Hey everyone,
It’s that time of the week again and I figured I’d make my contribution to the delusional fantasy that is SV design converstion.
First, Id like to propose that hunter should not get a fourth spec. If SV must be one or the other, it should probably be ranged. The main reason I would say so is that PvE melee dps need a unique utility to be useful (or they need to be way OP like SV is looking this season.)
However, I dont think that SV should be one or the other in the short term. That is not to double down on my usual rant, that SV should be hybrid, equipping both weapons and weaving in and out of melee. Though that is my preferred playstyle, that is not what I’m suggesting for the spec in 10.0.
Instead, what I am suggesting is that SV steal from feral’s old playbook and fill either the ranged role or the melee role with equal or near equal effectiveness. I am also suggesting that the kit for ranged DPS be designed in such a way as to not require nor encourage the ranged SV hunter to move into melee range to do maximum DPS.
New mastery- Guerilla Fighter
Your focus spending abilities do 13% more damage (like before) and you take decreased damage from area of effect type dots (like fire and ice and stuff… because you know how to move on all kinds of terrain)
New passive- Guerilla Tactics
- The old talent making bombs have 2 charges is now baseline. The passive Guerilla tactics makes focus-spending ranged or melee abilities have a chance to reset one charge of wildfire bombs.
Flanking Strikes passive effect
- While equipping a melee weapon, coordinated assault applies flanking strikes, decreasing the attack power of enemies within 15 yds and increasing the threat generated by the target of the hunter’s misdirection by 50%. If the talent flanking strike is taken, the flanking strike ability also applies the passive effect.
(The purpose of this passive is to give the melee SV hunter, a melee style utility. I also wanted this to take some of the pet theme off the abilities by allowing the passive effect to help the tank hold aggro, especially for kiting m+ tanks)
Hydra’s Bite baseline… but requires an equipped ranged weapon
- Of course serpent sting is still castable with the cosmetic hand crossbow, but hydra’s bite can readily improve the feel of spreading that dot, and I think it would be fitting for the ranged enthusiast playing the SV we have. It should, of course, be smart and ignore cc’d enemies.
Chakrams baseline, replaced by wildfire clusters
- Yes, clusters is a favorite. It goes well with wildfire infusion, but I really think it should be one or the other. Make it a talent on that row and let people choose the passive AoE increase, or the interactive color game. On that same row, Birds of Prey already gets a passive buff from the melee passive Flanking Strikes from earlier. The final talent row, therefore would have a talent that appeals only to melee, but even moreso for group utility, as well as making a ranged ability baseline and offering 2 talents that improve ranged dps.
This is obviously not a fully fleshed out rework with tons of completely balanced numbers. It’s more a framework. It is also not meant to give everyone everything they want. It is meant to take what we have, make it appeal to more people and make it better. Instead of splitting the hunter population further, and creating even more rivalry between melee and ranged SV enthusiasts, my goal is to make role swapping a strength of the spec, and to realistically make ranged SV something that could easily be patched on by 10.0 even if they didnt think about it at all till now.
I know there are more experienced hunters out there who are better theory-crafters. What do you think? Is there something there? Can this be improved upon?