Introducing the support role
I was talking to some friends today about the Support role and why WoW does not have it and we were discussing on how it could solve problems like healing and tank shortages on most servers and give classes that feel neglected something new. The Support role is a healing-tank-dps hybrid, that does rougly 60% the dps of a normal dps, 40% of the healing of a normal healer and is able to tank 1 or two adds at once, ofcourse not all at once.
Why is a support role needed?
Well there are some problems at the moment that could need some solving in my opinion this are, the long DPS queue's because there are too many, the tank/healer shortage and there should be some bridge for those that want to change specs and the support role could fill this. Another thing that makes adding the Support Role a good idea is that it adds another layer of depth to pve and pvp content.
Which classes would get the support role?
Classes which currently have 3 dps specs would be able to get the support role plus some melee roles. This would be Sublety (rogue), Demonology (Warlock), Survival (Hunter), Arcane (mage), Fury (warrior) and Death Knight (Unholy).
What would the Support role bring?
The support role will bring support to their team. With them giving 4 of 8 combat buffs, crowd controll, aoe-heals, burst-damage and the chance to off-tank. There is one downside of this class, doing either damage, tanking or healing generates a stacking debuff reducing the other two's power by 10% but increasing your current by 5% till a max of 5 stacks, once you use another of these tree the debuff will be removed.
How would they be introduced into pve content?
They would replace some dps and healers in the pve enviroment. In 5 man content they will get one of the three dps roles, but a support won't always be included in the group, so 3 dps is possible aswell. In 10 man content they will take up one of the ranged dps spots and a healer spot. In 25 man content the setup will be 4 healers, 3 tanks, 6 support, 12 dps. This would also make 25 man groups allot easier to manage and make. Next to this the support role will only be avaible for content that is 90 and higher.
What would do this for pvp content?
It will give allot of new changes with this healing-dps hybrid for arena teams and battlegrounds and new tactics could be made around this new class.
When would this feature be introduced?
Next expansion and would only be avaible for the pvp/pve content of that expansion as old stuff will not be balanced around having the support role. Before level 90 support specs will only have their dps skills avaiable the tank and healing skills will be gained after level 90.