Hopefully the next class….

[Ielenia]

Death Knight released at 2nd expansion - 3 specs, each originally capable of tanking or mdps, later changed to 1 tank and 2 mdps spec. Before release, as a hero class, was supposed to be more difficult to manage (hence the reason for hero class), but dumbed down to be more easily managed like any other class. "Hero class" got relabeled to mean starting at elevated level. Enhanced leveling experience in their own zone for 6 or 8 levels.

Uhhh, no. That is not the reason for a "hero class" the only difference between a class and a 'hero' class is that the hero class starts at higher levels. It has nothing to do with complexity or being "more difficult to manage".

The reason why they made the DK into a 1 tank 2 melee class in Cataclysm was for the exact same reason why they split the druid's Feral spec into Feral and Guardian: it's nearly impossible to make one singular spec be able to perform two separate roles and still be able to excel at both without making one role become super-powerful. Like an impossible-to-kill melee DPS or a hard-hitting tank.

Demon Hunter released at 6th expansion - 2 classes (mdps and tank). Considered hero class solely because starting at elevated level.

Because that's all there is to being a "hero class".

[Kyphael]

I'm pretty sure Wrathion is the 4th or 5th most popular character in WoW.

More popular than Illidan, Sylvanas, Thrall, Malfurion, and Alextrasza herself? And this is just going by LIVING characters, never mind including legacy characters in the conversation. Highly debatable, but I'd bet the farm Wrathion wouldn't even crack the Top 10 in a poll of living WoW characters.

[loras]

Hopefully the next class is... classy.
Or clickbaity, as the case might be.

I do prefer three specc classes too though, and would prefer to see DH and evo brought in line in that sense, potentially after exploring their concepts a bit more.

[Kyphael]

"Be a dragon and fight like one" sells a ton better than "Play music"

Excusing the fact you haven't described how bard would be innovative

It has more potential to be innovative. Think musical instruments that buff a variety of spells in different ways; lute, lyre, flute, bagpipes, and mandolin. Each instrument can buff different racials, like a Kul'tiran wielding a bagpipe has increased damage, a Stormwind human with a mandolin increased evasiveness, etc.

The spells themselves would draw from arcane of course, but with whimsical visuals, and lyres in particular, slicing beams of energy or mandolins musical notes that can incapacitate and CC enemies while dealing damage, or healing allies.

Ranged spell damage, melee (like a thief spec, but different enough from the rogue, maybe harkening back to combat before it became swashbuckler) and healing.

This is just off the top of my head.

[doodle90]

I still find it annoying druid has 4 specs and not the shaman who has 4 elements it uses. They need to add black dragon evoker tank and earth focused shaman tank. Since healing focuses on water, ele on fire and enh on wind. It would be perfect. Then evokers who embody multiple dragonflights should have also had at least 3 specs with the two dps elements being just talent choices.

[This One Time At Bandcamp]

Still think it's a shame that Evokers don't have a tank specc.
(Same with Shaman)

There are multiple themes to the class(es) that could work great as a tank.

[Mecheon]

It has more potential to be innovative. Think musical instruments that buff a variety of spells in different ways; lute, lyre, flute, bagpipes, and mandolin. Each instrument can buff different racials, like a Kul'tiran wielding a bagpipe has increased damage, a Stormwind human with a mandolin increased evasiveness, etc.

The spells themselves would draw from arcane of course, but with whimsical visuals, and lyres in particular, slicing beams of energy or mandolins musical notes that can incapacitate and CC enemies while dealing damage, or healing allies.

Ranged spell damage, melee (like a thief spec, but different enough from the rogue, maybe harkening back to combat before it became swashbuckler) and healing.

This is just off the top of my head.

