Tigole talks about Inscription and Hero Classes in Wrath
by Daniel Whitcomb 
Feb 6th 2008 at 11:45AM
In an interview at Computer and Videogames, Tigole mostly discusses some things we've already heard about, such as the Lake Wintergrasp PvP zone and the process to unlock the Death Knight class, but also reveals a few very tasty little morsels of new information as well.First, he tells us a little bit more about Blizzard's philosophy behind Inscription, the new trade skill slated to be released with the expansion. While it appears that only one inscription will be allowed to be on a spell at one time, their goal is not to create one or two all-powerful inscriptions that will be used above all others, but to give players a variety of valid choices as to how to modify their spells. The example he gives is that of Frost Nova. One player might choose an inscription that gave their nova a longer range, while another might choose one that would lengthen the duration of the root associated with it.
And what's this? More hero classes?
Tigole opens up on the further progression of Hero Classes beyond the announced Death Knights with some news that's likely to make lore fans everywhere (Including this one) squeal with joy. Current plans are pointing to the addition of an Archdruid hero class, possibly related to the opening of the Emerald Dream and the continuation of the story behind its corruption, including finding out what exactly Malfurion Stormrage has been up to since we saw him last.
I'm already dreaming about what an Archdruid class could do, as well as thinking over the possibilities of the Emerald Dream storyline. Could we see the return of Ysera and meet more of the Green Dragonflight? Will there be a showdown between Malfurion and Fandral Staghelm for the title of Archdruid of the Night Elves? Will we learn more about the nature of the nightmare that's gripped the Dream and driven many green dragons insane? Hopefully Blizzard will elaborate on this more in the future, and we'll finally get not only another Hero Class, but also the next new chunk in a tale that's been a crucial part of the World of Warcraft storyline from level one in Darnassus all the way up to Sethekk Halls in Outland!
[Via MMO-Champion]
Filed under: Druid, Mage, News items, PvP, Expansions, Lore, Death Knight, Wrath of the Lich King, Inscription
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Magenificent Feb 6th 2008 11:51AM
ARCHDRUID!
dAnixx Feb 6th 2008 3:02PM
ARCHDRUID!! :D
badb Feb 7th 2008 8:13AM
Arch druid!!!!!
Whoo Hoo!!!
Spoony Feb 6th 2008 12:00PM
Archdruid.... did they really ever do anything that a regular druid couldn't do? i always figured archdruid was simply a title bestowed upon the druid leaders not something that will change up the class enough that all druids don't just drop what their doing and reroll archdruids for the cooler class name.
Solnova Feb 6th 2008 11:58AM
Obviously, one of the talent trees is going to be "Staghelm" and the 51-point talent will be, "Contempt: make your target feel bad about themselves. 25/50/75% chance of causing your target to convince the other faction to raid you."
Byamim Feb 6th 2008 12:01PM
Careful! The section about the Archdruid hero class was not in quotes. That means Tigole didn't necessarily say that, it's possibly just rumination by Computer and Videogames.com. But yeah, Emerald Dream and archdruids would be awesome.
jtrain Feb 6th 2008 1:44PM
Gotta agree. There are like 2 sentences about this, and it wasn't in quotes. If you read the article, the whole idea of an Archdruid sounds like total speculation on Computer & Video Games part. I need a little more than that to start getting excited about anything.
Not to mention that even that rumor states that it will be introduced after WotLK, so there will be only 1 hero class at launch.
Cap Feb 6th 2008 3:14PM
Ya, it says the bit about the Archdruid was just a "hot Zitron tip". Guess I'm ignorant of who Zitron is and I'm supposed to care about his tips.
Zhalseran Feb 6th 2008 12:03PM
I'm intrigued as to how an Archdruid would be any different from a normal druid. As it is they pretty much wrapped up all the abilities of both druids and Malfurion from W3 into the druid class.
clozer Feb 6th 2008 12:15PM
Druid lore? Meh.
Paladin/Death Knight/Arthas lore? Win.
Baluki Feb 6th 2008 12:17PM
I just don't see how creating an Archdruid class (or Archmage for that matter) would be a good idea. They would have to be considerably different from normal druids, and they've pretty much used all the druid spells from WC3 already. Would an Archdruid not be able to shapeshift? Would an Archdruid also be limited to Night Elves and Tauren? Seems like a bad idea.
One thing I've always thought they should do is give people who spec so far (51 points maybe) into a talent tree a different class title. Archdruid could be a title given to Balance druids, for example. Or Pyromancer for fire mages. Or maybe these special class titles would just be something you get once you hit 80.
Cynra Feb 6th 2008 1:29PM
I've always been fond of that idea. It reminds me of older RPGs where you were prompted at specific points in your leveling to choose one specification or another and could potentially result with different ending classes (for example, Vandal Hearts comes to mind). Further specialization in a tree at the exclusion of others would result in a specialized individual, perhaps warranting a specific and unique name. And to further emphasize this difference, perhaps acquisition of the title and talents/skills of that are only opened up after you do a series of heroic quests.
Characters lacking this specialization would be called by their base class. It would just be formalizing the differences between the trees a bit more by emphasizing that specialization.
Archdruid? Sounds nifty, but I can't quite seem to imagine how it would differ from normal druids. Furthermore, would releasing this heroic class effectively replace most of the existing druid population? Hero classes should probably complement the existing composition of the world, not replace it.
Necrotica Feb 6th 2008 12:18PM
I'd really like to know what an Archdruid is...? Just another druid?
Screw them, bring on Battlemage Hero class or Necromancers!!
Jordrah Feb 6th 2008 12:46PM
battlemage ftw
Naix Feb 6th 2008 2:52PM
Necromancers Necromancers Necromancers
Smurk Feb 6th 2008 12:19PM
If the Emerald Dream is a likely future expansion, I wouldn't expect Archdruid to be introduced as a player class a year or two beforehand.
twh Feb 6th 2008 12:35PM
Forget that. Give me a real paladin hero class. A Paragon! The hero that was supposed to be kicking @$$ on the front lines instead of healing everyone from the back!
Dave Feb 6th 2008 1:59PM
er... wouldn't the introduction of the player as Archdruid kinda mean the... player would be the new Archdruid?
I mean unless that's just some honorific at some point that just means 'really good druid' or whatever.
Right now we've got two: A night elf and a tauren and they're pretty much the druid leaders of each side.
Since the lore in WoW tends to be that "you" are the hero of the game and the most important person etc etc... I'd suspect that any existing archdruids will most likely be "in" the emerald dream (and therefore neither of them will be the new one) at the time which you're allowed to be an archdruid. Or they'll both be dead.
Or it'll involve a huge retcon and a retooling of the lore to allow players to be a character class they don't really need to be.
Daniel Whitcomb Feb 6th 2008 2:05PM
One thing I will point out, Dave, is that there is already some evidence that the Archdruid title is a bit more flexible than just belonging to one druid each on the Elf and Tauren sides, namely, Archdruid Renferal in Alterac Valley. So there is still precedent to have more than two Archdruids at any given time.
Wolftech Feb 6th 2008 12:37PM
Forget all this Death Knight and Archdruid crap..
Give me Pandaren Brew Masters, Geomancers, Wardancers, and Shodo-Pan!