I’m sure this isn’t the first time this thread has been made, nor will it be the last, but I MUST be vocal about my objections to the flavor and aesthetics of our hero talent trees as they are now. These trees should be designed with the most common denominator in mind so that players can craft their own fantasy with their own ideas. With as many races and backstories that are possible, this should be an easy thing to do.
Unfortunately, we have only three identities to choose from: Elf, Evil elf/Undead, Zookeeper.
The last is obviously the least offensive pick because it can be adopted by more than two races. Anyone can have a bear/wyvern/pig in their back pocket if said pocket is big enough. Of course forcing the player to only have those three is still offensive to player customization, especially after setting up gnome hunters to make sense with mechanical tames, but we don’t have to get into that. Everyone hates gnomes with a fiery passion our species hasn’t had for another since WW2.
The first two are even more offensive. Just one example, dwarven marksmen have been around in this IP as long as elves with bows. There arent any RP logical reasons a dwarf mountaineer should be a star slinging owl fanatic. Don’t even get me started on Sylvanas spec. Did blizzard actually forget that there were other ranged combatants out there besides elves?
This is a problem that persists across all hero talents right now, but it’s a problem easily solved by making Glyphs and Inscription matter again. You just have to tie a glyph or two into each mechanic that has a non-neutral aesthetic baked into it. You can continue to design the specs as they need to be designed for mechanical purposes. There’s also the argument that one need not pay heed to the names of these abilities, but their visual design is very specific as well. Sentinel regularly summons a storm of shooting stars, and dark ranger always has crows attacking its target. Wyvern/Bear/Pig with no adjustability is the same issue.
I know a lot of players will stop in to meme trash onto this topic because many seem to think class flavor and RPG identity is wholly unimportant, but there are a lot of us out there for whom it is the only reason to play the game. If you’re reading this and you agree, please leave a comment. Change only happens if enough voices say something.
I can speak hunter as well, so I will write the tl:dr in traditional hunter dialect.
TL:DR We no want only elfpewpew or purplepewpew. Make more pewpew color or we unga wallets out window.
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I mean, I roleplay an Elf, but I wholeheartedly agree that this change is a slap in the face to us Hunters and our chosen playstyle and aesthetic. I suggested a unique buff to replace the current talent node, a unique buff based on the Beast Nature; Cunning, Ferocity, and Tenacity. This way, we still get to choose our favorite beast, and with the Nature-Changing Selector at your local Stables, you can choose the buff you want too.
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I’ve stopped playing my survival hunter that was my main for all of Dragonflight and all of last season because I cannot stand the Kevin James Zoo Keeper hero talents. I only play survival and I actually really liked pack leader the way it was, it felt like it buffed my pet and fit the fantasy of fighting alongside your one pet. Den recovery was really powerful and the replacement of shell cover not only looks stupid but is hardly any sort of defensive talent.
Now I can either summon random zoo animals or I can shoot blue elf explosions that cover the ground constantly and we have no way to change it. Any of the hero talents that force a summon need to be on a choice node with something else. I don’t even care if it’s worse I just want to decide the way my character plays.
The wyvern is particularly annoying because it summons into your camera from behind you and is constantly in the way. The boar also doesn’t charge your target, it charges in a straight line so if your target is moving it might miss it completely. The lunar storm breaks traps and is triggered by your most common and strongest ability.
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So not only are they inferior in design thematically, but mechanically as well. I’m trying to see the dev’s vision without being too pessimistic but I can’t imagine all this being a product of anything other than developers who are constantly under the threat of shareholders and can’t design things with gameplay in mind, or they just never play RPGs.
It’s been said many times that everyone who made Blizzard a noteworthy company has left. Is this another symptom of that claim?
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As someone who had only played dwarf and blood elf hunters up until now, I literally rolled this character during pre-patch because I was so hyped to play Sentinel MM. Then we got…whatever that is. Maybe Sentinel was a mistake because Tyrande is too many classes in one, she’s basically a hunter with some priest abilities reskinned with the moon spells from the druid kit. Whereas Dark Ranger feels more thematic because Sylvanas is just a Dark Ranger. But I agree that the biggest problem with these hero specs is that there isn’t one that fits a dwarf rifleman. It’s two explicitly elven hero specs and one generic pet-themed one.
I do think one of the key problems with Sentinel from a class/spec fantasy standpoint is that it only has the owl. At least Dark Ranger has Black Arrow in addition to multiple passive effects and a pseudo-banshee transformation thing. Sentinel MM is just MM with one moon-flavored AoE.
Pack Leader never had a fantasy problem until now, because it was all about leading your own pack of hunter pets that you tamed. Now, we summon specific additional pets that perform specific tasks, but they’re not our pets. They’re Rexxar’s.
I like the idea of specifically summoning one pet to charge across the field, or a flying pet to circle the area, but I want them to be my pets. Having Ban’thalos appear from my stable to circle the battlefield already has more Sentinel fantasy behind it than just having little blue bolts drop from the sky every 45 seconds or whatever.
I just think it sucks that we fought so hard to get pets back for MM only for the spec to feel lackluster to play even after we got what we wanted, because the Spotting Eagle barely does anything whether you take your pet with you or not. So I feel pressured to go back to BM, but now BM makes me feel like Rexxar, not a night elf huntress who calls all manner of creatures from the forests of Ashenvale to her aid.
And don’t even get me started on the fact that a Survival Sentinel hunter can’t use moonglaives because SV lost the option to dual-wield swords.
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