The only identity SV has is Melee Hunter. This shouldn’t be a design philosophy. The most integral part of its arsenal, right now, is ranged and will be only optional in DF. You kite when fighting melee because you can’t go toe to toe with them… as a melee spec. SV is just completely schizophrenic. I might not mind it being melee if a big-brain at Blizzard could put in writing what it’s supposed to be.
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Well I mean, its in writing plain as day by a blizz employee that its a melee spec that sometimes shoots things, so theres that
Plus the new alpha tree shows at least some feedback being taken seriously, with hunters getting more comms than any other class, but the salty tears are slightly enjoyable nonetheless
It seems to be steadily becoming a melee spec that mostly shoots things, which brings into question why they went through the time and effort to take away the ranged weapon from SV in the first place especially given the endless trouble that has caused for the spec.
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I agree. I think when you get in to a head space Survival feels like that hit and run guerilla fighter but they only have so many tools to really show that and honestly WoW’s combat dos not really facilitate “hit and run” tactics. WoWs basic combat is kill or be killed. The only deviation of this is in PVP and even then there are not many situations were the flow of combat is wildly changed once it starts. Just to state this I also don’t think a classes style or identity should be better or more fleshed out in ether PVP or PVE.
I think it is also worth saying that there are WAY to many DPS specs trying to have there own gameplay identity with such fundamental gameplay. It is impossible to really make every DPS feel identifiable. I think at best Blizzard could hope to offer more classes a unique utility to make bringing that class feel more worthwhile. Still we have the problem of these triple DPS specs fighting for identity within there class.
I know this is not the ideal solution for a lot of people but I honestly wouldn’t mind Blizzard trimming the number of DPS specs. I think having one hunter that changes based on talents rather then a specialization could lead to better class design and more freedom when implementing different concepts that fit with multiple playstyles. Again that is just a solution I myself like the sound of.
I understand many people would not like the aforementioned changes even if it just meant fusing 4 trees in to one big tree.
I’m a fan of Path of Exile style trees, but all skill are accesible to all “classes” (if you can even call them that.) That would be difficult to pull off in the system WoW has presently.
I don’t think triple DPS classes are really an issue if the method of damage application fits into a certain archetype and/or pattern. Personally, I’m a fan of Hunter being an analog to Warlock, but rather than doing Shadow/Chaos/Fire and Diseases, it does Physical/Nature/Fire.
- BM/Demo: Master of critters. Warlock bends demons to their will, Hunter more a friend of nature calling upon beasts to assist
- MM/Destro: Long cast, chonky damage. Warlock casting spells, Hunter aiming shots
- SV/AFF: Rot damage. Both achieve this through control - Fears, slows, traps, pet abilities.
SV could accomplish this as ranged or melee. Bleeds, poison, burns, etc. If the calculations for the abilites were based off of AP rather than weapon damage, the choice of white damage delivery could be agnostic of weapon type, or a reasonable choice based on the environment - PvP comp you are playing, or playing against; PvE boss fight or dungeon. I think it wouldn’t really take too much tweaking to make that approach work.
As for identity in general, if you were to ask the WoW community at large to give a spec-defining ability for every spec in the game, they could probably list one or two things for every one. I don’t know what that would be for SV, though. Wildfire Bomb that can now be ignored entirely? Raptor Strike? Our focus dump?? That would be like Arcane Shot defining MM. And really, why has this Arcane Shot stuck around as long as it has? It’s not any more or less iconic than other things that have been pruned or outright removed. Hunters don’t even use mana, and haven’t for a decade, but I digress…
Even if it was approached more generically: Bm = lolafkpetdamage; MM = Big Crits, SV = ??? This is, IMHO, the same problem with Rogue, which frankly would have been a better candidate to a get a ranged spec (Outlaw as Scoundrel equivalent) than SV getting melee. The other pure DPS classes, and even the 2-option hybrids have pretty clear “This is what to expect when playing one/This is what to expect when fighting one” kinda existences. SV doesn’t enjoy any particular identity or spec-defining gameplay. If memory serves (haven’t played this patch) the only synergystic play SV has is if you take the Wildfire Bomb talent for additional effects. Otherwise it’s just a string of pressing things when off CD with no impact on outcome if that order is changed.
dragonflight is more of the same garbage direction that killed this class in legion. i was high on hopium for the class trees but it’s obvious the class needs someone else to take over that hopefully has played it longer than 10 min.
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