Cataclysm: A Look at Hunters (BM)

With Cataclysm coming, I wanted to take a brief look at the changes coming to each class. As my main is a Hunter, this seemed to be the most logical place to start. Sadly, I'm not in Beta, so I can't do my own empirical tests of things like DPS changes and increases.

This look will be far more in-depth than any of the other classes. I've been playing a hunter for 4 years, and have nearly 6 months of /played on her. I've raided on her, dabbled in PvP, and have theorycrafted the class pretty extensively through BC, and a lesser extent in Wrath.

First, a look at the talent trees.

For Beast Mastery (my preferred spec, and the spec I'll be switching to when Cata drops) I would (if the spec wasn't currently nerfed to the ground) spec this way. When Cataclysm comes out, I'd be looking to go with something like this.

So let's look at what I gain, what I lose, etc etc.

Improved Aspect of the Hawk has been removed. Currently, you have a chance to increase your ranged attack speed. But, as Haste is being changed to affect utility regen, this was something I was expecting.

Endurance Training has also been removed (in fact, it's cousin in the Survival tree has been removed as well). I don't have a major beef with this as with the change over to focus, Stamina will most likely be our 2nd heaviest stat, making up for the increases provided by these.

Focus Fire has been removed. Without being able to check empirically, I am not concerned as this ability (2% increase to damage when your pet is active, and your pet gets and increase chance to crit when under effects of Kill Command) is one that is very easy to simply build into the class. Even if we lose the 2% increase, it's not a huge nerf. A 10,000 dps hunter would lose 200 dps. That's not a huge nerf.

Aspect Mastery has been revamped to a 3-pt talent that will provide the same bonus to Aspect of the Hawk, though we lose the bonus to Aspect of the Monkey. It buffs the regen of Aspect of the Fox, which is different from the buff it currently provides Viper, but since Fox won't have the damage reduction debuff, it really doesn't matter.

Also removed are both Ferocity and Unleashed Fury. While these were important pet buffs, it seems these will be covered in the Beast Mastery's Class Mastery abilities, so I'm not concerned.

Improved Mend Pet is pretty much unchanged. The difference being that they removed the cost mechanism. Considering the ability now costs 0 focus, I guess I can take the loss of the 20% cost reduction.

Bestial Discpline has taken a huge hit. Instead of doubling your pet's Focus regeneration, it will only increase it by 30%. However, this again depends on how other mechanics interfere. With Haste now increasing regen, it's possible that the rest of the pet's regen will come from the player's haste.

Intimidation appears to have been outright removed. While not a crippling nerf, one that I'm not thrilled with. It was nice having a stun on hand for PvP that didn't rely on the specific pet I was using. While it wasn't a move I necessarily used all the time, or even that often, it was a good "Oh Shit" move. However, it's possible (I wasn't able to find out) that it's simply becoming a trainable option.

Spirit Bond sadly has been left unchanged.This is a pity because it's current incarnation is very lackluster. Regaining only 2% of one's health may be nice while leveling (I'll probably pick it up for leveling to reduce downtime) but for use in groups or PvP, it's just too little to really help. While it is clearly an ability that can become grossly overpowered very quickly, I really think it's in need of a slight buff to make it truly useful.

Frenzy has been nerfed as well. Currently, you can (in my current build) get 8 secs of a 30% increased attack speed after landing a critical strike. This is an ability that with very little effort maintains near constant uptime. Now, you'll be looking at a 15% increase, but with the same uptime. Again, without seeing how attack speeds look in Cataclysm, it's hard to say how big of a nerf this really is.

Beast Mastery's signature talents: Bestial Wrath and The Beast Within have been left unchanged. My only surprise is that with the condensing and consolidation of the talents, they didn't merge these into one talent.

Serpent's Switftness (another ability tied to how Haste currently works) has been removed. Considering weapon speeds haven't been reduced, it will be interesting to see if we can really overcome this. However, with a steep increase to damage, it may balance out.

Ferocious Inspiration is remaining the same, just nicely being reduced to a 1 point talent.

Animal Handler has been removed, which again plays to how well the Mastery ability will compensate.

Cobra Strikes has been only slightly modified. The only difference is only Basic Attacks can be buffed by it, not Special Attacks. Ok, fair enough. A minor nerf.

Longevity and Beast Mastery have been left unchanged.

Kindred Spirits has been massively changed. Rather than granting your pet a damage increase, it increases yours and your pet's focus to 110 max, rather than 100.


There are changes to the "sub" specs of MM and Survival as well, but I'd rather cover these with their respective main specs.

Stay tuned for looks at more classes, other Hunter specs, Hunter pets, and Hunters in general.