The Explorer Class Concept 2022

[Shadowferal]

The "Explorer's League" is considered an "independent faction" in my own notes. Although I've never considered any potential classes for such a faction. Until now.

[Snufflupagus]

As I'm fleshing out the healing spec, the Tome is becoming less sensical as a weapon, so that might get removed. So you're looking at 2 new weapon types. Whips could possibly be used by other classes (without the range).

I’m not sure any of them make sense as a weapon. The whip would work better as a whip-out spell a la serpent sting. Are they meant to just autoattack at thirty yards’ range? With a whip?

[Teriz]

Explorers League were in WoW since vanilla. So not exactly true. And i disagree that the class should be available to all races.
For Alliance theExplorers League has only Dwarves and gnomes as members. And for Horde the Reliquary has only Blood Elves as members.
So my suggestion would be that the Explorer class is available to at least Dwarves and Gnomes for Alliance. Maybe Night Elves and/or Kul Tiran too. And Horde gets Blood Elves and Undead. And maybe Goblin and/or Zandalari.

Keep in mind, this is based on these characters that originated in Hearthstone, but are now also appearing in WoW;

The class explanation sound very cool. Nicely done!

Thank you! I appreciate it.

- - - Updated - - -

It's not the worst class concept I've ever seen. It still needs a lot of work and to be renamed. My own take is an "Explorer" class is just that: Exploring, knowing the land, finding secrets, things like that. For dungeons and raids it might be an interesting starting point for a real support class (which no one would want to play unless it was made to be "mandatory").

TBF, Brann Bronzebeard has been a pretty consistent presence during our dungeoning and raiding for years. Also Blizzard has done a good job giving the individual characters class-style attributes as shown in the opening image of the OP and here;

The biggest problem is not the idea. The idea is fine for an MMO. Just not WoW. I just do not see how it fits into the world meta for Azeroth, Hearthstone aside. Maybe it's the vague cowboy aesthetic in the pictures.

I think the idea would work out great for an expansion dealing with an Azerothian land-mass that we need to explore, like Tel'abim, Azjol' Nerub, or some new lost continent that Blizzard decides to manufacture.

[Tartys]

Explorer, adventurer... Sound more something related to players than a class... Also, why put so many card game related thing in this game?

Also, whip got tecnical issue as a weapon, it's the reason why was changed in Diablo III.

[8bithamster]

There’s nothing but straw-man nonsense in your post.

- - - Updated - - -



Thank you. That was the goal: Providing a new possible class concept.

So.. you pick and choose what lore you say is "official" wow lore? that makes sense, explains quite a bit. At least if you admit it, we can safely dismiss the Hearthstone connection and look at the class as a base.

While interesting, it absolutely serves no purpose that is not being done by other classes. It's yet another attempt to make a profession into a class. Over the years I've seen:

Engineer turning to Tinker
Alchemist turning to the Alchemist combat class
Inscription turning to a Scribe caster
Archeology turning into Explorer

And while I like some (Tinker, Alchemist and in a way this one) I don't see any of them happening.. at all

[Teriz]

So.. you pick and choose what lore you say is "official" wow lore?

1. The characters showing up in WoW gives them grounding in lore.
2. Blizzard has pulled abilities and concepts from other Blizzard games into WoW in the past. Especially when those games are WC/WoW-related.

While interesting, it absolutely serves no purpose that is not being done by other classes. It's yet another attempt to make a profession into a class.

Well again, Ion has stated that there will be another WoW class in the future, so Blizzard is clearly not done making new classes. Also a class sharing a theme with a profession is irrelevant. Enchanting serves the magic theme with Mages, and they're quite different from each other. Additionally, this class could be a second physical ranged weapon user, and could compete with Hunters for those weapons.

And while I like some (Tinker, Alchemist and in a way this one) I don't see any of them happening.. at all

You're welcome to have that view. Personally I think Blizzard won't release a new class that isn't tied to major, popular characters, and expansions. This particular class has those qualities, as does the Tinker. Beyond that, pickings get very slim.

