The Next WoW class in 9.0

[Triceron]

So in my opinion,the theme of the expansion is the hill every class speculation lives or dies on.
And that is what kills off quite a few class concepts by default in my opinion.
I doubt that they're solely choosing the expansion theme based so they can have a new class unless they can build the remaining parts of the game around it to create a proper expansion.

If the next expansion is Old God related, I really want to see a Dragonsworn or Dragon-related class since they've been dedicated to fight the Old Gods. The current Dragons are all susceptible to their corruption, so it makes sense for them to bestow their powers on a new class. It's just a shame that the concept isn't very strong or popular in people's minds. Most would rather see a Dragon Race be playable.

[Fetus Rex]

Tinkers are bullshit. Dragonsworn would be more played and better.

[Kralljin]

If the next expansion is Old God related, I really want to see a Dragonsworn or Dragon-related class since they've been dedicated to fight the Old Gods. The current Dragons are all susceptible to their corruption, so it makes sense for them to bestow their powers on a new class.

I'm not sure if the next expansion will be Old god related (at least heavily), BfA's final boss will most likely be N'zoth, so we have the final Old God on Azeroth about to get killed.

However, with dragons being brought back into the spotlight for some time in 8.2, i can see a Dragon related expansion on the horizon.

Blizzard flat out said that the stuff hinted in Island expeditions is stuff for the future.
With Dragon Isles being canonized, both Black and Twilight Dragonflight on the rise again, those are really decent hints.

I, for one, could see an expansion with both Twilight and Black Dragons rising up again, perhaps we also get to see some other "rogue titan forces".
"Evil" Tol'vir are on the move, they have according to the Tol'vir in Uldum a new Forge and churn out new Titan Keepers.
Mogu forces are also not entirely defeated.

The idea that the next expansion will be about some alliance of Mogu & Tol'vir (alongside other Titan related races) with (Twilight / Black) Dragons on the front is my guess for the next expansion.
Perhaps not as the slave to some unknown master, but simply as a force that wants to "free" Azeroth (Think of some mixture of Wrathions and Lei Shens philosophy) from us after we nearly ruined it during BfA with our exploitation of the Azerite.

And Dragons by itself is an extremely popular theme for RPG's such as WoW, whether as enemies, allies (or just mounts), Dragons just work.

[tripleh]

Maybe if someone was looking for the next wow expansion registered trademarked name. It might give a hint to the next expansion, with a chance of figuring out the next class and possible races/allied races. After Azshara and N'zoth theres only void lords and Xalatath walking around. Unless you include the naaru as a potential villian. Tinkerer would probably use the same design as shamen. Shamen have totems, tinkerer would have machines/devices like auto turrets. Necromancer could also be a class, as for darkranger I hope that class never sees the light of day with how bad Darkshore story went. Sira/delaryn need to never be in the spotlight again. Two characters that got screwed over by Danuser.

[ryan11d7]

I'm not sure if the next expansion will be Old god related (at least heavily), BfA's final boss will most likely be N'zoth, so we have the final Old God on Azeroth about to get killed.

However, with dragons being brought back into the spotlight for some time in 8.2, i can see a Dragon related expansion on the horizon.

Blizzard flat out said that the stuff hinted in Island expeditions is stuff for the future.
With Dragon Isles being canonized, both Black and Twilight Dragonflight on the rise again, those are really decent hints.

I, for one, could see an expansion with both Twilight and Black Dragons rising up again, perhaps we also get to see some other "rogue titan forces".
"Evil" Tol'vir are on the move, they have according to the Tol'vir in Uldum a new Forge and churn out new Titan Keepers.
Mogu forces are also not entirely defeated.

The idea that the next expansion will be about some alliance of Mogu & Tol'vir (alongside other Titan related races) with (Twilight / Black) Dragons on the front is my guess for the next expansion.
Perhaps not as the slave to some unknown master, but simply as a force that wants to "free" Azeroth (Think of some mixture of Wrathions and Lei Shens philosophy) from us after we nearly ruined it during BfA with our exploitation of the Azerite.

And Dragons by itself is an extremely popular theme for RPG's such as WoW, whether as enemies, allies (or just mounts), Dragons just work.

Sounds boring AF

[DeicideUH]

I think Tinker is the best bet.

As a plus, it can skip the most popular races and focus on giving flavor and appeal to races such as goblins, gnomes, dwarves, mag'har and others. It would be an interesting way of fighting human/elf supremacy in both factions and give some class-restricted races more attention.

[Teriz]

I honestly don't know why people like the idea of Tinker class.

It's going to be just like old school shamans who had to drop specific totems before they pruned the shit out of it.

