If 4th specs are true, what would you like to see for each class?

[superbipbip6]

to begin my ideas of 4th specs i'd say 2 things:
1) new ranged weapon classification: bow and rifle are 2 handed // crossbow and guns are 1 handed ambidextry
2) new role: support: hybrid half-heal half-dps ( think of discipline or ex fistweaver) provinding buffs

now my ides:

DK: necromancer:: ranged magical necromancy spec
Warrior: soldier: ranged heavy soldier using heavy weapons as rifle, flamethrower, grenades, nets…
Paladin: purifier: melee support: using flames and 1 handed weapon in melee to purify his foes while Healing his allies
Hunter: Madness : 1 handd ambidextry ranged crossbow, sacrifice his pet to become crazy, with fast attack, blood rage system, and bleedings
Shaman: Earthwarden, tank, obvioulsy..
Monk: fistweaver : melee support, making mist and fist weaving 2 totaly viable but différent specs
rogue: ranged with 2 guns ambidextry, using stealh and combo points as a ranged spec could be really cool
DH: ranged with 2 cross bow ambidextry, using both fel magic and fel arrows
priest: inquisitor: magical ranged dps holynucker
displine is now a ranged support spec
mage: battle mage: melee fighter with staff, using both fire, ice and arcane in melee, with inovative system for combo to make interesting and new gameplay ( like 3 runes to use to cast a spell, 3 fire = 1 skill / 2 arcane 1 frost = another / fire + frost + frost = another …)
warlock: corruptor: ranged hybrid using dark magic to damage his foes and transfer life to allies

[Pius]

This is my thoughts on the subject with adding a new spec (3 – 5 specs altogether) to all the classes. In some cases, I can see more than one new specs for a class in general. I also like the idea of having more roles for these classes.


Death Knight: With all the roomers going around, I would like to see a Ranged DPS, or a healer.


Demon Hunter: I think that the DH from Diablo 3 might work.


Druid: With this being the class that I play, a new form of the snake and use a permit Trent. Now this spec could be a ranged DPS, or a tank with a pet.


Hunter: With the Hunter, I would give them a pet tanking spec.


Mage: I could see two specs for the Mage. 1) A healer the uses time-based abilities. And/or 2) A tank at raged spec that uses magic shields.


Monk: I can see a raged DPS based off the Monk healing spec.


Paladin: The same as the Monk. I would base this spec off the healers, and make a raged DPS.


Priest: I would like to make a tank based off the Discipline with the magic shields and/or a melee spec.


Rogue: The new specs could be based off of the old Combat spec and tank.


Shaman: Without a doubt, a tank using the Earth elements.


Warlock: I can think of two possible specs. 1) A pet tank spec. And/or 2) A spec that heals like the Discipline Priest.


Warrior: A ranged DPS spec and/or maybe another tank at range.

[Zorish]

Well, there would be little difference between using BoP on the Pet (or any other tank for that Matter) or on the warlock, so i don't see that as a problem.

No, the pet would not need especially high health. Soullink practically combines the WL's healthbar with the Pet healthbar. so WL has 200k health, pet has 200k, the warlock tank has effectively 400k health. You could also just make the pet immortal; if it reaches 1 HP, then 100% of the damage is transferred tp the warlock. Or soullink could work by linking the health percentages of pet and WL, there are multiple possibilities.

Of course, Pet control is important, and yes, the WL ist targetable. Think of the player playing 2 characters at once, high risk, high reward. And the WL must not do regular DPS, thats right. But considering he has to manage his pet, use active mitigation and maybe sacrifice some damage potential in favor of healing/mitigation, he won't do that much damage anyways.

You're right, it would be a difficult task to implement such a system, but i don't think it's impossible. All DPS and most Tank specs in the game are easy to learn, easy to master, you just have to have the right gear. I would enjoy a spec, which is hard to master and the effort you do pays off.

High risk? more like ZERO risk then, cause even if warlock must move out - his pet will do damage still. No mastering there. You just push cd at the same time as normal tank.

BoP pet? then boss walk to rape anyone in room. BoP warlock? BOSS STAY ON PET AND DO 0 DAMAGE.

one thing that can be "mastery" over this spec - when you on low hp and must take pet out of aoe, and even then we have mouse over macros

[brt2pp]

crane spec of monk would be fun, every time you respeced to it you should hear faint "reeeeee" from sylvanas (since it's based around loa of hope)

[StyxzTheSage]

DK - Vampiric. Melee healer ala disc priest.

