Within Sunwell. - 05/16/08

From Daelo, Lead Encounter Designer:

Also:

Scare Beast follow-up. - 05/14/08

This was posted earlier, by Drysc, in regards to why the instant Scare Beast didn't make it to live servers, as a follow-up to what Eyonix has already said:

Just stick to the cards sir. - 05/13/08

2.4.2 went in today. We've been over these changes but I'll re-list the hunter important stuff.

The instant cast change to Scare Beast did not make it to live servers, despite the tooltip being changed (it is still 1.5 cast time). When asked why this change didn't make it live, Eyonix replied:

And, I knew we hadn't heard the last about the Growl issue. Despite previous threads being locked regarding it, it still isn't 100% correct on live servers post patch, according to Hortus:

And followed up with:

Mrr Grr. - 04/30/08

It's been sort of interesting watching the Growl discussion unfold on the Test realm message board. There's been some good information put out there by external testers (IE, hunters like you and I) but for now, the discussion seems to have been closed as one of the relevant threads has been locked after being posted in by Hortus:

Which was followed by more posts and then the thread was locked, with this parting comment:

I don't know though, not sure we should give up on this subject QUITE yet. That said, they have requested some focus testing:

Test additions. - 04/25/08

Here are some more additions to the 2.4.2 patch notes. The change to Viper is now 'officially' listed:

Dire Ravens - 04/24/08

The newly tameable Dire Ravens (Level 67-68) in Blade's Edge are classed as Carrion Birds and upon taming know Dive 3 and Screech 5. Remember, this is on Test only, for now - you won't be able to tame them on live servers until 2.4.2.

2.4.2 - 04/23/08

Pre-patch notes for 2.4.2. Here comes the hunter stuff.

To follow up about the Growl change, we received this comment from Nethaera:

Of course, claw and bite don't scale with AP currently and preliminary reports suggest that they still don't, so... take that bit with a grain of salt.

Not in the patch notes but on Test realm is an additional change to Aspect of the Viper. Previously, it regenerated mana equal to up to 55% of the player's intellect. On Test now, in addition to that, it is up to 35% of the player's level, as well.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. - 04/09/08

I was actually surprised that there wasn't a follow-up 2.4.2 patch on Tuesday, as there are quite a few 'known issues' that seem in desperate need of fixing (ask anyone who has an Exalted neck from Shattered Sun with the Scryer proc - Arcane Strike anyone, yuk!) But, there wasn't one. However, there are things that need mentioning, so let's get to it!

First, from Hortus, regarding Improved Hunter's Mark and Hunter's Mark:

And, about Boar Charge, also from Hortus:

Although this somewhat answers the questions about boars, it doesn't especially address the growl issue which was touched on earlier in the week and seem to be still ongoing, but, are working as intended according to internal Blizzard testing done by Hortus. Nimizar of Proudmore has done quite a bit of testing, you can read his findings here. The issue may or may not be re-addressed.

All that's left are the known (bugged) issues to cover. They are (as they relate to Hunters):

April Fool's! - 04/01/08

Well, I was certain that the two-headed ogre April Fool's Day prank might not be able to be topped but I was wrong. Blizzard has, in my opinion, outdone itself with the Bard Hero class and a console release of Molten Core. HAS SOUND!

Also, they snuck 2.4.1 in on us with a single Hunter note:

I will be the first to say, I must not have been watching the Bug Report forum closely enough because I have no idea what this refers to.

Fury of the Sunwell - 03/25/08

2.4 is now live! Before everyone goes all frothy about buying the Crossbow of Relentless Strikes or epic gems, remember that those vendors aren't immediately available in the Shattered Sun Offensive. So start plugging away at those daily quests! The patch notes for hunters aren't anything we don't know, but I'll re-summarize:

Notice that the change to Multi-Shot (where it wouldn't break CC effects) did NOT make it to the live patch. As always, the complete patch notes can be reviewed here.

