Hunter Aimed Shot Damage Reduced

In a surprise move Blizzard announced earlier today that the damage on hunter’s aimed shot will be reduced. This after revealing just yesterday that aimed shot will become an instant cast in in patch 3.0.2.

Aimed Shot Damage Reduced

We’ll have to tone down the damage of Aimed Shot actually, probably in the ballpark of less than what it is now but more than what multi-shot does to a single target or arcane shot. We have not yet settled on the appropriate number.
In terms of their duration and cooldown, I think those are pretty in line with the Warrior variant. The idea behind this change is that the Hunter was intended to be a source of the “mortal strike wound” in group PvP, but keeping up the debuff is too difficult with a cast time. (source)

After blizzard’s initial post announcing instant cast aimed shot I was left thinking…what the hell, how can it possibly be balanced! Turns out there is a God after all, and it’s good to see Blizzard taking appropriate action to balance the new aimed shot. Overall I think this will be a very positive change for the hunter class, allowing them to function more like a warrior or a rogue, at least from the aspect of healing debuff utility.

In other hunter news, there were a few more changes announced by blue posters this afternoon.

Pet Health for WotLK Increased

We still are working on bumping the base health of the pets up. (source)

WotLK Beta Hunter Bugs

Bestial Wrath

We’ve actually fixed that bestial wrath bug recently, should be in the next build.

Lock and Load

It isn’t 100%, its more around 2/4/6% on periodic damage from Serpent Sting. Its proc chance is in the ballpark of Shadow Trance (Nightfall) for Warlocks, though 2% higher (since Nightfall is 4%).
Seems like a tooltip bug.
Edit: Nm, seems like its really bugged.

All in all things are looking more promising for the hunter class. Blizzard has a much better vision for the class now than they did during the first half of the Burning Crusade and I believe they will be a much more engaging and balanced class come wrath of the lich king. I really would like to see the class take more of a damage and snare role, as opposed to just mana draining and running in circles.

New WotLK Inscription Glyphs

So we’ve all known that inscription is headed this way for the WotLK, and while there’s been a lot of speculation as to what may be in store for the profession nothing has really been finalized until now. Below is a just a taste of some of the new glyphs for inscription.

For those of you who aren’t up on inscription it’s pretty basic, just check out this brief introduction to inscription guide and you’ll get the gist of what’s in store.

While it’s great to at least some some of the preliminary information regarding the profession I’m already very excited to see what’s in store for the future, as well as some more advanced information regarding how the profession will work, materials, high end recipes, etc.

Hunter
Glyph - Aimed Shot 01 (Hunter): Decreases the cooldown of Aimed Shot by (-1) sec.
Glyph - Arcane Shot 01 (Hunter): Your Arcane Shot refunds 20% of its mana cost if the target has one of your Stings active on it.
Glyph - Aspect of the Beast 01 (Hunter): Increases the attack power bonus of Aspect of the Beast for you and your pet by an additional 2%.
Glyph - Aspect of the Monkey 01 (Hunter): While Aspect of the Moneky is active, each time you dodge you gain 30% increased movement speed for 6 sec. This speed does not stack with other movement speed increasing effects.
Glyph - Aspect of the Viper 01 (Hunter): You regenerate mana from Aspect of the Viper as if you had 15% less mana in your current mana pool.
Glyph - Bestial Wrath 01 (Hunter): Decreases the cooldown of Bestial Wrath by (-20) sec.
Glyph - Deterrence 01 (Hunter): Decreases the cooldown of Deterrence by (-20) sec.
Glyph - Disengage 01 (Hunter): Decreases the cooldown of Disengage by (-5) sec.
Glyph - Freezing Trap 01 (Hunter): When your Freezing Trap breaks, the victim is afflicted with a 40% snare, recovering 10% per sec. for 4 sec.
Glyph - Frost Trap 01 (Hunter): Increases the radius of the effect from your Frost Trap by 2 yards.
Glyph - Hunter’s Mark 01 (Hunter): Increases the attack power bonus of your Hunter’s Mark by 20%.
Glyph - Immolation Trap 01 (Hunter): Decreases the duration of the effect from your Immolation Trap by 6000 sec., but damage while active is increased by 100%
Glyph - Improved Aspect of the Hawk 01 (Hunter): Increases the effect of Improved Aspect of the Hawk by an additional 6.
Glyph - Multi-Shot 01 (Hunter): Decreases the cooldown of Multi-Shot by (-1) sec.
Glyph - Rapid Fire 01 (Hunter): Increases the haste from Rapid Fire by an additional 8%.
Glyph - Serpent Sting 01 (Hunter): Increases the duration of your Serpent Sting by 3 sec.
Glyph - Snake Trap 01 (Hunter): Your Snake Trap creates 2 additional snakes.
Glyph - Steady Shot 01 (Hunter): Increases the damage dealt by Steady Shot by 10% when your target is afflicted with Serpent Sting.
Glyph - Trueshot Aura 01 (Hunter): Increases the attack power bonus of Trueshot Aura by an additional 2%.
Glyph - Volley 01 (Hunter): Decreases the mana cost of Volley by 20%.
Glyph - Wyvern Sting 01 (Hunter): Decreases the cooldown of your Wyvern Sting by (-15) sec., but decreases the damage it deals by 20%.

