Hunter: No Skill or No Developer Attention?
Brilliant review of the hunter class, taken from Wowriot.com. Posted on May 27 2008.
In our discussion of potential pitfalls for classes in the upcoming WotLK expansion, we move along now in our alphabetical class list from Druid (as seen in this blog post) to Hunter. The Druid showed us that Blizzard had no qualms in taking the most popular spec of the class and kicking it to the curb for Arena in the BC expansion; now we’ll see what we can learn from the Hunter.
The People’s Favorite
Hunter was the last class added to World of Warcraft before the original release, and struggled for a while with incomplete talent trees and a few awkward mechanics. Regardless, Hunter has been the most popular class in WoW from the beginning. During BC, the Warrior class overtook Hunter in representation for the #1 spot at max level (just barely) but this was only due to the PvP strength of Warrior which made it a target for FOTM rerolls from all other classes interested in Arena.
Also The People’s Least Favorite
While more people play hunters than any other class, there is also a strong sentiment in the PvP community (mostly the uninformed masses) that Hunters are a class for scrubs, they are overpowered, they require no skill, and so on. In the face of arguments against this notion, these folks continue to hold their ground and ignore all dissent, clinging to their truth based in anecdote. No matter what the subject, as long as Hunter is mentioned, there is always great controversy and flaming involved.
The Great Misunderstanding
Obviously we can’t completely write off all complaints about class balance, but many of the Hunter “issues” are coming from a place of great ignorance. Unfortunately, the makeup of the WoW population causes some particular problems when it comes to PvP assessment, as listed below.
* The majority of WoW players are pretty casual
* The majority of WoW players struggle to use their abilities in combat, turn with keyboard, and panic when they are fighting other players
* The “PvP experience” for the majority of WoW players is playing Battlegrounds with quest greens and/or 5-man blue PvE gear
Considering these factors, we can start to understand the reason for the glut of Hunter complaints.
* A BM hunter pet can solo a terrible player with bad gear
* A hunter with decent skill and gear can destroy terrible undergeared players without ever getting close to them or ever being hit
* In a fight between two terrible PvPers, the BM hunter is probably the strongest class, and will trump all others in a bad vs. bad matchup
Now, we know that all complaints are not coming from the group of complete terribles, but their willingness to jump in and add to any discussion on the subject creates a feeling within the community that Hunters are OP and everyone “understands.”
Launch of BC: The Downfall Begins
Hunter enjoyed a brief period of massive overpoweredness when the new talent trees went live before BC, and PvE-geared hunters were decimating Battlegrounds with Multi-Auto-Arcane combos that would kill or nearly kill most players (and they could do it every 10 seconds). Their damage was massive, their crit rates were high, and their destruction was unstoppable. These Hunters, for a short time, were doing about the same damage as today’s S3 Arena geared hunter, but the opponents were sporting between 3000 and 6000 health (less than half of today’s numbers), with no resilience to save them.
Of course, the nerfs came swiftly and harshly, and put hunters into a much more reasonable position in Battlegrounds. When it came to Arenas, however, the Hunter never stood a chance.
Arena Woes
The Hunter has been a bottom feeder in the Arena since the very first day. While the class was fun and competitive in Battlegrounds, the boxed-in obstacle-based combat of Arena proved to be a difficult challenge for Hunter, reducing effective kite opportunities, straining his small mana pool, and limiting his ability to put out damage. Given that Arenas, and not BGs, are the “endgame” PvP focus of WoW TBC in terms of reward, this left many a Hunter frustrated.
Initially, Hunter seemed to find a decent fit in larger-scale (5v5) battles, where his ability to change targets quickly and deliver some controlled burst with instants allowed him to function within some teams as a damage dealer. The ability to lend instant-cast utility and control support via Scatter Shot, Silencing Shot, Frost Trap, and Viper Sting allowed Hunter to contribute somewhat even while under fire.
Despite some of these positives, Hunter slowly fell further out of favor due to some of the following reasons (there are more, but that’s not the point):
* Vulnerability to Mana Drain with tiny mana pool
* Pet, as an important tool, is very easily killed
* Very mana-inefficient damage unless completely ignored (Steady Shot)
* Few effective defensive mechanisms when focused; very “trainable” especially by melees
Ignored by Blizzard
Due to these and various other factors, we saw Hunters at the bottom of the pack for class representation in Arena from day 1, and they have either dropped or held steady at every step along the way. Did Blizzard think Hunters were OK? Did Blizzard think they would “figure it out” and get massively better on their own? Did Blizzard go along with the general community hype that “hunters are fine if not OP” and just ignore the problem?
We can never know the Blizzard thought process for sure, but we can sure see the results. Hunters dead last in every arena bracket. A patch of poorly targeted buffs that failed to “beat the market” as it were, as their impact was overshadowed by further buffs in itemization and skills to other classes and a mana drain nerf that resulted in a net loss in Hunter representation.
What Can We Learn?
Hunters have been dramatically under-represented in Arena since day 1. Blizzard went a year without addressing this problem, and when they did supposedly “attempt” to work on it, they failed to make any impact because none of their changes addressed the core problems of Hunters in arena. This takes us to the very end of the BC expansion, and Hunters are still at the bottom of every bracket. When WotLK arrives, that will mark 2 years from Blizzard of ignoring the plight of the people’s favorite class.
Is this a result of Blizzard class favoritism? Is this because Blizzard is being given bad advice and feedback by testers and developers who don’t actually play hunters but think they are “fine”? Is this because the Hunter class population at large is less skilled than the population of every other class (dramatically so, since their population is the highest)? We can’t know for sure.
Caution In the Future
It’s not likely that anyone would have predicted a drop into dead last for Hunter when BC came out. But with the launch of WotLK, we may find the same thing happening elsewhere. Common sense tells us that buffs/nerfs go in cycles, and class power is always shifting. In this case, however, the entire Hunter class sat in dead last for the entire expansion, and the problem was never addressed.
Will this happen with Deathknights? Probably not, as we know Blizzard will be paying attention and concerned with their success as a major factor in this expansion. But could it happen to another class? Could new mechanics or a new focus of gameplay put a single class firmly at the bottom of the PvP ladder? Most definitely YES. And what we’ve learned from Hunter is that Blizzard could very well just ignore that class for another 2 years.
