IMO, Demon Hunters will be the next hero class.

[Verain]

The core reason is this:

There's a huge part of the playerbase that wants a Demon Hunter.


Everything else doesn't really matter. You are all playing a game where, next patch, "Turn Undead" will be able to turn a priest or paladin, but not a Death Knight's ghoul. So, they'll bend it to be cool- they believe the Rule of Cool trumps any manner of verisimilitude.



Which, in this case, is probably ok.

Here's my quick list:

> The Burning Legion remains as a standing enemy, and has been hinted at in current tier. Demon Hunters would make a great class for such an expansion.
> The playerbase has been spamrequesting DHs since vanilla alpha.
> The WoW game needs more iconic Warcraft stuff. The game has had a lot of generic classes running around for a game with such a distinctive IP collection.
> The Demon Hunter is generic enough in his specific abilities that a variety of playstyles could be packed in, if the flavor was correct.



Thus far, in game, Demon Hunters have been either Night Elves or Blood Elves. They could keep this restriction, or add in some races- at the very least, allowing humans and orcs seems likely, and they could probably fill the roster pretty quickly with almost all the races, as they have for all classes except for druids, alliance shaman, and horde paladins.


The game has 3 on every armor type but mail, so you could add the Demon Hunters as a mail wearing class. Monks and Demon Hunters are unarmored heroes, so you could meaningfully put them in anything but plate, and the money is going to be that they are an agi mail spec in at least one place.


The Demon Hunters we saw were beatyface guys, but that doesn't exclude them as tanks. They had a couple ranged powers but were mostly melee, so they would need at least one melee spec. You could argue that they should be:

-Pure Melee like rogues.
-Tank hybrid like warriors and DKs (melee/melee/tank)
-Unique hybrid (melee/ranged/tank)
-Tank/healer hybrid like monks and paladins (melee/healer/tank)

The last one I don't think we'll see for them- healing powers would be a stretch. The devs are frustrated with pure classes, and even occasionally range about trying to deal with Frost/Unholy and Arms/Fury. So, I think we'll see:

Agi mail melee
Agi mail tank
Int mail ranged caster

You could also just do it all with Agi mail, but for whatever reason the devs have been very defensive about letting anyone get close to the hunter's niche- agi mail, ranged weapon- even without factoring the pet in. If it used different gear types, it would also be harder to swap back and forth between your ranged and your melee spec.

I think the above is likely for those reasons. Also, no one else in game can run ranged and melee in the same gear, and I think they like that. Allowing agi mail to be used for melee, tank, and ranged would likely be too much- I think if they didn't want Int gear in the class, they would go with two agi mail melee specs and one agi mail tank spec.




The thing where you become a demon and wail out damage would probably be a defining point of the spec. Like the warlock reimagining of the demon hunter original, you would want demon form spells that replace your normal spells. It would be a hard sell to get this correct, with demonology locks already basically having the fully implemented version of this, but that just means they would need ways to differentiate the methods, just as windwalker is very different from combat, despite sharing weapons and armor and energy and (renamed for the monk) combo points.


If the spec takes the path of having 2-3 melee specs, then you would presumably want one that is more focused on dual wielding, one that is more focused on demon form, and a possible third spec kind of escapes me. Much like DKs, you could go ahead and assume that they have access to types of magic- blood magic, frost magic, and unholy magic for DKs made for three pretty different damage types at LK launch, and if DHs have access to fel energies, fire magic, and physical prowess it could map to that.

If the class only has 1 melee dps spec, then it would presumably be about the weapon mastery outside of demon form, and burst damage inside of demon form.

Tank wise, there's some room, but overall tanks are packed kind of tight. We already have a tank who heals themselves with dark magic, and the stagger mechanic is very much A New Thing in mmo tanking- other games haven't even got around to copying it yet, it's that new! One of the problems with tanking is that you can't really have the "demon form / normal form" thing mean the same thing as it does for dps- either the transform would be mostly cosmetic for the tank, or it would remain a dps cooldown without much or any defensive benefit. This isn't to say thay can't fit it in if they want another tank, but it's not as easy as it was for monks- and they definitely pulled out the creative lotion to make Brewmaster feel new and different.

Ranged dps wise, it's clear that you'd have to be careful to avoid having the demon hunter step into warlock territory thematically. It would be interesting if the spec had to build up a demonic energy by being in melee (presumably with attendant conversions from Int -> Agi, if, in fact, the spec uses Int mail), and could then spend it at range as a demon. I think they have the greatest leeway to come up with something here- as long as he doesn't straight up spamcast like casters or lean on a bow nonstop like a hunter, he has a lot of room to do cool things. Alternatively, the demon hunter could melee from range with magic melee hits (like enhancement shaman) to build up their ability to transform.