Mage
Glyph of Arcane Explosion 01 (Mage): Reduces mana cost of Arcane Explosion by 10%.
Glyph of Arcane Missiles 01 (Mage): Increases the range of Arcane Missiles by 5 yards.
Glyph of Arcane Power 01 (Mage): Increases the duration of Arcane Power by 3 sec.
Glyph of Blink 01 (Mage): Increases the distance you travel with the Blink spell by 5 yards.
Glyph of Evocation 01 (Mage): Your Evocation ability also causes you to regain 15% of your health over its duration.
Glyph of Fireball 01 (Mage): Increases the initial damage dealt by Fireball by 5%, but removes the damage over time effect.
Glyph of Fireblast 01 (Mage): Increases the critical strike chance of Fireblast by 50% when the target is stunned or incapacitated.
Glyph of Frost Nova 01 (Mage): Your Frost Nova targets can take an additional 20% damage before the Frost Nova effect automatically breaks.
Glyph of Frostbolt 01 (Mage): Increases the damage dealt by Frostbolt by 5%, but removes the slowing effect.
Glyph of Ice Armor 01 (Mage): Your Ice Armor and Frost Armor spells grant an additional 20% armor and resistance.
Glyph of Ice Block 01 (Mage): Your Frost Nova cooldown is now reset every time you use Ice Block.
Glyph of Ice Lance 01 (Mage): Increases the range of your Ice Lance by 5 yards.
Glyph of Icy Veins 01 (Mage): Your Icy Veins ability also removes all movement slowing and cast time slowing effects.
Glyph of Improved Scorch 01 (Mage): The Improved Scorch talent now generates 5 applications of the Improved Scorch effect each time Scorch is cast.
Glyph of Invisibility 01 (Mage): Increases the duration of the Invisibility effect by 5 sec.
Glyph of Mage Armor 01 (Mage): Your Mage Armor spell grants an additional 20% mana regeneration while casting.
Glyph of Mana Gem 01 (Mage): Increases the mana recieved from using a mana gem by 10%.
Glyph of Polymorph 01 (Mage): Your Polymorph spell also removes all damage over time effects from the target.
Glyph of Remove Curse 01 (Mage): Your Remove Curse spell also makes the target immune to all Curses for 6 sec.
Glyph of Water Elemental 01 (Mage): Reduces the cooldown of your Summon Water Elemental spell by (-30) sec.

Rogue
Glyph - Adrenaline Rush 01 (Rogue): Decreases the cooldown of Adrenaline Rush by (-60) sec.
Glyph - Ambush 01 (Rogue): Increases the range on Ambush by 5 yards.
Glyph - Backstab 01 (Rogue): Increases the damage dealt by Backstab to stunned and incapacitated targets by 20%.
Glyph - Blade Flurry 01 (Rogue): Reduces the energy cost of Blade Flurry by 100%.
Glyph - Crippling Poison 01 (Rogue): Increases the chance to trigger Crippling Poison by 10%.
Glyph - Deadly Throw 01 (Rogue): Increases the range on Deadly Throw by 5 yards.
Glyph - Evasion 01 (Rogue): Increases the duration of Evasion by 5 sec.
Glyph - Eviscerate 01 (Rogue): Increases the critical strike chance of Eviscerate by 10%.
Glyph - Expose Armor 01 (Rogue): Increases the duration of Expose Armor by 10 sec.
Glyph - Feint 01 (Rogue): Reduces the energy cost of Feint by 10.
Glyph - Garrote 01 (Rogue): Increases periodic damage dealt by Garrrote by 45%, but decreases the duration by 3 sec.
Glyph - Ghostly Strike 01 (Rogue): Increases the damage dealt by Ghostly Strike by 50% and the duration of its effect by 4 sec., but increases its cooldown by 10 sec.
Glyph - Gouge 01 (Rogue): Reduces the power cost of Gouge by 10.
Glyph - Hemorrhage 01 (Rogue): Increases the damage bonus against targets afflicted by Hemorrhage by 40%.
Glyph - Preparation 01 (Rogue): Decreases the cooldown of Preparation by (-2) min.
Glyph - Rupture 01 (Rogue): Increases the duration of Rupture by 5 sec.
Glyph - Sap 01 (Rogue): Increases the duration of Sap by 10 sec.
Glyph - Shiv 01 (Rogue): Reduces the energy cost of Shiv by 5.
Glyph - Sinister Strike 01 (Rogue): Your Sinister Strike critical strikes have a 40% chance to add an additional combo point.
Glyph - Slice and Dice 01 (Rogue): Increases the duration of Slice and Dice by 3 sec.
Glyph - Sprint 01 (Rogue): Decreases the cooldown of Sprint by (-60) sec.

