World of Warcraft Patch 11.1 is Going to Be a Big Update for Hunters

World of Warcraft is making big changes to the Hunter class in Patch 11.1, with pets being able to change specializations, Beast Mastery giving players the option to only use one pet, and Marksmanship losing their pet altogether. Assuming none of these adjustments are tweaked in response to fan feedback beforehand, Hunters in World of Warcraft will see these changes in Patch 11.1, likely some time in February.

Recently, World of Warcraft revealed Patch 11.1, Undermined. This content update brings players to the underground capital of the Goblins, where the story of The War Within will continue, culminating in a climactic battle against Chrome King Gallywix and his crooked cronies in the Liberation of Undermine raid.

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Like any major World of Warcraft update, Patch 11.1 is bringing tons of class changes, and this time, Hunters are getting some major adjustments. The most important of these changes is the ability for Hunters to swap between the three pet specializations for any of their companions at the stables. This means any Hunter pets, such as the Dreaming Festive Reindeer from World of Warcraft’s Feast of Winter Veil event, can become Cunning, Ferocity, or Tenacity, giving fans the freedom to pair their favorite companions with whatever combat style they need.

There are also some major changes coming to Hunter specializations in World of Warcraft as well. While all three options are receiving adjustments, Marksmanship Hunters are being completely reworked to heighten the sharpshooter fantasy. These Hunters no longer use a pet, instead calling upon a spotter eagle that marks targets to take bonus damage from its master. Beast Mastery can likewise choose to field a single pet instead of a pair, giving the companion increased damage and size to compensate. Lastly, the Pack Leader Hero Talent is being reworked to make the Hunter summon a bear, boar, and wyvern during combat.

Hunter players are currently torn about these adjustments. The pet specialization changes and Beast Mastery solo pet option have received unanimous applause, but the Marksmanship rework has been polarizing. While fans see where Blizzard is coming from with the spotter eagle, many feel removing the specialization’s pet takes away one of the key parts of the Hunter fantasy in World of Warcraft. Likewise, many players don’t like that Pack Leaders are being forced to use a bear, boar, and wyvern, and would rather be able to choose what type of animals will come to their aid.

Regardless, these changes are not set in stone yet. World of Warcraft players will be able to test out these adjustments on the Patch 11.1 PTR early next year, so Hunters should be sure to give Blizzard plenty of feedback on what does and does not work with these new adjustments.

World of Warcraft Patch 11.1 Hunter Changes

• Specializations for hunter pets can now be changed in the stable via a dropdown menu.

