PTR Notes: Aimed Shot changed again
by John Himes 
Nov 7th 2007 at 7:00PM
A few hours ago, Eyonix posted on the WoW forums regarding another change to the Hunter skill Aimed Shot in patch 2.3. The ability, which has already gained a healing debuff akin to Mortal Strike, will now also have a reduced cast time. The shot will now take a flat 3 seconds to perform, which is a half a second drop from its previous time of 3.5 seconds. In addition, Eyonix also mentioned that the developers are monitoring the ability's effectiveness and may further reduce the cast time after 2.3 goes live.
As is often the case on the WoW forums, there is a rather large outcry over this change, the latest in a series of buffs to hunters. In discussing and defending the change, Eyonix suggests that the developers are trying to make this skill more appealing to the class in addition to helping them be more viable in PvP overall. What are your thoughts on the subject?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Good_Idea Jan 30th 2008 12:42PM
The changes to hunters were a bit too much. I think most hunters would have been happy with the removal of the dead zone. I think they would have been bursting with joy with getting mortal strike, untalented, for free, on aimed shot and getting it reduced in (uninteruptable bs) cast time. Giving them a free, untalented, dispel magic on arcane shot, is completely ridiculous, most hunters can even admit that.
A hunters arsenal is already huge for arena.
We're seeing a lot more hunters in arena 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5 2200+ rating now, it's more of a confidence issue than anything imo.
Ryan Nov 7th 2007 7:34PM
This is just getting rediculous, buffing the classes that are already overrepresented and nerfing the classes that are underrepresented.
stormhunterx Nov 7th 2007 7:35PM
CHA CHING! Now we just wait to have the cooldown 2 sec and it'll actually have a use in pvp! yays
klink-o Nov 7th 2007 7:36PM
Sounds like a reasonable change for hunter PVP. As for me, I don't personally care- I stopped PVP'ing long ago as I tired of the countless small flaws that undermine an otherwise solid system. Hear that people, IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT YOU CAN LEAVE!!!
mishmash Nov 7th 2007 7:38PM
@1 so by your opinion they should only buff the least played classes, instead of trying to obtain viablity for each class in each aspect of the game? nice QQing
Autumnbear Nov 7th 2007 7:46PM
Duh.
Make Aimed Shot not miss.
Stupid Blizzard...
Matt Nov 8th 2007 2:01AM
@1 i hope your not a shammy, cause if so, please stop QQ we still have DPS shammy's for raids and healing ones as well...shouldnt need 5 mages for CC, and hunters needed somethin they are supposed to be flat out DPS and most dont even come close to mages or locks, or even shadowpriests, so yay for hunters!!
Ortai Nov 7th 2007 7:59PM
Hunters: the New Warlocks
Spacehyena Nov 7th 2007 8:02PM
There's already a boar in my bad place and a giant bullseye on my big bear butt...so why the hell not? Give 'm another buff!
Sonvar Nov 7th 2007 8:04PM
Not sure whether this will actually go through or not but I'm glad to see that something I spent a talent point in will actually give me a worthwhile skill instead of just being taken because its a prereq to getting mortal shots.
baylow Nov 7th 2007 8:29PM
Why is it that balance always seems to be done on the back of healers?
Hunters new ranged mortal strike too hard to get off? lets make it cast faster? Still to hard? have a little more!
Apparently all it takes to be "viable in the arena" is to be able to make healers hate their lives.
Avelon Nov 7th 2007 8:15PM
"This is just getting rediculous, buffing the classes that are already overrepresented and nerfing the classes that are underrepresented."
It's funny, but if I may remember correctly, hunter populations are even with mages, and less than warriors.
skullie Nov 7th 2007 8:16PM
hey, what addon is that that keeps track of records?
Eleanorrigby Nov 7th 2007 8:17PM
@10 - Total population from all servers ranging in all levels ranks Hunters as #1.
Dave Nov 7th 2007 8:42PM
I don't think a 3s cast time is gonna solve much.
It might change things significantly in the already sorta unbalanced 2v2 bracket, where you can't guarantee that you've got someone on the other side with a way to quickly get into the hunter's dead zone, but almost all 3v3 and 5v5 teams have a warrior who can quickly get in the face of any hunter. Get someone in the hunter's face, everyone else get out of LOS, and a 3s cast time isn't gonna help them a lot.
It's definitely not like locks, where they dot dot dot and constantly stay out of LOS and wait for you to bleed out.
Ryan Nov 7th 2007 8:53PM
@4 No, we should try to attain some sort of balance, instead of exacerbating imbalance.
Lichcoil Nov 7th 2007 8:55PM
Yeah this probably will see the most of its effects in the arena. The hunters will probably be very effective healer killers.
Andrew Nov 7th 2007 8:58PM
From an altaholic perspective, this is going to unhinge 30-60 PVP. Between this, the Aimed Shot buff, and the dead zone buff, Hunters will eat Mages, Priests, Shamans, and Paladins alive.
pgizzle Nov 9th 2007 12:40PM
this game isnt aabout lvl 30-60 pvp its about end game lvl 70
Heilig Nov 8th 2007 12:42AM
"@10 - Total population from all servers ranging in all levels ranks Hunters as #1."
And total representation of hunters in high-level PvP is lower than any other class. This is not a "buff" as much as it is returning a skill to usability.
Know this: There is not ONE hunter in arena that uses Aimed Shot until his team is clearly going to win no matter what. The long cast time makes it completely useless from a DPS standpoint. The 2.0 nerf to Aimed Shot is one of the biggest nerfs in the history of WoW; It cost hunters nearly 40% of their DPS in one whack and COMPLETELY changed ranged weapon choices for max output. The "buff" you are all decrying so loudly is simply a way to try to fix their mistake. Aimed Shot does not need a mortal strike debuff. it does not need a shorter cast time. It needs to go back to its old coding where it did not reset auto shot. That is the only thing that will make aimed shot come back into play, and it will mean a dramatic increase in the usefulness of MM hunters as well, as the Aimed Shot-Multi-Shot-Autoshot opener is what made them so deadly in PvP. Ask any hunter that knows anything about their class what they would want to see changed most and they wuill tell you they want their Aimed Shot opener back.