I’m playing a hunter for the first time in like 10 years to be honest.
At the moment i’m enjoying a markmanship hunter, without a pet.
At some levels i saw some sweet talents that grant you bonusses for not playing with a pet, as is my preference. Which makes it great for me to enjoy as a solo player.
I dont know how crossbowmen were in Warcraft lore, but in real history there were crossbowmen with shields. Like the famous pavise shield.
Honestly i would love to see more talents for solo play, like a talent that allows wearing a shield with your crossbow or gun. So you can tank a bit more.
I’m currently level 40 in shadowlands and it’s just impossible to solo any elite creatures. I used to play a lot of blood death knight, arcane mage, shadow void priest. The dk ofcourse is a vampiric tank and the others are amazing damage dealers. I also have some great equipment and weapons on them or items with good stats. While my hunter has and had some sweet crossbows and guns i looted in the past.
Yet the hunter feels really fragile. I really have to spare my aimed shot in regular fighting. Especially if there is multiple enemies next to eachother. Or if they in general are really close to eachother. I’ve also done a lot of questing in Eastern Kingdoms. But still, a markmanship hunter without a pet is very fragile. While it does seem as an option.
I wish it were possible to get a shield instead of a pet. Maybe as a talent to allow shield and disable pets while using a shield?
And like when you use a shield you cannot move while fighting? As having a fixed position. But you can turn around to shoot. As having to load and unload the shield.
I’m really re-enjoying wow, but the markmanship hunter stands out so much in strength to me even while just levelling. Surely when i get richer i can make and buy and loot way better equipment. But before that for a markmanship hunter it seems really like a struggle to level up, compared to other classes that are really stable.
Also i read that hunters were able to use shields in vanilla. Although i don’t remember that to be honest.
I’m curious what other people’s ideas are on this. I hope this could be implemented one day.