Every class should be a Hybrid.

[aikoyamamato]

Mages=Healing (time magic)
Hunters= Healing or tanking
Warlocks= Healing or tanking
Rogues= Tanking

It would probably take a fourth spec for this to happen though. Changing existing DPS specs to tanking or healing would tick off way too many players.

Hunters healing? Do they come up to you and start putting on bandages? What about their pets? Do they use bunnies that come up and hug you? <3 Tanking I suppose could make more sense. I could see some cool stuff revolving around buffing/enhancing your pet to soak up some damage and working it into Beast Mastery (split tree, like Druids). Even so, it doesn't really fit the Hunter feel.

Mages are pure DPS, period. How exactly does one heal with Time Magic? Is it about avoiding damage instead of healing it? They could probably make a more support-oriented Mage spec, but never pure healing. It simply wouldn't feel right.

Warlocks would work as a tank, the glyph indicates that, but it won't happen. The fact that Blizzard nerfed the crap out of DA before it went live to crush any hope of it being a viable raid tank says a lot about that. I'm okay with that, though. Warlocks as a tank don't exactly feel very...right. The problem also arises in trying to set up new stat distribution. Stamina stacking is boring. I have high hopes for a tank/dps Demon Hunter class, but don't touch my warlock! As for healing...not going to touch that. Warlocks healing makes me cringe.

Rogues have filled a very small, almost non-existent tanking niche for specific encounters, such as Garalon, but a full blown tanking tree would be silly. Or maybe not? Ninja tanks in FFXI were pretty nifty.

TLDR: doesn't make sense, we need pures.

[Justignoreme]

Just cause more classes be healers or tanks doesn't mean there will be more healers and tanks. They are already underrepresented within the classes that can field them.

[Teriz]

Hunters healing? Do they come up to you and start putting on bandages? What about their pets? Do they use bunnies that come up and hug you? <3 Tanking I suppose could make more sense. I could see some cool stuff revolving around buffing/enhancing your pet to soak up some damage and working it into Beast Mastery (split tree, like Druids). Even so, it doesn't really fit the Hunter feel.

Also Hunters could use specific pets that can help in healing. Some pets already have healing abilities.

Mages are pure DPS, period. How exactly does one heal with Time Magic? Is it about avoiding damage instead of healing it? They could probably make a more support-oriented Mage spec, but never pure healing. It simply wouldn't feel right.

Temporal Shield:

Envelops you in a temporal shield for 4 sec. Damage taken while shielded will be healed back over 6 sec. This spell is usable while stunned, frozen, incapacitated, feared or asleep, and is not on the global cooldown.

Alter Time:

Alter the fabric of time, causing the caster to return to their current location, health, mana, buffs, and debuffs, when cast a second time, or after 6 sec.

Effect negated if the caster dies within the 6 sec before the effect occurs or moves too far away.


Those are Mage abilities already in the game.

TLDR: doesn't make sense, we need pures.

Why?

[Justignoreme]

Temporal Shield:

Envelops you in a temporal shield for 4 sec. Damage taken while shielded will be healed back over 6 sec. This spell is usable while stunned, frozen, incapacitated, feared or asleep, and is not on the global cooldown.

Alter Time:

Alter the fabric of time, causing the caster to return to their current location, health, mana, buffs, and debuffs, when cast a second time, or after 6 sec.

Effect negated if the caster dies within the 6 sec before the effect occurs or moves too far away.


Those are Mage abilities already in the game.

And they are clunky, unreliable, and barely ever used. They had to put a massive bonus onto the t15 set just to get mages to hot key or macro alter time to something.

[Teriz]

And they are clunky, unreliable, and barely ever used. They had to put a massive bonus onto the t15 set just to get mages to hot key or macro alter time to something.

Actually Temporal Shield is used a decent amount in PvE play.

http://www.worldofwargraphs.com/stat...0-0-0-0-0.html

The reason it isn't used more often is because it shares its tier with the very powerful Ice Barrier.

It also isn't clunky or unreliable. Its actually a pretty cool ability and concept that could be expanded upon into a unique and interesting healing spec for Mages.

