Ghostcrawler on hunter ammo replacement
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Jan 23rd 2010 at 6:00PM
In a general forum post created to discuss ammo replacements, Ghostcrawler piped in to remind us that the only change announced for Cataclysm was the removal of ammo, with nothing else yet decided (or, more accurately, announced). While he did acknowledge the possibility of adding in new situational ammo, he did observe that the hassle of collecting and swapping different ammo types might grow old pretty quickly, especially for a class like the hunter that already needs to push a lot of buttons to play at peak potential, in addition to already having a pet to manage.
I do see some wisdom in Ghostcrawler's words. As someone who played a hunter relatively extensively during Burning Crusade and has recently begun leveling that hunter again via random dungeons, I can attest that we do have a lot to juggle if we want to put out a respectable level of DPS or PvP utility. One more thing to worry about could conceivably get a little bit tiresome.
That said, I'm a hybrid player at heart. I played a druid when I first started playing, and I play a death knight as my main now, and in both cases, I always keep a set of gear upgraded and ready for all their respective roles. Those sets include relics. I have my tanking relics and my DPS relics already. If ammo become a similar "relic" system, it might not be so bad. Being able to spice up your shooting with some procs from an ammo relic would be a great way to add a little bit of fun to the system without making it overwhelmingly unmanageable.
Of course, if they just take out ammo altogether and roll the extra DPS back into the base weapon damage, I wouldn't complain too much either. My engineer will be sort of sad that one more source of cash flow is gone, but then again, raw materials sometimes sell for more anyway.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From Goblins and Worgens to Mastery and Guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.Filed under: Hunter, Analysis / Opinion, News items, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Ulurjah Jan 23rd 2010 6:11PM
Wow... nice to know it's finally going to happen. Great ideas on possible ways to add variety back into the system. Perhaps engineers could still be at the heart of designing some sort of ammo "Relic"...
flawless Jan 23rd 2010 9:39PM
Am I the only Hunter that doesn't actually care about ammo?
Seriously - It's ridiculously easy to get the IceBlade/Shatter Rounds now. Even before that, Mammoth Cutters and Saronite Razorheads were easy compared to having to rep up for decent ammo (and rep ammo was amazingly expensive.)
Given the changes to quivers/ammo pouches, the amount that ammo stacks to, I really couldn't care less about carrying 4-8k ammo in a normal bag. At least I'm not carrying an off-spec set of gear, soul shards, etc.
Faulken S Wulf Jan 23rd 2010 9:43PM
I really really am going to be sad when this comes to pass. I liked that this game was one of the few that actually made you carry ammo instead of having magical infinite ammo. It gave realism and strategy to the game. I love ammo and games that support it.
Bvannas Jan 23rd 2010 10:47PM
Faulken - The only strategy this added was to buy ammo when you were running low, which isn't quite on the same lines as the Battle of Cannae for instance. Also, your looking for realism in the wrong place, Surely Fireballs from ever replenishing mana would violate the laws of thermodynamics?
Rakah Jan 24th 2010 7:03AM
4-8k ammo? i burn through that way too fast. a full ammo bag lasts about 1-1 1/2 weeks depending on how much i'm raiding.
Riikka Jan 24th 2010 9:39AM
ya, something permanent like never ending ammo equips. something that takes more mats, but once its equipped it doesn't go away. always thought that would be a good solution. then it takes as much thought as a weapon macro if you change up, or you can outfit it into outfitter to change with gear sets.
flawless Jan 24th 2010 12:28PM
I might get through 4k ammo in a night of raiding, but I always have a few mails from alts that I send back and forth to keep a supply close to hand (can always ask an Engineer for a mailbox if my Squire's ability to visit a mailbox is on cooldown) but I always make sure I'm stocked on everything before I begin a raid.
I'm honestly not looking forward to the ammo and focus changes - I'm perfectly happy with the way hunters work at the moment.
Sterdoker Jan 23rd 2010 6:13PM
Ammo = relics = goooooooood
Valt Jan 23rd 2010 6:16PM
Let me guess. To keep engineering or some "some use of money" for hunters too we get no ammo but 100 ammos to choose from. Imagine arrows that has "10% of damage done converted to nature damage" or something bizarre like that (imagine crystals for shale who play dragon age and got the dlc).
Falcon6 Jan 23rd 2010 6:42PM
I've been saying this ever since TBC.
Arrows that had special uses for different playstyles would work wonders. Obviously, there would be a shot that would be all-around better. But still, the idea of making the ammo more like relics would be great.
"Equip: Your Chimera Shot Critical Strikes have a 20% chance to make your Serpent Sting do more damage for 10 seconds."
"Equip: Your Explosive Shot Critical Strike damage is increased by 10% and causes the explosion to cause 10% of that damage spread across all enemies in 5 yards."
Just a few ideas.
