Introduction
Hello everyone, my name is Danny, or as some of you may know me as Potato previously on Ragnaros. I have kept my name as Potato on the new realm Icecrown.
The purpose of this guide is to share some insight to how the Hunter class works. It will cover General Abilities, Stat Priorities, Race Selection, Talents, Glyphs, Professions, Pets, Pet talents, Macros, Gear setups, Gems and Enchants. It will also include Duels, Battlegrounds, Arenas, as well as a few tricks. I will aim to provide you with my best knowledge of the spec and its mechanics. I'll also update you with current well known and not so well known bugs.
I am open to criticism and learning new things. A moment of your time to give feedback and comment would be greatly appreciated.
Let's get to it
Why Marksmanship?
Pros
-Longest Range of any class in game (with Hawk Eye talent), being 41 yards.
-Massive ranged execute (Kill Shot) which lives up to its name.
-Amazing utility with readiness.
-Traps are unique to hunters.
-High mobility.
-High single target burst damage as well as AoE.
-Have your own unique pet.
-High potential to do well against every other class.
-Deals with stealthed enemies; catch Rogues and Druids with Flare/Volley.
-The only Hunter spec that can silence and disarm.
-Instant cast playstyle.
-Not really affected by silence (can't trap or switch aspects)
-Aimed shot is strongest with Marksmanship.
-Good amount of Dodge
-Wins most 1v1 matchups
-High skill cap class with great potential
Cons :(
-Stun durations are full durations (unless orc)
-Easy to catch when too many cooldowns are burnt.
-Gear dependent.
-Need arrows (Rip bag space).
-Many Keybinds and Macros
-Helpless when disarmed.
-Line of Sight
-Trapping isn’t always easy.
-Lack of cc breakers compared to Beast Mastery (only Master's call and Medallion]
-Pet dependent (Although they are not as dependent on pets like they are in Beast Mastery, the pet's role is still very significant in all specs)
-Squishy even with decent resilience.
-The only class next to rogues that don't have a self heal :'(
****************************************
General Abilities
Hunter Core Abilities: Hunters have a range of instant cast abilities to utilise for purposes such as Dps, cc, and mobility. The following list will explain each and use of cooldowns (recommended you skip this if you know them already).
Spoiler:Show
************************************************** ************************
Race Selection
Race selection is very important when it comes to making a Hunter. Here is a list of the most significant racials and my personal comments:
ALLIANCE
-Night Elf: Shadowmeld < This is the best racial for a Hunter. Not only does it drop you out of combat, it can also be used to avoid projectiles. Extremely useful avoiding incoming fatal spells. This racial allows for huge outplay potential. It works in a similar way to Rogue's vanish.
-Draenei: Gift of the Naaru < This scales with your attack power. A fully BiS Hunter will heal about 7000 with this. Draenei also get 1% free hit from their passive racial, also buffing party members. It is a solid race for Hunter.
-Dwarf: Stoneskin < This removes all bleeds and diseases. Solid defensive racial. Also gives 1% crit when using guns (Best Weapon is a crossbow, so it's useless).
HORDE
-Orc: Bloodfury < Free attack power cooldown. Orcs will hit the hardest with this up. Also gives 15% stun reduction which is a great passive. Great race overall.
-Troll: Berserking < Free attack speed. Trolls will shoot the fastest with this up. Also gives 15% less movement impairing duration; less time spent in slows which can stack with surefooted and meta gem (55% slow reduce). In addition, gives 1% critical when wearing bows (Best weapon is crossbow so it's rather useless). Solid race/10.
-Blood elf: Arcane Torrent < Silences all targets within 8 yards for 2 seconds. 8 Yards is close to melee range. You really won't get much of a chance to use this to its full potential since you won't be very close most of the time, however it still has potential. Solid race however I think the other racials are better.
-Tauren: War stomp < 2 second stun to all targets within 8 yards. Similar to blood elf, except the stun has a cast time. You won't get much chance to use this often without being caught in melee range, however it still has some potential. Would not really recommend.
