Class "Skins"

[Wewlad]

I thought of this just now and it probably isn't original at all. However it is an idea I was fond of so I thought to bring up it to you guys.

Take the warlock. Take a lot of people who would rather play a necromancer. Instead of making a new class, mechanics, etc. it would be simple to make a "skin" for the warlock that completely overhauls the aesthetics of their spells and minions. For example the Imp would become the Skeleton Mage, the Succubus could possibly become the Shade, etc.

Nothing would be altered mechanically, only the aesthetics. Of course something like this would take time to produce so it would make for a good item to buy on the Blizzard Store. However it wouldn't cost too many new resources, since much of the process would only include swapping icons, models, spell effects, etc.

Essentially it would allow people to play as certain popular professions which couldn't be made into brand new classes but could be incorporated as "skins" for the existing classes. Not every class would have a skin either, and some may never see one although it is likely that there is room for every class to receive a skin.

[Yarathir]

This would be a very nice aesthetic change. At first I thought these would be class-based player skins. Like the necromancer human markings for death knights/warlocks (which, btw, need to be available. Much like the undead goblin textures)

[OzoAndIndi]

Cool idea. I can't personally think of how easily that would work for most other classes (Druids get better control of the look of their forms? Paladins... add glitter? lol), but still cool.

[Wewlad]

Cool idea. I can't personally think of how easily that would work for most other classes (Druids get better control of the look of their forms? Paladins... add glitter? lol), but still cool.

Like I said this would only make sense for a few classes, but there is a lot of possibilities.

[Deleted]

That's what a DK is.....

[StrayFox]

Much like Jobs in Final Fantasy : A realm reborn? Its kinda like you make one character who can acquire classes or 'jobs' and you can switch between them.

[Wewlad]

That's what a DK is.....

Certain aspects were transplanted to the DK yet they still don't satisfy the true necromancer niche.

[Deleted]

I really don't see the point - DK has undead minions + necro spells

[jedijesse]

Much like Jobs in Final Fantasy : A realm reborn? Its kinda like you make one character who can acquire classes or 'jobs' and you can switch between them.

Not really...it's still just one class with the exact same abilities...they just look different

[Wewlad]

I really don't see the point - DK has undead minions + necro spells

Because you don't realize that DK =/= Necromancer. They may share a few spells, but in the end they operate differently. Necromancers operate as warlocks do, relying on spells and minions. DKs are melee fighters who supplement themselves with a handful of spells, and the minion addition is too tacked-on in the case of the DK.

You may as well just say that there is no need for both priests and paladins because they both use the Light.

[darkwarrior42]

I really don't see the point - DK has undead minions + necro spells

Necromancers are primarily spellcasters. They use necromantic magic to animate and control the undead, manipulate shadow and frost magics, and drain the life force of their enemies to empower themselves. In the WoW universe, there are a *lot* of mechanical similarities between Warlocks and Necromancers, which is why the OP used them as examples. The only real differences are that warlocks use demons instead of undead, and fire instead of frost.

A death knight, on the other hand, is a heavily armored melee combatant. They draw upon the same source of power as a necromancer, but they don't use it for the purpose of pure magical combat. They empower themselves and their blades, using a small number of true spells to augment their melee prowess. The biggest overlap is that they both have undead minions.

This isn't a perfect comparison, but for an analogy compare an elemental shaman to an enhancement shaman. Both use the same source of power and the same types of spells, but one uses that power for purely magical combat while the other uses a small amount of that power for direct spellcasting, and the rest to augment their physical attacks.

Edit: As to the idea itself, anything that increases customization options is a good thing in my opinion, but I also tend to assume that anything that increases customization is something Blizzard won't bother with.

[Yarathir]

I really don't see the point - DK has undead minions + necro spells

Aesthetic enjoyment, perhaps?



The game isn't purely based around numbers. Beep boop beep -- y'know?



Also, glyphs to give druids Druid of the Flame and Druid of the Nightmare forms would be sweet.


Druid of the Flame glyph:


Bear - Fire Scorpion
Cat - Fire Cat
Flight form - Firehawk
Travel form - Hellhound/Flame spider
Sea form - Flame Turtle (maybe not the best idea, but fuck logic)



Nightmare glyph (aka Creepy Crawly forms):


Bear form - Arachnid (new model)
Cat form - Millipede/Centipede (new skeleton, new model, new creature)
Flight form - Wasp (new model)
Travel form - Ant form (retexture/partial remodel based off the silithid ant model)
Sea form - Water bug/Waterstrider (new or existing model)


Obviously the Druid of the Nightmare one is if we get an expansion where we have models for the above insects or if Blizzard had some more fitting insect organisms to go with it. I'd personally love to have a glyph where we turn into bugs and all other kinds of crawlies. Druids of the Nightmare are very interesting, and turning into a huge arachnid to kill people is just a cool idea.

[Wewlad]

Aye. Flame and Nightmare skins for druids would be amazing. There may also be room for a Serpent-based skin as well, like what we saw in WC.

