Hopefully not, as that would just reintroduce bloat. But it certainly isn't unlike the WoW dev team to repeat past mistakes.
Hopefully not, as that would just reintroduce bloat. But it certainly isn't unlike the WoW dev team to repeat past mistakes.
It's interesting to think about where Hero Talents could be headed. I think balancing and refining them is key, as they add a lot of depth to gameplay but can sometimes feel uneven across different classes or specs. It would be great to see more variety in talent trees or the introduction of new, more dynamic talents that adapt to different playstyles. Hopefully, future updates will focus on making them feel more impactful and accessible for all players.
Most likely replaced by new hero talents in the next expansion. That or somehow baselined into current trees. The reality is they want and will always want the current expansion to feel new and for new expansion abilities to feel powerfull and meaningfull. You can only have so many powerfull and meaningfull abilities before they stop feeling powerfull and meaningfull. This is why every expansion your shiny new is some new form of borrowed power.
You could be right, we could get 10 more, then 10 more after that and 10 more after that.
Honestly though it feels a bit too much. You kind of have to one up the previous xpac if those abilities are still around.
Especially because outside of 1 or 2 choices they are just static additions to the class that could just as easily be new passive abilities.
The oooh I clicked a shiny button is a nice feeling I guess, but it isn't like you are making many real choices.
At some point it will become too much and a level squish will come along and we will be on to the next big progression toggle thingy.
Well yes. That'll be after The Last Titan. There'll be a stat squish before that - I think that's been confirmed in fact.
After TLT I think we all fully expect Hero Talents to go away as a separate concept, because there will probably be a massive redesign of the game in general.
"A youtuber said so."
"... some wow experts being interviewed..."
"According to researchers from Wowhead..."
They have said, that they are dedicating themselves more to evergreen content, specifically when they talked about the class design and the way talents work.
So i would not be surprised if the future of hero talents is, that they stay for next expansion and will proberly be expanded upon, just like the artfiact was expanded upon later in Legion, i could easily see them add new tiers or a new "star" in the corner for more points in the future, just like i can imagine, that they would add more points for the normal class tree aswell.
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I think going forward into 90 they should make the new talents cosmetic options so balancing no longer becomes an issue.
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Good question.
It could be very simple and elegant.
One extra tier per expansion. While stuff get reworked occasionally. This will keep it simple and linear.
Hero talents are built with sustainablity, unlike Legion and BFA power systems. Hero talents cant compete with regular talents either. That would defeat the purpose.
To OP: No, I dont see Hero Talents look anything close to the screenshot.
Last edited by HansOlo; 2024-10-11 at 08:47 PM.
Think the execution in itself is faulty as it follows the rigid formula of 2 specs combined having to result in 1 new hero class.
This blind stupor only creates unnecessary new specs nobody asked for and in the other case shoehorns players into unfitting class fantasies because the selection is so limited (e.g. Dwarven Marksmanship hunters having to cosplay as Dark Rangers or Night Elf Sentinels).
IMO they could have just gone the more "evergreen" cosmetic route of class skins and avoid the whole Sisyphean task of Hotfix Balancing but i guess they had to traditionally revolutionize gameplay mechanics like every other new expansion.
At least most Hero Talents seem easily removable/recyclable for the next iteration as they revolve around 1 single new ability
Of course i understand the gameplay is as always the primary reason for anything. What i was trying to say is they could have just left out the cosmetic part entirely atleast they hadn't have to tap into these existing hero class themes and just buff up the existing trees/specs with new abilities and mechanics. 2 specs skilling into 1 new sub-sub class is just a weird mechanic IMO
Better question, what is the future of talent trees?
They've obviously not future-proofed them. They had to make Hero Talents for this expansion to avoid having to add five more points to the class and spec trees. What are they gonna do in Midnight, Superhero talents?
Level squish and redesign in 2030. You simply can't keep vertical progression forever. They have tried system that autofix itself - main class layer that doesn't change and borrowed power that change every expac. People hated it, so 'fresh start' every ~8-10 years is only logical path.
As for Hero Talents, they are just passives. They exist so you can spend points for 71-80 levels without shaking main talents. So near future is 20 more points in Midnight and Last Titan. As for later, I can see them removed (or merged with main talents) after redesign and Blizzard keeping cosmetic layer - it could be start of class skins.
Honestly, they should ditch it, or make it smaller.
It pains me, cause it was a good idea, but it was way too much that blizz could take it.
It is a nightmare to balance, 2 herospecs for 2 different specs adds a even more complicate layer of balance and gameplay, since they would be different and play similar at the same time.
I think they should make the tree smaller, with less bennefits, but more impactful, like Buff skill X or change skill Y and done, and focus more on visuals and animations
Well, if they go the route they did before (Classic to BFA) the route can go to 120. Could do without the 5 levels per expansion thing again of CATA and MoP. If the World Soul Saga skips that little detour, then we should be level 100 by The Last Titan. If they got the CATA/MoP route, then 85 in Midnight, and 90 in The Last Titan.
Hope to avoid the kind of truncated trees we had in the later days. The Hero Talents allow for basically a second tree within the tree...technically a third tree since we have the baseline class tree on the left and the spec on the right with the new Hero in the middle. I image they could grow it out to 30 hero talents. Even start making to into something like the other two trees with options that you might not take as we get to 90 or 100. If they don't want to squish just yet...maybe allow us to dual hero spec? Take both options on the route to 120 (the second time around). For four trees full before the great pruning three expansions after The Last Titan.
Assuming the events of The Last Titan don't just reshape everything anyway. Make 100, then following that expansion we go back to level 50 to progress again to 60 in 2030.
So five expansions then prune, or seven expansions then prune? (Shadowlands to Last Titan, or Last Titan + 2)
Last edited by Ithekro; 2024-10-12 at 08:42 AM.
But that is the problem that i mentioned, they are not doing just that, and that by itself adds to the fact its a problem to balance overall, because the specs play different and the skills are different, you need to balance in a way that is equal for two different specs who sometimes are entirely different, can't you see how hard that is?