First principle of gaming: you do it for fun. And you have more fun when the skills you’ve acquired over years and years don’t have to be destroyed and replaced by new languages, different placements, changed spacing and new keys to use.
In concrete terms, however, the game often turns out to be a continuous coin toss with two sides: fun and frustration.
If the outcome of the toss continues to favor frustration, the purpose of the game is lost and abandonment remains the only way forward, and that is a shame, both for the player and for the game organizer.
Let’s remain in the perfect world, where fun prevails, for the time being.
Obviously, each person perceives fun in his or her own way, but the principle remains the same: I invest my time, my most valuable resource, and I expect to find myself richer in memories and happier at the end of the journey.
At a certain point in the past, A’dal considered me worthy of being his hand, even though I was a hunter, and since then much water has flowed under many bridges, and I have seen a few liters pass as well.
Having said that as a necessary premise to what I’m going to say next, let’s get down to specifics.
Obviously we are talking about BM Hunter, a character who realizes many fantasies, strong in his individuality that allows him to live the Wow world as a single, but when today he feels the need to share his beer with someone, he is rejected by those who do group activities, from the mere LFG for M+ to guilds that recruit.
I don’t avoid mentioning that historically, from uncontrolled pets that pull half an instance deciding their own path if left off leash to not using their own resources for the good of all, the nickname Huntard has made its way and still indelibly impregnates some coats.
Nevertheless, we are able to provide so much, if understood and helped. I am sure about it…
The first mistake you can make, and that will blacklist me in the blink of an eye, is to tell us to change what we have always been and follow the bandwagon of the momentary winner, which is Survival.
Unlike other classes, for us this means changing sides, i.e. going from ranged to melee. Think of a ranged warrior: does it make you laugh? Yes, it makes me laugh too. Yet it is what you expect from a BM hunter, in order to shine a few weeks or months. It will not happen, as far as I am concerned, see the first paragraph.
But it remains important to walk the road in a constructive way, learning from past mistakes and improving future potential, with the least possible impact on the code (and here speaks the programmer that I am in real life). It is also very important to make the travelers (the players) perceive that the bus driver still has his hands on the wheel: often it is sufficient to press the microphone button and say “hi everyone, I’m still here, I see it’s very hot in the back guys, I heard your speeches, now I’m going to turn on the air conditioning, let me know if you start sneezing”.
Now though, let’s get into the specifics of my idea, which is very simple.
I would like to improve the aoe of the BM without touching the PVP and without taking into account borrowed power. Forever. For this purpose I have chosen my candidate, which is Multi-Shot. Which nowadays is rather limited to Multi-Tag, since in a Spires 15, out of my 16’300’000 total damage, it scored 236’000 damage - an amazing 1.4%, despite 170 casts that cost 40 focus each.
How can there be ONE BASE ability that takes a third of your maximum builder resource (40 focus out of 120) to do 343 damage(*) per beast hit on average, only if it’s within 8 yards of course, under the guise that it also triggers Beast Cleave ?
How can this be the ONLY AoE ability of the Hunter BM, minus various borrowed powers, with such a negligible impact?
Whatever, let it be the only one. But at least improve the power, which by definition is 12.6% of the attack power for BM. But do you realize that the SAME skill, for a MM hunter, has the multiplier at 41.2%? (And it costs only 20 focus, so half, and has a range of 40 yards instead of 8, no comment)
(*) with 1830 agility, 35% crit, 23% haste, 28% Mastery and 12% versatility
Basically, they don’t want you to spam casts of Multi-Shot. You could ofc tune it up slightly, without that being the end result. Essentially, the design promotes using Multi-Shot to maintain Beast Cleave uptime, while simultaneously continuing with the priority target-“rotation”. You ofc have additional talent choices for AoE, such as Stomp(passive), Barrage(in general, in group-based content, is more annoying than anything else), and then Stampede(which, since they reworked it, is not really useful for much of anything, and is also quite annoying).
