Why is Focus Allegedly Too Weak in PvP?

Eidotrope at OutDPS: To the PVE hunter, Focus can seem perfectly fine.  It satisfies the costs of a rotation.  It requires enough management to be interesting but not enough to be distracting.  It can largely be considered a successful class change on Blizzard’s part.  But many PVP hunters think otherwise.  The official forums are riddled with threads about issues related to hunter PVP and almost ubiquitous among them is the complaint that Focus is fundamentally flawed in PVP.  Why is this argued?

Focus is generated in three ways: passive regeneration, cooldowns and gains resulting from successful Steady and Cobra Shots.  Cooldowns (Rapid Recuperation, Roar of Recovery and Fervor) are too infrequent and too finite to provide sustaining levels of Focus.  The passive regeneration rate (including Thrill of the Hunt, Termination and Invigoration) is far too low to supply anything close to the Focus required for good DPS or meaningful pressure.  Basically, Steadies and/or Cobras are necessary for a Focus gain rate that is adequate and sustainable.  Consequently, when a hunter is prevented from firing Steady or Cobra Shots, she is prevented from maintaining levels of damage on par with other classes.  This is rarely an issue in PVE thanks to Aspect of the Fox; why should PVP be any different?

The answer rests largely in the fact that by having Focus regeneration tied to our shots, our resource gains are hurt by anything that negates, slows or preempts successful shots.  Examples include our minimum range, line of sight, and sources of complete mitigation like Ice Block.  If a target runs within the min range: reduced to passive regen.  If the target runs behind a pillar: reduced to passive regen.  If the target pops a bubble: reduced to passive regen…. Read Full Article.

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