What Spec will you play in BfA

[KrayZee]

agreed, its not harder to play than BM however, if the numbers are in the upper top for SV compared to other melee specs, i will play SV tho

SV in BFA is indeed not a whole lot harder. At least in their default states, most spec are rather easy in BFA... which tbh, is pretty nice.

I still think that BMs skillset is a litte scarce though.
It could really use additional AoE abilities or something.

It's one of the specs with the fewest skills on the action bar. Wouldn't mind some interaction between a dot and KC or Barbed shot with KC or something. Some azerite traits are interesting though.

[Diggsworth]

snippereedoo

You keep banging on about barbed shot, I don't seem to recall having barbed shot in my toolkit on live. I know I repeatedly compared BFA survival to LIVEBM, so I'm a bit confused as to the outrage about Barbed Shot, an ability which doesn't exist on live. If you want to extoll the magnificence of a spec that's functionally identical to LIVE(LEGION) BM, that's fine, but don't try to create a comparison I'm not making.

[KrayZee]

You keep banging on about barbed shot, I don't seem to recall having barbed shot in my toolkit on live. I know I repeatedly compared BFA survival to LIVEBM, so I'm a bit confused as to the outrage about Barbed Shot, an ability which doesn't exist on live. If you want to extoll the magnificence of a spec that's functionally identical to LIVE(LEGION) BM, that's fine, but don't try to create a comparison I'm not making.

Either way, it's not similar to live BM either - so don't even bother. Same thing.

You can compare Live BM to BFA BM if you want, because these "2" specs are nearly identical to what BM has been throughout a good part of the expansions (dire frenzy build) and didn't get a whole lot of changes.
Or do you honestly believe Barbed shot is signifanctly (or even slightly) different from Dire Frenzy.

The gamestyle/play of Legion BM with Direfrenzy is the same as BFA BM - maintaining a high Stack/uptime of a skill - using spender 1 on CD and spender 2 as additional focus burn.
Neither is comparable to how BFA Survival, or Legion SV plays out.

[Sastank]

If you couldn't get into BM before, no idea how you'll get into Survival in BFA, it's basically the same thing at this stage.

Getting one of its abilities is the same thing now? Interesting

[Diggsworth]

Either way, it's not similar to live BM either - so don't even bother. Same thing.

You can compare Live BM to BFA BM if you want, because these "2" specs are nearly identical to what BM has been throughout a good part of the expansions (dire frenzy build) and didn't get a whole lot of changes.
Or do you honestly believe Barbed shot is signifanctly (or even slightly) different from Dire Frenzy.

The gamestyle/play of Legion BM with Direfrenzy is the same as BFA BM - maintaining a high Stack/uptime of a skill - using spender 1 on CD and spender 2 as additional focus burn.
Neither is comparable to how BFA Survival, or Legion SV plays out.

Legion BM: Use Crows > Kill Command when it's active > Dire Beast when it's active > Cobra Shot to prevent focus capping

BFA Surv: Use Serpent Sting > Kill Command when it's active > Wildfire Bomb when it's active > Raptor Strike to prevent focus capping

No, this does not include Bestial Wrath or Coordinated Assault. No this does not include Titan's Thunder.
This is the core rotation, for both specs.

[Schizoide]

If you reduce it to "a bunch of skills in a priority & don't cap" then yes they are identical. Here's the Arms BFA priority. Is it identical to BM too?

Use Colossus Smash > Execute when active > Mortal Strike when active > Overpower when active > Slam so you don't cap

[Diggsworth]

If you reduce it to "a bunch of skills in a priority & don't cap" then yes they are identical. Here's the Arms BFA priority. Is it identical to BM too?

Use Colossus Smash > Execute when active > Mortal Strike when active > Overpower when active > Slam so you don't cap

No, the difference is that one is a Warrior, which uses builds its resource, and feels completely different.
The other two are both Hunters, who deplete their resource, who when played feel the same.

[Mavick]

Legion BM: Use Crows > Kill Command when it's active > Dire Beast when it's active > Cobra Shot to prevent focus capping

BFA Surv: Use Serpent Sting > Kill Command when it's active > Wildfire Bomb when it's active > Raptor Strike to prevent focus capping

No, this does not include Bestial Wrath or Coordinated Assault. No this does not include Titan's Thunder.
This is the core rotation, for both specs.

I always love it when people say things like "core rotation" to make something sound simpler, or similar to something else, when in all reality in terms of how they play overall, they are not.

[Diggsworth]

I always love it when people say things like "core rotation" to make something sound simpler, or similar to something else, when in all reality in terms of how they play overall, they are not.

You're right, forgive me for saying something as stupid as "core rotation".
What I meant to say was 'dynamic interaction-based priority button sequence that adjusts based on cooldown-use and current resource level"

If you take your BM hunter on live, and stand in melee, it will feel like you're playing the current iteration of Survival on BFA.
Go hop on over to the beta, or the pre-prepatch I guess next week when it's up, try mixing it up, pop Aspect on Survival, pop out to range, then it'll feel even more like live BM.
I suppose I should start saying Legion BM soon, though.

[Black Sand]

Even if BM and Surv "feel" the same, this is not a bad thing in itself. Both specs share the hunter+pet fantasy, so a similarity is to be expected (frankly, them being too different wouldn't make much sense from a stylistic perspective). The biggest difference is the most obvious one: melee versus ranged. This difference is very defining and will make or break a spec for many players, so it can be seen as a good thing that a similar playstyle (it's not the same still) and fantasy can be enjoyed for those who enjoy these, but aren't comfortable in either close quarters or ranged.