That’s only if the DPS is turret based. Turrets might not even be part of the class. However, if they are, then
more than likely it’ll be based on HotS where the turrets are upgradeable and leave behind resources. You’ll be dropping 2-3 of one type of turret. You couldn’t do that with Shaman totems.

[Weeps]

That’s only if the DPS is turret based. Turrets might not even be part of the class. However, if they are, then
more than likely it’ll be based on HotS where the turrets are upgradeable and leave behind resources. You’ll be dropping 2-3 of one type of turret. You couldn’t do that with Shaman totems.

You could be right.

I still feel it'll be "put down x when y happens." It'll be like totem management, that's what I strongly feel it'll be like. Totems disguised as machines with 5-15 second durations with some range spells like rockets. Grenades for AoE ontop of "totems"

[Alpharius]

tinker is such a stupid class and science overall is the most stale thing in warcraft as it adds nothing to the setting except goblin shredders and steam tanks

If it was more like arcanum obscura, it would be neat

[Neverafter]

Well...

Classic - Launch
TBC - New Races (Blood Elf, Draenei)
Wrath - New Class
Cata - New Races (Worgen, Goblin)
MOP - New Race & Class
WOD - Nothing
Legion - New Class
BFA - New Races
9.0 - ???

So, we've alternated between new races and a new class every expansion apart from WOD, although MOP gave us both so it sort of cancels out.

New Classes are a big selling point, something every expansion needs. WOD's big sell was player housing (Garrisons) which didn't work out so well. We could get more races in the next expansion, but we've had so many with BFA I doubt it'll much of a motivator for anyone to re-sub.

If not a new class, then what's the hook for the next expansion? It *might* be some radical new ingame system, but a new class is always a good seller.

8.0 gave us Allied Races. What if 9.0 gave us some sort of equivalent for classes?

Instead of a new class or classes, cosmetic changes to existing classes. Rotationaly, a warrior would still be a warrior, etc, but it would look and feel different.

Warlocks having a quest chain to summon undead instead of demons, spell names and effect changing to be scourge based instead of fel, giving the option to play as a necromancer.

Paladins gaining void/arcane abilities making them Void Knights/Spellblades. Obviously, some classes are easier to come up with Allied Class options than others, but it could start discussions similar to potential Allied Races people would like to see.

Blizzard has said 4th specs weren't happening any time soon. This would still give some love to classes, while not taking up much resource/development time.

[Dakara]

8.0 gave us Allied Races. What if 9.0 gave us some sort of equivalent for classes?

Instead of a new class or classes, cosmetic changes to existing classes. Rotationaly, a warrior would still be a warrior, etc, but it would look and feel different.

Warlocks having a quest chain to summon undead instead of demons, spell names and effect changing to be scourge based instead of fel, giving the option to play as a necromancer.

Paladins gaining void/arcane abilities making them Void Knights/Spellblades. Obviously, some classes are easier to come up with Allied Class options than others, but it could start discussions similar to potential Allied Races people would like to see.

Blizzard has said 4th specs weren't happening any time soon. This would still give some love to classes, while not taking up much resource/development time.

Honestly I'd support this over a new class for sure. Not exactly a 4th spec, but sub-classes or sub-specs to add some flavor or variety... but to be done well would require an overhaul of the entire class system IMHO.

For example, Warlocks could technically be a Mage sub-class. MM hunters could be a Rogue sub-class (Ranger), Paladins a Warrrior sub-class... or a Priest Sub-class.

With 36 specs, if they added sub classes, we could potentially double the number of specs which would be a nightmare. But if they re-designed things, killing off a few specs in the process to make room for new ones, could definitely get behind that.

As an example. I've always felt Mages, or more, Arcane Magic, is terribly under-utilized in game. Fire and Frost (IMHO) should be a single "Elementalist" spec, freeing up a Spec for another Magic type.

[Teriz]

Tinkerer would probably use the same design as shamen. Shamen have totems, tinkerer would have machines/devices like auto turrets.

I would hope Blizzard goes all in with Warframes as the main focus of the Tinker gameplay, making it a major portion of each spec. However, due to the Island Expeditions, it appears that the Warframe is primarily for tanking, while Turrets, Bombs, and Guns are the main DPS component. If turrets are a mainstay of the DPS spec, I'd like to see Pocket Factory from WC3 make a return. It is such a unique and original ability that really encapsulates the Tinker concept.

- - - Updated - - -

I'm not sure if the next expansion will be Old god related (at least heavily), BfA's final boss will most likely be N'zoth, so we have the final Old God on Azeroth about to get killed.