It's like the Titanic but with bears! - 03/07/08

More updates to the patch notes. Mend Pet has been changed again, along with this interesting change to Multi-Shot:

Also, we have a post from Kalgan that, while doesn't directly talk about Hunters (early on in the discussion anyway), has stirred up the commmunity quite a bit. Initially, it started out a discussion about the Warlock changes to Lifetap which had been put in and then reverted, in which was referenced class representation in the Arena:

Two charts were then provided, one for the 2200+ (2v2, 3v3 and 5v5) Arena brackets and another for the 1850 (2v2, 3v3 and 5v5) brackets. Here's where Hunters are falling on that chart:

When asked specifically about the low hunter representation, Kalgan replied:

I would recommend giving the entire thread a read.

The TKA Something Forums have had two new discussion categories added in the last couple days - Damage Per Second and Dungeons & Raids. Enjoy!

And so it remains, a mystery of the ages. - 03/05/08

Will there be a pet review for the 2.5 patch (assuming there even is one), perhaps giving some pet skills to some of the long neglected and thusly mostly unpopular pets? Don't look for definite answers from Drysc. When asked that question, we received this noncommittal answer:

The docks, unlocked! - 02/21/08

The docks, and thusly, the inn was unlocked on Test just moments ago and happily, there is indeed a stable master there as well, Seraphina Bloodheart. Her pet, Sentinel, a red lynx (like the ones on Azuremyst Isle) isn't tameable. The innkeeper, Caregiver Inaara (horray for Firefly references) sells fish, meat and fruit.

Too, the new LV70 green ravagers on the fly only area between Terokkar and Hellfire Penninsula (Razorthorn Shelf) are for a daily quest that became available once the inn was opened, requiring you to temporarily charm them, not unlike the helboars searching for roots quest in Shadowmoon Valley. Your regular pet will vanish for the duration of this quest as a result.

And another. - 02/20/08

Another hunter change, just added to the patch notes:

Progressive testing. - 02/16/08

Just added to the 2.4 patch notes, some of this we knew, now it's just official:

Don't what me. You know what. - 02/15/08

New test build, new information filtering in. The big (undocumented) news is that resilience now reduces the effects of mana-drain spells. Documented, but file it under the 'I'll believe it when it stays fixed' category is the assertion that the Black Bow of the Betrayer proc won't break crowd control effects. Since this has been reportedly fixed before (back in November of last year, no less), like I said, I'll wait and see. The Gronnstalker bracer has had its haste bonus removed, replaced by critical strike.

Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury - 02/08/08

MMO-Champion has the skinny on the legendary bow of Sunwell, which is called Thori'dal, the Stars' Fury.

353-540 Damage Speed: 3.00
(148.7 damage per second)
+17 Agility
Durability 110/110
Requires Level 70
Equip: Improves your critical strike rating by 16.
Equip: Increases your attack power by 34.
Equip: Your attacks ignore 112 of your opponent's armor.
Equip: Increases ranged attack speed by 15%. Does not stack with quiver or ammo pouch haste effects.
"The energy of the Sunwell courses through Thori'dal."

It is also being reported that it comes with the following spell ID which is not mentioned in the item description:

46699 : Requires No Ammo - Thori'dal generates magical arrows when the bow string is drawn. Does not use ammo.

No ammo costs AND anyone lucky enough to get this bow gets a bag slot back!

Was the wait worth it? 02/08/08

PTR everything is jammed but my download is finished so I get to peek at the notes, but man, they're a lot smaller for hunters than I honestly expected (no mention of feeding pets in combat, alas). I'll list some of the general ones that apply to hunters as well, sort of:

Some interesting raid changes as well, the attunement requirement for Hyjal and Black Temple has been removed AND you can just head straight to Kael'Thas or Lady Vashj without killing the other bosses before them. This is the Sunwell patch too, just a heck of a lot going on. More hunter changes on the horizon? Your guess is as good as mine, guess we'll find out as 2.4 progresses on the Test realm.

Je ne parle pas francais! 02/06/08

Or do I? From one of the WOW-EU posters, Thyvene, about the legendary bow that's been rumored/discussed for patch 2.4:

No gathering 500 bars of Eternium. That makes me so glad. Also, don't espect sweeping class changes immediately upon the PTR release, since Nethaera said:

Supposedly, we may be only hours away from 2.4 being on the PTR, so I guess we'll know when we know.

