Blue line really the new dps line?

[groucho42]

Someone told me that SSG recently changed things so that red line, the dps line, is no longer the dps line. I can see adjusting skills and making the hunter more competitive again for dps; but ti doesn't seem to make any sense to completely change the purpose of the lines and make red no longer red.

What's the story?

[ChromiteSwiftpaw]

Not really recent but about 2 years ago.

Update 19: March of the King - October 18, 2016

I've linked that directly to the class changes.

Basically the focus skills got major damage boosts and induction skills got left in the dust. Couple that with the Barrage skill's Tiering of its buff and it makes for quite a huge difference in damage.

[jaecynt]

Couple that with the amount of fate we have in our 115 gear, powerful draw essence, it makes power management quite trivial. Not only can we tier up our barrage 3s, we can keep up barrage 3 perpetually.

I am actually worried that blue line hunters would be nerfed soon...

[DKenny]

....Basically the focus skills got major damage boosts and induction skills got left in the dust. Couple that with the Barrage skill's Tiering of its buff and it makes for quite a huge difference in damage.

That's the key. Many people appear to still have the misconception that somehow they buffed blue and not red and that's why blue has had higher dps since U19. In fact, for whatever reasons, they substantially increased focus skill damage, but not induction damage. Both blue and red play pretty much as before, however, since blue was always more based on focus skills, while red was always more balanced, the increase disproportionately benefited blue line.

[Caanwick]

That's the key. Many people appear to still have the misconception that somehow they buffed blue and not red and that's why blue has had higher dps since U19. In fact, for whatever reasons, they substantially increased focus skill damage, but not induction damage. Both blue and red play pretty much as before, however, since blue was always more based on focus skills, while red was always more balanced, the increase disproportionately benefited blue line.

Its all because of Barrage. Other than that one skill, both lines pretty much share the same skills. Which is why I believe a slight buff to the percentages of the "Shoot To Kill" and "Haemorrhaging Shot" redline set bonuses, would bring the two traitlines a lot closer to even. Sure you could shave a little off Barrage instead, but then you'd be dropping hunters noticeably behind RKs again and I really don't feel like riding that bus again.

[siipperi]

That's the key. Many people appear to still have the misconception that somehow they buffed blue and not red and that's why blue has had higher dps since U19. In fact, for whatever reasons, they substantially increased focus skill damage, but not induction damage. Both blue and red play pretty much as before, however, since blue was always more based on focus skills, while red was always more balanced, the increase disproportionately benefited blue line.

Lol. Red DPS (inductions) got substantial buff on that update. Like 40%? Too bad they messed it up by buffing focus consumers by 60%+

[DKenny]

Lol. Red DPS (inductions) got substantial buff on that update. Like 40%? Too bad they messed it up by buffing focus consumers by 60%+

Nope. Focus skills got a much greater increase than induction. It definitely wasn't 60 vs. 40. Some induction got very little increase. Some focus practically doubled.

[DKenny]

Its all because of Barrage. Other than that one skill, both lines pretty much share the same skills. Which is why I believe a slight buff to the percentages of the "Shoot To Kill" and "Haemorrhaging Shot" redline set bonuses, would bring the two traitlines a lot closer to even. Sure you could shave a little off Barrage instead, but then you'd be dropping hunters noticeably behind RKs again and I really don't feel like riding that bus again.

Yes, I think a tweak could make red and blue comparable, leaving the choice between them up to particular circumstances and personal preference. I thought they were looking at a nerf for hunters after Mordor was released without proportional scaling of ILI tactical damage. However, that would be more difficult now that they've given RKs the relics and set bonus. A nerf now would put hunters back were they were pre-U19 with respect to RKs.

[Tatharil]

I am actually worried that blue line hunters would be nerfed soon...

Maybe they fix barrage tiering, that's not a nerf and would bring red a lot closer to blue. If hunter falls a bit behind RK, then they can fix legacies - merging the induction/focus legacies into one and adding a focusskill damage legacy.
If this isn't enoug, they could add HS-resetbonus to Upshot: for each focus consumed Upshot has a 3% chance to reset HS CD and make it instant cast.


and soon.... we all how "soon" a balance patch will come...
They don't have the time for a real balancing patch or month of the *enter random class here*, if they are busy to generate money for this game to survive by creating new ash armours or essences. New ash armour every few weeks means: a lot less work and investment, but a lot more income generated than a balancing patch could. New ash armour/essences lead to more keys and more solvents bought.

You will have enough time to enjoy bugged barrage.