Every WoW Forever Hunter learns Aimed Shot from a trainer at level 20 and a new bleed, Lacerate, at level 30, and each specialization gets new talents: a hawk to summon in Beast Mastery, Lone Wolf and Sniper Shot in Marksmanship, and Survival talents built around traps, melee and Mongoose Bite. Humans can be Hunters for the first time, one of the six new race and class combinations, alongside Dwarves, Night Elves and High Order Skyborne for the Alliance, and Orcs, Tauren, Trolls and Windshaper Skyborne for the Horde. Here is what changes, from the beta client (build 1.60.1.70205) and Blizzard's notes.
What every Hunter gets
- Aimed Shot from a trainer at level 20: a Marksmanship talent in Classic Era, now a class spell. It has a 2-second cast and a 6-second cooldown shared with Multi-Shot (level 18), and adds 20 ranged damage at rank 1 (75 Mana), up to 166 at rank 6, at level 60.
- Lacerate at level 30, a new trainer spell: an instant melee bleed for 119 damage over 21 sec at rank 1 (40 Mana), up to 406 at rank 4, at level 60.
- Pets, in Blizzard's September 24 beta notes: the wolf's Furious Howl, a party melee Attack Power buff (136 at rank 4 in the beta client), gives 40% less than before; Bats now properly get Sonic Blast, a shriek that deals Nature damage and slows the target's spellcasting; and Tame Beast no longer works on Beasts above your level. The same notes fix pet happiness at maximum loyalty, and a few guns and bows that didn't use ammunition properly; the October 1 notes bring back the pets' Aggressive mode, under the pet tab of the spellbook.
- Hit and critical strike: Blizzard's Deep Dive recap merges spell, melee and ranged hit chance into one stat, and critical strike chance too, which it says makes a Hunter's Traps more reliable.
Beast Mastery: more pet damage and a hawk
- Deadly Aspects (0 points in the tree, 5 ranks): While Aspect of the Hawk is active, Auto Shot has a 10% chance of increasing ranged attack speed by 30% for 12 sec; Aspect of the Beast does the same for melee auto attacks.
- Focused Fire (5 points in the tree, 2 ranks): Increases all damage you and your pet deal by 2% while your pet is active.
- Summon Hawk (15 points in the tree, 1 rank): the new 16-point talent. In the beta client's spell data, a hawk dive-bombs your target for 32 Physical damage plus 5% of your Ranged Attack Power, then keeps attacking for 18 sec; up to 2 hawks can be active at once. It is instant, costs 80 Mana and shares Arcane Shot's 6-second cooldown; ranks at levels 36, 48 and 60 raise its base damage to 108.
Unleashed Fury (15% more damage) and Ferocity (10% more critical strike chance) apply to your hawks as well as your pet. Pathfinding moves up to the 5-point row, Improved Aspect of the Monkey drops from 5 ranks to 3, and Bestial Wrath remains the 31-point talent.
Marksmanship: stings, critical strikes and Lone Wolf
- Lethal Attacks (0 points in the tree, 5 ranks): Increases your critical strike chance with all attacks by 5%.
- Improved Stings (5 points in the tree, 3 ranks): Serpent Sting deals 20% more damage, Viper Sting's cooldown drops by 6 sec and Scorpid Sting lasts 45 sec longer.
- Careful Aim (5 points in the tree, 5 ranks): Increases your Attack Power by 100% of your Intellect.
- Rapid Killing (10 points in the tree, 2 ranks): Reduces the cooldown of Rapid Fire by 2 min, and when you kill a non-trivial enemy, or it dies with your Serpent Sting on it, your next Shot within 20 sec deals 20% more damage.
- Lone Wolf (10 points in the tree, 1 rank): You deal 20% increased damage with all attacks while you do not have an active pet. Blizzard's September 24 notes fix a bug that cost 4% damage with a pet out after unlearning it.
- Trueshot Aura (15 points in the tree, 1 rank): Increases the Ranged Attack Power of party members within 45 yards by 30. Classic Era's 31-point talent, it moves up to the 16-point row, with higher ranks up to level 60.
- Rapid Recuperation (20 points in the tree, 2 ranks): Hitting a target with your Serpent Sting grants you 50%, and consuming Rapid Killing 100%, of your Mana regeneration while casting for the next 15 sec.
- Sniper Shot (30 points in the tree, 1 rank): A long-range shot that deals ranged damage plus 160 and increases the range of your next 3 Shots by 10 yards for 10 sec. The level 30 build gives it a 45-yard range (35 before) and that range bonus, which Blizzard's October 1 notes confirm; the client keeps a 4-second cast and a 15-second cooldown for 365 Mana, and higher ranks at levels 48 and 58 raise the bonus to 295.
Lone Wolf sits in the row where Aimed Shot was the 1-point talent. Hawk Eye moves up to the first row, and Efficiency down to the 5-point row.
Survival: traps, melee and Mongoose Bite
- Improved Tracking (0 points in the tree, 5 ranks): While you track Beasts, Demons, Dragonkin, Elementals, Giants, Humanoids or Undead, you deal 5% more damage to that creature type.
- Survival Tactics (15 points in the tree, 2 ranks): Increases your chance to hit with your Trap and Feign Death abilities by 10%.
- Predator's Edge (15 points in the tree, 5 ranks): Increases your melee critical strike damage by 30% and your offhand weapon damage by 50%.
- Counterattack (15 points in the tree, 1 rank): moves up from the 21-point spot to the 16-point row. Usable after you parry, it deals 50% weapon damage plus 26 and immobilizes the target for 5 sec.
- Resourcefulness (20 points in the tree, 2 ranks): Reduces the Mana cost of your Trap and melee abilities by 60%, and your critical strikes let 50% of your Mana regeneration continue while casting for 30 sec.
- Expose Prey (20 points in the tree, 2 ranks): Your attacks against targets with Hunter's Mark have a 10% chance to activate your Mongoose Bite for 5 sec. Mongoose Bite otherwise needs a dodge.
- Survivalist's Discipline (20 points in the tree, 2 ranks): Reduces the cooldown of your Trap and Deterrence abilities by 40%.
- Strider Kick (20 points in the tree, 1 rank): A powerful kick that deals 100% melee weapon damage and increases movement speed by 30% for 3 sec, on an 8-second cooldown. Blizzard's September 24 notes set the same boost.
- Lacerating Strikes (30 points in the tree, 1 rank): Your Mongoose Bite also makes the target bleed for 40% of its damage over 21 sec. Since the September 24 build, Blizzard says, that bleed can land critical hits.
Strider Kick takes the 21-point spot Counterattack held in Classic Era. Survivalist and Surefooted each move up a row, and Improved Wing Clip drops from 5 ranks to 3. Blizzard's October 1 notes halve Deflection, to 1 to 5% parry chance.
What leaves the trees
Thirteen Classic Era talents are gone from the Hunter's trees, and only Aimed Shot comes back, as a trainer spell: Wyvern Sting, Survival's old 31-point talent, is not in the beta's spell list at all. Survival also loses Monster Slaying and Humanoid Slaying, whose first row now holds Improved Tracking, plus Improved Feign Death, Trap Mastery and Killer Instinct. Marksmanship loses Improved Hunter's Mark, Lethal Shots and Improved Scorpid Sting; Beast Mastery loses Improved Aspect of the Hawk, Thick Hide and Improved Eyes of the Beast.
Build yours in our Hunter talent planner, check every rank of Aimed Shot and Lacerate in our Hunter spell list, see how the 16-point milestone works in our talent guide, and pick a race in our race and class combinations guide.