Hmm, are you talking about cast range vs. cone width(spread radius)? Why compare those? Both spells have a base cast range of 40 yards. The spread radius for BM is 8 yards, while for MM, it’s 10 yards.
I do agree that BM could use some additions on the AoE/Cleave side of our design. I’m fine with the main-trigger being Beast Cleave, but I would want for more options to manually improve our throughput for AoE, in ways that tie into Beast Cleave.
The concept below being one example of this. Obviously it’s not perfect, it would probably need further iteration and testing. But at least it gives us some decent options for AoE/Cleave, compared to things like Barrage/Stampede(current version). Along with something more as a baseline.
Remember that any specific numbers written are just there to give context/further the concept. Obviously some testing/tuning would be required to make it work in-game.
Bullet point-list of changes
Core Abilities
Reduce the Focus cost of Kill Command by 5 for each enemy you hit with Multi-Shot(or by a flat amount, regardless of enemy count).
Make A Murder of Crows into a baseline ability for this spec(BM). Same base funcionality/design(more options through talents).
Major Cooldown
Add a Focus cost-reduction to other abilities during BW, when it’s active. Similar to the Legion-lego effect(Roar of the Seven Lions).
Remove Aspect of the Wild entirely.
Mastery Bonus
Make Mastery slightly more effective by adding a scaling component for the damage bonus granted by Bestial Wrath. See the full concept link below for specifics.
Passive Effects
Make Animal Companion a passive choice for us, one that does not affect our damage but rather is just a cosmetic option. Again, see the full concept for specifics.
Extend the duration of Beast Cleave from 4 sec up to 5, to allow for some leeway in terms of maintenance and ability usage.
Make Kill Command benefit from Beast Cleave, dealing reduced damage to nearby enemies.
Increase the proc chance of Wild Call from 20% up to 25%.
Utility & Defensives (Class-wide)
[Posthaste] - Should become a baseline effect.
[Master’s Call] - Should be reverted back to a baseline ability.
[Pet Specializations] - Make Ferocity, Tenacity, and Cunning changeable for individual pets again, like it worked in Legion.
[Revive Pet] - Preferably, reduce the cast time down to 2 seconds again.
[Camouflage] - Should be reverted back to a baseline ability.
This section also includes some changes to talents that focus on utility. See the full concept below for specifics.
Talents
Change BM talents, in addition to what’s mentioned above, in several ways to allow for more interesting and impactful choices to be possible. Some talents are more or less useless and have been so for a very long time. This section covers changes/replacements to multiple talents so check the talent-section of the full concept below for details.
Core Abilities
[Cobra Shot] - 35 Focus - Instant cast
A quick shot causing X Physical damage.
Reduces the cooldown of Kill Command by 1 sec.
[Kill Command] - 30 Focus - Instant cast - 7.5 sec cooldown
Give the command to kill, causing your pet to savagely deal X Physical damage to the enemy.
[Barbed Shot] - Instant cast - 12 sec recharge - 2 Charges
Fire a shot that tears through your enemy, causing them to bleed for X damage over 8 sec.
Sends your pet into a frenzy, increasing attack speed by 30% for 8 sec, stacking up to 3 times.
Generates 20 Focus over 8 sec.
[Multi-Shot] - 40 Focus - Instant cast
Fires several missiles, hitting up to 5 targets within 8 yards of your current target for X Physical damage.
The Focus cost of your next Kill Command is reduced by 5 for each enemy you hit with Multi-Shot.
[A Murder of Crows] - 30 Focus - Instant cast - 1 min cooldown
Summons a flock of crows to attack your target, dealing X Physical damage over 20 sec.
If the target dies while under attack, A Murder of Crows’ cooldown is reset.
Class-wide abilities
[Kill Shot] - 10 Focus - Instant cast - 10 sec recharge - 1 Charges
You attempt to finish off a wounded target, dealing X Physical damage.
