Hotfixes for Hunters over the last few days
by Mike Schramm 
Apr 23rd 2009 at 5:00PM
Mania's got info on a few Hunter pet-related hotfixes that have found their way into the game recently. There's nothing really earthshaking in there, but there are at least two points of interest: because players can no longer flick the "at war" switch on for the Sunreavers with the Horde in Dalaran, that means Hordies can't pick a fight just to tame the Sunreaver Dragonhawks, which unfortunately were the only "already 80" Cunning pets in the game.And a bug with Hunter pet talents was fixed -- supposedly now, when Hunters switch talent specs, Hunter pets will get their talents refunded. That's surprising to me -- though I kind of appreciate the chance to respec our pets whenever we switch specs, I sure would have thought that our pets would just get two trees as well. But then again, people might want to mix and match pet talents and talent specs, so I guess though it'll be a pain to re-punch in those talents (and remember to do so), it's the better way to go right now.
Great insight from Mania as always. And yes, outside of the Hunter domain, I, like many of Mania's commenters am slightly tired of the talent resets. With Hunter talents and all of the shots we learn from each tree, and pet talents and all of the decisions to make there, I'm pretty talent-ed out. Hopefully this 3.1.1 refund is the last one we'll see for a while.
Filed under: Hunter, Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Tips, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Talents
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Freak Mojo Apr 23rd 2009 5:08PM
Where can I read up on the best specs for the different pet families?
I always get a bit confused finding the right mix of talent points for my BM spec hunter's pets.
elstor Apr 23rd 2009 6:51PM
Elitist Jerks or use a little logic. If we're talking you want a tanking pet, spec into stuff that increases stam, armor, dodge, etc. If we're talking DPS spec into stuff like cobra reflexes or whatever its called and stuff like that. Also for tenacity pets Thunderstomp is a must.
Jack Apr 23rd 2009 5:10PM
With regards to pet talent specs, Talented does pet talents now, so you can save templates for your different pets and apply them every time you switch specs yourself.
Gnosh Apr 23rd 2009 5:23PM
rather than say "talented doesn't do pet talents", which I guess technically it does, it lets me actually apply a pet template about 10% of the time.
(sorry, you need 16 talent points! SHE HAS 16 TALENT POINTS)
Microtonal Apr 23rd 2009 8:32PM
Talented is, apparently, still not playing nice with hunter pets when it comes to dual speccing. It's disappointing, because otherwise, Talented is easily the best addon I've ever used.
Direphoenix Apr 23rd 2009 5:20PM
Has anyone noticed an extreme lack of effectiveness with Chimera shot and Viper Sting now? All I see is another tick for the same amount of mana that's being drained by Viper sting already. Which is not a whole lot.
Thander Apr 23rd 2009 5:33PM
Yeah, they should really have two specs that get saved. I know right now they have to do the respec so a BM hunter can't switch to Marksman and Survival and still have those points but there should be an easier way.
foxkreig Apr 24th 2009 5:39PM
well at first it was doing a fine job for me. pet had two different trees. and i had no problems when swapping back and forth at all. or at least since i spec the little wanker the same way just with more points as BM i was all fine.
what i'm still ticked off about is the new AP stamina pet talents in the new tier are still not functioning. when i spend the points in shark, i get an immediate damage improvement. but when i spent the other points. my pet recieves neither damage (ap) or hitpoints
Kierachel Apr 23rd 2009 6:29PM
Does no one else find this incredably irratating?
I mean personally I'm useing BM and Survival as my two specs and I have a BM and Survival pet for each as I'm sure is the norm. Having the pet drop all its talents every time I switch is just annoying.
Zhire Apr 23rd 2009 7:06PM
They TOOK AWAY for some reason, the amazing bright orange and yellow summoning animation of my warpstalker who used to be "Gezzerak the Huntress". Granted it's still a unique skin and you can no longer get it, couldn't they have left it alone? I don't understand...it's really irritating.
it's also a shame that the horde can't tame those dragonhawks anymore. We need more pets at 80. =/
Radioted Apr 23rd 2009 7:08PM
What? Uh, I have NO interest in respecing my pet every. damn. time. I switch specs. That sucks. Sigh.
