Hunters, stop buying tons of ammo...

Benggal · February 10, 2009, 01:15:44 PM

Or at least slow down your purchases a bit.

Apparently Blizz devs are working on removing the whole "expendable ammunition" concept. They originally hoped to have it ready for 3.1, but they've since posted on the boards that it won't be ready in time.

What this means for Hunters:

From what I gather, arrows and bullets will essentially become the same as thrown weapons, meaning you'll buy the arrow/bullet, put it in your ranged slot, and then get infinite uses out of it so long as you repair the durability from time to time.

Quivers and Ammo Pouches (which used to contain all those arrows) will no longer be taking up a bag space as a result. There is no concrete information on what is happening with them, but Blizz has stated that the haste rating built into them will be added somewhere else instead. The upshot is that Hunters will gain an entire bag slot.

What this means for Engineers:

Not yet clear. Obviously crates of ammunition will be going bye-bye, so there's a source of income lost. What is not yet known is whether or not they'll be replaced by these new (and possibly varied?) forms of ammunition. I'm assuming Blizz will be giving Engineers different bullet/arrow recipes to replace these, and there are ideas being kicked around on the boards about giving Engineers the ability to create arrows and bullets with different properties (+frost damage, +fire damage, etc.), but all of this is just pure speculation. I'm really, really hoping they don't continue to screw Engies out of fun schematics.

What this means for Leatherworkers:

Much the same as for Engineers. Ammo bags and Quivers as we know them are on their way out. Blizz have said absolutely nothing about replacement recipes. I'd like to see bowstrings with different properties that can be attached to a bow WITH a scope (not INSTEAD OF) as replacement recipes. Engineers would be the logical choice for gun triggers, though. (Again, this is all pure brainstorming and speculation, not fact).

The bottom line:

Hunters will be getting a lot more bag space and probably fiddling a lot less with their ammo.

Warlocks will be even angrier at Hunters in general.

Every other class in the game will call Hunters "QQ'ers who whine until they get what they want"...again.

Personally, I made my peace with giving up an entire bag slot for ammo a long time ago, especially considering that Warlocks were in the same boat and many other classes often have to carry an entire extra set of gear depending on their roles. I don't see this as a necessary change, and the Engineer in me cries at becoming even more useless. I also wasn't kidding about the whole "other classes calling Hunters 'QQ'ers'" bit. I'm fed up with the general attitude towards Hunters in the game, and this is just going to exacerbate things.

Beorngar · February 10, 2009, 03:34:55 PM

Well, I hope they eventually do something about lock soul shards then. I know they are looking into it, but so far all I have seen is that they are going to make drain soul proc DURING the channel, instead of when the mob dies, so there is a possibility of getting more than one shard per channel of the spell. Guess that glyph of drain soul will be dead in the water. I agree about the other classes, too, especially Pallies/Druids/Warriors having to carry multiple sets of gear. Dual specs going in will only make it worse.

Wolfin · February 10, 2009, 05:13:52 PM

I came to terms with an ammo bag a long time ago. Getting a new bag would be nice but i aint concerned with it.

As far as loosing the bag patterns for LW I would like to see them replaced with a couple normal bags. I always wondered why we could not make bags. Leather backpacks last so much longer than cloth! <G>

Zanzier · February 11, 2009, 07:02:44 AM

I just wish Blizzard would let us switch out the original Backpack with something bigger if the players had the item to do so.

KyndaSortah · February 11, 2009, 10:53:19 AM

I gotta agree there....maybe they can give LWs a pattern for a 32 slot regular backpack to replace the one stuck in that first slot ;D

Benggal · February 12, 2009, 05:25:34 AM

Blizz said a long time ago that they were considering what to do about that damned backpack, and we've still yet to hear anything more on the matter. Like many things they promise/hint at, it's been put on the "back burner" of oblivion.

Lagarius · February 13, 2009, 04:31:16 PM

actually the bowstrings is an interesting point...

I'd like to see engineers have scopes, maybe blacksmiths get something for xbows, and leatherworkers get bow strings, all with slightly different stats. (I.E. +Stam for the crossbow items, +hit for scopes, and +crit for bowstrings).

I know you're hoping to see both, but in all honesty... don't hold your breath on that one. I might even finish levelling my hunter for that change.

CoffinCat · February 14, 2009, 12:05:45 AM

I hope by 'unlimited' that they mean more than several thousand uses before it needs repair. The ammo gets used fairly quickly and I don't want to run out in the middle of a fight because I need to repair after making 200 shots. I just learned the 28 slot ammo pouch and was gathering mats to make one... guess i'll srop that now.

Wolfin · February 16, 2009, 05:16:35 AM

I doubt the number will be that low. At least I would certainly hope not.

Benggal · February 16, 2009, 10:10:47 AM

There were several responses on the topic from hunters who said they routinely go through nearly an entire 28-slot ammo bag during the course of a raid, so I'm sure they'll take that into account. I don't think they'd want to deal with the uproar it would cause if Hunters had to constantly leave a raid to repair.

Wolfin · February 16, 2009, 06:14:43 PM

1 word repairbot... and you engineers thought they were obsolete

Benggal · February 17, 2009, 06:08:20 AM

That's if you have an engineer in your group. :) As far as I know (and going from the Professions list Zatanku has been updating), we only have a handful of active engineers.

That would also be a huge penalty in costs for Hunters if they had to repair several times per raid...not to mention slowing the raid down. And if the ammo should happen to break DURING a boss fight? Eesh...

Wolfin · February 17, 2009, 06:03:42 PM

I agree it could become a major pain in the ass. General leveling and questing is not an issue cause you return to town so often.

But lets hope they are intelligent about this ( stop growning I said hope) a 28 slot bag gives 5600 shots. so lets hope a single arrow will give at least 5000 shots before needing to be repaired. And by keeping 1 extra arrow in the bag that gives you 10000 shots before running out in a raid. All we can do at this point is hope

Durmage the Insane · February 18, 2009, 06:43:33 AM

The concept of using one arrow and repairing it is great but aren't you going to get a bit tired of shooting it and then running up to the boss to retrieve it, then running back to your max distance and shooting it again? ;-)

Benggal · February 18, 2009, 07:08:29 AM

Naw. Just keep a string tied to it so you can yank it back. No running required!