****************************************
Stat Priorities, Gear, Gemming and Enchanting
A combination of stats need to be balanced to maximise scaling. It is essential to have enough resilience, hit rating as well as damage. There is no one perfect way to explain stat priorities since different situations will present different priorities. However, an overall good way of doing this is to gem resilience, whilst using several PvE offpieces that include Agility and ArP. On Icecrown, I would highly recommend at least 1000 Resilience, since all classes have the potential to one-shot you in cc or just quickly kill you. The most important stats are a combination of Hit, Agility, Attack power, Resilience, and ArP. You generally do not go for full ArP, it should be from your gear and trinkets. An endgame self-buffed Hunter with around 1000 Resilience should have these stats.
This set is with the PVE legs. Now let's compare them to the traditional 5/5 Wrathful.
Spoiler:Show
As you can see, the set with PVE legs has superior stats. You lose about 550 health but you gain a lot of raw damage. As you can see, crit chance is just about the same (think of it as 60%) but the difference in ArP is huge. It's basically free stats. It's up to you which set you prefer but my preference is the set with PvE legs. As you can see I don't use ashen ring since the proc cooldown is 1 minute; making it proc out of sync with your STS trinket. Auto shots make up a large percentage of your damage and it's important to get as many off as you can.
Attack Power versus Agility
Spoiler:Show
Resilience
Spoiler:Show
Armor Penetration
Spoiler:Show
Hit Rating
Spoiler:Show
Blue gems and Meta Gems
Spoiler:Show
Haste and Spell Penetration
Spoiler:Show
Enchants are very important. Aim to enchant resilience wherever possible, except for legs (take +75ap/22crit). You should get another pair of legs for resilience enchant to min/max stats. I will list ideal enchants very shortly along with a gear list.
Remember to balance Hit, Resilience, Agility, Attack power and Arp according to the situation; there isn't a magical gear set, however the having full PvE offpieces with agility and gemming resilience gives the best possible balance.
If you still need help with gemming/enchanting, feel free to mail 'Potato' in game and I will try my best to help
*****************************************
Professions
Professions also boost stats. Now that we've discussed Stat priorities, Profession selection is also very useful in reaching more stats!
Depending on preference and playstyle, professions should be chosen carefully. Here are the benefits from each profession, and my personal comments.
-Jewelcrafting - Unique gems x 3 (34 Agility, 34 Resilience, 68 Attack Power). This is slightly better than Blacksmithing. Pick it before Blacksmithing.
-Tailoring - Unique Cloak Enchant - 400 Attack Power Proc. Procs often and lasts 15 seconds, with a 45 second internal cooldown. Definitely useful if you prefer high burst over consistent damage.
-Enchanting - Enchant rings for +40 Attack power or 30 Stamina. Average, but doesn't have any items for practical use. Makes great gold though.
-Leatherworking - Enchant wrists 130 Attack Power (+80 compared to regular enchant), or Enchanting wrists for 102 Stamina (+62 Stamina compared to regular enchant). I find leatherworking very useful in battlegrounds and world PvP. If you farm Drums of Speed, it will give you 15% movement speed to you and your group for 30 seconds! This is huge in Battlegrounds for chasing and kiting! It gives fairly decent stats, equivalent to enchanting and the equivalent to two blacksmith Attack Power gems.
-Blacksmith - 2 Free sockets on wrists and hands. The only profession next to Jewelcrafting that can give you extra Agility/Resilience. Very solid choice.
-Engineering - The most practical of all the professions. You have many tools from Engineering that provide insane utility. It provides you with a parachute (great for bgs), a belt bomb, a pyro-rocket on hands or haste (but don't go for haste). You also get to make your own bullets/arrows! You will lose a few passive stats, however if you enjoy the utility that engineering provides, it is a very good pick.
-Herbalism - Gives you a free heal (Heals about 800 per tick for 5 seconds). Hunters have no self heals (unless Draenei), so this can be useful, however you do sacrifice offensive stats which you could get from other professions.
-Mining - 60 Stamina. You generally don't want to go for permanent Stamina as a Marksman hunter. Unlike other professions, the stamina cannot be replaced.
