Zombie Columbus on Hunters

Zombie Columbus stopped by the forums the other day to further discuss proposed upcoming changes to the Hunter class with Isengard.  Currently he is looking for feedback in the official thread that will center on the Hunter, much like Orion is currently doing with Champions.

Bowmaster

My main goal is to remove the strong tie to Strength Stance. This does not mean nerfs, only that the buffs Bowmaster bestows onto S:S will apply regardless of stance. This change indicates a general shift in the stance design on the class. All stance altering traits and set bonuses will be repurposed and their buffs will be redistributed. My intention is to allow Hunters of all traitlines the ability to change stance based on circumstances. As part of this, I’ll be changing the stances around to ensure each of them is better at what they do well. Besides that the Bowmaster will be very close to what it is now.

To me this reads that ZC is looking to give those who run traited primarily as Bowmaster the option to be in other stances.  Options are good, pure and simple, so I trust that ZC knows what he is doing here.  If the changes to the stances are as drastic as those of the Champion revamp it will be interesting to see what he does with them.

Huntsman

While I knew that bringing up melee would pique peoples curiosity, I admit to being taken aback by how much negativity it generated. Legolas quickly dispatching enemies at range and in melee is the archtype the class was built on and one that many still identify with. A monthly update was not enough time to make the kind that would bring the Huntsman up to a Legolas standard, but an expansion is. Before I say anymore, yes, I understand that Hunters do not use melee much. I believe that this is more because that there is little reason or benefit, not because it isn’t exciting to switch between melee and ranged combat during a fight. However, it seems I did my job too well in the last update, many are rather fond of the state the Huntsman is in and do not want it changed. Such feedback has effected me, and I’m backing off from making the Huntsman a melee/ranged hybrid. Instead, minor edits like Bowmaster will be made, mainly removing traits that effect specific stances.

Interesting, and it certainly does show that the feedback that is being given is having an effect on the Devs.  I’m not sure what I would think of having a melee/ranged hybrid, but I definitely see the advantage of being a range class in the game.  Having the option to position yourself wherever you want is heavily beneficial in a lot of circumstances, but I can’t really help but think I wouldn’t mind at least trying it out to see what it would be like.  Ah well, you can’t have everything can you?  I suspect since ZC is having to change gears we’ll see more on what actually is going in at a later date, but at least he included what his intention was going to be.

That said, here are some details for what I was planning for the line: All melee skills grant focus, ranged skills increase melee damage while melee skills increase ranged damage (with applications/removals to encourage switching between ranged and melee at some kind of tempo – 10 seconds ranged buffed, 10 seconds melee buffed), extending Fleetness to buff melee, make quickshot usable while moving (ie: no induction). Basically, allow the class to fluidly swap between melee and ranged and gain benefits for doing so, while giving it even more mobility and induction-less attacks.

Trapper of Foes:

“But you just made it awesome, don’t nerf it!” Don’t worry, I’m not changing Trapper to nerf it. When the last update hit, a lot of feedback on the line was focused on the damage reduction still being unappreciated, and penshot still not being what people hoped for. I intend on changing both of those. Further, the realities of endgame are that CC is often negated by boss mechanics, making a class that CC’s focus on support through debuffs, buffs or restoration. The trapper will trade some of his straight CC for more generally applicable support abilities. Lastly, I’m going to try to add new trap mechanics in that make the Trapper more about traps!

I think that’s the important stuff. I’m going to be out for two weeks after this, so don’t expect any more info any time soon. Please do continue discussing things, talking about what you want and don’t want, and focus on examples, not hyperbole.

This sounds good to me, although I wonder if ZC’s (or most of the class Dev’s) job would be made easier if players could swap between two “templates” on-the-fly similar to World of WarCraft and RIFT.  I think some boosts to Trapper would be good as, like ZC said, when you try to CC in boss fights (or even certain dungeons) you find yourself out of luck.  Again, it will be interesting to see in what direction he goes especially with the traps.  I personally love myself a good trap.  And so does General Ackbar.