I have always loved mobility, no cast-time and taming different exotic pets, etc.
In Shadowlands BM hunters are put down by lot.
Damage nerf
AOE capped to 5
Pet revive to 4 seconds
Horrible or low-damage legendaries
I don’t want to switch to MM by force, (I like MM too but not as much as BM), if the BM under performs, majority of players will have to either switch to different spec or class or even abandon the game, just because Blizzard decide that in this expansion we are not liking BMs!
Blizzard please fix this favored hunter spec, would you?
I hate MM with a passion and would still play BM if it was the lowest spec in the game, but it does need a small buff.
Also, did they ever explain the reasoning behind making revive pet 4 seconds instead of 2? It really sucks for soloing and battlegrounds.
If my memory doesn’t fail me - BM in BfA also started in lows, but as secondary stats (crit/haste) started rolling - so did the spec due to crit resets on Barbed Shot.
I for one am happy that MM is viable after two years of BfA, but not happy that it’s because BM got slapped in the face with mediocre legendaries and unnecessary nerf to pet res. I hope that by 9.1 hunter in general is going to be in good state… but… just look at Survival spec - it’s been a niche for how long now? 2 years? 3 years?
Also, don’t forget the useless Shadowlands Beta FEEDBACK thread where 95% of feedback was blatanly disregarded. Class design has been extremely inept for last 3 years.
Is it me or is BM pet extremely squishy @60 ? Solo mobs are fine but 2-4 he gets eaten up (clefthoof). I seem to spend all my time just waiting for mend pet & misdirection to reset
ilevel is low - 150ish so hoping things get better ?
change your pet if you are dying a lot. Just because a pet is BIG doesn’t mean it can take a lot of damage. the Dino’s look nice but die fast. Use a turtle or pet with a shield it will pop to save its life. Example is the turtle, core hounds, even that new bonehead pet in Maldraxxus is a good one…
Yeah I got into a discussion with other Hunters about this pet because they were claiming it tanks better than my spirit beast.
I tried a clefthoof and it tanked as well as a wet paper bag. I macro spirit mend and mend pet together which gives me a big heal every 30 seconds. I can pull groups of 4 or 5 with little problem.
But to OP. Another specs performance shouldn’t be the death of your favorite spec unless you are in a mythic progress guild that is going for ranking.
Aside from that it really doesn’t matter. Anyone that says different is just a min/maxer or in that said group.
Crazy to think we play this game based on who’s the very top instead of enjoying the specs we enjoy. Outside of the very few OP classes, the differences otherwise between classes is small.
Someone is always going to be at the bottom of that list.
Very true WingClipt, I just don’t want to be in a position that I get rejected to do Mythic+ Dungeons and Heroic raids.
I don’t play competitively and have no plans to be among top players in the world but I am a guy who likes to get Keystone Master achievements and such.
As long as my damage can get me to do M15s and Heroic raid, I am happy.
I’ve pugged my way to 9/10H and been on H Sire for over 70 wipes now - I saw a few BM’s along the way. They’re not as bad as people make them out to be. Could they use a little love? Sure. But they’re definitely playable.
when the gap of 10% or more there is a massive issue though. Blizzard has NEVER been able to balance the game, hell they do not even try it seems with their ham fisted nerfs and buff.
I think BM Hunter’s low DPS ranking at start of Expansion is normal like on Legion and BFA. BM’s power comes in at maximum Crit stats which usually comes in on the last season of the expansion and really gain its supremacy on a very fast pace scenarios where constant movement are required. We were dominant on Season 4 of BFA and on Pre-launch of Shadowlands. What happened in Shadowlands? Our Crit became LOL at start of expansion (from 40%+ to around 20%). We lose Dance of Death ability. It’s really awful. When I saw this, I switched to MM on day 1 of Shadowlands.
MM is supreme right now becoz of Burst. MM could kill all the trash even before BM’s Pets get to the target and start its rotation. I dont think MM is good on Sustain fights like on Raid.
I may switch to BM on Season 4. For now, I am good as MM. BTW, Torghast is way easier with BM just like on 5-Mask Visions.
Last night, I tried to clear layer 8 (Upper Reaches) with MM spec and no matter what I did the last boss wiped me (448K health), couldn’t keep the pet alive and boss was able to break the freeze trap, pet was not getting rez on time even if I turtled the boss like two shot me and MM was completely depleted beyond in the initial burst, I cannot stand there with 10% health and wait for a 2.5 second Aim Shot cast!
The initial burst and the bloodlust allowed me to get the boss to 5% health but then I would get wiped.
I switched to BM and I wiped the whole layer 8 and the final boss in half the time and no trouble at all.
I noticed this as well. Might be a start of expansion thing, or at least I hope so. In BFA, my pet could easily hold packs of 4-5 mobs while I AOE’d them down, but now if there’s more than one mob, my pet can’t hold aggro, at also takes a buttload of damage.
The gap is 10 percent. Best to worst DPS specs in the game are about 23%, so 10% is significant.
If warcraftlogs was Details, it would look like this:
Rank
Class
Spec
1
Warlock
Affliction
2
Druid
Balance
3
Priest
Shadow
4
HUNTER
MARKSMANSHIP
5
Death Knight
Unholy
6
Rogue
Outlaw
7
Mage
Fire
8
Druid
Feral
9
Rogue
Subtlety
10
Shaman
Elemental
11
Shaman
Enhancement
12
Warrior
Arms
13
Monk
Windwalker
14
Paladin
Retribution
15
Demon Hunter
Havoc
16
HUNTER
BEAST MASTERY
17
Warlock
Demonology
18
Hunter
Survival
19
Death Knight
Frost
20
Warlock
Destruction
21
Warrior
Fury
22
Mage
Arcane
23
Mage
Frost
24
Rogue
Assassination
Have fun justifying a spot in the raid. Raid leaders look at the colors - not the specs. If there are 10 classes between you and the MM hunter, you’re likely to get benched or not invited at all.
The specs need to be closer together than they are. Hell, the classes need to be closer together than they are.
I’m on the cusp of crafting my MM legendary, but I’m waiting through New Years in hopes that Blizzard tweaks the numbers to get the specs closer. If not, then the spec will be dead this patch like MM was in 8.3, and many people who hate MM will be forced into it (like those who hated BM in 8.3).
For a hardcore progression guild, trying to push at extremely low relative levels of gear, it matters because every ounce of throughput is necessary at that point.
For a “standard” progression guild, it matters because the players there likely aren’t as skilled and aren’t minmaxing to the same degree, so huge swings between DPS specs of the same class are hard to justify. If everybody was as skilled and/or minmaxing within their spec to the same extent as the hardcore guild, everyone could probably run whatever they want and the bosses would still die.
For a “casual” raiding guild, likely nobody cares.
For a pug, the community has long shunned anything that isn’t meta. This is just as true for pug raids as it is for pug M+.