Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Mana issues revisited. Best Arrows. Ranged weapons display.

Ok, so I'm 70 now with near full epic gear. Yeah, I know I don't have even close to the best, but it's definitely beyond your trashy quest gear now... and I have 3 major gripes atm:


1) Mana/Aspect Issues

Essentially, when I'm using Aspect of the Hawk, I have damn near ZERO mana regen it seems.
I can never seem to justify using Hawk for many situations at all. With viper on, my mana regen is pretty good (although It's still easy to run OOM without chugging pots or asking for a judgement of wisdom).

So basically I end up asking for a judgement of wisdom buff to be kept up on the target, and never take off viper. Why?

A) It's more fun to keep up a constant shot rotation without slacking off on DPS due to mana issues, and
B) It's far less bothersome.

I really can't seem to justify the use of aspect of the hawk when the dps difference between hawk and viper doesn't really seem that huge, while the mana regen issue between the two is VASTLY different, and using hawk will run you OOM in no time. I guess I could see myself using hawk down to 50% mana, then asking for a judge wisdom + switch to viper, but the fact that I go to 50% mana in 30 seconds or less as is, just seems meh..


As far as pvp is concerned:
I have roughly 6500 mana right now, and I don't see that number inflating a whole lot with my pvp gear upgrades. Do you know how long it takes for a team to mana burn me if they get a good opportunity? About 8 seconds. Granted, I typically focus priests and warlocks first a lot, and I'm viper stinging either one that isn't pillar-fagging me (usually the priest, though). However, if I catch a CC out in the open such as fear, it just takes about 4 mana burns and I'm completely OOM. And let me tell you how effective of a team player a hunter is that's oom.

Even with viper on, it takes forever to get enough mana back to do anything meaningful, and once you do start wing clipping/viper stinging/trapping/flaring/etc... your OOC mana regen goes right back to suck. And once you DO get that low, FORGET about ever changing aspects into something else. Want to put on monkey to help tank that rogue? Sure, go ahead, just don't expect to be able to throw down new traps or switch back to viper, cause you're stuck in it until you drink (which isn't happening, cause melee is on you, remember?). Need a quick cheetah to get away? Hope you have the mana to switch back to viper so you A) don't get dazed, and B) Can get start getting mana back once you get into a better position.

2) The best arrows require honored mount hyjal faction.

Now normally, I wouldn't care about this. People dump a lot of time and wow gold into progressing for PVE. That's fine. What I DO care about, however, is the fact that good pvpers who have access to these will have a step up above any non-raider. Technically, this is a blatant imbalance that needs to be resolved. The difference between the Karazhan arrows and the timeless arrows are a big enough difference to equate to about 9 or 10 BT-quality gems vs the standard blue quality gems in terms of raw DPS stats. There needs to be specific rating-required arena ammo that can be purchased, as long as you meet a specific rating (team and personal) requirement.

Once all other areas of gear are maxed out, the difference in damage between 2 hunters using karazhan arrows vs hyjal arrows can be enough to decide a game. This obviously needs to be addressed, hopefully at least for season 4, if not sooner.

3) Why does my ranged weapon not show up on my back?

I guess there's some sort of coding conflict with capes vs ranged weapons? We should at least get an option. Hopefully Blizzard will be able to resolve this issue and allow the display of your cape and ranged weapon, in addition to your melee weapons when not in use. Also, I find it disappointing that people can't see my quiver on my back. Only I can, and that's kind of lame. :(

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The thought of the hunter being drained of mana and being so useless so easily in an arena fight is disgusting.

As for Aspect of the Hawk, I agree after seeing the numbers. Especially with the right tier gear which helps viper, your dps with 'drink time' added on is better with viper than it is with hawk.



One tweak for this situation could be to hav Viper regain the amount of mana it currently does if you are at 50% or above mana. If you are between 30-50% mana, it doubles in mana returned.
If you are between 10-30% mana, it quads mana returned. (Basically, the less mana you have, the more it gives you)

This would encourage usage of both aspects, and give the player something to think about while shooting. (When do I want to switch to viper?)

Sam said...

It does that already, although to a lesser degree.

Anonymous said...

Needs to not be to a lesser degree imo.

Anonymous said...

Hi Leiah,

Interesting to see your commentary on the Hunter class. It must be painful to not be able to hit Lifetap anymore. Also, enjoyed your 3v3 video. Oh, and there's going to be a Season 4?

Sam said...

It is very painful sometimes. :)
And yes, there should be a season 4 before WotLK. Pay close attention to the upcoming T7 models from sunwell when they are released, as those armor models will be used for S4. ;)

Anonymous said...

Wow, nice. I didn't think there would be a S4 or T7. Thanks for the tips as usual! Not to suck up or anything, but I would like to say that even though your hunter's gear isn't that great, you seem to do well and I think that shows that a good player is a good player regardless of class.

Sam said...

Well I appreciate the compliment. Hopefully I'll be able to take this hunter to the very highest of ratings and find what the class truly needs as far as improvements or adjustments are concerned.

And while I may be playing a hunter and/or warlock at the moment, that doesn't mean I'm not keeping very close tabs on several other classes as well. =]

Anonymous said...

For PVE the marksmen spec is not viable until you're geared through SSC/TK and some Hyjal/BT Gear... even then it pretty much demands a shadow priest to keep up the 1:1.5 rotation which I assume you are using.

I would recommend switching to BM for raiding as you will see your dps increase and you won't have as many mana issues.

I would also recommend the trinket from Hellfire PVP called "Mark of Conquest", the mana regen you get from it is awesome for boss fights, usually adds 1k-2k mana.

I know they are buffing Viper again in the next patch but using it seriously Gimps your DPS.

I think Bliz needs to realize that Viper is failed attempt to deal with hunter mana issues and they just need to start making shots cost much less, no hunter wants to use it while raiding cause it gimps DPS... and you've covered its draw backs in PVP very well.

Just a side note I've seen some high rated hunters dual wield Axes and put +30 Intel on each.

I like the blog, i have no idea how i found it but good work!

Sam said...

That's pretty much what I've found out as well from raiding. 1:1 shot rotations as specced BM are definitely the way to go.

The big problem I have with that, however, is that a new and additional stat added to hunter itemization for PVE and PVP, also don't scale with the pet in any fashion: Armor Penetration. Awesome for the hunters personal damage, no doubt... but useless for hunter pets.