Yes, no, maybe so. 01/15/08

Although we were told back in November of 2007 that the Grimtotem Spirit Guide, while not a beast that was intentionally able to be tamed, it would remain tameable because it was a "fun use of in-game mechanics". Unfortunately, it was apparently too good to last and Hunters can no longer tame them. We received this explaination from Drysc about it:

This, of course, has sparked a hot debate about the decision - more that it was hotfixed and not announced in, say, the 2.4 patch notes that it would be changed and thusly allow any remaining players who wished to tame them to do so. I have to agree that a warning, especially in light of the fact that it had previously been stated that they would remain tameable, would have gone a long way in steming the tide of negative backlash that has occurred as a result.

Lock up the lions, or they will eat you. 01/09/08

Patch day, long overdue. Here are the Hunter related notes, in case you missed them. Since it was on the Test server for so long, nothing really comes as a surprise (so far, anyway):

Personal note, I could have done without the change to the Halloween broom mounts. Running that event 5+ times a day, I thought I'd stockpiled enough brooms to last until Wrath of the Lich King but alas.

Happy Holidays! 12/22/07

Another year has come and almost gone. I want to wish everyone a Happy Holidays and thank everyone for their kind support over the last year (and previous years!) 2007 was great, but 2008 promises to be even better! I know that everyone is probably already counting the days until the next expansion and who can blame them? It isn't a big secret, either, that TKA will AGAIN be undergoing another site recode (I'm never satisfied, am I) and while I won't promise a definite date on it, it will for certain be before Wrath of the Lich King hits the shelves. I'm very excited about it!

I also want to take a moment to mention that there are many ways to help those less fortunate than yourself during the holiday season and being the animal lover that I am, this year, I've donated to the Cat Adoption Team. The Cat Adoption Team (CAT) is the Pacific Northwest's largest non-profit, no-kill cat shelter with its own full service veterinary hospital on-site. You can always search for local no-kill shelters in your area as well and if money this holiday season is a little tigher than you'd like, many of these organizations have wish lists such as cat toys, food or even simple things like garbage bags! As hunters, our pets are a part of who we are - extend that partnership to local animals and shelters who ae doing wonderful work every day.

Again, thank you for your support of TKA Something in 2007 and we'll see you in 2008!

Is taming Grimtotem Spirit Guide intended? 11/30/07

In case you've missed it, the Grimtotem Spirit Guide (a 'transparent' wolf from Dustwallow) has been the subject of much debate since the 2.3 patch - was it intentional that we could tame it, even if we had to jump through hoops to do it (spell haste and more spell haste!). Well, good news for those who have tamed said wolf and those who were debating getting one. From Issuntril, a EU-Blizzard poster:

This wasn't the answer I was expecting either, but it's good news. So tame to your heart's content. Also, be aware, /castsequence is again changing in the 2.3.2 patch.

All reports from the Test realm say that while this wasn't working correctly when Test first went up, it will function how we want it to upon release of the patch, so breathe a sigh of relief. Hopefully this will spell the end of /castsequence issues for a while. Oh, and. I knew I was forgetting something - this post from Nethaera:

There's no such thing as a Night Elf Mohawk. 11/21/07

As found on the WOW-European forums from Salthem (one of their Blizzard posters):

Also earlier this week, Slouken posted again regarding the continued issue with Hunter /castsequence macros and their slated fix for 2.3.2.

WTB Double Trapping. 11/14/07

My instincts proved correct - the trap change was indeed intentional, albeit undocumented, according to Nethaera:

Of course, Readiness wasn't necessary to double trap, as many hunters already know. It's a little difficult not to be frustrated. Supposedly, Nethaera is 'collecting feedback' about this (which has been, so far, uniformly negative), so we'll see if that impacts anything. And, FD/drink disabled and ALSO intentional? Yep, also from Nethaera:

Well, sort of intentional. This was done to prevent Hunters from changing gear/trinkets, which was confirmed with the following reply:

So, losing FD/drink was more of a side effect.

