At the recent Ulduar Patch PR Release Meeting -
Alright GC that stunt you pulled with Explosive Shot has given everyone wedgies and their after my head. You better be fixing this right away!!!
Yesss.. Masster.. Your minions are spreading the word, just as my master planned. We are fixing our, err… I mean my messes Masssterrr.
What plan? Did I approve of this plan!?!?
Oh sure you did.. Remember, it was to quiet down those hunters so we don’t lose subscribers? GC has it all under control. Dont’ you GC.
Yessss. Masssster.. Ghostcrawler do good.. Eyonix has now announced changes as planned Massterr…
Good. Ghostcrawler.. Good.. Now go back to the forums and donuts.. We’ll plan our next conquest.. MUAHAHAHA!!!
Yessss. Masssster.. Thank you masster.. Good Massster…
Alright so maybe it wasn’t exactly like that, but they did finally come out with an announcement for 3.1 just a few days after admitting to a Stealth Nerf.. Hmm.. Coincidence? Not so sure. But in any event we do have some insight into where Blizzard is thinking of taking us with Ulduar (Patch 3.1) (source)
I’ll spare you the boring details of all the other classes, but here’s what was announced and my thoughts on the proposed changes.
HUNTER
- Consumable ammunition has been removed from the game. Arrows and bullets no longer stack, but are not consumed.
- Ranged attack speed bonus gained from quivers and ammo bags will be preserved in a different capacity.
- A new tier of hunter pet talents have been added. In particular, this allows Beastmaster hunters to improve their damage per second (DPS) with their 51 point talent.
- Hunting Party – this talent has been reduced to 3 ranks and also grants a passive bonus to the hunter.
- Piercing Shots – this talent has been changed. Your Aimed, Steady and Chimera Shots cause the target to bleed for 10/20/30% of damage dealt for 8 sec.
- Sniper Training – this talent has been changed. After standing still for 6 sec, you gain a 2/4/6% damage bonus to Steady, Aimed and Explosive Shot.
- We are also looking to add additional trap functionality to Survival.
Before we do that, just a short update on the recent “Hotfix” to Explosive Shot. It seems that the coefficient change was reduced to 14% from 16%. Meaning the new formula would be
[RAP * 0.14 + 160]-[RAP * 0.14 + 192] Fire damage
Now I could be wrong about this, but from what I’m hearing this is the new formula regarding Explosive Shot.
Enough focus on the past, let’s look forward to the future. Let’s see what it has to offer us.
“Consumable ammunition has been removed from the game. Arrows and bullets no longer stack, but are not consumed.”
Personally!? When I hear something that sounds REALLY awesome and sweet up front, it usually means it’s there to hide something down the road. But how can we NOT love this!!! Ammo will be something we just buy, stick in the slot and use? It’s a consumable!
But wait!! They won’t stack?
So will it be like clams? They’ll just lay there taking up bag space?
And how much does each one give?
None of these questions are answered, but it does look promising. Maybe Hunters won’t have to have a seperate quiver or ammo bag anymore but can just take up slots with consumables. Oh.. Wait.. that’s what we do now.. I don’t know, but I’m dubious about this one.
Ranged attack speed bonus gained from quivers and ammo bags will be preserved in a different capacity.
Uh.. oh.. This is starting to sound to me like we’re seeing a core mechanic change again. Again, no true idea what this means? That 15% bonus from my Nerubian Reinforced Quiver or my Dragonscale Ammo Pouch won’t work the way it has been? If it’s being preserved, but how? I mean now if we have the bag or quiver we get the bonus, without it where will it go? My guess this is tied to the Ammo change, but again I’m cautious, because even though it would be great to now have to rely on a specific quiver or ammo pouch, I am concerned when core changes happen.
A new tier of hunter pet talents have been added. In particular, this allows Beastmaster hunters to improve their damage per second (DPS) with their 51 point talent.
Anyone that knows me knows that I’ve been saying that Blizz is going to force Beast Master Hunters to use their 51 point talent. We have seen time and time again GC announce that we should be looking into Beast Mastery as a means to getting our DPS and damage back up on top.
Hunting Party – this talent has been reduced to 3 ranks and also grants a passive bonus to the hunter.
Hmm.. I knew there was something in there. So Hunting Party (A Survival Talent) is being reduced from 5 Ranks to 3.
Now I’m not sure if this means we’ll see a 40% reduction in the Mana regen capabilities, or if the 3 Ranks will allow them to give 100% or not. But either way, I expect this to hurt Survival Hunters in being the Utility or Replinishment member of a raid or party. Oh.. I won’t forget the “passive bonuse to the Hunter” but this just seems like an after thought or something not entirely thought out at this time.
Piercing Shots – this talent has been changed. Your Aimed, Steady and Chimera Shots cause the target to bleed for 10/20/30% of damage dealt for 8 sec.
So Marksman Hunters get a buff to Piercing Shot. Kinda knew this one was coming. Also, this is a way for Blizz to give Steady Shot an increase without going back on their stance about not buffing Steady Shot.
Sniper Training – this talent has been changed. After standing still for 6 sec, you gain a 2/4/6% damage bonus to Steady, Aimed and Explosive Shot.
Survival got another core change. The old Sniper Training stated “Increases the damage done by your Steady Shot, Aimed Shot and Explosive Shots by 2/4/6% if you are 30 yards or further from your target, and increases the critical strike chance of your Kill Shot ability by 5/10/15%.”
Well this concerns me as you see the part about Kill Shot seems to be missing in the new description. Also, this now means that you have to be standing still for 6 sec. So we don’t have a 6 sec cooldown, but a 6 sec stand still?? Oh how I hear the PvPer’s howl!!!
We are also looking to add additional trap functionality to Survival.
Honestly? I dont’ have much to say about this one. All I can hope for, is that Blizz will buff the reliability and damage potential to traps. I’m extremely concerned that this is just an attempt to appease Survival Hunters that do seem to be taking a hit this time around.
I hope I am wrong about this, but so far, I see some possibilities, but as I noticed as a child growing up. If you see cheese, it usually means broccoli is underneath.
