And when you decrease the opportunity costs against which the DoTs are balanced, the DoT tend to get far weaker, or else take that value from your existing sources. Whatever “free” damage you get out of being able to apply Serpent Sting easily to 5 (if purposely limited) or 20 (if not) enemies at a time will simply be siphoned from elsewhere, such as Butchery and Wildfire Bomb.
You’d be better off just having slightly more on-impact/initial Serpent Sting damage, and perhaps some refunded GCD time per active DoT when (re)applying a DoT, and/or a shorter DoT duration… than being able to apply it to 20 enemies at a time (or even 5 at a time) and having Butchery and WFB damage siphoned into that 18s duration.
So when will you even be able to apply and spread Serpent Sting with what they’re pushing with Viper’s Venom and Contagious Reagents? Because you’ll want to cast Wildfire Bomb and Butchery in the AoE scenario, but Serpent Sting is only cast and spread by Raptor Strike or Mongoose Bite.
If you include Butchery in Viper’s Venom and return Latent Poison, you’ll get Serpent Stings out on the Second gcd and start stacking up Latent Poison so that when you do run out of charges of Wildfire Bomb and Butchery, when you fall back to Raptor Strike you also have built up stacks of Latent Poison to engage with and catch you back up with everyone else who didn’t have to bother with a ramp mechanic.
Otherwise you’re just resorting to trying to slowly spread Serpent Sting as an afterthought when the AoE condition is almost over anyways.
0-4 GCDs into the fight, depending on gather density and whether you want to bank Chakram.
Let me repeat for context, though:
I am absolutely against removing manual Serpent Sting.
I am absolutely against removing Wildfire Infusions, naturally including Volatile Bomb.
I am okay with Viper’s Venom being a guaranteed chance, and with it only spreading per Hydra’s Bite after you’ve already affected the main target, though I would prefer it just be straight.
I would like to keep Injectors, though I could understand if others find it to be bloat redundant with Serpent Sting itself. It also worsens the problems you discuss since you then not only need to apply but also to consume it to get its “18 seconds in” pay-off.
I would not mind consolidating Lunge and Frenzied Strikes such that ALL melee attacks reducing WFB CD by the number of targets they strike, up to 5 enemies. (No, that does not include KC.)
I think Outland Venom should be tuned slightly low compared to more active pick-ups, or scrapped.
Look at Contagious Reagents. If you want to spread Serpent Sting you just keep attacking the same target. How is this any more engaging than simply spreading Serpent Sting through Butchery? Literally the only difference is the number of gcds required to apply Serpent Sting to all targets.
the hunter class has NEVER been a “primitive” hunter. that’s just not in the cards for the class ever since they first used guns + explosions + magic in 2004
realism has no place in a high fantasy mmo. you are concerned about using explosives too close to yourself/your pet when you regularly fight dragons the size of buildings, while your mage friend is casting blizzard directly on top of you, while your warrior friend is spinning around in circles with a sword the size of a sedan
There’s a difference between asking for realism and expecting the mechanics of a spec to adhere to its theme and concept.
A Survival Hunter lobbing grenades and firing explosive rounds at targets within arms reach of himself and his animal companion makes about as much sense as a Fire Mage punching his target to apply a poison.
you must be thinking about a different survival hunter, because the one in wow has always used explosions and the spec description since 2018 has directly referenced explosions
If they want to rename the spec to Commando, Arsonist, Demolition, etc, carry on. But you’re still not going to want such a spec in melee range and it certainly wouldn’t keep an animal companion for long.
If they want to keep in theme with Survival and expect the player to engage in melee combat alongside an animal companion, the explosions have no place.
I don’t think an animal would be able to survive a hit from a 30 foot giant but here we are. realism does not have a place in the game and being selective about the realism is not very reasonable
Yet, I am not using a single explosive or shot when playing BM. Unless I pick the talent for explosive shot, and just transmog my weapon appearances to a bow you have a very natural Hunter.
Take WfB from SV and it is very much a primal, a nd more primitive Hunter. Hunter’s are on the line between modernization and natural.
Survivalism. The person who outlives civilization, due to preparedness and independence, not from being able to take punches. The dude in the doomsday bunker. The one with traps and a shelf full of poisons and antidotes and concoctions. The who knows which plants heal and which plants kill, and how each local monster should be handled and/or cooked.
I’m all for the option of a bomb-less SV, but current SV does still do what’s on the tin.
Having WFI’s mechanics was still a hell of a lot better than not having those mechanics, especially now that they’ll see some priority conflicts with Merciless Strikes. Or should, say, Mongoose Fury be removed for similar reason, since it’s even less difficult to optimize? Frenzied Strikes?
Eh I think something that had such little impact on the prio and really was 2 meh effects and one decent one won’t be missed. I think tww sv will be far more enjoyable
I saw somebody playing it in beta, survival looks like a melee BM hunter. It looks good honestly, but i think they should have a 4th spec that is more tinker\gunner\trapper like imo
Butchery + Merciless Blows + Viper’s Venom + Contagious Reagents, throw in Aspect of the Eagle if you really want to (your butchery doesn’t have to hit anything, just be cast for Mericless Blows to work). It’s a lot of poison spread even available from range sometimes.
It could, but the “confusion” people have with it are akin to assuming that BM is a master who is a beast or that MM is a boat or uses solely Hunter’s Mark.
At some point, one has to admit that it’s not the name that is to blame, especially when a “Survivor” is less a result of a particular (set of) talents or skill-bearing theme, etc., than an ambiguously derived circumstance, while there are obvious archetypal tropes from literature, film, and even WoW lore within ready cognitive reach (the Survivalist).
Seems like beast master is less beast friends and more of a beast taskmaster unable form a closer bond with the multitude of beasts while survival is the beast buddy best friends for life die for each other. So the changed Mastery to be more like versatility but stronger damage buffing wise that if we stack both…will noob players like me still complain about being too squishy and able deal decent damage in most content…also is there any news about ending pet familys and bring back pet training like at start of Legion. My pandaren just wants a turtle that will give me leech that match my racial mount and my roleplay looking mog