No matter. Most likely lose it again anyway. 11/14/07

Although not quite on par with the Shaman Resto T6 set, we do have some bugs or... depending on how pessimistic you are, undocumented changes with 2.3. Currently, you can no longer trap two separate NPCs at the same time, so if mob #2 blunders into a trap set for mob #1 (or if you've set it up to trap 2), one will immediately break (probably intentional). Lower ranks of Arcane Shot do not appear to be scaling with RAP (probably a bug). Varying reports about people being unable to feign death and drink during boss encounters (no idea on this one). Some people seem to be unable to see the new Volley animation (probably a blessing in disguise). And /castsequence issues persist. You've been warned.

There will be awards, parades, and commemorative stamps! 11/13/07

Although we've been talking about it for over a month, here are the patch notes for 2.3 (as they relate to hunters, of course)!

Although I pulled the above from the latest Test Realm patch notes, they APPEAR to be identical to the ones that I just downloaded at 4:00am (just now, in other words). If I missed anything, blame the lack of sleep. Not mentioned in the patch are the changes to the dead zone and the change in our Arena set bonus. There are some new tameable beasts in both Zul'Aman and the re-vamped Dustwallow Marsh. The entire list can be found here.

Bon appetite! 11/07/07

With 2.3 confirmed to be going live next Tuesday, we received one last Hunter update from Eyonix:

The original post wasn't even a page long before someone mentioned that lowering the cast time from 3.5 seconds to 3 seconds wasn't something to really write home about, and this was the follow-up:

Nothing but sincerity reaching out as far as the eye can see, V2.0. 11/01/07

So maybe this time, for real, /castsequence, the auto shot toggle and everything will be fixed on Test prior to 2.3 going live. This just in, from Slouken:

Here's hoping!

Nothing but sincerity reaching out as far as the eye can see. 11/01/07

A few new things. Hortus weighs in about Arcane Shot mechanics:

Also, there are new vendor ammmunition available from the Violet Eye (revered) that seems to close the gap between vendor, crafted and the Hyjal reputation ammo. The whole /castsequence issue that's on Test currently, though, makes my head hurt. In a nutshell, the 'auto shot' portion of the macro is now acting as a toggle, turning auto shot on and off. It doesn't work this way on Live UNLESS you are using the Auto Shot button from the Marksmanship tree - within the macro, well, most of us know how that works already. Apparently, it is SUPPOSED to be a toggle, according to Slouken, when Hunters were trying to explain why the /castsequence wasn't working:

So, was it supposed to always work like this and now it's fixed so it actually does? Or is it a bug that it's working like this and isn't supposed to be? I've got no idea, as this is the only "blue" reply Hunters have received, despite the many posts on the Test forum talking about the issue with /castsequence.

Why don't we just wait here for a little while... 10/26/07

The 1-35 yd range is confirmed as a bugged tooltip by Drysc:

That cold ain't the weather, that's death approaching. 10/25/07

Rest in peace, Zul'aman bears. They are no longer tameable in the latest Test build. Doesn't mean we weren't hopeful. Also, the tooltip for all our shots/stings now read 1-35 yd range but don't overreact (like I did). Is the range change intentional? Guess we'll find out in the next few days. Just added to the S3 Arena vendor is a bow (Vengeful Gladiator's Longbow) and gun (Vengeful Gladiator's Rifle). All three ranged weapons (crossbow, bow, gun) require a personal rating of 1850, and have the exact same statistics, except for the damage ranges (the crossbow/gun are 223-336 and the bow is 279-280??). The gun, I recommend you hop over to the PTR realm and look at it for yourself, the graphic is... something. The bow is a very nice graphic, in blue.

Sometimes, if things are closed, you just, open them up. 10/20/07

While I try to be fairly optimistic regarding announced Hunter changes and when they may or may not occur, I will be the first to admit that I never expected the promised reduction of the dreaded 'dead zone' would actually be implimented with patch 2.3! But it's true. Our ranged attacks now read (on test):

Obviously the maximum range will read differently if you've got Hawk Eye. Practical tests indicate that there is still a small amount of dead space, but it will be far, FAR less exploitable (it also seems like they've reduced our melee range to about 0-3 yards). Too, Aimed Shot has also been changed and does include a Mortal Strike type effect. The new Aimed Shot, at maximum rank (7):

Mana cost and cast time (3.5 seconds) remain the same at the moment. More changes still to come? Guess we wait and see, but man... not THAT long of a wait, not the one I expected, anyway!

