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No more Hero Classes - We need Heroic Specs
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Post by
rthrx
I've seen a few people posting about proposed classes (and Hero Classes) for future expansions, but seeing as how we've already got the DK and the Monk, now .. I think we've pretty much got all the viable possibilities for full-on 'new classes' already in place. Adding (and tuning, etc) another class to the game would be a bit much, to my mind.
No, instead I feel what we need now is
a fourth spec
for all the existing classes. A heroic spec, even; that is to say, you
can't play the fourth spec until you've reached a milestone on your account with that class
. That might be a bit heavy-handed, but some manner of gating access to the Fourth Spec would be advisable. They wouldn't necessarily be good for the newbie player to dive into.
This is something I've thought a bit about for a while, on and off, and I've had a couple ideas for each class. Most of these ideas date to before MoP was announced, so their viability has shifted some, but I'm still enamoured of the idea.
Here's what I've got in mind:
Paladin
-
Shadow Paladin
- Aw yeah, this is what I'm really wanting to see. Seeing as how the precedent of the 'Shadow' vs the 'Light' is already set in the Priest, I'd like to expand that into the Paladin class as well. An intellect plate wearer, too (adding one more option to that class of gear). Unlike Death Knights, the Shadow Paladin wouldn't be about dots/diseases, but more focused on ranged combat. But not ranged as in bows and guns, rather I'd like the ability to pop into melee distance at will. I see the Shadow Paladin going into a Dispersion-like state and 'phasing' quickly to another target, right into melee range, to enable smacking. This phasing would be based off of Holy Power (or Shadow Power in this case), so the player would need to build up stacks in order to phase to another target. The phasing isn't an instant 'shadow step' but more of a quick dash with mild damage reduction for a second or so, but you gotta watch out for phasing across nasty AoE effects.
Priest
-
Holy DPS
- The counterpoint to Shadow - at low levels, Discipline is a powerful DPS spec, but it eventually ceases to be viable for a lot of reasons. I'd like to see a spec that focuses on the use of Penance for damage, Smite as a regular ability, etc. Maybe even mix some melee into there, so when in a pinch, you can nail your target with a power-infused Mace to knock-back/stun etc. and keep on DPSing. Healing ability would be minimized (though, of course, it'd still be there when required).
Death Knight
-
Necromancer
- This is where I'd like to introduce the first of three specs I call the 'minion' classes (the Druid and the Warlock are the others); this 'minion' system expands on the standard Hunter/Warlock/DK 'single pet control' idea, and replaces it with a small horde of throw-away minions that aren't totally controlled, but can be directed and guided (unlike, say, Army of the Dead). For the Necromancer DK, I think he would be an Intellect Plate wearer as well, who would be akin to the Necromancer of Diablo II, perhaps the Witch Doctor of Diablo III (I haven't played enough D3 to know how WD really works out) - My Necromancer DK would summon a group of skeletons/ghouls/etc (each type with a different focus of abilities) and would direct them to which enemy or groups to attack. You couldn't control them individually, but you can sacrifice individual units for various effects; a ghoul could burst into a poison cloud, a Skeleton could explode for AoE shrapnel damage, a Geist could leap on somebody to temporarily incapacitate them, etc. You would expend your runes to summon a new minion or one type or another, and your spells would be to boost their powers and call down DK-styled attacks from a distance.
Hunter
-
Ranger
- Come on, now, all these ultra-sexy Dark Rangers wandering around and none of them are playable? For shame. I've always enjoyed playing Hunter, but what I'd like to see is a
petless Hunter
- Wait, what? You heard me. The fourth Hunter spec should be the Ranger, forgoing the use of a Pet and instead devoting all energy to weapon skills. Now, with the loss of the 'ranged' weapon slot, I guess the Ranger would have to be prepared to swap to a melee weapon manually, but I think the Ranger should be a melee-heavy class.. somewhere between a Rogue and a regular Hunter. There should be additional focus on traps and acts of misdirection, perhaps even a very short/situational stealth ability. Ideally, in a PVP situation, I think 1-on-1 a Ranger and Rogue should be the ultimate opponents.
Rogue
-
Sabotuer
- This is going to look like a blatant theft from Rift, and... well, it is. The Sabotuer spec in Rift was all about utility, about setting traps and preparing enemies for massive devastation. The Rogue doesn't
deal
that murder herself, however, but is just the enabler, providing a series of bonuses/buffs for the rest of the Rogue's party to capitalize on. The 'glue trap', caltrops, time bombs, etc etc etc.
Druid
-
Nature Druid
- Although the Druid now has four specs already, after a fashion, what I think the Druid is missing is that connection to the natural world. This would a minion class (see the Death Knight, above) who summons/directs groups of creatures and/or plants to deal damage. A flock of ravens, a wave of seedlings, a pack of wolves ... the Nature Druid would have these groups of minions to deal damage with a specific focus to the enemies. Perhaps the ravens have a chance to disorient, the wolves could reduce movement speed, etc. And, like the DK, the Druid could utilise individual minions to greater effect - not sacrifice them as the DK does, but "empower" them, elevating a single wolf in the pack into an "Alpha", or a seedling could be grown into a treant, etc.
Warrior
-
?
- I must admit, I'm at a loss on this one. I was toying with an idea about a proper "berserker" Warrior, where you would intentionally loose control and deal massive damage for a few moments ... but I haven't got a decent image for the Warrior here. Sorry.
