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.
#####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).
#####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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