Monday 4 February 2013

Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad


Go on admit it, you were singing the song to yourself, and if not why not? we all need a bit of cheesy rock in our lives.

During my last post, Please Forgive Me, I was talking about the Hybrid Tax and how disadvantaged my Hunter and Mage are compared to Druids and Paladins. The idea struck me of why do we need 3 DPS specs, when 2 would still provide a class with enough flavour and Role Playability. Like a good baker I have an idea so as not to waste the spare pastry that Blizzard has worked so hard on. It might be a little hard to explain my crazy plan, so at this point I will resort to lists:

 

Existing Classes


Hunter - Beast Master and Marksman
Warrior - Protection and Arms
Monk - Brewmaster and Mistweaver
Paladin - Protection and Restoration
Priest - Holy and Shadow
Mage - Arcane and Frost
Warlock - Demonology and Affliction
Rogue - Combat and Subtlety
Druid - Feral and Guardian
Hippy -Restoration and Balance
Shaman - Restoration and Elemental
Death Knight - Blood and Frost

New Classes


Mercenary - Fury and Survival
Sorcerer - Fire and Destruction
Cleric - Retribution and Discipline
Barbarian - Berserker and Enhancement
Ninja - Assassination and Windwalker
Necromancer - Unholy and Undead

Hunter

This is a class all about hunting, Marksman like to hunt stealthily and kill with one well placed shot. Beast Masters have become attached to their pets. Survival was always the odd ball spec.

Warrior

Protection is the Meat Shield and Arms represents the skilled fighter. This is a trained soldier, with a full understanding of tactical engagement and fighting as a soldier in a pitched battle.

Monk

Skilled in the martial arts, the Monk is a class designed and trained to defend, but also skilled in alternative healing techniques.

Paladin

Holy warriors with noble intentions, always on the look out to save damsels in distress and fight Dragons. Uses his faith to heal those around him. Think Knights of the Round Table.

Priest

Dangerous scheming men of the cloth who use faith to achieve power and wealth. They are able to tap into the shadowy world to smite their foes and call on the gods to directly heal their allies. Think of Cardinal Wolsey meets the Spanish Inquisition.

Mage

Well versed in arcane knowledge and less obvious is their ability to tap into the water elements.

Warlock

Using the Dark Magics, the warlock favours creating Demons and inflicting long lasting curses

Rogue

Rough and ready, a Rogue will sell his Grandma if he can make on profit on her. Well versed in the dirty tricks department and will use any means available to gain the upper hand.

Feral Druid (new)

Able to change into animal shapes to aid their combat prowess. They are close up in your face fighters with the ability to take a fair amount of damage with their thick hides.

Hippy Druid (new)

Having spent so much time as botanists they are able to heal the world as Tree huggers. After ingesting a large quantity of illegal substances they are able to transform into over weight Owl People with a special gift for natures spells.

Shaman

Shaman like Hippy Druids share an affinity with nature, although they favour the Elements (Earth Wind and Fire) for their power.

Death Knight

Undead Knights forced into Zombie like service using the Dark arts which were used against them to resurrect their bodies. They favour Blood and Frost for their power, which originates in the Frozen ice lands of Northrend.

The New Classes


Mercenary

A battle hardened street fighter. A fighter with no allegiance except to the biggest purse. They have borrowed specs for both Warrior and Hunter, and have fury in their veins but an innate sense of survival. This would turn the old Survival Hunter back to being a Melee class. A mail wearing class.

Sorcerer

I envisage the Sorcerer to be slightly unhinged drawing on the Fel energies and using the specs from Mage (Fire) and Warlock (Destruction) to make this new caster class. A glass canon with huge burst potential, but weak and frail from years of manipulating the Fel energies to do their bidding. Cloth wearing class.

Clerics

This class sits in between that of Priest and Paladin. They are religious zealots, with fanatical intentions to convert the world to their religion. They are a mail wearing class made up of Paladin (Retribution) and Priest (Discipline). They would closely resemble the Knights Templar in outlook and would wear mail not Plate.

Barbarian

Leather and fur clad warriors who use brute strength as their main weapon. They would inherit Enhancement from the Shaman class and would need a new spec for a Berseker spec. Modelled on the Goths, Vandals and Vikings.

Ninja

Based on the Ninja and Shinobi from Feudal Japan. They are skilled in espionage, sabotage, infiltration and assassination. They would use be a hybrid of the Monk (Windwalker) and the Rogue (Assassination). Leather clad and seldom seen, they hide the shadowy world.

Necromancer

A cloth wearing alternative to the Warlock. Their forte is the dead and the undead, they are masters of the Underworld and would borrow Death Knight (Unholy) and would need a new spec (Undead). They love nothing more than spreading plagues and raising the dead for their own evil needs.

Summary


At present the pure DPS classes have no unique selling point, but what my proposal would do is even out the Hybrid classes, especially those like the Druid (4) and Paladin (3) different roles. The game comes with Dual Specialisation so why not only have 2 specs and have both available to you. It would require a change back to more Alt friendly environment, because the Healing and Tanking skills are spread over more classes.

Personally I would be really keen to play a Ninja, dressed in black, and carrying nunchucks, sai and throwing stars. I want to roll one now.

2 comments:

  1. A mail wearing disc priest sounds interesting, to me at least.

    The need for dual spec is dwindling. Soon we will change specs just the same as we do with our pets, on a moments notice.

    I would like to see healing and/or tanking specs added to the pure classes, so they at least have options to get into content faster than waiting an hour in queue.

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    Replies
    1. From a Role Playing standpoint it does not make any sense for a hunter to be able to heal, and if they could, would they? I still think that Hunter self heals are pretty poor compared to all other classes, but then again we don't get hit that often.

      A BM pet Tank is an option for 5 man content, not sure it's suitable for a raid.

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