When Legion pre-patch first came out, one of the things that drove me crazy (aside from losing my SV spec), was how clunky the other specs felt. It’s something that doesn’t get talked about very often, but it was caused by the switch from Focus to Energy.
One of my favorite things about being a hunter was that I always had a button to press. When we switched to Focus in Wrath, I was worried that would change, but it didn’t. In fact, I think the change from Mana to Focus was a good thing. It made Focus management something that could distinguish a “good” hunter from an “okay” hunter.
However, in the Legion Pre-Patch, they switched from Focus to Energy. I think it’s largely because they needed Energy for the Melee spec. Energy feels natural in Melee, because you often rely on quick bursts or rotations, and there are natural breaks in your rotation as you dodge effects and what-not.
Unfortunately, Energy doesn’t work well for a ranged spec. It made the two ranged specs feel clunky as Hell.
This is important to remember because bringing Survival back would mean bringing Focus back to as well, and it’s the primary reason it needs its own class.
I agree, the switch away from many did not only make a lot of sense for the class as a whole. It’s also a lot more fun to play with/manage compared to mana.
I hope that I’m not misunderstanding what you’re saying but, keep in mind that we(hunters) are still using Focus as a resource in the game.
In early Vanilla, they did actually consider Energy as a potential resource for the class. Though it never went into the game, neither on alpha/beta or on live.
They quickly discarded that idea and went on to another resource. That one being Focus. Yes, hunters were originally intended to use Focus as a primary resource. They actually had a system in development but it was very different from what we’re seeing today.
Ultimately, they decided to scrap it very late in the beta process because they could not get it to a state where it felt good enough to use. Hence why we ended up with Mana as a last minute bandaid.
The devs have openly said that they did not like Mana for hunters but that they had to get the class to a functioning state for launch.
Kevin Jordan(one of the original game designers for WoW) mentioned this just a few weeks ago on one of his streams on twitch. He is no longer working for Blizz though.
I played retail about 18 months ago, and it’s been longer since I played my Hunter.
What I meant to say was that the removal of a focus generating filler made it feel a lot like playing with Energy. It’s the reason the rotation felt clunky (at least the last time I played my hunter).
One of the things I liked most about playing hunter, was that I always had a button to press. That was lost in Legion pre-patch, because I had to wait for focus to regenerate. It behaved a lot like energy in that respect.
They’ve gotten better at minimising downtime but it’s still a minor problem. I think making Chimera Shot baseline for BM would help a lot. It’s possible to have a Hunter spec work well and be fun without a focus-generating filler but they need to tune it right and in early Legion they missed the mark completely.
When we switched to Focus in Wrath, I was worried that would change, but it didn’t. In fact, I think the change from Mana to Focus was a good thing.
Well, since it’ll never go back, I guess there are people who enjoy the battery simulator. I haven’t enjoyed my content vehicle since WoTLK. I hate focus, I’ll always hate focus. I hate the battery simulator, absolutely period. I still do it, it’s my vehicle, and it always will be. I just don’t enjoy it as I did many years ago.
Seriously though, this isn’t an attack on you. We disagree on what was more fun for our shared class. I don’t think your opinion is wrong, it’s just not for me. If classic ever expands to WoTLK - I’ll probably play it exclusively until such a time the live game feels more comfortable and less like a bloody battery charger simulator.
Tying the resource to the moment-to-moment gameplay is something you see often in WoW because it works well. It facilitates dynamic, priority-based systems rather than static rotations based around strict cooldowns, which is exactly what Hunters were before Focus and this is directly stated as their motivation for creating Focus in the first place.
Never even mind the thematic inconsistency, having to drink after pulls, and the ridiculous band-aid that was Aspect of the Viper…
While i think you may be exaggerating some points about mana your first point is strong. However i do like how each spec has a different feel of how it generates focus. While i prefer the more active generation style of marksman, i think that the more passive style of bm has its merits. It might not be for me but i would hate to see it go away completely