On topic; I will most likely play Survival, if I choose my hunter as one my 'mains.' Though the other two specializations are tempting...

[Mavick]

You're right, forgive me for saying something as stupid as "core rotation".
What I meant to say was 'dynamic interaction-based priority button sequence that adjusts based on cooldown-use and current resource level"

If you take your BM hunter on live, and stand in melee, it will feel like you're playing the current iteration of Survival on BFA.
Go hop on over to the beta, or the pre-prepatch I guess next week when it's up, try mixing it up, pop Aspect on Survival, pop out to range, then it'll feel even more like live BM.
I suppose I should start saying Legion BM soon, though.

I think you missed my point. Nobody plays either of your examples with only those buttons. Seems like I keep having to to have this conversation but talent trees exist for a reason. Artifact abilities, currently, exist for a reason. Ignoring things like that just to make your point seem valid, just doesn't.

[Diggsworth]

I think you missed my point. Nobody plays either of your examples with only those buttons. Seems like I keep having to to have this conversation but talent trees exist for a reason. Artifact abilities, currently, exist for a reason. Ignoring things like that just to make your point seem valid, just doesn't.

I listed every single one of the abilities you use as a BM hunter in Legion, sorry, with the exception of Aspect of the Wild and the talent that replaces Dire Beast, Dire Frenzy. If you want to pretend that Legion BM hunter is a drastically complex spec where the artifact weapon and talents aren't, with the exception of crows, radically and entirely passive, be my guest, but don't sit here and be deliberately obtuse.

Every BM hunter only plays with those buttons. Crows. Kill Command. Dire Beast. Cobra Shot. Titan's Thunder.

- - - Updated - - -

Even if BM and Surv "feel" the same, this is not a bad thing in itself. Both specs share the hunter+pet fantasy, so a similarity is to be expected (frankly, them being too different wouldn't make much sense from a stylistic perspective). The biggest difference is the most obvious one: melee versus ranged. This difference is very defining and will make or break a spec for many players, so it can be seen as a good thing that a similar playstyle (it's not the same still) and fantasy can be enjoyed for those who enjoy these, but aren't comfortable in either close quarters or ranged.

On topic; I will most likely play Survival, if I choose my hunter as one my 'mains.' Though the other two specializations are tempting...

I agree. I'm not at all saying "don't play Survival". All I'm saying is that if you don't like Legion BM, you probably won't like BFA Survival.
For some people it being a spoopy melee-but-sometimes-ranged spec will be enough, and that's fine.
And this isn't even saying that I'm boycotting Survival.
I play a significant amount of it on live, and as I enjoy melee, I'll probably play it in BFA, but it's disingenuous to say they're not similar, and from my perspective they're basically the same thing.

- - - Updated - - -

Double reply, I liked BFA Survival a whole hell of a lot more when it had the talent to rotate in out of melee with Harpoon/Disengage. It had a very unique flair to it that I haven't experienced since FFXIV RDM. With that gone and everything homogenized, it's just too similar.

[Mirishka]

BM, I like how they added some gameplay to what was a very simple spec in Legion, and 100% mobility at ranged is just incredibly fun and useful.

Same here. It has a bit more going on and I am down for that.

[Mavick]

I listed every single one of the abilities you use as a BM hunter in Legion, sorry, with the exception of Aspect of the Wild and the talent that replaces Dire Beast, Dire Frenzy. If you want to pretend that Legion BM hunter is a drastically complex spec where the artifact weapon and talents aren't, with the exception of crows, radically and entirely passive, be my guest, but don't sit here and be deliberately obtuse.

Every BM hunter only plays with those buttons. Crows. Kill Command. Dire Beast. Cobra Shot. Titan's Thunder.

You didn't just "list buttons" you also spoke as to how they are pressed. For example, taking Dire Frenzy turns that Dire Beast button from a "press on cd" to a "I need to watch and manage stacks to optimize". Aspect of the Beast paired with boots changes how you press buttons as well. There's probably more I could pull out if I cared to think harder about it. All I'm saying is stop taking core abilities and putting it out there that "that's all this spec is", because that's pure nonsense.

[Raakel]

Solo = SV
M+ = BM
PVP = MM

That's how I roled in Legion and liked the diversity. Guess I'll be doing it the same way in BfA. SV on beta feels nice.

[Anoregon]

I usually play BM because I can't resist a T-rex pet, but I really like how Survival has turned out. Looking forward to rolling with that for a bit.

[Brocksley]

I know it's stupid, but if SV pulled out a shortbow instead of a crossbow to do the ranged stuff, it would make me more excited to play SV. Glyph please?

[ZealousBlade]

How do you pull out and use a 2-handed shortbow and still hold onto your 2 handed pole-arm?

[Khallid]

I like what they did with BM, but there is a gap: They should finally scale our and our pets damage with our attack power and rework mastery to increase the chance of a wild call proc + another side effect. I'm pretty sure this would fix BM for good, as we would finally properly scale with gear and ease the need for huge amounts of 2nd stats. They promised to make 2nd stats less impactful in BfA but they didn't deliver that when it comes to BM. The need for high crit and high mastery to do good numbers is still unchanged.

I don't know the details but people reported that the pet damage scaling has been reworked along with the stats squish. Apparently it was mostly to fix the issue of weapon damage being too weak, but I don't know what the new formulas are.

[Chief Bennett]

How do you pull out and use a 2-handed shortbow and still hold onto your 2 handed pole-arm?

I mean what happens to outlaw's offhand when they shoot? I do think the crossbow looks cool as fuck though

- - - Updated - - -

I'd like to see a glyph for some kind of gun, if you're playing a dwarf or gnome etc