Nothing wrong with that, this is entirely based on subjective views. What you as a individual prefer or not.
We’ve seen people argue for this for the longest time. Should it be melee? Should it be ranged again?
I’m one of those that want to see the old ranged DoT-spec we had prior to Legion make a return(ofc with this, I mean an updated version that fits the design philosophy of today). HOWEVER! I’m not saying that it should make it’s return in the form of a replacement for current melee survival.
Why?
There is no point in requesting it to be reverted. It just won’t happen. If anything, they(the devs) will continue to iterate on the current concept to make it more to what the players want(from it being melee-focused).
Also, there is no need to argue back and forth regarding the Melee vs. Ranged situation.
If you look at the existing specs we have: BM, MM, Melee Survival
And, if you then look at what the past ranged Survival spec could be, both in terms of design as well as gameplay-wise, it could easily hold it’s own identity/unique style(while still keeping the core of what the Hunter class should be about).
Now, there is no perfect spec that suits everybody. It does not exist, nor will it ever do so. But, as far as the ranged, DoT-concept we used to have is concerned, I would very much like to build on that fantasy towards a 4th spec option.
I’m biased ofc, as these are my own suggestions: [Suggestions updated] Pre-Legion Survival [4th spec]
Back to the topic of this thread…
I know they made a statement that, sometimes the best way to survive, is to go on the offense. Bringing the fight to the enemy. Now, I do get their point of view. But having said that, I still would argue that the current spec needs a name change. The old name Survival, it’s a remnant from the design concept of the class back in the days where we did not have specs designed with separate playstyles in mind. We did not actually have specs(for damage dealers) that had their own unique focus on the level of what we have today.
Back then, Survival was merely a manual way for you to focus on just that, improving your toolkit in terms of “Survivability”. I made this post a few days back. It’s ofc a summary, but I believe it covers the essentials of what each spec did for the class(you as a hunter).
Beast Mastery:
•Improved your Aspects
•Improved your pet’s health, armor, movement speed, damage, critical strike chance, focus regen.
•You gained several utility based improvements such as lower cast time on pet res, better pet mending, on-demand stun etc.
•Apart from some utility as well as the signature talent for BM(Bestial Wrath). The spec did not give you anything beyond improving stuff you already had access to, baseline.Marksmanship
•Gave some additional utility, in the form of targeted shots(ranged attacks), increased attack range.
•Most stuff were in the form of lower mana cost on abilities, increases to critical strike chance as well as critical damage, CD reduction, base damage increases.
•Some of the more iconic stuff you got through MM talents was the improved Stings that you already had access to. Along with a powerful ranged attack, a ranged disorient as well as a party-wide AP buff.Survival
•Enhanced your fantasy as being a tracker
•Improvements to your focus on utility. Especially in the form of traps you used defensively but also the ones for offensive use.
•It did give you a offensive melee ability in the form of Counterattack. Though you weren’t really meant to focus on it to much. You still wanted to get away from your enemies.
•Part from this, the spec also held options to improve your baseline defenses, with increased health, parry chance, on-demand parry/dodge, improved Feign Death.
It also gave you a ranged CC ability(Wyvern), which was essentially mostly meant as a way to keep distance to enemies. Or to help you manage multiple targets.
Back then, no matter what you spec’ed in/for, you were still a hunter that wanted to engage in ranged combat, and you were aided by a pet/companion.
If you compare the above to what the spec is today, to still call it Survival…it just does not fit anymore. IMO ofc.
Personally, I haven’t played current Survival since the BfA Alpha+Beta. But I agree, it would be better(IMO) if they went back towards the actual melee concept rather than keeping it as a weird hybrid.
They overhauled it again for BfA due to some feedback where people complained that they did not like that melee design. So the result was what we have now. Where, they sort of, have tried to take inspiration from that past DoT-spec we used to have, and bring it into the new version.
If their actual intent was to make the spec more attractive for those that liked the old ranged spec. Sorry, this goal was not achieved. Again, opinions will vary ofc…
My basic thoughts to bring more aspects of melee focus back into the current Survival spec are as below(other players who play it more might have better ideas ofc):
Not saying that they should do a complete overhaul again, but changing a few of the core abilities along with a talent, would do much.
-Remove the survival version of Kill Command.
-Replace it with Raptor Strike as the focus builder(on live, it’s the main spender)
-Put in either Mongoose Bite or a slightly altered version of Flanking Strike as a replacement for the current Raptor Strike. Why they decided to put them both in as talent options, I dno.
-The other stuff, you can keep as it is. Mostly…
What people want, gameplay-wise will ofc differ a lot. But if you ask me, button count does not matter for much in terms of what makes a spec fun to play.
As an example, BM has very few abilities tied to it’s core “rotation”. But you have the option to add in another 5 stand-alone abilities from talents(with a total of 6 choices, 2 on the same row).
The thing with that is, all those extra abilities, have no connection to anything else within the spec design and the baseline abilities you have. The talents all stand as their own, and you press them whenever they are off CD.
I refer back to my first link with my suggestion on that 4th spec option for a ranged DoT-spec. I’ve deliberately stayed away from requesting a multitude of extra abilities that you could get from talent options, in favor of simply building on/going deeper into the fantasy of what you already have, baseline.