I have a feeling that we don't kill or even face N'Zoth in 8.3. Sylvanas is the main antagonist of this expansion, so if anything the factions are going to unite to stop her. Azshara might even flood the coastal areas and send in the Naga to cause some destruction. I have a feeling that N'Zoth is going to roll into 9.0 as the main bad guy. No more front men, no more games. N'Zoth goes for the crown and all hell breaks loose.

A villain of that magnitude deserves their own expansion.

[Directionalk9]

As someone else just recently pointed out in this thread, I think the best move forward isn’t a new class, but the Allied Race version of classes. All the heavy lifting of class is done, just brand new visuals, animations, and spell names. This is where the oft mentioned Necromancer could finally be realized. Doing it the same way as the Warlock green fire isn’t appealing, and unlocking them like Allied Races doesn’t feel good either (personally unlocking AR is fine by me).

Necromancer - Warlock
Void Templar - Paladin (Sunwalker, Elune Knight)
Shadow Inquisitor - Priest
Spell-Blade - Demon Hunter
Hunter - Shadow Hunter or Dark Ranger
Mage - Witch(Drustvar-esque)
- don’t know why I switched the format -
Death Knights - Spell-Breaker sans shield or a Fel Knight

The remaining classes I can’t easily come up with something.

I personally wouldn’t mind if we got one spec classes. I’d like a gunslinger, but I don’t think the rogue or the Hunter really encompasses that niche class flavor, this could be more interesting and easier for Blizz to add, or I’m wrong.

[stresskiller]

well a new class with abilities to go underground instead of flying or stealth would be nice .

[Kralljin]

Sounds boring AF

Yeah sure, let's go and post more headcanon about how Gnomes,Goblins, Tinkers and Tech as a whole is actually a super popular concept among the WoW playerbase.

[Teriz]

As someone else just recently pointed out in this thread, I think the best move forward isn’t a new class, but the Allied Race version of classes. All the heavy lifting of class is done, just brand new visuals, animations, and spell names. This is where the oft mentioned Necromancer could finally be realized. Doing it the same way as the Warlock green fire isn’t appealing, and unlocking them like Allied Races doesn’t feel good either (personally unlocking AR is fine by me).

Necromancer - Warlock
Void Templar - Paladin (Sunwalker, Elune Knight)
Shadow Inquisitor - Priest
Spell-Blade - Demon Hunter
Hunter - Shadow Hunter or Dark Ranger
Mage - Witch(Drustvar-esque)
- don’t know why I switched the format -
Death Knights - Spell-Breaker sans shield or a Fel Knight

The remaining classes I can’t easily come up with something.

I personally wouldn’t mind if we got one spec classes. I’d like a gunslinger, but I don’t think the rogue or the Hunter really encompasses that niche class flavor, this could be more interesting and easier for Blizz to add, or I’m wrong.

This would require far more work than just one new class, and I think this falls under 4th spec, which Ion has stated isn't happening.

- - - Updated - - -

Yeah sure, let's go and post more headcanon about how Gnomes,Goblins, Tinkers and Tech as a whole is actually a super popular concept among the WoW playerbase.

Well, it kinda is.

[Directionalk9]

This would require far more work than just one new class, and I think this falls under 4th spec, which Ion has stated isn't happening.

- - - Updated - - -



Well, it kinda is.

Just art resources literally not even one “new” spec

[Zyrinx]

As someone else just recently pointed out in this thread, I think the best move forward isn’t a new class, but the Allied Race version of classes. All the heavy lifting of class is done, just brand new visuals, animations, and spell names. This is where the oft mentioned Necromancer could finally be realized. Doing it the same way as the Warlock green fire isn’t appealing, and unlocking them like Allied Races doesn’t feel good either (personally unlocking AR is fine by me).

Necromancer - Warlock
Void Templar - Paladin (Sunwalker, Elune Knight)
Shadow Inquisitor - Priest
Spell-Blade - Demon Hunter
Hunter - Shadow Hunter or Dark Ranger
Mage - Witch(Drustvar-esque)
- don’t know why I switched the format -
Death Knights - Spell-Breaker sans shield or a Fel Knight

The remaining classes I can’t easily come up with something.

I personally wouldn’t mind if we got one spec classes. I’d like a gunslinger, but I don’t think the rogue or the Hunter really encompasses that niche class flavor, this could be more interesting and easier for Blizz to add, or I’m wrong.

Rogue -> Bard.

[Directionalk9]

Rogue -> Bard.

SOLD!... I don’t know or personally see how the rogues abilities and tool kit transfer, but I like it.

[Triceron]

Though the core class is very different, I think the Priest could teanslate better, ability-wise. You have a bunch of heals and support, and Shadow has mind control and fear effects on top of mana leeching and other support buffs.