Been for the past few days going over what I like about the current talent system we have and what I would like to see being improved upon.
Pre-Cata talent trees had certain talents that could be considered “filler talents”. Those that were percentage-based increases to ability damage as an example.
So, what could be done to allow for more choices? What could we get that would allow for such extra choices/customization without us getting too much that has no real meaning?
These types of changes, and how well they are perceived, it will always come down to the opinions of players. As everyone likes things just slightly different from one another.
Now, like I said above…I have some ideas as to what I would like to see change with our current talent system going forward.
Our talent trees consist of 7 different tiers/talent rows that you progress through as you level up. Some tiers are focusing on offensive talents while others, on utility. In total we have 21 different talents per tree. With each row, as it becomes available when you reach a specific level you will be able to choose one out of three talents.
If I base this on the Beast Mastery talent tree for explanations sake. We can take some talents as examples. (Full list of Beast Mastery-specific talents found at the bottom)
Currently, tier one for BM has: Killer Instinct, Animal Companion and Dire Beast
What if you could have a rank system on these talents similar to what we had pre-Cata but still more meaningful?
Killer Instinct could have these ranks
Rank 1: Kill Command now does X% increased damage to targets below 35% health.
Rank 2: Kill Command costs X focus less to use.
Rank 3: Kill Command now hits up to two targets.
Dire Beast could look like this
Rank 1: Summons a wild beast to attack your target for 8 sec.
Rank 2: Dire Beast also increases your haste by X% for 8 sec.
Rank 3: The haste bonus provided by using Dire Beast is now increased by X% every time the beast hits an enemy.
If we take another talent, like A Murder of Crows
Rank 1: Summons a flock of crows to attack your current target, dealing X damage over 15 sec.
Rank 2: AMoC now benefits from Beast Cleave
Explanation
What this basically means, is: Crows summoned by AMoC may attack other nearby enemies(only those you’re already in combat with and they will ignore CC’d targets) as long as Beast Cleave is active(they are hit by Multi-Shot), causing a version of A Murder of Crows to be applied to enemies hit by Multi-Shot, but with a shorter duration.
Rank 3: Using Kill Command on a target affected by A Murder of Crows extends it’s(AMoC’s) remaining duration by X sec.
Works on targets affected by A Murder of Crows that’s been applied by Beast Cleave/Multi-Shot as well.
If we instead pick Camouflage, a talent focusing on utility:
Rank 1: You and your pet blend into your surroundings and gain stealth for 1min.
Rank 2: While camouflaged, you heal for X% of maximum health every 1 sec.
Rank 3: While camouflaged, your movement speed is increased by X% every 1 sec. up to a maximum of X%. This effect lasts for 3 sec after breaking camouflage. Additionally, the CD on Camouflage is reduced by 2 sec for every 1 sec you spend stealthed up to a maximum 1min(meaning if you remain in camouflage for at least 30 sec before breaking it, the CD on Camouflage has reset). Currently, Camouflage has a 1min CD that starts once you come out of it, which also means, if you come out after only 20 seconds then the CD on Camo has been reduced by 40 sec. And you will only have 20 sec of the remaining CD on it, instead of the usual 1min.
The overall idea is that, while you still would have 7 tiers/rows of talents tied to your specialization. You would now have multiple ranks on all talents.
With the same rank-system added to Marksmanship/Survival, what would you like to see added for their specific talents?
-
You should be able to choose if you want to spend all points on ranks for a specific talent at once before moving on to a higher tier, or if you only want rank 1 and/or 2 now and then aim for a higher talent tier and come back to that specific talent later on.
-
You should still be restricted to only picking talents from the tree tied to your current specialization(BM/MM/Surv).
-
I’m contemplating whether you should be required to, once a talent on a specific row/tier has been chosen, if you should be required to pick all ranks available for that talent or if wanted, you could spend 2 points in that talent, and maybe 1 point in another talent on the same tier/row. You would not be able to skip a tier/row entirely but this would allow you to, too a degree, pick multiple talents on the same row.
Currently, I’m leaning towards a NO on this as it’s not really what the system is meant to be about. Even though it might sound fun, as it has the potential of causing a lot of problems tuning wise.
Thoughts?
Should you be restricted to only 1 talent per tier/row?
Or several? At the cost of less ranks for each talent chosen ofc.
Here is a full list of the talents in the BM talent tree along with my ideas on what ranks they all could get.
Some numbers tuning will most likely be needed but, I wrote this purely to highlight the mechanics behind all talents.