Zul'how cool is this?! 10/12/07

With thanks to a few of my friends over on Test server (thanks Rhaygar and Fetch, much love!), we went and did a bit of exploring around Zul'Aman today. As we slithered and feigned death around the zone (just us three, so no engaging), we found the Amani Bear, a look alike to the rare bear mount. Imagine my suprise when I gave it a shot of Beast Lore and it came back 'Tameable!' Well, of course we had to try it, and after picking our positions, I came away with:

Blizzard, I beg you, even if this isn't intentional, let it stay. Bears are one of the many pets we've got (not unlike spiders, sporebats, hyenas, crocolisks... the list goes on) that needs a shot in the arm. A new model, like this one, could give this species a needed boost in popularity.

Our trio hasn't completed its exploration and so we'll be back tomorrow for a real run at the zone, but additional beasts we've located include Amani Elder Lynx (tan lynx, tameable), Amani Lynx Cub (mountain lion, tameable), Amani Dragonhawk (red dragonhawk, untameable), Amani Eagle (new model, cross between owl and... carrion bird maybe, untameable), Amani Crocolisk (dark green crocolisk, tameable), Tamed Amani Crocolisk (light green crocolisk, tameable) and Amani Lynx (tan lynx, tameable).

XOXO. 10/12/07

I'll let Kalgan from Blizzard speak for himself:

Never try to save my life again. 10/12/07

More items are coming in from the Test realm, slowly but surely. One of the most awaited changes was to see what the new PVP set bonus was going to be for us. Drumroll please... nah, nevermind, skip the drumroll:

I'm not lying. Please don't attack the window treatments. 10/11/07

2.3 is on Test realms but man, it's getting slammed from here and back again, so if you can settle for just the notes, here they are, as they relate to hunters. Yes, Zul'Aman will be in, as will guild banks and experience required to level between 20 to 60 has been reduced:

If you have any additional notes that I might have missed or things that were changed but didn't make it into the 'official' patch notes, do feel free to mail them to me at fritti@tkasomething.com. I expect there to be further updates in the next few days as people get their characters copied over and jump into Zul'Aman (new beasts, perhaps?). If you'd like to review the patch notes, they are here. Remember, all this stuff is subject to change, it's not reality until it's on the live servers, as Kalgan reminded us:

Also, MMO-Champion is reporting an undocumented new skill for Hunters called 'Disarming Shot'. No further details at this time but the name seems pretty self-explanatory. However, information coming in is saying that it is not found on any of the Hunter trainers as yet and there is speculation that it is either a NPC ability from Zul'Aman (when you mind control mobs to fight a boss there) or is potentially a Tome drop ALA old Tranquilizing Shot.

If you have to ask, you can't afford it. 10/03/07

Not really new news, since it was discussed at Blizzcon, but the legendary ranged weapon was again confirmed by Bornakk:

The 'were' part scares me. Makes me think soon isn't as soon as we hope?

And such spirit is deserving of a sporting chance. 09/30/07

I guess 2.3 can't come soon enough, well... I can't wait for it to get on the Test realm and see what ELSE is in store for Hunters (surely the teases we've been given can't be everything, right? RIGHT?!). But, we can't ignore the other updates just to salivate over something that's not in the game yet. SO. Relentless Earthstorm Diamond is either fixed by now or will be soon. From Drysc:

Then again, Hortus followed up saying it'd be fixed in a future patch so maybe we will have to wait for 2.3. Who knows. Good news for those Arena junkies out there, too (I used to be one of them, but alas!), there are some changes coming for the sets. Kalgan said:

And, when asked about the incredibly weak 4 piece set bonus we currently have (1 second Concussive cooldown), he replied:

No word yet on what said bonus will be. Again, more hurry up and wait. And, remember how I talked about a Hunter tailored PVP melee weapon from my Blizzcon update on the forums? That's also become a reality for next season:

I think I missed reporting the latest on Trueshot Aura, too:

Hunter love overload. 09/26/07

So, I leave the house for a few hours, and come back to even more hunter love posts. I'm starting to feel smothered by all this blue attention! You know those ammo carrying issues we've been having and how they were looking into giving us bigger pouches/quivers? Confirmed by Drysc:

Well, 28 would be better but... I admit, at this point, I'll take what I can get. Bigger really IS better (so feel free to up it to 30, 32 or even 34).