DH - Calamity. Ranged phys DPS.

Druid - Dream Warden. Pure support spec. Buffs and utility with access to weaker tank, heal, and dps abilities. Talents would prop up one role or the other.

Hunter - Dark Ranger. Melee ranged spell dps hybrid with no pet.

Monk - Spiritsurger. Ranged spell. Based on Monkey and Turtle wild god. Powers up to different levels of SS (spirit surge), and nukes heavy with a Turtle Wave.

Pally - Warden. Ranged tank or heal, based on talents.

Priest - Brilliance. Holy and fire ranged spell dps.

Mage - Elementalst. Ranged spell dps or healer (based on talents) that combines elements for damage. Can access ALL spell types except Holy.

Rogue - Weaponmaster - Tank with differing mitigation styles based on melee weapon equipped, with talents to support builds.

Shammy - Protection. Pet based tank via elementals, uniquely capable of main tanking AND light off tanking at the same time in a pinch.

Warlock - Apotheosis. Tanking, with mitigation and other abilities buffed based on which pet you've fused with.

Warrior - Gladiator. Sword and shield melee DPS, capable of off tanking in a pinch.

[Zorish]

also question... what people mean by "ranged tank"?

[TwoMana]

Isn't this "4th specs are coming" stuff just something that forums have made up and now we're repeating it ad nauseam, in hopes it'll become true?
This must be 5th or 6th thread about the subject in the past month.

Has Blizzard even hinted at 4th specs in any communication?

[Zyky]

Guild Wars 2 has Dragonhunter specialization for Guardians aka Paladins.

Basically a bow arrow / ranged spec for Paladins.

A man can dream

Truthfully, idc what class it is, but we need more ranged in the game and more ranged that uses guns/bows/xbows because right now it's only hunters and it's pretty bland.

[Hekazi]

Rogue with range spec

I want it very bad since the pirate outlaw we had hehe

[sandini]

if blizzard ever introduces a 4th specc, or maybe only a 4th specc for 1 to 3 classes and a whole new class, I hope they reconsider their standing to hybrid and support speccs and use that time to reintroduce these.

hybrids are allways complicated to balance, but support speccs should be possible in wow.
for example:

a fistweaving specc for monks, that does roughly 50% of a fullhealers healing and 50% of a regular dd´s damage. and he can alternate the healing - damage ratio slightly between 30/70 to 70/30 depending on how he plays.

witchdoctor for shaman, who buffs other players, so they do more damage and take more healing. He can do direct damage/healing, but buffing others should give the group overall more damage/healing (increasing other healing by a small percentage OR an absolute amount, maybe with a fixed amount of triggered bonus heals).

I think you see my point.

other ideas:
priest: necromancer - summoning undead and debuffing enemies, so they take more damage from the necromancer AND allies.
mage: white mage / time mage - undoing taken damage, buffing other players (Like a miniature version of bloodlust)
paladin: inquisitor/zeal - increasing an enemy's damage taken from all sources, incite allies

for the other classes I could not come up with plausible support speccs, so here are my ideas for regular speccs for them:

warlock tank: something like the old apotheosis
demon hunter -short range dd: rage (alternating between short range cleve tosses, eyebeam and longer range attacks)
rogue tank/assasin hybrid: warden (like Maiev)
hunter dd/support hybrid - dark ranger (does moderate damage, but inflicts wounds and diseases in his victims, so they take more damage overall)
warrior dd - gladiator: like the wod variation
death knight support - necromancer: same as priest (but i think a necromancer in cloth makes more sense)
or death knight dd/tank hybrid - vampiric (like the san'lyn)

[lllBlackSunlll]

Rogue tank spec that would have combo abilities that heal and provide mitigation.

Mechanically that would be cool, but from a class fantasy point of view that would completely contradictory. The point and literal meaning of a rogue is to be an outcast. Being a tank doesn't really fit unlike other classes. Hell, a mage tank makes more sense.

[LordVargK]

High risk? more like ZERO risk then, cause even if warlock must move out - his pet will do damage still. No mastering there. You just push cd at the same time as normal tank.

