Battlemages! Should one of the specs become them?

[Deleted]

Hello everyone!

So, Battlemages, Warmages, Arcane Warriors, Spellblades, Knight-Enchanters, and whatever other synonyms that I haven't mentioned yet, they're pretty freaking cool, you've got magic, and then you've got swords... Or axes... Maces... Anyway, I'm a massive fan of them, but how about you? Would you like to see them implemented? If so, how? A new class or spec, or should one of the existing ones become one?

Whether they'd be tanks, shielding themselves with violet arcane barriers, or DPS mixing melee attacks with magical spells to destroy their foes I don't really care, I'd play one either way.

I mean Arcane Explodion practically requires you to surround yourself with enemies an blow them up!

Also, I think Arcane should grab a sword and get stuck in there simply because there aren't any melee specs or classes that use arcane magic.

You've got enhancement shaman who uses elemental magic
Retribution paladins and their holy magic
Demon Hunters and their fel magic
Death Knights snd their... Death magic?
Subtlety Rogues and their shadow magic
Monks use chi spirit energy
And Druids use nature magic

I think it would be kinda neat, if done right at least, and some are still up in arms about the changes to Survival.

[Deleted]

I absolutely love every Spellblade character archetype and I think the game could use more of them!

Wielding a weapon and using magic is what got me into Retri Paladins and Enhancement Shaman in the first place, one using big ass swords and the other being faster and more furious. It's also one of the things I like about Demon Hunters.

But although we've seen Arcane Spellblades being very common among the Highborne, they are still not playable and I'd definitely like to play one.

[Deleted]

I absolutely love every Spellblade character archetype and I think the game could use more of them!

Wielding a weapon and using magic is what got me into Retri Paladins and Enhancement Shaman in the first place, one using big ass swords and the other being faster and more furious. It's also one of the things I like about Demon Hunters.

But although we've seen Arcane Spellblades being very common among the Highborne, they are still not playable and I'd definitely like to play one.

What I would like to see from an Arcane battlemage DPS spec would be a mix of the two, a magical duelist kind of character viably wielding a single weapon in one hand and a spell, tome or focus in the other, striking with precision and discipline rather than elemental fury or righteous might.

[Alvito]

4th spec, melee dps.

On the highly unlikely chance that they gave all the classes an extra spec, they certainly wouldn't add a 4th dps spec to the pure classes.

[Kithelle]

On the highly unlikely chance that they gave all the classes an extra spec, they certainly wouldn't add a 4th dps spec to the pure classes.

Well what would they do with a mage? Cloth tank? Make a healing spec from a spec that has never been seen attempting any real kind of healing?

[Racthoh]

i've always thought arcane could conjure its own plate armor or something

[Deleted]

What I would like to see from an Arcane battlemage DPS spec would be a mix of the two, a magical duelist kind of character viably wielding a single one handed weapon in one hand and a spell, tome or focus, in the other, striking with precision and discipline rather than elemental fury or righteous might.

Wielding only one weapon, even a 2H so that you don't lose stats, and a spell in the other hand could be interesting. I don't think a focus or a tome could actuallly work or would be visually pleasing, but having a free hand with which you can cast some basic incantations and some spells like Conjure Magic Weapon or Conjure Magic Shield, like a stance, more or less, providing a lot of utility, would be fun!

Reminds me of a similar Spellblade character I used to play in Skyrim, who didn't actually carry any swords nor would use any typical Fire/Frost/Lightning spells but instead he would Conjure Weapons or Armor when needed, being very fast, sneaky and bursty as a result. Very fun character.

I don't think they would actually create a new class with such a spec but if they ever introduced new specs for some classes, an agile and versatile Spellblade spec would be very fitting for Mages or even Demon Hunters dare I say, judging from Illidan's past and magic studies.

[Kuja]

All classes should have a fourth spec. Super simple to implement and balance. Much easier than an entirely new class. Perhaps a feature in a future expansion.

[Alvito]

Well what would they do with a mage? Cloth tank? Make a healing spec from a spec that has never been seen attempting any real kind of healing?

Add new classes over specs. The insane development nightmare of a new spec for each class is not worth it. At least a few classes would get some spec that doesn't really make sense just to make sure everybody gets one. Say they get past the creation part then they have to balance all these new specs and dump appropriate gear for them all over the game. Far too many pitfalls for a feature that will also piss off older players of the game.

- - - Updated - - -

All classes should have a fourth spec. Super simple to implement and balance. Much easier than an entirely new class. Perhaps a feature in a future expansion.

So you think creating and balancing 12 new specs is easier then 3, that checks out.

[Scathbais]

Sounds a bit too much like a Ret Pally

[Thelxi]

4th spec, they shouldn't do to mages what they did to survival and combat.