- - - Updated - - -

Explorer, adventurer... Sound more something related to players than a class... Also, why put so many card game related thing in this game?

Also, whip got tecnical issue as a weapon, it's the reason why was changed in Diablo III.

Yeah, I relegated whips to just items. I'm also considering reorienting this class into gun/bow/Xbow users. That would better justify the Gatling Wand.

[Ielenia]

Ben Brode essentially said that nothing in HS is part of WoW lore. Over time that has proven to be false. Which is why the comment is dumb in retrospect.

The only "dumb comment" here is your constant attempts to dismiss Blizzard's own words because they go against your narrative. His comment means this: "just because you see something happening in Hearthstone, it doesn't mean it is canon to the Warcraft lore, even if it involves characters that already exist in the Warcraft lore."

Characters which include Jaina, Uther, Ragnaros, and Reno Jackson.

Reno more than likely being a dragon =/= EVERY aspect of EVERY HS character being true.

You're starting to backpedal, now. You didn't say "Reno is likely to be a dragon". You said he is a dragon, despite we having absolute zero indication of that being the case in WoW. Because you took Hearthstone lore as canon to Warcraft. You said that because he is a blue dragon in Hearthstone, that means he is a dragon in WoW:

They're going to be in the next expansion quite a bit since Reno is a blue dragon.

You stated him being a dragon as fact, not possibility.

Which are still dungeons.....

Which is no different than getting a reward from a quest. And brings us back to my original point of loot table bloat and difficulty to gear up your class since each spec uses different weapons that are exclusive to the class.

It's a class based on Warcraft heroes with some unique abilities. Sounds about right to me.

What are Reno Jackson's "unique explorer abilities" in WoW? And still on the topic of "yOuR rUlEz", what is the expansion story that would usher in an "explorer" class? Especially considering that "exploring" is something we do every expansion, like when we explored Outland, Northrend, Uldum, Pandaria, Draenor, Zandalar, Shadowlands... and now the Dragon Isles?

[Teriz]

The only "dumb comment" here is your constant attempts to dismiss Blizzard's own words because they go against your narrative. His comment means this: "just because you see something happening in Hearthstone, it doesn't mean it is canon to the Warcraft lore, even if it involves characters that already exist in the Warcraft lore."

Characters which include Jaina, Uther, Ragnaros, and Reno Jackson.


You're starting to backpedal, now. You didn't say "Reno is likely to be a dragon". You said he is a dragon, despite we having absolute zero indication of that being the case in WoW. Because you took Hearthstone lore as canon to Warcraft. You said that because he is a blue dragon in Hearthstone, that means he is a dragon in WoW:

You stated him being a dragon as fact, not possibility.


Which is no different than getting a reward from a quest. And brings us back to my original point of loot table bloat and difficulty to gear up your class since each spec uses different weapons that are exclusive to the class.

Yeah sorry, I don't think any of this is relevant to this thread.

Which is no different than getting a reward from a quest. And brings us back to my original point of loot table bloat and difficulty to gear up your class since each spec uses different weapons that are exclusive to the class.

Well good news; I've demoted whips to merely abilites ala Rogue's pistol, and made tomes into general items. The only unique weapon is the Gatling Wand.

What are Reno Jackson's "unique explorer abilities" in WoW? And still on the topic of "yOuR rUlEz", what is the expansion story that would usher in an "explorer" class? Especially considering that "exploring" is something we do every expansion, like when we explored Outland, Northrend, Uldum, Pandaria, Draenor, Zandalar, Shadowlands... and now the Dragon Isles?

TBF, Chen and Alexstraza's unique abilities in WC3 and HotS were also absent from WoW until their classes appeared in the game.

As for expansions, they could fit into a wide variety of expansions. I think an expansion set in Tel'abim dealing with an Egyptian-inspired titan complex would work just fine for them.

