores Disarm, and Feral gets Shifting Power, which turns mana into 40 Energy. Holy Shield's block bonus rises to 30% from 20% while Redoubt drops, Combustion goes back to 3 charges, and Warriors get 75% more Rage from crits with basic attacks, though Blizzard's separate Warrior post from the same day gives a higher figure. Beyond classes, dungeon quests give 50% less bonus experience, the Honor cap goes up to 25,000, most PvP gear costs about 50% more, and each creature can be skinned once. Blizzard's known issues list for the build includes enemies parrying from behind at close range and Dual Wield Specialization adding hit to both hands.

Every Hunter learns Aimed Shot at level 20, traps now work in combat with a 30 sec cooldown, pets scale with the Hunter's gear, and Foxes join as a pet family. New Hunter talents include Summon Hawk, Lone Wolf, Sniper Shot, Strider Kick and Lacerating Strikes. Druids can drink potions, use weapon procs and open doors without leaving a form, Omen of Clarity and Nature's Grasp are now baseline, and Lacerate and Revive are new spells. New Druid talents include Insect Swarm, Eclipse, Primal Bite, Berserk and Wild Growth; Blizzard says Shifting Power and its upgrade were not yet in the beta when it posted.

Most players unlock it when a first character hits level 25. There are sixty-five challenges in six groups: classes, professions, PvP, adventure, dungeons and raids. Each character can spend up to 16 points at launch in three trees, Professions, Adventure and Resourcefulness, on perks such as cheaper vendors, more rested experience or unlocking talents 5 levels sooner. One character alone can earn up to 29 points, so alts are optional; points also unlock four rewards (a toy rifle, a bear cub pet, a tabard and a mount), and Hardcore will get 12 challenges of its own.