Now, we all know that for years people have been begging for a demon hunter class, and can you blame them? Demon hunters are pretty badass in the warcraft universe, both in terms of lore and in terms of the general feel and aesthetic of playing a dark magical warrior.
However, there are several issues with adding a new demon hunter class:
1. We have enough classes for now that need balancing
2. Many people think they should make existing classes more versatile by adding fourth specs, rather than creating entirely new classes that would likely only have one playstyle.
3. Warlocks have most of the iconic demon hunter abilities.
I think I've found a solution for this. It has a few issues to be sure but hopefully together can worskshop this and find satisfy everyone.
Basically, my idea is to add a fourth spec to the warlock class that capitalizes on the strange tank-like abilities blizzard has been giving them over the years (taunts, damage reduction, melee-range abilities, mobile AoEs etc). The spec will be called "Demon Hunter", will dual wield, use magic shields and auras for damage reduction, have fire based AoE spells to aggro groups of enemies, and use intelligence to boost attack power similarly to how enhancement shaman use agility to boost their spellpower.
Now, the first problem for this is that most people assumed demon hunters would be a dps class, but I believe tank would suit them better for several reasons.
-We have too many dps specs already
-Demon-hunters are empowered with fel magic, which could presumably make them incredibly difficult to kill and give them increased strength.
-Warlocks already have tanking abilities that are completely useless in their current state aside from incredibly situational off-tanking that becomes less viable in end-game.
So, the demon hunter would make heavy use of the demon form mechanic that the demo-tree has, and also use fel energy (a resource your pets use similar to rogue energy) and demonic fury (I think it's ok for two specs within a class to use the same resource, right?). The powers from the dark apotheosis minor glyph (which gives warlocks a bunch of tanking spells) will be reorganized, tweaked, improved, balanced, and added into the new tanking spec.
Also, this would open up the possibility for night elves to have a new class: the warlock. Now, of course warlocks themselves are reviled in Night Elven culture, but to make this lore-friendly every night elf "Warlock" trainer will be a demon hunter and be located in "secluded" and "secret" places, similarly to how warlock trainers in Human and Dwarven starting zones are.
I think this would increase the versatility of the warlock class, which is already described as having more stamina and endurance than a regular arcanist. It would also help address the shortage of tanks and the overflow of dps in dungeons and raids, while at the same time reduce qeue times for warlocks who now have the option of playing two roles.
I know these ideas are a bit rough around the edges, but I think it's time we finally allow people to play (and roleplay) as demon hunters while finally making the infamous "Lock-tank" viable. So, what do you guys think? Any suggestions or feedback?