[Fan Theory] 4th Specs Will Happen in 9.0

[Deleted]

you have the option to add a 4th spec necromancer for dk or warlock and you dont even take it?

Thought the same. And a voodoo-oriented 4th spec Witch-Doctor for shamans!

[Deleted]

I would be the first who cheers for this but I don't think it will happen. Class skills and talents are one of the most changing things, the biggest dev playground in WoW - and for a reason: Nothing will make a game boring faster than when your character feels the same again again and again. Imo this is one of blizzards biggest screws to make every expansion feel fresh. That means the work would expand a lot with a 4th spec for every class, much more than with just another new class.

As I said: This would be the biggest "content-gain" for me too, but I recognize it would also be Blizzard's biggest promise if it ever happens.

[Eurhetemec]

If the Allied Race model works out well, with us having to do in-game stuff to unlock what are effectively subraces (albeit very in-depth ones), I would be unsurprised to see them do a similar thing with specs.

Which is to say, I doubt they'll randomly slap a 4th spec on every class at once, but I'd be unsurprised if they added unlockable 4th specs, or something quite similar for a number of classes.

[Cyram]

Yeah... I don't think we're gonna be getting a 4th spec, balancing and having enough differences between each and every one would be too hard. I mean, hell, they can't even make the 36 they got right now to feel too different from each other...
I'm not saying it's a stupid thing - I would actually love it because it would add more depth to classes... but Blizzard's thing is not to be THAT good at class design.
What I would've loved to have had is... with the whole Elven flavor and shit that happened during Legion and the Insurrection Campaign is Quel'Thalas & Teldrassil allowing their faction members to train as Spellbreakers (Quel'Thalas) and Sentinels / Wardens. 2 new heroic classes, faction-exclusive that would also give a faction-based expansion a little more umph.
One can only dream, though...

[supertigerlamp]

Some of the list seems slightly redundant where classes already have 2 dps specs from which to choose, but I do like the inclusion of more healing specs and tanking specs.

One thing I would love to see is more options for ranged dps specs for tanking classes. Currently only Boomkin exists; all others are melee dps + tanking classes. While it makes a certain kind of sense so far, having the option for more ranged dps options in tank classes would be welcome.

[RotDog]

I'm also one of the many that completely doubts this would ever happen. It's not about underestimating Blizzard, look how much difficulty they are already having to begin with. They're always having to rework and retune things, this would make that tremendously more difficult to maintain, and then we have to consider how to make everything feel different. Just no.

[Nihilist74]

I would rather they improve the specs we have. A lot of them were not very fun in legion.

[TyrannicalPuppy]

Well i rather have 4th specs then a new class. I don't agree with the entire list, but there are some good ones!

Adding 12 new specs is going to fuck up balance a lot more than one 3-spec class.

[Makorus]

Blizz couldnt think of a third spec for DH and you expect them to create an additional spec for EVERY class?

Yeah.

[Jtree]

Ooh, a 4th spec thread. Better update my list:


Death Knight - Necrolyte: These masters of death use dark powers to fend it off from their allies, healing them instead.

Demon Hunter - Outcast: Illidari who have taken up ranged weapons and the skills of their various allies to bring a new dimension to the war against the legion.

Druid - Flame: The watchers in the Firelands have learned to harness the pure, cleansing power of fire to create a new type of ranged DPS.

Hunter - Naturalist: The frontiersman/survivalist uses his knowledge of herbs, salves, and natural magic to heal his allies.

Mage - Physician: a highly trained healer using knowledge of anatomy and the arcane to heal his allies.

Monk - Sky Dancer: Ranged-weapon spec.

Paladin - Inquisitor: Caster DPS, finally giving the Shockadin that has so long been desired.

Priest - Sentinel: Ranged DPS using a bow + holy and arcane, based on Tyrande in Well of Eternity.

Rogue - Combat: A parry-happy tank who uses speed and subterfuge to stand up to the most terrible of opponents.

Shaman - Earthbreaker: Dual-wield tank using the powers of stone and ice to harden himself against damage.

Warlock - Apotheosis: A dark tanking spec that grounds damage directly into the Twisting Nether.

