Hunter Class Changes in Dragonflight
A new WoW expansion is getting closer and closer to its release on the 28th of November. Each build makes it easier to speak about various class changes and suggest firm predictions on Dragonflight meta. This text will cover crucial class and talent Hunter tree changes in Dragonflight.
Hunter Class Tree
The revamp of the talent system in the new expansion leads to the emergence of two separate trees for class and specialization. One tree contains basic class talents which are accessible in every spec. And another one — those that belong only to a particular specialization.
Players have 31 points to spend in the class tree and 30 points in a spec one. These restrictions will make players choose a limited number of skills and traits by holding more or less to the right, middle, or left branches. One more feature to remember is that talents placed in octagons must always be chosen out of two options.
Dragonflight has brought interesting changes to Hunter’s basic talents. An exciting example is the Kill Command now being a talent for all specs to take. Besides, it’s chosen by default if a player specializes in Survival or BM. Only a Marksmanship player can think whether this skill is needed for his or her build. At the same time, the Kill Shot is taken by a Marksmanship player automatically. And those who chose other specs can take it if they want.
A few more essential talents appear in the basic Hunter class tree in Dragonflight. For instance, the Rejuvenating Wind that increases healing done by the Exhilaration. This trait is going to compensate for the lack of the same Conduit trait from Shadowlands.
Similarly, the Nature’s Endurance can be chosen as compensation for the 20% of damage reduction, which is lost without the Conduit system. As in the case of every new expansion release, some old mechanics which gave players additional effects and skills are turned off. That makes game developers put some of them into the mechanics of new expansion and the updated class trees. The same logic led to the appearance of the Death Chakram from the arsenal of Necrolord Covenant at the bottom of the tree.
However, now every Hunter will have to think carefully about whether the Nature’s Endurance is more useful than the Lone Survivor. The last one helps you to cast the Survival of the Fittest spell more often and make it last for a little longer. But as these talents are at the octagon, only one of them can be chosen.
One of the most fascinating new Hunter spells in Dragonflight is undoubtedly the Sentinel Owl. The main effects of the skill are listed in the picture. But a more important feature is that this spell can be upgraded with either Sentinel’s Perception or Sentinel’s Protection. Both of them are specific group buffs. The first one shares that “unhindered vision” with party members. And the second gives the party 5% Leech.
A sad fact is that the Camouflage can only be chosen if you have more points at the right branch. So that a whole build may be needed to be edited if you suddenly need your invisibility. At the same time, changes in Hunter’s class led to the opportunity to get the spell Serpent Sting in every spec. Its poison effect may show unexpected usefulness in different builds. The same can be said about the Barrage, which is now at the end of the tree. In Shadowlands these spells were accessible only within a Marksmanship spec.
Marksmanship changes
You’ve already seen some of the changes Dragonflight brought to Marksmanship Hunter because of the changes in the basic tree. But not many fresh features have been added to the spec itself. Most of the “new” are just remakes of talents from different Shadowlands systems and legendaries.
The Deathblow offers a possibility to diversify your rotation with a series of Kill Shots. The Heavy Ammo and Light Ammo at the bottom of the left spec branch provide players with a choice between two kinds of AoE. With the first one Trick Shot ricochets to fewer targets and deals increased damage. With the second one, it causes Aimed Shots and Rapid Fire to ricochet too.
Regardless of what choice is made in the last case, the Bulletstorm will resonate with it well. It will allow you to keep tons of damage from ricochets of all the mentioned spells and greatly increase damage from the Multi-Shot AoE.
Survival Hunter changes
What new Survival Hunter can boast of in Dragonflight? First of all, the usual fighting strategy of this spec can now be combined with a few Beast Mastery talents. For instance, the mentioned Kill Command will fit well in a rotation with the Wildfire Bomb. It’ll make your pet bite enemies much more painful. Besides, the new Bloody Claws trait will help in casting the Kill Command more frequently by increasing the chance of its reset. Finally, spells like the Spearhead at the bottom of the right part of the spec tree will also strengthen the ties of Survival player and its pet in dealing deadly damage to a single-target enemy.single-target enemy.
Fury of the Eagle is one of those new Survival Hunter talents that have returned after a long period of absence. Its absence lasted since Legion expansion. And now it’s one more spell to be connected with the Kill Command.
Another important effect is the Deadly Duo. It will improve the Spearhead by making it even more effective with a reduction of the Raptor Strike and Mongoose Bite cost. Besides, all resets of the Kill Command will reduce the cooldown of Spearhead, making a whole rotation more stable.
Beast Mastery changes
One of the most long-awaited traits added to the arsenal of BM Hunter Spec in Dragonflight is the Kill Cleave. It makes the Kill Command AoE when the Beast Cleave effect is active. Beast Masters have always felt a lack of AoE.
As for the skills and traits from the past expansions, a remarkable example is the Wailing Arrow. It may become not the most popular choice among players. But the fact that previously it was an effect of the legendary bow dropped by Sylvanas can not fail to fascinate.
Then comes the new talent Call of the Wild. In the best traditions of Beast Masters since Warcraft III, it summons pets from stables to assist you in a fight with a target for 20 seconds. Besides, the Wild Instincts and Bloody Frenzy are going to improve the key Beast Mastery spell Barbed Shot.
However, these talents are at the bottom of the right part of the tree. While you may prefer choosing to rush to the Dire Pack at the left corner. A huge part of the tree’s left side is about summoning different Dire beasts and interacting with them through spells like Dire Command. And the Dire Pack is a pleasant result of such a Dragonflight Hunter build that will make a fight truly dire by summoning five more beasts.
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