After looking at their runes, comparing them to others and how they will fare in pvp versus other classes’ runes (such as warbringer), I think it is fair to say that hunters kind of suck this season lol.
I think they’ll be godly ranged dps once given the right amount of gear at 60, but aside from that their runes just make what they already do a little better (beast mastery rune comes to mind). I’m welcome to have my opinion changed
Very true. The reason why everyone is going to roll Warrior, Warlock and Paladin.
Everyone should stay clear of Hunter unless you want to be severely gimped and ignored for groups. No reason to play one until more runes are discovered, and by then the melee chads will have completely taken over.
Since they are giving pets real taunt, they should make BM a tank spec. Have runes like a misdirect rune that makes hunter threat go to pet. Maybe one that splits damage and healing on hunter and pet? If pet dies, threat goes to the hunter so they would need stamina & tank gear(pet inherits more stamina/defensive stats)? I think it would be fun to play but no idea how it could be balanced.
I think a good thing they could do for Hunters, both in the name of balance and QoL, is by introducing TBC deadzone and trap changes. Whether that be in the form of a rune or just changing it class-wide, it’ll make Hunters be able to do a lot more in every form of content (especially pvp) and put them on the same or at least similar level of power of all the other classes.
Lone Wolf seems very strong if Blizzard gives Hunter more runes to support ranged attacks, however, it seems Blizzard plans to make Lone Wolf a rune to support melee damage instead. I’m not saying it cannot be used for ranged attacks, I’m saying that of the runes we know so far, Blizzard seems to be trying to give Hunters more power in melee. Lone Wolf by itself won’t help much when faced with other classes and their runes. Honestly, I think Shaman will be bottom tier (at least for level 25), even more so if you ignore dual wield (if you’re like me and think Shaman should be using two-handed weapons) further gimping yourself. So, as much as I want to play Shaman, I really also don’t want to because I know the way I want to play it, I will be bottom tier because no runes support my preferred play style as I cannot see any runes at the moment that remotely support the way I want to play.
Hunters are actually insane already in vanilla at 25 and with lone wolf / explosive shot they will be the top dps in raids for low levels before people get the rest of their kits. They are also the strongest WPvP class the entirety of vanilla getting a 25% increase for your shots is insane.
Have none of you actually played hunters?
Hunter will be VERY strong in sod from what we know already. The 30% stand still crit buff is insane plus an extra attack ability, the issue may become mana pool. Just DONT MOVE at all cost unless you absolutely have to. Hunters will be 100% competitive for top dps spot at least until late end game if fury warriors come ultra online
You know Charge only has a 25 yard range, right?
I’m sorta peeved they gave hunters a few melee abilties (Flanking Strike, Carve) and called it a day.
It’s still not a fully-melee hunter, and I’m not sure how viable it’d be.
I’m still going to be playing Hunter to try it out.
Just disappointed we’re not full tanks like Warlocks and Shaman now.
They definitely could have done more here.
The boring “stand still” marksman might be strong, but that already exists in retail lol. I just want a different playstyle, MM will be fine for those that enjoy it
I want to try out the other specs. Namely tanking, if it was a thing.
I was looking forward to playing melee hunter or melee weave combo. Flanking strike is okay however you never get to the point of it stacking fulling rendering it pretty average. Carve is dismal and not worth using compared to other runes. Makes me sad because marks / survival spec feels like same old classic hunter. To compete with other overpowered classes hunters are forced to play BM and take advantage a singe animal families unique abilities.
This will get nerfed too soon as the damage meters say hunters are still too OP which is true for endgame dungeons but what about other game aspects like PvP? It’s just same old hunter.
SoD was about playing unique playstyles and flare.
I refuse to conform the meta BM and hope the class gets better in other ways in future.