Class Changes

• HUNTER
  • Kindling Flare has been redesigned – Now increases the radius of flare by 50%.
  • Territorial Instincts has been redesigned – Now reduces the cooldown of Intimidation by 10 seconds and no longer summons a pet for you if you do not have a pet out.
  • Wilderness Medicine has been updated – Now additionally increases the cooldown reduction effect of Natural Mending by 0.5 seconds.
  • No Hard Feelings has been updated – Now additionally reduces the cooldown of Misdirection by 5 seconds.
  • Roar of Sacrifice has been updated for Marksmanship Hunters only – Instructs your pet to protect a friendly target from critical strikes, making attacks against that target unable to be critical strikes. Lasts 12 seconds. While Roar of Sacrifice is active, your Spotting Eagle cannot apply Spotter’s Mark.
  • Intimidation now has a unique variant when you’re in Marksmanship spec that does not require line of sight and uses your Spotting Eagle.
  • Explosive Shot projectile speed increased.
  • Eyes of the Beast is now only learned by Survival and Beast Mastery Hunters.
  • Eagle Eye is now only learned by Marksmanship Hunters.
  • Freezing Trap now breaks based on a small damage threshold instead of any damage.
  • Roar of Sacrifice, Wilderness Medicine, and No Hard Feelings have had their tooltips updated to not present Marksmanship Hunters with information irrelevant to their specialization.
  • Hero Talents
    • Dark Ranger
      • Withering Fire has been updated – Withering Fire now triggers from casting Black Arrow during Trueshot/Bestial Wrath and no longer auto-fires Black Arrow instead of gaining Deathblow.
        • Developers’ notes: A common complaint of Withering Fire is its consistency. The goal with this change is to raise Withering Fire’s randomness floor while lowering its ceiling, still allowing for exciting high-roll moments where you get many Deathblow procs rapidly and reducing the times where nothing happens during Withering Fire.
      • Fixed an issue preventing Bleak Powder’s cone from dealing damage over its intended area.
    • Pack Leader
      • New Talent: Howl of the Pack Leader – Every 30 seconds, your next Kill Command summons the aid of a Bear, Wyvern, or Boar. Your Bear leaps into the fray, rending the flesh of up to 8 nearby enemies dealing heavy damage over time. Your Wyvern increases the damage you and your pets deal. Your Boar charges into battle, dealing heavy damage to your target and moderate damage to nearby enemies.
      • New Talent: Better Together – Howl of the Pack Leader’s cooldown is reduced to 25 seconds. Your pets gain an extra 5% of your attack power.
      • New Talent: Dire Summons – Kill Command reduces the cooldown of Howl of the Pack Leader by 1 second. Cobra Shot/Raptor Strike/Mongoose Bite reduces the cooldown of Howl of the Pack Leader by 1 second.
      • New Talent: Pack Mentality – Howl of the Pack Leader causes your next Kill Command to deal 50% increased damage/generate an additional stack of Tip of the Spear.
      • New Talent: Ursine Fury – Your Bear’s periodic damage has a 10% chance to reduce the cooldown of Kill Command/Butchery or Flanking Strike by 1 second/2 seconds. Choice node with Envenomed Fangs.
      • New Talent: Envenomed Fangs – Initial damage from your Bear will consume Serpent Sting from up to 8 nearby targets, dealing 100% of its remaining damage instantly. Choice node with Ursine Fury.
      • New Talent: Fury of the Wyvern – Your pet’s attacks increase your Wyvern’s damage bonus by 1%, up to 10%. Casting Kill Command/Wildfire bomb extends the duration of your Wyvern by 1 second/2 seconds, up to 10 additional seconds.
      • New Talent: Hogstrider – Each time your Boar deals damage, your next Cobra Shot/Raptor Strike/Mongoose Bite strikes 1 additional target. Beast Mastery Hunters also gain 25% increased damage to their next Cobra Shot and it stacks up to 4 times. Survival Hunters have a 25% chance to gain Mongoose Fury.
      • New Talent: No Mercy – Damage from your Kill Shot sends your pets into a rage, causing all active pets within 20 yards and your Bear to pounce to the target and attack it.
      • New Talent: Shell Cover – When dropping below 40% health, summon the aid of a Turtle, reducing the damage you take by 10% for 6 seconds. This effect can only occur once every 2 minutes.
      • New Talent: Slicked Shoes – When Disengage removes a movement impairing effect, its cooldown is reduced by 4 seconds. Choice node with Horsehair Tether.
      • New Talent: Horsehair Tether – When an enemy is stunned by Binding Shot, it is dragged to the center of the Binding Shot. Choice node with Slicked Shoes.
      • New Talent: Lead From the Front – Casting Bestial Wrath/Coordinated Assault summons the aid of a Beast and increases the damage dealt by your Beasts by 25% for 12 seconds.
      • The following talents have been removed:
        • Beast of Opportunity
        • Cornered Prey
        • Covering Fire
        • Cull the Herd
        • Den Recovery
        • Frenzied Tear
        • Furious Assault
        • Howl of the Pack
        • Pack Assault
