Breakfast topic: Future heroic classes
by Amanda Dean 
Jun 27th 2008 at 8:00AM
Blizzard has told us that the Death Knight will be the first of the heroic classes, and probably the only one we can expect to see in the next expansion. I haven't heard a word about what other heroic classes might be in the future. Therefore I started thinking of my own. Sure, sure we'd love to see Bards and Battlemages, but how about something new. Here are some of my thoughts:
- The Craftmaster- Any existing non-heroic class, but can have three or four trade skills. They'd have access to bind-on-pickup Craftmaster-only items. No hot-glue gun required!
- The Supertwink- No, I don't mean another rogue, but a character that cannot level past 29. The Supertwink may be able to access some abilities and skills from higher levels.
- The Gunslinger- Somewhere between a Rogue and a Hunter. Gunslingers do not use pets, and have a few up close trick shots. They can dual wield ranged weapons and stealth about.
Alright, so they're all flawed, but it's kind of fun to think about the possibilities when we step out of the standard character realm. I'm not as excited as most people are about the Death Knight class, and I'm hoping for some ingenuity in the creation of these super characters.
If you were in charge of development for Blizzard, what kinds of heroic classes would you make?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Breakfast Topics, Classes, Death Knight
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 6)
Montius Jun 27th 2008 8:10AM
I'd like to see an arch druid for when they make an emerald dream expansion.
Tomah Jun 27th 2008 8:16AM
The problem with archdruid/archmage style classes is this: How do you make them different in flavor than druids and mages?
An archdruid would pretty much just be like a stronger druid, maybe with a little bit of shaman abilities, but that's... two classes we already have.
You can describe a death knight as 'sort of like a warrior, but pretty different,' whereas an archdruid would be more... 'a druid, but with this extra stuff.'
Waterloo Jun 27th 2008 8:34AM
Not that it's possible at this point, but I *still* feel like you should have to "sacrifice" a high-level toon to get a heroic toon.
If that was the mechanic, I could see trashing a Mage or Druid for an Arch-x. And Heroic classes should have only one Talent tree. So the choice becomes whether to specialize or stay as the normal class.
In case you hadn't guessed, I don't run things at Blizz...
Jason Jun 27th 2008 8:43AM
Tool. An Archdruid is exactly the same as a druid, as is Archmage to mage and so forth. Anything with 'arch', 'high' or whatever added is an indication of the person being more powerful and having a certain status.
As for the ones Amanda Dean came up with.. I don't suppose you are bound to any lore or back story are you? 'Supertwink'..
Damon Jun 29th 2008 12:52AM
I hate the "Arch" thingy. Why be a warrior when i can be an ARCH warrior? Or an ARCH shaman?
If you want a different kind of druid to be a playable class, you better differenciate it damn well. Make it so they constantly shift between a wolf, lizard and bull form with completely different abilities each time and call it a "Shifter" or "Wildshaper". That's completely different from druids, but very druid-ish. Call the "Archmage" "Sorceror" and make all his attacks arcane-based with nothing exactly like a mage, and give him special abilities that allow him to restore ally's MP as a class crux.
See, those are just off the top of my head. Just because your a more advanced, specialized or complex version of a different class doesn't mean you should just put "Arch" in front of it and call it a day.
Samualo Jul 13th 2008 8:06PM
Tomah a dark knight is not a sort of warrior with differentices. It is a clone of a paladin, but instead of healing spells, they have draining spells, and instead of undead fears, they summon undead.
So really a death knight is a paladin with different spells. Or in your own words,
'An "death knight is" pretty much like a stronger paladin, with a little bit of warlock abilities, but that's... two classes we already have.'
In lore the old lore before they screwed it up the @$$ to please people who want gnome and tauren death knights, a death knight was a paladin turned evil, so in essence, its exactly like a paladin with evil spells, so a archdruid, is no different then a death knight in the sense of "been there done that" Theory you have going.
