I played MM with a pet since 2005, how long have you?
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They can just let us cast BL without needing a pet. Problem solved without having to actually turn the spec into some Frankenstein abomination by ripping out a bunch of the spec and shoving in a bunch of random new stuff that won’t get nearly the amount of testing it needs from a patch instead of an expansion like they’re supposed to do with massive changes like these.
5 Likes
that doesn’t solve the current gameplay problems that people have been complaining about though. the reality is a large portion of current MM players do not like how MM plays right now
1 Like
Please keep lone wolf/no pet spec. I enjoy the MM spec a lot. I found a play style with lone wolf that I really enjoy and can do decent in. I don’t want some imaginary eagle or forced pets, I like playing a sniper type spec.
Until we get a good gun/sniper class, hunter will have to do.
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What complaints? Having to pull out a pet occasionally is an easy solve, they’ve already figured it out for Warlocks. They had it figured out for Hunters already as well, but I guess they forgot how to do it. Which is funny, since they’re going to be doing it again in a few years if they ever get to WoD or Legion classic.
2 Likes
My feedback is: don’t remove our pets. Please. That’s insane of y’all. Pets are a core piece of every hunter spec, why would you make a decision to remove them??
Edit: I think most hunters are being so loud about this change because the pets are being taken away as a whole. I get it if the pets’ functionality are taken away for MM and they can just be used as companions that follow you around, but to remove it as a whole feels bad all around. MM hunters should not be panicked and switching specs just because they don’t want to lose their lil buddy that they’ve had for years. Just allow us to keep the pets for looks, if nothing else.
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what core piece of MM identity and gameplay is the pet?
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There needs to be a fantasy tie in for something like that. One spec of hunter being able to inspire their team when the others have their beast frenzy everyone is a strange fantasy way to go. It makes sense for an eagle scouting above giving a loud caw signal to everyone to attack faster. The Hunter themselves shouldn’t really be doing that.
Fantasy is important to Blizzard and I don’t want them to abandon that when the idea is sound mechanically too. The real rub long term is players who like their pet are loudly wanting to still play with it. And I think that can be solved cosmetically without affecting this cool rework.
2 Likes
Give Hunters a special flare that provides a signal that it’s time to go all out. That makes about as much sense as an eagle screeching and everybody suddenly attacking faster.
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I’m not commenting on Pack Leader – I play neither BM nor Survival as I don’t enjoy them, so have no useful feedback on the mechanical changes but the aesthetics of using a specific NPC’s pets rather than your own feels odd – and relatively minor tweaks to MM’s rotation are an eh, I’ll learn them. But if the major pain point for MM is “Can’t cast BL without a pet” – which is recognized and called out in the original post – then the solution is to just let Lone Wolf Marksmanship Hunters cast BL without a pet. They are doing that by making it a spec ability rather than pet dependent. Problem solved!
…But then additionally there is this “no pets, only eagle” overhaul. There are 10 talents that are new or changed just to support that. This change means losing utility in solo & small group content (open world and Delves). This is amputating your leg to fix a sprained ankle.
17 Likes
They could call such a special signal flare something like… Hunter’s Mark 
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Also, I want to mention one thing: the Trueshot changes are cool, but I think it might make the button a little less fun to press without the haste. I will reserve judgment until we can PTR test, but want to mention it ahead of time.
I have played the same hunter since Vanilla, and she has had the same cat I named after a now long-deceased pet cat of mine. I don’t think taking the choice away to have a pet is a good idea; many of us are attached to our in-game bros. It’s not game-breaking, I know, but it feels bad.
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Bran will be able to tank in Delves.
Brann tanking in Delves is tied to Brann receiving heals and last I checked, Hunters aren’t getting healing spells.
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They seem to be a tiny minority in every single topic on the subject. It seems you’ve overestimated the desire for this.
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I’ve literally been trucking around with the same pet for 20 years and now you’re taking him away from me?
Yes I play marks, and no I don’t use lone wolf.
I raid, do M+ and open world content.
This to me utterly demolishes class fantasy. I don’t love BM, I love being the classic hunter, with big aimed shots, traps and a pet to back me up.
Forget mechanics, and throughput and all of that stuff for a second and look at what you’re actually taking away.
It’s a relationship with a character we’ve build up for decades. Yes its pixels but my pet Tigey is MY pixels. He’s been my virtual buddy through years of exploration and dungeons and raids and now he’s going away because ?! reasons?!
Bad call guys.
24 Likes
Taking pets away from Marks altogether only to be replaced by a mandatory eagle is certainly a choice. If you’re a marks hunter who likes doing open world content and delves with a single pet, maybe one you’ve grown fond of after literally twenty years, maybe one you’ve named after a real pet you had that’s passed, you’re basically being told the only way to keep playing with that pet is to totally change the way you play your class by swapping to a melee spec or take on a second pet and a totally different rotation as BM. Meanwhile, if you’re a lone wolf player who likes the fantasy of being totally solo, now you’re having a mandatory eagle foisted upon you whether you want it or not.
This feels like a change centered exclusively around the portion of the playerbase primarily concerned with M+ and raiding. From a purely gameplay perspective, I’m sure this will be much more cohesive, streamlined, and probably a lot more fun to develop the class around from the designer’s perspective. It just comes at the cost of RP flavor, decades of sentimental attachment, open world utility, and player choice.
24 Likes
Also, people being unhappy with the spec doesn’t mean that Blizz should radically redesign it mid-expansion where it won’t get nearly as much testing as it would with expansion beta testing.
14 Likes
For Survival, shouldn’t Symphonic Arsenal (the Sentinel talent) affect Flanking Strike now that it shares a choice node with Butchery?
1 Like