The Queue: That's a lot of J names
by Alex Ziebart 
Jan 19th 2009 at 4:00PM
Last time on The Queue, I answered a question about potential hero classes. Zoidberg asked about Archdruids, but there wasn't a whole lot to say. It's a rumor, and a rumor without much weight behind it, just an interview comment taken out of context as the WoW community (yes, even WoW Insider sometimes) likes to do. Since answering that question, I've been thinking about it a little myself.
Do I, personally, think Archdruids will be the next hero class? Nah, I don't think so. Just the name is the big issue for me. Archdruid suggest Druid+ or Druid 2.0 and that's just not cool. You can differentiate them from Druids as much as you want, Archdruid still suggests that it's a better Druid. That's pretty awful. Even if the new hero class (if there is a new hero class) has all of the features we'd expect from an Archdruid, it'll probably be called something else. Maybe a Keeper or something like that.
What I'd like to see personally is a Healing class that uses the Rune system, like people have been talking about quite a bit lately. I've been nerding out about it with Daniel Whitcomb since Wrath's beta when I first saw the Vrykul Runecasters. I think it would be a whole lot of fun to play, as long as they wore something other than cloth. We have far, far too many Cloth classes as it is. I'd much rather seee them sharing Resto Druid/Moonkin gear, or Resto/Ele Shaman gear. I'd be very, very pleased if less Moonkin gear went to waste. I've seen too much of it disenchanted over the last couple of years.
Dawnwood asked...
Regarding the racial restrictions being dropped from mounts, does that also mean that the reputations requirements are lifted as well? Or do I still need to be exalted with Darnassus on my human to ride a cat?
You still need to be Exalted with races beyond your own to ride their mounts. That hasn't changed at all, it's just the racial bit.
Jones asked...
Can you answer a question is Divine Shield for paladins really going to reduce dmg by 50% in the next patch or have I just misheard this? To me this doesn't make sense cause this throws the whole thing of how Paladins use Divine Shield. It would be no different than Divine Protection.
Divine Shield will remain at a 100% damage reduction/immunity for incoming damage. The difference will be that your outgoing damage will be cut in half while it's active, that way a Paladin that's fully immune to damage can't burst out a billion damage of his own to gib someone while they're unable to defend themselves.
So Divine Protection is 50% less incoming damage. Divine Shield is 50% less outgoing damage, but immunity to incoming damage. Make sense?
Jamesisgreat asked...
I'd like to know if there's anyway of knowing how long until the next Wintergrasp battle besides actually going to the zone? There must be a timer somewhere. Mustn't there?
You can talk to the Battlemages in the rooms with all of the Battlemasters in Dalaran to get the time until the next battle. If you're not in Dalaran, there's nothing you can pull up in your UI to see the timer at a glance. You can try to use the timer/alarm clock built into the UI, but you'd need to set it yourself every time Wintergrasp goes up and that's pretty annoying. You can use a mod like Wintergrasper to handle it, but even that requires talking to the Battlemages in Dalaran to sync it up now and then. A mod is the easiest way to do it, just sync it when you're in Dalaran, and then you're good to go.
Johnny asked...
I am a Prot Pally and I have been getting a lot of hate from other tanks in my raids claiming I am taunting off of them. Even after explaining that paladin threat generation right now is broken and being fixed and also telling them to check combat logs they are still insisting that I am taunting. This is starting to give me a bad rep and making it more difficult to operate in raid. I even turn RF off on boss fights I am not tanking. Any advice to get the heat off me before my rep with the guild gets any worse?
As far as I know, the only massive Protection Paladin threat 'bug' is Judgement of Light. The Paladin generates healing threat from every single Light proc, and when a 25 man raid is all proccing heals you can pull aggro very quickly. The solution to that is have a/the Holy Paladin judge Light, and you judge Wisdom. Or just don't judge Light at all.
If you're pulling aggro just by using abilities while not tanking, you probably shouldn't have Righteous Fury on, yeah. There's no real reason to have it on if you're not tanking or offtanking. If the Judgement of Light thing (which is being fixed soon) isn't the problem, you probably are just plain pulling aggro if you're keeping Righteous Fury on, and that's something you fix by just turning it off.
Judgement of Light is the only big Prot Paladin threat issue I'm aware of, but if there are others, I definitely welcome our readers to correct me and give you a better answer than I did.
Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW Insider crew is here with The Queue, our daily Q&A column! Leave your questions in the comments and we'll do our best to answer 'em!Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Bugs, Wrath of the Lich King, The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
xb Jan 19th 2009 4:06PM
come on moonfire stuns?? sigh, come on trolls
MacGayver Jan 19th 2009 4:45PM
Monk sounds like a priest-warrior hybrid. However, that's exactly what a paladin is already. Therefore not really original enough in my eyes.
The problem is, that alot of lore classes have been fused together under the current 10 classes, through the 3 talent trees. For example, Mountain king and Berserker (fury), Blademaster (arms), soldier (prot), are all warriors.
You need to come up with something, without touching any of the current classes
rosencratz Jan 20th 2009 2:54AM
You could let the monk heal WHILE dps'ing though possibly?
Give him group and AoE heals/buffs that are triggered by combo's or so. Can wear leather at 40 possibly? Meh i don't know.
