Clarification on pet talents
by Eliah Hecht 
Jul 24th 2008 at 9:00PM
In the comments thread on the post yesterday regarding Wowhead's new pet talent calculators, many of you seemed somewhat misinformed and accused the calculator of being buggy. To set the record straight, here are some fun facts about pets and pet talents in the current Wrath beta:
- The +damage/+health/+armor modifiers have been removed from pet families. Instead, a pet's modifiers depend on which of the three pet talent trees it has: Ferocity, Cunning, or Tenacity. However, Blizzard will be implementing pet-family-specific abilities.
- Hunters get one pet talent point at level 20, and one every four levels thereafter.
- The total number of pet talent points available at level 80 is 16, unless you are a Beast Mastery Hunter with the 51-point talent Beast Mastery, in which case you get an additional five points, for 21 total.
- Each successive tier requires three points per previous tier to unlock (compare to five points for player talents).
The exception is single-point talents such as Charge or any of the tier 5 talents, which require five points per previous tier, according to their tooltips; the exception to this exception is Boar's Speed. This means that the tier 5 talents are only available to BM hunters, since they require 20 points to unlock (again according to their tooltips), and any given pet can have at most one of them at a time.The last two points are based on how the tooltips read. However, this is not how they're currently implemented in-game; in the beta right now,All talents require three points per previous tier to unlock, which means non-BM hunters can get them as well. So there is a discrepancy between how the tooltips read and how it actually works when you go to spend the points.I'm guessing the tooltips are correct, since that would keep the tier 5 talents BM-only, and prevent hunters from getting more than one tier 5 talent.- Update: The tooltips are incorrect. Ghostclaw confirms that all tiers require three points per previous tier, which means non-BM hunters can get the tier 5 talents.
All of these facts are confirmed by sources in the beta. Of course, it is beta, and any of this is very subject to change, but that's the way things stand right now. By the way, how amusing is it that moths will be Ferocity pets? Ahhh, run! Ferocious moth!
Filed under: Hunter, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
STereo Jul 24th 2008 9:21PM
I knew it was too good to be true. I guess it's official, hunters are getting the shaft again in WOTLK.
Dominace Jul 24th 2008 10:04PM
How can you even say that with all the insane hunter buffs/talents/skills in wotlk, in all honestly they need a nerf of some sort, given what we have seen.
dpoyesac Jul 24th 2008 10:07PM
Huh? What do you mean? These are serious buffs to hunter pets. Just because MM and Survival likely won't have access to the 51-point BM talent doesn't mean hunters in general are getting the shaft.
Here's a blue post that seems to back up the idea that the BM 51-point talent is intended to open up the fifth tier of the pet talent.
http://forums.wow-europe.com/thread.html?topicId=5103070472&pageNo=1&sid=1#9
jrb Jul 25th 2008 6:50AM
i don't think they can be classed as buffs to hunter pets, other than now we get more families viable for general and pvp use.. which, in fairness is how it should have been in the first place.
the other non-pet talents barely bring us into line in usefulness with other classes, or rather, the BM talents do, SV and MM do.
I'll be interested to see if hunters rankings in the arena go up, although i'm seriously doubting it.
Hurode Jul 24th 2008 9:31PM
Considering moths can already be vicious, I don't see how them being ferocious is -that- much of a change.
http://www.wowhead.com/?npc=18437
gokufencer Jul 24th 2008 9:39PM
"This means that the tier 5 talents are only available to BM hunters"
I hate to break it to you but that is not true. The tooltips are incorrect. I just made a quick Cat build just to show that w/out being a BM hunter, and only using 14 talent points, you can get 2 5th Tier Talents.
http://wotlk.wowhead.com/?petcalc=0m0c0cc0czz
Eliah Hecht Jul 24th 2008 9:41PM
Well, my thinking, as I said in the article, is that the tooltips are correct but the system as implemented in-game is incorrect. I think Blizz means to restrict the t5 talents to BM hunters.
MisterMoose Jul 25th 2008 4:26AM
Seems to me it would work just as well if it is just 3 point per tier. BMs still are the only people with multiple tier 5 talents, and that's saying a lot. 21 points vs. 16 is a huge amount of difference.
