I am one of the people that is STAUNCHLY pro keeping pets and this is exactly what I want. Basic pets with claw, bite, growl and dash that have no utility tied to them, are entirely optional to use and come with a small DPS penalty to not make them mandatory. I want the eagle and the rest of the changes - though I do also agree the eagle should be your stable pet - flying pets can swoop down, ground pets can run it. Its already how Intimidation works so its not like itd be a hard thing for them to code.
100% agree calling for 4th specs, new hero trees, new classes, and other overly convoluted solutions are brain dead and never going to happen. If people want pets they need to be realistic about what that looks like and not invent some “entire content patch thats only MM Hunter Pets” level of reworking - its just silly and causing noise.
Right so the main differences are, the eagle can’t be hurt, so it doesn’t have to be healed or resurrected or told to come back to you because it’s chasing an enemy far off of the distance, it does offer pretty much the same utility, but that utility can’t fail to function because the eagle can’t be crowd controlled or killed. So yes, you still choose when to press the buttons you want for the utility you want, but it’s just better.
What’s not better is you cannot misdirect to it I would imagine because it cannot technically be in combat. I think it’s pretty ingenious to hypothetically, put the damage from the regular pet on the hunter and put the ability to use the utility you want also on the hunter and just have the eagle as an animation when you use the utility that used to be from a regular pet.
Do I want Aimed Shot to have a tiny cast time always? Sure. Fortunately a few talents improve AS cast time, duplicate its damage on more targets, and occasionally award procs of free instant casted AS. AS should be in a good spot for damage afforded for the effort required if I’m understanding the talents for 11.1 well enough. Having the best range of all specs may also help in M+ just as moving while casting AS during Cheetah will help in pvp. MM looks really great for 11.1 from the talents and we will know more soon.
The Eagle does not attack, that is your job, the Eagle is just part of the the utility animation if I’m understanding the bluepost well. Utility = clearing roots/snares, Bloodlust, intimidation ect, not damage.
So, MMs pet did/does a very small percentage of an MMs total damage. Having the pet to absorb damage on your behalf while utilizing the very strong heal from mend pet to try to let your pet tank was nice. Unfortunately instead of corrections being made to fix pet AI/pathing, it was decided to move the utility to the Hunter, and I think the total 11.1 MM package is going to be great, even if losing the pet to tank for you is a lost tool for the spec.
Aimed shot MS needs to last a very long time, or more abilities need to apply it. I really like the direction, but more MS specs need to move away from permanent, passive MS at the same time, or else this is just a flat nerf to marks. BM/SV will still get passive MS from pets. Rogue, demon hunter, warrior, etc. basically just need to not be cc’ed to keep their ms up. Marks won’t always be able to cast aimed shot to reapply its ms.
Some of you guys are legitimately irrational about this pet thing. The dichotomy of people DEMANDING regular pets return vs those APPALLED that there is any pet interaction via your eagle marking stuff is notable. What’s a sane game manager supposed to do with this feedback? Nothing personal against y’all, but you really have to move on and let it go.
I tried a spec out in it, MM with lone wolf. Hows that not native to the class? Then after that I just went BM instead. Although that probably had more to do with the design of the torghast powers more than anything.
But there are certain issues that need to be addressed if blizzard is determined to remove pets from mm.
If a MM hunter is displeased about losing the pet or anything else changing in 11.1, they should hop on the PTR when it is avaliable, do some testing and provide Blizzard with some educated feedback. They may love all the changes, they may hate all the changes, they may love some and hate others. The PTR is a good spot to report opinions that are complaints or recommend changes AFTER seeing what 11.1 has to offer. I’m very excited to do testing and provide honest feedback. Like any MM enjoyer, I just want the spec to be fun and effective. What makes it fun will vary from person to person and thats ok.
Anything that you have to preemptively nerf by 50% in pvp before it’s even released is a bad idea. Full stop.
Versions that depend on things like double tap or live withering fire are not good game designs. You get a gimmicky button that either oneshots someone or it doesn’t, and that’s your win condition. You’re giving a bazillion modifiers to aimed shot. Rapidfire will stay big. And this version of DT activates off global when you press trueshot.
We have been through this before, and it’s always ended in marks being OP and everyone hating it, or marks having to be so obscenely nerfed that it never works in arena. There’s not really a feasible middle ground where base aimed/rf can be impactful with these buttons in the game. Just be forewarned, this is a recipe for disaster, and you have the opportunity to not do it.
I’m pretty sure that neither of y’all are responsible for any of these changes and that your negotiations between each other are irrelevant because it’s not up to you.
Glad you cleared that up for us. This whole time, I thought the CEO was personally getting notified of my forum posts.
Us individually, no, we’re not negotiating anything. Collectively, these changes aren’t happening in a vacuum: enough people desired to poach MM for their own pleasure, and as we’re now seeing, a lot of people are rejecting it.
The marks pet dialogue has been a thing for a very long time. At competitive PvE levels, you have to run LW to do your best damage, and thus lose all of your group utility in the process. Or, you take a damage hit to run pet. Or you summon and dismiss pet at awkward times. You have to use pet in pvp.
It’s not like having a pet or not having a pet has been a neutral decision. LW has always been a friction point. This new iteration is very clearly meant to be a more fluid compromise for those who want to play like a “lone wolf” without completely losing all of their class utility from the pet. Instead of giving it a chance, you have both “sides” sophomorically making emotional arguments on behalf of stuff that you have no control over. It is ironic because if y’all would just shut up and give it a chance, you might find that it’s actually a way better compromise than LW ever was for those who want to play with or without pets.
We’re not robots. It’s a video game. Of course there will be appeals to emotion. You’re not saying anything even remotely profound.
Yes, I’m well aware that LW is necessary at high levels of play. I’m arguing that it should never have been so in the first place because it should never have been an option to run a pet-less pet class. Enough ground has been given to people who wanted their fantasy at the expense of other players; now we’re losing everything.