Warp Stalkers and Warp

[Nanotrev]

Ok, so I'm going to try it again and while it's been ages since I posted on the forums I ask for some help here...

I'm going to post on the official beta forums asking that we get Warp back for warp stalkers. You can look at wowhead.com and see how much people really lament that teleport ability despite how minor it seems now. It's what made those pets what they are and now they really aren't ever going to be the same without it. What's a warp stalker without warp? It's like having a sports car without tires. Not only that, but it has an inferior ability compared to the Crocolisk. Sure it has longer range but really, pets take little time to reach their target as it is. I'd swap out the range for the warp and have the slowing ability be melee. Doesn't that make more sense?

Just my two cents. I'll post the link to the forum post shortly here. Please check back soon!

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/6037336555#1

[Smyelmdar]

I support this 100%.
My main pet on Smy has been one of the warp chasers, ever since Burning Crusade, and I so miss the warp ability.

[Golden]

Oh please please yes! Warp Stalkers are by far my favourite Tenacity pets, and come MoP, really close to being my overall favourite family.

Besides there was a bug where Warp Stalkers wouldn't cast both Time Warp and Charge (last time I checked, they prioritize Time Warp if both are off cooldown) - causing them to be even less effective compared to the Crocs. I'm not sure whether or not it's been fixed by now, but knowing Blizz, I'd assume the bug's still there.

[Wain]

Even if they could work it in cosmetically it'd be better than nothing... It does seem wrong them not being able to, since it's the one single thing they're all about.

[GormanGhaste]

Blizzard probably moved away from warp because it combined two things in one spell: the teleport and...wasn't it originally making the enemy miss the next attack? You seem to be suggesting that it combine the teleport with the slow? I do agree the teleport is an awesome-looking ability. Would you be interested in having their ability be just a teleport? Hmm, what if it were a teleport that also removed any CC on the warpie?

[Kalliope]

*posts on the official thread, including something about spirit beast lasers, which wormed their way into the thread*

[lilaughingwolf]

YES YES YES YES!
Was so sad they took my Kek's warp away....bad Blizz....BAD!!!!

[Nanotrev]

I posted again in the thread with a pretty good point I found on Wowhead. Should check it out! It points out that with concussive shot and our benefits from it Time Warp is even more lackluster. It also brings up the point that Warp was indeed faster than Charge since it was immediate, and even if they were the same you'd still pick the Crocolisk over the warp stalker because of the shorter cooldown.

[Masquerain]

YES, please! In Wrath when I first started leveling my hunter, I picked up the white and purple Warp Stalker from Terokkar and he was my baby. He would warp and spin mobs around so fast, and he would even warp to things IN THE AIR to bite them and grab aggro, he was amazing.

I was heartbroken when the pre-Cata patch was pushed that updated them to no longer "warp" to their enemies, although I was excited that Gezzarak was tamable once more. She was the first tame I made during that patch, though I am ashamed to say that I have never once used her because I just miss the old ability.

Bringing back their Warp ability would immediately make Gezza my #1 tank for questing, I would be so thrilled.

[Nanotrev]

I've updated the thread with a possible work-around so there might be a method to both get Warp back to the way it was and buff the ability as well to make it useful and not purely cosmetic.

[Ickabob]

I posted!

[Nanotrev]

I like the people coming into the thread and agreeing, but now would it be possible for people to think up a reasonable reworking of the spell? Both pets are non-exotic and both have about the same ability when speaking of Warp Stalkers and Crocolisks. What could make the warp stalker different within reason so that it wouldn't be too overpowered but be worth picking up? I mean... why do we have two pets with almost the same special ability? Is there room for improvement with other pets that have this as well? Couldn't the ravager get its stun back with other pets being reworked as well?

EDIT-
Also, reasoning behind your change would be ideal. It will catch more attention if you have theory-crafting behind how your idea could be useful without being overpowered.

[pop]

IMHO, the old warp ability should just be a bonus skill, like how prowl is a bonus skill for cat since both effect are negligible.

[MaximumOverdrive]

Well, the original warp gave a 50% chance to dodge the next three attacks, which is why the warp stalker would keep warping over and over.

I think what would be cool is in the talent trees maybe, have charge replaced with warp, but does the same thing (kinda like for birds, dash is replaced with swoop).

[Nanotrev]

I've updated the most recent post I made with more possibilites. They include spells already used by warp stalkers in the game.

[Nanotrev]

-My most recent post on the official beta forums, for all to see. Any further ideas?

Edit- I'd also enjoy seeing other hunters give their ideas as well and the theorycrafting behind them.


I'm sitting here and thinking about this a little more but I see room for improvement in other pet families as well.

Now, before I say this, don't get me wrong. I am so happy we can finally pick our pet's talent trees.

With that out of the way, there are a few pet families that have what is essentially the same special ability as the other. Perhaps we could see the emergence of a bit of variety in the future or maybe other pets getting their original abilities back, such as the ravager's stun and so on, as long as there are no buffs to damage so that one isn't favored over all other pets.