[Keristrasza]

I disagree, I play a hunter so I don't hear the whining of swapping to a spec I don't use because Im a class that CAN. I hated that about my druid all through classic and into TBC. I only played feral even though people said it sucked in Classic, I didn't care because I wanted to be feral. Yet every day I would get at least 3 whispers "Your a druid, come heal for us!" and when I said I didn't heal "But your a druid!" I refuse to put up with that obnoxious BS on my hunter.

[Justignoreme]

Actually Temporal Shield is used a decent amount in PvE play.

http://www.worldofwargraphs.com/stat...0-0-0-0-0.html

The reason it isn't used more often is because it shares its tier with the very powerful Ice Barrier.

It also isn't clunky or unreliable. Its actually a pretty cool ability and concept that could be expanded upon into a unique and interesting healing spec for Mages.

24% isn't used a lot at all. And thanks for stating the obvious that, when paired against a much better ability, it's barely even a consideration. Temporal shield is a waste of time. The 24% using it are probably just experimenting with it, until they turn around and toss it for Ice barrier.

[bionics]

brb, loading my bow with healing arrows

realistically, what are you going to tell people?

"oh, I'm sure you loved DPSing as combat for the past four years but, heh, guess what, now you either tank as combat, or you switch specs."

"Please... just stand still. Stop moving! My monkey can't bandage you as accurately if you're all hopping around like that!"

[Teriz]

24% isn't used a lot at all. And thanks for stating the obvious that, when paired against a much better ability, it's barely even a consideration. Temporal shield is a waste of time. The 24% using it are probably just experimenting with it, until they turn around and toss it for Ice barrier.

Um, that would be the case regardless of what the ability is. Ice Barrier is just a better ability than both Temporal Shield AND Blazing Speed.

Regardless none of that is the point. The point is that there are examples of Mages healing using time magic currently in-game. Thus its not a leap to create a fourth spec that expands on that concept.

[Gavll]

Really? If you want to heal, roll a healer. If you want to tank, roll a tank...

The real problem is Blizzard pandering to every retard's demands.

[Whitey]

I do not support this idea at all, actually not just that but I think it's a stupid idea. They're not going to add a fourth spec so it would have to replace one of the existing specs. Even if they did add a fourth spec it would ruin the game for the people who roll a pure dps classes just for the reason that their guilds/friends can't go "oh you should switch to heals/tank for this fight/BG/whatever".

Rogue main and warlock main alt here btw. If you want to heal or a tank, roll a hybrid class, don't go about asking to ruin ours.

[LilSaihah]

Even if they did add a fourth spec it would ruin the game for the people who roll a pure dps classes just for the reason that their guilds/friends can't go "oh you should switch to heals/tank for this fight/BG/whatever".

There's something that you can tell these people

It starts with the letter "g" and ends with "et fucked"

[Henkdejager]

Please no, if i wanted to be a hybrid i'd roll a druid or a pala. I love beeing pure DPs. NO bullshit with , you healer? you tank ? owh dps ? then no spot foryou /kick

[jp165]

so what they did for dk's in wrath even tho they could tank with all three specs they gave them a dedicated spec for tanking any way i loved blood dps.

[BeastmasterGuardian]

I rolled a druid simply for the OP factor. It's true that people still think every Druid is a healer. I then ask them, "Is every priest a healer? Is every Warrior a tank? Is every rogue awesome? No." I like being a Guardian / Feral combo. For the most part we share gear. I only tank for Dungeons and the occasional 2 man dailies. Just easier to aggro everything while a warrior buddy chops them to pieces. I have no urge to roll a healer.

I agree with the majority that there should be TRUE hybrids (Pally, Druid, Monk), Reg Hybrids (Warrior, Priest, Shaman, DK), and then all others. Each class serves a purpose. Without that distinction, it would be like having 25 pallies or 25 druids in a raid (which would obviously make things boring as hell, even though 25 druids could easily handle Tank, MDPS, RDPS, and Heals).

[Wildtree]

At this point in WoW's evolution, there's really no purpose for "pure" classes anymore. Warlocks, Mages, Hunters, and Rogues are seriously harmed by not having viable healing or tanking specs to fall back on.