        • Pack Coordination
        • Scattered Prey
        • Tireless Hunt
        • Vicious Hunt
        • Wild Attacks
    • Sentinel
      • Lunar Storm damage increased by 25%.
      • Lunar Storm’s radius increased to 12 yards (was 8 yards).
      • Lunar Storm’s duration increased to 12 seconds (was 8 seconds).
      • Lunar Storm now triggers once every 30 seconds (was 15 seconds).
      • Lunar Storm now does initial damage in addition to its periodic damage.
      • Lunar Storm’s visual effects have been updated.
      • Lunar Storm’s cooldown can now be tracked via an aura on the player.
      • Lunar Storm will now present an aura on the personal resource display when it is ready to be fired.
      • Lunar Storm now follows its target very slowly.
      • Developers’ notes: Our goal with these changes is to help make Lunar Storm feel like more of a “moment” be reducing its frequency and increasing its damage. We’re also looking to increase its usability by allowing it to slowly track its target. Since Lunar Storm is spawned at your enemy’s position, and in most content, Hunters have very little agency over where mobs are moving, we felt that allowing it to slowly follow your target is more justifiable relative to other ground / area spells.
  • Beast Mastery
    • Developers’ notes: We’re happy with how Beast Mastery Hunter is playing and performing, we are just adding more hooks to ensure that this spec has appropriate area of effect tunability.
    • New Talent: Dire Cleave – When summoned, Dire Beasts gain Beast Cleave at 100% effectiveness for 8 seconds.
    • New Talent: Poisoned Barbs – Direct damage from Barbed Shot has a 30% chance to explode on impact, dealing Nature damage to nearby enemies. Damage reduced beyond 8 targets.
    • New Talent: Solitary Companion – Your pet damage is increased by 35% and your pet’s size is increased by 10%. Choice node with Animal Companion.
      • Developers’ notes: Our vision for Beast Mastery’s fantasy is tied to Animal Companion, but for players who would like to opt-in to solo-pet Beast Mastery, this talent should allow you to enjoy that playstyle with only a marginal throughput loss. We’ve taken some initial steps to ensure that this talent doesn’t dramatically increase the throughput of spells like Call of the Wild and we’ll be making changes as necessary if issues arise.
    • Stomp has been updated – Now deals separate damage instances between its primary target and secondary targets.
    • Serpent Sting damage increased by 50%.
    • Barrage damage increased by 100%.
    • Barrage focus cost reduced to 40 (was 60).
    • Alpha Predator now increase Kill Command’s damage multiplicatively rather than additively.
    • Additional Kill Shots fired from Hunter’s Prey will now target enemies regardless of health percentage.
    • Dire Command summon chance reduced to 20% (was 30%).
    • Dire Beast’s visual effects have been updated.
    • Dire Beasts now leap to their target when summoned.
    • Dire Frenzy is now a 2-point node and replaces Basilisk Collar.
    • The following talents have been removed:
      • Basilisk Collar
      • Venom’s Bite
  • Marksmanship
    • Developers’ notes: Moving into Undermine(d), we are looking to reimagine Marksmanship’s Sharpshooter fantasy and reconcile some large spec friction points such as Lone Wolf. Undermine(d) is seeing Marksmanship lose their pet functionalities and it is instead joined in battle by a unique Eagle pet that will exist outside of the game space but continue to support you in combat in a uniquely Marksmanship way.
    • New Ability: Harrier’s Cry – Your Eagle descends from the skies with a screech, giving the signal to attack. Increases Haste by 30% for all party and raid members for 40 seconds. Allies receiving this effect will become Sated and unable to benefit from Harrier’s Cry or similar effects again for 10 minutes. Learned at level 48.
    • New Passive: Manhunter – Damaging a player with Aimed Shot applies Grievous Injury, reducing the healing they receive by 25%. Learned at level 11.
      • Developers’ notes: Marksmanship lost access to Mortal Wounds by losing pet access, so we’re returning Aimed Shot’s ability to apply Mortal Wounds.
    • New Passive: Eyes in the Sky – Gain the aid of a Spotting Eagle. Damaging an enemy with an ability empowered by Precise Shots has a 30% chance to cause your Spotting Eagle to mark your target. Enemies marked by your Spotting Eagle take 10% increased damage from your Aimed Shot. Replaces Call Pet and all associated Pet abilities. Learned at level 13.
    • New Talent: Aspect of the Hydra – Aimed Shot, Rapid Fire, and Arcane Shot now hit a second nearby target for 40% of their damage. Choice node with Trick Shots.
    • New Talent: Improved Spotter’s Mark – Spotter’s Mark’s damage bonus is increased by 20%.
    • New Talent: Moving Target – Consuming Precise Shots increases the damage of your next Aimed Shot by 20% and grants Streamline.
    • New Talent: Obsidian-Tipped Ammunition – The damage of Auto Shot is increased by 25% and its critical strike chance is increased by 15%. Choice node with On Target.
