Dev feedback on Hunter concerns
by Eliah Hecht 
Mar 9th 2007 at 2:03PM
There's been a thread floating around the EU Hunter forums for a while listing some concerns Hunters have with their class (gear, talents, and pets), and today it finally got some answers. I love it when the Devs actually respond to things. Below is the post by Vaneras, copied in full for the work crew; unfortunately, there are no responses on the subject of pets (which tend to drop like flies in some high end instances). But first, or if you don't want to slog through the CM-ese, a summary:- Hunters wanted to know if Hunter-specific items with ranged AP (as opposed to universal AP) were in the works. Devs say no, but maybe in the future.
- Hunters thought gear was too Marksman-centric. Devs think the itemization is OK, but they may adjust talents, like Lightning Reflexes, to work better with items.
- Hunters say the Survival tree is lacking. Devs agree, and will probably make changes to that tree, but "you should not expect any full class revamp or full talent reviews."
- Hunters say the MM tree is pretty good. Devs agree.
Hi everybody :-)
Good news... We have received some feedback from the developers today, which means that we now have a few answers for some of the concerns & questions posted in this thread. Here we go:
Q u o t e:
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].
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.
Q u o t e:
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.
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.
Q u o t e:
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.
The developers agree with this observation. They feel that the Survival tree needs some raid help, mostly because of changes to itemization/Lightning Reflexes.
Q u o t e:
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?
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.
Q u o t e:
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.
The developers agree with this. The Marksman tree isn't perfect, but it is good enough for now :-)
That is it for now, but there is no need to worry, because we should have some more answers available for you at some time next week :-)
Filed under: Hunter, News items
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
James Mar 9th 2007 2:16PM
I'd like to know why the Death Ravager is getting taken away from hunters. The excu..reasons given by Blizzard are pretty lackluster.
Todd Mar 9th 2007 2:52PM
Sounds to me like nothing was really answered, just a typical "Stand By" reply. There comes a time when the developers really need to stop with whatever they're working on and just spend that time fixing everything that needs to be fix, but they would rather just ignore and pretend works fine. Honestly, are majority of the classes askew or is it me?
Shiffer Mar 9th 2007 3:19PM
"I don't see why there should have to be items any one class has an exclusive claim over."
Yeah...
I guess I'll be putting this +500 feral-attack-power mace down now.
Toolio Mar 9th 2007 3:21PM
At least blue recognizes the issues. I'd love to try surv spec, but it's just not viable. What's the point of being so "hearty" if you can't kill? Back to being a utility class and off the DPS charts.
Maybe some tree changes by the devs will prompt a respec for all those BM/MM? It could single-handedly SHIFT THE RAIDING EXPERIENCE!
Or not.
Arturis Mar 9th 2007 3:57PM
One of my alts is a pure Survival Melee Hunter (yeah yeah, I know. I can hear the booing and hissing allready. No love for the melee hunters) that I personally love to death. Ive had her spec'd that way all the way through to her current level (54 at the moment), and I dont feel she is entirely crippled or handicapped by my choice in talents. I fire off a few opening shots, send my pet in, and follow in with swords blazing. That being said, I dont deal anywhere near as much damage as the Marksman/Beast Mastery hunters, and the 41 point talent is all but useless. These are sacrafices I make in order to have the hunter conform to the play style I enjoy. Ideally, I think they should replace the 41 point talent with another melee or trap skill, it would feel far more inline with the rest of the tree and help with the viability a bit.
Search up Zhyn on the Elune realm in the Armory to see her gear/stats/spec.
-Arturis
Wari Mar 9th 2007 4:18PM
I'd love to know when they are going to finish up giving pet types their abilities. Spiders are so pathetic right now. I do
Roguerhunter Mar 9th 2007 6:14PM
OK Fellow Hunters you guys stand corrects towards more End game were not tanks nor would we like to become one or an off tank...
There was a talent tree/mod file in which people had the chance to design there own for fun or ideas, why don’t people just make one and link it on here you will receive a lot of feedback from readers to review and see your points to where certain talents should fall under.
Key points, when the creators made hunters that had to ask themselves 1st off what is a hunter? What role should they play and what tricks and specs should they carry along with their pets.
Here’s my break down myself being in the US ARMY I THINK OF U.S. ARMY RANGERS!!! 3 main points that keeps us alive “Shoot, Move and Communicate!!! A RANGER never goes alone without his battle Buddie ie:PET!
BM Should benefit the raid/Party with mana regen/attack power buffs, OT abilities with pets i.e./taunt to get mobs off healers and back onto Tank or OT like misdirection shot but with pets as well. THINK CC as well within that role. Make parties want to have Hunters not just for DPS but some good pulling power and a Fear Shot would be great CC especially for them locks...
MM should branch within the talent tree splitting into 2 categories with 2 different types of killer shots maybe based on High killing DOTS ie; Serpent/Viper like locks do or a Mass powerful death dealing shot along with buffs like true shot or another type like a huge Mana regen/ faster cool down ability or a better counter spell. Shots that are needed for instance bosses that you just can do without the DOTS.
