Edits:
- Reduced Hunter GCD (Less Short Shortlist). Potencies (%AP values) not yet adjusted to match.
- Some technicalities simplified in the writing (relegated to parentheticals).
The Shortlist (the basics)
- The damage penalty applied by Animal Companion now applies only to the animal companion. Other summons such as Spitting Cobra and A Murder of Crows are not affected.
- Dash is now a toggle automatically activated when your pet has an auto-attack readied and/or special attack readied (with sufficient Focus) and is out of range of its target, or is at full Focus regardless. While active, your pet regenerates no Focus.
- Revive Pet cast time reduced to 3 seconds (down from 4) and Focus cost to 30 (down from 35), but your pet now revives with only 60% HP.
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Trueshot reworked.
Trueshot – Increases your Haste by 25% while increasing the rate by which your Focus regenerates and damaging shots recharge by 50%.
- Kill Command damage increased by ~15%.
- Raptor Strike damage increased by ~15%, Mongoose Bite damage by ~12%.
- Bursting Shot cone widened and lengthened by 30% and now pushes enemies back in an arc heightened and lengthened with proximity. Additionally, it will now push enemies towards the center of the cone’s outer edge, offering more control over how it positions them.
- Mastery: Spirit Bond (Survival) scaling buffed to 1% per 12 points of Mastery, improved from 1% per ~21.2 points.
- Mastery: Master of Beasts (Beastmastery) scaling buffed to 1% per 17 points of Mastery, improved from 1% per ~18.4 points.
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Flayed Shot revised to give some AoE value and greater proc functionality:
Flayed Shot – 30-second cooldown. Flay your enemy’s spirit, dealing (200% of Attack Power) Shadow damage to it and enemies within 8 yards over 15 seconds while causing your Kill Shots to refund their Focus cost and deal 20% more damage. Each time of Flayed Shot deals damage, it has a 15% chance to grant an extra charge of Kill Shot that can be used within the next 10 seconds on any target regardless of their current health.
- Flayed Shot is guaranteed at least 1 proc per use. The bonus charge of Kill Shot will not be consumed if your regular Kill Shot could have been used anyways.
- These changes collectively allow for Flayed Shot to deal uncapped AoE damage while still remaining centered about focus-target damage and for greater fit alongside the original Kill Shot. It should thus feel synergetic with Deadeye, rather than dependent on it for a functional design.
- Flayed Shot is guaranteed at least 1 proc per use. The bonus charge of Kill Shot will not be consumed if your regular Kill Shot could have been used anyways.
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Death Chakram revised to allow for AoE scaling:
Death Chakram – 45-second cooldown. Throw a deadly chakram that will quickly bounce once each between up to 5 nearby enemies before converging on your primary target to attack it for the remainder of its total of 6 strikes.
Each time the chakram deals damage, its damage is increased by 100% and you generate 4 Focus.
- With these changes, Death Chakram’s single-target damage is unchanged (or, changed only from 367% AP to 367.5%), but it now scales noticeably with AoE.
- To speak concretely, it deals 682.5% AP at 2 targets (+85.7%), 945% AP at 3 targets (+157%), 1155% AP at 4 targets (+214%), 1312.5% AP at 5 targets (+257%), and 1417.5% AP (+286%) at 6 targets. It obvious doesn’t scale as linearly as Wild Spirits, but the lower the target count, the greater the focus damage. This should offer it a significant enough niche, especially given the Focus regeneration (24, up from 21), without it losing applicability to more AoE-centric content.
The Less Short Shortlist (with some modifications to the above)
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Hunter GCD reduced to 1.25 seconds.
- This seems a comfortable middle-ground for Hunter — more responsive than most specs, but not so frenetic or likely to animation-cancel as, say, a Rogue. This should better capture the feeling of a Hunter than would a 1-second GCD while leaving the spec less open to issues from latency or of animation-clipping.