BoP pet? then boss walk to rape anyone in room. BoP warlock? BOSS STAY ON PET AND DO 0 DAMAGE.

one thing that can be "mastery" over this spec - when you on low hp and must take pet out of aoe, and even then we have mouse over macros

Well, the damage of an non demonology warlock pet is not really that high, so I don't think thats a problem. And assuming you pet doesn't have 90% aoe reduction you will have to manage his positioning manually. And that would mean, you would have to manage the position of yourself and of your pet. seems not that easy, even with mouseover macros.

And even if the other Tank for some reason can't taunt after your pet got BoPed, you could always let the pet lose threat if the WL gets BoPed. If that's your main problem with the idea; I'm sure there could be a solution if you would look for one.

[Obelisk Kai]

Mage: Battle Mage. Melee mage with elemental imbued weapons. Make it so.

There is little enough chance of fourth specs actually happening, and even less chance of Mages getting a melee spec. The particular spec you describe here, a melee battle mage using elemental imbued weapons, is exactly the fantasy of the enhancement shaman.

A dev did at one point reveal they had in fact spitballed a fourth spec for Mages and that was a time based healing spec. The source is lost to history, maybe someone has it handy and can share it again, but it's one of those things that was repeated so often over the years that many of us recall the statement being made even if we can no longer recall when or where we saw it.

[Wangming]

An evasion tank for rogue and a magic tank for mage. No, I don't tank. I don't enjoy it. But I'll gladly give others new toys. And even if a magic tank sounds weird, having a rogue with three melee dps specs is kinda weird. Come to think of it I would be totally down with Subtlety turning into a rogue tank even if we don't get a fourth spec.

[Ignaz]

I would like to see:

Paladin: (Pacifier) A DPS holy range/mele hybrid.

Priest: (Inquisitor) A DPS holy caster. moon thematic.

Warrior: (Ranger) A range/mele hybrid, makes physical dps. marines thematic.

Hunter: (Tactical) Range DPS with no pet, centering damage in traps and poison.

Rogue: (Nightmare) A tank who uses void to become intangible.

Mage: (Timemancer) A support/healer who manipulate time in order to reverse damage, reflecting it to its origin.

Warlock (Punisher) A tank that uses strong demons, these demons take all the damage while being healed by the blood of their summoners.

DK (Lich) A frost DPS caster that use necromancy to make an small army

DH (Corrupt) A fel caster DPS

Monk (Firefist) A mele DPS who absorbs and redirect damage to its enemies

Shaman (Fortress) An earth/Ice tank

Druid: a redesign of some of ot spec.

[Zorish]

Well, the damage of an non demonology warlock pet is not really that high, so I don't think thats a problem. And assuming you pet doesn't have 90% aoe reduction you will have to manage his positioning manually. And that would mean, you would have to manage the position of yourself and of your pet. seems not that easy, even with mouseover macros.

And even if the other Tank for some reason can't taunt after your pet got BoPed, you could always let the pet lose threat if the WL gets BoPed. If that's your main problem with the idea; I'm sure there could be a solution if you would look for one.

yeah. best solution - not make such spec. Too much work need to be done around it (not to just spec, to all mechanics related to tanks and bosses, not to mention that i still don't see who must get arilery (iron reaver) style marks. Warlock? then you don't need second tank. Pet? warlock continue dps.

[Elestia]

My ideas... similar but a little different. I like the idea of using 4th specs to enhance a class' overall role in game. For example, warriors having 3 melee dps specs with a tank option, rogues 3 melee with a ranged option, shamans adding a tank spec to have one of each role like druids, etc. I couldn't think of a more compelling spec for hunters, and a bird person seemed pretty compelling / hillarious. (Obvious allusion to R&M fandom.) But seriously, Blizz could totally make a Talonguard work and it would be amazing.


DK - Domination - Tank or ranged dps combat via control of a massive undead avatar
Paladin - Dragonsworn - Healing spec focused on red dragon flame and holy magic.
Warrior - Lancer - Heavy pike cavalry focused on dealing damage with momentum and speed of charging attacks. Mount model could change based on race
Shaman - Earthwarden - Tank spec with empowered earth elementals, earthen armor and manipulation.
Hunter - Talonguard - Bird-person ranged spec with bird everything.
Rogue - Dark Ranger, Ranged dps spec with a focus on debuffs, and siphons. Has CDs to attack in melee similar to enhance / survival attacking from ranged.
Monk - Runecaster - Ranged dps via scrolls, talismans and runes of elemental power
DH - Possession - Tank spec or ranged dps... Conjures demonic minions from within soul crystals to possess or sacrifice for empowerment in combat.
Mage - Chronomancer, healer bending time to heal / shield / phase allies.
Warlock - Necromancer - Ranged dot class focusing on diseases and skeletal minions.
Priest - Cleric - Fire and holy dps casts from 2H weapons.


