This topic isn’t about BM Hunters, they’re fine, I guess. Sure, the spec is a bit silly, and pets do 90% of the damage, but that damage can be countered, is predictable, can be interrupted, and gives you time to react. Pets can be rooted, slowed or locked into a vortex, ring of frost etc… Getting out of combat is bugged for all classes. I don’t even try to go for a restealth, because 99% of the time I end up with my teammates dying while I spend 20+ seconds behind a pillar trying to drop combat, even if the pets aren’t attacking me. For all you rogues out there - don’t do that. It’s not worth it 99.9% of the time. The same goes for Blind+Sap combo. Blind-Sap should work, but often people stay in combat after 5 seconds, which is mind boggling. Sometimes I make it work if I Blind, Smoke Bomb, and then Sap before someone exits the bomb to engage in combat, but that’s a rare scenario - most of the time, they’re still in combat ;D
The problem with MM is the complete opposite: you have zero time to react, and the damage is instant. Those instant proc Aimed Shots from Explosive Shot can hit for 10 million damage. The long-cast Aimed Shot without a proc usually hits for 1–2 million, which is fine.
But when you combine Rapid Fire, Volley, Explosive Shot, instant Aimed Shot procs (x2), Scatter Shot, the auto-applied root effect from Sentinel that doesn’t require a global cooldown, Tar Trap, slow effect from concussive shot, ranged instant silence on a healer, that goes into stun and Ice Trap, Explosive Trap, Feign Death, two charges of Survival Instincts wall, Turtle, Roar of Sacrifice, and Disengage with its speed boost… it’s just too much.
I can handle playing Rogue against MM myself, but my teammates die instantly and that means I lose the game.
I’ve tried different playstyles against MM. Spreading my bleeds across all targets gives the MM too much freedom and makes it hard for me to connect when needed. Focusing only on the MM doesn’t apply enough pressure to the rest of the enemy team. As a Rogue, my teammates rely on my CC, but when I use it, it’s difficult to reconnect to the MM due to their mobility: auto roots, Scatter Shot, Explosive Trap, Disengage, etc. Even when I manage to connect after CC, they have so many defensive cooldowns that they can always use something on every go. Games rarely last more than three minutes, and if the MM dies, it’s usually because it’s another 1.8k exp player who climbed to 2.4k just because the spec is overpowered. In many matches, I’ve had to Blind the MM just to prevent my teammates from dying, which isn’t the case against other comps. But honestly, I barely see anything else lately - in my last 20+ queues, there were at least one or two MM Hunters in every single game.
Therefore, this needs to be addressed by Blizzard. I’m 100% sure it’s not just me – it’s mostly other classes that are complaining about it. Assassination Rogues, for example, aren’t easy to kill against MM if played correctly, but they have to work hard for their damage.
Before anyone claims that Assa Rogues are overpowered, consider this: it takes at least 10 globals to set up properly, not to mention the CC responsibilities and the effort required to stay connected to targets. You have to play for your entire team, track enemy burst cooldowns, track DRs, avoid making a single mistake, and still many classes or even your own teammates can remove bleeds and poisons. I play many classes and can assure you that rogues need to stay alert at all times.
It’s a high-skill spec, and I’m fine with that because skill should be rewarded. But MM Hunter is simply too easy to play and too effective in a highly competitive environment like arenas, given its current mechanics, abilities, and damage output. I even play MM Hunter myself, and it feels disgusting. I feel sorry when I play it. It’s dumb, awful, and overpowered. It doesn’t feel satisfying, it feels like I’m just trolling.
And lastly, I don’t understand Blizzard’s logic at all. It’s a multi-billion-dollar company owned by Microsoft, and PvP is an important part of WoW that brings in many players. Yet they kept Ret Paladin set bonuses bugged for so long - the damage was not reduced in PvP at all, so the DoT damage was insane. They eventually fixed it.
They also nerf things where it’s not really needed, like Enhancement Shamans. Or the recent Void Disci priest nerfs are laughable. As someone mentioned in another topic, if they address Hunters with some nerfs, it’s likely going to be Arcane Shot… yeah, it sounds stupid, but that’s very Blizzard-like. I wouldn’t be surprised if that turns out to be true.
The solution for MM Hunter is to significantly lower the bonus damage of Aimed Shot. I mean significantly, by around 50%. Let it hit for 5 million instead of 10-12 million. I will compare this with Destruction Warlocks and Chaos Bolt. Sure, they can hit hard, but their damage is more predictable, requires landing several globals before it can even be achieved, is a cast that can be avoided, can be countered or interrupted. Im fine with that because warlocks lack mobility. MM hunters have everything times two.