NOTE: Skill %AP values not yet adjusted to compensate in the writing below, as the buffs would be difficult visualize as buffs when seeing a lower %AP value than previous, even if it ultimately amounts to a greater potency per minute. Assume that fillers will be nerfed accordingly, frequent rotational skills like Aimed Shot nerfed somewhat, and infrequent rotation skills like Explosive Shot nerfed barely at all, such that each still produces about the same potency per minute as would be the case under a 1.5s GCD given the changes below.
- Aimed Shot cooldown reduced to 10 seconds. Damage reduced from 236% AP to 200% (equal to current Kill Shot).
- Kill Shot cooldown now scales with Haste.
- Rapid Fire cooldown now scales with Haste.
- Aimed Shot cast time reduced to 2 seconds (technically, 5/3s GCD). Rapid Fire channel time increased to 2 seconds (technically, ~5/3s GCD). Steady Shot cast time reduced to 1.7 seconds (technically, 4/3s GCD).
This is concerned with reducing "clunkiness" as it applies to 'resolution':
- Resolution refers the ratio by which one skill must be used to one or more others in order to ensure that the highest priority skill among them (e.g., Rapid Fire) can hold perfect uptime (being used instantly upon cooldown refresh without delaying casts to do so), and the number of times each, or the most “filler”, skill must be cast to “get things back on sync”.
- Previously, this was rather complex and in many circumstances desync was unavoidable without sacrificing more valuable uptime elsewhere, causing skill alignment to feel “clunky”. With these changes, it is far simpler to manage and the worst case scenario requires less than half as many Steady Shots to resolve.
- In the current version these 3 skills resolved decently under perfect play but the number of uses to cycle back to the norm and correct any malalignments were too high to really correct “mistakes” since Steady Shot casts at 7/6ths a GCD, Rapid Fire at 4/3rds a GCD and, and Aimed Shot at 5/3rds a GCD. Essentially, any need to burst out Precise Shots ahead of a Steady Shot, or greater obligatory non-Steady GCDs such as via Explosive Shot or Volley, could quickly make for a subtle disconnect whereby one had to hold Rapid Fire for a Steady Fire cast or intervening GCD (usually the lesser evil), or hold uptime for a bit to use it as soon as it refreshed. This had, to some, made MM subtly “clunky”.
- The damage bonus of Precise Shots has been reduced from 75% to 50%. To compensate, the base damage of Arcane Shot has been increased from 57% AP to 68% (+19.3%), Chimaera Shot from 65% to 75% AP (+15.4%), and Multi-Shot from 37.5% to 42% (+12%).
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Spitting Cobra damage has been increased by ~50% and now spawns during Bestial Wrath instead of at its end. It thus enters the battle still ramping up, but has been given a higher floor to compensate.
Spitting Cobra – A Spitting Cobra will aid you during Bestial Wrath. Each Cobra Shot you use during Bestial Wrath increases its damage by 10%.
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Calling the Shots reworked to reduce its anti-synergy with Flayed Shot and Surging Shots.
Calling the Shots – Every 10 Focus you consume reduces the cooldown of Trueshot by 1 second.
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Deadeye subtly readjusted.
Deadeye – Kill Shot has 2 charges and causes your damaging ranged attacks to recharge 50% faster for 3 seconds.
- Because this now also affects Rapid Fire, it no longer necessarily drives one nearer to Focus starvation. Additionally, this already carried synergy with Careful Aim; now it merely does likewise with Barrage and Explosive Shot.
- Stomp now waits until the target reaches the Barbed Shot target to Stomp. Multiple stomps can be queued.
- Barrage damage increased from 14.196% of Attack Power per shot to 15% (a 5.6% buff).
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Explosive Shot AoE damage decreased from 188.5 to 175% of Attack Power. However, Explosive Shot now also strikes the initial target for 50% Attack Power on application.
- This is a DPS increase at 3 or fewer targets, roughly even at 4, and a faint nerf at 5 and 6, to make Explosive more a middle option and give Barrage more of a place as a wholly AoE option.
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Mastery: Mastery of Beasts adjusted:
Mastery: Mastery of Beasts – Increases the damage bonus of Bestial Wrath by (5+X)% and the damage dealt by your pets by (15+3X)%.
