Arena Balance: Hunters

As we mentioned last week the hunter class is one of the most under represented in arena teams at the moment. There are many theories as to why this is ranging from dead zone, to lack of DPS while moving, to the LOS issues in all arena maps. As our 2v2 Arena rating is climbing and we are facing better and better teams we are starting to see the reasons even more.

Personally BRR thinks it is a combination of all of these and a few more. Mrs. BRR and I have been playing in the arenas for a few months and in BGs for a few years, so we do have a fair amount of experience with the issues and the state of class balance. Trying to balance all classes to be fair and viable in PVE, Arena and PVP (BG and world) is a nightmare that blizzard has been attempting to over come one patch at a time.

Then main issues for hunters are as I mentioned above anyone in our dead zone cannot be effectively DPSed, this feeds into the 2nd issue of Hunters having very little DPS while being forced to move. The third issue Line Of Sight is not purely a hunter issue, most direct damage casters and healers have to worry about this as well. DOT classes and healers however can use it to their advantage easily. DOT classes can step out of cover throw up enough dots take 50-80% of their targets health then duck out of LOS for 20 seconds while you hemorrhage HPs. Healers on the other hand can use the cover for uninterrupted healing and time for HOTs/dots to tick.

The deadzone and movement issues are really the killer for a hunter. To DPS effectivly we need to be stationary and firing at a target more that 8 yards away from us, in arenas this doesn't get to happen very often. Once a player is in our dead zone we must try to use a trick to get out of range and go back to DPS, this means for all hunters Traps and Wing clip. Spec /build depending some hunters my be able to use, deterence > counter attack, scatter shot, intimidation or BW.

BRR's favorite was Wing clip + BW but currently we are MM for the greater burst damage so Wing clip + scatter shot is the flavour of the day.

I believe the main issue it that in PVE balance vs PVP balance. PVE our DPS is at the right point as we normally have a tank holding the target at range and FD to drop out aggro allowing us to DPS all out and over time reach levels that approach caster DPS. Due to not being limited by the tanks aggro as much as they are casters are we can compete, how many times have you seen your locks or mages /dancing on a boss while waiting for tank aggro to get ahead again.

In large scale PVP our survivability and DPS works as there is a wealth of targets to choose from and we are not limited in LOS as much. In small scale PVP especially 2v2 or 3v3 our DPS is limited as we are build for low maintenance raid DPS on a static target, not high burst DPS in a fluid and moving environment as required in Arenas. When you face more often than not a smart group of players, usually with a dedicated dispeller/healer to keep your opponents out of CCs the dynamic changes.

Next post: Arena Tactics Paladins

/AFK

We have been MIA for a few weeks now, quite surprised at the continued traffic levels despite our lack of updates and content.

We humbly offer apologies and our feeble excuses. Mrs BRR and I have just finished purchasing our first house. She is already ordering new doors and planning epic upgrades. Our Alliance guild while misguided in choosing the light over the strength of the dark side has been hitting Kara with a vengeance and progressing quickly. Unfortunately this has required BRR and the Queen of Frost shocks to be left a little unattended while our Warrior and Priest combo smash the Curator and Aran with the our very nice but undeniably Alliance Guild. Running 2 sets of PVP toons (on both sides of the BG) and raiding with one of them as well really eats up the hours. Not to mention the gold costs in respecting 2-4 times a week.

BRR has also been experimenting with MM builds for Arena battles. We love our BM build and dominate BGs but in 2v2 our near constant requirements for motion limits the ability to put our DPS on the target. Hence we are testing a 7/43/11 build for some bigger crit numbers and burst but with less need to plant for SS to shine. Shock horror, a BM hunter and evangelist is speccing AWAY from BM and to MM no less. Trust us on this, BRR is never going to be a MM glass cannon but we are not blind to the limitations of BM either.

An interesting note in hunter Arena news that BRR found interesting was the statistically proven dirth of hunters in teams especially the smaller ones. SRC: Wowinsider. When taking into account the undeniably high number of hunters in WOW this is even more telling of the class. Blizzard may or maybe seriously looking into this but as a hunter and serious PVPer on the ground I can see it. Our dead zone and LOS issues can make our usefulness in 2 mans limited. How to buff our Arena viability without unbalancing our PVE viability is a tough question and one BRR plans to tackle in the future.

In the last 2-3 weeks the Queen and BRR have managed to keep up our arena games, improving our rating a good 70-80 points as we gear up to some BG epics and Arena gear. More on that later I promise. Stacking on the STA and Resiliance is the name of the game. 9.6k HP and going up.

Season 2

Arena Season 2 has begun!

We see many Horde gathered around the PVP quartermasters and arena quartermasters to inspect and pick up new gear. BRR has stockpiled enough points to pick up 1 shiny epic BG item and must now choose between 5/4 pieces.

We feel a spread sheet and some intense number crunching coming on. The new Veteran's Pendant of Triumph calls to us but the Veteran Band of Triumph shall probably be a smarter upgrade. With the new stats for Veteran's Chain Sabatons being so tasty BRR may have to look hard again at breaking up our level 60 Warlord set bonuses. We hold a number of pieces in the bank at the moment that are only side-grades until we can justify breaking our 6 piece bonus, this item may do that.

Mrs BRR has already chosen the new epic elemental bracers for her first 'Season 2' item.

Season 2 Cometh

Our spies tell us season 2 will be released on patch night this week. This means new arena and battleground gear will be available to all.

BRR hopes all the Horde out there have been good little Alliance killers and saved up a nice stockpile of honor and arena points and BG tokens. We looking forward to a new Epic ring and neck to round out some of our gear deficiencies.

We have had 100 AV tokens in our bank off and on for months due to our love of Alterac Valley as a conflict resolution tool. We did have to break ourselves from it this past weekend to stock up on Eye of the Storm marks, and refined our Eye strategy slightly.

In the Eye our old tactic was control 2 bases and cap the flag as fast and as may times as possible. While this worked 9/10 times we have discovered a small trick to help keep our horde brothers ahead in the victory points. Do not cap the flag immediately when you get to your horde controlled tower of choice. By all means run to the towers illusion of safety as fast as your aspect of the cheetah will allow, but when you arrive take a moment. Drop an ice trap and flare before surveying the battlefield, direct your attention specifically to the flag spawn point. We like to wait on our cap until it is firmly in horde possession before claiming our flag cap victory points.

Our decision to hold off on capping is a risk but a calculated one. The risk can be minimized, probably more so by a hunter than any other class. If we have track humanoid, BW, a flare and an ice trap set we unlikely to be overpowered or surprised before we can cap. The benefit of waiting for the right time can deny the opposition any chance to get extra points and keep the game firmly under horde control.

We need Sleep

It is 2 am, The BRR killing machine has taken the lives of a little over 400 Alliance scum. We took particular satisfaction in besting a troublesome Mage/Paladin combo that took a liking the bunkers we were destroying. Our AV win ratio remains intact at a health 93%.

Our time in AV was profitable, over 2000 honor from a scant 3 games, but the honor was secondary. We have a new weapon, we have tested this weapon and found it a joy to wield. It brings Swift doom to our foes in bursts of green flame.

Details tomorrow.