-Skinning - 40 critical strike - Below average stats, which are also not replaceable without dropping the profession itself.
-First Aid - Definitely pick this up. Even if you're not going to use it often. You can heal a small amount with this with maxed bandages; just make sure you aren't going to take any damage or get cc'd.
- In my opinion, Jewelcrafting is a must, since it provides better stats with its 3 unique gems. The second profession is optional, but my personal preference is Leatherworking since I like having better passive stats, however Engineering may be better for some of you. Blacksmithing will help greatly if you are trying to reach more resilience.
*******************************************
Gear, Enchants, Gemming
I will now show you an example of A BiS Gear set with around 1000 Resilience. I often use this when playing arenas with a healer.
Spoiler:Show
However, some of you may not be able to get some of these pieces. When gearing a hunter, the priority should be as follows.
-Ranged Weapon > trinkets >Melee Weapons > PvP Mainpieces > Offpieces.
PvP offpieces to adjust Resilience
Spoiler:Show
Which Neck should I use?
Spoiler:Show
Titanium Weapon Chain vs. Attack Power Enchants
Spoiler:Show
Some gear sets that I've come up with to maximise stats
880 resilience full agility
Spoiler:Show
766 resillience full agility (using PvE legs)
Spoiler:Show
I personally prefer having better passive stats. I find the ashen ring with a 1 minute cooldown to be way too long. Hence why I use frostbrood ring here; however you can easily replace it with ashen ring if you prefer it. You'll lose about 5% ArP and a bit of Crit/AP, so the difference is quite minor. Just make sure you remain hit capped; which in this case I took more points in focused aim (dropping improved concussive shot - I don't see myself using concussive shot as often as I'd like to)
Alternatively, you can gem more resilience into the PvE pieces
*****************************************
Talents / Glyphs
All purpose spec (Requires ashen ring)
Spoiler:Show Spoiler:Show
Explanation -
Spoiler:Show
[center]*****************************************
Battleground extreme dps spec (made for full pve)
Spoiler:Show
Glyphs
Spoiler:Show
Explanation of Glyphs and Talents
Spoiler:Show
DAMAGE xD
Spoiler:Show
Full PvE Set
The BiS PvE Hunter Dream Set (all heroic)
Spoiler:Show
Full PvE 0 Resilience stats look like this
Spoiler:Show
*****************************************
Pets!
A Hunter's pet brings many different playstyles to the player. It is important to consider the uniqueness of every pet to fit your playstyle!
I will go over the important abilities of the most useful pets:
Crab: Charge, Intervene, Roar of Sacrifice, Pin, Last Stand, Blood of the Rhino
Charge: 1 second root. Pet also moves to target location (like Warrior's Charge).
Intervene: Intercepts the next range or melee attack against target casted. This is really useful against certain classes; you can really outplay people with this. It takes position and patience to use this effectively, but you will make some sick plays if you time it well!
Roar of Sacrifice: Makes you or an ally immune to crits for 12 seconds! Just think of all the damage you can avoid if used with good timing!
Pin: 4 second root. It can be dispelled and dodged so be careful with this; try to use it when the pet is behind your target to guarantee it.
Last stand: Temporarily grants your pet +30% hp. Useful when your pet is going to fatal damage,
Blood of the Rhino: inreases all healing done to your pet by 40%. Helps it stay alive longer.
How you should talent a Crab:
Spoiler:Show
Ravager: Ravage, Roar of Recovery, Roar of Sacrifice
Ravage: 2 second stun. It is not dispellable.
Roar of recovery: restores 30% mana over 9 seconds.
Roar of Sacrifice: Makes you or an ally immune to crits for 12 seconds!
Bullheaded: Removes all cc from pet, as well as reducing the damage done to your pet by 20%. Basically a pet trinket and minor damage reduction.