They're not all nerfs even! 09/26/07

The latest patch is just barely a day old, when already we have news about what awaits us for the next one! From Drysc:

And:

More still (don't faint on me yet, I know, too much Hunter information at once!):

To those people who were worried that this change would hurt us if we used Arcane Shot in raids (bye warlock dots?), we received clarification to make sure - it was asked if it will work as an offensive dispell, removing a beneficial effect from the enemy. Kind of like Purge, to which Drysc said:

I anticipate epic QQ from all casters with this change, Washington and Oregon will have nothing compared to the tearful rainfall that will follow this announcement. Then again, in PVP situations, knowing that a hunter might be on the team, there'll be more Unending Breath to get rid of (at least I'll still be doing damage in the process). It will be interesting to see the new Serpent Sting but I hope this means more debuff space on boss mobs in a raid environment (if I missed them increasing the current limit, let me know). And what about the global cooldown, hmm? Also, I may have spoken too soon about the paladin buff issue (with pets being tied to warriors). Don't get me wrong, in the ideal situation it won't matter, becuase there are enough paladins that my pet will get what it needs by proxy and so, overall, there's less hassling for buffs, which I and I'm sure the paladins appreciate. But here, too, we got another reply:

Am I jaded because I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop? Only a little. Call it cautious optimism. 2.3 isn't on Test yet but you can hop on and get a preview of Brewfest if you are so inclined.

We do love a challenge. 09/26/07

The latest patch went live yesterday, finally. Nothing new to note about the patch that wasn't already brought up in previous TKA updates. Ok, well, a few things. First, make sure to keep an eye on what paladin blessings your pet is getting. According to Hortus:

Which means pets might not be getting the buffs you want them to have, depending on how your paladins buff (like, Blessing of Light). Too, the Relentless Earthstorm Diamond (the meta gem of "choice" for most hunters) now only affects physical "special" attacks/Arcane Shot and not regular ones (Auto Shot). I have not tested this for myself, but it was previously pointed out on the PTR forum/Bug forum, and still has yet to be acknowledged as either newly intentional or as a bug. Not thinking the paladin buff thing will be changed (the blue comment seemed pretty concrete that this is intentional) but if I hear more about the Diamond issue, I'll make sure to mention it.

When it rains, it pours. 09/13/07

What's this? What's this? Another comment about hunter issues? Has anyone checked around them for any obvious signs of the apocalypse? Heard any Horsemen hoofbeats (outside of Naxxramas, of course)? Knowing is half the battle, isn't it? From Drysc, today:

Now, I confess - I've levelled SO many pets up that I have a system now. While it's not exactly quick, it's profitable but also mind-numbing, making it easy for me to sympathize with people who don't want the hassle of the current method. I'm glad pet experience gain is at least being looked at, but I don't really want to see pets 'instantly' becoming the Hunter's level. Many compare Hunter pets with Warlock pets and the comparison, while not apples and oranges, doesn't really fit the... ugh, ok, I hate to use this word, but LORE of the Hunter. Demons are summoned creatures. Hunter pets are something we're supposed to bond with over time. So, faster experience gain, sure. Instant? No thanks.

Don't hesitate to ring if there's anything else you want. Anything at all. 09/04/07

Perhaps my Ancient Sinew Wrapped Lamina will now be able to find its way to the graveyard where all overused gear goes to die. Today, from Drysc, in response to a question regarding moving quivers/ammo pouches to its own slot (like the keyring):

All I can say is - FINALLY!

