Patch 3.2.2 sees stealthed Hunter nerfs
I guess it was all just a dream after all. Here I thought that maybe, just maybe we could see the beginning of Cataclysm and somehow see Blizzard sneak worgen hunters into Patch 3.2.2 and give them the ability to tame dwarves. (Just in case my attempt at sarcasm fell flat, you need to know I fully understand we won't see worgen hunters until Cataclysm.)
Although worgen didn't manage to sneak in, we did see some other changes that somehow slipped under the radar. Their is only one downside to these undocumented changes. There's some good news and bad news. Since it's always better to end on a happy note, we'll start off with the bad news.
It seems that what we all noticed on the PTR and hoped beyond all hope actually managed to make it into the recent patch unscathed.
Our PvP and Arena brethren received a harsh blow. Kill Shot has been changed (fixed according to some). Prior to Patch 3.2.2 Kill Shot wasn't susceptible to the 5 yard "No fire zone" that all our other range attacks. That has been fixed. We haven't seen any response from Blizzard on this one, but I'm guessing that we've just seen that massive bug list discussed last week reduced by one.
That's the bad news, and now for the good news. By now hunters should be noticing a change to Volley. Ghostcrawler stated, "The AP coefficient of Volley has been increased from 0.0586 to 0.0837. Base points did not change. This probably did not make the patch notes."
Well it didn't. But that doesn't mean it hasn't gone unnoticed. Euripides over at OutDPS! noticed that this is about the same coefficient as before the great hunter nerf of 2008. If that's true we might actually be seeing a 20-30% increase in DPS by Volley. Of course, before the nerf last year we had another issue with our ranged weapons deteriorating extremely fast. I just hope that isn't the case now. Either way, any increase in the DPS gained by Volley will be a welcomed change.
So what's your take on these changes? Should Blizzard have left Kill Shot alone? Or do you agree with the fix? Even more importantly, what about that change to Volley? What has been your experience so far? Are you seeing a dramatic increase in your DPS? Can we finally contribute to the AoE blast fest? Or are we still stuck behind mages? No matter what, it's bound to be better, right?