- The base percent damage bonus of Bestial Wrath has been reduced to 20%. This will appear unchanged, however, as a 5% bonus to Bestial Wrath is the Mastery’s minimum.
- This should help to gradually let BM carve out a burstier niche for itself.
- To compensate, scaling will be rolled back to 1% per 18.5 stat, down from per 17 stat.
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Disengage buffed.
- It now continuously propels you in the direction opposite your facing at time of activation, very quickly, for .7 seconds. During this time, the player is still able to offset this movement through normal player control (e.g. auto-run, WASD, or holding left and right mouse buttons)—the only difference being that backpedaling (moving via S) is not penalized. Upon activation, movement speed is increased by 70%, fading over 3 seconds.
- This propulsion still works in midair and will cancel falling momentum; we still needn’t fear death by gravity.
- In effect, a lesser variant of Posthaste is now baseline and Disengage is less susceptible to losing distance travelled due to awkward terrain or verticality. It is by far and away the best backstep in the game, and the best mover in general that does not require a target destination.
- It now continuously propels you in the direction opposite your facing at time of activation, very quickly, for .7 seconds. During this time, the player is still able to offset this movement through normal player control (e.g. auto-run, WASD, or holding left and right mouse buttons)—the only difference being that backpedaling (moving via S) is not penalized. Upon activation, movement speed is increased by 70%, fading over 3 seconds.
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Posthaste revised slightly to still be worth taking despite this baseline buff:
Posthaste – Disengage also frees you from all movement impairing effects and its movement speed bonus fades over a further 5 seconds. Additionally, the cooldown of Disengage (and Harpoon) are decreased by 5 seconds.
Nitpicks and Further (Jumbled) Thoughts. WIP. Readers beware.
- You may now use Misdirection on mounted allies. However, they will only receive the generated threat once they dismount, and must do dismount before Misdirection’s duration ends to benefit.
- Misdirection may now be cast while casting/channeling. It will no longer interrupt Rapid Fire, for instance.
- Dismiss Pet’s cast time has been reduced to 2 seconds and it may now be cast while moving.
- You may now summon another pet even when another is already summoned. This has a 2 second cast time and may be cast while moving (i.e., this merely skips the extra GCD to resummon after dismissing one’s pet).
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Trailblazer is now essentially baseline, under the name On the Move:
On the Move – Every 1.5 seconds, your movement speed increases by 15%, stacking up to two times. Attacking removes a stack of On the Move and all progress towards the next stack.
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Trailblazer has been replaced with Waymaker:
Waymaker – You and your pets ranged and movement skills create a wake behind them, increasing the movement speed of allies moving in the same direction across the same area at an amount based on the potency of the attack or speed of travel.
- This is more of a positionally-dependent group-supportive talent that encourages moving into melee range just before key mechanics from which melee must escape and Disengaging to make an accelerated path out for them or Misdirecting and pulling packs to accelerate everyone’s way in when no mounts are available.
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Natural Mending has been replaced by Primal Momentum:
Primal Momentum – Every 30 Focus you spend reduces the cooldown of Exhilaration, Aspect of the Cheetah, and Aspect of the Turtle by 1 second.
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Born to be Wild changed to Above All, Adapt
Above All, Adapt – Your Aspect of the Cheetah and Aspect of the Turtle now share 3 charges.
- Beast Cleave percentile reduced to ~50%, down from 75%, but now includes the damage of Kill Command.
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Bloodshed revised:
Bloodshed – Command your target to tear into your target, causing it for 15 seconds to bleed for (15% of Attack Power) each second and to take 15% more damage from your pet’s attacks. Any enemies nearby are struck for half this duration.
- Carve damage increased to 40% of AP, up from 28%.
- Wildfire Bomb damage over time decreased from 90% to 75% of Attack Power.
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Wildfire Bomb now consumes 10 Focus, up from 0; Carve consumes 30 Focus, down from 35.
- This should smooth out Focus flow a bit while making the Focus cost values a little more standard and intuitive. Additionally, it should better allow one to open with Wildfire Bomb in situations where Serpent Sting isn’t much worth casting, without being wasteful.
