I dont think they will do 4th specs for any class aside druid. It seems like a tuning nightmare and us getting one would start the “why don’t shamans have a tank spec or monks have a fist weave spec” arguments.
I do think they should have made beast mastery melee though, not survival but thats just my opinion.
I dont think the specs were different enough to warrant three ranged options either. They didn’t play exactly the same but they weren’t as different as they were able to achieve by going with msv. It opened up the class as a whole to a lot of people who weren’t interested in ranged spec but wanted a pet.
They could always go for an analog to Warlocks.
BM —> Demo
MM —> Destro
SV —> Aff
I feel like Blizz shot themselves in the foot a little with making BM the very mobile spec, or at least making it all instant cast. SV, to me, should be about instant-cast elemental damage gated by CD. Explosive shot, immo trap, bombs, etc. If you removed ranged or melee identity from their signature abilities, you could run whichever white damage you choose - bow, gun, spear, dw, whatever.
That has never stopped vlizz before concerning new classes. The same thing was said for DKs, Monks, and DH.
Honestly, that might happen but isn’t really a big concern from me. Regardless, I don’t particularly see the issue with opening more classes to various fantasies that are currently unmet.
Right. So, this is why when you mentioned
This is why. The 3 specs were already thematically differently and by your own admission played differently. I’d love to be able to play an arcane archer again, someone who infuses their shots with magic. These are themes that warrent different playstyles and what not in other popular games, and there’s a clear desire for it. Just because you don’t think they were different enough doesn’t mean they actually weren’t.
Making survival melee takes away from the base class. If the main thing you can say to have it be different is a complete shift from ranged to melee, that seems like a rather lazy way to differentiate the spec.
It’s literally the least played spec in the game. I absolutely agree there is merit thematically about wanting to fight up close and personal, tooth and claw, with your pet. I disagree with how the spec was implemented and believe it has done more harm than good overall to the class as a whole, and it sets a terrible precedent going forward. The current precedent right now is that any spec can and will be removed if blizz feels like it for something that may or may not make any sense for the class. This includes current SV. There is zero guarantee it’ll stay.
I think that’s wrong and backwards to how the game should be designed. I want you to play SV and to have fun. I also want to be able to play something that I had access to for over a decade.
Edit: Just wanted to add, the spec didn’t need to be made melee if you believe it wasn’t different enough. I actually posted a thread last night with a hypothetical 4th spec to help differentiate it since some people think they were too similar.
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so you didnt play a hunter, but think the specs weren’t different enough, so it’s ok that people lost their fav spec and essentially their character, because now you can have a pet next to you?
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As a blood elf. Nothing speaks more to my fantasy head cannon more then a magic based elemental archer. Blood elves are know for there magic. It makes to much sense to play as a magic wielding archer! Also explosive shot and black arrow remain two of the coolest abilities IMO. I really want to play as a ranger dark ranger magic user type.
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It’s not like they don’t already have an archetype for this in-game. cough Sylvanas cough cough
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“Didn’t play hunter” meaning I wasn’t that into the playstyle of it. As in I tried them and was pretty meh.
I’ve spent way more hours then I care to admit trying to emulate her look through transmogrify. It’s hard to find items that match up. Pre-BFA maybe up until about Wrath she was one of my favorite characters. After that she became a mustached villain to much. I miss anti-hero Sly.
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So I dont disagree with your points, but both sides have good points.
As far as tuning for new classes, adding 3 specs in for a single class has got to be easier than 1 new spec for every class which is what it would turn into.
And yes, the specs were thematically different but not everyone cares about that.
As far as it being the least played spec, sure, but there is other ways to spice it up without a reversion back.
Shadow + Nature could be a pretty cool theme for a 4th spec. Or really any kind of spellbow.
Except warlocks are one of the most similar bad examples of a class with three poorly distinguished specs.
Accept they’ve re-done it twice now. It’s been a top meta spec in the first raid of BFA. All it ever does when preforming well is piss-off the rest of the hunter community who have no desire to play melee. No spec should be deleted from the game. Blizzard can use the fourth spec option for hunters to admit they made a mistake and still give back what was taken from those who love it. Or they can continue beating there heads trying to make MSV desirable in a mostly ranged centric class.
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I don’t disagree with that. But I also don’t think perfection should be the enemy of good. We should always strive for balance, but I also don’t think that should be the excuse to prevent missing themes from being added or reintroduced.
Maybe not, though I think the whole point behind making it melee was to make it thematically different. You yourself even said that was one of the main draws to you was fighting in melee with the pet. If it was just the gameplay, we could have achieved that from Unholy. But there’s more to it than that, and it’s still incredibly important to class identity.
To be very clear, I do not want it reverted back. I will always argue for a 4th spec as that makes the most sense to me and I don’t want to put players who like melee SV to go through the same situation. I actively advocate for those interested in it to try it out and play it. I’ve tried it out, it’s not my cup of tea. I won’t shy away from my criticisms or observations about how it’s performing either. But if you like it, you should absolutely get to enjoy yourself, it’s a game lol. I just think it’s ridiculous that it’s considered asking too much or unreasonable to want back a clear identity that we had for nearly a decade.
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Ranger really should be a hero class. The arcane archer, the dark ranger and warden spec.
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No there really not. Affliction demonology and destruction play completely different and each is fun in it’s own right. Rouges and the two Warrior specs on the other hand. Not much of a difference. Heck most melee plays the same. Accept enhancement. Weaving spells works.
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I once thought it was unreasonable. And I thought briefly that 4th spec was the most “fair” solution from people who wanted RSV back.
Now I have changed to bring back RSV, but I am completely opposed to 4th spec, despite loving MSV.
Just out of curiosity, why? No disrespect or anything, just an interesting thought process I suppose?
Thats not thematic.
Absolutely agree. The rogues should get the sword rogue, dagger rogue and the sniper, IMO.
And warriors should have the shield warrior, the twohander, and the dual wield 1h weapon guy. But whatever, people love titans grip.
The cool part about warlocks right now. And I hope they continue this trend is leaning into each spec being all about specific demons. This has become the theme that ties each spec together. What they should do is tie the base spells into each over arching theme. As they should do with hunter. Here is your base kit. Now here is how each spec plays with that base kit differently. The issue they brought forth with Legion was trying to make every spec a distinct class. Instead of how the spec would build on the core of the base class.
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I absolutely agree. I think Blizz themselves even admitted they went too far in that direction in Legion, which was part of the reason they started unpruning abilities. With my hypothetical 4th spec idea I posted last night, I left it purposefully sharing some talents / abilities with a few of the other specs but made sure to build upon them differently. I still wanted to also keep it distinct from the other three specs which is why I added another resource to track on top of dot management / focus.
Obviously, something like that is a total pipe dream but it was fun to think up none the less.