09-12-2004, 12:05 AM
Well, I realize it's a bit presumptious to post anything tactical after playing WoW for only 7 days, but here is how some things struck me, at any rate, having worked a Hunter up to lvl 20 in the stress test, mostly soloing.
I have to say -- despite my strong prefernce for archer-type characters -- that I'm beginning to find the class a bit frustrating. Part of this may be due to the Hunter's unfinished state, with at least a couple of serious pet-related bugs, and part of it is no doubt due to my inexperience with playing one; but I suspect part of it reflects some serious limitations with how the class is going to perform. I can't say directly how it compares with other classes since I haven't played them.
My first frustration is that Hunters seem to involve a lot of micro-management. Not only do you have to switch between ranged and melee combat, you have to control your pet too. And even when you do this, the results aren't always that great. Maybe talents etc. will help the class, but that will be more stuff to manage. Personally, I'd rather have a few primary abilities that work well and are effective than lots of secondary abilities none of which quite measure up.
Pet upkeep is a nuisance right now -- you worry about your pet losing happiness constantly, and virtually never worry about running out of arrows, which makes no sense. When your pet dies (which happens to me a lot), you have to revive it, mend it, and feed it (often a couple of times). In a party of non-hunters, your team-mates are probably wondering why you suddenly went afk.
My second frustration is that while hunters are definately good at ranged attacks, and can melee a little, they can't melee too much.That part is fine. But what frustrates me is the skills Hunter's have to manage aggro and avoid too much melee seem hit-and-miss and inconsistent at best (though, of course, it could be I'm just not expert enough in using them). Once I attrack aggro, I find it very hard to use my pet to get rid of it (typical combat log after I've got in trouble: "Kitty growls. Kitty hits monster X for 5 pts. Monster X hits you for 50 pts. Your Raptor Strike is not ready. Kitty Growls. Kitty hits Monster X for 3 pts. Monster X hits you for 64 pts. etc. etc.") Maybe when the low pet-damage bug is fixed this will be easier. Ideally, of course, you get as much aggro as possible fixed on your pet first before you open up with lots of damage yourself, but you can't always arrange this, and even when you do it's not uncommon for the monster to break away from your pet and attack you instead.
I've basically only used 3 methods of attack: (1) fire at a monster from a distance to take down as many hps as possbile before it closes, then switch to melee to finish it off (fine vs. lower lvl monsters); (2) send my pet in to attack, have it taunt the monster with a couple of growls (for some reason you seem to require at least a couple to have a reasonable chance of fixing the monster to your pet -- another example of its inconsistency) and then fire from range while the pet tanks, hoping the monster doesn't come after me instead (for equal/higher lvl monsters); (3) fire one normal arrow to pull a monster then tell pet to attack and growl etc (when just sending the pet in could activate several monsters).
When things go badly, usually because of unintended adds, which are a pain in the neck to deal with, I run and pray. I haven't found wing clip or disengage too easy or effective to use, so I'm more or less stuck being beat up when I run. Because of the nasty bug where monsters keep chasing you while your pet is alive, I usually have to hope the other monsters kill my pet off before the one(s) chasing me kill me. If I'm lucky, I can then retreat and go through the good old revive-feed-mend-feed routine. Anyway, like Brave Sir Robin, the Hunter seems to have three basic combat modes: ranged attack; melee attack; and running away. I haven't fully mastered the last, and apparently most essential, Hunter mode yet.
In good circumstances (meaning a wide open space, full range to the target, and the ablility to avoid any adds) I can solo a+2/+3 lvl monster pretty consistently (though likely with a dead pet and low health at the end for +3; on the plus side I do get to recast revive again), and 2 monsters of the same lvl (provided my pet is able to occupy one of them, with potential trouble if things go badly); 3 monsters, even lower lvl, often mean real trouble. What will happenlater on in the game, when presumably monsters aren't conveniently roaming around in nicely spaced ones in big fields and they aren't so easy to isolate? (I recognize any monster above your own level is meant to be a challenge, but I suspect several other classes have much better ways to manage combat.)
Also, dungeons are a pain in the neck to play in. Half-the-time you want to shoot something, you're too close, and by the time you've repositioned the monster, or most of your party, is probably dead. I can't imagine any party for an instanced dungeon really wanting to bring a Hunter (despite their decent ranged damage potential) unless there was no one else around, and if you do want to play in dungeons and not just solo outdoors they seem like a very poor choice of character class right now.
