Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsBreakfast Topic: What class would you like to see added to the game?
by Adam Parkinson 
Oct 15th 2010 at 8:00AM
Let us ponder upon classes, the very thing that defines one's playstyle the most in World of Warcraft. Whether it be the ever-gorgeous, plate-clad warrior who shouts, "I HAZ TWO ROCKET SWORDZ, UR POINT IZ INVALID," the warlock-hating mage or the mage-hating warlock, or even the druid who thinks that Woodstock was really great, we all have our preferences on what we think is the best class of them all.
Yet if Blizzard has taught us anything, it is to plan for upsets or twists in class selection. Remember the great death knight massacre of 2008? Everyone and his great-grandmother's mailman had a death knight. They were easy to acquire, incredibly powerful and just a blast to play. Yet modern death knights are shells of what they once were. They play like the polar opposite of paladins now, but upon their initial release, they felt more like a battle mage class. Now, thanks to a complete revamp of the death knight class, the closest thing to a battle mage is long gone, leaving those who enjoyed the class idea from different roleplaying games feeling rather empty and disappointed, much the same way as when we discovered that the delicious cake we were promised was actually a lie.
It leaves us with a curious idea, though. Considering that the idea of a battle mage in WoW is doable, could it be brought in as its own class? Or would Blizzard dare to put in a totally different class?
I personally would love the idea of a monk class being brought into WoW. A class that specializes in staffs, polearms, fist weapons or just good ol' fashioned, unarmed, beat-down-style fighting would be a blast. Maybe even have a healing class that uses chants (much like a priest) but has a completely different resource known as meditative power as its ability fuel. They could switch into different trances to gain certain abilities, much how a hunter's aspects work.
If you could have any new class (whether it be from a roleplaying game of old or maybe a class you enjoyed from another MMO), what would it be? How would the class work? How would the class fit in lore-wise?
Filed under: Breakfast Topics, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 4 of 17)
Resident Horrible Oct 15th 2010 10:35AM
Bard, what is this FFXI? I -do- think we need a new type of class though. The commander thing is a decent idea, but in general, it would be nice to see a class actively buffing others. Why couldn't a monk fill this spot?
Monk: A spiritual fighter who invigorates his companions, is skilled in martial arts and chi. (He actively grants buffs, as opposed to a 30min buff, he is constantly choosing who gets what)
Armor: Spell Mail - (this is wow, they don't have to be in cloth.)
Trees:
DPS: Staffs, polearms and H2H combat. Int is converted to Attack Power, and Chi is used to actively buff self and others (like 20sec buffs)
Healing: Gives healing in the form of HoTs, Shields (temp auras?) and a direct blast of holy chi (or something for a big heal button) Maybe he jumps into the fray and dpses to gain Chi back.
Buff: Unique, in that this tree gives you much more buffs to cast, decreases casting time, increases longevity, and allows you to stream buffs. This would increase the tankage of the tank, the healing of the healers, and the dps of the dps. Again, he could dps to gain Chi back, but if you are increasing everyone's dps by 500, that could be considered +2500 dps (from 5 dps) +1500 hps (from heals) and +10k damage shielded per second (or something).
Eh.. just an idea.
Darky Oct 15th 2010 11:09AM
What about leliana from DA: origins, she is a bard: they use hand to hand combat and knives much like a rogue but more beat down style.
Trilynne Oct 15th 2010 8:10AM
I actually really hope no more classes are added. xP I think 10 is perfect as is. I would need to branch out to other servers to try the new class! >.>
Hagu Oct 15th 2010 11:08AM
Or the ten limit could be raised to 15??? pls pls pls
ElrithCC Oct 15th 2010 8:12AM
Pandaren monk brewmaster. The appeal would be really stylized martial arts animations, like the companion pet has. He uses unarmed combat with some simple ways to itemize fist like weapons with moves like "crane kick" and other kung fu arch types.
This would be the first neutral hero class. Horde based Pandaren would have red energy graphics for their spells and attacks, the red being clearly visible from afar. Alliance Pandaren would have a blue colored energy. Their mount would be ornate jade armored giant Pekingese dogs or some other Asian "lion" breed like a shitsu, or possibly an Asian style lion in general. Flying mounts would be Asian dragons. If you don't recognize that anthropomorphic Pandas rock, there's a rabbit named Usagi Yojimbo who would like to discuss your philosophies and their roots, in depth.
Persephanie Oct 15th 2010 8:50AM
intrestingly enough on the wow model viewer there are 2 chinese dragons one made of jade and one normal. they are flying mounts. maybe your on to something!
I absolutely love the idea of pandaren being a playable race! I do not however believe that they would make it a new class, for both sides to play. Monk would be the class pandaren would be a race. An Asian theme would be EPIC i mean in cataclysm beta goblins have Chinese take out in the house (seriously!) Where do you think the got that from! I certainly never saw any Chinese items. Also with the release of cataclysm there adding fortune cookies as a cooking recipe along with other Asian themed cooking recipes. I think they are eventually going to allow the pandaren as a playable race but I believe they will introduce Monk as a class first. Once Monk is a class then Pandaren will be the next x-pac being horde ofcorse because the pandaren, lore wise do not like alliance. Also they would be a new class that could also be druids. Aliance would see another class on their side be able to be druids, maybe... I dono, maybe humans could be druids (considering worgen druids maybe they could teach the humans)
Im throwing my vote tho with pandarans as a playable race and monk as a class!
