It’s nice to have a beta build that isn’t all nerfs!
WoD Beta build 18967 went up last night and had a few hunter number changes. Both BM and SV got a little bump, which was sorely needed. In Survival’s case, it was more of an un-nerfing.
- Arcane Shot now deals 110% Arcane damage (up from 100%)
- Multi-Shot now deals 40% Physical damage (up from 30%)
- Cobra Shot now deals 66% Nature damage (up from 60%)
- Kill Shot now deals 759% Physical damage (up from 660%)
- Black Arrow now deals (440% Attack Power) damage over 20 sec (up from 400%)
- Explosive Shot now deals (42.9% Attack Power) Fire damage per tick (up from 39%)
- Serpent Sting now deals (176% Attack Power) Nature damage over 15 sec (up from 160%)
And now the one nerf of this build…
- Exotic Munitions – Poisoned Ammo: Each Auto Shot deals (32% Attack Power) additional Nature damage over 16 sec (down from 48%)
Despite the buffs, BM and SV hunters are still simming in last place among all other DPS specs. These sims do not account for any movement, or situations which may be detrimental to the potential DPS of other classes. This is to be expected, but a lot of us feel like the penalty we’re getting for our freedom of movement may be a bit too severe. There definitely needs to be one, but 20-30% DPS penalty, as the sims are showing now, seems a little too steep. Maybe I’m wrong, but Marksmanship is sitting much higher on the charts, even if you have crummy uptime on Sniper Training.
The Exotic Munitions nerf is puzzling. Lone Wolf was already ahead of it in single target damage before this nerf (or maybe on par for Survival), this just takes it another step further. I don’t like the idea of forcing MM and SV hunters to get rid of their pet if they want to do the most damage.
It just doesn’t seem very huntery to me. I’m glad the petless option is there for those who desire it, but let’s not forget that hunters are THE pet class. Let’s not punish them for keeping their pet around, eh?
