Demon Hunters.
Intro.
So, upon lurking the general discussion here, ive seen countless demon hunter vs technology class threads. One of the arguments of the people against demon hunters, is that all of the demon hunter abilities have been given to other classes. (Metamorph, immolation, mana burn, evasion.) Now while this is true, im a firm believer that since blizzard is a billion dollar company, they have the means to create a demon hunter class that is unique, yet holds the feel of the demon hunter hero unit from wc3. Now keep in mind, this is big here i cant stress this enough, im in no way saying that demon hunter has a set place in the wow class list, nor am i saying that demon hunters will ever be added. This is merely an experiment, more for myself, maybe some other people out there, to see if a demon hunter class can be further developed into a playable class that fits into the scheme of wow.
You guys are my witnesses to the hypothesis that it can be done, but well see how it goes. If you bother reading, i dont really care. If you do, id like constructive comments. Remember, this is an experiment.
Guess ill start from the beginning.
Playable Races
-Blood elves - Trained by Illidan
-Night elves - the og demon hunters.
-Orcs - Orcs hate demons, fact.
-Humans - there are human demon hunters shown in hyjal, and mainly for gameplay balance.
You could argue demon hunters would only be blood elves and night elves, would make sense, but people might argue that the beloved orcs and humans cant be the new class.
Weapon Proficiency
-1h swords.
-1h axes.
-daggers
-fist weapons
And for people that think dhs can only be useful for demons.
From wiki.
These blades appear as a strange cross between a small buckler and a sharp-looking, curved, two-bladed short sword. The demon hunters of the night elves wear these blades while they hunt the minions of the Scourge, the Burning Legion or other dark adversaries worthy of such weaponry
Armor Proficiency
-Leather,mail.
Starting Zone
Now, some fans might argue this should be a hero class, but im all in favor of starting at level one, because if you remember, the majority of dks were made fun of for skipping 58 levels in the beginning of wotlk, and didnt really know how to play their class upon reaching end game content. Guilty.
So option A: Throw them in the original race starting zones, let them level up like everyone else.
But, for the sake of the thread, im going to declare them as a hero class, even though blizzard would like to step away from hero classes. And since option A is boring,
Option B: Demon Hunters start at level 65 at a lower level, phased version of the Ruins of Karabor, on top of black temple. Better known as the illidari demon hunter training ground.
The quest line will involve a resurrected Illidan (He was mostly demon, its possible. Blues have said they want to bring him back.) training demon hunters to aid the burning legion like in burning crusade. Altrius the sufferer and the dark embrace realize there need to be more individuals trained in the art of demon hunting to fend off the coming invasion. Your job is to be trained by illidan, and take over the training of the fresh demon hunters.
Ill come up with quest ideas during the day. But heres a few.
Outland: Altrius the Sufferer wants you to become Acquainted with Illidan.
Bloodlust:You must prove yourself to Altrius as a recruit. Choose and kill one of the other trainees.
What needs to be done:Experience the demon hunter ritual. (Ripping eyes out, replacing them with spectral sight.)
This quest will grant the cosmetic blindfold for demon hunters. Does not add stats, purely cosmetic. They can wear helmets just fine.
Completing the quest line will level you to 68, allowing you to jump right into Northrend.
Class Quests
For those of you who played monks, blizzard nailed it. The class zone, the quests, all truly an awesome experience.
The demon hunters will have a similar leveling process. They will return to Karabor for a new quest for training every ten levels, and the quests will award blindfolds with stats, increasing every ten levels. The quest will be daily and give an experience buff like the monks. In the zone will be a vendor for warglaive style swords, similar to the vendors on kun-lai summit with fist weapons and staves.
Specializations
Ill add abilities on a later occasion, im kind of pressed for time.
Agony.
This spec focuses on melee dps, enhancing your physical abilities with fire.
Mastery-dealing fire damage increases weapon speed by x% and decreases fire damage by y%. Dealing weapon damage increases your fire damage by x% and decreases weapon damage by y%. 10 stacks of each causes you to metamorph, dealing 10% more damage.
Curse of Flames
Shear
Agonizing Flames
Flame Crash
Chaos Blast
Deception.
This spec is the tank spec, based on dodge and parry.
Mastery-upon dodging or parrying an attack, you will gain a stack of evasion, increasing dodge chance by x%. At ten stacks, you will unleash a parallel metamorphed version of yourself to absorb the next five attacks that deal more than 4% of your total health.
Draw Soul
Deflection
Spellbreaker
Debilitating Strike
Gloom.
This spec (bear with me) is a shadow/arcane caster spec.
Mastery- every time you deal shadow damage, you gain a stack of insanity, increasing shadow damage and cast time by 10%. Every time you deal arcane damage you gain a stack of guidance, decreasing damage and cast time by 10%. At 10 stacks you will metamorph, Increases arcane spell damage by 20%. Reduces Shadow spell cast time by 20%.
Shadow Crash
Arcane Bolt
Shadowfury
Dh meta. Different from warlock.
States
This is the demon hunter version of stances/presence/aspect.
Dread state-increases damage done and movement speed by 10%. Enemies within 5 yards take x fire damage every 1second.
Vengeance state-taking damage causes your next melee attack to do 25% of total damage taken.
Sage state- taking damage during spellcasting causes your next spell under two seconds to be instant.
Conclusion
Class design is hard, ill come up with more during the day for abilites, actual quests, and a talent grid.
Let me know what you think, help my experiment. More edits to come. I'm also a fan of the ranger idea. I'd like to do class concepts if you suggest them too.
-9/7 class made. 1:00 mastery made