So, that's my thinking. Everyone loves demon hunters!

[Darsithis]

Honestly, how about we just don't add a new class at all? We have enough trouble balancing some 34 specs (4 for druids). Why add another 3 to the mix?

[Drilnos]

I would rather have a tinker or a bard. Or what I should say is that I would play a tinker or a bard. I wouldn't play a demon hunter. I get that whole theme from my warlock already, and if I were to switch up it would not be to another melee fighter. I only played WC3 well after I started playing WoW, and I never had much use for Illidan, undoubtedly the most ineffective final expansion villain in the game's history.

But with that said, if demon hunters were implemented next, I wouldn't really mind so much. This is because at that point, demon hunters would have been implemented, and the rabid demon hunter promoters would (hopefully) have nothing left to say about tinkers and/or bards, and might even start asking for them just to be nice guys.

Hah, who am I kidding?

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Of the "Big 3" floating around right now; Bard, Demon Hunter, and Tinkerer, the Demon Hunter is the only one that will be added as a Hero Class.

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I would rather have a tinker or a bard. Or what I should say is that I would play a tinker or a bard. I wouldn't play a demon hunter. I get that whole theme from my warlock already, and if I were to switch up it would not be to another melee fighter. I only played WC3 well after I started playing WoW, and I never had much use for Illidan, undoubtedly the most ineffective final expansion villain in the game's history.

But with that said, if demon hunters were implemented next, I wouldn't really mind so much. This is because at that point, demon hunters would have been implemented, and the rabid demon hunter promoters would (hopefully) have nothing left to say about tinkers and/or bards, and might even start asking for them just to be nice guys.

Hah, who am I kidding?

Hey, I only contest that the Demon Hunter is right to add next. I believe the other two will happen but not until after DH.

[wombinator04]

No more classes please, unless you want even more unbalance.

[leaks]

Well I guess it's time for the weekly demon hunter thread.

Let me see if I can sum it up:

-Warlocks already fill the roll!
-Nuh Uh!

[Laere]

Of the "Big 3" floating around right now; Bard, Demon Hunter, and Tinkerer, the Demon Hunter is the only one that will be added as a Hero Class.

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Hey, I only contest that the Demon Hunter is right to add next. I believe the other two will happen but not until after DH.

What new and innovative thing would Demon Hunters bring to the game? And you can't use "I wanna be like Illidan!!@@11" as an answer.

[Teriz]

Of the "Big 3" floating around right now; Bard, Demon Hunter, and Tinkerer, the Demon Hunter is the only one that will be added as a Hero Class.

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A Tinker could also be a hero class. An experienced hero who gives up the sword in pursuit of technology. You could even give them the title of High Tinker like Mekkatorque.

Hey, I only contest that the Demon Hunter is right to add next. I believe the other two will happen but not until after DH.

All indications point to only one more class being added to WoW.

[JasonWuzHear]

All indications point to only one more class being added to WoW.

Sorry, what indications? I'm not trying to argue your point, I'm just curious. I think it would be perfect balance to have 3 classes for each armor type, with 12 classes total, an even number. Are there other indications too?

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

A Tinker could also be a hero class. An experienced hero who gives up the sword in pursuit of technology. You could even give them the title of High Tinker like Mekkatorque.

You've always had to stretch in your claims that Tinkerer is best-fitted for a Legion expansion. But to claim Tinkerer is at all worthy of being a Hero Class is stretching too far. If that is your reason for making it a Hero Class, why not just introduce every class as a Hero Class and remove 1-55 from the game entirely? Tinkerer would be best suited as a Level 1 Class because it isn't something where you give up a former life to be part of it.

All indications point to only one more class being added to WoW.

Nothing points to that except the baseless claims that the final expansion will be the level 100 expansion.

[Teriz]

Sorry, what indications? I'm not trying to argue your point, I'm just curious. I think it would be perfect balance to have 3 classes for each armor type, with 12 classes total, an even number. Are there other indications too?

Yes, the class type. We have 4 pure DPS (Rogues, Locks, Mages, Hunters), 4 hybrids (warriors, DKs, Shaman, Priests), and 3 full hybrids (Monks, Paladins, Druids). We're missing one more full hybrid.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Yes, the class type. We have 4 pure DPS (Rogues, Locks, Mages, Hunters), 4 hybrids (warriors, DKs, Shaman, Priests), and 3 full hybrids (Monks, Paladins, Druids). We're missing one more full hybrid.

Doesn't exist.

There's 3 Cloth, 3 Leather, 2 Mail, 3 Plate classes as well. If anything, that's a more reliable pattern to round out the 2nd Gen classes.