I have to say -- despite my strong prefernce for archer-type characters -- that I'm beginning to find the class a bit frustrating. Part of this may be due to the Hunter's unfinished state, with at least a couple of serious pet-related bugs, and part of it is no doubt due to my inexperience with playing one; but I suspect part of it reflects some serious limitations with how the class is going to perform. I can't say directly how it compares with other classes since I haven't played them.
My first frustration is that Hunters seem to involve a lot of micro-management. Not only do you have to switch between ranged and melee combat, you have to control your pet too. And even when you do this, the results aren't always that great. Maybe talents etc. will help the class, but that will be more stuff to manage. Personally, I'd rather have a few primary abilities that work well and are effective than lots of secondary abilities none of which quite measure up.
Pet upkeep is a nuisance right now -- you worry about your pet losing happiness constantly, and virtually never worry about running out of arrows, which makes no sense. When your pet dies (which happens to me a lot), you have to revive it, mend it, and feed it (often a couple of times). In a party of non-hunters, your team-mates are probably wondering why you suddenly went afk.
My second frustration is that while hunters are definately good at ranged attacks, and can melee a little, they can't melee too much.That part is fine. But what frustrates me is the skills Hunter's have to manage aggro and avoid too much melee seem hit-and-miss and inconsistent at best (though, of course, it could be I'm just not expert enough in using them). Once I attrack aggro, I find it very hard to use my pet to get rid of it (typical combat log after I've got in trouble: "Kitty growls. Kitty hits monster X for 5 pts. Monster X hits you for 50 pts. Your Raptor Strike is not ready. Kitty Growls. Kitty hits Monster X for 3 pts. Monster X hits you for 64 pts. etc. etc.") Maybe when the low pet-damage bug is fixed this will be easier. Ideally, of course, you get as much aggro as possible fixed on your pet first before you open up with lots of damage yourself, but you can't always arrange this, and even when you do it's not uncommon for the monster to break away from your pet and attack you instead.
I've basically only used 3 methods of attack: (1) fire at a monster from a distance to take down as many hps as possbile before it closes, then switch to melee to finish it off (fine vs. lower lvl monsters); (2) send my pet in to attack, have it taunt the monster with a couple of growls (for some reason you seem to require at least a couple to have a reasonable chance of fixing the monster to your pet -- another example of its inconsistency) and then fire from range while the pet tanks, hoping the monster doesn't come after me instead (for equal/higher lvl monsters); (3) fire one normal arrow to pull a monster then tell pet to attack and growl etc (when just sending the pet in could activate several monsters).
When things go badly, usually because of unintended adds, which are a pain in the neck to deal with, I run and pray. I haven't found wing clip or disengage too easy or effective to use, so I'm more or less stuck being beat up when I run. Because of the nasty bug where monsters keep chasing you while your pet is alive, I usually have to hope the other monsters kill my pet off before the one(s) chasing me kill me. If I'm lucky, I can then retreat and go through the good old revive-feed-mend-feed routine. Anyway, like Brave Sir Robin, the Hunter seems to have three basic combat modes: ranged attack; melee attack; and running away. I haven't fully mastered the last, and apparently most essential, Hunter mode yet.
In good circumstances (meaning a wide open space, full range to the target, and the ablility to avoid any adds) I can solo a+2/+3 lvl monster pretty consistently (though likely with a dead pet and low health at the end for +3; on the plus side I do get to recast revive again), and 2 monsters of the same lvl (provided my pet is able to occupy one of them, with potential trouble if things go badly); 3 monsters, even lower lvl, often mean real trouble. What will happenlater on in the game, when presumably monsters aren't conveniently roaming around in nicely spaced ones in big fields and they aren't so easy to isolate? (I recognize any monster above your own level is meant to be a challenge, but I suspect several other classes have much better ways to manage combat.)
Also, dungeons are a pain in the neck to play in. Half-the-time you want to shoot something, you're too close, and by the time you've repositioned the monster, or most of your party, is probably dead. I can't imagine any party for an instanced dungeon really wanting to bring a Hunter (despite their decent ranged damage potential) unless there was no one else around, and if you do want to play in dungeons and not just solo outdoors they seem like a very poor choice of character class right now.