Points I would differ with the OP: Necro really belongs to warlocks... dark ranger is far more rogue like than marks hunter.
Spellbreaker should be its own mail class.

I liked the warlock spec as an idea, but it would work well as an option for DH / DK tanking with an added advantage of lending these classes a ranged option. The DK would be more of a direct control puppet master, dh would be sacrifice / personal empowerment for more chaos damage.

[Nebron]

I'm reading through the comments and some are really good, like the concept of hunter using spirits of animals or mage as a melee with a shield and one-hand sword.

But it becomes apparent that the struggle with coming up with a fresh, creative, innovative spec for every class is a closest thing to a miracle. I don't think it will ever happen, nor do I think it'd be healthy for the game itself. The problem of balance vs class fantasy is huge already and deepening that issue would be disasterous in it' effects.

Also, there is a problem of players who got used to the idea that for the sake of balance, almost every class should be equipped with resses, dispels, interrupts, CCs and so on. By definition it infringes the idea of class identity. Giving players more options would end up in borrowing from other spec of other classes or stretching the class fantasy to a place in which one would lose the fun of playing a particular class.

On top of that such decision would be irreversible. Too risky for it to happen, I suppose.

[Nohara]

I don’t have idea’s for most classes, but this is what I’d like to see:

DK, Archangel, adopted by the light, Ranged/Melee dps hybrid.
Hunter, Rambo, dual wielding guns/crossbow, no pets. Ranged dps.
Mage, Chronomancer, healer/dps hybrid class, using time to heal, and clones to dps.

[DeWumpus]

Well not all classes have to have fourth specs. Some can remain as two or three spec classes. I have based these classes on play-styles that I would like to come back and/or other blizzard games from which I have cribbed concepts. BTW ( Some of these specs are what I call support role. Think Disc priest as their redesign was supposed to be. Not necessarily excel at one role but combine aspects of both to help out raids and groups)

Warrior: Tactician (Support)
Tactician is a dps support role that can drop banners (Like Varian from HOTS) and shouts to buff/debuff allies/enemies

Paladin: Zealot (DPS)
I was thinking a fast attacking 2H spec (think zealots from SC ) but it could instead be a return of the shockadin (ranged dps)

Hunter: Ranger (DPS)
This could be a ranged magic focused DPS. Could also have race specific spell effects (shadowhunter/dark ranger etc)

Rogue: Bard (Support)
Bard would be a dps support who would use his combo points on songs that would buff/debuff allies/enemies. Can also have some limited healing though some spenders

Priest: Inquisitor (DPS)
Inquisitor would be a holy based DPS spec.

Death-knight: Necromancer (DPS)
Think Necromancer from D3. The pet mechanic from Unholy would be moved here and enhanced (unholy would become a weapon/spell based dps spec).

Shaman: Earthwarden/Geomancer (Tank)
Shaman tanking baby! Can't chose between a 2-H wielding tank (guess WoW classic is making me nostalgic) or 1H and shield

Mage: Timewalker (Heal)
To be honest, I was expecting this since MoP (Timelord's Regalia). Healing spec based on shields and spell that 'reverse' damage.

Warlock: Apothecary (Heal)/ <Cool sounding spec name here> (Tank)
I love an idea of a class that heals you by tossing potions on you. If it won't break balance we could have them heal a little bit more (compared to other specs) but also debuff you with negative side effects.

Monk: Crane Style (Support)
[As a fan of kung fu movies, i believe all monk specs should be renamed to Ox style, Tiger style, Serpent style and now Crane Style ]. The fist-weaving spec.

Demon-Hunter: None
I suppose we could come up with an additional spec that involves ranged spells but DH not being melee DPS seems wrong somehow

Druid: None?
Druid has 4 specs already. I suppose we could make resto to be in tree form to heal (like balance has to be in moonkin) and come up with a 5th support spec that does not shapeshift during combat which functions as a Jack of all trades but that seems a bit much