New MM Hunter Ability: Tracer – the Controlled Detonation

Classes Hunter
1

Hey Blizzard & fellow Hunters,

Marksman needs something tactical. Something that rewards skill, patience, and precision—not just frontloaded bursts or another pet-less damage button. So I’ve crafted a new ability concept that feels like pure hunter energy:

:dart: Tracer – the Controlled Detonation

A surgical payload. A stacking threat. A mental battlefield.

:small_blue_diamond: What is Tracer?

Tracer is a unique Marksman GCD ability that applies a non-damaging debuff to one enemy target. It doesn’t hit immediately, but as the Hunter weaves in Aimed Shot and Rapid Fire, the payload charges—eventually reaching a state of Overload, where it becomes a true execution finisher or a group-shattering detonation.

:small_orange_diamond: Core Mechanics

➤ Initial Cast

  • Costs 1 GCD, no Focus
  • Fires a Tracer Round, applying Tracer Lock-On to a single enemy
  • Max 1 active Tracer
  • No initial damage

➤ Stacking System

  • Aimed Shot = +1 stack
  • Rapid Fire = +1 stack
  • BONUS: If Rapid Fire fully channels and all ticks land, +0.5 extra stack
  • Max Stack: 4.5

That .5 matters—it unlocks the Overload State, where everything intensifies.

:boom: Manual Detonation

  • Tracer must be manually detonated with a second cast of the ability
  • 0.3s delay between trigger and explosion (counterplay window)
  • Explosion hits:
    • Nearby enemies: 300% AOE damage
    • Primary target: 150% damage
    • Solo (no other enemies): 400% finisher burst

:rotating_light: Overload State (4.5 Stacks)

When Tracer reaches 4.5 stacks, it enters Overload State:

  • Visually flashes red/green/blue
  • Debuff now vulnerable to ALL dispel types simultaneously
  • Manual detonation becomes empowered:
    • AOE radius +25%
    • Both current and previous dispel-type detonation effects trigger (see below)

:soap: Dispel Mechanics (Backlash Based on Type)

After 2 stacks, Tracer becomes dispelable—but only by one dispel type at a time, smart-cycled every 3s based on nearby enemies. Dispelling it has consequences:

Dispel Type On Dispel Effect Visual Flavor
Curse Instant nature burst Vines erupt from target
Disease 1.5s silence Choking bile animation
Poison 2s disorient Vomiting & stumbling
Magic Still explodes, but deals 50% reduced damage Bright, contained detonation
Slow-type/Freedom Hunter gains 25% Haste for 5s Hunter glows gold/blue

:cyclone: Detonation Effect Changes (Based on Active Dispel Type)

If not dispelled, Tracer’s manual explosion effect mutates based on the current dispel type active during detonation:

Active Dispel Type Explosion Bonus Effect
Curse All targets take Bleed for 6s
Disease Targets take -20% healing received
Poison Applies stacking DoT to each hit
Magic Enemies take +5% magic damage for 10s
Slow Root primary target for 2s post-detonation

In Overload State, the current AND previous effects stack (e.g., DoT + Root).

:brain: Bonus Talent Tree Mods

Talent Name Description
Tracer Ricochet If the target dies with Tracer active, it jumps to a nearby target with 1 stack
Reactive Shot Detonating Tracer on a solo target resets Aimed Shot cooldown
Paint the Weak All explosion victims receive 20% reduced healing for 6s

:fire: Why Tracer Works

  • :white_check_mark: Deep counterplay without being overcomplicated
  • :white_check_mark: Every part of your rotation contributes meaningfully
  • :white_check_mark: Forces PvP mindgames and PvE decisions
  • :white_check_mark: Skill expression through stack timing, detonation, and positioning
  • :white_check_mark: Plays into Marksman’s fantasy: the setup, the precision, the trigger pull

:microphone: Final Thoughts

Tracer isn’t a “set it and forget it” ability. It’s tension you can feel—a glowing wound on your enemy’s body counting down to the moment you choose. Do they dispel and risk punishment? Do you detonate too early and waste the payload? Or do you wait for 4.5… and erase them?

Give Marksman real tools, real drama, and real control.

Let’s make it happen.
Let’s control the detonation.

my idea but Miss Scuttle aka ai helped. thoughts?¿!
Ðeffy

2

This isn’t actually possible per the game engine, but just having it deal “half a stack’s worth” of damage extra upon activation would do the same.

That said, I suspect this design would be neutered in PvP.

This feels awkward. Why should the Tracer deal less damage to the main target than a second nearby enemy so long as any enemies are nearby?

Just deal per-target and split-damage both and you’d have seemingly bonus damage to the main target, e.g.,

Deals (100% of Attack Power) physical damage per stack to the target and all nearby enemies, with damage reduced after 6 enemies, plus a further (100% of Attack Power) per stack split among all enemies struck. (Damage halved against players.)

In that way you have up to 800% AP (a fully buffed Aimed Shot’s worth) against the main target, but otherwise (400n + 400)% AP against a group (i.e., 467 per target against 6 targets, for about an MT and Trick Shots-buffed Aimed Shot’s worth of damage).

All this feels like an immense overcomplication. Imagine the tooltip length required to describe all that you have so far. It’d be 3 charts long… for what will almost certainly end up as just an alternate version of an active-cast Double Tap (and likely similarly gutted in PvP).

Just make it a magic effect detonates for half-damage if dispelled, or make it impossible to dispel at all and reduce its PvP efficacy accordingly.

It won’t have deep counterplay and it absolutely is overcomplicated.

We can max its stacks in under 5 GCDs’ time off a single Surging Shot or Lock and Load, arena comps having any counterplay available to them is RNG-reliant, and BGs won’t be on the lookout for this at all unless you keep the AoE splash so absurd (which, as we’ve seen from the Trick Shots and AotH nerfs, won’t happen).

It’s ultimately a preparatory GCD used to increase Aimed Shot’s and Rapid Fire’s damage contribution by X%, paid off after Y GCDs. All that you’ve added beyond that is either RNG-dependent or comes down only to the same desire to LoS until debuff reset that Spotter’s Mark already had before being gutted*.

  • Granted, said change makes little sense to me in terms of PvP “fairness”, especially with any compensatory base Aimed Shot damage increases, as it’d make far more sense for Spotter’s Mark to simply decay with time while leaving the base damage lower, allowing for counterplay via a defensive, shield, or self-heal before the telegraphed hit lands, but I guess they just wanted to increase the freedom of MM’s focus damage without buffing its maximum output and to crush MM’s AoE damage (or make its burst dependent on Volley + AotH). /shrug

It makes the whole thing far harder to read.