    • New Talent: Shrapnel Shot – Damaging an enemy with Explosive Shot increases the damage they receive from your next Arcane Shot or Multi-Shot by 30%.
    • New Talent: Magnetic Gunpowder – Consuming Precise Shots reduces the cooldown of Explosive Shot by 2 seconds. Consuming Lock and Load reduces the cooldown of Explosive Shot by 8 seconds.
    • New Talent: Precise Detonation – Casting Explosive Shot grants Streamline. When Aimed Shot damages a target affected by your Explosive Shot, Explosive Shot instantly explodes, dealing 25% increased damage.
    • New Talent: On Target – Consuming Spotter’s Mark grants 4% increased Haste for 10 seconds, stacking up to 4 times. Multiple instances of this effect can overlap. Choice node with Obsidian-Tipped Ammunition.
    • New Talent: Quickdraw – Lock and Load now increases the damage of Aimed Shot by 15%.
    • New Talent: Target Acquisition – Consuming Spotter’s Mark reduces the cooldown of Aimed Shot by 2 seconds.
    • New Talent: Eagle’s Accuracy – Spotter’s Mark’s Aimed Shot damage bonus is increased by 5/10%.
    • New Talent: Headshot – Kill Shot can now benefit from Precise Shots at 25% effectiveness. Kill Shot now consumes Precise Shots.
    • New Talent: Feathered Frenzy – Trueshot sends your Spotting Eagle into a frenzy, instantly applying Spotter’s Mark to your target. During Trueshot, your chance to apply Spotter’s Mark is increased by 50%.
    • New Talent: Tensile Bowstring – While Trueshot is active, consuming Precise Shots extends Trueshot’s duration by 1 second, up to 5 seconds. Additionally, Trueshot now increases the effectiveness of Streamline by 50%.
    • New Talent: Incendiary Ammunition – Bulletstorm now increases your critical strike damage by 2% and Bulletstorm now stacks up to 5 more times.
    • New Talent: Bullet Hell – Damage from Multi-Shot and Volley reduces the cooldown of Rapid Fire by 0.25 seconds. Damage from Aimed Shot reduces the cooldown of Volley by 0.25 seconds.
    • New Talent: Improved Streamline – Streamline’s cast time reduction effect is increased to 30%. Choice node with Focused Aim.
    • New Talent: Windrunner Quiver – Precise Shots can now stack up to 2 times, but its damage bonus is reduced to 90%. Casting Aimed Shot has a 50% chance to grant an additional stack of Precise Shots.
      • Developers’ notes: Precise Shots’ stacking behavior has been updated. The damage bonus of Precise Shots now stacks and all stacks are consumed when Arcane Shot or Multi-Shot are cast.
    • New Talent: Eagle’s Accuracy – Spotter’s Mark’s damage bonus is increased by 5/10%.
    • New Talent: Cunning – Your Spotting Eagle gains the Cunning specialization, granting you Master’s Call and Pathfinding. Choice node with Tenacious.
    • New Talent: Tenacious – Your Spotting Eagle gains the Tenacity specialization, granting you Air Superiority and Endurance Training. Choice node with Cunning.
    • New Talent: Ohn’ahran Winds – When you Eagle applies Spotter’s Mark, it has a 25% chance to apply a Spotter’s Mark to up to 3 additional nearby enemies.
    • New Talent: Double Tap – Casting Trueshot grants Double Tap, causing your next Aimed Shot to fire again at 100% power, or your next Rapid Fire to fire 100% additional shots during its channel. This talent’s effectiveness is reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
    • New Talent: Killer Mark – Spotter’s Mark now additionally increases the critical strike chance of Aimed Shot by 15%.
    • New Talent: Deadeye – Kill Shot now has 2 charges and has its cooldown reduced by 2 seconds. Choice node with Headshot.
      • Developers’ notes: Headshot has substantial rotational implications, and Deadeye should provide a simpler option for players who want to improve Kill Shot’s throughput without substantially increasing cognitive load.
    • Streamline has been updated – Rapid Fire’s damage is increased by 15%. Casting Rapid Fire grants Streamline. Streamline: Your next Aimed Shot has a 20% reduced cast time. Stacks up to 2 times.
    • Precise Shot renamed to Precise Shots and has been updated – Aimed Shot causes your next Arcane Shot or Multi-Shot to deal 100% more damage and cost 70% less Focus. Your Auto Shot damage is increased by 100% and increases the time between auto shots by 2 seconds.
    • Focused Aim has been updated – Precise Shots reduces the cooldown of Aimed Shot by 0.75 seconds. Choice node with Improved Streamline.
    • Trueshot has been redesigned – Increases your critical strike chance by 10% and critical strike damage by 15 seconds. Reduces the cooldown of Aimed Shot and Rapid Fire by 60%.
    • Razor Fragments has been updated – Now only triggers when Deathblow is gained (was when Trick Shots was consumed or Deathblow was gained).
    • Calling the Shots has been updated – Consuming Spotter’s Mark reduces the cooldown of Trueshot by 2 seconds. Choice node with Unerring Vision.
    • Unerring Vision has been updated – Trueshot now increases your critical strike chance by an additional 10% and increases your critical strike damage by an additional 20%. Choice node with Calling the Shots.
