Steady Shot is a hunter ability, available starting at level 1.
Beyond level 10, this ability is only relevant to the Marksmanship specialization. For Beast Mastery, it's quickly replaced by the [Cobra Shot] talent. For Survival, it has no utility and can't be used without swapping weapons in combat, as most of the spec's major abilities require a melee weapon, not a ranged one.
Now uses ammo. In result, its bonus damage has been slightly reduced. Players can notice a damage increase based upon what ammo they use.
Now has a 2.0 cast time, up from 1.5.
No longer clips [Auto Shot] making weapon speed less relevant.
Steady Shot is available beginning at level 50 instead of 62.
Patch 2.3.0 (2007-11-13): Tooltip clarified to indicate base weapon damage is used in the damage calculation.
Patch 2.2.0 (2007-09-25): The tooltip stating the percentage of Attack Power gained by Steady Shot was inaccurate and has been corrected. The damage remains unchanged.
Patch 1.5.0 (2005-06-07): Special ability shots no longer add the ranged weapon speed or take into account ranged weapon haste when determining the actual cooldown. The tooltip and cooldown timers should now properly reflect the actual cooldown.