How you should talent a Ravager:
Spoiler:Show
Wolf: Furious Howl, Call of the Wild, Charge, Heart of the Phoenix, Lick Your Wounds
Furious Howl: Increases your and your pet's melee and ranged attack power by 320 for 20 seconds, on a 40 second cooldown. This is huge! It scales off your trueshot aura so it is basically 352 attack power for 20 seoncds! Coupled with Call of the wild this can be seriously high attack power. That's not all! It also affects people in your group! You would be boosting the damage of many people from this.
Call of the wild: Grants 10% Melee and Range attack power to you and your pet, as well as your raid group for 20 seconds. Very strong ability.
Charge: 1 second root, pet charges target (like warrior charge).
Heart of the Phoenix: Pet comes back alive with 100% health after dying when activated. Very useful against people who kill pets.
Lick Your Wounds: Pet heals itself for 100% over 5 seconds. A massive heal over 5 seconds!
How you should talent a Wolf
Spoiler:Show
Spoiler:Show
Remember to use your pet's bite/claw on autocast to maximise damage! Never have your pet's unique abilities on autocast! You will need to macro your pet abilities in order to keybind them. If you need help making macros, feel free to contact me in game by mail and I will do my best to help. Try not to be a clicker!
*************************************************
Macros
Macros are extremely useful! Here are some of the Macros that WILL help you.
Readiness Macro
Spoiler:Show
Cancel Deterrence
Spoiler:Show
Aspect Macros
Spoiler:Show
Deterrence + Scare Beast Macro
Spoiler:Show
Wing Clip+Raptor Strike Macro
Spoiler:Show
Auto Shot Macros
Spoiler:Show
Silencing Shot Macros
Spoiler:Show
Scatter Shot Macros
Spoiler:Show
Master's Call Macros
Spoiler:Show
All non-freeze Traps in 1
Spoiler:Show
Roar of Sacrifice Macros
Spoiler:Show
Pet Macros (So you don't have to click)
Spoiler:Show
*************************************************
General Tips, PvP Rotation and Priorities
The priority of shots depends on your opponent. Generally, you want Hunter's Mark and Serpent Sting to be applied before anything else before you start bursting. However it's not always possible if your target is getting cleansed or dispelled. If your target is receiving or going to receive heals, it's a great idea to start off with an Aimed shot. The damage from each shot from highest to lowest are as follows:
1) Kill shot OR Chimera Shot - The reason for this is that Chimera Shot is not affected by Armor; it deals nature damage
2) Aimed shot
3) Auto Shot or Arcane Shot (Depending on Target's Armor and your ArP)
4) Silencing shot/Scatter Shot
Chimera shot should be used after your target has a Sting. While bursting, Serpent Sting has a higher priority before you start casting Chimera Shot, so always try to have it up before you start casting Chimera.
A Rotation prioritising Aimed shot may look like this:
1)Hunter's Mark (With good latency this will increase Aimed's Damage as it hits, as well as your next auto shot)
2) Aimed Shot
3)Serpent Sting
4)Chimera Shot
5)Arcane Shot
6) Up to you
Aimed shot will be up in about 1.5 seconds after this rotation.
What to do if Serpent/Mark dispelled?
Spoiler:Show
If the target is not receiving heals, then it's acceptable to burst with Chimera Shot right away.
A Chimera burst may look like this:
1)Hunter's Mark
2)Serpent Sting
3)Chimera Shot
4)Aimed Shot
5)Arcane Shot
-The nice thing about this burst is that you can hit the target 3-4 times within a second, since Chimera Shot fires 2 shots, your auto shot and Aimed should will also go off very shortly after. If you include Silencing shot and the Engineering Pyro-rocket; that's 6 hits!
-You may also add Steady shot before Chimera Shot to deal the most amount of damage possible within the window of burst time that you have.
The uses of Chimera Shot
Spoiler:Show
When should I silence?
Spoiler:Show
What to do with traps? When to trap?
Spoiler:Show
When should I kill shot?
Spoiler:Show
Tranquilizing Shot
Spoiler:Show
Do I use Steady Shot?
Spoiler:Show
Readiness
Spoiler:Show
Aspect Dancing
Spoiler:Show
Scare Beast?