I honestly think the next hero class will be the demon hunter, think about it, who is the second famous all time villain? Illidian, and what is his class? Demon hunter.
Oh and to every one saying archmages/archdruids are the same as the regular class, this is correct but also wrong, archmages are mages who control a group of mages, and they get that rank by being more powerful and knowing more spells then the normal joe blow, so still a heroic class could be made from them.
szander Jun 27th 2008 8:12AM
I think this needs the /silly tag.
jrb Jun 27th 2008 8:30AM
the gunslinger, or rather, the ranger class, taken straight out of AoC? LOL!
mdisloki Jun 27th 2008 12:21PM
I want a Gunslinger and his first quest should be to the Dark Tower.
jbodar Jun 27th 2008 5:34PM
You mean Humor. /silly was a webcomic and a decent one at that.
jbodar Jun 27th 2008 5:39PM
@mdisloki
Longest. Quest. Evar.
"Thankee sai."
Super Guest Man 9000 Jun 27th 2008 8:34PM
@ jrb Oh man you're totally right, a ranger class! They totally stole that from AoC. Its not like theres ever been a ranger in other games like D&D, FFXI, LotR....oh wait...
jrb Jun 30th 2008 4:00AM
@ Super Guest Man 9000
i'm not as enlightened, amazing, stupid, nerdy (pick as appropriate) to have played all those games, and i suspect 90% of other WoW players aren't either.
my point is really confirmed by your point. the gunslinger class suggestion isn't original, and therefore doesn't belong in WoW... now, move along.
Caesar Jun 27th 2008 8:15AM
Monk
Armor: Cloth
Weapons: Fist and 2H Staff
Key Stats: Agility and Spirit
Power Par: Chi
Monk would have low AC but high dodge and avoidance. They wouldn't get hit much, but would get hit hard.
They'd have various special attacks using their Chi power, which would be based on their spirit. These could include Quivering Palm, Flying Kick, Roundhouse Kick, Dragon Punch, etc.
They would have limited self healing abilities, including the ability to cure poison and disease on their selves, and some physical effects (bleed, gouge, etc). They would also have a personal pally like aura for fire and frost resistance (but not shadow, arcane or nature).
They could use bows and throwing weapons in their ranged slot, but not guns or xbows. Their ranged damage would be better than rogues or warriors, but below hunters.
A cc ability would be nerve pinch, which would stun an opponent.
They would get a feign death ability.
Verses Jun 27th 2008 8:29AM
Combo points too !
Heh, reminds me of the ragnarok online class :P
Kieran Jun 27th 2008 8:31AM
Scrap "feign death" for them, but give them a meditative state that allows for very quick health/chi regeneration out of combat.
Jordrah Jun 27th 2008 8:34AM
cc should be:
Facepalm: You smash your palm into your target's face breaking their nose and causing them to wince in pain for 20 seconds. This ability can only be used on mobs with a nose.
NeSuKuN Jun 27th 2008 8:36AM
@Verses
in fact, OP suggestions are RO Classes, the merchant, the supernovice and the gunslinger.
Caesar Jun 27th 2008 8:42AM
I think monk FD makes more sense that hunter FD. It originally came from the EQ monk class. It has to do with control over your body. Reducing your heart beat, etc.
From a lore perspective, I'd also look to the Bene Gesserit from the Dune books. They had total control over their body. They couldn't be poisoned or get diseases. Likewise, they could store diseases and give them to others (which is how Barron Harkkonen became fat). They could have disease based attacks, like rogues use poison. Disease is really unused as a game mechanic.
Kieran Jun 27th 2008 9:37AM
The thing is that Hunter feign death doesn't require control over the heartbeat, it's about playing dead to fool an animal (as the kid who did it in RL after playing a hunter showed).
Meditation and slowing of the heartbeat isn't something really suitable for a combat situation, but using it as a rapid-recovery mechanism (or to survive without food/water/air, but that doesn't really apply in WoW) does make sense.