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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria news8885 for Hunters: AotV reworked
by Eliah Hecht 
Aug 30th 2008 at 4:00PM
There is a surprising amount of new and interesting things in the latest beta version, build 8885, for the Hunter class. Let's start things off with a bang:
- Aspect of the Viper changed to: The hunter takes on the aspect of the viper, instantly regenerating mana equal to 100% of the damage done by any ranged attack or ability, but reduces your total damage done by 50%. Only one Aspect can be active at a time.
That's a total reworking of the skill. Now it's sort of a cross between Evocation and Shamanistic Rage, but with no cooldown. If you need some mana back, just turn it on and go crazy for a little while. Your DPS will suffer a bit, but you'll have full mana by the end of it. I like the idea.
Other notable changes [Sorry, I accidentally left this second section out somehow when I originally published the post]:
- Trueshot Aura now scales, giving +10% AP to raid members. Abilities that give flat values (as TSA used to do) often run into trouble, as Rogues learned with Eviscerate in classic WoW.
- Combat Experience buffed significantly; now increases Agi by 6% as well as Int by 6% (at 2/2).
- Improved Arcane Shot now increases the damage done by AS by 5/10/15%, instead of lowering the cooldown. Excellent; nobody really needed a lowered Arcane Shot cooldown.
- Aspect Mastery has been reworked to work with the new AotV, but it's still a bit lackluster IMO. Now reads: Aspect of the Viper - Reduces the damage penalty by 10%. Aspect of the Monkey - Reduces the damage done to you while active by 10%. Aspect of the Hawk - Increases the attack power bonus by 50%.
Filed under: Hunter, Wrath of the Lich King
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Saelorn Aug 30th 2008 5:31PM
Does this return damage as mana beyond the health remaining for the target? If something has 100 health left, and I shoot it for 350 damage, how much mana do I get back?
Are hunters the new bane of rats and frogs everywhere?
kabshiel Aug 30th 2008 5:31PM
The mana regen will probably need to be turned down a bit, but overall it's a great idea.
Fobok Aug 30th 2008 5:46PM
I absolutely love the change to Viper. That alone should solve any of our mana problems.
Hunzol Aug 30th 2008 6:24PM
I kinda like the change and I kinda dont.
It makes Viper more of a timed skill rather than a use and leave aspect,so we dont end using only Viper.
But the hybrid style of it..its not a real aspect anymore but its not evocation either.
The MP5 style of if was cool, but with pots, mana regen and all the new mana batterys runing OOM will be harder.
IMO they should just remove Viper and repalce it with a real Mana buff ala evocation with a bigger effect and a CD(low , in motion with all hunter -3min CDs).
My big problem is Aspect of the Hawk..it does not scale whatsoever and I feel it should.
Thats probably just me tho, I hate non-scaling skills BoM,BS,MotW,AI, etc.
But an aspect is more than a buff its like some sort of personal class powerup, it should have some sort of scaling buff.
Arena Hunter wants to cry Aug 30th 2008 7:24PM
Anyone else realize how this totally ruins hunter mana regen in areanas (which was already lackluster)? Doing 50% of your damage in arena is a death sentence trying to regen mana is a horrible idea.
Angus Aug 31st 2008 10:44AM
Look at shamanistic rage.
15% mana per hit and they changed the PPm AGAIN so who knows how much mana you get in 15 seconds.
We spend a 41pt talent to get mana regen.
You basically get 50% damage as mana when needed. It acts as a threat management tool, a mana regen tool, and has the advantage of never needing to be waiting on a CD.
For farming:
Blow everything you have on a mob. Get close to OOM. Start a new mob, send in pet. Hit Viper, fire away and the pet never loses aggro. Once your're full on mana, switch to full DPS mode. Alternate this on mobs and you have 0 downtime and are going through mobs at roughly the same rate or better. Consumables required less. More space in bags.
Radiophonic Aug 30th 2008 8:50PM
This is punishment for those who insist on raiding with Viper instead of Hawk lol
Jack Spicer Aug 30th 2008 9:47PM
Its not punishment, its making Viper do what it was intended to do. I don't think Blizzard ever intended for Hunter's to keep Viper up 100% of the time, but unfortunately that's exactly what happened. And it took a lot of the variety out of playing a hunter as a result.
Perderedeus Aug 30th 2008 9:16PM
I hope they intend to look at the Hunter's other mana-return or mana-saver talents and tweak them accordingly. Take a look at the synergy in the lower BM tree with Cobra Strikes and Invigoration... that has lost a LOT of its mana-return kick now that any old Hunter can pop AotV and regen to full in 10 or so seconds. And Efficiency? And the mana-saver talents in Survival?
I'm not saying those talents are BAD... they certainly help to keep you from using AotV... but they have definitely lost some of their luster.
Stormtalon Aug 30th 2008 10:09PM
It's also a good thing to turn on if your FD is resisted; scale back threat generation by 25% for a short bit AND get mana back.
Zakk Aug 30th 2008 11:43PM
Loving the AotV change. I never noticed much from the old AotV, but it looks like we'll be getting sizable chunks of mana back from this new reworking of the skill. Hurray!
Basil R. Lee Aug 31st 2008 1:44PM
I think the AotV change is totally killer. I was so excited to get it originally, and then I noticed that while it worked, it didn't seem like much of a big deal. Then they buffed it, and it seemed like not much of a big deal, but you know, better. :P Then this? This sounds WICKED. I can't wait. I actually want to play my hunter again. :)
Lannicbane Aug 31st 2008 4:28PM
All of these changes seem really great.
The new AotV would effectively end mana problems for hunters. And I agree with Perderedeus. It does seem to make the mana-regen talents in the lower BM tree unnecessary. Which would open up more talent points for BM hunters for other trees.
Combat Experience was very, very weak before, so its good to see it get some love. The same goes for Improved Arcane Shot, especially since it lost its magic dispel. And Trueshot Aura scaling will bring applause from hunters the world over.
Aspect Mastery is lackluster, but for 1 talent point I'll take the +50% AP from AotH any day. Especially since we will be using AotH more with the AotV changes.
I don't expect this new AotV to last. It's just to good and easy.
::ducks for the incoming nerf bat::
On another note, has anyone figured out if the new Spirit Bond increases all incoming healing to you? That would be a pretty awesome passive +10% healing to hunters.
Chocoblow Oct 22nd 2008 8:20PM
So does that mean I can serpent sting a warlock before he runs behind a pillar and start regenerating mana as he is taking damage?