Hunter Class Balance

brrrinalaska

I didn't realize how weak the Hunter class is. I have just recently got a Pladin up to level 70, same level as my Hunter which has been level 70 for some time. The hunter has a gear level around 3000 points higher than the paladin, yet the paladin has little or no trouble doing quest that the hunter would find difficult if not impossible. This seriousdly needs to be addressed. Why choose the hunter class at all?

rjc9000

A well played Ranger is a high tier pick, simply because they offer good DPS output and tons of utility.

If you're playing Trapper or Combat and are attempting to fight with brute force, you're playing the class wrong. You don't have the raw survivability of a fighter or Paladin, you need to use the HR's agility to your advantage.

If you're playing Archer, well, I think that's where your problems come from.

thefiresidecat

rjc... you're coming from the perspective of a high geared player. when you're undergeared (and from the sounds of htis post the toon is massively undergeared or improperly geared) it's a different story. the hr IS a HUGE learning curve. it does suck compared to many of the other classes at first. you need rotations just so. you need to weave in and out. you need gear and stats stacked just so. your companions and mounts matter. hr's don't really come into their own until they're geared up right AND the user knows about rotations and using exactly the right load outs and what not. it's not a plug and play class. once you've committed things to muscle memory can indeed stand out from the crowd.. wayy wayy out from the crowd.. but you have to get the practice in first. it's not an easy toon to play. (unless you're a seasoned cleric in which case it's basically the same toon with a different skin lol)

wizardlvl80

Hi.

I think you completely misjudged this class. I will go one step further than rjc and will say that well played HR is currently the best dps class in game. What mod12b did to HR is (in my opinion) biggest unexpected buff we had in a while. We got SV fixed, Feytouched finally works, Combat capstone was reworked and there were some other fixes to our powers proc Combat capstone too early/late.

HR is my first class here (and main) and when I was picking it I did it cause it's my favourite D&D 4th edition class, I knew nothing about Neverwinter.

It's insanely fun to play. Especially as Trapper. You're constantly on the move, every second counts, every tap on the keyboard matters and two stances is just so much awesomeness mixed with combining you can make.

Since mod12b Combat tree is just too good to pass in terms of dps and I always run Combat when going into tong as primary dps. But you can also suit niche as Trapper - being semi-dps(still good one) buffer. You should see how my party made Orcus in Tong look like my little pony when we combined buffs with my Longstrider, Commanding Shot and Thorn Ward with dps GF 3xGriffon Wrath. PWN3D.

If you have trouble surviving, you can use Fox's Shift which is amazing power on both stances. Oak Skin is cool and Biding Arrow does great job too. Use Aspect of the Lone Wolf and enjoy unlimited deflection. There is just so much to pick from. So much!

I never had any problem running any content with my HR at any item lvl. Except for those pesky dinos in Chult throwing me of my mount duh.

So please, don't judge it if you haven't know it yet. And for Selune's sake - don't call for balance if you are underperforming with it. We are perfect, we are fine. I AM BEAUTIFUL NO MATTER WHAT THEY SAY!

To be honest I think that we are first class to nerf cause I'm currently 15.1k and I'm able to win dps race in Tong with 16-17k gwf picking Orcus curse. It just feels wrong! So I think that this is our moment and we are strong as never before.

Fasten your seabelts and join us - HR lovers destroying this world with are shiny bows and little daggers!

gromovnipljesak

HRs can wreck HAMSTER. Can easily carry TONG etc. Dunoo what you're talking about.

dafrca

rjc9000 said:

If you're playing Archer, well, I think that's where your problems come from.

So I am curious, why did they make the bow the main hand and the blades the off hand if they didn't expect people to play it as an Archer?

Isn't the very fact that you can't play the only Archer class as an Archer indicate it needs some adjustment of some kind?

wizardlvl80

dafrca#4810 said:

rjc9000 said:

If you're playing Archer, well, I think that's where your problems come from.

So I am curious, why did they make the bow the main hand and the blades the off hand if they didn't expect people to play it as an Archer?

Isn't the very fact that you can't play the only Archer class as an Archer indicate it needs some adjustment of some kind?

You can totally play archery style, just archer feat path isn't viable. Acutally picking trapper path to play as archer is way better since you can also use melee encounters to buff yourself/party while reducing cooldowns of your range powers in this way. Example? Stag heart, Oak Skin, Hawkeye (hell yeah).

Actually some range powers deal insane amounts of singe-target damage, like Commanding Shot, Aimed Shot.

Try this: Longstriders -> Binding/Constricting arrow -> Double tap to proc master trapper -> While still buffer with LS use Commanding Shot. Enjoy your insane numbers.

If you want to play with bow or range powers mostly, it's totally doable and fun actually. Just picking archery feat path is a mistake since it doesn't work very well.

pitshade

Pure archery will never be good in this game because solo, you can't keep the mobs and especially lair bosses from closing on you (not a stealth based game where hit and run works) and in a group you can't do enough damage to compete with classes that are getting party buffs.