[Yarathir]

Aye. Flame and Nightmare skins for druids would be amazing. There may also be room for a Serpent-based skin as well, like what we saw in WC.

I think that would work best as a glyph for just a separate form change. So like.. only one glyph that turns your bear or cat form into serpent form instead of a glyph that turns all your forms into something else. But I agree. I thought of it too, as I was writing the post above.

[Julian Rayne]

Since I'm egoistic enough to quote myself:

This idea has been rattling around my head for sometime and it'll drive me crazy if I don't express it somewhere. I'm under no delusions that it will ever be implemented; this is basically a mental exercise.

My idea is for the implementation of additional classes, by changing the theme, aesthetic, flavor and damage types of an existing class, but keeping it's numbers and mechanics identical. The only class I've got a decent idea for is Warlock<==>Necromancer. How a character would toggle between the two I don't know. Maybe a quest-line like the green fire quest, or some sort of new glyph or something.

The way this would work is that all of a Warlock's Fire and Shadowflame spells are replaced with Frost and Shadowfrost equivalents. The Shadow spells remain the same, but some of them would be renamed to sound more necromantic and less demonic. Demonic Minions would be replaced with Undead minions that would function identically. And abilities, talents etc named after famous Warlocks and Demons would now be named after members of the Scourge.

A Necromancer's Specializations would obviously mirror the Warlock's. Affliction would remain largely unchanged with a few exceptions. Rain of Fire would be replaced with something like 'Frost Storm' and do Frost damage. But many of Affliction's themes would work equally well for a Necromancer.

Demonology would be replaced with Necrology. Demonic Fury would have become something more suitable to undeath. Metamorphosis would give you into a Lich instead of a demon. I have no idea what Dark Apotheosis would look like.

Destruction would change the most. I can't even think of a suitable name for it. A single word that would suggest frozen rot and corruption. Burning Embers would be replaced by Icicles. Emberstorm would become Frozensoul or something.

There are huge problem with this I know. For one thing, I doubt we have the sheer variety of Undead to replace demonic minions. Also thinking up Frost equivalents for so many Fire spells (Immolate, Incinerate, Conflagrate) is handicapped by the language itself; we have so many more words for destruction by fire as opposed to destruction by cold.

Also I have only the barest of ideas how this could be implemented for other classes.

Death knight<==>Dragon knight. Death knights created by Bolvar and empowered by Alexstrasza's flames instead of the Lich King. This would be the opposite of the Warlock<==>Necromancer. Frost spells are replaced by fire. The diseases are now Blood Corruption (Blood Plague renamed) and Burning Blood (Fire equivalent of Frost Fever). Your Gargoyle would be some kind of miniature Proto-drake.

Druid<==>Druid of the Flame. Replace Arcane spells with Fire.

Shaman<==>Dark Shaman. Nature spells changed to Shadow.

Paladin<==>Twilight Vindicator. Holy to Shadow.

Like I said, I know this will never be implemented. But it's here for your consideration anyway.

I don't know why I didn't think of adding new skins.

[Hyde]

I thought of this just now and it probably isn't original at all. However it is an idea I was fond of so I thought to bring up it to you guys.

Take the warlock. Take a lot of people who would rather play a necromancer. Instead of making a new class, mechanics, etc. it would be simple to make a "skin" for the warlock that completely overhauls the aesthetics of their spells and minions. For example the Imp would become the Skeleton Mage, the Succubus could possibly become the Shade, etc.

Nothing would be altered mechanically, only the aesthetics. Of course something like this would take time to produce so it would make for a good item to buy on the Blizzard Store. However it wouldn't cost too many new resources, since much of the process would only include swapping icons, models, spell effects, etc.

Essentially it would allow people to play as certain popular professions which couldn't be made into brand new classes but could be incorporated as "skins" for the existing classes. Not every class would have a skin either, and some may never see one although it is likely that there is room for every class to receive a skin.

Someone had suggested a Glyph for this; Glyph of Necromancy.

[Deleted]

Priest would need some work, maybe Sha appearance replacing Shadow. Hunter could get a Dark Ranger Skin. Warrior getting a mounted Charger skin would be pretty awesome (although, that may fit Paladin more). Paladin getting either the Twilight or Racial skin equivalent (Sunwalker skin for Tauren, Blood Knights for BElfs, etc). The nightmare and Flame Druid ideas are magnificent. Warlock into Necromancer has already been discussed. Dark Shaman for Shaman. DK's maybe getting a Light based equivalent (like Sir Zeliek in Naxx). Monks getting a Scarlet Crusade skin, all their fist moves are enhanced with fire.

Really struggling to come up with skins for Mages and Rogues...

[Sygil]

I approve of this idea, probably one of the best ideas to come out of this forum in awhile (not just OP, everyone's contributions/ideas in general).

[Brannax]

Really struggling to come up with skins for Mages and Rogues...

Blood Mage for X spec.

Rogue.. no idea..