Each week we’ll look at the history and utility of some of the greatest abilities in the Hunter’s arsenal
This week’s shot is Barrage. It’s a level 90 talent introduced in Mists of Pandaria. It’s an AoE ability that “rapidly fires a spray of shots forward for 3 sec., dealing a total of 640% weapon damage to the enemy target and an average of 320% weapon damage to each other enemy target in front of you.”
It has a 30 second cooldown and like the tooltip states, it’s a channeled ability, and it can be used while moving. That last part was added when Aspect of the Fox was removed. The ability to use while moving is huge, because prior to that any incidental movement would interrupt the channel and trigger the cooldown.
Remember the targets need to be in front of you, but beware that “in front of you” is a wide range. Don’t be surprised to see a stray shot go off at a sideways angle and pull something you didn’t intend.
One thing to keep in mind with this ability is that it requires a target. I’m not a big fan of AoE abilities that require a target; Multi-shot being another one that does. I miss the old Volley ability. I would love to see this ability be redesigned to work like Volley did. Give us a targeting reticle and let us determine where the AoE will happen. Volley was removed from the game in part because it didn’t look and feel right. They’ve fixed the look and feel with Barrage so giving it the Volley mechanic wouldn’t break anything.
Barrage competes with Power Shot and Glaive Toss. Most raiders, and perhaps PvP players choose Glaive Toss. Power Shot is also a good choice for PvP. Barrage is often saved for AoE situations such as raid trash and boss fights with adds.
It’s one of my favorite abilities that I wish I had more opportunities to use.
I like Barrage but don’t often use it. I find it great for Lei Shen, though. With the boss targeted and everyone stacking when the adds come out in phases 2 and 3, you can always get your full cast* off without worry, which does some nice damage, and the cooldown times well with those spawn times.
*Unless you interrupt your cast. The one thing I hate about Barrage is that you can interrupt it without a stopcast macro… I’ve inadvertently done that, and it annoys the heck out of me.
Also, be warned: if facing the right direction, Barrage will kill the chickens on your farm if you use it to kill a vermin. Done that a couple of times too! 🙂
I’m liking these articles, Dark!