The Queue: RaF'd dailies are delicious
by Adam Holisky 
Jun 30th 2009 at 2:30PM
I have to admit, o' faithful Queue readers, that I considered pawning off answering questions today to someone else so I could have more time to catch up on other work. Patch days can get quite busy around the WoW.com head quarters.
Last night for example. Alex, Mike Sacco, and I had heard that there was a new raid lockout extension feature in place, so we rushed onto the Patch 3.2 PTR to grab some screenshots. Of course that meant we had to deal with the thing crashing every few minutes. And once we finally did make it into ZG to get a quick boss kill, Sacco disconnected and the server announced a shutdown in 5 minutes. But hey, we got the kill off and the screenshots captured with 15 seconds left until the shutdown. We won!
Aideros asked...
"When are more "hero classes", like the Death Knight, coming out? What are the speculations? Has anything been said about them since WotLK?"
This is one of the hottest and most debated questions out there right now. Blizzard has said a few times that we shouldn't expect a new hero class with every expansion, but that doesn't mean there won't be in the next xpac.
As far as to what the next hero class would be, many are pointing towards a healing orientated hero class. Arch Druid is a favorite of some folks, however an equal number of people think an Arch Druid doesn't make sense, since it would just be a Druid with what – more Druidness?
The real answer to all this will hopefully be coming up at BlizzCon this year. I, and many other people who follow Blizzard closely, cannot not see them announcing the next expansion and its major features at the convention.
JohnnyTorrance asked...
"Are Shockadins viable?"
No, Shockadins are not viable. There is not enough gear in all of the Titan's Green Azeroth to make them viable for any kind of DPS. The talents are also not competitive enough with other specs to make them a good choice. Could a Shockadin spec and gear combination become a fruitful endeavor at some point? Yes, but as I've said in the column before, I think Blizzard has other and better things to work on.
As for your second question you asked, if gold is increased when XP gains are turned off, I don't have an answer, but it's on my list to research. Check back in a couple days!
Sean asked...
"Is Recruit A Friend a waste of time compared to the heirloom shoulders?"
Recruit a Friend is God's gift to the alt-a-holic.
I RaF'd my way up to a full complement of Alliance alts. It's quite fun to be able to sit down at the game one weekend and say "I think I'll play a Rogue today." Recruit a Friend gives three times the amount of XP with everything you do. That's 300%. The shoulders (and upcoming chest piece) only give 10%. Recruit a Friend wins every time.
I'm currently using the last bit of my second RaF session I bought with some friends, leveling up toons Horde side. We did this, of course, before we heard about the announcement. I wasn't very happy, but am enjoying the lore and vistas of the Horde nonetheless.
A pro-tip to end The Queue: If you're leveling via RaF right now, go and do the dailies and other quests associated with the Fire Festival. Each quest gives around 22% of a level's worth of XP, scaled with your level. It's amazing amazing XP.
Have questions about the World of Warcraft? The WoW.com 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: Paladin, Analysis / Opinion, Expansions, The Queue
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
CallMeIrd Jun 30th 2009 2:42PM
Why oh why did I buy my second account BEFORE they introduced RaF? I'm an altoholic but I'm not crazy enough to pay for THREE subscriptions, and my friends aren't letting me recruit them! Bastards.
Crentist Jun 30th 2009 2:45PM
RaF is probably the best thing EVAR! The triple XP plus the free summons anytime make it so freaking easy to level a toon. I wish I had taken more advantage of it when I did it before.
Rimoah Jun 30th 2009 2:47PM
It would seem to me that Demon Hunters would be a viable Hero class, but one more likely to appear in an expansion where we are going after the Legion. That just doesn't seem likely in either the Emerald Dream or the Maelstrom.
Dhryke Jun 30th 2009 3:20PM
Demon Hunter, wouldn't that be just another hunter with what - more Hunterness?
Same with the Arch Druid, or any other play off another existing class. Blizzard has a pretty good imagination. I'm sure they can come up with something original.
I do think it will be a healing class of some kind. Maybe a Monk with healing and unarmed combat? Or one of them Runemasters? Who knows, maybe a Medic who is awesome with First Aid and potions.
ash Jun 30th 2009 3:28PM
I've been thinking a Guardian of Cenarius could be the hero healing class. It would have druid like elements but could still go in its own direction. It would be cool if it had command over the wisps as a new pet type class also. Right now we have two dps pet classes, why not one for healers?
Darath Jun 30th 2009 3:40PM
No the Demon Hunter isn't anything like a hunter. If you have played the Wc3 games at all you would know there is a difference. The abilities such as Mana burn Metamorphasis, and Imolate were all taken from the Demon Hunter in Wc3. They are more like Anti Casters. Illidian is one of the most famous Demon Hunters.
Sicadastra Jun 30th 2009 4:20PM
Demon Hunter is pretty significantly different than hunter, although the name is irritatingly close. Would be a very cool class though, one of my favorites to play with from WC3. The best hero from WC3 (IMHO) was the Warden though, which I would love to see in WoW. Think combo mage/rouge... blink into a fight instead of away, stab stab, poison, blink out. Would be so sweet in PvP. And their awesome ultimate move turning into spirit of vengeance. So cool... but don't see it fitting in WoW very well...