Unmei Jul 24th 2008 9:52PM
Tch the way this looks it sounds like Wrath should be renamed "Rise of the BeastMasterHuntards." because I swear every effin hunter I run into will be one just so they can get extra talent points for their pets. =/ GAY I tell you GAY. And it's annoying because I have a hunter too..... :P
Matthew Rossi Jul 24th 2008 10:35PM
You don't raid, do you?
There's like one Surv hunter per raid right now. The rest are BM. The Surv hunter is for expose weakness. MM isn't needed at all.
Unmei Jul 28th 2008 6:18PM
@2
Sorry I haven't played wow long enough to get into raiding. I'm one of the oh so dreaded Casual's all the hardcores seem to gripe over. So yeah I play solo and pug 5mans. For the record who even said what my spec was? Please don't assume k?
kabshiel Jul 24th 2008 10:03PM
Question: Are there still some pets that have the inferior "caster" stats or did they finally do away with that?
Kettu Jul 24th 2008 11:21PM
From what I've seen, they still have pets with caster stats. :/ Hopefully they'll do away with those while they're doing all these wonderful Hunter improvements.
Alchemistmerlin Jul 24th 2008 10:05PM
Oh, so they decided that people who picked non-standard pets were getting the shaft and decided to change it so now people who pick non-standard pets still get the shaft, but with a fancy shafting-interface?
Yay?
Starstrike Jul 24th 2008 10:20PM
Blizz seems to favor BM hunters over everything else. I like the idea of marks and was hoping it would get something better than what it has so far. Oh well, looks like my rogue will become my main after all until I get to be an ungimped marks hunter.
Thats not to say I dont like my pet, I just like the idea of my pet assisting my damage and not being the most important part to it, like with most locks for instance. Demonology is def the pet tree to locks but they are not absolutey dependent upon it (I may be wrong though, dont get upset at me like I am an expert on the issue) and the other trees are just as good as demonology, if not better, in many areas. as it is right now, MM hunters are nothing compared to BM.
I think thats the other main reason why I am still MM, even though everyone says it sucks, I've gotten so used to being the underestemated character in MMOs that I've gotten used to proving I can do it well. It also makes it easier to single out morons who think they can kill me by themselves.
...and yes, I know the conflition between enjoying playing the underdog and not wanting to be it anymore
Rugus Jul 25th 2008 2:31AM
Imho MM spec does not suck at all. A decent MM/SV build allows a great DPS output along with improved traps, that really help in raids. I don't raid a lot but when I do (Karazhan) I'm always in the first places at the top, given that I'm still full blue with some epics (but with all the best enchants/gems I could find for every single piece of my gear).
When playing, nobody complains. I decently manage traps and I provide a good improved CC (thanks to the points spent in SV tree) as well as a great DPS.
What I *really* do not like of BM spec is that it obviously relies on your pet's survivability. If your pet dies, you're a naked under-powered hunter until someone res. him (or you do). And from what I've seen so far, BM pets die exactly as MM/SV pets do in raids AND heroic instances.
Protopiggy Jul 24th 2008 10:25PM
You guys are freaking out too much!
http://www.maniasarcania.com/2008/07/23/wanted-pet-talent-tree-calculators/#more-811
According to Mania, who's in the beta and from reports from beta testers its the tool tips that are incorrect and the wowhead talent calcs are basically the same as whats found in the beta at the moment, wrong tool tips, but you can access the tier 5 talents without being a BM hunter.
Xino Jul 24th 2008 11:08PM
Seems like some ppl don't understand that the Op is saying that he thinks the tooltips are right and the 3 point thing is a bug while some others think the tooltips are bugged and the 3 point thing is for real.
Only time and a patch or 2 will tell us.
Mania Jul 25th 2008 12:05AM
*nods at Xino*
That about sums it up.
Slayblaze Jul 24th 2008 11:10PM
Wow what a mess. I thought I would prefer the new system over the old, but now I wish they would scrap the new "talent trees for pets" concept and just stick with the current method of point distribution.