BM Talents with ranks + some suggested changes to existing talents
Tier 1
Killer Instinct
Rank 1: Kill Command now does X% increased damage to targets below 35% health.
Rank 2: Kill Command costs X focus less to use.
Rank 3: Kill Command now hits up to two targets.
Animal Companion
Rank 1: Your Call Pet additionally summons the first pet from your stable. This pet will obey your Kill Command but can not use pet family abilities.
Rank 2: Your primary pet is inspired by the newest member of the pack, causing it to attack more frequently with it’s Basic Ability.
The cooldown of your pet’s basic attack(Bite/Claw/Smack) is reduced by 1 second and it’s focus cost is reduced by X.
Rank 3: Your secondary pet will now perform it’s Basic Ability as well(Bite/Claw/Smack).
Dire Beast
Rank 1: Summons a wild beast to attack your target for 8 sec.
Rank 2: Dire Beast also increases your haste by X% for 8 sec.
Rank 3: The haste bonus provided by using Dire Beast is now increased by X% every time the beast hits an enemy.
Tier 2
Scent of Blood
Rank 1: Your pet’s ability to land a critical strike is increased by X%. In addition, your pet’s critical strike damage against bleeding targets is increased by X%.
Rank 2: Barbed Shot generates 8 additional focus over it’s duration.
Rank 3: The bleed caused by Barbed Shot can now stack up to 3 times.
One with the Pack
Rank 1: Wild Call has a 25% increased chance to reset the cooldown of Barbed Shot.
Rank 2: Barbed Shot has a chance to add 1 extra stack of Frenzy to your pet. For a total of up to 4 stacks. Note: You can only stack Frenzy 3 times manually. But if you get the 4th stack, you will be able to maintain those 4 stacks for as long as the effect remains.
Rank 3: The Hunter will now benefit from Frenzy as well. Whenever the pet has 3(or more) stacks of Frenzy, the hunter gains X% increased attack speed for the duration as well.
Chimaera Shot
Rank 1: A two-headed shot that deals damage to your primary target as well as one additional target in the form of Nature and Frost damage.
Rank 2: Chimaera Shot now generates 10 focus per target hit.
Rank 3: Enemies hit by Chimaera Shot are affected by Chimaera’s Breath and become more vulnerable to bleed effects for 15 seconds. The Bleed caused by Barbed Shot on a enemy affected by Chimaera’s Breath gets infected, instantly dealing an additional X% damage as nature damage.
Tier 3
Trailblazer
Rank 1: Your movement speed is increased by 15% anytime you have not attacked for 3 seconds.
Rank 2: Your attacks have a chance of increasing your movement speed by X% for 10 seconds. Stacks up to X times.
Rank 3: The movement speed gained from Trailblazer is increased by an additional 15%
Natural Mending
Rank 1: Every 30 focus you spend reduces the remaining cooldown of Exhilaration by 1 second.
Rank 2: The base cooldown of Exhilaration is reduced by X seconds.
Rank 3: Exhilaration now also heals you for an additional X health over 15 seconds when used.
Camouflage
Rank 1: You and your pet blend into your surroundings and gain stealth for 1min.
Rank 2: While camouflaged, you heal for X% of maximum health every 1 sec.
Rank 3: While camouflaged, your movement speed is increased by X% every 1 sec. up to a maximum of X%. This effect lasts for 3 sec after breaking camouflage. Additionally, the CD on Camouflage is reduced by 2 sec for every 1 sec you spend stealthed up to a maximum 1min(meaning if you remain in camouflage for at least 30 sec before breaking it, the CD on Camouflage has reset). Currently, Camouflage has a 1min CD that starts once you come out of it, which also means, if you come out after only 20 seconds then the CD on Camo has been reduced by 40 sec. And you will only have 20 sec of the remaining CD on it, instead of the usual 1min.
Tier 4
Venomous Bite
Rank 1: Cobra Shot reduces the cooldown of Bestial Wrath by X second(s).
Rank 2: Cobra Shot has a chance of summoning a snake to attack your target for X Nature damage over 4 seconds.
Rank 3: There is a chance that Cobra Shot causes multiple snakes to spawn that will deal X Nature damage to the enemy target or split between up to 3 additional enemies within 12 yards of your primary target.
Thrill of the Hunt
Rank 1: Barbed Shot increases your critical strike chance by 3% for 8 seconds.
Rank 2: The critical strike chance gained by your pet is now increased by an additional X%.
Rank 3: Thrill of the Hunt now also increases your haste by X% for the duration. In addition, the duration of Beast Cleave is increased by 1 second for every Kill Command, Cobra Shot, or Barbed Shot used while it’s active.