[Hambo94]

Admire the effort to do all the icons and get the imagery, but what the hell is this. Sorry, this dosent fit in World of Warcraft one bit.

[Ielenia]

Yeah sorry, I don't think any of this is relevant to this thread.

Says the guy who was actually the one who brought all that to the thread, and now that he's been debunked, tries to dismiss everything as "not relevant to the thread".

Well good news; I've demoted whips to merely abilites ala Rogue's pistol, and made tomes into general items. The only unique weapon is the Gatling Wand.

Right. And why does a wand is restricted to "melee range" and how would it even "allow tanking"?

TBF, Chen and Alexstraza's unique abilities in WC3 and HotS were also absent from WoW until their classes appeared in the game.

Chen did not exist in WoW before MoP, and Alexstrasza had plenty of abilities in WoW already. Your "rUlEz" say that we need a WoW VIP NPC with "unique abilities". So where are Reno's?

As for expansions, they could fit into a wide variety of expansions. I think an expansion set in Tel'abim dealing with an Egyptian-inspired titan complex would work just fine for them.

So.... a re-thread of Uldum, made into a whole expansion? Still, I also don't see it as viable. First, because the theme already exists in WoW in Uldum, like I pointed out, and second, because you're basically just making it into a "Harrison Jones" class, which is a storyline and NPC people would usually pick as one of the worst parts of Uldum, if not of all of Cataclysm.

[Varx]

Honestly if blizz is going to go hard on an explorer Indiana jones gimmick then all that effort needs to be focused on revamping archeology.

Like a whole game mode like dragon riding.

Archeology is probably the most neglected non expansion exclusive feature in this game.

[Triceron]

Nice ideas, but would be better applied as a profession revamp with better themes

[Teriz]

Says the guy who was actually the one who brought all that to the thread, and now that he's been debunked, tries to dismiss everything as "not relevant to the thread".

Not debunked, I just don't feel it's worth debating.

Right. And why does a wand is restricted to "melee range" and how would it even "allow tanking"?

It's explained in the write-up.

Chen did not exist in WoW before MoP, and Alexstrasza had plenty of abilities in WoW already. Your "rUlEz" say that we need a WoW VIP NPC with "unique abilities". So where are Reno's?

The point is that the original abilities that wound up in the Monk and Evoker class originally existed outside of WoW. The same is true with this class.

So.... a re-thread of Uldum, made into a whole expansion? Still, I also don't see it as viable. First, because the theme already exists in WoW in Uldum,

Blizzard hasn't repeated themes from expansion to expansion?

like I pointed out, and second, because you're basically just making it into a "Harrison Jones" class, which is a storyline and NPC people would usually pick as one of the worst parts of Uldum, if not of all of Cataclysm.

I believe the popularity of the LoE show that people don't associate them at all with Harrison Jones.

- - - Updated - - -

Honestly if blizz is going to go hard on an explorer Indiana jones gimmick then all that effort needs to be focused on revamping archeology.

Like a whole game mode like dragon riding.

Archeology is probably the most neglected non expansion exclusive feature in this game.

Nice ideas, but would be better applied as a profession revamp with better themes

I don't think a profession could give you the level of gaming opportunities that a class could. And as I said, they seem to be really pushing these characters and purposely increasing their popularity. If HotS was still active, I would fully expect to see some of these heroes pop up in HotS. Wouldn't be surprised to see some LoE skins in OW2.

Is Blizzard allowing archeology to fall off to bring in this type of class? Unlikely, but something to consider.

[Alanar]

... "Whip Crack". 30 yards range. 30 yards range!? Are you nuts?! A whip, on average, has a 12 foot range. That is 4 yards. 4 yards! No whip that can reach 30 yards is going to be anywhere near practical!

Not to mention: do you honestly believe Blizzard would create not one, not two, but three unique weapon types for a single class? Just like your previous "class" thread, this one really doesn't look like anything but another fake attempt at class building.

