#0 - Jan. 13, 2007, 2:48 p.m.
A list containing some concerns, questions and comments regarding the TBC Hunter.
While addressing every concern in as much detail would take a lot of time, some (developer) feedback would be most welcome =)
Please do not turn this into a suggestion thread, or start arguing / flaming each other. Also, keep on topic please =)
1. Itemization, Agility, (Ranged) Attack Power and Crit
a) With hunters no longer being so focused on Agility heavy gear, is there any plan of introducing more items with Ranged Attack Power instead of only Attack Power to make certain items more geared towards hunters? For example an item with +x Attack Power, +y Ranged Attack Power [+other stats].
FEEDBACK:
There are currently no plans for adding more hunter specific items with focus on ranged attack power, but this is a good idea that could prove useful in the future.
b) With the different builds focusing on different parts of the Hunter class, different stats are interesting based on stats. The current raid sets seem to be very Marksman-centric, leaving much to be desired from other builds.
FEEDBACK:
The developers create items for what they feel the class needs or wants the most, however if something does seem inadequate or insufficient in some regards, then those things would be good subjects for adjustments or changes. In this particular case it is possible that the developers would want to change a talent (ie: Lightning Reflexes) to mesh better with the itemization.
2. Talents
Currently, both the Marksman tree and the Beast Mastery tree seem to be very viable. Survival seems to be falling a bit behind.
FEEDBACK:
The developers agree with this observation. They feel that the Survival tree needs some raid help, mostly because of changes to itemization/Lightning Reflexes.
a) With the reduced Agility score, and the change making us gain only 1 Ranged Attack Power per Agility, Lightning Reflexes has lost a lot of its power, even taking the improved Crit / Agility into consideration.
In addition, the tree itself seems too focused around procs. Exposed Weakness not only needs a crit, but it then also has to actually proc of the crit to give the damage boost. Furthermore, it adds Attack Power based on the hunter's Agility, which, as mentioned, has dropped quite a bit. This might become less of a concern at endgame with high tiered sets, but it's still a valid concern for a long time, it seems.
Additionally, both the Beast Mastery tree and the Marksman tree buffs the pet to certain degrees (Beast Mastery through pure pet stuff, Marksman through increased RAP which is scaled to pet). Survival seems very lacking in this area.
All in all the Survival tree seems unfocused, some PvE-focused talents, some more PvP-focused, but without being as fluid as for example the Marksman tree. This might also stem from having 4 first tier talents and 3 second tier talents; it seems a bit of a mess. The 41-point talent also seems a bit underwhelming, since hunters don't really have that many long-cooldown abilities. Any thoughts on possibly improving or streamlining the talent tree? Examples here would be changing Lightning Reflexes, condensing the earlier tiers, making the following tiers less proc based... It is not doomed in any way, but I still think it could use some improvement, especially when compared to the other trees.
FEEDBACK:
Some useful changes should hopefully be made to the Survival tree in order to solve these issues. That being said, you should not expect any full class revamp or full talent reviews.
b) The Marksman tree seems, as I mentioned, pretty decent. There are some talents seeming a bit disharmonious to me personally, and I'll mention them briefly: Mortal Shots needing Aimed Shot, Trueshot Aura requiring Scatter Shot, Concussive Barrage seems a bit lackluster (what's its viability in endgame and bosses, will it boost Steady Shot, or is stuff immune?), as does Combat Experience (with current gear at least). Other than those, I personally have no major gripes with the tree.
FEEDBACK:
The developers agree with this. The Marksman tree isn't perfect, but it is good enough for now :-)
c) I haven't played around too much with Beast Mastery, so I won't mention anything specific for now. It seems pretty decent, both for grinding, PvP and instances. Glancing and resist rates (for some skills) might become an issue if we have no way of mitigating damage lost, though. Not purely a Beast Mastery concern, but builds heavily centered in this tree will feel its effect more. However, all in all, the viability of a tree like this depends heavily on my next concerns.
3. Pets
a) How well a pet-focused build handles itself falls heavily on the shoulders of the pet. However, pets are a part of the Hunter class, regardless of build. While the stat scaling is a good start, I don't think it's enough in many cases. Are there plans on adding more survivability to pets? Either directly, by immunity to certain attacks (mostly PvE), avoidance, or more indirectly shared healing with the hunter, etc?
FEEDBACK:
It is quite possible that the developers will improve the survivability of pets, but they have concerns regarding how increased pet survivability will influence PvP. The developers are very careful about adding too much to survivability, as they do not wish for the pets to be overpowered in PvP.
b) Related to encounter design, and more of a plea: Please remember our pets when designing encounters. Not only in terms of buffs given in the encounter, but also debuffs, healing, and, maybe more importantly, survivability. As it stands, several bosses have been downright pet-killers - especially devastating for a Beast Mastery Hunter, but noticable for any spec.
FEEDBACK:
These are valid concerns and this might be something that the developers will improve on.
c) Pets do not seem to gain anything from items giving the master Crit rating, Hit rating, etc. This seems counterintuitive to a degree, seeing as a item with higher item level and better stats could actually prove to be a downgrade when you consider what your pet gains as well. Intended?
FEEDBACK:
Yes it is intended; however the developers are keeping an eye on this, so this might be changed in the future.
d) Pet buffs. Would it be possible to let pets either be counted together with other pets, or together with warriors / rogues for Greater Blessings? As it is, they have to be individually buffed.
FEEDBACK:
This might be possible, the developers will look into this.
e) The character stat screen has received a overhaul, becoming much more detailed and useful (although the Hit section doesn't include anything regarding Hit gained from pure +Hit%, like talents). Would a similar revamp of the pet stat screen be possible?
FEEDBACK:
This is also possible and the developers will look into this as well. Still too early to say what patch it would get into however.
f) Pets still seem to have trouble attacking moving targets.
g) It's hard (impossible) to keep track of a pet's loyalty progress. Anything planned to make this less shrouded in mystery?
FEEDBACK:
This is a valid concern. There are no immediate plans as of yet, however this could certainly use improvement.
