NEW* Hunter Pet Changes

[Wassa]

Thank you for ordering this by what the abilities do. Makes it a lot easier is see the changes and which pets will have similar abilities.

You are missing (Bat) after Sonic Blast btw.

Bloodlust / Heroism
Ancient Hysteria (Core Hound - E) - Increases melee, ranged, and spell casting speed by 30% for all party and raid members. Lasts 40 sec. Allies receiving this effect will become Sated and be unable to benefit from Bloodlust or Time Warp again for 10 min. / Instant, 6 min cooldown

Might want to fix that xD Also, else unhappy with Time Warp? If my pet slows time, then golly I want to use him to get that stupid arena trinket! Make him...AoE everyone out of combat and stunned until he stops channeling! 8D Not OP AT ALL...heck, I want normal Warp back :/ I love Kael, my teleporting lizard, not my time-affecting lizard. Not that I don't love him either way. He's my Kael 8D They should give them mage ports (not portals) because it would be awesome.

They mean Time Warp spell that mages will get, that will be similar to bloodlust/heroism. It shouldn't affect the warp stalker's Time Warp.

[Kalliope]

Thank you for ordering this by what the abilities do. Makes it a lot easier is see the changes and which pets will have similar abilities.

The list is originally from MMO (credit where credit's due), but it's VERY helpful having it reposted here.

They mean Time Warp spell that mages will get, that will be similar to bloodlust/heroism. It shouldn't affect the warp stalker's Time Warp.

Expect one of these abilities to be renamed at some point - to avoid confusion!

[Rawr]

Bloodlust / Heroism
Ancient Hysteria (Core Hound - E) - Increases melee, ranged, and spell casting speed by 30% for all party and raid members. Lasts 40 sec.
Allies receiving this effect will become Sated and be unable to benefit from Bloodlust or Time Warp again for 10 min. / Instant, 6 min cooldown

^For the new Beast Cleave PvP teams

Armor Reduction (Sunder Armor)
Tear Armor (Raptor) - Tears at the enemies armor with the raptor's talons, reducing it by 4%. Stacks up to 5 times. Lasts 30 sec. / 5 yd range, Instant, 6 sec cooldown
Corrosive Spit (Serpent) - Spits poison at an enemy, corroding their armor, reducing it by 4%. Stacks up to 5 times. Lasts 30 sec. / 30 yd range, Instant, 6 sec cooldown

^This for raiding because my boyfriend never wants to sunder again

[Feath3r]

Thank you for ordering this by what the abilities do. Makes it a lot easier is see the changes and which pets will have similar abilities.

The list is originally from MMO (credit where credit's due), but it's VERY helpful having it reposted here.

They mean Time Warp spell that mages will get, that will be similar to bloodlust/heroism. It shouldn't affect the warp stalker's Time Warp.

Expect one of these abilities to be renamed at some point - to avoid confusion!

Warlocks and Death Knights both have an ability called Death Coil that has the same freakin' picture iirc.

EDIT

Just checked wowhead: http://www.wowhead.com/search?q=death+coil#abilities

Yep, same picture and name.

[Kalliope]

Ugh, and one of THOSE should be renamed too. -_-

Still, I guess we'll just get used to it.

[Saturo]

Actually, both Death Coils are the same spell. The first death knights were basically orcish warlocks in dead, human bodies. It makes sense for them to keep using their old spells.

[Malazee]

Bloodlust / Heroism
Ancient Hysteria (Core Hound - E) - Increases melee, ranged, and spell casting speed by 30% for all party and raid members. Lasts 40 sec. Allies receiving this effect will become Sated and be unable to benefit from Bloodlust or Time Warp again for 10 min. / Instant, 6 min cooldown

Might want to fix that xD Also, else unhappy with Time Warp? If my pet slows time, then golly I want to use him to get that stupid arena trinket! Make him...AoE everyone out of combat and stunned until he stops channeling! 8D Not OP AT ALL...heck, I want normal Warp back :/ I love Kael, my teleporting lizard, not my time-affecting lizard. Not that I don't love him either way. He's my Kael 8D They should give them mage ports (not portals) because it would be awesome. XD Also, how do Toxic Webs NOT do damage? They're TOXIC like poison. Tooltip should prolly be changed to Not-Toxic Webs xD And how does cracking someone's ankle open not do damage? And how does a freezing storm of lightning not do damage? And why am I asking so many dumb questions? Does Lightning Breath/Fire Breath do damage? They sound painful.