Whip crack 4 yard range, does medium damage.

I mean.. damage w/e, but lets take your glasses off and look what a fun ability you created. The fanatasy of a whip attack is not going to work in with a 4 yard range. It needs to be atleast 10+ to make it even feel like the thing has atleast some reach. Even 10 would feel awkward.

Lets just increase the range and make it shrink while putting it back on your hip, like every other weapon -.-and call it a day okey genius?

[Triceron]

I don't think a profession could give you the level of gaming opportunities that a class could.

Is Blizzard allowing archeology to fall off to bring in this type of class? Unlikely, but something to consider.

I mean that being said, nothing would give you the level of gaming that a class would.

But it's not like Enchanting, Alchemy, Cooking, Inscription etc should become classes even if we can all agree they'd have far more gameplay than however they exist now.

I think the theme of Archaeology is better presented as a secondary trait that any class can choose to adopt. I like the idea of exploring and artifact finding being a free-form experience, rather than be tied to combat-mechanics like a class ultimately would be designed around.

I think we can all agree that Archaeology/exploring in general should be improved in the game, and the theme should be better tapped into.

[MoanaLisa]

I think the idea would work out great for an expansion dealing with an Azerothian land-mass that we need to explore, like Tel'abim, Azjol' Nerub, or some new lost continent that Blizzard decides to manufacture.

OK. I can buy that. Anyway, interesting.

[Ielenia]

Not debunked, I just don't feel it's worth debating.

Because you can't debate it. You bring up information that is demonstrably inaccurate and then when people point out how inaccurate you are you decide to "stop discussing it"?

It's explained in the write-up.

"This exclusive weapon type allows for tanking" is in no way an explanation. First you gotta explain why an item that normally has a 30-yard range, such as wands, suddenly have a very short, limited range. Then you have to actually explain how that translates into "it allows tanking".

The point is that the original abilities that wound up in the Monk and Evoker class originally existed outside of WoW. The same is true with this class.

So you're changing your "rUlEz" again? Because I recall when the "rUlE" was that it had to be in Warcraft 3. Then, after Illidan, you changed your "rUlEz" to say 'Warcraft 3 and Heroes of the Storm", and now, for this new class of yours, the "rUlE" is: Warcraft 3, HotS and Hearthstone?

What's next? WC3, HotS, HS... and Diablo? Or perhaps Starcraft? How about Call of Duty? Maybe Candy Crush too?

Blizzard hasn't repeated themes from expansion to expansion?

Not really, no. At least, not to the extent you're implying. You want an expansion that is basically the same thing as Uldum, only for an entire expansion instead of just a zone.

I believe the popularity of the LoE show that people don't associate them at all with Harrison Jones.

Good luck selling the worst parts of Uldum as "a fun expansion theme"

- - - Updated - - -

Whip crack 4 yard range, does medium damage.

I mean.. damage w/e, but lets take your glasses off and look what a fun ability you created. The fanatasy of a whip attack is not going to work in with a 4 yard range. It needs to be atleast 10+ to make it even feel like the thing has atleast some reach. Even 10 would feel awkward.

Lets just increase the range and make it shrink while putting it back on your hip, like every other weapon -.-and call it a day okey genius?

... Sure. How about we also make polearms have a 30 yard range, "and just make it shrink when you put it on your back"? And two-handed swords as well? Make the blade elongate to 30 yard every time you swing it? And daggers too, while we're at it.

[8bithamster]

Not debunked, I just don't feel it's worth debating.



It's explained in the write-up.



The point is that the original abilities that wound up in the Monk and Evoker class originally existed outside of WoW. The same is true with this class.



Blizzard hasn't repeated themes from expansion to expansion?



I believe the popularity of the LoE show that people don't associate them at all with Harrison Jones.

- - - Updated - - -






I don't think a profession could give you the level of gaming opportunities that a class could. And as I said, they seem to be really pushing these characters and purposely increasing their popularity. If HotS was still active, I would fully expect to see some of these heroes pop up in HotS. Wouldn't be surprised to see some LoE skins in OW2.