Spoiler:Show
General Tips
-Abuse your range! You can outrange everyone else.
-Always have your Tracking to buff Improved Tracking (extra damage against players).
-You can Hunter's Mark Druids and Rogues from 100 yards rofl
-You can also use Hunter's Mark to cover up your Freezing Trap (useful against Warlock Felhunter, however it is luck whether he dispels Mark or Trap).
-Always be doing something! Make sure you're constantly doing something! Use your global cooldowns often, position yourself.
-Remember to get off as many auto shots as possible! Do this by pausing very briefly while you run. However, if you need to kite, do that instead of losing distance and getting caught.
-Readiness can be used both offensively and defensively. However, it should mostly be used offensively! A good offense is also a good defence.
-Abuse your racials! Your racials can help you so much (especially Night Elves). Combine your racials to maximise burst or live longer!
-Feign Death in large fights to avoid getting focused.
-Always pop random flares in Battlegrounds, even if you don't think you'll get anyone. Many times have I popped random Druids and Rogues with this. It only costs 100 mana.
-Don't use Disengage without reason.
-You have many abilities to stop casts. Silence / Feign Death / Deterrence / Scatter Shot / Pet Stun / Shadowmeld / Readiness and do it again!
-Don't Deterrence without reason.
-Abuse your professions as much as possible ESPECIALLY Engineering.
-Setup your gear to match the situation you are in. Don't go full PvE when you know you will get focused! Having multiples sets will help!
-Use as many cooldowns as you can before Readiness, so that you can maximise its benefits.
-If in melee range, you can wing clip to slow people. Always be doing something!
-Play with your pet as a team! You're not the only one; don't forget the pet! Treat it as another player. A Hunter's Pet in Arena is his/her life! Manage it often and carefully. Don't blindly send pets into a large fight; chances are it will die instantly.
-Practise Practise Practise!
-Be open to other classes, not just Hunter. You'll learn a lot just by simply playing alts in PvP since you'll figure out the strengths and weaknesses of each class, as well as their priorities and rotations. With that knowledge, you'll be able to react better when playing your Hunter.
-Confidence will help you play better. You have to be sure about your decisions playing Hunter. Get into a habit of questioning each global cooldown you do, even if it is trivial. Since Hunters don't really have a rotation (just priorities), this is what separates Hunters in terms of skill level - decision making.
Tricks
Some of these tricks I'm pretty sure most of you know. Hope it helps anyway.
Trap without Scatter (credits to Homerjay and Azk)
As the title says, there is a way to Freezing arrow an opponent without the use of Scatter Shot. It requires good latency, perfect aim and perfect timing. With practise you can pull this off and really surprise enemies however sometimes it's safer not to do it if you think you will mess up. Nevertheless, here's what you need to do it.
Pet:Any pet with charge (preferably Crab).
Abilities: Charge, Concussive Shot (improved helps a lot), Freezing Arrow, Silencing Shot (if it's a Priest who deaths it).
Conditions: No more than what your Freezing Arrow exceeds (41 yards). Pet must also be able to Charge target. No freedoms on target.
Macros: Focus or mouseover Concussive Shot (focus is easier). Petattack+Charge Focus or mouseover.
#showtooltip
/petattack [target=focus]
/cast [target=focus] charge
OR
#showtooltip
/petattack [target=mouseover]
/cast [target=mouseover] charge
The Steps:
1. Concussive Shot the Trap target.
2. Shoot the Freezing Arrow at target location, or 1 yard to where it's going to be.
3. Crab Charge the Target. Be careful not to break the trap with your own Auto Shot or Pet. Pet should recall as soon as target gets trapped unless you had /petattack on.
4. Silencing Shot if it's a Priest to prevent Shadow Word Death.
Steps 2 and 3 are done at the same time. Try to get the Charge off earlier than the trap so that you know where the target is. The point is to not let your target move out of the Trap. Crab Pin is a 1 second root. The concussive Shot will slow them so they can't run out in time.
