Reading the other forums to see if this could fit anywhere else, I’m disappointed in the amount of people wanting surv to be a tank spec… that would ruin it waaaaaay more, I promise xD
Put a lot of thought into this suggestion. Give your thoughts, modifications, additions, gripes etc. below so I can develop this idea further~
Necessity:
The newest melee version of Survival (SV) hunter is by no means unenjoyable or unplayable. The fantasy was a hunter spec more akin to Rexxar, who relied heavily on a flurry of devastating melee blows that worked in conjunction with his pets while inflicting harsh bleeds and poisons to finish off the enemy even in the event of a retreat. He’s a master of traps, beasts, and fortitude in melee combat, and I believe the current SV spec does that well enough.
I do believe, however, there’s another way to go about SV that keeps the feel and flavor of Rexxar’s unique style while adding enough individuality to hold survival out as it’s own clearly distinguished spec that feeds into a slightly different, yet widely desired fantasy for SV; a fantasy that I, and perhaps others, have an even stronger desire for than Rexxar’s distinct style.
Class fantasy:
A master in the art of preparation, the SV hunter lies hidden at a distance. As their target(s) approach and trigger their trap, carefully chosen for their specific target, the hunter and their pet fly into quick action, the pet immediately engaging the enemy who’s currently struggling with the trap. The hunter, however, maintains distance enough to bombard the enemy with a variety of toxins and specially designed shots to increase the target’s vulnerability. The hunter, seeing an opening in the opponent, then launches their harpoon toward the enemy, releasing a specialized bomb as they launch themselves on top of the enemy, unleashing a wild frenzy of increasingly devastating blows in conjunction with the pet’s continued shredding of the enemy’s health. The target hardly knew what hit it before it had died, and even if it had survived longer, the hunter was more than capable of quickly disengaging and weakening the target further.
Application:
This proposed SV hunter works as a master of weaving in and out of melee range, setting a trap onto the enemy while the pet distracts and holds the target’s attention. While at range, the hunter now prepares the target, laying on dots and casting a specialized ability that for the sake of ease we’ll say is Serpent Sting (SS) but with a modest initial damage boost and a stacking 15% speed reduction and dot. The initial cast of this specialized SS will also grant 1-2 (3 on a crit) stacks of what we’ll call Preparation. The hunter then engages in melee, using Harpoon to consume the stacks of Preparation to grant them Coordinated Assault (CA), the potency and duration of which are dependent on the amount of Preparation stacks consumed. Mongoose bite then deals increasingly devastating damage to the enemy for as long as the hunter can remain on target. When CA expires, the hunter then disengages from the enemy (using the spell itself or even slowing the enemy so the hunter can manually gather distance) to start to rebuild the stacks and re-up dots/affects.
Execution:
This is a hybrid ramping spec with 2 different ramp-up times, one at range to build Preparation stacks and once when first engaging in melee before Mongoose Bite can build up to it’s damage potential. We’ll call these phases “Prep” and “Engage” or Prp and Eng phases.
Prp:
The Prp phase holds many aspects to it that can work with talents to specialize the flavor the hunter wishes to go for. As stated previously, the Proposed SS change would have to do several things:
1.) Apply a stacking dot
2.) Apply a stacking slow (can be built into the dot)
3.) Grant a stack of Preparation
4.) Deal just enough damage that you don’t feel useless while gaining stacks
An alternate to using SS can be making Mongoose Bite (MB) a permanently ranged ability that applies the stacking slow and gives stacks of preparation. At ranged, MB could look like the Aspect of the Eagle shots (or a mongoose variant) and at melee, you can give it it’s proper animations. If you’re worried about the spec then becoming fully ranged, where harpoon is only used to consume the stacks then book it, then only add the damage rampup component in melee range.
Another alternate is to modify Concussive Shot (CS) to:
1.) Cause your pet to attack the target for a small amount of damage
2.) Apply a stacking slow
3.) Grant a stack of preparation
This may also work if Preparation stacks are tied into Kill Command, and simply have the above Concussive shot cause your pet to use Kill Command on the target granting 1-2 stacks (3 on crit.)
Either way, the end goal is to spend the Prp phase trapping, dotting, slowing, and gaining stacks. My idea would be to use Wildfire Bomb (WfB) as a transition tool you can launch while harpooning that will give you a default dot but varying effects based on a talent row that change/improve your Eng phase.
Eng:
Eng Phase starts when you harpoon into a target, consuming all your Preparation stacks and dealing devastating damage to the enemy. Coordinated Assault may have to be adjusted to determine what specific buffs should be given per stack of Preparation. Options may include:
1.) Similar to how it is now, a raw damage buff
2.) A haste/Focus regen buff
3.) Pet Attacks deal secondary damage scaling with stacks
And really any other examples. It needs to be a buff that players have to make a choice: should they wait just a little longer to get even more worthwhile benefit from CA or should they just engage immediately and press the damage they already have. This gives players control and adaptiveness to the situation.
