Scare Beast Change: Does it make Hunters the new anti-Druid?
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Apr 25th 2008 at 12:15PM
In what could be the biggest change in 2.4.2, Hunters are getting a pretty generous buff to the spell Scare Beast. Not only is the range ballooning from 10 yards to 30 yards, but it will have an instant cast time as well. Well it does have limited application in PvE, this will be huge in PvP, for one simple reason: It will work on Druids in forms.
What this means is this Hunters may become the new anti-Druids in the arena, and may especially find a good place in 2v2s and 3v3s to counter the dread Restoration Druid. One of the big complaints about Restoration Druids is that when the going gets tough, they can Cyclone their attacker and run off to the other side of the arena using Travel Form, or else shift into Dire Bear Form and weather the hits until their teammate can CC the attackers or otherwise divert the attacks.
Instant-cast Scare Beast seems to be the perfect counter to this tactic, since a Hunter can instantly fear them, and the 20 yard range on Cyclone means a Hunter can stay out of Cyclone range while still being able to deploy Scare Beast, making a Druid think twice before shifting at long range. Restoration Druids will certainly have to be quite a bit more wary of Hunters. They should still be able to use line of sight to great effect, but at the least they'll probably have to save their Cyclone usage for the Hunter, and they'll find it a lot harder to run away from a Hunter.
It also means Feral Druids will have to be more cautious around Hunters. Since they need to be in feral forms to do their damage, they'll be constantly vulnerable to the spell. I will say, however, that as a Feral Druid, I have been consistently able to destroy Hunters in the past, so I don't mind as much that Hunters have a tool against me. However, in the interest of full disclosure, I should note that I also play a 70 Hunter and thus may be biased there.
It looks like Blizzard is definitely working at balancing out Arena numbers, as this change seems tailor made to counter one of the most over-represented Arena classes, and is being given to one of the most under-represented Arena classes. It should be very interesting to see how it shakes down.
Filed under: Druid, Hunter, Patches, Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Arena
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
pudds Apr 25th 2008 12:24PM
I think its less of an issue than people think; all other fear effects still work on druids in forms, and the 2 AoE ones are also instant cast. On the surface, it doesn't seem to be overpowered to me.
That said, it reeks of an attempted resto nerf that hits feral (and to a lesser extent, enhance shammies) as hard or harder.
I thinks its a reasonable change, but it should come with a feral/moonkin buff.
Lars Apr 25th 2008 1:04PM
The Warlock AoE fear is only instant if you've put talent points into it, and it's at the bottom of the Affliction tree.
This is definitely a good change, because before it was a tough spell to land since a druid could get out of range easily within the 1.5 sec cast time before.
I don't see it so much as a Druid nerf, but a Hunter buff instead. Like you said, Druids are vulnerable to the 5 or so other fears in the game, half of which are instant AoEs.
Nijle Apr 25th 2008 1:24PM
Psychic Scream for preists is instant and AOE.
Algorithm Apr 25th 2008 1:32PM
Feral is a PvE spec. Blizzard has explicitly stated that as long as one tree is viable in competitive arenas and other specs can participate on all levels of game play, things are good.
Restoration druids are viable in arena, so there you go. Feral may not be high end competitive, but it can participate and contribute in PvP. Good luck with that request.
There are 9 classes and 3 specs. That's 27 different combinations. I'd be impressed if they can balance arenas for 9 in the near future, and it's certainly not going to happen for 27.
Also, you're not going to get a lot of love from people playing classes that perceive their most competitive spec as significantly worse than restoration druids.
Fire/Arcane mages got buffed because they literally could not participate in almost any PvP without getting 3-4 shot. Feral druids are just not suffering in this way, and will likely not get buffed.
I just don't know what to say about Balance. People that pick that spec baffle me, and it's less viable than restoration, so I'm just going to lump it in with my thoughts on feral.
Pzychotix Apr 25th 2008 3:08PM
Psychic scream also only has a range of 10 yards.
Beastcoil has a range of 30 yards, and when comboed with Scattershot -> Freezing trap, has a capability of locking down a druid for 20+ seconds, EVERY 30 SECONDS.
murphraven Apr 25th 2008 12:25PM
Didn't scare beast work on Druids in forms before? I seem to remember hearing that. *Confused*
Daniel Whitcomb Apr 25th 2008 12:27PM
It does, Murphraven, but the point is that it will be a lot easier to use on them now thanks to the longer ranger and instant cast time.
will Apr 25th 2008 12:29PM
The point is, it's now going to be instant cast.
innajunglestylee Apr 25th 2008 12:29PM
Yes, but 10 yard range and 1.5 sec cast. Huge buff to the ability here.
murphraven Apr 25th 2008 12:32PM
Thanks to everyone for clearing that up :)
Definitely a buff to Hunters.
ninjasuperspy Apr 25th 2008 12:34PM
And so do my flash bombs. They say they have a chance to fizzle, but I haven't seen it happen yet.
Rob Wynne Apr 25th 2008 1:09PM
I misread that as "flash boobs" and wondered what arena YOU'VE been in....
blacksack Apr 25th 2008 1:33PM
Yeah, I heard hunters are getting plate too.
The point is that hunters continue to get PVP buff after PVP buff while Blizzard remains seemingly confused as to how to help other classes like shaman. Did hunters really need another set of buffs after that last patch?
Having played a 70 druid, 70 shaman and a 70 hunter, I've been confused by these hunter buffs. When I pvp with my hunter, I get diced up by warriors and rogues. Casters are the least of my worries. I understand that Blizzard is trying to give them a team-based viability, but it would help hunters far more IMHO to give them some anti-melee skills rather than continuing to make them the anti-caster ranged debuff gods.
For the record, yes, resto druids are a little OP, but if you're going to counter that, how about throwing a bone to shaman or mages? Don't give more to those who have already, as seems to be the trend.
Luciox Apr 25th 2008 12:27PM
Beast-Coil
XD
Clasifyd Apr 25th 2008 12:47PM
You will never see a tree in arena, unless you're in a very low bracket. The lack of mobility kills druids.
Although, as a lock, I propose that there should be more tree druids in arenas! Nothing like banishing their healer! ^_^
Babyeater Apr 25th 2008 12:30PM
Hopefully it gets nerfed down to 12 seconds like the warlock fear.
Also, nerf warriors, right? They are THE most over-represented class in arenas yet I don't see any changes coming down the pipes. Bet Kalgan is still rockin' his S3 weapon.
Sargeron Apr 25th 2008 12:35PM
It'll be capped at 10 seconds like any PvP CC, the 20 seconds is for pve, much like the lock fear http://www.wowhead.com/?spell=6215
Chee42 Apr 25th 2008 12:37PM
I agree, Warriors are the most over-represented class in Arenas. Every Arena team no matter what size usually has a Warrior. Druids are only over-represented in 2v2.
Silverrealm Apr 25th 2008 12:30PM
"What this means is this Hunters may become the new anti-Druids in the arena, and may especially find a good place in 2v2s and 3v3s to counter the dread Restoration Druid"
Uhhh, are you sure about that? A resto druid in tree form is classified as a beast??? I would have thought of them as elementals, or something.... but not beasts!
Daniel Whitcomb Apr 25th 2008 12:33PM
It doesn't work on Tree Druids, but the point is that Restoration Druids often resort to Dire Bear Form or Travel Form to defend themselves when focus fired, and a Hunter who is able to fear them in those forms from a long range away will make those defense mechanisms much less dependable.