The rogue semi-ability to tank was removed, and should remain just that.
GOOD mages are capable to emergency tank a large part of the content. Not the most current one, and certainly not the current raids, but everything below that, good mages master just fine.
Hunters and Warlocks... Here goes the same, yet even better. Both classes are well capable to assume the roles of emergency tanks and save a group from a wipe, if the player reacts fast enough. Dismissing the dps pet and switching to the tank pet, works even in current 5 man heroics. We don't need any more hybrids.
In my opinion Blizzard made a huge mistake in that regard. Although their intention of "bring the player, not the class" is initially a great idea. Reality in the game is a whole other ballgame. Where the original idea is great, the way the community uses and interprets it, is completely wrong.
One greatness of WoW was to sit at the character creation screen, thinking of what to choose, and what unique abilities are there no other class has. This choice is not only less significant nowadays, it becomes more and more obsolete. People don't select races anymore for the reason of being just that race. They choose them by the features of the racial abilities. A couple more DPS points from a racial draws them to a certain class. Hence the Horde favoritism amongst the players. Not because Horde is cooler. No, Horde has better racials in overall. Big mistake, Blizzard. Why? It goes that far, that old school romantics who play a race/class combo that is not considered the best possible in the game are getting called noobs. If you are Horde and your hunter isn't a troll, you must not understand your class. Same with Feral Druids, how can you not be a troll...
Now at the same time, the people learned how Blizzard kept balancing the classes, with that, they woke up the devil.. Players seriously request/demand even more homogenization.. What's the point of all of that? Why bother having all the varieties of races/classes if we'd balance everything perfectly fine and no one's left with a unique toolset of spells and abilities to their classes?
A dead boring game, for which one single race and class would suffice..
If anything at all, I'd turn the wheel back. I'd reestablish the more uniqueness of the classes and races.

So, NO.... Every class should definitely NOT be a hybrid class..

[Snowraven]

what else would you have rogues hunters mages and warlocks do besides dps?

Rogues and warlocks can tank. Rogues by evasion tank and warlocks by demon tank.
Mages and Hunters can heal. Mages by time magic, as in turning time back making wounds disappear, hunters by being either ranged paladins or priestesses of the moon of sorts. In the end, hunters already heal their pets

[Keoren]

And thanks for stating the obvious that, when paired against a much better ability, it's barely even a consideration. Temporal shield is a waste of time. The 24% using it are probably just experimenting with it, until they turn around and toss it for Ice barrier.

Sorry for going slightly off-topic, but temporal shield is better from the pure raid dps point of view because it's off the gcd. It can also often be used to negate as much or more damage than with ice barrier.

Furthermore, they serve slightly different nichés with one preventing damage and one hastening the healing up. This can be a factor.

[Evi1Toad]

When I think of a mage's hybrid, my mind goes to Dragon Age Origins, where the mages had a spec where their int -> str and allowed them to wear plate armor and use magic spells also, not sure how well it was done I didn't really play the game much (too much strategy lol).

As for rogues, I feel that the rogues need a different spec... all of them seem soooooo much alike now, only difference is the wait time between CP builders. I would like them to bring back riposte and ghostly strike and throw them into one spec, have a "restless blades" type thing for CR and evasion, and instead of SnD supplying attack speed, have it... do something tank-y (passive dodge type thing?). Oh, a baseline gap closer would be nice also, I really shouldn't have to spec for one as the only melee pure DPS class in the game.

A melee hunter class could be fun. Who hasn't wanted to run around with a pet bear punching stuff? Rexxar was on to something...

And you all already know that DA is fun, even if it isn't extremely effective.

[Elementalkin]

I don't agree with this at all. If healers and tanks are scarce, the problem is not exclusivity, it's that either they aren't as fun to play, or they're too difficult to learn. You also have to consider the greater importance of these two roles, and the increased level of responsibility they put on a person. Some people just don't like that, and I understand that since I currently have both a warrior, and a hunter. Some days I don't feel like driving the bus, I just want to hang out the window (or perhaps more accurately in my case, 'stand on the roof') and blow shit up.

Plus, not only would having a 4th spec for each class cause even more balancing problems, but the method by which certain classes tanked or healed would likely strain credulity. We've sacrificed enough immersion for the sake of game mechanics, it's time to reel it in.