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Fixing Hunter's messy class fantasy: Defining the core of each spec and expanding Hero Talents.
Not too long ago, I made a post with some ideas on how to improve the thematics and class fantasy of hunter, but people didn't like those ideas, so I wanted to think of some other way to achieve the same goal. What I came up with was a two-step process:
- First, strip each spec down to only its absolute essentials in terms of thematics. This *does not* mean simplifying gameplay, but rather give each spec a very broad fantasy that can then be moulded into something specific by the player. I.e., more or less how class fantasy worked in the earlier expansions.
- Improve the fantasy of the current Hero Talents, then add three new ones. Now, if people think this means Blizzard need to add three new Hero Talents for every class... I mean maybe? Though, I personally think that's the completely wrong way to go about a system like this. The purpose of Hero Talents is to provide a very specific character fantasy, and some classes will naturally have more of those than others. Regardless, we're going to assume this is not an obstacle and just focus on hunter.
#Specs
#####Beast Mastery
- **Core Fantasy:** Ranged weapon + pet.
- **Core Gameplay:** Dealing damage through your pet; being able to use every attack while moving.
- The Animal Companion/Solitary Companion talent stays as it is, but beyond that there is no summoning of additional pets.
#####Marksmanship
- **Core Fantasy:** Ranged weapon; primarily or fully without a pet.
- **Core Gameplay:** Sniper; somewhat stationary but with really long range.
- Replacing Explosive Shot with something more "thematically neutral".
- Completely remove the Spotting Eagle; the whole point of Marksmanship is to give you an option for playing a character that uses ranged weapons but not pets.
- Replace the Avian Specialization talent with a Lone Wolf talent, which is what makes you stronger but unable to summon your pet. The way it currently works is very confusing to new players.
#####Survival
- **Core Fantasy:** Melee fighter with a pet.
- **Core Gameplay:** Mainly melee attacks, but also a decent amount of damage from range and through your pet.
- Uses some "tricks" like venoms and traps, possibly also retaining Flamefang Pitch, but no full-on "technology" like Wildfire Bomb and Boomstick.
- Hatchet Throw is changed to serve as a replacement for Wildfire Bomb. Can be glyphed to instead appear as a javelin, knife, glaive, chakram, hand crossbow or whatever your current weapon is (if it's a spear, dagger or one-handed axe).
#Hero Talents
#####Pack Leader
- **Specs:** Beast Mastery / Survival
- **Core Fantasy:** Fighting with multiple pets.
- **Core Gameplay:** Focused around temporarily calling in your inactive pets (i.e. the ones that are in your Call Pet 1-5 slots but aren't your currently active one). Could work like the current Dire Beasts, or in some other way.
- No abilities will call upon random beasts you haven't tamed yourself, unless a summon procs and all your pets are already active (will be tweaked so it can never happen if you have all 5 pet slots filled).
#####Sentinel
- **Specs:** Marksmanship / Beast Mastery
- **Core Fantasy:** Having the power of god (Elune) and a bird on your side.
- **Core Gameplay:** Dealing extra arcane damage and getting procs from your Sentinel Owl. Can potentially directly inherit some of the Spotting Eagle mechanics.
- Gives you an extra stable slot (like the Animal Companion talent for BM) where you can place a bird pet to replace the appearance of your Sentinel Owl (could possibly apply to other flying pets as well).
#####Dark Ranger
- **Specs:** Survival / Marksmanship
- **Core Fantasy:** Assassin-like hunter.
- **Core Gameplay:** Shadow-based DoT damage and improved stealth abilities (i.e. buffs to Camouflage).
- Meant to somewhat invoke the original ranged version of Survival.
*Note:* I swapped the corresponding specs for Sentinel and Dark Ranger because I think it simply makes more sense, but it could go either way really.
#####Headhunter
- **Specs:** Beast Mastery / Survival
- **Core Fantasy:** Berserker; physical strength over magic.
- **Core Gameplay:** Focuses on burst damage (mainly by buffing Bestial Wrath/Takedown) and sustain healing.
- Meant to fill a more Horde-centric class fantasy, while also not being too "intrusive" for people who prefer a less specific class fantasy.
#####Sharpshooter
- **Specs:** Marksmanship / Beast Mastery
- **Core Fantasy:** Ranged weapon expert.