So you're just wanting to inspire the racials debate again. Or add in multiple new weapon types that only work for a single class. Regardless though, you know how people are with optimisation in this game. You should have just said "Here's the option with increased damage, and here's the option no one ever picks". Or "We're re-invigorating the racial choices debate and now folks will have to race change to go to the meta option" Because that was so lovely back in Dazar'alor when BElves were king, and poor dwarves didn't even get their moment in the sun with their bleed removal

I'm not really getting inspired by this because, per your own advice that Evoker is "Just another mage", you've basically just made... Just another shaman. Except it has bagpipes rather than axes on this one and you're tying it to a, frankly, disliked part of the game.

Also like, from a "We're selling this expansion", bagpipes and madolins kinda... Give more of a doofy ren-faire look to them? Not really epic heroes feel at all. Even D&D's bards moved well away from that as their image

I still find it annoying druid has 4 specs and not the shaman who has 4 elements it uses. They need to add black dragon evoker tank and earth focused shaman tank. Since healing focuses on water, ele on fire and enh on wind. It would be perfect. Then evokers who embody multiple dragonflights should have also had at least 3 specs with the two dps elements being just talent choices.

I mean, we know why. Druid tanking got effort put into it and they didn't put anything into shaman tanking after vanilla. I'd love it and warlock tanking to get properly looked at

[Al Gorefiend]

Sate my curiosity. What other options do you foresee (options of a normal class with 3 specs ofc)?

Can someone lie to me and tell me a class like Dracthyr was predictable based on WoW's established lore? Nobody saw this total left field class coming, even the "dragonsworn" crowd were coming up with ideas of which none really made it into the grand design.

So, the answer to what other options Teriz or anyone else foresees really is endless at this point. They can create anything that sounds cool, though admittedly Tinker or any mechanical/tech class is the largest niche left unfilled, or something like Bard. If you look at old Dungeons n Dragons RPG archetypes WoW has almost each one filled up. Warcraft is probably over being used as a hard reference material for any potential new classes in the future.

[God Save The King]

Yeah, the only way that happens is coming up with a healing spec for DHs and a tank spec for Evokers.

Not likely. Again, hopefully the next class is a standard WoW class that starts at level 1 and gives us three specs.

They could add a melee dps for Evoker, but they kind of split the difference there with a mid-ranged caster.

[Teriz]

Can someone lie to me and tell me a class like Dracthyr was predictable based on WoW's established lore? Nobody saw this total left field class coming, even the "dragonsworn" crowd were coming up with ideas of which none really made it into the grand design.

So, the answer to what other options Teriz or anyone else foresees really is endless at this point. They can create anything that sounds cool, though admittedly Tinker or any mechanical/tech class is the largest niche left unfilled, or something like Bard. If you look at old Dungeons n Dragons RPG archetypes WoW has almost each one filled up. Warcraft is probably over being used as a hard reference material for any potential new classes in the future.

I’m pretty sure I predicted a dragon race/class combo with the ability to switch in and out of visage form, and utilize the powers of the dragon aspects.

That is pretty much exactly what we got.

[qwerty123456]

You act like they cut some massive corners to get stuff out each expansion. While I do agree that Evokers could've had a tank spec I definitely disagree about the ranged spec for DH. That spec would've been too much of a spin off to actual hunters. Hunters on the other hand could get a 4th spec and resemble more of a Sylvanas but even that is pushing the similarities. They definitely probably will have more new classes with 3 specs but, it's very hard to say if we'll ever see a pure dps class again.

Demon Hunters can have spec ideas that are basically endless since there is an infinitely possible amount of demon types. Imagine a tank spec where the demon you consumed was an imp mother. You just constantly shit out imps to use as meat shields to protect yourself. Or a ranged spec based on those caster demons that summon eyes. Or a full glaive tossing spec where maybe you consumed a really fragile but fast demon so your constantly trying to stay at range and avoid getting hit by physical attacks. The only way a spec becomes too much of a spin on hunters is if Blizzard makes it that way.

Just wrong. You really need to start thinking before you post. All of your cynical WoW doom-saying is tiresome.

