Monday, August 19, 2013

What We Lack in 5.4 from a Loss of Readiness

There have been a whole slew of changes to hunters for 5.4.

Readiness is gone.

We got a new Stampede in PvE as a dps cooldown.  And some shots got a buff.  So our overall damage may be the same or up or down.  It's still TBD.

But our defensive bonuses that could be helped with Readiness are a bit hosed.  We get a lot less Deterrences even though there's a charge (our CD will be a full minute longer).  We have a lower CD on Disengage which is great, but can't chain them.

There are many offensive bonuses from Readiness.  Murder of Crows is getting buffed +40% damage, but you can't readiness with it.  (Really the CD and focus cost should just be reduced.)  Overall MoCs looks like a wash.  (Some call it a nerf but it really depends on how long the fight is and how long the boss is at less than 20%.)  That said, Lynx Rush is at the same talent choice level as MoCs and it didn't get any damage buff.  It was already behind, so I don't see it ever being taken without some sort of change to it.

Back to back Rapid Fires need to be balanced in the add-extra-damage review. I had expected them to add to the duration and/or cut from the cooldown.  But there was no change there.

There are other short-falls from removing Readiness.  There are many 15 and 30 second cooldown abilities that you could hit, readiness, and recycle through immediately for burst.

Another loss is Exhilaration.  It needs a buff right now, but without Readiness it can't be used twice.

Master's Call isn't reset-able.  And of course one of the biggest losses for PvP is no more Bestial Wrath.

I don't miss Readiness.  But I do think many of these other abilities should be adjusted with charges, longer durations, and/or shorter cooldowns.

2 comments:

  1. I agree. I think RF and BW could definitely have longer durations as compensation.

    Blizz is probably counting the set bonus changes for RF in the mix, but I don't think that counts (it's one of the reasons I don't like set bonuses/gear procs that affect other abilities).

    Lynx rush needs attention as you said. I don't think anyone uses it anymore. I dropped it after the Blink Strikes change.

    I never liked aMoC because of it's focus cost. It's just too expensive. I agree they could have made it cheaper and or reduced the CD or something instead of increasing the dmg.

    I'm not sure how the new Deterrence will work out with the charges. Have to wait and see I guess.

    I've never needed to do back-to-back disengage, exhilaration, or master's call, but perhaps that was important in pvp.

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  2. Back to back disengage is just fun.

    When I used aMoCs I never readily had enough focus to cast it. It always took me by surprise that I needed THAT MUCH.

    I agree about the set bonuses.

    You wont like the Deterrence set up. It is a VERY long cooldown. It could be neat with the charges if it was shorter.

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