As opposed to the pet T Rex or flying dragons…
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Rexxar, Huln Highmountain, Lor’thamar Theron, Shandris Feathermoon at times, I am sure that there are more, only one that I mentioned so far does not predate Legion using just melee weapons, but it ain’t just what your opinion is.
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good bye melee nobody will miss you
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Sure, that’s a problem too but sort of a necessity as having a non-combat mount sized companion following you around 100% of the time poses all sorts of annoying problems that combat pets and minions already do while generally being smaller. And traveling back to a stable to swap all the time would get old fast.
That is much different than objectively poor combat animations that get used and seen on a much more consistent basis.
Legion Survival was a very satisfying melee spec to watch in action and listen to as well with it’s core abilities. BFA, not so much switching between: polearm, grenades, crossbow, potentially glaives and all mostly in melee range and with a pet.
Take Beast Mastery standing side by side with the pet doing Raptor Strike and Flanking Strike and Lacerate and Bestial Wrath all with strong melee attack animations and you’ll have a great spec visually and thematically.
Take all the gadgets and gizmos (but ditch the pocket crossbow) going back to full range and you’ll have a markedly better visual and thematic spec that also makes the ranged abilities have meaningful impact on their own.
BFA Marksmanship is confused and boring.
BFA Beast Mastery is a guy shooting spit balls and pet treats at targets to get Fluffy to maul them more but at least the PC can run around like a chicken with it’s head cut off.
You may want to learn the difference between opinion and fact. I happen to like the visual and theme of the melee surv hunter.
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Hate to break it to you, but the surv artifact pretty much guarantees that melee ain’t going anywhere.
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i once used a bow for 9 years and the next day i had to use a stick. artifacts arent even relevant now lol.
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I would say that you’re gonna have a hard time finding a fair number of hunters that agree with you on that.
1 ability that makes you draw a small 1h-Xbow from your “pocket”, to then fire a mini-arrow, this does not make for an archer-playstyle.
I guess that depends on what you’re used to. Or what you imagine to fit a specific fantasy. Those “sneak-attack”-inspired 1h Xbows, they aren’t unheard of. Though we haven’t seen much of it before, in WoW. I would say that it can have a place here, thematically.
For me, it’s more about MSV as a whole. The fact that it’s a spec that is made up by abilities that have been taken from other specs. If you ask me, considering the current Survival is still meant to be a melee-spec, then it would make for a better immersion if your focus was mostly on using melee-based abilities.
Sure, some players like the melee/range-hybrid spec. But for the most part, you won’t find a lot of players that both want to give up the ranged aspects of the Hunter class, while still not actually getting a proper melee experience.
Sure, you can stand in melee range and use the abilities, but this does not make for a proper melee-spec/experience.
We’ve heard the developers say that the old SV lacked a niche, say that it did not have a strong core fantasy(this still baffles me, I very much saw what it was meant to be).
Now, compare that to current SV.
As far as having a niche goes, sure, it has the hybrid element of both melee/range-based attacks. But the actual abilities that makes for the spec. They aren’t unique or new in any way.
The Hunter class have struggled quite some time with the ability to provide combat animations that are very exciting. Now, as far as liking the animations or not, this is up to every single individual to determine what they want.
I agree that this could be a thing that made sense for sure. But how much of a positive effect this would have on the playerbase that focus on the hunter class, I’d say that there’s a big risk with doing this.
We’ve seen this mistake being made in the past(when they removed ranged Survival in favor of a completely new playstyle).
Observe that I’m not actually saying that having a melee spec option for the class is bad. I’m saying that the act of removing another spec/unique playstyle for this to happen…THAT, was the wrong choice.
Opinions vary ofc. But as far as having a ranged DoT-based playstyle for the class. Again, I think you would struggle to find a fair portion of players that wouldn’t just say that the old Survival playstyle would be the best choice here.
If you keep the abilities you’re able to use from range currently in Survival, while removing the melee ones in favor of some basic ranged attacks. This would still not put the spec anywhere near what the Ranged Survival spec felt like in the past.
