So Kill Shot can actually kill something now, woah!
4 Likes
Comments in the official topic on these changes, linked above, its…interesting…indeed.
Essentially, with this buff, Multi-Shot will hit each target(Max 5) for 43% of Attack Power as Physical damage instead of 37.5%.
Considering that it’s an ability only used once every ~4 sec, even in a fight with constant AoE, it’s…what…less than a 0.5% bonus to AoE damage done?
And, considering how Multi-Shot in itself doesn’t do anything towards actually hurting the enemy(for obvious reasons), I can’t even figure out why they included MS in this round of buffs. Is it just because it was a BM hunter ability so therefor it should be included? Okay, too bad MS isn’t actually intended to be a big hitter so it’s a meaningless buff to said ability.
Agreed, they are ofc needed, but they won’t do much towards fixing the issues with
BM.
3 Likes
I think the negativity you see is purely a pvp reaction. I’m a pvp only BM and we are already insanely strong in PvP. I don’t think anyone would argue that BM needs a pve buff and I’m guessing survival got slightly lower numbers bc they just had a small buff to a couple abilities and another 15% on top would be too much
The buffs are truly welcome, however, I do not see them bringing us up to higher levels. I see them raising up to mid-pack levels and that’s about it. Blizz is still counting on the bow, 2-hand proc weapon, and quiver to make up the rest. Unfortunately, those who don’t get those drops will be sorely behind the curve.
What’s worse is look at the amount of buffs. Msv has had its main spells buffed over 30% and its still not going to be anything special. That should tell you how bad of a balancing job blizz is doing lately.
I wish they had buff’ed the beast cleave instead of multishot. Multishot does nada and 15% more of nada is still nada.
6 Likes
I did some Sim manipulation to see how these buffs should translate. Basically, I just did multiple sims assuming both single target and AoE and added 15% to the abilities that are getting buffed. Used my 226 ilvl BM Hunter.
The results were about 6.2% overall increase on single target and 4.8% overall on AoE.
Not to be a naysayer, but this just seems like the 5% aura buff we got in 9.0, but targeted to specific abilities to make it sound like a bigger buff. It’s welcome, but still a lazy response in my opinion.
As far as how much that will help us…
My BM Hunter is 226 item level with all of Shadowlands to pick and choose gear from the vault to optimize stats.
My Shadow Priest is 222 item level after three weeks of life with whatever gear I could throw together.
Shadow Priest still sims 3-7% ahead of my Hunter with the SP nerf and BM buff taken into account. I think this buff will move us up from the bottom, but doubt it goes higher than middle of the rankings.
I still feel like most of BM’s issues could be solved with just a mastery adjustment. Kill Command, Dire Beast/Command, Stampede, Crows, Spitting Cobra… All fixable with a mastery tweak. (Just nerf Animal Companion to compensate.)
2 Likes
You need to remember SV already received a 15% buff to KC and all of its strikes. So this extra 10% is like buffing 25% from the get go. Also now bombs and serpent will receive a 10% buff that we did not get at first.
I think this will be helpful for SV hunters, as we use serpent and bombs as part of our rotation.
2 Likes
I don’t see why MM and BM need such big buffs?
BM is only class In game that can keep 100% damage uptime, and MM was performing very well in 9.0. Still has amazing burst in AOE
It’s just a bunch of pvp tears honestly. It’s kinda hilarious.
Honestly, uncapping Beast Cleave would probably solve the issue. Everyone was lamenting the loss of certain traits on armor, but I said then and will reiterate now, capping Beast Cleave to 5 targets was a HUGE nerf to BM AoE, whereas MM (for example) never felt that pinch because they were always capped.
1 Like
Cant really agree with that. This wouldnt do anything for the vast majority of fights and also they should simply do away with all the differentiation around target cap. Either cap all to the same size or uncap all, dont add more unnecessary exceptions.
Making KC cleaeve sounds like the best solution ive heard so far. It would add quite some more damage and would also add more much needed skill epxression to the spec.
2 Likes
Probably because SV mastery affects kill shot damage and they’re worried about it being too strong somehow? I dunno.
I was surprised to see them buff serpent sting and wildfire bombs. It further cements guerilla tactics as the go to talent choice though.
Would have been nice to see some talent changes done, but a buff is a buff and I’m happy.
With the buff, Hydra bite might be viable. Also the Venthyr lego was buff to 60% on the bleed. It may be a viable build to have Hydra, and the Venthyr lego for both ST and AOE situations.
1 Like
I was wondering about that, but I still don’t think the venthyr leggo can compete outside of lower target cleave. Wildfire is just going to smash it outside of 5 targets, but it’s certainly worth considering.
I don’t PvE enough to really say for sure (this xpac.) What’s the average CD on that ability for BM? I’d rather have Multishot damage buffed, because adding passive AoE to more abilities sounds REALLY lazy to me. Unless, like trick shots, it wouldn’t cleave unless Multishot hit X number of targets first. Still seems lazy, though.
I would LOVE to see them switch mastery up a bit per spec.
-
BM: Pet damage, but more clearly defined as abilities that incorporate critters, i.e., Crows, Spitting Cobra, KC, Beast Cleave, etc. Basically anything that’s an animal and does damage (whether prompted by the Hunter or on their own.)
-
MM: Shot damage, to me, makes sense here. I’d love ArP, but I think that ship has sailed.
-
SV: Dots, bleeds, “magic” damage. You’d lose the amp on Kill Shot, but everything leading up to that would be more potent.
I would agree. But also remember, I think the lego is limited to range and not targets, so it could perhaps due better ? I need to look it up, but yes, I think the WF cluster lego would still out do it.
For ST I use the NTA build which really can get the job done, done right.
1 Like
You dont want passive aoe but then want to simply buff a spell which would have no effect on the rotation whatsoever?
Since KC get its cd reduced by CS, you can improve your dps significantly over the completly passive 4 second beast cleave window. Managing your cd reduce better will result in more aoe dps, which is rewards good playstyle. Unlike just giving some % to an already existing aoe ability which sounds REALLY lazy…
2 Likes
You’re either conflating the conversation of AoE vs ST, or you’re using Multishot as your focus dump? My argument is, you make a choice to press MS if the situation warrants it. You never make that choice with KC.