Welcome to our World of Warcraft: Legion class preview series. In this entry, we’re exploring the Hunter—to find out what’s in store for a different class, check out the overview.

We begin our early look at class and specialization design with the Hunter. In these blogs, we’ll be exploring class identity, discussing Legion’s new designs, and presenting core combat abilities for each specialization—laying out a foundation upon which talents and Artifacts will build further. With that in mind, let’s delve into what it means to be a Hunter in World of Warcraft.

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.

Beast Mastery

Among the most gifted hunters, there are those who have from birth felt a profound bond with the creatures of the wild. These beast masters are drawn to the perilous primal world, invigorated by its dangerous and untamed nature. Primitive landscape becomes home. Ferocious predator becomes kin. Whether in the thrill of the hunt or the heat of battle, beast masters call forth a litany of vicious animals to overwhelm prey and gnaw at their enemies’ will.

"Beast masters are drawn to the perilous primal world, invigorated by its dangerous and untamed nature"

Gameplay

Beast Masters were already in a good place overall, but we’ve refined existing abilities and talents to better differentiate them from other Hunters. Previously, Cobra Shot filled all of your free moments in combat, leaving no time for managing your pet, which should be a defining characteristic of Beast Masters. To this end, and to aid in Focus accumulation, Dire Beast is now core to Beast Mastery, allowing you to repeatedly summon wild beasts that generate additional Focus for you through their every attack.

To give you an idea of the Beast Master Hunter in action, here’s a basic look at their 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).

Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s one example of a Beast Mastery–specific talent:

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

Survival

While all hunters feel a calling to the wild, some serve as a reflection of its brutality. To them, the hunt is defined by unrelenting ferocity, where survival means facing one’s enemy eye-to-eye… and is always accompanied by merciless bloodshed. Weapons of great range are abandoned for instruments of close-quarters combat. Survival hunters are instinctive and crafty on the prowl, employing loyal beasts and laying deceptive traps to see their enemies undone. For these hunters know that to truly understand what it means to survive, one must first become familiar with the cruel face of death.

"The hunt is defined by unrelenting ferocity, where survival means facing one’s enemy eye-to-eye"

Gameplay

Not only do Survival Hunters use melee weapons instead of ranged weapons, they’re also now the only Hunters that make use of traps—other specs will receive forms of crowd control and AoE damage suited to their distinct characteristics. Survival Hunters will snare and bleed their enemies, fighting them in close quarters with their trustworthy companion to maximize the brutality of the hunt. They have no direct control over Focus regeneration, but instead pool it up during successive Mongoose Bites to further amplify the damage they inflict.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Survival Hunters:

• 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.

Additionally, to provide a glimpse at how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Survival-specific talents:

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

Marksmanship

Marksmen, too, shroud themselves in the perils of the untamed wilds, perfecting the use of weapons that are deadliest from great range. They’ve maintained little interest, however, in gaining the loyalty of the many beasts inhabiting these crude landscapes. Instead, the marksman blends into the surrounding environment, surveying behavior of all manner of predator and gleaning deadly methods for stalking their own prey. A sniper in hiding, the marksman unleashes arrows and bullets with deadly precision, exposing the weakness in whoever—or whatever—passes through their crosshairs.

"A sniper in hiding, the marksman unleashes arrows and bullets with deadly precision"

Gameplay

The Lone Wolf gameplay introduced in Warlords of Draenor proved extremely popular with Hunters, and that play style fit perfectly with our vision of Marksmanship Hunters as master archers and snipers, relying on their skill and precision with weapons rather than animal companions. All Marksmanship Hunters now gain Lone Wolf by default, ranging through the wilds without a pet beside them. On the resource front, the Marksman now gains Focus from the use of Arcane Shot. And, as a note for those who enjoyed the previous version of Survival gameplay, we have moved certain abilities, such as Black Arrow and Lock and Load, to Marksmanship-specific talents.

Here’s a basic look at the core combat abilities for Marksmanship:

• 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).

Additionally, to give you an idea of how some talents may build upon this, here’s an example of one of their Marksmanship-specific talents:

• 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.

We hope you’ve enjoyed this early preview of the Hunter class in World of Warcraft: Legion. This first look should give you a good sense of what you can expect from this series, though not every class is undergoing this level of change; some are receiving updates that will be more subtle—a sharpening of rough edges—rather than the broad reimagining of the fantasy as we’ve demonstrated with Hunters.

Tomorrow, the series continues with previews of Priests, Mages, and Paladins. Stay tuned!