Hi all!
I’m just collecting together a list of feedback and bugs I have come across during my time playing a Hunter in the CBT.
1: The pet. It’s… powerful. You can definitely say that. Not only is my pet seemingly invincible - taking 200 damage will barely even dent its HP - but it gets right back up when it dies in order to deal out more pain to the enemy. Not happy being just an invincible tank, my pet also consistently hits ten times my normal damage, and completely ignores damage reductions from bosses, meaning I can quite literally sit down and let my pet destroy bosses 10-20 levels above me. This is a problem to say the least. However, actually getting it to do that…
Suggestion: Make the pet’s stats screen like the players to give clarity on how much damage it should be dealing - all we have at the moment is “Attack:” to go off. Make pets attacks have a weapon type so that they don’t bypass all of a monster’s resistances (they do the same damage on every monster, no matter what level they are). Lower pet damage in general down to a level consistent with the player.
2: Pet controls. There is almost no way to micromanage your pet whatsoever. I can’t control what it attacks or when, except by targetting something and waiting for it to slowly think about it before it might waddle over and hit the enemy… sometimes with a very weak attack, sometimes a 1000-damage knockout when my strongest attacks deal only 200-300 when they crit! The pet really needs some method of micro-managing, especially for hunters, as it seems as though our pets are our main source of damage. There’s no way to set your pet to aggress everything for farming, or set it to defend you if you’re attacked, or a way to set it to be completely passive. Nope.
Suggestion: Give pets three stances with different AI: Aggressive (attacks any monster within range), Defensive (attacks monsters aggressive to the player, preferring closer monsters), Obedient (attacks your target only) and Passive (does nothing, sits down and rests to regenerate stamina/hp). Additionally, give the pet a different targeting reticule (green would fit with the hunter theme) so that we know what target its going after.
3: Hunter skills. Extremely unintuitive and rather hit-and-miss. There’s no given range to them, so half the time casting Rush Dog will deliver a hundred pounds of rat-dog death and destruction, and other times the pet will sit there staring at you in extreme confusion, like a deer caught in the headlights… permanently. Nevermind the fact that half of them are niche - stealth removal? When do monsters stealth? Anti-flying? The only flying mobs are always the most frail, and archers even get an innate 20% damage boost through the Bow Mastery attribute. Why do we need to hold them down when they die in one hit?
Suggestion: Base Hunter skills off of THE HUNTERS location not THE PETS. It’s stupid how the pet has to be in range of monsters but you have no way of moving your pet where you want it to go. If the target is out of range of your hunter skill, then print an error to the player and make it NOT use SP and go on cooldown. Also, make it impossible to use hunter skills without a target so you don’t waste SP on nothing when it bugs out.
4: Archer synergy. There is none. No Hunter skills can be used in Kneel Shot, which is arguably the best DPS archers have, especially since - theoretically - it would be safe to use Kneel Shot since your pet is holding monster aggro. Nope. You have to stand around autoattacking, not even using your other archer skills… why, you ask? Because Rush Dog hits for ten times more than all your other skills and is on a much lower cooldown. What on earth were IMC thinking with this balance? It is counterintuitive to the kitschy extreme.
Suggestion: Make hunter skills usable in Kneeling Shot stance.
5: Coursing. I mention this in particular because of how finicky it is. Sometimes it holds enemies in place, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes it doesn’t work at all and your pet simply dry-humps the enemy for several seconds in a hilarious and despair-inducing fashion. Also, it doesn’t work on bosses - not even the crit-rate increasing part, which is understandable but still rather sucks.
Suggestion: just look at how it works… and make it so it works every time, holding the enemy in place (if thats what its even meant to do). Make it work on bosses too, please. Just make it more reliable to use.
6: Pet variety. There’s one pet, and it’s a butt ugly rat-beaver-pig-kangaroo abomination. Not debating the art isn’t nice, but… variety, please? Maybe, like, a dog? Something more normal and relate-able? You spend half the time as a Hunter staring at your pets shenanigans, so it should look nice. Cash-shop opportunity here - pet skins!
Suggestion: Sell other pets on the cash shop - only changing how they look of course, not different stats.
7: Pet levelling. My pet is level 70. I’m 49. Uhhhh…
Suggestion: Lower pet XP.
8: Pet Damage Type: The pet currently deals “True damage”, as in, no defenses can reduce it. What does this mean? Your pet hits the same damage on every single monster in the game, whether they are level 1 or level 600, even bosses are hit by the pet for the same damage. I find this extremely amusing (yet clearly it’s a bug) as I can use it to grind in endgame zones as a level 61 in no gear.
Suggestion: Just fix it.
Now, after that cathartic experience, I want to say… I really like Hunter. Rather, I really want to like hunter. Costume looks amazing, skillset is amusing and varied if a little overbearingly niche. If the pet AI was un-derp-ified, then I believe Hunter would be much more fun to play. I’m going to be taking three circles of it before Falconer, so that’s a testament to how much I like it. Thanks for reading, and sorry if my tone was a tad ranting. Feel free to correct me if I am spouting nonsense!
I must admit i’m starting to feel endeared by this ugly little ratbeast.