Wolftech Oct 15th 2010 9:35AM
@Persephanie - Those Chinese dragons are unique for the Chinese. They have several pets/mount that are unavailable to us here in the West.
ElrithCC Oct 15th 2010 8:12AM
Most of all, Demon Hunters would be the coolest. They are one of the most iconic Warcraft classes with one of the most "badarse" factors. All the talk of melee and class balance is futile, they are just plain too awesome.
quasarsglow Oct 15th 2010 8:13AM
I am entranced by the idea of monks, but have never been able to successfully RP one in a pen and paper game. I find it hard to get into the character for some reason. Playing one in wow could be fun, however the idea of another hybrid class... I dunno, there are already so many!
I do imagine a troll monk berzerking and getting into slap fights with Arthas would be hilarious!
The BF has the wow RPG book and the concepts for so many classes and multiclasses are mindboggling. Elite shadowpriests are basically gods, but the game would break if you brought it in.
In Pathfinder, there is an oracle class which uses cleric spells on a sorcerer's spell progression which is really quite interesting as well as prestige class mixing barbarian and oracle making a spirit warrior.. a heavy weapon carrying berserker cleric.
I dont know if i see them entering WoW, because can you imagine the balancing? The hybrid tax would probably nerf them into oblivion.
relmatos Oct 15th 2010 8:16AM
I'd have to go with either a Monk or a Necromancer(no DKs are not Necromancers).
radicalereptor Oct 15th 2010 9:51AM
No, warlocks are pretty close. How would necromancers be any different"
relmatos Oct 15th 2010 11:43AM
You can't really say No to what I'd like to see in the game :P It's an opinion.
In my mind, Warlocks would become a spell version of hunters taming Demons that exist in the game.
Necromancers would summon Undead creatures the way Warlocks do now. Also they'd wear Leather and work as the main antagonist to druids the same way DKs are for Paladins and Warlocks are for Mages.
Also, there's not really much of a problem with 2 classes having a similar mechanic. It happens already a lot in the game and it works.
pandaba Oct 15th 2010 8:47PM
Necromancer could be potentially interesting and different than locks. The twist on this class is that they would have to be continuously killing in order to maintain their power.
Make the class have relatively weak combat skills / spells for their own direct use. They use this to (slowly) kill something and then 'raise minion' to get their first undead slave. They can continue to do this until they've got a small army of 3-4 pets. Each pet would have a long-ish duration of 30 mins to an hour, extendable via talents or glyphs, but eventually the pet would have to be replaced with a fresh kill.
Different pets / minions could be created with wildly different abilities. Melee, ranged, and maybe even one that does lightweight healing. The number of minions out, of whatever type, would also increase the necromancer's own spells and abilities.
This would be an unholy (no dk pun intended) mix of warlock and shaman abilities. The class should have relatively strong buffs to give the party so that they'll still be invited to groups even when they're in their relatively weak stage without an undead pet captured yet. But they should power up quickly by either capturing minions right before a raid start, or raised from the bodies of the raid trash.
Debesun Oct 15th 2010 8:16AM
I wouldn't mind a Necromancer class that wouldn't end up as a cheesy mish mash of Warlock and Deathknight. Probably something that gives a opposite to Druids like how Mages are to Warlocks.
You could also get them to use spell power leather to get rid of the class exclusive part that it is right now :P
No idea how the specs or class would work without it being a pet class like a warlock or a unholy deathknight in leather. I just wish it would happen :C
Ametrine Oct 15th 2010 8:16AM
I heard that originaly, like early Vanilla alpha/beta, that Discipline Priests were basically meant to BE monks - thus why some of that tree's original talents had stuff to boost armor and attack power and such, which normally are considered mostly-useless for casters.
llaw_grimm Oct 15th 2010 8:17AM
Tinkerers
Healing/DPS class with a focus on itemization and mechanics.
the trees would be as follows
Medic: Using their own mechanical ingenuity to create tools to help heal their parties. IV drips, Adrenal shots, defibrillators, and health rays all come into play. ((Healing spec))
BIotech: Uses Machinary to improve upon their own physical capabilities. Utilizing cyborging technology to improve their strength, speed, and other important abilities ((Melee dps spec))
Mad Professor: Using their affinity to create artificial intellegence, they command their minions with great efficiency ((ranged dps/melee dps))
I dont see how it can last much longer without such a class : )
MusedMoose Oct 15th 2010 8:19AM
I really, really like this idea. And y'know what? I'd play a night elf one, just to throw people off, since I'm sure most would be gnomes or goblins. *grin*
llaw_grimm Oct 15th 2010 10:10AM
I agree. It would be great to have it like the DKs, every race can have it. there would be much anamocity from the tauren, one would think, but I would roll a worgen Tinkerer. till then an Engineering Rogue will have to do... : (
HHUK Oct 15th 2010 10:11AM
I get the vision in my head of a tinkerer biotech spec'd player riding in a mech. Libram slot choosing the shape of the mech, enchant the libram with something from engineering to colour the mech.
Also, the medics could have a bandage boost and be able to use them in combat, could also introduce a healing pet? A little robot that flies round firing off healing rays. Pet skills would be easy to figure out, a healing ray, an AoE healing nova and decursing mode, only one would be available at a time on autocast leaving lots of room for the micro management that some players thrive on.
Although I'm desperate for a bard or a monk, tinkerers seem to fit in really well.
The Yeti Oct 15th 2010 4:30PM
(Signed up to comment)
I for one would love to play a cyborg as seen through WoW tinted glasses.