[Obelisk Kai]

Lots of people think Mages could have a second role, but then it gets bogged down between people who think Mages should be time based healers and those who think Mages should get a battlemage spec, as described. That's another debate though.

The problem with the battlemage fantasy though is that Blizzard was pretty clear when doing the Legion class previews (https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/ne...-series-shaman) that they had a Battlemage, and it was the enhancement Shaman. It may not be what most people think of when they think of battlemage, but for Blizzard this is close enough.

The Enhancement Shaman, if you look at it and what it does, is pretty much the battle mage. Why would Blizzard ever seek to do a second one?

[Aoyi]

You mentioned Enhancement shaman. ThatMs actually my main and out of wverything we have in the game right now, that feels the closest to a battlemage. Obviously, our spells are considered to be different from mages, but my toolkit is pretty close to half melee/hamf spell. Hell, every 3 minutes, I even turn my main melee damaging ability into a spell as well. Even my "pets" are really just a spell.

If they were to add a battle mage to WoW, what armor class would they be? In most rpgs, those types of classes would wear several armor types. In WoW that's technically possible, but would complicate how loot distrobution would work, especially with tier. Likely, you'd just be wearing mail or plate all the time because of the 5% stat bonus. Its an interesting thing to think about and I guess we'll see if they do implement it.

[Kithelle]

Sounds a bit too much like a Ret Pally

Then Ret and Unholy are the same except for undead pets...Enhance and Frost are the same except Enhance uses a little fire and earth...

Currently there isn't a class or spec that is melee and uses much arcane damage...Feral can if it uses a talent that is better spent somewhere else...Guardian has a single spell and a talent spell...

A Battlemage would be the first melee class to utilize Arcane spells to a large degree.

[derpkitteh]

it would be lovely as a fourth spec.

but i don't see it happening sadly. i love battle-mages.

[Kithelle]

Add new classes over specs. The insane development nightmare of a new spec for each class is not worth it. At least a few classes would get some spec that doesn't really make sense just to make sure everybody gets one. Say they get past the creation part then they have to balance all these new specs and dump appropriate gear for them all over the game. Far too many pitfalls for a feature that will also piss off older players of the game.

- - - Updated - - -



So you think creating and balancing 12 new specs is easier then 3, that checks out.

I suppose...but who said we need to add a new spec to all...could do it for some...makes just about as much sense as only 1 class getting 4 when we know at least a few classes could support more specs.

But either way...class or spec...playing a Battlemage is something I'd be interested in if the class or spec is built well.

[tss]

They should use conjured melee weapons like in Skyrim. Conjured armor, too.

[mireigi]

Honestly I'd rather that Blizzard go back to their roots when it comes to class design in World of Warcraft. These days so many classes feel alike, with just slightly different visuals and names to their abilities.

The current philosophy is to bring the player, not the class. With all the talk about class fantasy since the start of Legion, one would assume that each class should be unique, not only in what they do, but more importantly, how they do it. Right now every class utilize a rotation consisting of different abilities, but doing basicly the same thing, with hardly any uniqueness to it.

Sure, not being reliant on a Shaman anymore for Bloodlust/Heroism is pretty great, but why do Mages need to have the exact same ability? Why not bring back Amplify Magic, and rework it to add a percentage of damage/healing to the target as extra damage/healing for 40 seconds, providing a similar increase to that of Bloodlust/Heroism, but with a different mechanic, while still remaining mutually exclusive in that they cannot both be active at the same time?

What about fights that require a lot of crowd control? Frost Mages are usually the kings here, but why not let Hunters use a version of Misdirect to send mobs chasing after their pet, with an option to have the pet auto-kite? Or Warlocks with an ability that causes confusion among the mobs, forcing them to either stand idle or attack eachother?

There are so many ways to make each class unique again, allowing each to fill the same role, but in vastly different ways that go beyond their DPS/healing/tanking rotation with differently colored and textured abilities.

[Krothar]

I suppose...but who said we need to add a new spec to all...could do it for some...makes just about as much sense as only 1 class getting 4 when we know at least a few classes could support more specs.

But either way...class or spec...playing a Battlemage is something I'd be interested in if the class or spec is built well.

The difference being it made 100% sense to give Druids a fourth spec. They didn't gain anything out of it besides having a bit more variety in their talents depending on what they wanted to do, tanking or DPS.

What your suggesting would create a shitstorm if Blizzard just decided to give "a few" classes a completely NEW spec just because reasons.

[Deleted]

Well what would they do with a mage? Cloth tank? Make a healing spec from a spec that has never been seen attempting any real kind of healing?

Battlemage would make a great Cloth tank though.

Arcane magic is relatively elusive after all.