A Murder of Crows
Rank 1: Summons a flock of crows to attack your current target, dealing X damage over 15 sec.
Rank 2: AMoC now benefits from Beast Cleave
What this basically means, is: Crows summoned by AMoC may attack other nearby enemies(only those you’re already in combat with and they will ignore CC’d targets) as long as Beast Cleave is active(they are hit by Multi-Shot), causing a version of A Murder of Crows to be applied to enemies hit by Multi-Shot, but with a shorter duration.
Note: the cooldown reset on A Murder of Crows only applies to your primary target. If that enemy does not die before A Murder of Crows expires, the cooldown will not reset.
Rank 3: Using Kill Command on a target affected by A Murder of Crows extends it’s(AMoC’s) remaining duration by X sec.
Works on targets affected by A Murder of Crows that’s been applied by Beast Cleave/Multi-Shot as well.
Tier 5
Born to be Wild
Rank 1: The cooldown of Aspect of the Turtle is reduced by 30%
Rank 2: The cooldown of Aspect of the Cheetah is reduced by 30%
Rank 3: The duration of Aspect of the Cheetah as well as Aspect of the Turtle is now increased by an additional X seconds.
Posthaste
Rank 1: Disengage also increases your movement speed by 50% for 4 seconds.
Rank 2: Disengage will now free you from all movement impairing effects(Stuns/Fear not included).
Rank 3: Disengage will now free your pet from any movement impairing effects(Stuns/Fear not included) and your pet will be immune to such effects for the next X seconds.
Binding Shot
Rank 1: Fire a magical projectile, tethering enemies within 5 yards for 10 secs, rooting them in place for 8 seconds if they move more than 5 yards from the projectile.
Rank 2: The cooldown of Binding Shot is reduced by X seconds.
Rank 3: Enemies that move more than 5 yards from the projectile will now be stunned for 2 seconds followed by rooting them in place for 6 seconds.
Tier 6
Stomp - Should be removed in favor of a new passive talent
Rank 1: Barbed shot causes your pet to(if not in melee range), charge the enemy target, followed by performing a swipe attack that deals X Physical damage to nearby enemies every 1 second over 4 seconds in total.
Rank 2: Damage dealt by <.talent name.> to your primary target is now increased by an additional X%.
Rank 3: The damage-over-time effect from <.talent name.> can now stack up to X times.
Barrage - This does not seem to fit well with Beast Mastery if you ask me. In my opinion it should be replaced by a new talent
Rank 1: Kill Command now benefits from Beast Cleave.
Rank 2: Kill Commands damage to your primary target is increased by X%.
Rank 3: Barbed Shot now hits up to X nearby enemies. Will prioritize enemies not already affected by Barbed Shot.
Stampede
Rank 1: Summons a herd of stampeding animals from the wilds around you that deal damage to your enemies for 12 seconds.
Rank 2: Your primary target takes an additional X% damage from stampeding animals.
Rank 3: Your attacks have a 100% chance to critically hit enemies hit by stampeding animals for the next X seconds.
Tier 7
Aspect of the Beast
Rank 1: Increases the damage of your pet’s abilities by 30%.
Rank 2: Increases the effectiveness of your pet’s Predator’s Thirst, Endurance Training, and Pathfinding passives by 50%. In addition, your auto attacks have a chance to instantly grant you X focus.
Rank 3: The damage bonus from Bestial Wrath is increased by an additional X% every time your pet lands a critical strike for as long as Bestial Wrath is active. Once the effect is over, the additional bonus to damage done is lost.
Killer Cobra
Rank 1: While Bestial Wrath is active, Cobra Shot resets the cooldown on Kill Command.
Rank 2: Kill Command has a X% chance to instantly restore 15 Focus.
Rank 3: Successful Kill Commands made against an enemy will cause the next Kill Command against the same enemy to do X% more damage. Stacking up to X times. Once Bestial Wrath fades, this effect is lost as well.
Spitting Cobra
Rank 1: Summons a spitting cobra for 20 seconds that attacks your target for X Nature damage every 2 sec. Range should be increased to 40 yards/or the summoned cobra should not be stationary.
Rank 2: While the Cobra is active you gain X focus every sec.
Rank 3: The spitting cobra will now assist you further over it’s duration. If you switch targets, the cobra will do so as well. In addition, the cobra’s attacks applies a venom to the target, causing nature damage over 5 seconds. Further attacks made towards the same enemy will increase the potency of the venom, causing it to do additional damage.