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Streamline reworked:
Streamline – Rapid Fire now increases your Haste by 12%, fading over 8 seconds.
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Steady Focus reworked:
Steady Focus – Maximum focus increased by 20. Steady Shot decreases the casting time of Steady Shot by 15% for 5 seconds. Multiple applications may overlap, to a maximum of a 45% decrease to casting time.
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Mongoose Bite reworked to ramp up more quickly and be less precisely window-centric while offering some AoE interplay.
Mongoose Bite – A brutal attack that deals (100% of Attack Power) damage and grants Mongoose Fury.
Mongoose Fury – Increases the damage of Mongoose Bite and Carve (Butchery) by 20% for 6 seconds. Multiple applications may overlap. -
Binding Shot revised for greater enemy control.
- Binding Shot no longer roots, but instead prevents enemies from exiting into/through the area whereat they would previously be rooted. Rather than enemies potentially leaping out of Binding Shot and becoming bound at some distant location, they are no longer able to leave in the first place until having removed the snare. Binding Shot is also no longer dispellable, since it no longer roots, but its duration of its initial effect (attaching the binds, and now thereby locking them within the circle) is halved against players.
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A Murder of Crows reworked:
A Murder of Crows – 2 minute cooldown. Call down 5 crows upon your target for up to 15 seconds, each dealing (5% of Attack Power) damage per second. Crows gain attack speed for 6 seconds based on their target’s missing HP. These crows may be manually spread out or directed to a new target, but will automatically pursue engaged enemies nearby if their target dies, prioritizing those most wounded.
The cooldown of A Murder of Crows is reduced slightly each time a Crow hits, and a further 5 seconds each time you kill an enemy.
- Much like Storm, Earth, and Fire, while A Murder of Crows is active, the button is replaced by Spread, which causes the crows to spread among the 5 most wounded enemies and is in turn replaced by Fixate, causing them to again collapse onto your primary target.
- Crows retain that attack speed bonus through death. Once they’ve killed an enemy, they remain ramped up (+100% attack speed) for the remaining duration.
- Much like Storm, Earth, and Fire, while A Murder of Crows is active, the button is replaced by Spread, which causes the crows to spread among the 5 most wounded enemies and is in turn replaced by Fixate, causing them to again collapse onto your primary target.
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Terms of Engagement revised to better benefit from chained kills.
Terms of Engagement – Harpoon instantly deals (25% Attack Power) damage and causes your Focus spenders for the next 8 seconds to refund half their cost, to a maximum of 30 Focus thereby refunded. Killing an enemy resets the cooldown of Harpoon.
- In this way, chained kills and uses of Harpoon can take as little as 2 GCDs (baseline, 3 seconds) to consume fully, down from 10 seconds.
- Steel Trap now takes damage equal to 600% of your Attack Power before breaking its immobilization effect against non-players.
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Birds of Prey reworked to reduce anti-synergy with other talents and borrowed powers.
Birds of Prey – Every 30 Focus consumed during Coordinated Assault extends its duration by 1.5 seconds.
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Mastery: Spirit Bond replaced with Mastery: Coordination.
Mastery: Coordination – Striking an enemy with a pet-based, melee, or ranged attack will cause your next attack of a different type to deal additional damage equal to (10+X)% of the damage dealt by the previous type.
- I.e., if you shoot an enemy with Serpent Sting and Kill Shot, (10+X)% of that combined ranged damage dealt will be added to your next Kill Command or melee attack against that enemy.
- Stat points required per % increase adjusted from 14.27 [suggested to change to 8 above] to 24. (This is nearer to that of Haste [~22.2] than Versatility [~27].)
- This offers unique burst opportunities, such as by mass-DoTing before a Carve before a Volatile Bomb (for a synergetic/quadratic effect on the explosions forming off each target); its shortcoming is that sometimes you would not wish to spend stored bonus damage on, say, Kill Command, and one generates no Mastery bonus from their killing blow. Stylistically, this causes all setup to feel like it has potentially heavy payoff.
