How come Blizzard did away with MM being purely physical?

[xZerocidex]

I was liking the concept of the spec having things like Quick Shot and causing bleeds if spec for it. Now we got Arcane Shot again along with having Serpent Sting back.

So what happened?

[Onikaroshi]

Idk, trying to make it not.... horrible to play? I hate bowmage...er MM, so I can't speak personally, but our resident huntard said it has been AWFUL most of beta.

[Feanoro]

Because they refuse to bring back armor penetration.

[xZerocidex]

Because they refuse to bring back armor penetration.

Except Sub is getting back Expose Weakness, why not just give MM a armor bypass mechanic as well? I recall Feral Druids having one also, not to mention Arms has CS.

[Bepples]

Because Blizzard deleted the magic projectile spec so they have to dump the remnants into MM.

[cparle87]

Except Sub is getting back Expose Weakness, why not just give MM a armor bypass mechanic as well? I recall Feral Druids having one also, not to mention Arms has CS.

That's an artifact trait, we ignore some armor while rip is up. So pretty sure we're losing that in BFA.

[xZerocidex]

Because Blizzard deleted the magic projectile spec so they have to dump the remnants into MM.

Makes sense, trying to kill two birds with one stone and failing to deliver a decent spec

That's an artifact trait, we ignore some armor while rip is up. So pretty sure we're losing that in BFA.

Ah I see, thanks for the clarification.

[Athorha]

I'd love seeing MM being strictly hard hitting physical damage. I actually think something similar to old balance (MOP I believe) where you could channel for lunar/solar power and then unload fits the MM fantasy. Basically make it where you have a few seconds downtime where you are reloading. And then have a limited number of casts where you can unload your damage. Could make reloading castable while moving. But all the damage aspects hard casts.

[Nythiz]

I was liking the concept of the spec having things like Quick Shot and causing bleeds if spec for it. Now we got Arcane Shot again along with having Serpent Sting back.

So what happened?

Im not sure either. I thought Quick Shot was fine.
I mean I can live with Serpent Sting to some extend as it's a talent and poison isn't too far fetched for a physical hunter.

But I'm still not sure why they brought back arcane shot, other than the "it's such a signature move for hunters"-thing.
Arcane shot should've died when we lost mana really.

[xZerocidex]

Im not sure either. I thought Quick Shot was fine.
I mean I can live with Serpent Sting to some extend as it's a talent and poison isn't too far fetched for a physical hunter.

But I'm still not sure why they brought back arcane shot, other than the "it's such a signature move for hunters"-thing.
Arcane shot should've died when we lost mana really.

Agreed with the Arcane Shot comment, Blizzard really isn't doing a good job with the sniper fantasy of MM, they are also being incredibly inconsistent with it. MM lost Chimera Shot and it was given to BM, my guess it had something to do with the name "Chimera" in it and felt like it made sense to give to BM instead. But why turn around and give MM a shot called Serpent Sting? It contradicts the direction they want to go with the spec and it's starting to show.

[threads]

hunter specs are a mess atm. MM needed some magic damage for pvp reasons from what i heard so they just gave arcane back.

[Eapoe]

hunter specs are a mess atm. MM needed some magic damage for pvp reasons from what i heard so they just gave arcane back.

I thought about this too, but makes no sense when we have full physical/bleed damage specs already.
I always liked the idea of a full physical damage hunter spec.
Oh well, adapt or play something else I guess. Just sucks that the direction of Hunters overall the last few xpacs make me want to play them less and less.

[Feanoro]

Except Sub is getting back Expose Weakness, why not just give MM a armor bypass mechanic as well? I recall Feral Druids having one also, not to mention Arms has CS.

It wasn't quite armor pen, but it was called Vulnerable. The loud kids whined hard enough that it's gone.

[Bepples]

It wasn't quite armor pen, but it was called Vulnerable. The loud kids whined hard enough that it's gone.

Yes, inherent armor penetration is definitely the same thing as an RNG damage window outside of which your signature move does fuck-all damage.

Get over yourself.

[Feanoro]

Shouldn't you be off foaming at the mouth about ranged SV somewhere?

Specific spells that boost damage for a short time were listed, then it was proposed that MM have one. Vuln was just that, and it wasn't terribly difficult to keep very high uptime.

[Bepples]

Specific spells that boost damage for a short time were listed, then it was proposed that MM have one. Vuln was just that, and it wasn't terribly difficult to keep very high uptime.

Serpent Sting also boosted damage for a short time. Can we count that as the same thing?

Might as well just go in and include every short-term debuff in the game. I guess they really are all the same thing. Definitely no mechanical difference at all, no sir.

Alternatively, you could try to break out of your habit of making false equivalencies in all your posts.

[Kralljin]

Except Sub is getting back Expose Weakness, why not just give MM a armor bypass mechanic as well? I recall Feral Druids having one also, not to mention Arms has CS.

Feral have bleeds, which naturally bypass armor.
CS got reworked in Legion to increase damage by a % amount, it doesn't reduce / negate armor.

Personally i think it's fine that there are specs left that deal flat physical damage, Armor in PvP has lost so much value over the years, due the fact that so many specs received armor bypassing stuff or got so heavy on magical damage that they're basically 50% Caster at this point.

[Feanoro]

*blather about being incapable of reading and following a train of thought*

Helps if you read the part where I said "not quite armor pen". Vuln is directly analogous in effect to Colossus Smash. I fully expect your reply to rage about the difference between buttons or some such. Or you could get over your ranged SV persecution complex. If it helps your little feelings, I'd like to see the melee abomination vanish quietly too.

Now that we've sufficiently added kindergarten bullshit drama to this thread, would you mind if we stayed on topic? Great, I'm now doing so.

Ever since 3.1 when you could reach 100% ArP with the Runestone, Blizz has been skittish about ArP. They have usually justified the mix of magic and physical based on the stat being removed post-Wrath. Sucks that they apply it so inconsistently.

More than likely, the biggest nail in Quick Shot's coffin was the recent animation rework, including Arcane Shot. I'm willing to bet some paper pusher demanded to know why AS was being shelved "right after we paid to have the art redone!"