BM spec: ideas to bring it up to par

58 Blood Elf Death Knight
While I am not as much of an active poster in the forums these days, those familiar with me know that I've got a real interest in seeing BM spec become truly viable again. And by truly viable I mean, competitive in fights besides those where you can stand still and burn. On stuff like Baleroc I can give an MM hunter a run for their money - on anything with an air phase, or a lot of 'ok switch to square/skull/add', my dps drops off a great deal (sometimes 20-30%). So, here are some ideas for how to improve BM that I don't think are gamebreaking.

1. Give BM hunters a 'Kill Command' style shot.

Meaning, give BM hunters a ranged attack that does the same damage, has the same base scaling, and has the same requirements (40 focus, active pet that is alive/in combat). Make them share a cooldown, so if you use the shot, you are locked out of KC for 6 seconds - likewise, if you use KC, you're locked out of using the shot.

Kill Command is not a shot. Its a nuke, for sure, but its a melee nuke. The problem with it being a melee nuke is that anything which disrupts the pet being within melee range = my spec can't use its most powerful attack. So for fights with air phases, or a lot of switching where KCing is a pain, you could use the shot. For fights without those nuisances, use KC.

The more simple version would be to just give KC a greater range, so that it can hit targets in the air/further from the pet, but I think my solution is more fun in the sense that it gives BM hunters something they have asked for (a true 'signature' shot) and helps with the major issue of losing dps to the above-mentioned factors.

2. Provide the spec with a Sword and Board-type proc.

E.G. something like "Your Kill Command ability has a 30% chance to make your next Arcane Shot cost 0 focus/deal increased damage/etc." Procs are fun when they don't rule the spec (see Ret paladins), and imho make for a more reactive, engaging playstyle. Giving BM a proc would only help the spec - both with dps and with the stigma that BM is the 'lolsimple' way to play a hunter.

3. Make pets immune to PvE mechanics like knockbacks, tornadoes, etc.

I can recall countless times while leveling/playing my hunter in Cataclysm where my pet was simply dead weight - Rahj in Halls of Origination, Altairus in Vortex Pinnacle, etc etc. These fights - and others - consistently handicapped my pet. While some might argue LOLDUNGEONS DON'T MATTER (an argument that is probably true to some extent), its not the dungeons I take issue with, but the near-complete disabling of my pet in PvE situations.

Pet AI is pretty simplistic, which Blizz themselves have admitted. So, punishing players for that (when it is in fact Blizz's fault) is not only annoying, its senseless.


I really don't think MOAR DAMAGE MOAR AP is the answer for BM because that only makes it more dangerous in PvP (where it is plenty lethal already) and inevitable for nerfing. I think it really boils down to improving the mechanics of the spec so that it can function with the same sense of 'uptime' as Marks and Surv.

As always, thanks for reading. :)
Edited by Jaecelynn on 10/12/2011 7:17 AM PDT
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85 Night Elf Hunter
I agree with pets for knockbacks and stuff like that for boss fights, for players its a way to peel off the pet from a target though. Also the proc idea was nice. Personally I would've had it so Killing Streak grants a free Kill Shot outside of targets health range. For Kill command, it needs something like invigoration to increase its range by 3 yards so it doesn't suffer from light stutter movement.
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85 Human Hunter
BM is not an extremely lethal pvp spec. It is less used than MM in just about every aspect of the game when ur talking high end pve and pvp.
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85 Worgen Hunter
I agree with this thread so much you cannot even know.

I have always loved BM spec, and my spirit beast Harkoa is my favorite pet out of any pet I have. However, as I am Marksman, I just can't bring her out just as much as I want to, and she's been rotting in the stables ever since I hit 85. I want to use her but BM spec just doesn't have the gimmicks and sparkle that MM has (Chimera Shot? Oh, baby~). When the next expansion comes out, I will most definitely whip out the BM build (which has also been rotting from lack of use) and bring Harkoa along for another hunt until I hit the next level cap, whatever that may be, but until then, they're just going to be there and be just a notch above useless.

The shot, I love the idea of. My pet does have Dash and Boar's Speed, but all the knockbacks made it pretty hard to hit Kill Command just as the cooldown ended. If we could have the knockback immunity, but have it disabled in PvP (boomkin Typhoons still work on those pesky bugs) (for fairness), then that would make me SO HAPPY. The Sword&Board proc is interesting, and I would love to have that implemented.

To sum it up, yes.

Liked for relevance.
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