Here's what it looks like:
https://youtu.be/oQBr2zct8t4?t=1080
Fake Deterrence
Might not be as useful as others, but it certainly helps. If you Deterrence, then Feign Death, the animation cancels. This might bait enemies into attacking you with Deterrence still on.
Disengage forward
Simply turn your character 180 Degrees to disengage forward. Practise the angle over and over and you'll get it close to perfect.
Scare Beast forcing gcds from Druids/Shamans
You can force Druids and Shamans to go out of form or use a cooldown so that they don't get feared. Many times have I forced Berserk and delayed Shamans in ghost wolf with this. Might even force wind shear if they panic.
Quick intervene
This is useful when you don't have time to station your pet to intervene. Just Charge the target (considering it's at range), and quickly intervene yourself. Super fast.
Attempt to intervene Trap
What this'll do is the pet will intervene your ally and stay there. You might eat a trap with this if your pet is on the right side. The intervene animation is very weird, as the pet does not go to the target it's supposed to. It just does a mini dash and comes back to you. You will need this macro for the pet to stay.
#showtooltip
/cast [target=<insert party member>] intervene
/petstay
*************************************************
BUGS :'(
1. Crab intervene not always working
2. Roar of Sacrifice not working on Critable DoTs. For example: You get Dotted by a Shadow priest before using Roar of sacrifice. Even if you do use Roar of sacrifice it will still crit you because you did not have roar of sacrifice at the time the dots were applied. Alternatively, If you get dotted at the last second of Roar of sacrifice, even if you do not have roar of sacrifice none of the dots will crit.
*************************************************
Duels
Here I will show you effective ways to improve your fights against particular classes. Note that things will change in many scenarios. As you duel more and more, you will have better experience in managing other players. I hope this will benefit you. It may be a long read but it will be worth your while.
Note: Out of respect for your opponent, please don't eat, run behind LoS (unless they do too) or use engineering belt/boots, potions.
Paladins
Retribution Paladin
Spoiler:Show
Protection Paladin
Spoiler:Show
Holy Paladin
Spoiler:Show
Warriors
Arms Warrior
Spoiler:Show
Protection Warrior
Spoiler:Show
Fury Warrior
Spoiler:Show
Rogue
Subtlety Rogue
Spoiler:Show
Combat Rogue
Spoiler:Show
Assassination Rogue
Spoiler:Show
Hunter
Beast Mastery
Spoiler:Show
Survival
Spoiler:Show
MarksmanshipSpoiler:Show
Druid
Feral
Spoiler:Show
Balance
Spoiler:Show
Restoration
Spoiler:Show
Warlock
Destruction
Spoiler:Show
Affliction
Spoiler:Show
Demonology
Spoiler:Show
Death Knight
Blood
Spoiler:Show
Frost
Spoiler:Show
Unholy
Spoiler:Show
Mage
Fire
Spoiler:Show
Arcane
Spoiler:Show
Frost
Spoiler:Show
Priest
Shadow
Spoiler:Show
Discipline
Spoiler:Show
Holy
Spoiler:Show
Shaman
Elemental
Spoiler:Show
Enhancement
Spoiler:Show
Restoration
Spoiler:Show
*******************************************
Arena 2v2There are many team compositions you can play as a Hunter. Generally, if both players play well, you can make anything work. However, certain comps just do better. Here are the most popular compositions with their strengths and weaknesses:
Discipline Priest/Marksmanship
Spoiler:Show
Retribution Paladin/Marksmanship
Spoiler:Show
Feral Druid/Marksmanship
Spoiler:Show
Protection Warrior/Marksmanship
Spoiler:Show
Unholy Death Knight/Marksmanship
Spoiler:Show
Shadow Priest/Marksmanship
Spoiler:Show
Balance Druid/Marksmanship
Spoiler:Show
Of course, there are many other compositions that you could play, but these are my most preferred choices. I enjoy playing weird comps because at the end of the day, it's nice to see the skill of a player shine more than just the comp.
