BM hunters to get fixed in Cata for raiding? GC comments...

[Slickrock]

Yet, even though Enhance's dps was low, there were thousands of dps shaman raiding ICC. By far the majority of raids had at least one. The only specs we really failed on in LK raiding were Frost mage, Subtlety rogue, BM hunter and Arms warrior. If Enhance's numbers are higher on mobility fights, then those participation numbers should only go up.

So I'm hoping GC's comments mean they want to make BM viable in raiding in Cata, and that' its not just a leveling spec...

[Saturo]

I'd take that with a grain of salt. He says that they failed them, not that they intend to make them as viable as everything else. Besides, we'll still have one spec that's better, and you can bet theorycrafters will figure out which one very quickly. We should consider ourselves lucky if the specs are all within 5% of each other troughout the expansion. Right now it looks like SV would be very powerful, with MM a bit behind, and BM somewhat lower, after they make pets go 100%.

[Slickrock]

But in the context he's talking about, they are judging by raid comps. If they want BM good enough that more raids bring them, that's a good thing. One spec will always be better, but if they are within 10% or less, that works.

[Rottingham]

I seriously think what Blizz should consider BM to not do as much damage as the other specs, but instead they should be made to be the buffers of the raid! such as a talent like this:

Feral Presence:
While the hunter's pet is active, then you and all party/raid group members gain a 1%/2%/3% damage boost. If the hunter's pet is exotic, then the damage boost is increased by 2%/4%/6%.

have talents similar to this so that BM hunters could be a "must have" in a raid

[Slickrock]

I seriously think what Blizz should consider BM to not do as much damage as the other specs, but instead they should be made to be the buffers of the raid! such as a talent like this:

Feral Presence:
While the hunter's pet is active, then you and all party/raid group members gain a 1%/2%/3% damage boost. If the hunter's pet is exotic, then the damage boost is increased by 2%/4%/6%.

have talents similar to this so that BM hunters could be a "must have" in a raid

Well, they are certainly going away from any "must have" specs, and are doubling up on buff and debuff coverage. What I fear is that Blizz doesn't realize that if BM is still gimped, other classes that bring the BM buffs will be brought instead.

The real test will see the pet specs. No clues as to what they are doing there, and if they fix the scaling problems.

[Tahlian]

That's the sort of thing I'm going to be testing as soon as I get my beta access and whenever the pet pass is done. >.>

<.<

Yes, my GM won one of the slots in the contest and sent in my information. There have been several other beta players I know of that have been giving strongly worded feedback about bringing BM in line with the other two specs in both alpha and early beta. So I will add my voice to theirs to make sure that BM hunters are no longer referred to as "the retard spec," etc. I don't want to be the must-have best of the best spec. I just don't want to be the laughingstock anymore, thanks.

[Renle]

I don't want to be the must-have best of the best spec. I just don't want to be the laughingstock anymore, thanks.

^ This.

I quite frankly still raid in BM, but I'm just lucky enough to have a RL who's pretty understanding and allows me to.
But it would be nice if I could stop getting those irritating whispers from other hunters who go 'lulz BM is suxors for raiding, you should go MM.'

Though, on the other hand, it is deeply gratifying when I out dps those nay-sayers

[Anansi]

Right now it looks like SV would be very powerful, with MM a bit behind, and BM somewhat lower, after they make pets go 100%.

Apparently the problem with SV in beta is that it starts out incredibly strong, but diminishes quickly as our Crit rate plummets starting at level 81. Current thought is that SV will, if left in it's current form, be pretty weak until level 85 raid gear is collected and the Crit rate starts to climb some more, but even then, our Crit will never be what it is now, so the spec needs some work in that regard.
Essentially the problem is that as Crit drops, Focus regen via Thrill of the Hunt drops, so there's less room for specials.

Looking over the talents as they are now, it looks to me like MM will be a fairly even spec with the other two being more reliant on procs, cooldowns and burst damage (which is pretty much the reverse of how things are now). BM looks to be the most burst-heavy given the current implementation of big red.

[Kalliope]

Looking over the talents as they are now, it looks to me like MM will be a fairly even spec with the other two being more reliant on procs, cooldowns and burst damage (which is pretty much the reverse of how things are now). BM looks to be the most burst-heavy given the current implementation of big red.

Heh! And isn't that the thing that got BW nerfed in the first place?

Interesting point about survival....wonder if that'll be going back to the hunter spec that's lost in the shuffle.

[Anansi]

I don't think SV will get lost in the shuffle, it just needs the talents tweaked and straightened out. I think they've put the most effort into MM so far, and BM and SV still need a good deal of work.

[Palladiamorsdeus]

BM is pretty heavy mid-shuffle right now, but it's also not super high on priority. The reason being that BM will rely most heavily on the pet for it's damage, and neither of the two pet buff factors, 100% scaling or our mastery, are implimented. I was expecting at least one of the two with last weeks major patch, but it turned out to be mainly a mage and launcher patch.

One buff I didn't like was IMproved KC being changed to lower the cooldown on KC. I realize this is going to sound odd, but I don't want KC to have no cooldown. I want an excuse to hit arcane shot, or what have you. Not to just sit there and mash kill command when I have the focus for it. If that goes live, which I don't expect it to, then it could potentially elminate Arcane shot for BM.

[Anansi]

One buff I didn't like was IMproved KC being changed to lower the cooldown on KC. I realize this is going to sound odd, but I don't want KC to have no cooldown. I want an excuse to hit arcane shot, or what have you. Not to just sit there and mash kill command when I have the focus for it. If that goes live, which I don't expect it to, then it could potentially elminate Arcane shot for BM.

There's a bit of a discussion on this very thing at Elitist Jerks right now, centred around why use Arcane instead of KC. I'm thinking we'll see more changes here, I can't see it being by design that BM is intended to forego Arcane Shot in favour of KC. Apparently KC is bugged to high heaven right now as well so testing of this scenario isn't really possible.

[Palladiamorsdeus]

That's correct, KC doesn't work about, literally, 75% of the time. It's kind of a gamble, so right now you use arcane shot because you KNOW it's going to work.

[Victorelle]

BM raiding hunters? IM IN! >:D

[Royi]

But it would be nice if I could stop getting those irritating whispers from other hunters who go 'lulz BM is suxors for raiding, you should go MM.'

I think those people are called "huntards"

[Renle]

I think those people are called "huntards"

I lawl'd <3

[Silvarain]

now im not saying it has to, but shouldnt the pet be the shot for BM? dont get me wrong, id like my hunter himself to do a lot of work but, as BM, shouldnt the pet do more damage, be tougher, get more abilites, etc than SV/MM pets? im not looking for BM to be top dog either, but i dont see it as a prob if KC or even BW became the shot for BM (seeing how BM many never get their own actual shot)