BfA Alpha - Hunter Changes

[Yhcti]

It's decently comfortable.
SV has a new talent - Terms of Engagement - resetting the cooldown of harpoon upon a killing blow. Serpent Sting makes pulling large numbers of mobs easy.
Damage has yet to be properly scaled though. A lot depends on that!



Great idea! It's possible -- but keep in mind that switching weapons in combat triggers the GCD.
Focus regenerates rather fast, too, especially when using Kill Command. Considering that, it doesn't feel like an improvement. Too much time spent switching weapons.

Yes the serpent sting thing does look cool! I just tried to play my SV on live to get rep and stuff done and my lord it's so frustrating lol.. BM is just such a QOL build for a casual, massively nicer. Really hoping they get SV right or atleast in the right direction for BfA, i'll happily settle on it.

[infinitemeridian]

Really hoping they update some of these animations for Survival, they're pretty weak compared to a lot of other melee.

[Yhcti]

the more I read the talent calcs the more excited I am, come ooonnnnnnn Beta!! #tooexcitedtooearly

[Makabreska]

Really hoping they update some of these animations for Survival, they're pretty weak compared to a lot of other melee.

Ye I was always baffled by that, core ability like Mongoose Bite having only a plain green trail, Flanking Strike having simple stabbing animation etc. At least traps look good.

Eh, I don't think Blizz would like the idea of switching weapons during combat many times. I know I wouldn't like that, having to farm 2 weapons for full rotation.

[Queen of Hamsters]

Well, seems like Survival will be making its way back into my good book as of BfA changes. :d
It would be nice to once more have 3 specs to choose from.

[Makabreska]

[Deleted]

Video

I like how Raptor Strike sends out spectral eagles or something. Kinda hope that's a placeholder.

This seems reallt nice as a base to work upon. Seems like it would be quite fun to play.

[Paulosio]

I like how Raptor Strike sends out spectral eagles or something. Kinda hope that's a placeholder.

This seems reallt nice as a base to work upon. Seems like it would be quite fun to play.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor
Raptors, birds that hunt and feed on other animals

It actually fits perfectly well with raptor strike. I don't think it's an accident or placeholder and you probably shouldn't expect it to be replaced with mini T-rex's any time soon.

[Makabreska]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor
Raptors, birds that hunt and feed on other animals

It actually fits perfectly well with raptor strike. I don't think it's an accident or placeholder and you probably shouldn't expect it to be replaced with mini T-rex's any time soon.

What he prolly means is that those birds use oldest, shittiest model. They are also kinda oversized.

[Mirishka]

I use disengage with Posthaste in world content all the time to run faster and I guess so do most hunters.
Since I mainly play my hunter, it happens way too often on other specs that I jump, turn my camera by 180° and then use my mobility spell -.-

I feel your pain sooooooooo much. XD

[Eapoe]

Seems interesting. Hope Blizz can fine tune it to flow, and that the optimal way to play it for min/max isn't a cluttered mess like it feels in Legion.

[ydraw]

Well, seems like Survival will be making its way back into my good book as of BfA changes. :d
It would be nice to once more have 3 specs to choose from.

You will still really only have 2 unless your raid is happy for one of their ranged to become Melee for no reason.

[Yhcti]

Has anyone tried MM out on the Alpha yet? It actually looks really interesting... Aimed Shot with talent will have a chance to be an execute above 80% or below 20% (pretty cool), steady shot back as the cast-on-move generator with rapid fire on a 20s cd (extended from 3s to 5s with talent) and the dump being Aimed Shot (3sec is kinda slow though imo)

[andreasels]

Has anyone tried MM out on the Alpha yet? It actually looks really interesting... Aimed Shot with talent will have a chance to be an execute above 80% or below 20% (pretty cool), steady shot back as the cast-on-move generator with rapid fire on a 20s cd (extended from 3s to 5s with talent) and the dump being Aimed Shot (3sec is kinda slow though imo)

According to some ppl on the hunter discord, Hunter's Mark is broken on Alpha, so nothing much to say yet, sadly, since it will dictate quite much how the spec plays (many talents interact with it)

[Yhcti]

According to some ppl on the hunter discord, Hunter's Mark is broken on Alpha, so nothing much to say yet, sadly, since it will dictate quite much how the spec plays (many talents interact with it)

Ah yes I forgot about Hunters Mark. That's a shame. Well as long as Survival seems like it's being improved, I'm a happy Hunter. MM looks like it'll still be the go-to spec for raiding though.

[Pandragon]

Will hunters be going back to a 1 sec GCD? Or will Blizz depress me by finally giving us a melee/ranged hybrid spec, but keeping them on a 1.5 gcd?

[stae60]

I got alpha on Wednesday and here are my thoughts.

MM is broke, that's all there is to say about it. 3 second cast time on Aimed shot feels awful, so does Steady Shot. I prefer (god I can't believe i'm gonna say this) legions version of MM better.

BM basically plays the same. Feels like it's missing something, just like in live.

SV is interesting. I'll be keeping an eye on it, but for the most part having ranged stuff is... Better, I guess?

I understand it's alpha and things are borked for now, but if these specs keep going in this directions, I'm probably playing another class.

[Coldfire989]

You realize hunters mark a big part of MM isn't even in yet right?

[Nythiz]

Another thing to keep in mind is that your stats are going to be very low going into the new expansion.

BM and SV right now on live feel pretty good because you have 30%+ crit and haste and whatnot. Without those higher stat levels you won't see many procs and your rotations will feel a little bit more awkward.

[Aesde]

But MM looks at BfA very weak for now.
1. No AOE for 6+ targets;
2. If AS on cd, MM hunter don't do any significant damage;
3. AS cast time is too long (3 sec);
4. MM is extremely squishy.

Now compare it with Surv:
1. Very mobile with harpoon reset on kill;
2. A lot of healing after kill and from mastery:
3. Pet on default, while MM should choose - pet (pocket tank/hp and utility) or damage;
4. Consistent damage and better focus generator.