Finding partners for 3v3 might be a bit hard here. Hunters are kinda screwed, since both their ideal teammates want other teammates. Maybe you can find some friends xD
I won't get too much into 3v3 since there are just so many comps to face. 3v3 is completely different from 2s. Here are some of the most popular Hunter teams and why:
ATC - African Turtle Cleave (Protection Warrior/Marksmanship Hunter/Holy Paladin)
Spoiler:Show
PHD - (Holy Paladin/Marksmanship Hunter/Unholy Death Knight)
Spoiler:Show
Jungle Cleave - (Discipline Priest/Feral Druid/Marksmanship Hunter)
Spoiler:Show
KFC - Kung Fu Cleave - (Arms Warrior/Marksmanship Hunter/Holy Paladin)
Spoiler:Show
PHP - (Retribution Paladin/Marksmanship Hunter/Discipline Priest)
Spoiler:Show
************************************************** ******************
Conclusion
I hope that I have been informative and helped you in at least some way. Thanks for taking the time to read my guide. Any feedback and criticism would be great. Remember, this is only a guide, you may choose to do what you like with your Hunter. Experiment often and I hope to see some improvement in Hunter PvP. Happy Hunting!
Updates
As of the new Lordaeron core, Hunters have had a great rework.
A list of changes you will see are:
-Pets now travel around terrain as intended (pathfinding fix).
-Scatter Shot and Silencing Shot are now instant. No more travel time is so sweet.
-Pet movement such as charge and intervene are so much smoother. This is massive for hunters, you can now master's call and intervene with pets to recall them even faster. Pet commands such as /petstay are also working very well.
-Spell Penetration and Resistance has had a rework, it will now working as intended. From now on, it is compulsory to gem spell penetration against classes with resistance, but it will better to gem it all times if you do not have multiple gear sets.
-Trap timers are much faster. Through a lot of tests, it's safe to conclude that you can concussive shot and freezing arrow at a maximum distance of ~30 yards (if you have perfect aim it might be more).
-Deterrence is somewhat better. You may still be hit by a few things once in a while, but it is definitely better than before. It's very difficult to replicate deterrence tests but 90% of the time it's working well.
-Pet cooldowns no longer reset when you mount and dismount.
-Only one trap of each of the three categories may be active. This means you can't readiness and have 6 traps like before because the second will always overwrite the other.
-no more volley for mana
-Trueshot Aura now applies to pet without being in party. Great for soloing.
-Some double dipping talents fixed. (Nerf to all classes. This is more a bigger hit to PvE Hunters. You will barely feel it in PvP).
-Roar of sacrifice working even better now.
-Dalaran Arena released. This means you better watch out for elemental shamans and fire mages who try to knock you off.
Update #2
-Serpent Sting snapshots your stats. This means that the DoT will stay the same throughout the whole duration. You should be careful not to sting during aspect of the viper as it will lower your Chimera-Serpent damage severely. Try to get all your procs up and apply serpent sting before you burst with chimera. It's an interesting change, especially in PvE; understanding the mechanic will definitely improve your overall DPS.
-Pets that disappear happen to still be there although the stables show that there are empty slots. What you have to do is drag your currently pet into that open slot and hopefully your missing pet reappears again. Also remember to cast call pet since pets don't come out immediately after swapping in stables. If you swap more than twice without call pet you have a pretty good chance of losing your pet altogether.
-You might see traps get resisted even though the target has no spell resist
-Some Pet abilities now have global cooldowns :'(
Update #3
-Roar of Sacrifice won't work against DoTs capable of crits. You have to apply it BEFORE you get Dotted to negate them. If you do it after you will still be able to get critted by things like feral bleed, rogue's rupture, spriest Dots, etc
-Bullheaded is completely broken when pet is in any cc but a slow/snare
-Intervene does not work on the first intervene that you do
-Freezing trap pretty fast lol
-Bunch of things stil going through deterrence
-Entrapment has finally been fixed in arena. It will now work correctly.
If you guys have any further questions like extensive arena tactics comp versus comp then feel free to drop a suggestion and I'll do the best to my knowledge to answer. In general, you usually control the dispeller so that they don't dispel your traps and try to kill the other.