Cataclysm and Hunters. Focus This!

Well everyone else with a bow and some arrows seems to be talking about this.  I'm not sure what else I'll really add to the subject besides my own smart ass commentary and bias.  Smart ass commentary in italics

Please keep in mind that its really early beta and there's still plenty of time for the nerf bats so don't get your self all attached or in a twist about any one thing.

General Hunter Changes 

Ammo

Guns, bows and xbows will now do damage without consuming any ammo at all.  The ammo slot on the hunter paper doll will be removed.  Any ammo still in a hunter's inventory will become gray vendor trash and all quivers will become large bags.  One large bag per hunter. 
That sound you hear is me falling to my knees, crying and thanking the gaming gods for finally answering one of my prayers. 

Pets
There will be two types of pet storage, active and stored.   Your 3 active you can still swap out in the field using call stabled pet but to use a stored pet you have to visit a stable master. 
This just isn't a BM shiny pet feature.  There are some of us with 3 tank pets or 3 pvp pets or 2 dps pets or some odd combination of pets.  Different pets fill different niche roles.  Plus some of us become very attached to our beastly friends.

They are also giving hunters a pet at level 1 but you still can't tame anything until level 10.  Pets will also get new buffs and debuffs.  I have no specifics on this.

Melee v Ranged

Mongoose bite is gone.  Hunters will start the game with a ranged ability besides Auto-shot.  They want us to be ranged and are taking away melee toys.  I'd expect more changes in that direction.

Hunter Ability Changes (no talents)

Stings and Venoms
Serpent Sting will be our only “sting” and it will work as it currently does.  In addition to Serpent Sting, we’ll have various venoms but only one venom can be up at a time.  So you can have Serpent Sting up and one venom of your choice.

Scorpid Venom Reduces the targets armor by 4% for 30 sec. Subsequent Steady Shot or Cobra Shots increase the effect by 4%, stacking up to 3 times. Only one Venom per Hunter can be active on any one target.  30 Focus  5-35 yd rng  Instant
Sexy looking especially for ArP builds at first glance.  Will probably not stack with Sunder Armor making it totally useless in a raid for most people.  We haven't seen a warrior in a 25 man in my guild in at least a month and  I can't tell you how long its been for 10 man raids.

Viper Venom Increases the casting time of all spells done by the enemy target by 30% for 30 sec. Only one Venom per Hunter can be active on any one target. 30 Focus  5-35 yd rng  Instant
PvP ability for the most part

Widow Venom A venemous shot that reduces the effectiveness of any healing taken by 25% for 30 sec. Only one Venom per Hunter can be active on any one target. 30 Focus  5-35 yd rng  Instant 

Trap Launcher
The next trap can be shot to a location within 40 yards. This provides the current Freezing Arrow treatment to all traps and, as a result, we will be removing the current ability Freezing Arrow. 1-minute cooldown. No global cooldown.
Now I can shoot snakes at you, flapping your arms way in the back there Mister Healing Priest. 

Camouflage
You camouflage, causing you and your Pet to blend into your surroundings. After 3 sec., you will enter a camouflaged state for 1 min, making you untargetable and providing stealth while stationary. While camouflaged, you and your pet’s movement speed is reduced by 30%, but the damage done by your next attack is increased by 15%.  You can lay traps while under the effect, but any damage done by you or your pet will cancel the effect. Cannot be cast while in combat.  45 Focus, Instant, 1 min cooldown 
Hi2u PvP cries for nerf. Other classes tears taste yummy. 

Aspect of the Fox
The hunter takes on the aspects of a fox, increasing your focus regeneration by 20% and allows you to Auto-shot while moving. Instant, 1 sec cooldown
Focus regen was the one thing I was worried most about.  It lowers DPS because we're out of Hawk but it feels no different then the aspect twisting we do now.  Auto-shot while moving?  Most of us can do this already.  For me its a dumbing down of the class. 

Aspect of the Monkey/Dragonhawk

Dragonhawk is gone and Monkey is a BM talent.

Cobra Shot
Deals weapon damage + (6% of RAP + 950) in the form of Nature damage and increases the duration of your Serpent Sting on the target by 3 sec. ( used Aspect of the Hawk : Generates 9 Focus. ) 5-35 yd rng  1.5 sec cast
Steady shot seems to not have been working properly in alpha so there are no hard numbers but my guess is that the plan is for MM hunters and their ArP build to use Steady Shot and SV and BM hunters will have this shot which more suited to their specs and gear needs.

I'm leaving the talents for another time.  I want to digest them a little and not just knee jerk tantrum about them.  Anyhoo this last bit is the part most people are curious about anyway.

Focus

Cobra Shot: 0 focus  -  1.5 sec cast – no cooldown – generates 9 focus
Steady Shot: 0 focus  -  1.5 sec cast – no cooldown – generates 9 focus
Arcane Shot: 50 focus – no cooldown
Chimera Shot: 50 focus – 10 sec cooldown
Silencing Shot: 0 focus – 20 sec cooldown
Explosive Shot: 50 focus – 6 sec cooldown
Kill Shot: 20 focus – 6 sec cooldown
Distracting Shot: 0 focus – 8 sec cooldown
Concussive Shot: 35 focus – no cooldown
Tranq Shot: 35 focus – no cooldown
Hunter’s Mark: no focus – no cooldown
Venoms: 30 focus – no cooldown
Serpent Sting - no one has any info that I can find
Aspects: 0 focus – 1 sec cooldown
Traps: 0 focus – 30 sec cooldown
Kill Command: 50 focus – no cooldown
Misdirection: 15 focus – 30 sec cooldown
Deterrence: 0 focus – 2 min cooldown
Feign Death: 0 focus – 30 sec cooldown
Multi-Shot: 60 focus – no cooldown – now instant
Aimed Shot: 50 focus – no cooldown – 2.5 sec cast was instant
Mend Pet: 25 focus – channeled...Again?!? WTF Blizz

So far seems like nothing drastic, nothing we all can't live with. Its for sure not the nerf people feared.  Besides...