SUR: OK what is a survival Spec. Look up what an US Army RANGER is a master of the PVE per say, against enemies, knows his surroundings basically a trickery artist. More Traps to get away, Stealth / lay a trap or take shots in shadow meld form with 12 sec stealth duration. A vanish ability like Rogues and remove all DOTS with a cool down. Also when you Feign Death you shouldn’t be able to get hit. Maybe a trap that takes a chunk of mana away or over time, a trap that is like rez sickness does 25% to all attributes for 12 secs. This talent spec should be like locks so annoying but able to evade any class with the proper skills and pets should acquire some neat additional stun/fear abilities mixed in. This spec should be good in raids too for snares/CC and aura buffs perhaps.
I am gona develop a talent tree and post it up and see what people think maybe this is a beginning a stepping stone for Blizzard to revamp this talents and yes they do because pets die easily and Lock pets are powerful last I remember a RANGER is one with the land and his pet should be his bread and butter now saying that Lock pets cant be that way but we should have some good annoying tricks up our sleeves.
Please comment on what I have written I took my time to gather people’s ideas and try to put them in a different perspective. I am not asking for this class to be the Oh mighty DPS KING but a troublesome and killer class if not dealt with properly.
Arturis Mar 9th 2007 7:43PM
Ive got to say, Roguerhunter, you have quite a few excellent ideas and concepts in your post, though its a little hard to understand them with the way you put them forward. If I were having a conversation with a person speaking in a similar fashion, I would ask them to stop, take a deep breath, let it out slowly, and start again. Please dont take offense at that, its not meant as an attack, just a polite critique that may help you with future posts. You have plenty of time to reread/proofread your post before clicking the submit button, so dont feel rushed.
Back to the point, however, having the hunter survivalist tree modeled more closely after what we, in modern times, would consider a "survivalist" (whether US Rangers, Marines, SEALs, what have you) would definately give that talent tree a bit more "kick" that I think its missing.
One of the elements of the hunter that I used to enjoy was having to plan where to place your trap prior to combat. Now with the ability to place traps during combat, you lose that feeling of "strategy" that used to be there - a trap is now just another instant ability (though on a 2 second delay) that you hit during the fight. Now if there was a way to make the traps more interesting, such as the ability to place more then one trap at once in order to prepare the battlefield, that would be a fascinating twist, though who is to say whether that would throw off game balance or not.
-Arturis
Bunkai Mar 9th 2007 9:03PM
MORE PET STABLE SLOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ivan Mar 10th 2007 11:47AM
I really would NOT mind seeing the hunter 'take on' pet attributes (not dissimilar to how druid forms work)such as added +STR & +STA when a bear pet is active or +AGI & +INT when a bird pet is active.
I also like the idea of a fear shot (or tru confusion shot) to remove/misdirect an attacker from a squishie (misdirection is nice, but in three aimed shots you have a dead healer) back to the tank or a fear effect from certain/all pets (like the effect of sending in attack dogs?).
Sure, some 2.xyz patches got hit with the [Bat of 1000 Nurfs], but Hunter CC is weak at best when nearly 1/4 of traps are resisted on dungeons over 68+, and then if an ice trap captures a character it's 15-20 secs when shackle & sheep & banish are a near eternity in comparison and virtually NEVER resisted.
Do not read this as though I'd complain about mail armor, nice burst damage, medium high hit points ... etc. I mean to say a trap is just that; a TRAP. Spring the trap, get caught. I understand natural elemental resistance but why not have the undead caught in place, burning (yet able to attack) on an imolation trap? Why not have a huge aimed shot or sting that could change the course of a fight/raid? Why doesn't the damage get higher if one were up closer on a gun or arrow shot (in practical application, accuracy & power would be higher up close - to a point)? Why not have a 'sweet spot' distance wherein damage increases w/ threat (that would make sense & would be relative to the role & an inverse to the possible damage that could be taken by being closer to 'the action')?
Just some ideas, thanks for reading them.
Jeff Mar 10th 2007 6:18PM
/sigh Prot spec warrior here.. I would just really like to know why everyone wants to be a tank? It's not a glamorous job our repair costs are higher consumable costs are higher and the horrible horrible horrible lack of DPS we have in almost any spec not just prot ( fury and arms are ok but any other class in any spec has more DPS) makes us horrible to solo with I've played every class to at least 20 and none of them are as painful to solo as a warrior.
Please everyone stop trying to tank or OT it's THE ONLY truly viable PvE role for warriors of any spec please just let us do our jobs and you do yours.
Kaylek Mar 12th 2007 8:17AM
"I don't see why there should have to be items any one class has an exclusive claim over."
Feral maces have been mentioned already, but let's not forget all the spell plate BC gave us Paladins...
Toolio Mar 12th 2007 9:09AM
Hey #8 - You're not a hunter. Traps aren't on a 2sec CD. NO SOUP FOR YOU!
Toolio Mar 12th 2007 9:10AM
NM. Misread. NO SOUP FOR ME!
Roguerhunter Mar 13th 2007 5:22PM
Hey Guys #8 Thx for the info, Yeah I get excites as a Military guy but sometimes it’s hard to shorten up the context without going into other directions and more ideas pop out.
I hope someone’s posts here I posted in the new one I hope to grad your attention again on them posts. So I will see you guys there!