Warlock
-
Demonic Minion
- The third Minion class... but, actually, having seen some of the Warlock in the Pandaria beta, this is almost actually in place now (you can bring out quite a lot of imps in the beta), but like the DK and Druid, above, I'd like to see a Warlock that focuses more on minion empowerment and sacrifice for effects, with a reduction on direct damage reliance.
Mage
-
Mage Tank
- Even more than the Shadow Paladin,
this
is a class I'd love to see. The fourth Mage spec would be a tanking class, focusing magic into damage mitigation. I envision the Mage dropping literal walls of ice and fire, to damage and hold enemies at bay, while dropping small-range AoE effects to pummel them and keep them mad. The Mage Tank would not focus on armour and dodge, like regular tanks, but entirely on regular spell power to keep the wall effects up, holding and
enclosing
enemies so they can be damaged while preventing them from actually damaging the Mage. Though, in order to not break the standards of the game, maybe the Mage Tank would have a Life Tap-style effect to maintain their spells up, so healers still have to keep the Mage alive.
Shaman
-
Shammy Tank
- This is mostly at my wife's insistence, but I think we could bring back the Shaman Tank, and make it intentional. Similar to the Mage Tank, I think the Shaman would not be a hit-taker, but would summon elemental lords and have them perform the actual tanking; a fire lord would deal the most direct damage, but would take a lot of work to keep alive; an earth lord could take serious damage, but wouldn't really be hurting the enemies, etc. The Shaman would juggle the tanks with specific goals in mind: ie, pop a fire to build threat, swap with water to quickly pick up adds, drop an earth to soak damage, and lastly an air for rapid-fire attacks to finish off the enemies. Meanwhile, the player would be casting support spells to maintain the health of the elemental lords, buffs/debuffs, etc.
And Monk? I have no idea. It's already DPS/Healing/Tanking, and I have no idea how it plays, so that's for others to wonder about.
Thoughts?
Post by
Adamsm
1. Monks are not a Hero Class; they start at level 1.
2. Druids have a fourth spec in MoP; a splitting of their Feral Tree, one spec for Cat the other now called Guardian for Bear.
3. I'd rather see the Trees can an upgrade at a certain level then create a fourth spec that would end up as a FotM, such as these:
Hunters:
Beastmaster
for Beast Mastery.
Marksman
or
Epic Marksman
for Marks spec.
Rangers
for Survival Spec.
Etc etc etc.
Post by
yukonjack
Considering how many quotes I've read from various Blizz devs stating basically that balancing 30 specs is a nightmare I don't ever see this gaining any traction.
Nice idea though and well presented I just think its a really hard sell, probably almost as much with the players as the powers that be.
Post by
Nulgar
"Hero" class was always a misnomer, the only thing that really sets Death Knights apart from other classes is that they start at 55 in their own personal zone, like a race (and maybe the OPness of early WotLK)
You can't make anything truly "hero", as it would dominate anything non-hero in comparison. So, drop this from your thread title and just say that you have ideas for 4th specs - just like oh so many other people lately.
Post by
Nathanyal
See
this
for some other ideas about a fourth spec.
To sum up what I said, I like thinking of what a fourth spec could be. But like Yukon said, it will be hard as hell to implement into the game. Making it balanced with the other specs already in there.
Post by
rthrx
To sum up what I said, I like thinking of what a fourth spec could be. But like Yukon said, it will be hard as hell to implement into the game. Making it balanced with the other specs already in there.
Oh, I don't doubt it in the slightest. It is, after all, 10 more 'classes' instead of the three something like a Monk would bring to the game. Still, I could dream, yeah? I really like the possibilities that something like a Shadow Paladin could bring.
I mean, for me, the appeal of the Death Knight when Wrath launched was that they were just like a Paladin, but could do all those things a Paladin couldn't do -- namely, ranged combat! ... once I got the DK to 80, though, I went back to the Paladin. Still, the 'freshness' was great while it lasted.
So bringing something unprecedented to the existing classes would, I feel, be more engaging than adding a whole new class.
Post by
OverZealous
I believe, and this is strictly personal, that WoW does not need anything more "Hero". Not more variations of Heroic Dungeons, not Hero Classes, not Heroic Specs, and nothing else that's even remotely "Heroic". I think it was stupid of Blizzard to label the Death Knight a "Hero Class" to begin with - and people are now expecting much more Hero-stuff. I don't think that's the way to go, at all.
Post by
rthrx
I believe, and this is strictly personal, that WoW does not need anything more "Hero". Not more variations of Heroic Dungeons, not Hero Classes, not Heroic Specs, and nothing else that's even remotely "Heroic". I think it was stupid of Blizzard to label the Death Knight a "Hero Class" to begin with - and people are now expecting much more Hero-stuff. I don't think that's the way to go, at all.
Perhaps my use of the term 'Heroic' wasn't the best; I agree with you in principle - the "heroic class" being the one that starts out at a high level, etc etc, didn't really pan out as intended, I think. Perhaps if something like a fourth spec was implemented it
shouldn't
be gated, the way the DK is (was? is it still? I have no idea).
Post by
mmorpgaddict
I feel like 3 specs per class is already enough. Adding another spec for every class would put a lot more workload on the dev team every time they do any class changes. I'd rather see some form of advancement/specialization added in the future that isn't tied to your class.
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