Is there ANY way you can create a shapeshifting spell that turns the caster into a demon without treading all over the design themes and concepts of a Warlock?
What about absorbing the essence of a Demon? Making pacts with darkness for power? Using Demonic magic to buff and attack?
The issue is NOT with gameplay. It has NEVER been with gameplay. The problem is more fundamental than that....the problem is the basic design elements of the class are the same. That the DH class you want is essentially reinventing the wheel.
Blizzard could ignore all that. WoW is it's game. It can do what it likes. But for it to ignore a fundamental aspect of game design like this, there needs to be a VERY good reason for it to do so. And that reason doesn't exist.
Or....put it another way.
Suppose Warlocks got a tanking 4th spec based upon tanking Dual weilding, Meta etc. And suppose it was the Stalker tree.
Would anyone be opposed to it and say that it can't be added because it was too close to the DH tree? No...they wouldn't.
Suppose then, that Alliance Warlocks got a quest with the Dark Embrace, which gave them some lore, some challenges at the end of which they were awarded the title "Demon Hunter". And Horde got a similar story with the title "Grand Warlock".
What then? Where is the difference? What is there that would separate this hypothetical 4th spec from a Demon Hunter? And no...it isn't gameplay. Gameplay is assigned per spec and can vary even within a class
And how many would care if it were a spec instead of a class? Very few. Would more people roll a Warlock if it had a DH spec? Probably.
The design themes of Undeath and Unarmed Combat not counting of course....Besides, the whole argument about there being no "hole" for demon hunters to fit into hardly matters. There wasn't a role to be filled when death knights or monks were introduced, but they happened anyway.
The entire point of the avatar is do that the player can fill the role and tropes associated with that class. There was no class assisted with Undeath, no class that filled the Dark Lord role. Now there is. There was no class that was based on Unarmed combat.... Now there is.
But there IS a class that is built around Demons, built around the concepts of making pacts for power. Blizzard doesn't need to design a new class to let players play at the role....it already has one. It just has to design a spec on that theme where the character melees instead of casts.
Blizzard has noted that several abilities cause problems and balance issues. They've also stated that they are reluctant to remove or share iconic abilities unless absolutely necessary...such abilities provide flavor, differentiation, players like them, they help ID the Class and so on. It's important, from a design POV, that classes have such abilities.Divine Shield is the root of all paladin issues, but it's still going strong after a decade. There are design solutions to Metamorphosis, so it doesn't "need removed" under that particular auspice.
That didn't stop Blizzard nerfing DS for balance, or sharing MS and Bloodlust to prevent mandatory classes. But they also didn't remove those abilities. And...even when shared...effort was taken to ensure the flavor and styles were kept unique.
Blizzard might very well remove Meta from Demo. But they won't give the ability to another class without a gameplay reason, and even then they won't share the "Become a Demon" aspect.
EJL