Demon Hunter, in mail. Then all armor types are balanced. Then we get into the Gen 3 Classes which are added just based on rule of cool and nothing more.

[DeathOfRa]

Yes, the class type. We have 4 pure DPS (Rogues, Locks, Mages, Hunters), 4 hybrids (warriors, DKs, Shaman, Priests), and 3 full hybrids (Monks, Paladins, Druids). We're missing one more full hybrid.

What exactly is a "full" hybrid?

I thought the point of a hybrid was that it was halved between something, meaning it can't really be a hybrid.

[Teriz]

You've always had to stretch in your claims that Tinkerer is best-fitted for a Legion expansion. But to claim Tinkerer is at all worthy of being a Hero Class is stretching too far. If that is your reason for making it a Hero Class, why not just introduce every class as a Hero Class and remove 1-55 from the game entirely? Tinkerer would be best suited as a Level 1 Class because it isn't something where you give up a former life to be part of it.

Why not? Dedicating your life to technology in a world of magic requires quite a commitment.

Nothing points to that except the baseless claims that the final expansion will be the level 100 expansion.

Class types, and armor point to it as well.

[PuppetShowJustice]

I know a lot of people will scoff at this but personally I wouldn't add a class that contains the name of another class.

I know Demon Hunter is a thing but the name is really unfortunate.

[Teriz]

What exactly is a "full" hybrid?

I thought the point of a hybrid was that it was halved between something, meaning it can't really be a hybrid.

Full hybrid is a class that can tank/DPS/heal. A standard hybrid can do two roles. A pure can do one role.

[Slowpoke is a Gamer]

Why not? Dedicating your life to technology in a world of magic requires quite a commitment.

Exactly why it should start at Level 1. Because this isn't something you throw aside your sword for and suddenly have a level 65 mastery of. This is something you dedicate your whole life to from the beginning.

Class types, and armor point to it as well.

Blizz has never confirmed such a limit exists. We players have always used the armor excuse (no one has ever used the type excuse before you) to explain why they added the classes they did. Why they skipped Necromancer in Wrath, why they didn't make Monks wear cloth like Chen wears, and why they will add Demon Hunters next. After the armor types are balanced perhaps they will start adding classes all over again. Cloth Bard, Leather Tinkerer, and so on until the game finishes development.

[Verain]

Honestly, how about we just don't add a new class at all? We have enough trouble balancing some 34 specs (4 for druids). Why add another 3 to the mix?

On the contrary, I think adding a new class is trivial compared to fixing pvp balance for even the supported specs. And of those 34 specs, it's sadly the case that many are not considered viable in pvp. Devs have stated before that they really only achieve balance around comps, so as long as a demon hunter has a couple comps he can play in, then I guess whatever.

Also- who cares how many classes there are, if they are going to throw away everything they learned about balance every expac?


For this expac, the number of changes were so shocking and absurd that they really added about the equivalent of 20 specs- and as you would expect, the first season was nothing but broken nonsense, and the second has been barely better. Resilience and Power have meant different things in every subpatch of this expansion- 5.0 != 5.1 != 5.2 != 5.3. Also, the mix and match nature of talents and CC schools has pretty much determined who can hang out with whom, and more importantly, who even gets to show up at the tier 1 table.

So you can say, "10% more work to add a new class!". I can say "If pvp balance was anywhere on the radar of importance to the devs, we wouldn't have seen MoP go live like it did." PvP requires a lot of effort to balance, but having Demon Hunters isn't going to make that impossible. That argument could have been using against adding monks and adding death knights as well.

What new and innovative thing would Demon Hunters bring to the game?

DKs brought nothing new and innovative, and neither did monks. If anything, monks served as a vehicle to throw some new mechanics into the genre, and DKs served as a vehicle to try multiple energy systems out. You could easily come up with something similar for Demon Hunters- NOTHING about monks and DKs was related to the things that they actually offer.

A Tinker could also be a hero class.

Most definitely. But I don't think we'd see them next. Tinkers have their fans, but the excitement over Demon Hunter has been priapistic.

I think it would be perfect balance to have 3 classes for each armor type, with 12 classes total, an even number. Are there other indications too?

Well, they aren't "due" to add a class, if that is what you are saying- especially not with their supposed fast turnaround on MoP (which I'll believe when I see). But they still could, and if they are going to wail expansions out, they could get around to adding the Demon Hunter ASAP.

I don't think there are any overt signs, except that we want the class around.

[Tyrael the Impatient]

This is how I feel about it

[Abysal]

Honestly, how about we just don't add a new class at all? We have enough trouble balancing some 34 specs (4 for druids). Why add another 3 to the mix?

Simple question: Does a new class sell more copies of an expansion? If yes, then expect a new class. Plain and simple.