As for getting back to Warp, I have a few more ideas that could be used in tandem to teleporting to the target, none of which I think are game-breaking or overpowered.

A spell interrupt or stun. It would be similar to Warp Charge as seen here.

Warp Charge
http://www.wowhead.com/spell=37417

A slowing ability, as mentioned.
An ability that increases cast time for the target's abilities for X number of seconds.
An ability that inhibits mana regeneration.
An ability that takes away mana, similar to a priest's mana burn.


These are just a few ideas, and hopefully I'll be able to come up with more shortly. I really think the mana burn is a unique thing to add to pets on the ten second cool down but I'm not sure how much it costs priest on live in order to be on par with them, although I'd really prefer something simple like the interrupt or the slow- just as long as we get warp back to the effect it had in that it was similar to a mage's blink. All in all I've tried to relate them to spellcasting for the warp stalkers since the questlines seemed to suggest that they'd be an annoyance to magic users. I wanted to keep the original feel of that present with them.

As far as theorycrafting goes I would see the slow having its obvious benefits in PvP while the ability similar to mana burn would be good with use in both PvP and PvE in that it would burn mana from mobs you were fighting against as well. The same would go for mana regeneration and perhaps it would be a better option so not to be as overpowered as the mana burn might be though seeing as priests use it I think it might not be such a bad idea for a pet ability.

An increase in the target's cast time (while some bosses and such would be immune) would help greatly with mobs that have strong abilities that take a while to cast as it is. It I would be quite handy for mobs that hit harder than usual as well, or in PvP where you might want to stop that priest from channeling their healing spell or perhaps make that mage wait a while longer to cast his frostbolt. I imagine this effect would have a short duration as well.

Suggestions for other pet abilities would be handy as well, such as the stun being returned to the ravager as mentioned earlier.

A hunter in another forum pointed out that this could be done.

IMHO, the old warp ability should just be a bonus skill, like how prowl is a bonus skill for cats.


If it were a mere bonus skill where the warp stalker could warp to the target then there wouldn't have to be any additional buff to the spell at all if Time Warp was changed to melee ability. The above suggestions sound a bit more appealing to me but I agree that this person had what is probably the easiest solution to implement.

Yet another idea for the change to warp was while the warp stalker can teleport to its target, the spell would also remove CC effects from it as well.

Warp
http://www.wowhead.com/spell=32920

[GormanGhaste]

As SB posted in another thread:

There is a new talent called Blink Strike that lets your pet teleport behind a target and cause damage on a 20 sec cooldown, somewhat like the old Warp Stalker ability.

[SpiritBinder]

Thanks Gorman, I would have really liked to see a warp stalker get it's warp back, but I fear now it will be very unlikely with this new Blink Strike they are talking about.

I'm really curious to see how this is going to be balanced, considering that it's meant to be a beast themed utility + damage tier, and I'm not sure what kind of + damage they will tack onto this ability. Also going off what our warpies used to do, was use their ability it the target was not in range, but did not acutally auto cast if it was in range (eg, you would have to manual cast it if your warpie was already on the mob to gain the additional "next to hits miss" component?) Would that also be the case for this new talent? (more macros.. /shudder)

The interest/caution I show with this new Blink Strike is that if it does come with a + damage added into it's utility, well then it will have to be used on cooldown to get the most out of it. If it is used on cooldown (which I guess you would want to do), if or when you do need the utility side of it (the mod/player moves/teleports, etc.) then the ability would be on cool down, and therefore make it's utility kind of moot.

It also has a very similar feel to Lynx Rush, as your pet will teleport/"rush" to Mob/Opponents within the range of the spell (though my guess is that the blink in the blink strike will have a larger range) That and the the lynx rush has the aoe component to it due to the "rush/pounce" ability.

This leaves me trying to work out what + damage modifier could they add to Blink Strike to make it viable compared lynx rush. (which has a small teleport, damage, and AOE component)

Would it have to put a buff on the pet/hunter for x amount of seconds after the Blink Strike?
Put a debuff/DOT on the Mob/Opponent for x amount of seconds after the Blink Strike?

Would this Buff/DeBuff/Dot be worth the loss of the utility of the blink if used on cooldown, etc?

Anyways, food for thought I guess, be interesting to see what they come up with.

[Nanotrev]

Interesting, but I don't think a warp ability is so incredibly useful that it should be put into the hunter tier, especially with such a long cooldown. Something more useful would be a charge with a marginal time difference. Also, I've posted something in that thread in regards to hunter pets as a whole, and their abilities.

ALSO-

SB, it would be amazing if you could post what you just did in the thread they made the mention of Blink Strike in, on the official forums.

[SpiritBinder]

**Edit**

I really like the direction of your thread, and I can see a relevance with my post, but I think we might have to wait and see where they go with this Blink Strike. I would have happily signed the "bring back the Warp!" but with this new ability, it looks like it may become a moot point sadly
(that's just my observation but would be happily proven wrong)

Most of my post would actually contradict your post as it's pretty much giving up on Warp Stalkers getting back their Warp and discussing what they are considering replacing it with and it's parameters and balance, and I don't really want to derail your post from your original topic.