Fist fighting "monks" though are a cool idea though I think.
Original concepts for classes are a tough deal though I think. Just reusing the rune system seems a bit cheap but i guess all the other systems have been reused if you count Druids. I like the idea of runecasters but wouldn't know what would set them apart from other classes.
I'm happy to wait and see what Blizz come up with though tbh.
Sean Riley Jan 19th 2009 4:09PM
So what are the candidates for the next hero class, if we assume they'll originate in WoW lore somewhere? My thought was Demon Hunter, but that's pretty night elf specific. (I suppose the Demon Hunters may have been training others in the time; we don't see a lot of them in Burning Crusade.) Plus, it's hard to see how it wouldn't be a DPS class, and we don't need more of them.
Dhryke Jan 19th 2009 4:12PM
I say it shoould be a Monk. Spiritual Energies for abilities, and unarmed combat.
Muse Jan 19th 2009 4:31PM
Sentinel/Ranger. Spellcasting and ranged weapon specialists, depending on spec. Although making them healers would take a little bit of tweaking, but like Tyrande being both an archer and a healer, it should work out.
Kassu Jan 19th 2009 4:33PM
Dear lord...I look at some of the comments below and I lose hope...Only allow it to be 1 race, are you serious?
Completely agree with Lach, we should stop using the phrase "Hero class".
Aler Jan 19th 2009 5:24PM
Whatever the next class (0r race) is, it will be tied in to the theme of the expansion. Blood Elves / Dranei were tied to the Outland story, and Death Knights were tied to the Northrend story.
This makes it very unlikely that we'll see Demon Hunters, since BC was the demon story, and Blizzard is unlikely to revisit that. The same goes for players wanting playable Vyrkul or Tuskarr - if they weren't introduced in WotLK, they're never coming.
My guesses: If the next expansion is Emerald Dream related, expect a dream/illusion themed caster-healer class, druid-like, but different enough not to be druid++. If it's a Maelstrom expansion, expect playable goblins.
Retron Jan 19th 2009 5:09PM
I agree with Aler that a dream/illusion powered healer would most likely be the next hero class, assuming an Emerald Dream expansion. However, I think Bliz might avoid a back-row healer, instead opting for a class that can DPS and heal well at the same time, without respeccing or changing gear.
As for what it's called, obviously Archdruid presents many issues and doesn't seem likely. I don't think Bliz will feel confined to the names of hero classes from WC III, so Keeper and Warden are good guesses.
Then again, it could be a monk-type deal (unarmed spec ftw!), with lots of buffs and healing abilities.
Fizzl Jan 19th 2009 6:22PM
I think some sort of tech based class that uses rogue like energy that quickly recharges.
DPS with a gun, uses tech based devices that drain energy in return for buffs/debuffs and healing. The devices could possibly appear like totems or alternatively maybe use the devices and you get in the machine sorta like the spider bots in gnomerigan(a more mechanical equivalent of tree form).
The class would be available to nelf or tauren because they are hippies who don't like technology(they get druids! quit complaining :P).
haagan Jan 20th 2009 1:36PM
I would look no further than previously created classes from the Warcraft RPG for hero class ideas. Two candidates stand out brilliantly for an Emerald Dream and Maelstrom expansion.
Runemaster - a monk-ish healing/DPS hybrid using the DK's established rune system. They are all about buffs, personal and group and could dish out steady heals without ever having mana issues or self buff and crank out some dps. I am actually very surprised this didn't also come out with wrath considering all the ley line and rune lore they have painted all over that expansion.
Tinker - Engineers gone wild! This steampunk combatant can be tailored to a variety of roles and abilities.
Aerei Jan 19th 2009 9:18PM
I'm leaning more and more to the next expansion being the sea, and so I'm leaning more and more to the next Hero Class being Shadow Hunters trained from heroes of all races by the Zandalar.
kabshiel Jan 20th 2009 10:50AM
Tinker!
NovaDeez Jan 19th 2009 4:12PM
Just want to point out that as far as WG is concerned there's usually someone in the zone and they're usually willing (at least on my server) to take 2 seconds from farming to let you know how long is left.
I think I have yet to ever "/who Wintergrasp" and not get at least 2 or 3 people.
AfterbirthApple Jan 19th 2009 4:13PM
I don't care what they call them, as long as it's not "big pink poodles", but i'd love to see a heroic druid class. I mean, heroic hybrids? Think of all the cool things/specs people would come up with.
Yakuko Jan 19th 2009 4:14PM
No offense, but your other tanks are horrible if you're pulling off of them even without RF.
Khanmora Jan 19th 2009 6:16PM
Actually if he's pulling from DKs or Warriors, it could be the stance/aura threat bug at work more than the JoL bug. Might want to have your other tanks swap their auras/stances once just to make sure.
Calaana Jan 19th 2009 7:09PM
The stance bug was hotfixed last week, so if they're still loosing threat..
Arivia Jan 20th 2009 3:35PM
Or if he was taking advantage of the unlinked cooldowns on Shield of Righteousness, that could do it.
zanieblyar Jan 19th 2009 4:16PM
I think it'd be cool to see the next hero class be dryad or whatever they're called. Instead of being available to all races it would be just one new race. Not sure what they'd do about alliance vs horde, they could just have them on both sides. Just be one class.