Warrior - Beastmaster: Melee+pet DPS. Battling on the frontiers of more than one world, some warriors have learned to train beasts to be as effective a weapon as their swords. (Probably limited to a few pet types, the "intelligent predators": wolves, dogs, birds-of-prey, probably cats and raptors). Or, bring back Gladiator.

[Golden Yak]

That's probably not true.

Hell, they could stand to cut some specs, get 'em down to 2, Demon Hunter style.

[Emmique]

Warrior - Beastmaster: Melee+pet DPS. Battling on the frontiers of more than one world, some warriors have learned to train beasts to be as effective a weapon as their swords. (Probably limited to a few pet types, the "intelligent predators": wolves, dogs, birds-of-prey, probably cats and raptors). Or, bring back Gladiator.

Soooo Survival Hunters? I know you don't see them much, but they exist, I swear!

[schwarzkopf]

Please - don't make mages hybrid healers.

[In Ogres We Trust]

We don't need four specs. for every class. In actuality, we need a reduction or expansion of specs. that's based upon a full review of each class, e.g. rogues should be reduced to two specs. whereas mages and shamans should be expanded to four.

[Post]

If I was asked what I thought the least likely addition to the next xpac would be, I'd probably say your idea.

[beanman12345]

If it gives me gladiator stance back, I'm all for it!

[Felfaadaern Darkterror]

How you get from "Hey I had this crazy idea" to "Will Happen in 9.0"? O.o

[Deleted]

So what could this mean for 9.0? It's been confirmed that the 2nd raid tier will have Azshara as the final boss, which probably means that N'zoth will be the final raid boss for BfA.

I don't think so. Their WoD burn should be rather fresh and BfA is already ways too much of a WoD 2.0.

Monk: (Flame Dancer) Utilizes a mixture of flame martial arts based on the Red Crane of Hope and a ranged weapon to deal damage. Ranged DPS (think of avatar the last airbender and their firebenders)

Please no. I'd much rather they reset the Monk specs to reflect the celestials, with Chi-ji for healing and Yu'lon for ranged dps.

Hunter: (Dark Ranger) Inspired by Lady Sylvanas, the hunter uses sinister shots to slowly bring agony to their foes. DOT spec. In addition, Survival is now a Tanking spec.

BRING IT ON. Also, let me tank on my Outlaw. Oh wait, it ain't gonna happen. This is Blizzard m8. Survival tank and a tanking capability for the pirate would be ways too cool for those guys.

Generally, I Don't Think So. That many extra specs is ways beyond Team B's capabilities. It took Team A in their prime to give us 6/8 viable DK specs back in Wrath. 12 new specs after Antorus and what? 1 more tier in BfA? is not even a dream to dream. Allied races are a bit of cosmetics and some token content. Specs need to work. There's a good reason they never finished Outcast for Legion.

[therealbowser]

Not only is this not going to happen, most likely ever, but your version of how it would happen is extremely bad. For instance, if fourth specs were added, we wouldn't have a melee clothie (lol), we would have a holy damage dealing priest spec. Etc.

The only decent idea here is how to make two additional demon hunter specs that make any sort of sense, and even that I am unsure about.

I mean no disrespect, but this is a suggestion and you're treating it like an inevitability. That is both arrogant and foolish.

[Khrux]

I thought about this before, it actually makes alot of sense to add in new specs instead of new classes.

We've seen how they have changed up the "new race every 2nd xpac" model with BfA by introducing allied races and telling us its the first of many. So that all but confirms we're done with getting brand new playable races and instead will get more allied races over time.

Secondly, we have classes like Demonhunter who only got 2 specs even thought we were told that early on they toyed around with a healer spec but couldn't get it to a place where they were happy with it.

I would definitely lean towards them introducing new specialisations for 9.0 but not likely 1 for every class (at least initially) for more like here is the first X number of new specialisations with more to come.

Really great ideas that open up new class roles include;
- A ranged caster Paladin, the shockadin dream! (Confessor)
- A melee priest (Inquisitor)
- A healer mage (Chromie style Time magic!)
- A tank shaman (Earthwarden)
- A ranged caster/healer DH (Zealot)
- A ranged caster DK (Necromancer!)

In some cases they could rework existing unpopular specs or add on new ones. Obviously there is problems like what do you do with Druids, but that is why I would suspect they drop a handful of them with the xpac and roll more out over time.