You're looking at this from entirely the wrong perspective. We're making a statement. 08/24/07

The haste rating change seems official, as its made it into the Test Realm Patch notes.

Full credit to Curse for cornering Tigole at the Leipzig Games Convention and getting some answers about Hunter issues (more than I got out of Blizzcon!).

You can check out the entire interview here.

Who is the little one, a pet perhaps? 08/17/07

More PTR changes. Because I'm a glass half full type of person, I'll note first that it seems like the Rift Stalker issue with Auto Shot has been 'fixed' - so now all our shots work towards Health Link as well as traps and melee as mentioned in the previous update. Not really in the good category but just something to note, as well, is the fact that pets no longer receive 0 happiness when they're 'full', it will continue to tick 1 happiness. Just something to watch for in terms of overfeeding.

Now for the glass half empty part. Although I myself never jumped on the Scorpid bandwagon (they just weren't my style, what can I say), it seems that Scorpid Poison was finally changed so it's no longer turning out high poison tick numbers. This has been reported from numerous sources, and I jumped onto the PTR to test it myself. With full pet happiness (125%), Beastial Wrath, Bloodlust Broach (278AP for 20 seconds) and Ferocious Inspiration, the maximum I could get it to tick for on multiple trials on one of the Servants in Blasted Lands was 214 per at 5 stacks. Obviously, I wasn't raid buffed, but this is well shy of the huge numbers it was previously putting out. If you want to look for an upside, Rank 5 Scorpid Poison now lasts 10 seconds and has had its damage upped to 55 (from 44). Haste Rating, also, has been changed (unsure if this is intentional or not), no official word on that yet. Well, we didn't get confirmation as intentional on the Scorpid Poison thing either, but honestly, you're fooling yourself if you're hoping Blizzard will change it back. Haste on the other hand... as an example, 10 Haste right now gives you 0.95% Haste, on the PTR it's 0.63% Haste.

You listen very carefully to what I'm about to tell you... 08/09/07

It's still on just the Test server at the moment, but 2.2.0 has been updated to include the Voice Chat features and some other interesting tidbits (some we already knew):

The Rift Stalker Leggings finally have their tooltip description changed to reflect the loss of Survival Instinct (they currently read 'Your pet's attacks have a chance to heal your pet for 172 to 198'). They NOW read, on Test, 'Causes your pet to be healed for 15% of the damage you deal'. In the combat log, it reads 'Your Health Link heals X for X'. Health Link only triggers from special shots (Arcane Shot, Steady Shot, Multi-Shot, Volley, Serpent Sting, Aimed Shot, Scatter Shot, Silencing Shot and Wyvern Sting), normal melee attacks (as well as Wing Clip, Raptor Strike, Mongoose Bite and Counterattack), and traps (Immolation Trap and Explosive Trap). Too, I didn't notice any critical heals, like you sometimes got with Survival Instinct.

Live from Blizzcon, 2007! 08/01/07

That's right, yours truly will be at Blizzcon, and I'll be posting (mostly) up to the minute reports on the activities there. Will the new expansion be revealed? Is it Northrend? Are hunters going to undergo an Arena review? I don't know the answers but if I find out, they'll be posted on this thread. As soon as I know, you'll know, so keep it tuned to TKA Something!

Why did you bring a cop to my command center? 07/29/07

The new forum is now up! The transition seems to have gone well, but feel free to contact me if you notice any errors, mistakes or have suggestions!

We both have guns. We aim, we fire, you die. 07/12/07

Blizzcon is under a month away, and it's no wonder that the new patch notes are going up now, because I don't think anyone is happy unless they have something to complain about. Obviously, these are subject to change, and no, the Test server isn't live yet, but here are the hunter related items of interest:

While not listed here, there are also changes to other classes regarding some of their abilities (rogues, blind, WTF!), and resilience (this was announced previously), as well as tradeskill changes, most noteably to enchanting. You can read the full patch notes here. Also, we're being teased with talk of Zul'aman, which won't be for a while yet (in-game voice chat and guild banks come first), but the question on MY mind that no one answered yet was: Will there be stuff there we can tame?! It sounds likely, as the main bosses will be 'animal gods' (sounds just like Zul'Gurub to me) and the gods are Bear, Dragonhawk, Lynx and Eagle (perhaps a new family, well, we can hope).