Is Blizzard allowing archeology to fall off to bring in this type of class? Unlikely, but something to consider.

"I Never said Brann is a blue Dragon!!"
"Here is a post you literally said that"
"OMG It's not relevant"

Yikes.. even then you can't admit you were wrong can you?

[Teriz]

I mean that being said, nothing would give you the level of gaming that a class would.

But it's not like Enchanting, Alchemy, Cooking, Inscription etc should become classes even if we can all agree they'd have far more gameplay than however they exist now.

I think the theme of Archaeology is better presented as a secondary trait that any class can choose to adopt. I like the idea of exploring and artifact finding being a free-form experience, rather than be tied to combat-mechanics like a class ultimately would be designed around.

I think we can all agree that Archaeology/exploring in general should be improved in the game, and the theme should be better tapped into.

Yeah, I don't think the idea should be blocked simply because we have an archeology profession. There IS a trope for these types of characters, and there's nothing inherently wrong with these types of characters entering the class system. I mean let's face it, Archeology is a rather dull profession, and people were initially quite interested in it because they thought they were going to be like Indiana Jones, or at least like Brann Bronzebeard. I think there's little doubt that the entire concept of archeology in WoW would be FAR better served as a class.

Also, I feel that they would make a very strong replacement for a Bard class, since they possess the same type of attributes that a Bard would bring to the table. However, unlike a Bard, this would be something far more decidedly Blizzard, and definitely fit the rule of cool that Blizzard likes to follow in class implementation.

- - - Updated - - -

Because you can't debate it. You bring up information that is demonstrably inaccurate and then when people point out how inaccurate you are you decide to "stop discussing it"?

As with most things in this regard Blizzard confirmed that Reno was a blue dragon in Hearthstone, and he's going to play a role in Dragonflight. So in my view it's quite obvious which way this is going to go. However, I'm not going to waste time trying to convince you of that because you'll never accept it as a possibility anyway.

"This exclusive weapon type allows for tanking" is in no way an explanation. First you gotta explain why an item that normally has a 30-yard range, such as wands, suddenly have a very short, limited range. Then you have to actually explain how that translates into "it allows tanking".

Uh, no I don't.

So you're changing your "rUlEz" again? Because I recall when the "rUlE" was that it had to be in Warcraft 3. Then, after Illidan, you changed your "rUlEz" to say 'Warcraft 3 and Heroes of the Storm", and now, for this new class of yours, the "rUlE" is: Warcraft 3, HotS and Hearthstone?

What's next? WC3, HotS, HS... and Diablo? Or perhaps Starcraft? How about Call of Duty? Maybe Candy Crush too?

I do believe I said "playable form", and in the past that was WC3. Then that migrated to HotS. Now that HotS is dead, we have to look at other playable options outside of WoW, and that leads to Hearthstone being a possible cradle for future class concepts.

Not really, no. At least, not to the extent you're implying. You want an expansion that is basically the same thing as Uldum, only for an entire expansion instead of just a zone.


Good luck selling the worst parts of Uldum as "a fun expansion theme"

I'm completely confident that Blizzard is fully capable of making an expansion with Egyptian/Titan elements. Also, the LoE would be a strong selling point. I mean look at them;



- - - Updated - - -

"I Never said Brann is a blue Dragon!!"
"Here is a post you literally said that"
"OMG It's not relevant"

Yikes.. even then you can't admit you were wrong can you?

Well Reno IS a blue dragon in Hearthstone, and there's little doubt that he will be in WoW as well.

The point is that arguing whether or not that will be lore in WoW is completely irrelevant to a discussion about a possible class based on the League of Explorers.

[Triceron]

Yeah, I don't think the idea should be blocked simply because we have an archeology profession.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not blocking your concept.

I just think a profession revamp would be more intuitive.