    • Bulletstorm has been updated – Damage from Rapid Fire increases the damage of Aimed Shot by 2% for 15 seconds, stacking up to 15 times. New stacks do not refresh duration and are removed upon casting Rapid Fire. This talent’s effectiveness is reduced by 50% in PvP combat.
    • In the Rhythm has been updated – Channeling Rapid Fire decreases the time between Auto Shots by 1 second for 12 seconds.
    • Fan the Hammer renamed to Ammo Conservation and has been updated – Now also reduces Aimed Shot’s cooldown by 1 second.
    • Multi-Shot now learned at level 10 (was a talent).
    • Aimed Shot damage increased by 20%.
    • Aimed Shot cast time increased to 3 seconds (was 2.5 seconds).
    • Rapid Fire now grants 2 Focus per shot (was 1).
    • Volley damage increased by 100%.
    • Steady Shot damage increased by 30%.
    • Steady Shot now grants 20 Focus.
    • Small Game Hunter now increases Explosive Shot’s damage by 15% (was 25%).
    • Pin Cushion’s functionality is now baseline to Steady Shot (was a talent).
    • Salvo is now passive and only triggers from Volley. Now a choice node with Kill Zone.
    • Surging Shots will now properly highlight Rapid Fire when its cooldown is reset.
    • Fixed an issue that caused many Kill Shot damage bonus talents to apply twice to Black Arrow.
    • Many tooltips, talents, and aura descriptions have been updated for clarity.
    • Bullseye is now a 2-point talent.
    • The following talents have been removed:
      • Barrage
      • Careful Aim
      • Chimera Shot
      • Crack Shot
      • Heavy Ammo
      • Hydra’s Bite
      • Improved Steady Shot
      • Legacy of the Windrunners
      • Light Ammo
      • Lone Wolf
      • Multi-Shot (now learned at level 10)
      • Pin Cushion (effect added to Steady Shot)
      • Rapid Fire Barrage
      • Readiness
      • Serpentstalker’s Trickery
      • Steady Focus
      • Tactical Reload
      • Unerring Vision
      • Wailing Arrow
  • Survival
    • Developers’ notes: We’re mostly happy with Survival Hunter’s gameplay after the 20th Anniversary Celebration update, but the spec continues to have a lot of cognitive load around what buttons to press and when. To better condense Survival’s rotational decision space, we’re making access to Butchery and Flanking Strike mutually exclusive. Both spells have their own strengths and nuances, but having access to both at all times creates a crowded rotation that is absent of filler spells like Raptor Strike or Mongoose Bite.
    • New Talent: Cull the Herd – Kill Shot increases the damage units receive from your Bleed effects by 30% for 6 seconds.
      • Developers’ notes: The emergent power of Survival’s bleed effects paired with old Pack Leader’s Cull the Herd mechanic was compelling, so we thought we’d preserve it and expand upon it in the spec tree to ensure some spec depth isn’t lost with the Pack Leader rework.
    • New Talent: Born to Kill – Your chance to gain Deathblow is increased by 5% and the duration of Cull the Herd is increased by 2 seconds. Cull the Herd now additionally increases the damage taken from your Kill Shot by 25%.
    • Frenzy Strikes has been updated – Now additionally causes Flanking Strike to deal 15% increased damage and increases your attack speed by 25% for 12 seconds.
    • Merciless Blow has been updated – Now additionally causes enemies damaged by Flanking Strike to suffer a heavy bleed over 8 seconds.
      • Developers’ notes: The damage of Flanking Strike’s Merciless Blow damage is equivalent to 20th Anniversary Celebration update Butchery’s Merciless Blow damage.
    • Alpha Predator now increase Kill Command’s damage multiplicatively rather than additively.
    • Merciless Blow’s Butchery bleed damage reduced by 50%.
    • Tactical Advantage now additionally increases the damage of Butchery.
    • Flanking Strike and Butchery are now on a choice node.
    • Exposed Flank has been removed.

Player Versus Player

• HUNTER
  • New PvP Talent: Explosive Powder – Bursting Shot now also knocks you back and snares enemies by an additional 20%.
  • Beast Mastery
    • Dire Beast: Basilisk has been redesigned – Now triggers automatically onto your target when you cast Call of the Wild.
  • Marksmanship
    • New PvP Talent: Sniper’s Advantage – Trueshot and Volley increase the range of all shots by 30% for their duration.
    • New PvP Talent: Aspect of the Fox – Aimed Shot may be cast while moving during Aspect of the Cheetah and Aspect of the Cheetah’s delayed effect is increased by 4 seconds.
    • Ranger’s Finesse no longer increases the effectiveness of Bursting Shot.
    • The following PvP talents have been removed:
      • Interlope (Marksmanship only)
      • Sniper Shot
      • Trueshot Mastery
      • Wild Kingdom

In this opening chapter of The Worldsoul Saga, you’ll journey through never-before-seen subterranean worlds filled with hidden wonders and lurking perils, down to the dark depths of the Nerubian empire, where the inscrutable Harbinger of the Void has gathered her arachnid forces to bring Azeroth to its knees.

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