Only usable on enemies with less than 20% health.
Major Cooldown
[Bestial Wrath] - Instant - 1.5 min cooldown
Sends you and your pet into a rage, instantly dealing X Physical damage to its target, and increasing all damage you both deal by 25% for 20 sec.
Bestial Wrath’s remaining cooldown is reduced by 12 sec each time you use Barbed Shot/Dire Beast.
The Focus cost of all abilities is reduced by X% while Bestial Wrath is active.
Mastery
[Mastery: Master of Beasts] - Increases the damage done by your pets and summoned creatures by X%, and the damage bonus of Bestial Wrath by Y%.
Passive Effects
[Animal Companion] - You may call 1 additional pet to fight for you at all times. The second pet will obey your Kill Command, but cannot use pet family abilities.
If you have two active pets, they both use the same damaging abilities and benefit from the same effects but they only deal 50% of normal damage(each).
Only using 1 pet instead causes that pet to deal 100% of normal damage.
[Beast Cleave] - After you Multi-Shot, your pet’s melee attacks and Kill Command also strike up to 5 other nearby enemy targets for 75% as much for the next 5 sec.
[Exotic Beasts] - You master the art of beast training, teaching you the ability to tame Exotic pets.
[Kindred Spirits] - Increases your maximum Focus and your pet’s maximum Focus by 20.
[Pack Tactics] - Passive Focus generation increased by 100%.
[Wild Call] - Your Auto Shot critical strikes have a 25% chance to reset the cooldown of Barbed Shot/Dire Beast.
Utility/defensives
Includes all other abilities, such as [Tar Trap][Frost Trap][Aspect of the Turtle][Concussive Shot][Counter Shot][Tranquilizing Shot][Misdirection][Pet Utility][Exhilaration][Disengage][Feign Death], and more.
Note that I would prefer if(on a class-wide basis)
[Posthaste] - becomes a baseline effect.
[Master’s Call] - comes back as a baseline ability.
[Pet Specializations] - Ferocity, Tenacity, and Cunning were changeable.
[Revive Pet] - Cast time brought down to 2 seconds again.
Kill Command deals an additional 10% damage against bleeding targets.
[Bloodshed] - 50 yd range - Instant - 1 min cooldown
Command your pet(s) to tear into your target, causing your target to bleed for X damage over 18 sec, and increase all damage taken from your pet(s) by 15% for 18 sec.
[Dire Beast] - (Replaces Barbed Shot) - Instant - 12 sec recharge - 2 Charges
Summons a powerful wild beast that attacks the target for 8 sec.
Generates 20 Focus over 8 sec.
– Level 25 –
[Scent of Blood] - Activating Bestial Wrath grants 2 charges of Barbed Shot/Dire Beast.
[One with the Pack] - Wild Call has a 20% increased chance to reset the cooldown of Barbed Shot/Dire Beast.
Using Barbed Shot/Dire Beast increases your Haste by 5% for 12 sec.
[Feeding Frenzy] - Damage dealt by Barbed Shot is increased by X%. When the periodic damage effect applied by Barbed Shot is refreshed, the remaining damage will be added to the new effect, and it now lasts for a total of 9 sec.
In addition, Frenzy’s duration is also increased to 9 seconds.
Dire Frenzy(Requires talent: Dire Beast)
Each time a Dire Beast is called, the damage dealt by your main pet(s) is increased by 1%.
When you activate Bestial Wrath, this consumes all stacks of Dire Frenzy and increases the initial damage dealt by Bestial Wrath by 50% for each stack that is consumed.
– Level 30 –
[Trailblazer] - [Natural Mending]
[Bestial Dicipline] - While your pet is active, you and your pet(s) regenerate X% of total health every 3 sec. Healing done to you and your pet(s) is increased by X%.