- **Core Gameplay:** Basically just improving on the baseline ranged attacks of MM/BM.
- Meant for people who just prefer the simplicity of "me, my bow/gun and my pet" and don't want much fanfare.
#####Technician
- **Specs:** Survival / Marksmanship
- **Core Fantasy:** Tech-based hunter (i.e. the go-to for goblins and gnomes).
- **Core Gameplay:** AoE damage and crowd control. Gives back Wildfire Bomb and Explosive Shot to their respective specs (replacing the abilities that replaced them).
- Changes a lot of abilities, like replacing traps with landmine equivalents or making Intimidation and Binding Shot be stun gun based.
#entertainment
source
Not too long ago, I made a post with some ideas on how to improve the thematics and class fantasy of hunter, but people didn't like those ideas, so I wanted to think of some other way to achieve the same goal. What I came up with was a two-step process:
- First, strip each spec down to only its absolute essentials in terms of thematics. This *does not* mean simplifying gameplay, but rather give each spec a very broad fantasy that can then be moulded into something specific by the player. I.e., more or less how class fantasy worked in the earlier expansions.
- Improve the fantasy of the current Hero Talents, then add three new ones. Now, if people think this means Blizzard need to add three new Hero Talents for every class... I mean maybe? Though, I personally think that's the completely wrong way to go about a system like this. The purpose of Hero Talents is to provide a very specific character fantasy, and some classes will naturally have more of those than others. Regardless, we're going to assume this is not an obstacle and just focus on hunter.
#Specs
#####Beast Mastery
- **Core Fantasy:** Ranged weapon + pet.
- **Core Gameplay:** Dealing damage through your pet; being able to use every attack while moving.
- The Animal Companion/Solitary Companion talent stays as it is, but beyond that there is no summoning of additional pets.
#####Marksmanship
- **Core Fantasy:** Ranged weapon; primarily or fully without a pet.
- **Core Gameplay:** Sniper; somewhat stationary but with really long range.
- Replacing Explosive Shot with something more "thematically neutral".
- Completely remove the Spotting Eagle; the whole point of Marksmanship is to give you an option for playing a character that uses ranged weapons but not pets.
- Replace the Avian Specialization talent with a Lone Wolf talent, which is what makes you stronger but unable to summon your pet. The way it currently works is very confusing to new players.
#####Survival
- **Core Fantasy:** Melee fighter with a pet.
- **Core Gameplay:** Mainly melee attacks, but also a decent amount of damage from range and through your pet.
- Uses some "tricks" like venoms and traps, possibly also retaining Flamefang Pitch, but no full-on "technology" like Wildfire Bomb and Boomstick.
- Hatchet Throw is changed to serve as a replacement for Wildfire Bomb. Can be glyphed to instead appear as a javelin, knife, glaive, chakram, hand crossbow or whatever your current weapon is (if it's a spear, dagger or one-handed axe).
#Hero Talents
#####Pack Leader
- **Specs:** Beast Mastery / Survival
- **Core Fantasy:** Fighting with multiple pets.
- **Core Gameplay:** Focused around temporarily calling in your inactive pets (i.e. the ones that are in your Call Pet 1-5 slots but aren't your currently active one). Could work like the current Dire Beasts, or in some other way.
- No abilities will call upon random beasts you haven't tamed yourself, unless a summon procs and all your pets are already active (will be tweaked so it can never happen if you have all 5 pet slots filled).
#####Sentinel
- **Specs:** Marksmanship / Beast Mastery
- **Core Fantasy:** Having the power of god (Elune) and a bird on your side.
- **Core Gameplay:** Dealing extra arcane damage and getting procs from your Sentinel Owl. Can potentially directly inherit some of the Spotting Eagle mechanics.
- Gives you an extra stable slot (like the Animal Companion talent for BM) where you can place a bird pet to replace the appearance of your Sentinel Owl (could possibly apply to other flying pets as well).
#####Dark Ranger
- **Specs:** Survival / Marksmanship
- **Core Fantasy:** Assassin-like hunter.
- **Core Gameplay:** Shadow-based DoT damage and improved stealth abilities (i.e. buffs to Camouflage).
- Meant to somewhat invoke the original ranged version of Survival.
*Note:* I swapped the corresponding specs for Sentinel and Dark Ranger because I think it simply makes more sense, but it could go either way really.