When the class was capable of dealing good damage at range, in mod 2, they still weren't desirable due to gaining aggro and being unable to deal with it. Anyway, the defining point of the ranger from the time it was introduced was the bow but stance shifting. The whole max range thing means you only playing half the class, whereas a combat HR can still get use of various ranged encounters without much trouble.

wizardlvl80

Oh, and also be aware that 4th edition of D&D focused on Hunter Ranger fighting with two blades. Pure ranged variety of this class was also viable (and actually best bow-ranger ever in D&D history) but two blades was the main go-to build. It was the highest dps build in 4th edition of D&D and a very good and fun to play one.

Disclaimer: Neverwinter is based on 4th edition of D&D.

mebengalsfan

LMAO...D&D 4edition....

I'm sorry but that was the worst D&D edition ever! I like 5e better, I know it is an update to what 4e had but it is big improvement.

The HR Archer are ok and work well in some content but you miss out on most group buffs and if you do not use a range pet you will also miss out on your companion processing your bonding. The only nice thing with a HR Archer is that the class brings plenty of buff to the group.

HR in NW, IMO, do best as Trapper and Combat.

I have a loadout for all three builds and try all three out and I ended up going with a Combat as my main build and Trapper as an off build. My 3rd loadout of archer will probably be tweaked so I can run a Pathfinder Combat build as well.

wizardlvl80

@mebengalsfan#9264

EDITION WARS CONFIRMED

I think that 4th edition was the best one and 5th is ok-ish (hate the unbalanced magical classes) but that's not the topic for this post. We can argue somewhere else

jonkoca

Pure archer is bad in pve, but can be dynamite in pvp, where our self-buffs (in the absence of pets) really work in our favour. Survival however... is another question lol.

Unknown

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gabrieldourden

wizardlvl80#5963 said:

@mebengalsfan#9264



EDITION WARS CONFIRMED



I think that 4th edition was the best one and 5th is ok-ish (hate the unbalanced magical classes) but that's not the topic for this post. We can argue somewhere else

Fully agree with you!

feanor70118

I think the telling thing here is that the OP plays an OP. Paladins are simply the facerolliest of the facerolly classes, and he probably wasn't prepared for a class that requires attention and activity.

teucer

Over the weekend, I was in a party at the right time. Mod13 list of fixes was shared and I would like to read it myself. Anyone have a link?

teucer

Found it:

•Hunter Ranger •Ambush now properly deals full damage when triggered by Bear Trap.

•Aspect of the Lone Wolf (Rank 4) now functions correctly with its Artifact Off-hand bonus.

•Boar Charge: The animation lockdown on this power has been shortened.

•Careful Attack: This power can now proc weapon enchantments.

•Cordon of Arrows: This power can now crit at long range.

•Cruel Recovery: This power's Artifact Off-hand bonus now only works if Cruel Recovery is slotted.

•Longshot now deals 5/10/15/20/25% Weapon Damage, reduced from 20/40/60/80/100%, but now scales with player stats.

•Longstrider's Shot now applies its buff more consistently.

•Rain of Arrows now more reliably hits targets on uneven terrain.

•Rain of Swords now fires based on the cursor position.

•Throw Caution: Warden's Courage no longer increases the damage resistance debuff from this power.

jonkoca

That's pretty much all good news. Esp. longshot (for pvp archers), and careful attack for combat.

teucer

Right, and with it complaints we are OP. I was not aware of the Rank4 issue with AotLW.

About Archer... had fun with it but wow, so squishy.

wizardlvl80

We are getting constantly stronger with every single patch since 2-3 mods. I think we can expect "nerf" rage soon, cause at the moment I think we are best overall dps-endgame class there is.

But hey, let's take our 5minutes and kick some butts.

jonkoca

^^ what he said.

jhpnw

wizardlvl80#5963 said:

We are getting constantly stronger with every single patch since 2-3 mods. I think we can expect "nerf" rage soon, cause at the moment I think we are best overall dps-endgame class there is.

But hey, let's take our 5minutes and kick some butts.

We are not near the BIS in game and to say that makes me wonder HMMMM. Every time changes are made to HR other classes come here and state how over the top we are getting. Especially the GF illuminati are good at this. Then the nerf HR starts in pvp next. HR is a fun class to play but only certain ones of us can ever get into Tong. A top tier CW. GWF will toast us in every Dungeon run out there and GF with conq build can do the same. Frankly non of the changes will do much 4 us in PVP and some are actually dps, nerfs to us in PVP. Other than SW we are at the bottom of the list in PVP we can do 3 things right now Archery big DPS will melt most any player but when they see u in list Before match they hunt u quickly due to your DPS hurts but you are squishy as hell and easy kill. trapper can become stun bot again but good CW will crush u. so u are mostly just annoying. Combat can do some damage but u die quickly and specking to survive u are worthless cause no DPS. Are we good in PVE? Yes we are fine but most of the HRs playing end game are in rank 20 Guilds and have bis gear and boons and play support class toons like OP and DC to get their gear from tong for there HR. They did not get it by running tong with the HR toon. There will be nothing in this Mod 13 that makes us over the top I have spent 2 days straight in preview and noticed about all you can expect is small dps increase and a IL increase. If you choose to play an HR expect to have fun and be able to hold Your own in PVE the mechanics to US is one of the funest ways of play and all 3 paths offer different play styles.