Hunters in the Arena
by Elizabeth Harper 
Jul 19th 2007 at 2:55PM
Well, CM Nethaera is attempting to reassure concerned Hunters. While she doesn't yet have any information to share with us, she can say that the subject has been discussed in developer meetings. And while we wait to hear back on what Blizzard might do, what do you think needs to happen to make Hunters a viable choice in the Arenas? Or do you think they are already?
Update: Updated the link. Nethaera accidentally deleted the original post -- someone Fedex her some coffee!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rihlsul Jul 19th 2007 3:00PM
The linked forum topic has already been deleted. =\
Matthew Rossi Jul 19th 2007 3:07PM
Arena's are poorly designed for hunters - a ranged class with a deadzone in a confined area = death. I'd say, either give them more abilities that function within the deadzone or remove it in the arena.
esumiwa Jul 19th 2007 3:11PM
Totally agree. I stopped with my hunter on my 3v3 team as it became totally pointless to enter. I have learned some ways to last longer. But, eventually, I have to stand still to get a worthwhile shot off. Arcane+CD=won't cut it for burst/fast damage or burndown....
Ricc Jul 19th 2007 3:18PM
The hunter's best friend and ally is our pet,in pvp combat who is going after someones pet? NOBODY, you kill the hunter and the pet disappears so why would you bother with the pet? Warlocks can at least sacrifice the pet and get buffed up from it.
I do not know the answer, but thats way I use an ALT to pvp or go to the arena.
BTW even in group situations everyone kills the hunters first,! because its two for one. Then DPS'ers because they are easier to kill and they can cause BIG damage fast. Of course there are exceptions for every rule, I am just pointing out common strategies I have seen and used.
Angael Jul 19th 2007 3:17PM
My warrior and I used to have a tough time with hunters in 2v2, but not anymore. Once we close the distance the game is ours. I think its tough for a hunter because they need more open space in order to kit and successfully trap. Plus so many players are just IoAing out of the trap. Which means the hunter won't get one back for like 20 sec. Our hunter on our 3v3 team has the same problems. He has next to no survivability.
Jason McLeod Jul 19th 2007 3:28PM
Have to agree with the above posts.
Everyone ignores the pet.
One freeze trap, and stand in the dead zone, you're done for.
Remove the dead zone, it's unnecessary.
FastKat Jul 19th 2007 3:48PM
Our 3v3 group has a hunter in it and he seems to hold his own very nicely, unless a rogue is on him then he needs saving. At which point we can burst down the rogue, while 1 is sheeped and another feared/cycloned. It's been working for us and he has made more kills then my druid.
Levi Jul 19th 2007 3:40PM
I have played a hunter for two years now, with quite a bit of PvP in there. The problem with arenas isn't people getting on top of hunters, etc. Hunters have tools to deal with melee classes already. The real problem is that we are the only class that can be almost totally neutralized by the columns put in all of the arena maps. If a player doesn't want me to kill them, all they have to do is get on the opposite side of a pillar and stay on the opposite side. While you can put a trap down near the column, there is enough leway for them to get around it while running around, and even if they do hit the trap you can still only get a few shots off because they can just keep moving around the column.
It's exceptionally frustrating, and almost feels like they're exploiting the map, except they're just RUNNING AROUND IN A CIRCLE. Excellent design, Blizzard.
Tinwhisker Jul 19th 2007 3:45PM
I agree that there is something wrong. In the Arenas, hunters seem to be gimped by something (skills, environment, I don't know).
Removing the dead-zone seems to be a bit of a kludge though. Don't forget that the dead-zone would have to be removed from warriors and rogues as well. (Deadly Throw within melee range? My rogue would love that buff!)
Better burst damage on a shorter cooldown and maybe some leniency with traps would make more sense to me.
Michael Jul 19th 2007 3:53PM
http://www.worldofming.com/?p=541
keefe Jul 19th 2007 4:18PM
I have a hunter main that I've pvp'd for a long long time and I really wouldn't want blizz to mess around much more with the hunter tree. My only request is a small one, just buff scatter shot a bit more so it lasts a little longer and/or make it unbreakable by damage.
Getting rid of a deadzone is just a ridiculous idea considering melee classes have an infinite deadzone when not in melee range. I don't want to hear about mages and other casters not having either issues. They wear cloth.
GamerJunkie Jul 19th 2007 4:21PM
You guys are wrong. A skilled Hunter can hold their own in Arena very well.
In BG Hunters have done well by exploiting environments and gotten lots of cheap kills that way.