Jack Spicer Jun 30th 2009 4:29PM
I just hope that none of the hero classes are ever pure dps classes.
Sicadastra Jun 30th 2009 4:47PM
I started thinking more about the WC3 hero classes and how well they could or could not fit in WoW. Death Knight was obviously a WC3 unit first, and all our other classes have some link to the RTS games, so its a logical starting place for any off the wall theories about future hero classes... here's some thoughts.
Alliance
Paladin - Clearly already exists
Archmage - Same argument as Archdruid, not really different enough
Mountain King - Nothing exactly like it, but very warrior like. Plus tied directly to Dwarf lore so couldn't see it as a class anyone could be.
Blood Mage - Different enough from a regular mage, sort of a mage/warlock combo. Doesn't seem likely.
Horde
Farseer - A lot of shaman stuff comes from them, could be an interesting hero healer class maybe, but would feel forced.
Tauren Chieftain - Clearly tied to close to one particular race, and the conceptual character is essentially a warrior.
Blademaster - Never really got these guys as orc units anyway... didn't really fit well. Nothing exactly like it, sort of rouge meets warrior.
Shadow Hunter - Kinda hunter like with some shaman thrown in. Another interesting idea for a hero healer class, plus being of troll origin could fit well in Maelstrom/South Seas exp. But Hunter name and troll like also make it unlikely.
Scourge
Death Knight - Already exists obviously.
Lich - Unlikely to do another dark death type right away... I hope.
Dreadlord - Both a race and a class.. can't think of anyway they could pull it off.
Crypt Lord - Same as Dreadlord.
Night Elves
Demon Hunter - Another cool DPS class idea, but pieces of it already exist in so many other classes.
Priestess of the Moon - A lot of the hunter concept came from here, but another physical ranged class could be fun. Doesnt seem likely though.
Keeper of the Grove - This is where the archdruid concept would probably be built from, as mentioned above as a Guardian of Cenarius. But again, what would separate it from just druid-druid? I do like that healer with a pet class idea though...
Warden - Like I said, love it.
Neutral
Goblin Tinker - Somebody mentioned the other day the idea of engineer as a class, this would be it.. but doesn't seem likely.
Goblin Alchemist - I loved these guys too... riding around on ogre backs. Same as engineer/tinker though, I don't see a profession getting turned into a class. This one would be very cool though as a non magic healer class.. gnome healers for example?
Sea Witch - Clearly ties to Maelstrom expansion, but I don't see how all races could fill it, plus it raises gender questions. The conceptual character was sort of hunter meets shaman.
Beastmaster - Give it a bow, bam hunter.
Firelord - Don't see that one happening,
Pit Lord - or that one...
Dark Ranger - Like Lich, doesn't seem like another undeadish class would make it in. But a ranged class that could raise the dead would certainly be neat.
Again, all random pointless thoughts... hopefully we'll see come august!
Eddy Jun 30th 2009 4:57PM
I thought Demon Hunter mechanics would be another use for the spellpower leather- a rogue that uses spellpower (fire and arcane damage effects) instead of anything ranged at all.
breaklance Jul 1st 2009 4:24PM
"Demon Hunter, wouldn't that be just another hunter with what - more Hunterness?
Same with the Arch Druid, or any other play off another existing class. Blizzard has a pretty good imagination. I'm sure they can come up with something original."
Demon hunters are vastly different in WC3 for any iteration of hunters in wow. Arch Druids(Malfurion and to some extent keepers of the grove) and Druids however not so much different. Personally I would love to see a melee healing class, that heals at melee. I know it sounds retarded, but I recently played Tales of Vesperia and there was a character who used a giant mace and various smashes with different effect his most usefull one was a aoe healing smash. But i fear this may be too close to paladins and its skill level/cap would be retardedly high. But I imagine the next hero class will be a hybrid mirroring shamans(like dk's don't enough), by being a healer/ranged dps/melee dps
jbodar Jun 30th 2009 6:29PM
@Sicadastra
Could you explain the Warden more? Sounds cool, but not too different (mechanically speaking) from a Rogue with Shadowstep, no? DKs have fundamental mechanic differences to set them apart from other melee classes.
Lemons Jun 30th 2009 7:40PM
It would be pretty hard to make a Demon Hunter class, at least one that resembles the Demon Hunters from WC3, as all of thier abilities have already been given to existing classes:
Mana Burn - Given to Priests.
Evasion - Given to Rogues.
Immolation - Warlocks have this ability while in demon form.
Metamorphosis - Warlock 51 point Demonology talent.
I can't really think of another class that's been translated from WC3 and literally has none of the abilities it had in that game...it wouldn't work.
Rakah Jun 30th 2009 10:23PM
@ Sicadastra; what about dragon disciple or runemaster?
