Forever class deep dives: Hunter and Druid get new talents, baseline abilities and a 16-point milestone
· ForeverDB
Blizzard has published its first class deep dives for WoW: Forever, on Hunter and Druid. Talent trees keep the old shape but add a new 16-point milestone, pets now scale with your gear, and Druid shapeshifting stops blocking consumables, weapon procs and racials.
Blizzard has published the first two class deep dives for World of Warcraft: Forever, covering the Hunter and the Druid. The post explains how each class keeps its original patch 1.12 foundation while picking up new talents, baseline abilities and ways to play. You can read the full article on the official site.
Answer the call of the wild and take on nature’s many forms in World of Warcraft: Forever. We’re sharing Development Team insights on Hunter and Druid, including how these classes are evolving through talent updates, class-defining abilities, and new ways to play. Blizzard Entertainment, World of Warcraft: Forever news
This is beta. Blizzard says class abilities and talents may keep changing through the test.
Talent trees now reach a new 16-point milestone
Talents still unlock at level 10 and keep the familiar layout, with the same number of rows and one-point milestone talents at 11, 21 and 31 points. Forever adds a new milestone at 16 points. Blizzard says some talents are unchanged from patch 1.12, others are reworked, and a few old talent buffs are now baseline: Blessing of Kings and Improved Mark of the Wild are given for free. You change talents at a class trainer in a major city, and Dual Specialisation opens up at level 40.
Hunter: pets that scale with your gear, and new signature shots
On the baseline side, Aimed Shot is now learned at level 20 instead of through a talent, and it no longer shares a cooldown with Arcane Shot (Multi-Shot shares it instead). Traps can be used in combat, with the cooldown raised to 30 seconds, and fire and frost traps sit on separate cooldowns. Scorpid Sting now cuts the target's chance to hit by 2%, and Aspect of the Beast grants melee Attack Power.
Pets change the most. Blizzard says they now gain stats from your gear rather than from buffs cast on them. Every family can learn Bite or Claw and Dive or Dash, and each keeps one signature ability. A new Fox family arrives with Trickster's Dance, which raises the pet's dodge and attack speed for a short time.
- Beast Mastery: a new 16-point talent, Summon Hawk, calls in a Hawk to attack your target, and you can keep up to two Hawks out at once.
- Marksmanship: Lone Wolf becomes an 11-point talent that boosts your damage when you have no pet out, and a new 31-point talent, Sniper Shot, is a long cast that Blizzard says hits harder than Aimed Shot at 45 yards. Careful Aim adds Attack Power from your Intellect.
- Survival: Strider Kick is a new 21-point talent, an instant strike that also gives 30% movement speed for 3 seconds, and Lacerating Strikes at 31 points turns Mongoose Bite into a bleed.
Blizzard frames the Hunter as a single damage role whose pet can tank in solo and small-group content, with the longest range in the game. The trade-offs it lists: no attacks in the melee “dead zone”, no stun or interrupt, and traps that drop only where the Hunter stands.
Druid: shapeshifting that gets out of your way
The biggest Druid change is that shapeshifting stops blocking so much. Blizzard says you can now use potions and almost all consumables without dropping your form, weapon enchants and procs (weightstones, Crusader, Windfury) keep working while shifted, and racials such as Shadowmeld and War Stomp work in form too. Barkskin, Nature's Grasp and Faerie Fire can all be cast while shifted, and Faerie Fire in Bear or Cat costs nothing on a 6-second cooldown.
New baseline abilities include Lacerate, a stacking bear bleed learned at level 42, and Revive, an out-of-combat resurrection at level 12. Wrath is much cheaper on mana, and Omen of Clarity is now baseline at level 20.
- Balance: a new 16-point talent grants Insect Swarm, a nature damage-over-time that also lowers the target's hit chance, and Eclipse lets Wrath speed up your next Starfire casts.
- Feral: Primal Bite is a 16-point bear attack that costs Rage and builds heavy threat, and a new 31-point talent, Berserk, is a short cooldown that removes Primal Bite's cooldown and makes it cleave. Furor is reworked so you can no longer “bear-weave” for free energy; “power shifting” returns through a separate Shifting Power talent.
- Restoration: a new 31-point talent brings Wild Growth, the Wrath of the Lich King group heal-over-time, and Swiftmend no longer eats your Rejuvenation or Regrowth.
Blizzard lists the Druid's strength as covering any role with the right gear and talents. The weaknesses are frank: limited utility, no snare, silence or interrupt, weaker crowd control, and a healing kit built around heal-over-time spells that needs planning.
The levels and numbers above come from Blizzard's article. Where the ability is already in the beta client we have linked it; the others are named as Blizzard describes them and may change before launch.
For the earlier Hunter and Druid tuning in the September 24 build, see our September 24 beta notes write-up. More on each class lives on our Hunter and Druid pages.