Hunter Status - Blizzard's Opinion?

There's been very little official comment on the Hunter class for quite some time. While I know the Hunter threads are being read, and I know that we're not supposed to fish for blue responses, I'd still like to list out some questions because frankly, without any communication there's no way for players to even know what the Devs are thinking.

What players are thinking is quite obvious: Survival was overnerfed, BM was overnerfed in the prior set of patches, Hunters are not competitive in PvE or PvP, Survival is clunky, MM is incredibly mana inefficient, BM is cut off at the legs seemingly irrepairably without its own special shot, the (justifiable) limiting of pet potency, and the severely underwhelming damage of Steady Shot. Hunters have very poor scaling. Pets are becoming more and more problematic as boss encounters get more complex. And much more.

So I want to know what Blizzard is *thinking* - Not necessarily what they're doing, although that would be nice. Not necessarily why they're doing things, or what their numbers are (although again the data would be great). I just want to know what Blizzard thinks of Hunters across the range of issues.


So, Ghostcrawler, or blue text by any other name:

Do you think Hunters are currently at the appropriate relative power (as compared to other classes in their current state) in raw damage output on Ulduar boss encounters (across the board)?

Do you think that Hunters are currently performing adequately in Arenas?

Do you think that the three talent trees, in relation to each other (as currently live) are appropriately balanced for raid damage dealing? For competitive Arena play?

Which is seen as the biggest issue with each tree, either from a design or functionality perspective?

How does Blizzard feel pets are doing in Ulduar?

Is the awkward spot in class synergy that Hunters occupy considered appropriate? Is the fact that our potential is directly increased by more buffs and debuffs than most, if not all, other classes seen as an issue in need of resolution or just a quirk of the class?

With Ulduar, several fights have added certain effects to increase or decrease damage potential in some way. Specifically, Hodir and General Vezax. It feels like Hunters end up getting all of the penalties and few of the benefits when it comes to their status as a physical/caster hybrid. Pets also present scaling problems on fights in which buffs are relevant (and this goes back to Naxx - Thaddius, Loatheb for instance). It certainly seems like Hunters get forgotten about when tuning this fight - Encounters are designed with the cluster of melee swinging swords and the various casters blasting from far away. Is this the case? Are Hunters uniquely considered in these fights? Are the seemingly harsher negatives given to Hunters intended? Or simply deemed acceptable to get the fight to work as desired? Or is it your opinion that Hunters aren't suffering from negatives and are benefiting from the encounter buffs as much as or more than other classes?

(That one was kind of a compound question, sorry about that.)

In relation to the other classes, how much does Blizzard feel needs to change with the Hunter class in the short term to bring it in line with their target for all classes?

Little (Among the 3 classes that need the fewest changes, or no changes)
Moderate (Among the 4 classes needing an average number of short term changes)
Significant (Among the 3 classes that need the most changes, or the most meaningful changes in the short term)


I think that covers a pretty good range of things without getting too specific. If you feel inclined to give us an idea of what's in the pipe, that'd be great, if not, I've tried to keep the questions worded in a fairly open manner to allow you room to answer them truthfully without needing to say more than you want to.