There are also some UNdocumented changes. Nethermine Ravagers are also tameable now, but come with no innate abilities. And who says Blizzard never listens - raptors can finally learn Dash (but will that effect their popularity? Who knows). However, Blizzard didn't make the raptors in Netherstorm tameable to accompany this change (the Scythetooth Raptors in Eco-Dome Farfield, well, they're not tameable YET, anyway). So, if you want a raptor with minimal levelling, you're stuck with Felsworn Daggermaw in Blade's Edge. Never considered a raptor for a pet before this? Check out TKA Something's Raptor page to see what's available!

I'm sure there must be a good reason for our suffering. 06/24/07

With the uproar of TKA's 'grand re-opening' over, and yet another patch behind us, things are returning to a tolerable level of what passes for normalcy around here. First, the latest patch notes (admittedly, a bit tardy):

The guide section has some great new additions as well as the return of some old (but updated) favorites. If you have a submission of any sort, please feel free to email me at fritti@tkasomething.com!

Also, please note: TKA Something will be switching to new forum software soon. Before this occurs, I will be pruning the database to get rid of any lingering spammers and inactive accounts. This means, that you probably want to login to the forums at least once as soon as possible so you're not removed for inactivity (and forcing you to re-register when we make the switch). It should be a fairly seamless transition otherwise.

In like a Lion, out like a Lamb - BAH! 05/22/07

Without much ado, fanfare or lighting of fireworks, welcome to TKA Something. Going strong since 2004 (thank you very much for the support, WOW Hunter community), at the end of 2006, I decided that with the expansion around the corner, it was time for a new look for the website. After much toil, tossing of the virtual paper in the wastebasket, I FINALLY came up with a new design that I very much like and I hope that old timers to the site will find it pleasing to the eye - and newcomers will find everything they're looking for. I am sorry it took so long but good things come to those who wait!

Also, please note, the page will look really ugly in IE6. Hopefully I will be able to iron out the bugs with it, but at this time I am focusing on content items first. If you see any other bugs, please report them to the forum, and I will try to fix them ASAP!

So why waste time talking about the past, huh? Today is a new day and a new patch, with many hunter changes. Here they are:

PHEW! Add to that numerous item changes, profession changes, a new dungeon, new factions, new flying mounts... the list does seem to go on a bit, doesn't it? Ironically, you'd think that with that wall of text, everything got covered but as we all know, patch notes don't cover EVERYTHING (or we'd be reading until next year). But since I didn't rattle off all the changes in the patch (pff, who cares about the warrior changes, not me!) that gives me room to mention some additional observations.

Usually, I'd leave it at that. BUT wait, there's more! From the Stratics House of Commons chat yesterday:

Q: With the changes to encounters in TBC and the development of KTM threat meter, Safe DPS is not as important as it was 2 years ago. Also, many raids are dropping down to 1 or less hunters with only MD in mind. Tack that onto the most difficult method of DPS in the game, the buffs given in 2.1 seem to be nice but they will not be enough to bring hunters back into raids so my question is...What are you going to do to save the hunter?

A, from Kalgan: We'll keep ratcheting up hunter raid dps as needed. I do still think there's value in "safe" dps regardless of threat meters. It doesn't change the fact that hunters have the potential to be less threat limited than other classes.

Q: The change to Aran's Flame Wraith made the encounter more pet accessible. Any ideas of making other encounters more pet friendly, like immunity to the melee AoE effect at gruul?

A: from Tigole: I think the upcoming changes to the hunter pet will help. We have to be careful about going too far with immunities on pets though. I know it sounds silly -- but we can overpower their presence. It's actually a fine line.

And, apparently, we can look to Retribution paladins to save us, post 2.1. Or not, as the case my be. You can read the entire transcript here: http://wow.stratics.com/content/features/HoC/logs/0001.php

So, thanks for sticking with me and stay tuned. Not all of the guides or site additions are in yet, but now that the 'hard work' is done... Out like a lamb? No way - hear me ROAR!

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