Multiple targets means the hunter would probably want to stay in Prp phase a little longer, applying dots and building up stacks. Multi-target is also the reason the hunter should get a preparation buff as opposed to the enemy getting a debuff.
Talents and spell changes:
WfB could, as it currently is, aid in AOE damage in a few different ways in addition to its initial dot:
1.) WfB causes nearby targets to take a portion of the damage dealt to your main target
2.) WfB’s dot could increase in length and potency depending on the number of Preparation stacks consumed
3.) WfB could apply a debuff to all effected targets which could
a. Slow their attack/casting speed
b. Reduce their damage dealt
c. Cause them to take more damage from all sources
This could be implemented as a talent row where you get to choose the usefulness of WfB for the content you want or the specific enemies you intend to face.
SS itself could have its own talent row, changing what sort of dot damage you would prefer to do such as:
1.) Applying SS to multiple targets
2.) SS increases the dot damage the targets take (for making burst more devastating)
3.) SS can only be applied to 1 target, but deals much heavier damage
Kill Command would be able to function as regular as normal, perhaps adding a talent row that could choose once more how you’d prefer to flavor your spec:
1.) KC applies a bleed on the target
2.) KC grants/increases the amount of Preparation stacks you have
3.) KC returns additional focus
Traps would have to be changed as well, with the hunter having the option to set their main “opener trap” for specific scenarios. We could imagine the default “Tar Trap” as the main opener trap, perhaps giving the hunter a small damage boost against targets afflicted. Talents/additional traps could be:
1.) Built-in soulforge embers, dealing low-dps widespread dot damage to everyone in the trap
2.) Snake Trap which works with RNG to summon a random combination of poison snakes, slowing snakes, and damage snakes that attack random nearby targets for a short duration.
3.) Steel trap, stunning the enemy caught in it for several seconds and applying a long-lasting bleed.
4.) Slows enemy attack speed significantly while within the trap (much like the pvp talent)
5.) Incendiary trap except it’s AOE and flares for extra damage when WfB is used
Mongoose bite needs to be baked into the spec. Enemies have to feel heavy pressure the longer they stay contained by the SV hunter.
Arenas:
This is most important in arenas where SV is known for its ST pressure and consistent damage. With this flavor of hunter, you can guarantee at least one enemy will be slowed for the entire duration of the arena battle, allowing the hunter to easily control 1 target and maintain bleeds/dots for spread and cleave pressure.
The drawback in arenas will be the same as it always has been: hunters die inside stuns very easily. Hunters take a lot of damage and struggle to bring themselves back up. Hunters have a rough time without their pets. While this style would give them a heavy advantage in 2’s, it’s not completely unheard of to ruin a burst phase through stuns or proper use of immunities. Seeing as this style is still ramp-up and still requires melee range to execute most of their damage, they’re going to have an incredibly difficult time against non-trapped targets (rogues, paladins, druids etc.) and heavy melee hitters (warriors, dk’s).
Mythic+:
SV has an almost (almost) non-existent presence in M+ right now due to several drawbacks. Melee has a lot of a rougher time with some of the dungeons and affixes, SV is the least-performing when compared to the AOE of other specs. Even their single-target burst, where they’re supposed to shine, is currently heavily outplayed by Marksman.
This proposed version of SV fits in perfectly with the quick, heavy burst of the current meta, able to rampup heavy damage and execute it in a restrained time period. The ability to be a hybrid melee/range allows the hunter to now be able to readily escape melee damage without completely shutting down their rotation.
Most importantly, their niche, heavy single-target sustain, is well-preserved, with the hunter being able to weave in and out of mechanics while still maintaining damage on the target and regularly bursting.
Raids:
SV isn’t particularly bad at raids right now, it’s just outshined by its competing specs and their ease. Because SV is still pretty single-target focused, it makes SV a nice and consistent dps spec that can compete on bosses. Unfortunately, however, it tends to fall off very quickly when compared to other specs with large groups of adds or mechanics that force you away from the boss.
This proposed rework would keep SV on the same mobility track as it’s spec counterparts while still maintaining the single-target devastation that SV is known for. Beyond that, with Harpoon as the bursting ability, it allows survival to quickly and easily swap to priority adds and burst them down as well as regularly time damage boosts in conjunction with fights like Sludgefist. They’ll still struggle with large aoe-damage mid-fight, but far less severely as you can apply dots and bleeds, swap regularly, and maintain highly mobile throughout the fight.
This spec rework would let SV hunters fill the niche of a hybrid melee/ranged spec while giving a new, fresh flavor to the old, desired style while introducing new class mechanics that still preserve the ideologies, strengths, and designed weaknesses that SV brings to the table. With this change, SV will guaranteed have a higher play-rate and fill a spot in every bit of content as the utility, burst, and mobility of the spec will put it competitively within the best members of any team.