Something I’ve noticed is it feels like Marksman hunters have an odd choice between two hero specs that are highly racial flavored. One being Sentinel which is clearly night elven theme and the other being Dark Ranger which fits undead characters - particularly the undead elf skins. But if you don’t fit into one of these couple of races it feels like there isn’t a strong marksman fantasy available. For example would a Zandalari or Dwarf resonate with a Dark Ranger or Sentinel?
Some other hero specs are also racially themed such as Mountain Thane, Herald of the Sun, San’layn and Sunfury but in all these cases there is always another hero specs available that has a more general theme that can feel more fitting. If you enjoy playing marksman hunter you are kind of locked in between two niche fantasies.
Another issue is Sentinel feels like a bit hamfisted to be a marksman and survival fit, I don’t personally see the connection with the melee fantasy. It feels that Sentinel was inspired by the Priestess of the Moon in W3 and the iconic character for that is Tyrande. Which funny enough, sent away her own owl that Sentinel uses to watch over the iconic Dark Ranger so she no longer has it.
In retrospect I think a bounty hunter type hero spec could have worked well one that felt like a fantasy that fits more for a marksman hunter player who prefers to use a gun. I like playing a lot of alts I have four of each class (big altoholic) and none of them are elves so those two hero specs are not vibing with me. I’m curious if any hunter mains here feel similarly?
Hey Vicara! I main MM/SV
Idk, Sentinal and Dark Ranger have sorta’ grown on me. I feel a little conflicted about hero talents because it’s like, even if Dark Ranger looks incredible and fits class fantasy etc - it’s very likely that Sentinal will be our mainstay given all of its power baked into it.
Sometimes the mechanics and power that are granted to the hero trees sometimes conflict with the ideal aesthetic and stuff (for me!) - and that ruins some of the experience. This is 100% the players making this problem - deciding to do whatever maximizes the number over any other enjoyment. But I can’t help but wonder if there isn’t some sort of creative solution to help solve it for us.
But I guess what you’re talking about is moreso just the headcannon of how these hero talents make sense, specifically Sentinal. I guess with Sentinal the “vibe” I get (just spitting words here) is “scouting”, “calling on owls to help find stuff”, “survival-ish, scavaging sorta sneaky nature-y whispery hunter ppl”. At first I thought it was kinda’ lame and weird, but the more I think about Rexxar, Sentinal owl’s removal, and kinda’ the basic themes of Hunters historically it seems to fit well enough as any.
ALSO! We should keep in mind that mostly everything is evergreen now! So I think it’s totally in the cards for hero talents to change and be remolded over time. 
Okay one more thing, I think it’s good that no matter the hero talent they all still feel like their baseline class. I don’t think we want each spec x2 (one-hundered and something specs sounds wild). So as long as that solid hunter foundation is there I think it’s just sorta minor flare on top ya-know?
Going to post the hunter feedback thread(s) I find here, just in case things start to overlap to where we might want to transfer conversation::
Main Hunter Feedback Thread
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