Legion Class Preview: Hunter

In many ways, Hunter design in Legion embodies our key philosophies for class change. Hunters have a strong “core fantasy”: they’re masters of tracking prey, experts at sniping enemies with bows and guns from a distance, tamers of wild beasts, and trappers of unsuspecting foes. The challenge with the Hunter class in WoW is that, for the most part, while all three specs deliver that basic fantasy, the distinction between them is fairly minimal. In Legion, we’re focused on better differentiating these specializations to deliver more dynamic and varied experiences.

Core Combat Abilities

• Cobra Shot
  • 30 Focus, 40 yd range, Instant
  • A quick shot that causes moderate Physical damage.
• Dire Beast
  • 40 yd range, Instant, 10 sec cooldown
  • Summons a powerful wild beast to attack your target for 8 sec. Each time the beast deals damage, you will gain 4 Focus.
  • Summoning a beast reduces the remaining cooldown of Bestial Wrath by 15 sec.
• Kill Command
  • 20 Focus, 25 yd range (from pet), Instant, 6 sec cooldown
  • Give the command to kill, causing your pet to instantly inflict strong damage to its target.
• Wild Call
  • Passive
  • Your critical strikes have a 30% chance to reset the cooldown of Dire Beast.
• Mastery: Master of Beasts
  • Increases the damage done by your pets by 45% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Sample Talent Changes

• Way of the Cobra
  • Passive
  • For every pet or guardian you have active, Cobra Shot deals an additional 5% damage.

Core Combat Abilities

• Harpoon
  • 5-40 yd range, Instant, 15 sec cooldown
  • Hurl a harpoon at your target and pull yourself toward them, rooting them in place for 3 sec.
• Raptor Strike
  • 20 Focus, Melee Range, Instant.
  • A vicious slash, dealing moderate Physical damage.
• Laceration
  • 35 Focus, Melee Range, Instant, 10 sec cooldown
  • Tear a wound in the target, dealing heavy damage over 12 sec.
  • Developer Comment: We promise it will do good damage!
• Mongoose Bite
  • Melee Range, Instant, 10 sec recharge, 3 charges
  • A brutal attack, attempting to sever the enemy’s limbs, dealing strong Physical damage.
  • Each consecutive Mongoose Bite dealt within 3.5 sec of the last will deal 50% increased damage, stacking up to 6 times.
• Flanking Strike
  • 20 Focus, 25 yd range (from pet), Instant, 6 sec cooldown
  • Give the command to kill, causing your pet to instantly inflict strong damage to its target.
• Wing Clip
  • 30 Focus, Instant
  • Maims the target, reducing their movement speed by 50% for 15 sec.
• Mastery: Hunting Companion
  • Your pet’s attacks have a 20% (with Mastery from typical gear) chance to grant you an additional charge of Mongoose Bite.

Sample Talent Changes

• Snake Hunter
  • Instant, 1 min cooldown
  • Instantly grants you 3 charges of Mongoose Bite.

Core Combat Abilities

• Arcane Shot
  • 40 yd range, Instant
  • A quick shot that causes moderate Arcane damage, and generates 5 Focus.
• Seek Vulnerabilities
  • Passive
  • Targets hit by your Arcane Shot and Multi-Shot have a chance to be marked with Hunter’s Mark for 6 sec.
• Marked Shot
  • 30 Focus, 40 yd range, Channeled
  • Rapidly fires a shot at up to 3 targets affected by Hunter’s Mark, dealing strong Physical damage. Usable while moving.
  • Also exposes vulnerability in the target, snaring them by 15%, and increasing Aimed Shot damage done to the target by 25%. Lasts 10 sec, and stacks up to 3 times.
• Aimed Shot
  • 50 Focus, 40 yd range, 1.5 sec cast
  • A powerful aimed shot that deals strong Physical damage.
• Mastery: Sniper Training
  • Critical strike damage and range of all shots is increased by 12.5% (with Mastery from typical gear).

Sample Talent Changes

Lock and Load

• Passive
• Attach an explosive charge to Aimed Shot, dealing strong additional Fire damage to the target and all enemies within 4 yds.
• Your ranged auto attacks have a 5% chance to trigger Lock and Load, causing your next 2 Aimed Shots to cost no Focus and be instant.