As part of the transition with the rework to SV, yes. Presumably, if it hadn’t been reworked, MM wouldn’t (or at least, I’d hope not) have explosive shot lol.
The issue is it’s hypocritical given the reasoning for the rework to begin with. The exotic beasts themselves are very small on a power budget but they fit a thematic niche for the spec as being you know, a master of beasts. If old SV and MM were too close thematically to justify keeping it, why should we step further on BM’s toes?
Why should SV have exotic beasts specifically and not something else to help differentiate its bond with its pet? Why take more from BM when it isn’t necessary?
You keep saying differentiate its bond with the pet for the spec, but that’s the core reason of why I’m saying it should - and that in extension would be the reason.
Ultimately if they made it they had to choose between Kill Command, Exotic Pet or ‘X powerful move’ on a talent tree slot; I wouldn’t mind that either.
My point is, why not come up with something new entirely? Why exotic beasts specifically? Like, I think flanking strike is a good example of something that helps separate BM and SV for example while helping to show the bond between hunter and pet without taking from BM.
Could the same goal you have in mind be achieved in a different way that could potentially be better for both specs in the long run? I am not trying to be obtuse here I promise, I’m just genuinely confused why the fixation on exotics when it seemingly partly goes against the reasoning for the rework in the first place and doesn’t strike me as a great move forward for the spec when there could be something else that maybe adds an additional layer of rotational gameplay for instance in the form of a talent (as an example, doesn’t have to be that specifically).
that’s why buffs should be applied to utility and combination buffs rather than mere damage increases, as that would continue the issue of “why not Y instead of Z?”
Like how PvP unholy is bad but PvP frost is good, while PvE frost is awful and PvE unholy is god
Hmm yeah, I can see the understanding in much of what you’ve said and agree the class needs some changes, a few mates & I just thought it’d be a cool feature. I had one that was on your mindset of things though and suggested a bunch of the familiar utilities used in BM should be put on a talent line, which is why I also on that note said -
The pet thing was just an example that I thought would be really cool especially given their stance of how they fight / side by side their pets.
I don’t think it’d be too bad to see them develop on some hybrid factors from the class itself - Much like disco is for priests; taking fields from both Shadow & Holy, but having enough of its own unique touch & mechanics to it. But having them on a talent line I feel would at the least give it a more exotic touch.
All that aside though, off the topic from pets n such - I feel Survival needs a unique buff or utility it can give to the group that the other two specs can’t provide. For both PVE & PVP purposes.
In WoD I remember Survival was really strong and well-enjoyed, (Although the expansion was a mess, the class designs weren’t so bad) Blizz should look at what they had then / how it was designed and take some points when considering improvements to the future.
My main was a survival hunter from Burning Crusade until the moment it stopped being ranged.
The playstyle of surv hunter was unlike anything else… lock and load was such an interesting proc that had a measurable and fun impact on how you played. I loved it so much… it being gone is the reason I’m not a hunter.
Same here. Although I was BM for TBC, I switched to SV in WotLK when then LnL/Explosive Shot mechanics where introduced. I played mostly SV until the 6.2 nerf and the announcement that SV was going melee in 7.0. I continued playing my hunters (both factions) at max level throughout WoD as MM. I liked MM but I loved SV.
Then Legion prepatch hit and I have struggled to play my hunters ever since. For the first time since 2007 I took extended unsubbed breaks and when I did play, I mostly played new classes like never before. Between Legion and BfA, I probably logged about 1/3 the playtime I usually did.
It’s me again. I’m just dropping by to say once again that survival hunters have been dead for a long time. Please find another dead horse to beat. There are only some bone fragments hammered into the earth here.
I’ve been seriously considering making a Twitter, for no other reason than to try and get the dev’s attention for the spec (and everything that has been wrong with it since Legion).
Seriously, whether you like the melee aspect or not, the spec has been treated like a joke for over five years now.
I’m really loving survival in bfa not gonna lie, also those guilds are few and far between if you’re wanting to seriously progress like for cutting edge. I believe last i checked only 2 SV hunters were progging on generals…i think
Those of us who loved the old sv are still kinda screwed. And current SV hunters are still stuck with an underperformed spec that isn’t getting the attention it needs.
And finding a decent guild that is also okay with SV can be a challenge of its own. The blame lies solely at Blizz’s feet for poorly implementing current SV and then leaving it in the gutter.
I agree with you, its why I said it was partially melee centric because it partially centered around melee abilities that helped you get into range.
The whole reason Survival is called the melee spec by old school players such as myself is because it uses melee abilities and I never said it wasn’t ranged focus as well.
The argument that ticks me off is that you have a group of players (CATA Players) who claim there was never a melee Hunter and that is just wrong. We’ve had melee hunters since the beginning. You can argue were they exclusively melee, no, but we had melee Hunters.
You can argue right now that current Survival is exactly what Vanilla Survival is.
The only difference is that you don’t use a range weapon for your range abilities and its optics make it look exclusively melee but its not.
Now on the Rexxar comment, yes, you make a valid point but like I said , Survival is where the melee Hunter started.
All this complaint about “They took my Survival spec” is BS.