Shadowlands agrees with him. You got the Jailer changing looks between a cinematic and the game, the Primus looking totally different than the runecarver and his statue having a different number of fingers, you got Denathrius somehow draining all of the shadowlands which then magically stops once he is defeated(although they still don't have new souls coming in), you got the Kyrian just tossing souls into the maw because "it's their way" and then begging you to steal some of those souls back from the maw to feed them, you got the jailer being an extremely poor knock off of Sargeras, and about a hundred other things that show the quality has dropped significantly.

[Swnem]

I hope so too, but it's unlikely at this point cause they would have to do catch up content, such as Legion artifacts/class hall. So, i don't see any new class starting pre-legion anymore.

[Teriz]

I hope so too, but it's unlikely at this point cause they would have to do catch up content, such as Legion artifacts/class hall. So, i don't see any new class starting pre-legion anymore.

You can completely bypass Legion content currently. By the time we hit the window for a new class (12.0 or later), Legion content will be completely meaningless and inconsequential for current content.

Hell, we’re pretty much at that point now.

[Apatrida]

Honestly that would be the expansion after the next one. I fever. Game will be on the backburner in 4 years at this rate, so doubtful

[Utrrabbit]

Yeah. I'd like the next one to be a low down 3-4 specs from level 1 with Tank, melee and/or ranged DPS, and healing.

- - - Updated - - -



To be honest, for Demon Hunter, they could've just released them with one spec if it was, that is how narrow they are viewed in story before they added more. As for Dracthyr, they had the option to do 3, 4, or 5 for that matter but I believe due to time, and lore build, they were set at two.

It haa nothing to do with time or lore. It is balance. Currently they have 38 specs to balance. It DH and Evo had 3 each that would be 40. The next would had 43 and so forth. With only 2 specs per new class it helps them with balancing.

[Lochton]

It haa nothing to do with time or lore. It is balance. Currently they have 38 specs to balance. It DH and Evo had 3 each that would be 40. The next would had 43 and so forth. With only 2 specs per new class it helps them with balancing.

Eh, where is that statement? Because they keep saying it is down to the theme of the expansion, as well as the lore background for it, and if a new class is fitting their narrative and schedule.

[Teriz]

Eh, where is that statement? Because they keep saying it is down to the theme of the expansion, as well as the lore background for it, and if a new class is fitting their narrative and schedule.

Yes, expansion theme and design space (is this class offering something different?) seems to be the main factors in class inclusion.

Which is why the lack of Necromancer or Dark Ranger classes in Shadowlands was quite telling.

[plz delete account]

Why not? Why would anyone want another type of mage?

Why would anyone want bard over necromancer or tinker

[Triceron]

Can someone lie to me and tell me a class like Dracthyr was predictable based on WoW's established lore? Nobody saw this total left field class coming, even the "dragonsworn" crowd were coming up with ideas of which none really made it into the grand design.

To be fair, I mean, you could say the lore for any existing class was never established. Death Knights ended up being a specifically new type created by Arthas out of fallen champions of many different races, not just fallen Human Paladins. Or the Demon Hunters all being locked up in a 'Vault of the Wardens'. Just because the lore isn't predictable doesn't mean the class was.

Most of us in the 'Dragonsworn' crowd were completely open and aware that Blizzard was gonna make up their own lore for whatever this class would be. There was no formal Dragonsworn in the lore, so it was absolutely open to interpretation, with the core concept only really being the use of Dragon magic. We all saw the Dragon Isles coming a mile away.

Whether it was a Chromatic Dragon, or a mortal race bestowed with power, or a "Drakonid", or an entirely new race like the Dracthyr, the concept was mostly the same.

[Utrrabbit]

Eh, where is that statement? Because they keep saying it is down to the theme of the expansion, as well as the lore background for it, and if a new class is fitting their narrative and schedule.

Im talking about number of specs. When blizz says that they are talking about the class as a whole.

They are not the same thing.