Hello Hunter Devs. I’ve been playing hunter on beta for the last week and compiling notes on the changes and now the second lot of changes are out I will add my feedback on all 7 trees this week.
Starting with Class tree for this post;
The BM version of the Class tree has a missing link between tranq shot and counter shot
Concussive shot coming off Imp Kill Shot is a potential inconvenience
Scout’s Instinct coming off Misdirection is also not very smooth, especially in PvP
Devilsaur Tranq is not a good counter to enrages. Very few situations occur that you would want to soothe a target again so often and use more GCDs to do so. In PvP often 1 soothe is all that’s needed for 10 seconds at least. in PvE (especially in M+ enraging affix weeks) Hunter is a counter to that affix but Tranq shot only dispells 1 stack of 1 enrage on a target. If the mob has multiple enrages (maybe it enrages already and not the enrage affix gives it 2) or if the mob has multiple stacks of an enrage (think skitterfly) then Tranq shot is an extremely weak GCD to push vs these abilities. getting to use/waste another GCD even sooner than 10 seconds is not much a reward for spending a talent point. I would like to see this dispel all enrage effects on a target and idealy to counter to enraging M+ affix I would like Devilsaur Tranq to hit multiple targets (maybe 3?) so that it’s powerful on these weeks. otherwise every other soothe class is better at countering enraging (especially the only aoe soothe from evoker)
Please make Misdirection work with pet’s threat to make it more useful for BM Hunters
Lone Survivor is able to be selected without getting Survival of the Fittest which seems unnatural. Swapping Survival of the Fittest with Tar Trap and therefore Entrapment with Padded armor has better ‘flow’ imo. Creating a “CC line” from trap into Intimidation, and a “defensive line” from Survival of the Fittest into Lone Survivor.
Binding shot is still an extremely unsatisfying and useless button. As an ‘unbreakable’ root it was considered ‘OP’ but we were not given the ‘Mass Dispel’ treatment. Priest did not get it’s unique utility removed but it got balanced. hunter deserves the unique utility it had in Binding Shot in Shadowlands but needs it balanced. It’s CD could be increased to 90 seconds or 2 mins or be given a target cap. As a stun, Binding shot is the worst stun in the game.
Tar-Coated Bindings is in turn extremely disappointing and not worth the talent point. Most of the PvE situations that Binding Shot stuns a target it’s already on DR and an extra second is not a worthy talent point. Perhaps this talent point could turn Binding shot into the root it once was? or perhaps it could ‘Add the L’ and turn it into Blinding shot to be a disorientate. Or Perhaps even makes Binding shot stun on contact with mobs so that it is an actual aoe stun. there are many good options.
Territorial Instincts is not succeeding in it’s goal. Stunning 3 targets (2 of which are ‘random’) is not a useful piece of Utility for an extra talent point. Having a pet pop out of no where for a MM hunter is not a bonus you want to spend a talent point on, it’s a downside you have to then cast a 3 second dismiss on. Perhaps the MM Hunter isn’t using Lone Wolf but then if there’s 3 targets to stun then having a pet out is a larger dps loss than on single target. This talent should be stunning all enemies within 8 yrds of the target, or be redesigned.
Kindling fire is also not worth a talent point spend. This utility should be baseline for the flare spell. Flare is not an ‘overpowered’ button that needs this to cost a talent point to get. This talent could instead be ‘Flash Bang’ - Flare disorientates all enemies it lands on, the Cooldown is increased by 40 seconds.
I have now suggested 3 different options that could give Hunter the ‘aoe stop’ it’s desperate for. either Binding shot (in multiple ways could aoe stop as said above), Territorial Instincts being ‘uncapped’, or Flare given a disorientate. There is even an option to give a talent that makes Hi-Explosive trap knock up instead of away, much like the shaman talent for thunderstomp (thunderstorm?).
4 options of an aoe stop, we would like 1 of them please.
Binding Shackles has almost no use in PvE situations and I believe it should deduce damage to all allies instead of just the hunter for 8 seconds. Also I’d like to see it swap places with Improved Traps, which makes more sense as it gatekeeps Moment of Opportunity.
Moment of Opportunity does not need to have a 1 min internal cooldown, it would then require tracking on a WA to optimise and only happening once per minute is rather lack luster. The Traps already have cooldown costs, talent costs, and GCD costs, therefore this internal CD should be removed and then it might be an appeal talent (especially if Improved Traps was above it)
Guillie suit has very little use in PvE as all damage brings you out of camo and therefore you gain 20% DR for 3 seconds during a time where you don’t particularly want or need it for 1 talent point investment. I also believe the PvP uses aren’t amazing. The best suggestion I’ve ever seen for Guillie Suit is ‘While camouflaged all Hunter abilitiy cooldowns refresh 10% faster’
This is balanced because you must spend at least 1 min not in camo.
If it stays as a DR it would be good to be able to use in combat somehow?
The Hunter class tree has a large amount of talents that seem more useful in PvP than in PvE. which is fine by itself. however PvP main Hunters will find it hard to actually get the talents they want as there are so so many. namely; Guillie Suit, Roar of Sac, Concussive shot, Entrapment, Kindling Fire, Quick Load, Moment of Opportunity, Binding Shackles, Scout’s Instincts, and more. All of which lean slightly towards being stronger in PvP than PvE. A PvP Hunter would struggle to get all the talents they want/need without giving up a huge amount of damage or other ‘required’ talents.
I Love the new class tree it’s a huge improvement on what we had and I appreciate the time and effort that went into developing it. This feedback is intent on making Hunter the best possible version we can. Thanks for reading
Videos explaining my notes in more detail can be found on youtube @Slothfaceyoutube