Don't want to seem unhappy, though. I love most of the changes (especially Spirit Beast, sounds like I might be doing a camping trip :/ Arcturis ofc, he's easiest with his single spawn point). Deadlock might see the light of day. Hey, does Explosive Shot DoT count as Magic damage or Physical damage for pet debuffs? I really want an excuse to use her soloing. xD Maybe I'll bring her along (for the mage's sake, of course). Loki might see more day, too, with him having his awesome new Ancient Hysteria. The only pet I'm a bit worried about is Kael, as I can't do as much with him if he doesn't have his survivability warp :/ as much as I love him, I can't put him against elites without it. It's almost as good as a turtle. And Hunger will be making his triumphant return.

They are referring to the mage ability, Time Warp... not the pet ability.

[Malazee]

People trying to predict the "new wolf" for Cataclysm are just plain doin' it rong.

Hunters are essentially going to be expected to have a max level pet for each family, and to use the one that's currently needed to cover whatever buff the raid is missing. Good thing this won't be a problem with the stable interface in Cataclysm allowing us to have 5 active pets at a time and a much larger number of pets in storage.

I really don't expect corehounds to see much use, honestly, because (a) they're a BM-only pet and (b) both shaman and mages can cover bloodlust. The healing ability form spirit beasts sounds like a gimmick. Everything that our pets can do, another class can do better, and they don't stack. The point is that we bring whatever buff is missing, at a reduced percentage, sort of like inscription scrolls and LW drums.

For solo play, I still expect the wolf to reign supreme. Unless you're really bad, in which case you might want a spirit beast to heal yourself.

[Kalliope]

For solo play, I still expect the wolf to reign supreme. Unless you're really bad, in which case you might want a spirit beast to heal yourself.

But why a wolf? They have the same buff as devilsaurs and are missing the added constant mortal strike ability. And there are plenty of other options, depending on the situation. But all pet damage is going to be leveled off (possibly differing between tenacity/ferocity/cunning, but that's it). You really can run with who you want for the most part. There doesn't seem to be a core ability out there - thus far and in my personal opinion - that puts any of the pet families at that much of an advantage over the others for solo fare. I suppose a raptor or serpent would be nice for a sunder, but neither is a tenacity pet and sometimes you really want the extra tanking abilities. So I really do think it'll be up to us.

I guess I just don't see the reasoning, unless you're saying people will just keep their LK pets and not bother changing them. I don't see that happening either, since most of the cats from BC disappeared in LK. If we really can choose what we want to run with, then I honestly do expect to see a variety.

(I do agree on the point about corehounds not being 100% everywhere, since only one would be needed in a raid at a time, but they WILL be more present in major cities than they are now.)

[Malazee]

As much as I wish it weren't so, I think you're living in a little bit of a pipe dream. Hunters still won't be able to use the pets they want to use. Pets will be dictated by the raid leader according to the buffs that are missing. Only if you happen to be in a perfectly composed raid with no missing buffs will you be able to use the pet you like the most.

And for solo play, you're right that the buffs you get from your pet are minimal, so some people will choose not to use the most optimum pet, but I believe most people will. The crit from wolves and devilsaurs is definitely the most ideal in a solo situation (questing, grinding, farming etc), with the armor reduction from raptors and serpents coming in second only because there really is no such thing as sustained dps on low HP mobs. And so I say wolves will be the prevalent pet for solo play because devilsaurs are BM only.

[Kalliope]

It really depends on the raid. With buffs being handed out to more classes, it's highly likely that we won't get called on to provide many buffs at all. It really, REALLY depends on your raid.

Good reasoning on wolves, and I think you provide a very strong argument for single targeting mobs. I still see tenacity pets shining when it comes to multi-target pulls, though; there will always be a place for them.

[Protego]

For the most part, I love the changes. I too also agree with the people that love "Spirit Mend". A healing pet's gonna be epic in Cataclysm!

[Renle]

And so I say wolves will be the prevalent pet for solo play because devilsaurs are BM only.

Here your assuming BM hunters won't be raiding in Cata?

[Worba]

As much as I wish it weren't so, I think you're living in a little bit of a pipe dream. Hunters still won't be able to use the pets they want to use. Pets will be dictated by the raid leader according to the buffs that are missing. Only if you happen to be in a perfectly composed raid with no missing buffs will you be able to use the pet you like the most.

And for solo play, you're right that the buffs you get from your pet are minimal, so some people will choose not to use the most optimum pet, but I believe most people will. The crit from wolves and devilsaurs is definitely the most ideal in a solo situation (questing, grinding, farming etc), with the armor reduction from raptors and serpents coming in second only because there really is no such thing as sustained dps on low HP mobs. And so I say wolves will be the prevalent pet for solo play because devilsaurs are BM only.

No one optimizes for solo play. I wish the solo game was challenging enough to warrant it, but sadly it's not (and I mean that - I love playing solo and think it could be much more than it is)... and for the very few occasions when you do need to make a real effort in solo, you either tank with tenacity (and preferably BM spec) or DPS with ferocity if the tanking is already covered.