Future of (BM) Hunters?

Am I the only one getting very worried that we're so late into PTRs and we have yet to see an actual DPS buff to BM hunters? In the beginning I thought "Don't worry, it will come", but now I'm worried BM dps will remain low until at least the expansion (or the 4.0 patch just before it). I'm sick of playing Surv in raids.

What happened to the pet scaling that was promised? I have yet to see any values, have I missed it?

And every time I read something new about hunters and focus, I get less and less motivated to keep playing. I honestly hate this change. I'm currently leveling a druid to learn to tank the "proper" way, so that I will have better understanding of tanking with the pet. The worst thing about playing feral cat druid? The frigging energy waiting game. I hate having to wait for that bar to fill up so I can push the next button. The GCD is enough waiting time already. I really don't get what's so bloody wrong with the current system apart from the itemization issues, which can be fixed a lot easier (1 AP = 10 mana or something and no need for int).

I honestly think there's something wrong with Blizzard changing a class core system 5 years into the game, back to a system that was deemed unsuitable in Beta.

I'm with you on that one. Seems like hunters are becoming rogues with range.

I am interested in whether they keep buffing hunter tanking. A few more patches up buffs to hunter tanks and one might say we are suddenly a hybrid class again. Maybe they will finally make it so I can choose more than just "dps" as a role I can play in /lfg.

Ah well, if it sucks it will give me an excuse to try other games.

Ground

Our group just did Occulus today, so that leaves only HoS, OK and ToC is left. Once I have all of them done I will petition them to open the tank option on LFG for us , just coz I dunnit.

I actually tend to agree that energy is a horrible resource system for hunters, hopefully that won't be the implementation they actually put into place. I was kinda hoping for something more like the Pally and Shammie systems, but with a brown bar.

I do like the idea of the hunter and pet resources being much more closely intertwined.

As for pet scaling, I am afraid we probably won't see it this patch, the deafening silence on issue isn't a good sign. Actually, considering the nice changes on the PTR now, and the likelihood of them screwing up the scaling royally and completely gutting pet tanking because of it I think leaving well enough alone is probably not to bad for us in this case.

I honestly don't care if they buff tanking if they don't buff DPS at the same time. People's opinions on that matter is what limits the role anyhow, and it will not change with some small buffs. The biggest problem It would take a blue to say it out flat for people to start accepting even the slight idea of it. However, if the dps aspect keeps falling behind, that's where the problem lies. That is after all the core of all hunter specs, DPS.

And after all, threat is the pets biggest issue. You can either raise the pets dps, or you can raise the threat coefficiant. I vote for the dps, it's needed for both roles.

Personally I am not a huge fan of BM dps, most likely a hangover from BC when it was required, so I don't particularly care what they do on that side as long as they buff the threat co-efficient somehow.

Having said that, I have no problem with them fixing BM dps either, just so long as i am not forced to play it. Even if they return to the BC days of having a good alternative in SV I would be content frankly. I also do not see a problem with the tree doing the most dps on one had also doing the tanking duty on the other in the same way that ferals do.

I do still think that making BM dps competitive without either 1) having the pet do 50% + of total dps (something GC has said he is against) or 2) making BM the required spec again for dps is a really tough mechanical issue because all specs use pets. Having said that though, the scaling changes offers an excellent opportunity to get it right.

I have been experiencing a much greater acceptance of pet tanking of late, both in-game and on the forums:

In game it may be due to the fact that I have pocket healer (in the form of my wife) so I only need to get one or two pugged dps, often jaded tanks who want to see something different and not hell-bent on winning the dps meters.

On the forums largely because of the recurring hybrid/pure issue. Pures are recognizing that the marginal dps they are getting is not significant enough to justify being locked out of other roles, and hybrids resent being 'taxed' when they decide not to take advantage of those roles.

I have a sneaky suspicion that when all is said and done they were using this expac to gradually warm people to the idea pet tanking after the very heated negative reaction they got at the 2008 Blizzcon, possibly resulting in the hybrid/pure concept just going the way of the dodo as it rightly should have at the start of 'bring the player not the class'.