In Arena, its easy to shutdown hunters by hamstring them, ignore their pets and dps them down since most Hunters don't carry much HP and resilence.
Thats the problem, learn2 stack resil + hp.
stapleboy Jul 19th 2007 4:26PM
If anything, Blizzard needs to be a little more mindful of line-of-sight issues in Arena maps, especially for hunters who struggle with confined spaces.
BUT, the hunters still crying that the dead zone needs to be removed from the game are either very bad or completely insane. Get back to us when mages can crit for over 1000 at the cost of 1 arrow and 0 mana and when most of their spells are instant-cast.
basictheprogram Jul 19th 2007 8:49PM
Hunters rule in pve content.
Hunters rule in pvp content.
Hunters are excellent additions to raid content.
Hunters (in general) struggle in the arena.
Seems to me the hunter's only weakness is the arena. Keep hunters as they are, it's retribution for all the gankings they delivery outside of the arena. :-)
My serious comment is that hunter do well in the arena when paired with a class that can "root" opponents. Frost Nova+Chill allow Hunters to keep their range.
B Lee Jul 19th 2007 4:55PM
For a class that relies so heavily on staying at range, the hunter has surprisingly few ways to get back into the ranged zone once slowed. Priests have fear to buy them time and space, Warlocks ditto plus skillcoil, Mages have nova/blink (and a few other less practical methods). Not to mention gnomes uber-racial that clears movement impairments instantly on a one-minute cooldown. But hunters realistically have only have two chances to get away, and they're both on long cooldowns. They can trap, or they can trinket. After those are gone, they have nothing to help them. Trinket is a once-an-arena thing, and traps are trinketable or otherwise easy to remove through dispels. For my warrior, it comes down to just use hamstring twice. Then the Hunter's mine. For Rogues it's even easier - they just hit the Hunter and the crippling poison's back on.
Back in the day, I remember people saying that Feign Death should clear debuffs. I gawked at that idea seeing as Feign Death was on a 30 sec cooldown and Hunters wanted it to be like a Rogue's Cloak of Skill. Looking back, maybe they should allow Feign Death to clear movement impairments ...
Another solution that I see most commonly used by Hunters is to tap the Beast Mastery tree. The new 41st point ultimate makes the Hunter completely immune to movement impairments. And they're a real pain to deal with when that happens and the pet's munching on your madly. But that talent ability is kinda in the same class as a trinket - 3 min cooldown usually makes it a one-use ability.
There are a couple solutions, but I believe the statistic in the arenas. They're difficult to play in an arena compared to other classes.
And while we're here, for the love of god someone nerf Cyclone to a dispellable or change its cooldown.
Zor Jul 19th 2007 5:18PM
hate huntards
paybacks a bitch
Zor Jul 19th 2007 5:19PM
ok, try this
paybacks a female dog
vlad Jul 20th 2007 12:58AM
L2hunter. I have seen some really amazing hunters in arena. totally know how to play their class well and usually dont lose too often.
Freehugz Jul 19th 2007 5:50PM
The biggest problem isn't hunter survivability. It's that they're completely shut down by los. Every map provides a really easy way to do this.
Oblivion Jul 19th 2007 6:18PM
My "main" is a hunter and I'm able to use him effectively in all 3 arena brackets. I'm a survival/marksmen hybrid and I feel like I have all of the tools I need to keep opponents out of my deadzone--concussive shot, traps (with entrapment), scatter shot, counter attack, and a PvP trinket. That's a lot of different utilities that when used properly usually keep me out of trouble; however, I certainly need to stay on my toes.
I will admit that the arena design can be extremely frustrating at times. The columns in Nagrand can pose huge line of sight problems for me if a caster wants to engage in a game of cat and mouse. And, fighting in Blade's Edge is difficult because the bridge takes away almost all of my lateral movement forcing me into jousting matches as opposed to running away and jump-shooting.
My biggest problem, which I don't think has been addressed, is lack of mana. I recently tweaked my spec to give myself 5/5 points in Efficiency and even with that and Aspect of Viper, I almost always run out of mana during 5v5 matches and long 3v3 matches. And, with opponent's hit points and resilience ratings constantly increasing, I fear that mana regen is going to be an even bigger issue than it is already. My character is completely geared with arena/bg gear which provides very little intellect and no mana per five stats. I would hate to have sacrifice agility and crit gems for intellect and mana gems--it would be a shame to nerf my DPS in that way. It sounds like Blizzard is buffing Aspect of the Viper next patch, so maybe that will help, but I'm not optimistic.