#####Headhunter
- **Specs:** Beast Mastery / Survival
- **Core Fantasy:** Berserker; physical strength over magic.
- **Core Gameplay:** Focuses on burst damage (mainly by buffing Bestial Wrath/Takedown) and sustain healing.
- Meant to fill a more Horde-centric class fantasy, while also not being too "intrusive" for people who prefer a less specific class fantasy.
#####Sharpshooter
- **Specs:** Marksmanship / Beast Mastery
- **Core Fantasy:** Ranged weapon expert.
- **Core Gameplay:** Basically just improving on the baseline ranged attacks of MM/BM.
- Meant for people who just prefer the simplicity of "me, my bow/gun and my pet" and don't want much fanfare.
#####Technician
- **Specs:** Survival / Marksmanship
- **Core Fantasy:** Tech-based hunter (i.e. the go-to for goblins and gnomes).
- **Core Gameplay:** AoE damage and crowd control. Gives back Wildfire Bomb and Explosive Shot to their respective specs (replacing the abilities that replaced them).
- Changes a lot of abilities, like replacing traps with landmine equivalents or making Intimidation and Binding Shot be stun gun based.
#entertainment
source
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February 26, 2026… #movieoftheday is Hero (full movie) (1992).
“Hero (released in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Australia as Accidental Hero ) is a 1992 American comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears . It was written by David Webb Peoples , from a story written by Peoples, Laura Ziskin and Alvin Sargent , and stars Dustin Hoffman , Geena Davis , Andy García and Joan Cusack . Following The Grifters (1990), it was the second American feature film by British filmmaker Frears.” – more at Wikipedia
What happens when the wrong man becomes the right hero? Small-time crook Bernie LaPlante (Dustin Hoffman) is having the worst night of his life—until an airliner crashes right in front of him on a deserted Chicago road. Despite being a cynical, selfish petty criminal, Bernie reluctantly rescues 54 passengers from the burning wreckage, including glamorous TV reporter Gale Gayley (Geena Davis), though not before stealing her purse and losing a shoe in the process.
When Bernie's car breaks down, he flags down homeless Vietnam veteran John Bubber (Andy Garcia) and tells him about the rescue, giving him his remaining shoe before disappearing into the night. Gale's TV station offers $1 million to identify the mysterious "Angel of Flight 104" but Bernie can't come forward—he's been arrested for fencing stolen goods.
When the charismatic Bubber steps forward with the shoe and Bernie's story, he becomes an overnight media sensation and inspirational hero, using his newfound wealth and fame for charitable causes. Now Bernie must watch from jail as an impostor receives the glory, the money and the girl—while everyone celebrates a lie that just might be exactly what the world needs.
FULL MOVIE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm0lUAOdDsY
#Hero #tangled #Wikipedia #2026
“Hero (released in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Australia as Accidental Hero ) is a 1992 American comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears . It was written by David Webb Peoples , from a story written by Peoples, Laura Ziskin and Alvin Sargent , and stars Dustin Hoffman , Geena Davis , Andy García and Joan Cusack . Following The Grifters (1990), it was the second American feature film by British filmmaker Frears.” – more at Wikipedia
What happens when the wrong man becomes the right hero? Small-time crook Bernie LaPlante (Dustin Hoffman) is having the worst night of his life—until an airliner crashes right in front of him on a deserted Chicago road. Despite being a cynical, selfish petty criminal, Bernie reluctantly rescues 54 passengers from the burning wreckage, including glamorous TV reporter Gale Gayley (Geena Davis), though not before stealing her purse and losing a shoe in the process.
When Bernie's car breaks down, he flags down homeless Vietnam veteran John Bubber (Andy Garcia) and tells him about the rescue, giving him his remaining shoe before disappearing into the night. Gale's TV station offers $1 million to identify the mysterious "Angel of Flight 104" but Bernie can't come forward—he's been arrested for fencing stolen goods.
When the charismatic Bubber steps forward with the shoe and Bernie's story, he becomes an overnight media sensation and inspirational hero, using his newfound wealth and fame for charitable causes. Now Bernie must watch from jail as an impostor receives the glory, the money and the girl—while everyone celebrates a lie that just might be exactly what the world needs.
FULL MOVIE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pm0lUAOdDsY
#Hero #tangled #Wikipedia #2026
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