Damage taken by your pet(s) is reduced by 15%
– Level 35 --
[Spitting Cobra] - Bestial Wrath also summons a Spitting Cobra to aid you in combat for 15 sec. Each Cobra Shot used during Bestial Wrath extends the remaining duration of the Spitting Cobra by 1 sec.
[Thrill of the Hunt] - Barbed Shot/Dire Beast reduces the remaining cooldown of Bestial Wrath by an additional 4 sec.
Barbed Shot/Dire Beast increases your critical strike chance by 5% for 12 seconds.
[Birds of Prey] - Kill Command extends the remaining duration of A Murder of Crows by 2 sec.
Damage of A Murder of Crows is increased by X%.
– Level 40 –
[Born to be Wild] - [Binding Shot]
[Adaptation] - (Replaces Posthaste) Getting hit with an incapacitating effect(Stun/Fear), reduces the remaining cooldown of your Aspect of the Turtle by 30%. This effect has an internal cooldown of X sec.
Aspect of the Turtle is now usable when incapacitated.
When rooted or slowed, the remaining cooldown of Aspect of the Cheetah is reduced by 15 seconds. Aspect of the Cheetah frees you from movement impairing effects and you cannot be slowed below 100% movement speed while it’s active.
– Level 45 –
[Stomp] - When you cast Barbed Shot/Dire Beast, your pet stomps the ground, dealing X Physical damage to all nearby enemies.
[Chimaera Shot] - Instant cast - 15 sec cooldown
A two-headed shot that hits your primary target and another nearby target, dealing X Nature damage to one and X Frost damage to the other.
Generates 10 Focus for each target hit.
[Talon Frenzy] - While Beast Cleave is active, A Murder of Crows affects up to 8 enemies near the primary target.
– Level 50 –
[Aspect of the Beast] - Increases the damage and healing of your pet’s abilities by 30%.
Increases the effectiveness of your pet’s Predator’s Thirst, Endurance Training, and Pathfinding passives by 50%.
[Stampede] - Instant cast - 30 sec duration - 2 min cooldown
Summons 5 of your stabled pets to fight for you for 30 sec. These pets deal X% of normal damage and obey your Kill Command.
Pets summoned by Stampede heal themselves for 200% of the damage they deal.
[Unleashed Fury] - Instant cast - 20 sec cooldown
Sends your pet into a rage, causing it to deal X Physical damage to the target in a flurry of 5 attacks. Damage dealt is increased by X% for every stack of Frenzy the pet currently has.
When this ability is used, your pet lets out a savage roar, increasing your haste by 10% for 12 sec.
Bestial Fury(Requires talent: Dire Beast)
Damage dealt by Dire Beasts during Bestial Wrath is increased by another X%.
Any Dire Beasts called during Bestial Wrath will have their duration increased by an additonal X sec. This also applies to Dire Beasts who have already been called to fight when Bestial Wrath is activated. Attacks made by Dire Beasts will now also benefit from Beast Cleave, if activated.
By cost definition, you can’t spam something that eats 1/3 of your spender.
I see it like the volume knob on the radio: you can turn it up by 5% per week till you consider it’s loud enough.
When you are trying to tune the performance of a system, having just one variable that you touch and measure the resulting performance is a programmer’s dream because it excludes all the interactions with other variables that you might be tempted to touch.
for BM hunter, I do think the dmg should come from pets more than it does now, offcourse Multi shot could use a buff in dmg no question about it.
but pets they have such potential realy.
lets take a corehound for example, why not give core hound an aoe burn effect, that is up, eighter have it on auto or manualy hit it, that burns all enemies whit in 10 yard for an ammount of dmg, and bam there is our aoe, could even make it start with multi shot.
other pets could have other abilities, spirit beast could get an aoe heal that heals tanks and melee or even hole raid, kind of like shadow priest had or have cant rember.
and then not to forget all the other things you could have, single target pets, that lowers targets defence, places dots on targets and many other things.