Warlock
Glyph of Banish (Warlock): Increases the duration of your Banish by 5 sec.
Glyph of Conflagrate (Warlock): Reduces tha mana cost of your Conflagrate by 20%.
Glyph of Corruption (Warlock): You Corruption spell has a 4% chance to cause you to enter a Shadow Trance state after damaging the opponent. The Shadow Trance state reduces the casting time of your next Shadow Bolt spell by 100%.
Glyph of Curse of Agony (Warlock): Increases the duration of your Curse of Agony by 4 sec.
Glyph of Death Coil (Warlock): Increases the duration of your Death Coil by 0.5.1 sec.
Glyph of Fear (Warlock): Increases the damage your Fear target can take before the Fear effect is removed by 20%.
Glyph of Felguard (Warlock): Increases your Felguard’s physical damage by 20%.
Glyph of Felhunter (Warlock): Increases your Felhunter’s spell damage by 20%.
Glyph of Health Funnel (Warlock): Increases the chance you’ll resist spell interruption when channeling your Health Funnel spell by 100%.
Glyph of Healthstone (Warlock): You receive 30% more healing from using a healthstone.
Glyph of Howl of Terror (Warlock): Reduces the cooldown on your Howl of Terror spell by (-8) sec.
Glyph of Imp (Warlock): Increases your Imp’s spell damage by 20%.
Glyph of Searing Pain (Warlock): Increases the critical strike bonus of your Searing Pain by 20%.
Glyph of Shadow Bolt (Warlock): Reduces the mana cost of your Shadow Bolt by 10%.
Glyph of Shadowburn (Warlock): Increases the critical strike chance of Shadowburn by 20% when the target is below 35% health.
Glyph of Siphon Life (Warlock): Increases the effect of your Siphon Life spell by 20%.
Glyph of Soulstone (Warlock): Increases the amount of health a player gains from resurrecting via your Soulstone by 100%.
Glyph of Succubus (Warlock): Increases the duration of your Succubus’s Seduction by 3 sec.
Glyph of Unstable Affliction (Warlock): Decreases the casting time of your Unstable Affliction by 0.2.1 sec.
Glyph of Voidwalker (Warlock): Increases your Voidwalker’s health by 20%.

Rogue / Druid 2v2 Arena Strategy

The druid / rogue combo is an excellent team matrix and has the potential to go to the highest ratings. At times it may seem weak, but with practice you’ll learn to master the mechanics of coordinated crowd control that this matrix requires.

As with any team, there are distinct advantages and disadvantages.

Rogue / Druid Advantages:
-Awesome crowd control via the druid
-You can go out of combat (OOC) at virtually any time if something goes wrong or you need mana.
-Dual stealth.
-Lots of control via the rogue’s stuns and interrupts
-Very strong cooldowns and the ability to kite quite well.
-Ability to play both very offensively and defensively (spec depending)

Rogue / Druid Disadvantages:
-The druid must rely heavily on the rogue to lock down opposing targets, thus allowing the druid to crowd control and heal effectively
-Very precise matrix, timing is key in this matrix (specifically with cyclone)

Druid Arena Talent Builds
Restoration
8/11/42 This is the baseline restoration build. It offers the most healing of any viable talent build for druids.
11/11/39 Similar to the build below, slightly less offensive allowing for additional points in healing centric talents.
13/11/37 A more offensive version of the restoration build. Drops points in some of the excessive healing talents for 20% range on balance spells, insect swarm, and improved moon fire.

Resto-kin
34/0/27 This talent spec is vastly different than the above 3 I have listed. I requires a very offensive approach on both the rogue and druids part. While you pickup some of the good restoration talents you don’t have the ability to survive long durations as easily with this talent specs. However, plays comfortable with quickly shifting from defensive to offensive roles (IE..spamming wrath during bomb periods once you’ve got some crowd control out) will find this build well suited to them.

Need more spec advice? Druid Arena Talent Specs

Rogue Arena Talent Builds
Mutilate
41/20/0
49/0/12 (Heavy Poisons)
Mutilate is a viable spec, but it requires a very distinct “finesse” play style. If you’re not experienced with mutilate already I would not suggest playing it until you’ve had a chance to thoroughly advance your abilities with it.

Combat
16/45/0 (my preference)
20/41/0 (Vile poisons version)
20/41/0 (Riposte + Vile poisons version)

Subtlety
20/0/41

These are just a few of the potential specs you could choose to go with under the combat category. There are an infinite number of possible talent specs, you’re personal play style will determine which talents suit you better.

Need more spec advice? Rogue Arena Talent Specs

Rogue / Druid Arena Matchups:

• Warrior / Druid
• more coming soon!

Additional Resources:
Rogue Macro Guide
Rogue Focus Macros

Rogue / Druid PvP Arena Videos
Moonkin / Rogue 2v2 Video - Buddhist and Lewt