"* dragon disciple
It is known that certain dragons can take humanoid form and even have humanoid lovers. Sometimes a child is born of this union, and every child of that child unto the thousandth generation claims a bit of dragon blood, be it ever so small. Usually, little comes of it, though mighty sorcerers occasionally credit their powers to draconic heritage. For some, however, dragon blood beckons irresistibly. These characters become dragon disciples, who use their magical power as a catalyst to ignite their dragon blood, realizing its fullest potential. "
http://www.wowwiki.com/Denied_class
http://www.wowwiki.com/Runemaster
Jim Jul 1st 2009 5:43AM
Warden doesn't work because there simply aren't enough of them, where would hundreds of Wardens suddenly come from?
I think the frontrunner for a new hero class is actually the Goblin Tinker. In the Maelstrom expansion we will likely be battling the naga across all the southsea islands, perhaps with the Undermine as the main hub. Maybe one of the Goblin princes sees an opportunity and joins up with the Horde, his main rival Prince would immediately join forces with the Alliance and both would offer their elite Tinkers to the war effort. The only race would be Goblin and there would be no other class available for that race. They would start at 55 or 65 in one area for each faction where they would undergo the final certification process and also learn all about their new faction, much of it hilariously wrong.
This class might be a combination of the Tinker and Alchemist (minus the ogre) heroes from WC3 and it would thus be a tank/rangedps/healer hybrid. For tanking it would transform into an actual tank just like WC3 and for healing it would use various chemical sprays and shoot injection needles at allies. For dps it would be a physical ranged like a hunter but probably without auto-shot, instead playing a bit more like a hunter/caster hybrid with lots of rockets, bombs, thrown chemicals, self-injected chemicals etc. It would most likely wear mail gear to share dps/tank gear with hunters (like ferals share dps/tank gear with rogues) and healing gear with shamans. Even though none of its abilities would be magical it would probably have to use mana anyway since it's a healer.
Tanking as an actual tank would be pretty funny though it's hard to see how it would dodge, maybe all dodge would be converted to parry in tankform or maybe it won't be a tank but some kind of wooden mecha suit instead. Having a class that tanks in melee but dps at range would require a lot of special abilities for tankform but there's just too many melee dps classes already. A nice point is that you would be able to do levelling instances with 5 Tinkers.
Mark Jun 30th 2009 2:47PM
Here's a question for the Queue:
Is there a good guide anywhere to the differences between the Ulduar-10 and Ulduar-25 encounters? I usually raid with a 10-man, but we're teaming up with a few other 10-man teams this week while a bunch of our teammates are taking vacations. It'd be really helpful to find a list of what's different.
Cyrus Jun 30th 2009 3:10PM
Wowwiki has pages for each boss fight and they do a pretty good job making it clear what is different between the two modes.
kscibby Jun 30th 2009 2:50PM
just courious about RaF... if I want to recruit myself, ie buy another account for myself, does that mean that I also have to buy all new games as well, and then own 2 of every game? or can I have 2 accounts on the same game?
i do want to have a second account, and don't mine paying an extra monthly fee, but it does seem kinda silly to own 2 of everything.
thanks!
Nornric Jun 30th 2009 3:00PM
Yes, the initial invite will only get you 10 days of played time. You then have to upgrade your subscription to the full game if you want to continue and get any benefit from the program. The best way to do it would be buy the Wow Battle chest with everything but Lich King in it. Register with the refer a friend code, then upgrade it using the Battle chest code to a full account. If you buy a 60 day game card at the same time you can get the 90 day mount in one fell swoop.
Colleen Jun 30th 2009 3:59PM
I just "bought" a second account. Here's what I'm doing:
1 veteran account (with my mains)
1 new account, with exactly the same personal info as my veteran account.
Used Recruit a Friend from my veteran account by sending an email to my own email address, used the link to create a new account. Trial accounts can only get to level 20 and can't trade, or invite to groups, or really do much at all. You have to buy a Vanilla WoW key. When you upgrade the new account, you enter this new key and your veteran account will gain one free month of WoW, and RAF account will gain the one free month of WoW you get from buying vanilla WoW. I spent $17 to get this vanilla WoW key, so now I have two accounts, my vet account has one free month, and I don't plan to extend the subscription on the new RAF account because it already has a month free as well.
The RAF lasts for 90 days, but you don't have to use all 90 days. If you subscribe for another month on your RAF account, you'll get a free Zhevra mount that you can grant to one of your characters. I haven't decided if I care about that or not. I'm only trying to level up a shaman from level 30-60 without actually doing the leveling. But instead I'm leveling two characters together, who are now level 30/31 at 24 hours played. I know, I'm slow, but it's because I haven't leveled Horde before, so the quests are really unfamiliar.
I'm using one copy of WoW install, and one computer to do this. I run two monitors, log into one account on one instance of WoW, and the other account on a second monitor. It's actually kind of fun. I'm doing a warlock/druid combo. In light of this faction switch news I probably would have gone with different classes cause I already have a warlock/druid combo on alliance. haha.