However, I will hold my final opinion on your suggestion as I’m not completely sure what you would want for the abilities that should be kept, as well as knowing what you would want to be put in instead of the current melee-based abilities the spec has.
Nothing wrong with this. And there are those that say the same about both the current BM spec as well as MM. And this again leads to the problem we ran into when at first the old ranged Survival spec was removed.
If you want to introduce a completely new playstyle for a class. It should NOT be done at the expense of already existing styles/specs.
Many of us in this very thread(and other threads) are not saying that melee survival should be removed(nor should current BM or MM).
We want the DoT-playstyle/spec back as a 4th spec in order for us to enjoy the class more, while still letting the players who like the current specs, continue to enjoy those as they are/their themes are.
You are very right on this. I mean…who knows what will happen in X years.
But still, introducing the melee spec just to take it away a few expansions later…
I find it very difficult to see that this will happen.
I would just say, stop arguing for the removal of an existing spec. There is little to no point in doing so. Nor is it needed for us to get what we want.
We have seen the introduction of a 4th spec for a class in the past. If there is a proper void to be filled and if there is enough of a base that can be used to fill that which is missing, then why not do it?
I refer to my first reply in this thread: We need range Survival Hunters back - #457 by Ghorak-laughing-skull
Or the topic with motivation included: [Suggestions updated] Pre-Legion/Ranged Survival
Is this perfect for everyone? No. There is no perfect spec you can create. The point with this is that you can create a version of that spec that can hold it’s own identity among the other available specs.
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This new (spear master, legionnaire, isn’t what rexxar and the other lore hunters were either)
Mage tower skin, along with all the rest would beg to differ with you.
I can think of one animation for Hunters that was particularly cool. Explosive Shot for Survival Hunter :\
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Yes, Hunter need another range class but I really enjoy Surv as it is. Maybe the most fun I had with any spec.
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Arcane will always have it beat, magic circles and all.
It’s not just using a spear though. I cannot think of a time when the head belf used a bow. In fact I thought he was a paladin until I got into the game’s lore.
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Though Lor’themar Theron seems to have spent much of his life as a Ranger, iconicly fond of bows, Lor’themar seems to prefer very close range, or melee combat. He was seen fighting with a Sword in the Sunwell trilogy, and also used a spear/shield combo in Tides of Darkness, making him more of a Warrior archetype, rather than the Hunter, which is often associated with Elven Ranger.
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In the trading card game, Lor’themar is portrayed as a paladin, though nothing in the lore has suggested he is one. However, this might be because of blood elves being the first Horde race to have paladins, (blood knights) and Lor’themar was listed as a paladin (blood knight) to emphasize this. Similarly, Velen is a shaman in the card game despite being a priest in lore.
Lore he is Ranger-General
TCG he is a Paladin.
He’s still a Ranger though. I even found where he uses a bow and comments on it, the Ilse of Thunder starting quest chain.
TCG is like the Table Top RPG, not cannon.
Funnily enough, both Hearthstone and Heroes of the Storm actually made Rexxar more ranged-oriented to better fit the WoW Hunter, only for the WoW Hunter spec Survival to be made totally melee to better fit the older Warcraft 3 Rexxar.
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Hate to break it to you, but the Survival artifact means nothing anymore.
- You don’t need to be melee to complete the quest chain to get Talonclaw.
- Both BM and MM can still equip and auto attack with melee weapons.
- Artifacts are fully “unlocked” as soon as you get them now.
- You don’t need an artifact to do Legion content anymore, they don’t give any bonus abilities and are just stat sticks.
- You don’t need an artifact to complete the Class Hall quests.
- You only spend a couple of hours passing through Legion content.
- You could unlock and equip Eagle Talon on BM and simply Kill Command/Auto Attack your way through Legion content. Bonus points for using Dire Beast, AMoC, Stomp/Stampede, and AotB/Spitting Cobra just for extra non-ranged weapon attacks.
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Lol this thread. MSV is the best the spec has ever been. RSV isn’t coming back, time to move on.
All of that and you missed the entire point. The skins are what is still used, including the mage tower skin. Care to try again skippy?