A Hunter's Story

Hellz yeah, busted out some fun stuff this weekend.  Kara was pretty cool, we busted through it so fast it was ridiculous.  So funny to think that way back when, it took 2 full nights.  Also hit up some of the others like Zul’Aman.  Magtheridon was a bit harder than the last time I ran it though…  Of course, considering last time we had 25 lvl 70’s and this time only one lvl 70 and like 5 80’s…  That might be why, lol.  But the 500g split among only like 6 people and the challenge of actually getting him down was totally worth it.

In case you can’t tell, it was an achievement weekend for us, lol.  Last few weeks we managed to get Classic Raider, Outland Dungeon Hero, Northrend Dungeon Hero, and then a slew of others such as Emerald Void and Experienced Drake Rider.

And this is why I’m glad that bliz added achievements to the world.  I mean, we could do these things on our own, just for the hell of it, but it’s rewarding to see the thing flash across your screen.  Or when you’re just plugging away and you see it pop up in chat for a guildie.  It’s also a fun way to look at your character and see how many different things you’ve done.  Some people might say ‘I’ve done all the raids in the game and have this awesome gear’ others ‘I’ve got 37 different titles’ and others ‘I’ve got over 75 minipets’.  To each his/her own – it’s one cool way to customize your character and let it reflect what you have done with your char.  Though I tell you, after becoming an Accomplished Angler on two diff chars… I’m not planning on going for it on a third for a while!

So anyway, gratz to those that got the achievements with me this weekend, and thank you for your help.  Teamwork is the only way to get them (either that or a hell of a lot of luck!).

Yeah, doin Kara tonight.  Just for the hell of it on some alts.  Taking some guildies who weren’t high enough to do it back in BC.  Should be fun, can’t wait for the “oh yeah, that used to wipe us!” when people do things like move during a flame wreath and it only knocks them down a little, lol.  Or just to see how fast we can power-dps-down some of the bosses.  Might have to have a priest mele tank on one or two fights, lol.

I know, long awaited are not only hearing the outline of changes, announced at blizzcon – but also, the inevitable commentary…  So first, the unedited summary, posted on bliz’ site:

Also receiving a massive overall are hunters.  The hunter’s need to rely upon mana is completely gone, and instead they will use focus. This means hunters will no longer care at all about Intellect, mana regen or Aspect of the Viper.

Focus will regenerate continually, similar to how rogues or feral druids regenerate energy. For comparison, rogues regenerate approximately 10 energy per second, whereas hunters will regenerate 6 focus per second.  However, Steady Shot can also be used to improve focus regen, and bring the rate at which hunters regenerate focus to 12 per second.

The hunter will have a maximum of 100 focus, and shots might cost 30 or 60 focus, with fewer cooldowns on abilities. Another exciting and long-awaited change regards the ammunition system. Ammunition will become an equipable item, and will no longer be consumable.

More details on that later!

And now the commentary…

Bliz is removing the Hunter class and has created a new one to replace it – Ranged Rogue!  I can say that I am glad I have alts that are not hunters, so I won’t have to play a ranged rogue.  I mean, I like the ammo change.  Not quite lore-friendly (an auto-replentishing single arrow??) but definitely nice on the bank (don’t have to pay  for more and more ammo – and people say tanks are the only one with big repair bills – heh, hunters don’t pay as much in repairs, but we then also go buy ammo), and nice on the bag space too.

But anyway – focus…  I picked the class because I wanted certain base mechanics.  Like a ranged damage dealer, that very rarely has to deal with spell pushback.  I also like the way mana is setup that you start at max, each thing you do costs some, you regen slowly over time, and if you do it wrong then you run out in the middle of the fight.  I like that we have various abilities that have different cooldowns, so it becomes an art form with timing them properly for maximum effect.

So now they’re going to want me to play a new character.  Instead of the things above that I liked, and the reason I picked the class (well, and for the pet too, d’uh!) they want me to change styles completely.  Now I get to cast any spells I want and not worry about cooldowns or anything – rather, I get to wait until my focus comes back, then burn it, then grow it, then burn it.  (I know, there’s more to it, but I’m simplifying here).  Seriously?  Like, you just gutted the class put someone else’s insides in it, then sewed it up and thought we’d think it looked like a present?  And on top of that, we’re supposed to be happy about it.  Like, happy about how one of the stats on our gear… is now useless to us…  Happy about how we have no choice in the matter…

This is basically like saying “hmm, we never got Paladin Tanks quite right.  Instead of using mana, we’re gonna give you rage instead, so you’re more like the Warriors.  Sorry, you’re going to have to learn how to build up rage instead of managing your mana.”

I mean, seriously?  Like, you’re actually planning on doing that to hunters?  Wtf?  Fine, whatever, since I can’t really influence their decisions, I’ll have to live with it.  But if you’re gonna f with us that bad, can you give us a stealth while you’re at it?  You know, so we can be more like hunters and sneak through the forest instead of running through it yelling “here I am!”  You’re making us ranged rogues anyway, so why not just include that with the “massive overhaul” too?

Simply put – my only rogue character is a lvl 13 because that’s how far I got when trying the class before I got annoyed with it and stopped playing.  I didn’t like how focus works then, and I don’t now.  Leave my character alone bliz.  I understand tweaks, like adjusting spells and abilities as needed, but don’t change one of the base mechanics of the class.

I had been planning on putting up a bunch of random theories about what they’d announce, what they’re planning, etc.  However, most would’ve been wrong, way off, though albeit very humorous.  However, I didn’t get the time, and BlizzCon 2009 is already here…  So instead I’ll wait like everyone else, lost in our own speculations.  Ghostcrawler has made many comments about revamping the Hunter class, so we’ll have to see what they plan to do.

Btw, did anyone else notice a patch today?

It was a good night for Galoriar.  After something like 4 months of no new drops, he picked up a new helm (first non-engineering goggle in like 1.5 years), new 2H, and new gun.  Yay!

Can’t complain too much that it’s been ages.  That was back when I had the time to run Naxx & OBS & such more regularly.  It was also before I got Datouv up to 80, since we needed tanks.  And since we needed tanks, it meant I never got to play Gal.  Then I finally got Kurandel up to 80, and since a bunch of guildies hit 80 too, we were all gearing them up together, so again no Gal.  So after a long wait… 3 Cheers for Gear!!!

Oh, and also thx to guildies for the drake!  Yay!  Told you Galoriar cleaned house…  Now time to get everyone else more gear too.  And another drake…