Time for another class concept fresh from the printer =). On another note, I am also working on twicking my dragonsworn class, so expect news from that as well. So here is my first take on the
RANGER
Intro: Rangers are elite wilderness warriors, archers, and skirmishers, capable of doing tricks with the bow that few others can hope to match. This class would be a more magical class than hunters, pulling from the more mystical roots of elves and shadow magic. There's also no pets to speak of in this class.
Races: night elves, blood elves, undead, human, gnomes, goblins.
Armour: leather with agility for melee and ranged dps and and intellect for healer spec
Weapons: bow
Class Traits:
Elusiveness: Reduces your chance to be seen in stealth by 20%.
Pride in Skill: Rangers respect only those who use bows as weapons. In a loot roll, the ranger always has advantage on needing bows if the other class is not equipped with one.
Survival Training I: Allows you to cast while moving
Gameplay: the Ranger can be perhaps considered as the hybrid breed between a rogue and a hunter, a deadly user of the long ranged bow but far from useless in melee combat and prowess. This skill is the answer to the absence of a pet to protect the ranger. But that’s not a problem since there are many ways a pet would not be able to keep up with the combat pace of the ranger nor phase into the surroundings as well as his master, making the hunter’s beloved pet a dispensable tool. For the ranger, the bow is the only tool they need and they take very high pride in its mastery, which is why they only care to use it and consider other weapons inferior.
Now to the mechanics, they are also a concept between a hunter and a rogue. You start the battle with strong openers and then will have to manage a steady generation of Guile which is the main resource and its generation depends on how you intend to engage your target, with the opportunistic use of WP. This last resource is similar to the rogue’s combo points in the same way that each combo point increases the effectiveness of the ability on the target, the WP increase the chance that ability will succeed. This is both a unique and balanced way to separate rogues with rangers. Rogues are melee fighters that use combo points to build up very powerful attacks but the ranger since it has a natural advantage with range combat will instead have a resource that does not increase the effectiveness but increases the chance of success of that attack.
Specs:
Weaver: this spec specializes in manipulating the battlefield with a vast array of ranged attacks and diversion technics. It is more of a hit and run spec rather than a nuker. It is modeled after the Elven Ranger class in the sense that it uses magic with his skills. This spec is in contact with its surroundings, quickly adapting itself to take advantage of terrain superiority. One could argue that this spec is the master of all bows and arrows. By specializing in the Weaver tree the Ranger gains increased range to offensive spells and abilities. There are various ways to keep your enemies at bay, for example by snaring, slowing or knocking them back from distance. You are given an arsenal of ranged abilities to incapacitate those closing in or moving away. Since the instant spells have an increased range you should use them wisely in combination with your ranged attacks.
Whisperer: this spec specializes in shadow magic and necromancy. This spec would give your toon an undead appearance. The respective familiar class is intended to be the Dark Ranger. This is a spec that manipulates the life force of his enemies to drain their powers into himself, utilizing them to power up his martial skills. The Weaver tree focuses on close-combat damage and ranged openings. The battle starts with an opener from afar, in this case a ranged attack with the buff or debuff desired, followed by a pull or rapidly moving to your target's location. Martial strikes made by you will be your basic fighting style while your ranged attacks will finish the target off if it starts to run away. Some instant spells will also fill the gaps between the cooldowns of your physical abilities.
Moon Guard: this spec is the new healing spec based off the priestess of the moon class. Its arrows are graced by the higher powers of both the alliance and horde religious authorities and can bring both damnation or salvation in battle. The profound blessings of this talent tree improve the healing aspect with powerful spells and graced arrows to support and cure your allies. The tree's signature is the auto-attacking celestial arrows that affects quickly and steadily heal an ally, and at the fifth consecutive arrow releases an healing aoe equal to the healing done to it on the previous times. Another signature healing rotation is the stacking of the Sacrament buff on allies which you can consume for a direct heal or simply leave the stacks to do their job of hot. Faster heals will eat your Guile though.
Resource “guile” (works the same as Focus just purple in colour and 3x more amount to fill) but depending on the stance it will be generated through different methods:
Assault Stance-gains 150% increased resource generation for 5 sec on every critical hit(stacking)
Skirmish Stance-gains 250 Guile with every hit
Sniper Stance-gains resource equal to 25% of the damage done.
Secondary Resource: Weakness Points
Special abilities can reveal weakness points on the target. If you have 1 WP on the target you can use other powerful abilities but with a 75% chance of failure. With 2 WP on the target the chance drops to 50% and so on until you have 4 WP.
GAMEPLAY EXPLANATION:
The ranger’s resource is a mix of a hunter’s focus with a rogue’s combo points but also with a few tweaks. The Guile which is similar to Focus is generated not only constantly but also actively through specific triggers depending on the stance chosen.
The WP which are the second resource and so are not needed to use the basic abilities, are just there to allow the ranger to use its most potent spells. However, this is different from the rogues because it does not guarantee a successful hit but just like the rogue’s combo points, the more WP you have on a target, the better. Both Guile and Focus are balanced to the hunter and rogue because while a hunter has a pet, the ranger as an extra way of generating resource and where the rogue has a build-up power gauge in the form of combo points, the ranger has a build-up success gauge in the form of WP.
NIGHT WHISPERER:
FOREST WEAVER:
MOON GUARD:
Abilities:
MELEE DPS SPEC
RANGED DPS SPEC
HEALER SPEC
TALENT TREE LINK