And to accommodate the loss of ammo for Rogues and Warriors, allow them the ability to use ranged weapons without ammo. It's not like it's a major source of their DPS anyway.
Lucidique Jan 23rd 2010 7:23PM
omgwtf
catering to casulas this is bs!
*ehem*
Sorry. Troll came over me.
I like this. Ammo is not 'fair', so to speak. Soulshards requiring a bag isn't either. For a class to work properly, your bagspace shouldn't be lessened.
Arrows isn't simply arrows in the real world, to begin with. Some are good for penetrating armor (like pinpoint arrowsheads for penetrating ringmails) and such.
An example would be: Piercing Arrows - Your attacks ignore 5% of your targets armor.
Chips Jan 23rd 2010 8:32PM
Shale for President! go new Race in WoW - elementals ^_^
kooda Jan 24th 2010 4:56AM
You mean a glyph?
Valt Jan 24th 2010 2:12PM
Ok to actually make sense this time.. my "midnight English" wasn't that great (it never is anyway)
Let me guess. To keep engineering profitable in ammo business and keep "some use for money" for hunters too, we get no ammo to "consume" but 100+ "ammo" slot relics to choose from. Imagine arrows that makes "10% of damage done converted to nature damage", "taking less damage from school X" or something bizarre like that (Imagine crystals for Shale who plays Dragon Age and got the DLC).
there we go..
Boostah Jan 23rd 2010 6:26PM
Since the whole Hunter resource mechanic is being changed, there will be a LOT of other things going on with the class in addition to the ammo changes (and the possibilities that brings).
I'd love to see a relic-type system put in, since it wouldn't benefit a spec that relies on base weapon damage (and multipliers thereof) over one that doesn't. Yes, some players will undoubtedly have access to drops more than others but at least things will be even between the specs of the class.
Now if the upcoming mana to focus changes remove the differences between base damage use from all the specs then that would work just as well (but be a little more boring imo).
Cambro Jan 23rd 2010 6:30PM
I don't play a hunter so this question is out of ignorance: do raid level hunters really swap out different kinds of ammo especially in a fight? I've played enough to remember what ammo stacked to only 200. As a tank, I only ever have to worry about 1 stack of ammo, for pulls. I can see how a hunter would want to remove ammo from the game for bag space, but I regularly carry around 3 sets of gear (tank, fury, and pvp) and I manage pretty well. I think Blizzard needs to be careful about how "dumbed down" they make the game; different classes keep losing their distinctive flavor Hunters no longer need to have a quiver or ammo pouch. Rogues no longer have to make vanish powder or poisons. Yes, some of these things come out of the game because they can be tedious and time-consuming, but come on, it gives the class some of its distinctiveness. I think if hunters never had to worry about ammo, they would lose something that really distinguishes them as a class.
zymry Jan 23rd 2010 6:47PM
Our distinguishing feature is that every attack we do costs us money ? Sure it's negligible money but still. If every fireball, shadowbolt, slice and dice, rake, autoswing, etc. cost 50 copper to 1 silver it would be tedious.
Reps Jan 23rd 2010 6:48PM
I agree with this. When I was leveling my hunter, back int he noob days, ammo was one of the things I liked about the hunter class. I can remember running around Loch Modan and finding an ammo vendor who sold Heavy Shot for level 15. Being level 13 at the time, I bought 4 or 5 stacks of the stuff waiting to hit 15 to use it. I was so excited to ding, and when I did my new ammo was just EPIC.
And sure, it's nice now at level 80 to not need to worry about constantly replenishing my ammo supply. But I don't believe my leveling experience as a hunter would have been as fun without it. Ammo seems almost as important a part of the game as our pets... A gun isn't a gun without bullets.
Zanathos Jan 23rd 2010 6:55PM
There's not swapping out of ammo in the middle of a fight. If you want to maximize DPS and minimize cost, it's not too uncommon to use vendor ammo for trash and player crafted ammo for bosses. Of course, that also requires you remember to swap back and forth, so depending on how good you are at that you might often come across the annoyance of wasting money on trash or gimping your dps on bosses.
I wasn't really sure on if you were commenting about game changes or weren't up on these, so just in case: ammo stacks to 1000 now. Hunters no longer use quivers or ammo bags because the haste benefit they used to have was rolled into the base class abilities.
I can't really say that worrying about ammo have ever added much to my experience of playing a hunter. It's just one more expense and banal thing to keep track of. I've never felt my in game experience was added to by waiting for a hunter to go back to a town and re-stock on ammo. Changing ammo to no-consumable will be plenty of ammo interactivity for me.
Cambro Jan 23rd 2010 6:57PM
Yeah, I wasn't clear. I know you guys don't have to use quivers/ammo pouches anymore (my leatherworker cried) and that ammo stacks to 1000. I didn't think about maintaining "cheap trash ammo" and "boss fight ammo", but that makes sense.