Under represented in raiding, m+, and even in PVP (though some players make it look great in pvp). Can we finally do something for em? At least maybe in the first two mentioned areas?
What they could do is remove the class raid utilities on melee dps, or move them to the tank specs only. They could add a special raid utility to SV but that would upset the ranged hunter specs who would feel left out. The problems with SV aren’t really SV problems, unfortunately.
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If SV had better numbers tuning I think we would see them do better in raid or Mythic +. For instance, if Butchery were tuned much higher burst AoE for Mythic + would be in line with others. Even single target DPS was too low in comparison to other top tier specs. Uldir was the only time where numbers felt competitive to me for raids but was still nowhere close for M+. The uptime SV can have on a boss during mechanics really felt nice but was also double amount of the effort compared to others.
All just my personal opinion though.
Two problems:
- They can’t do anything that ranged hunters can, aside from a shorter interrupt
- They can’t compete with most other melee specs, either in terms of utility or damage profile
Damage and damage profile can be fixed with talents and tuning, but what would actually make them more attractive is some utility or buff that sets them apart from ranged hunter specs. Shoot, maybe turn tar trip into an AoE stun for Survival.
Didn’t we do more damage than a lot of melee classes? I was usually near the top of most my encounters through out the last xpac?
However survival still needs to get some work done on their kit in shadow lands
It just still feels like it’s missing something to flesh it all out and the removal of the azerite traits hurt so bad
It’s unclear how it will play out but Haste bonuses via Corruption was a big enabler of the solid DPS that Survival did. There’s been hints that suggest Survival DPS is low(just stuff I’ve seen from beta sims and what not, so grain of salt).
I’m hoping the spec gets some tuning with the SL delay but it seems unlikely. As for PVP it’s still probably the best spec with regards to Arenas but I mostly just play the spec because I like it.
If I want to do actual content I’ll probably do it as Marks because it seems like the most output but a little on the bland side.
AoE stun is super powerful, but I could see baking in the old Entanglement passive - root for the first 2 seconds, then snare.
Blizz really needs to pick a path for survivals identity. Right now we do too much of everything, and don’t really excel in a certain category.
I think that survival should focus more on traps/hunter tools and distance itself from pet reliance. Having our pet die or not out right now completely cripples the spec and imo it just feels extremely clunky for survival to be focused that much around a pet, when most of your damage and utility have nothing to do with it. This is why i believe survival should have Lone Wolf baseline, but still allow us to use pets like MM, for optional/situational utility.
We should be given more traps along with waylay made baseline. The return of explosive trap as a large damage cd would give us a unique cd that could do large damage to groups OR be set up using waylay and triggered as a actual trap adding more damage and maybe a short stun or knockback. We could also see the return of stuff like snake trap and caltrops, and hopefully a new trap or two unique to survival.
As for our melee core abilities, since we would lose our reliance on our pet, we would no longer need KC, and with that there would be a few different roads we could go down. I think most people would be happy to see Mongoose Bite made baseline, while moving raptor strike over to be our generator, and work much like KC did, only without the pet reliance and maybe with a damage boost since it would be a melee ability and not ranged.
The 2nd idea that I had is to bring back Lacerate as our big focus spender. Lacerate would cost about 50 to 70 focus and would apply a large bleed on the target that could stack up to 3 times. This would play way more into survival’s dot playstyle and give us some serious ramping damage. Raptor strike would also be our main focus generator with this idea and would operate off a 3 charge system much like the old mongoose bite did. Mongoose would remain a talent that was interchangeable with Raptor strike. Lacerate would also have a passive tied to it much like Bloodseeker that would increase your movement speed and attack speed based on how many Lacerates you had stacked on a enemy. This would give survival a unique way to stick to targets with added dps.
I know many people wont be fans of survival being a lone wolf spec, but we already have BM and i’m tired of survival feeling like a clunky spec that pointlessly revolves around pet use. Survival could be so much more if blizzard actually decided to flesh out the identity of the spec, that would give us UNIQUE utility and more reliable damage that would earn us spots as a melee in raid/mythic+ groups. These changes would also be great for PvP with Waylay becoming a unique way to set up big damage/CC combos off of smart trap placement.
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I don’t necessarily think survival needs to go lone wolf so much as just be less reliant on its pet. Surv pets should just be utility, not your only means of focus generation (who’s moronic idea was that anyway?).
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The pet just feels way too forced into the spec, and it makes everything feel clunky. Forcing us to use a pet solely so that we can use our focus generator, completely hamstrings the spec.
Until they move away from pet reliance, survival is going to be a troubled mess of a spec.
They’ve made Mongoose Bite mandatory again so I’m done with Survival.
They didn’t?
From what I’ve been hearing, Tip of the Spear is much better than it was, and presents a viable alternative to Mongoose Bite.
Aren’t bombs and chakrams uncapped for aoe?
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The pet is an important part of ensuring that the spec doesn’t stray too far from hunter. Making KC the focus generator is a simple way to do it, so that in the two gcds it takes to cast kc and mongoose bite, the focus spent is a net 0. The pet also gives SV hunters access to the myriad pet utilities.
Would I like to see a less KC dominant loop? Yeah. KC feels too pet centric. But I definitely like the pet being a part of the SV playstyle. I feel like the modern soldier with a bomb dog. It’d be nice to push it more in that direction.
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From playing the beta tip of the spear doesn’t feel like it works anywhere near as well as goose bite
I wish they’d just make the damn ability baseline already
Honestly in beta, our damage is in a good spot but we suffer from no real utility that a ranged spec/class can bring with the same or better damage. Maybe give us a group cammo like rogue shroud to give another class the ability to do skips? Something, please.
Personally I love Survival in PvP and I think it’s pretty clear the spec is designed more around that than PvE. There’s really nothing wrong with that.
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I’ve also seen players say that but according to sites/people that care about dps Mongoose is the only option on that tier.
Yes. I have been calling the spec a “single serving” of many types of contribution, but it’s not the full meal. You word it better haha.
Very much agree. Pet’s should not be the resource of the spec, but rather a helpful friend.
Yes important, but should not be a reliance. Pet survivability should be for utility and used as a “living dot.” If pet dies it shouldn’t cripple the spec or make you unable to generate focus. It has taken too much from BM.
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