Forever Beta: every Druid and Hunter change in the October 16 report

The firing delay matters before talents

Blizzard's October 15-labelled beta package was posted on October 16 at 00:15 UTC, 03:15 in Kyiv. This second part covers every Druid and Hunter entry, plus the general wand rule. Both wands and Hunter Auto Shot now need 0.5 seconds standing still before firing. Blizzard explicitly says Auto Shot can still fire during casts such as Aimed Shot or Sniper Shot.

Druid healing, threat and forms

High-rank Rejuvenation no longer prevents another Druid applying Rejuvenation. Free Faerie Fire in Cat, Bear or Dire Bear Form cannot trigger Omen of Clarity. In Bear and Dire Bear Form, Faerie Fire now creates threat instead of starting combat at zero threat; multiple Faerie Fire debuffs on one target are also corrected. Rank 1 Shred moves from level 22 to 20, addressing cases where Shredding Attacks was learned before Shred or Lacerate. Heart of the Wild, Feral Swiftness, Thick Hide and Leader of the Pack now apply correctly when logging in.

Multiple Insect Swarms no longer compound the target's hit-chance reduction. Moonkin Aura applies only to spell critical strike chance and reaches the raid. Leader of the Pack likewise reaches the raid, but affects melee and ranged critical strike chance. Shred's displayed flat damage now reflects Savage Fury's percentage bonus; actual damage is unchanged. Furor retains the Energy from your last Cat Form even through Bear or Dire Bear Form, while those bear forms still prevent Energy regeneration.

Hunter basics and pet tuning

Drawn bows show their arrows correctly. Pets gain the intended Expertise and inherit whichever of the Hunter's melee or ranged critical strike chances is higher, rather than always using melee. Fire traps scale with Attack Power. A Hunter can maintain one Fire Trap and one Ice Trap together, replacing the old single-trap limit across all types.

Crocolisk Dismember reduces healing by 25% instead of 50%, lasts 6 rather than 10 seconds, and has a 15-second cooldown instead of 6. Bat Sonic Blast reduces casting speed by 30% rather than 60%, lasts 20 instead of 30 seconds, and has a 60-second cooldown instead of 30. Bird of Prey Mine! lasts 3 rather than 4 seconds and moves from a 60- to a 90-second cooldown. These are three different control windows; do not carry old timings into a practice plan.

All three Hunter specializations

For Beast Mastery, Summon Hawk appears at the chosen target and stays attached to that target. Improved Mend Pet reduces Mend Pet's Mana cost instead of increasing it. For Marksmanship, Trueshot Aura reaches the raid and Sniper Shot benefits from previously missed Marksmanship talents.

Survival can use Strider Kick while disarmed or without a main-hand weapon; Resourcefulness correctly reduces its Mana cost. Resourcefulness now triggers only on critical hits from melee or ranged abilities, excluding traps. Predator's Edge wording clarifies that its critical damage bonus applies to abilities. That distinction separates ability use from assumptions about every attack a Hunter makes.

Turn the notes into a controlled practice session

On our free TWOW.PARTY / Forever realm, you can practise stopping before a shot, switching forms and tracking pet cooldowns when the required class and abilities are available. Begin at https://twow.party/?lang=en#play and compare the local version and tooltips first. We have not verified that these specific Blizzard beta changes are installed there. A visual tooltip correction also should not be mistaken for an observed damage increase.