- Lock and Load no longer affects Arcane Shots.
- Bombardment now lasts 5 secs instead of affecting your next multi shot only.
Also this.......
Lock and Load not being caused by Arcane Shot is an intentional change. As many players have pointed out, there is just no need for it any longer.
We also intend to make sure Black Arrow is used over Explosive Trap, probably by buffing Black Arrow slightly.
We are looking a lot at hunter DPS right now. We think it is in a good place when compared to other ranged DPS specs (in equivalent gear), but falls short when compared to ranged DPS with Dragonwrath. The guilds currently posting heroic combat logs have a lot of Dragonwraths, and unfortunately, hunters are the only ranged DPS who don’t have access to a legendary weapon. When more hunters have Deathwing weapons, their DPS will go up compared to the Dragonwrath users who won’t be upgrading their weapons, and we’ll see what hunter performance looks like.
It’s likely that future legendaries won’t be usable by so many classes and specs. For the present situation, one option is to just buff hunters to make up for their inability to have legendary weapons, but when you look at DPS casters who have no legendary, it’s a tough option to take. We’re not sure yet of the future of the attack power buff in Mists of Pandaria, but in the short term we want to make sure that there are some situations where melee can do really high DPS rather than routinely coming in below ranged DPS (which is how we felt about the last two raid tiers).
If we buff hunters, it will more likely be through other avenues.
Gimme my Black Arrow buff any day. I actually use it in boss fights, but was wondering why this one SV Troll Hunter preferred to use Explosive Trap on a DPS dummy during his rotations.
Gryz, it's a long story with a lot of math- but it's been "proven" that right now, Explosive Trap is proccing more LnLs than BA. I really don't know the theorycraft behind it, but it's been tested and confirmed over and over again. Using the Trap nets an increase in DPS because of the higher rate of LnLs.
The change in the coming patch is nice because using the Arcane in LnL wont eat a "charge." So yay.
Oz, yeah, I think that's the case. Whether it's the speed of the ticks or the fact that on massive pulls you're getting 20% tick per mob, you seem to have a bigger chance of a proc than with BA. On a BA there's an odd chance I might see it proc twice in a single cast, but the odds are fewer and half of the time I don't get any procs at all.
That said though, I use it in movement heavy fights like General Varo'then in Well of Eternity where Mannoroth's Fel Firestorm keeps everybody running for dear life. But in a fight where the boss stays in one place or has a freakishly huge hitbox, I'm beginning to believe Explo Trap is the way to go.
More patch notes..............
(1) Aspect of the Hawk now grants roughly 35% more attack power.
(2) Deterrence now also reduces damage taken by 30% while active.
(3) Black Arrow now ticks every 2 seconds for 20 seconds, as opposed to every 3 seconds for 15 seconds. The total damage dealt by the ability is unchanged.
(4) Lock and Load no longer benefits Arcane Shot, nor is it consumed by Arcane Shot.