BA, Traps, 3.1 in general...confuzzled Panda?Follow

So I'm not in PTR (and not even in game right now due to a PC crash that will get fixed tonight), but based on some "details" from reading around, the current incarnation (and idea in general) for the 3.1 release has got me all kinds of confused.

First, Black Arrow (from what I understand) is a Pre-req talent for ES. I assume (I haven't seen a Calculator that works for me yet...damn you WoWHead) that BA is taking Trap Mastery's spot since TM is moving up in tier. Cool beans. But the logic behind BA seems a little odd. It uses Traps CD timer but doesn't tick for the duration of the CD (sad panda). With full talented bonuses to Traps (6 seconds currently I think?), we're down to 24 seconds on a 15 second duration (9 seconds BA is down). During this period as well...you can't use traps while BA is up, scratching the utility of SV in exchange for pure DPS.

All in all, not so bad, except that regardless of DPS numbers, I feel like I can't do my optimal DPS while still acting as a utility class...which is why I've stayed SV all this time anyways. Now I know we get another bonus too, with Immolation Trap and ES refreshing the DoT (which is awesome, IMO). This definately gives us yet another DoT dmg boost. I'd imagine my new rotation would be (with Aimed and new Aimed Glyph):

Immo Trap -> Aimed -> ES -> SS -> SS -> SS -> Aimed -> ES -> *Fit BA into rotation upon cooldown and repeat*

It just sucks that either A) Need perfect placement of Immo Trap to get any head start on cooldown, or Trap Launching (which Blizz has said they're unsure if it's going to make it live due to mechanics) or B) Lose 24 seconds into your rotation with BA down, which is a heavy hit in DPS due to no L&L procs for that period. Not only that, but in addition we're losing about 4% proc rate with the new mechanic (if my math is right), meaning the first minute or so of any Raid Boss fight...we've taken quite a hit.

So I'm just confused I guess. Marks seemed to have gotten the nice buff but I can't stand playing that spec...I feel like an absolute Mana Sponge. All in all I'm kinda sad that, while yes SV is getting some buffs, the mechanics seem a bit dodgey and not to my liking. I don't like that much downtime (Approx. 30 seconds) where I cannot proc L&L, which is where a lot of the DPS from the SV build comes from. Depending on the boss fight, that can amount to a significant amount of time.

Thoughts? Anyone on PTR have some feedback as to how this is playing out in raids or any group play at all?

I was under the impression that with the reduction of L&L Procs (w/ BA) and with the 'secret CD' of 30 sec along with Blizz's comments about MM being the "ideal DPS output", that they were attempting to stabalize SV's DPS without taking away the utility. And I guess they haven't essentially taken it away, just made it less "Oh Snap!" capable.



Argh...I wasn't aware of this. My work PC doesn't load MMO-Champions calculator and my home PC has been dead for a few days now (parts arriving today), so I've been unable to check out the talents (which makes me sad). Does BA share the Trap Cooldown talented reductions, as well...so that we'll be down to a 24 second CD for BA?

Gotcha. Don't post specific subject inquiries and look for the nearest generalized thread to place my thoughts/questions so they go lost and unanswered.

*salute*