Aug. 1, 2006

I'm sure it has letters and they make pills for it

On the heels of the announcement regarding the paladin/shaman switch for the Burning Crusade, the previous information regarding the Blood Elf class distribution has been changed as well. Goodbye warriors, hello (yes, you guessed it), hunters! Now, I know that you aren’t disbelieving me, but just in case you want some solid proof, feel free to look here. Obviously, being pro-hunter, I’m all for this change, as Draenei retain hunters as well, so we’ll be welcoming both new races into the fold. Thumbs up guys! The direct quote regarding this (from Eyonix):

Basically, we wanted to make sure that both new races had an equal number of class availability options. As a result, we had to cut one class from the Blood Elf’s selection pool. It came down to eliminating either the Hunter or the Warrior, and after a great deal of discussion we decided that the Hunter was the better fit for this race.

Think Ranger. ;)

In sad Burning Crusade news, however, I apparently didn’t make the cut in the contest on Test realms (my name did not appear on the all important list), so I’ll have to go about begging, borrowing or stealing a Beta account another way. Never fear, I’ll figure something out!

July 11, 2006

I heard you've been looking for me. I'm flattered

Very minor patch today, as far as Hunters are concerned:

  • Players are no longer able to animate emotes while using Feign Death.

But in other, shout from the rooftop type news, Ordinn had this to say regarding the winners of the Burning Crusade Beta Contests that Blizzard ran a while ago on the test realms:

We’re going to announce those next week. There was an issue with the data. Just so you know – everyone who participated won.

How. Cool. Is. That.

July 1, 2006

One has to ask some very strange things

Another update about the Hunter epic, it seems that the demon timers have been reduced quite a bit, so the demons are now spawning much more frequently. This should help a lot with both being able to trial/error the fights and in the case of any griefing that occurs during (it’ll still be frustrating but much easier waiting 15-30 minutes than 3 hours). I’ll also throw this out – I get quite a few emails every day regarding the strategies posted in the walkthrough. I appreciate everyone’s input immensely but just want to say that if I put in every single suggestion, the guide would be pages and pages long. To that end, a while ago, I created a separate section on TKA Something’s message board, specifically relating to quests. Much of the discussion that occurs there does relate to the epic quest, including alternate methods and additional tips/tricks. I’ve included a link to that portion of the board in the guide now, and encourage anyone who has additional ideas to share them there.

Mpstark’s Pet Extend – (Beasts) updated
Zorlen’s Hunter Functions – (Guides) updated

June 21, 2006

Because in Opposite World, that means thank you

Patch 1.11 is live and with the patch came a few bug fixes as well. All these issues should now function properly (ignore the wording, just mentally add “fixed” after each one):

  • The hunter Entrapment talent cannot proc when the hunter is casting.
  • The proc rate on Entrapment increases as the number of affected targets of the trap increases.
  • The Frost Trap aura is centered around the hunter rather than the area of the trap, after the traps initial tick.
  • Rank 9 Serpent Sting doesn’t cause Artorius the Doombringer to gain Stinging Trauma.
  • If you are Mind Controlled while using Eyes of the Beast, your pet will not leash back to you.
  • Cat pets have dog vocal chords.
  • Charge rank 6 is currently unable to be learned.
  • Claw and Bite are not initiating auto attack.
  • Scorpid Poison can only be used once in combat.

Unknown if intentional, however, is the fact that Solenor the Slayer (Silithus) for the epic quest can no longer be “chilled” via Frost Trap. That means if you’re planning on fighting him, come VERY prepared, he hits like a truck. I’m monitoring the Blizzard Bug Report forum but no official word as yet. Oh, and Feign Death seems to be back to dropping combat immediately (if successful of course). But don’t count on it working in Neutral Cities (Booty Bay, for example). The bouncers are wise to you, my friend.

And, if you’ve been so busy enjoying the latest Festival to have missed this in 'Under Development,’ then you’re in for a treat. Confirmed for 1.12:

For the first time in the history of World of Warcraft, you will be able to face off against players from other realms in the Battlegrounds. Coming in patch 1.12 are cross-realm PvP Battlegrounds, linking Alterac Valley, Warsong Gulch, and Arathi Basin so that players from several realms will be combined into one huge matchmaking pool. Replenish your mana, sharpen your blades, and get ready for some brand-new challengers!

Excellent.

Spiders – (Beasts) updated
Bats – (Beasts) updated
Boars – (Beasts) updated

May 20, 2006

Don't clutter up a clever scheme with morality

Test Realm is up and the 1.11 Patch Notes posted:

  • Counterattack (Survival Talent) – All ranks of this talent will now share the same cooldown.
  • Scorpid Poison: Duration slightly lengthened.
  • Changed the way hunter pet family armor bonuses and penalties are applied to allow the exact value from the Natural Armor talent to be applied correctly. This may result in a very slight loss of armor to some pets (less than a third of a percent).
  • Improved Scorpid Sting: The aura from this Sting will now be removed (as intended) when a different Sting aura is placed on the victim.

No mention of Charge being fixed (yuk), no additional stable slots (I didn’t really expect it, but I can hope), no new pet skills (that makes this the second patch with no new abilities). Also of interest to hunters, but not specifically listed under class changes:

  • The cost to unlearn talents will now decay over time. This cost will be reduced by a rate of 5 gold per month to a minimum of 10 gold.
  • Chain targeted spells and abilities (e.g. Multi-Shot, Cleave, Chain Lightning) will no longer hit stealthed or invisible units unless visible to the caster.
  • Key rings have been added to the game.
  • The armor rewards for Honor ranks 12 and 13 have been increased in level and stat point allocation.

For those wondering about the PvP set, say goodbye to attack power, parry, arcane shot and dodge bonuses. Say hello to more crit%, agility, int, +hit and ooh la la, a 4% increase to Multi-Shot damage. The new set bonuses can be seen here and as an owner of the old set, the improvements are to die for – and I did, to the Horde, over and over (although I might have liked the addition of a bonus like the Beastmaster set with the chance of restoring X amount of mana, but increasing my mana pool will help a lot). I’m still trying to download the files for the Test server (13, ugh!) and haven’t managed to copy a pre-made character over yet (double ugh!), so if you’re online and have anything else to add that’s undocumented, let me know. As a side note, the pre-made characters come decked out in T2 (Dragonstalker) gear.

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