I originally posted this over on the PTR forum since I was used to giving my feedback there, but I realize this forum is probably a better place for it. I expect some folks won’t agree with the ideas here, but I wanted to put this out there in the hopes that it provides a kind of useful feedback.
VOLLEY
I quite like baeline Volley as an ability from a flavor standpoint. The current version of the rune “Improved Volley” seems to take a stab at letting hunters use this cool (though somewhat weak) ability more often. The current wording reads as follows:
Improved Volley (Back): Reduces the mana cost of your Volley by 50%, reduces its cooldown by 100%, and it no longer suffers pushback from damaging attacks. Volley also deals 3% of your ranged Attack Power as additional damage each time it deals damage.
In its current state, I don’t expect many people will elect to take Improved Volley over the insanely useful Resourcefulness rune. Resourcefulness competes with Improved Volley in the AoE department by enabling more Explosive Trap uses, but also synergizes with other runes (Lock & Load/TNT) and talents (Cleaver Traps) in a way that Improved Volley simply doesn’t match. I don’t think it’s a secret that Resourcefulness is a powerful rune, so I won’t overstate that here. Suffice it to say that Improved Volley and Resourcefulness compete directly in the AoE department, and Improved Volley loses by a mile.
INSPIRATION & SUGGESTION
I think the relatively recent changes to the Warlock “Lake of Fire” rune are an example of a good direction Improved Volley could take. Lake of Fire was changed to make the warlock ability Rain of Fire no longer channeled, but with a cooldown equal to its duration.
Volley channels for 6 seconds by default. Following the pattern set by Lake of Fire, we would get a Volley that no longer requires a channel, but has a 6 second cooldown between uses. The new “Improved Volley” rune could read something like the following:
Improved Volley (Back): Your Volley is no longer channeled and has a 6 sec cooldown. Reduces the mana cost of your Volley by 50%. Volley also deals 3% of your ranged Attack Power as additional damage each time it deals damage.
I think this version of Improved Volley would compete better with Resourcefulness since it would enable the Hunter to take actions while Volley does its thing.
I do have one other suggestion for the Improved Volley rune that I’d like to see in addition to the changes outlined so far, but I want to acknowledge that I’d be thrilled with just this adjustment.
EXTRA WISHLIST SUGGESTION
Improved Volley, in addition to the changes suggested above, now also decreases the cooldown of Arcane Shot by 2 sec.
This would change the wording of Improved Volley to the the following:
Improved Volley (Back): Your Volley is no longer channeled and has a 6 sec cooldown. Reduces the mana cost of your Volley by 50%. Volley also deals 3% of your ranged Attack Power as additional damage each time it deals damage. The cooldown of Arcane Shot is reduced by 2 sec.
Arcane Shot is widely regarded as a meme ability and in its current state I agree. It is barely ever used in typical hunter play, and a 2 sec cooldown reduction seems nearly worthless.
It’s important to understand that this 2 sec cooldown reduction for Arcane Shot - when combined with the “Improved Arcane Shot” talent - drops Arcane Shot down to a 3 sec cooldown.
You may see where I’m going with this.
Combining this 3 sec Arcane Shot with Chimera Shot (6 sec cooldown) and our newly channel-free version of Volley (also a 6 sec cooldown), you suddenly have a rotation of abilities that scales entirely off of spell power:
- Chimera Shot (With Serpent Sting on the target)
- Arcane Shot
- Volley (Instant cast version)
- Arcane Shot
By this point, Chimera Shot is ready again and the basic loop can repeat. I realize that the community of “bowmages” is very small (There are dozens of us. Dozens!), but I don’t foresee a reduction in the cooldown of Arcane Shot adding power to any other hunter playstyle.
The major objection I see when spell power hunter is brought up revolves around gear, and I think this is entirely valid, but shouldn’t be a major concern in practice. Hunters have access to Mail and Leather spell power gear, competing with only three other classes (Paladins, Shamans, and Druids) for these pieces. At least in the case of dungeon drops there’s a decent chance that none of these classes are present in the party AND want the loot in question. Basically, I’m saying that there’s reasonable room for Hunters to play in the spell power sandbox too.
I realize this may be an unpopular sentiment, but I think it’s a relatively easy change that opens up an entire playstyle, and I think it would be cool to explore.
CONCLUSION
Returning to the primary suggestion, I think adjusting Improved Volley to the following would be good improvement for the rune:
Improved Volley (Back): Your Volley is no longer channeled and has a 6 sec cooldown. Reduces the mana cost of your Volley by 50%. Volley also deals 3% of your ranged Attack Power as additional damage each time it deals damage.
If I had all my wishes granted, it would instead read as follows:
Improved Volley (Back): Your Volley is no longer channeled and has a 6 sec cooldown. Reduces the mana cost of your Volley by 50%. Volley also deals 3% of your ranged Attack Power as additional damage each time it deals damage. The cooldown of Arcane Shot is reduced by 2 sec.
This post is probably me screaming into the void, but if you read this far I appreciate your time, whoever you are.