Colerejuste Apr 23rd 2009 7:13PM
I would have thought that a spec'd pet would stay that way. After all you've paid 1000g for the character to have 2 specs, not the character and his 5 pets.
I would have thought that if the pet spec doesnt match what the hunter has (i.e. 4 extra points for a hunter with non-BM spec), the pet would be returned to the stable, and not selectable, just like the BM specific pets. However, that wouldnt be cool, since you could have a gorilla or kitty, and having the pet being returned to the stables would be unreasonable, especially if you're in a raid.
So baring hunters paying extra to have their pets dual spec'd as well, it make sense to clear their talents. If you're changing specs often enough, you'll scribble it down or simply remember the spec from first principals.
NGP Apr 24th 2009 9:59AM
Call Stabled Pet FTW!
loadedk Apr 24th 2009 12:43AM
Interestingly, if you spec 51 point BM for both talent sets, when you swap specs your pet does not get its talents refunded. I currently have a BM DPS spec and a instance soloing BM spec. After switching back and forth a couple times to check pet stat differences I never had to re-spec my worm.
Myungus Apr 24th 2009 4:55AM
The thing with the pet's talents is that if you are 51 BM specced you have more talent points to use in your pet. So when you switch back to survival the pet's talents need to be reset (the game doesn't know what talents it should remove).
IMO the best thing to do is to have a different pet for each spec and just dismiss the current one before switching specs. After that you just need to change your pet in the stable and there you go, two different pets with their talent points always applied.
Lys Apr 24th 2009 6:31AM
I think the problem was that the points weren't getting refunded, but they still awarded you the extra points if you swapped specs when your pet was dismissed. I know I had a full Ferocity tree for my wolf, with talent points to spare... until I swapped specs without dismissing him. Damn.
They probably couldn't work out the BM 4 talent point refund easily. But yes, respeccing your pet is re-he-heally annoying.
smiley Apr 24th 2009 7:48AM
I think this is only an issue if you go from BM to something else.
I go SV for pve, MM for 2v2 and general BG, and SV 3v3 and 5v5
my crab doesn't seem to lose his talent points when i switch.. then again I've stayed SV the last few days trying the new SV in BG's so if its a change since the wed small patch i wouldn't know(imo not as good as marks, chimera hits like a truck full of DK taurens in T8) >_<
that said i wouldn't mind if they did, it'd be cool to get to repec my pets when i felt like it just by swapping specs
Pexxle -=SilverHand (RP)=- Apr 24th 2009 10:17AM
Your right it is a BM issue. but i've done it so much just tinkering around, that its "whatever to me". I know what i want, whether its tanking or DPS so i just click whats needed into place. Also its not like im switching specs every 5 minutes. Annoying? yes
Can i deal with it? Yes also.
Iceveiled Apr 27th 2009 12:45PM
Here's what I do. I'm dual specced BM and survival, just like everybody else. I use my spirit beast with BM and a cat for survival.
if you want to switch from one talent to another and have your pet keep his talents do this:
1. dismiss your pet.
2. activate your talent build from the talent window
3. visit a stable master or use your new ability to do it remotely.
As long as you dismiss your pet before activating a talent build, your pets will retain their points. In other words for BM have a pet with a 20 point talent build (if you've specced that deep into BM) and for survival have a pet with a 16 point talent build.
Of course you can re-assign points whenever but using the above method makes your pets remember their talents.
jim Apr 27th 2009 2:09PM
I ran a 25-man herioc yesterday, two days after this article. I switched spec's from my SV main spec 8/12/51 to my BM alt spec 47/21/3 and back again to see how my DPS would do in my alt spec.
I did not have to respec my 16 point pet.