WoW Bard Class Concept

[TheFirstOnes]

This. IS. GREAT! HOWEVER, I have 2 issues...

1. Idk about Murmur being an Expansion main antagonist. He may be a raid boss, tho.

And 2. WHERE IS MY HEAVY METAL BARD? That would be a brilliant 4th spec. It's not like we don't have metal bands in Warcraft anyway...

[cocomen2]

Very good concept , but i would like Bard to be little more flute+sword user that can manipulate wind+sound. ( just my 2 cents)

[FossilFree]

This. IS. GREAT! HOWEVER, I have 2 issues...

1. Idk about Murmur being an Expansion main antagonist. He may be a raid boss, tho.

And 2. WHERE IS MY HEAVY METAL BARD? That would be a brilliant 4th spec. It's not like we don't have metal bands in Warcraft anyway...

That reminds me of the Hearthstone card I just got from my Blizzcon packs:


https://hearthstone.gamepedia.com/E.T.C.,_God_of_Metal

[lozza]

Thank you. You're possibly right.

I shared this with some friends, they all think this is great! One of them reminded me that we put together a concept in the past, just for a bit of fun never posted them anywhere but looking at your template on how to show them off might be tempted to do one similar for the Shadow Hunter concept we threw together a couple years ago :P

[iinverse]

Thats a good concept, but not for Warcraft.

[Hastis]

Bard should be a new profession not class

[McNeil]

The concept is really well done, reminds me of a necromancer concept someone did years ago which also made me love the class. I think that a bard fits much better as a profession rather than a class though.

[Amunrasonther]

Damn yes! Dude you are genius! I dreamed about this for centuries! When this will be someday implemented I'm going to create one. The level of effort you've put into it. I think this deserves to be in a blue forum

Haha, you're very kind thank you. I might be posting it over on the official forums, but their formatting rules are so much more of a headache.

I support this so much!!!!! Yes please

Thank you!

OP - kudos and sincere thanks for all the thoughtful hard work that went into this, and for the courage to post it where inevitably some toxic folks will attack you for no good reason.

I think this is a fantastic and gorgeously detailed writeup that should serve as an inspiration to Blizz development. They should pay you to use these ideas, literally.

I was frankly shocked that the wow team had the hubris to think they could get away with not introducing at least one new class this expansion. And what a great time it would have been to do so, considering how disappointed so many were with BFA and considering that a new leveling system was introduced. It was a no-brainer...at least it should have been.

Thanks again for your wonderful contribution.

Haha, thank you! Oh, I'm used to it and I know there will be those who appreciate it and have fun reading it, just as much as I had fun making it. Persuading those who never believed Bards could work in the first place is an even bigger bonus. The visual feel of it was as important to me as much as the mechanics and playstyles. I wanted the visual look to have an enchanting feel.

I too was quite disappointed they didn't introduce a new class in Shadowlands. I had quit in BFA and am not playing retail (classic FTW). A new class might have convinced me to start playing again.

When the bards party dies, and he knows it is his time to shine and save the day...He bust out his Guitar, strums the strings and yells "TOSS A COIN TO YOUR WITCHER!!!!" as tears roll down his face and the demonic being from the twisting nether roars at him in a full charge.

My Bard won't be doing any crying! They're going to be kicking some ass!

You're welcome! It was a good read, and very nice to look at. Next time I want to do a class write up, I'll be in touch for some pointers.

It would be my pleasure to assist!

I think any and all class concept in which, at their core, are a spellcaster without combat training should be cloth-based classes: priests, mages, necromancers, warlocks, time wizards, etc.

Bards, as a general rule, have some martial training, as they're able to use ranged and one-handed weapons, usually daggers, maces or swords, so I imagine mail or leather would be useful for them as they rely more on their dexterity than muscle power.

Besides Necromancers then, I doubt we'd ever see another cloth class.

This. IS. GREAT! HOWEVER, I have 2 issues...

1. Idk about Murmur being an Expansion main antagonist. He may be a raid boss, tho.

In my Class Theme and Expansion Theme info, I did make sure to say, "Loremasters now believe Murmur or something like him . . ." I wanted to be a bit of a mystery as to what was exactly happening. I'm sure there are other beings like Murmur in the universe.

And 2. WHERE IS MY HEAVY METAL BARD? That would be a brilliant 4th spec. It's not like we don't have metal bands in Warcraft anyway...

As much as I would love a heavy metal bard, I was afraid it would be looked at as too whimsical and didn't have the serious feel I was going for. I also wanted the class to have more of a medieval style.

Very good concept , but i would like Bard to be little more flute+sword user that can manipulate wind+sound. ( just my 2 cents)

I can get that. Originally, I tried going for the bow and arrow bard style that's so prevalent in other games, but I couldn't get behind it.

I shared this with some friends, they all think this is great! One of them reminded me that we put together a concept in the past, just for a bit of fun never posted them anywhere but looking at your template on how to show them off might be tempted to do one similar for the Shadow Hunter concept we threw together a couple years ago :P

I would LOVE to see a Shadow Hunter concept! Especially if you used my style as a template! haha.

The concept is really well done, reminds me of a necromancer concept someone did years ago which also made me love the class. I think that a bard fits much better as a profession rather than a class though.

Thanks! You mean this one? https://www.mmo-champion.com/threads...cer-Hero-Class
If so, yeah that was me, haha. I'm curious how people think Bards would work as a profession though and not a class.

[Ielenia]

Besides Necromancers then, I doubt we'd ever see another cloth class.

I think there other ideas. A 'witch' concept, for example. The drust' magic used by the witches in Drustvar plus and actual water-based magic (i.e. not frost) used by the Stormsong group are two unused concepts that could be put together into a new cloth class, too.

[TheFirstOnes]

"In my Class Theme and Expansion Theme info, I did make sure to say, "Loremasters now believe Murmur or something like him . . ." I wanted to be a bit of a mystery as to what was exactly happening. I'm sure there are other beings like Murmur in the universe."

Ah, so something akin to "Elements of the Cosmos", rather than the forces themselves. Would be a neat Expansion idea after beating the Void Lords tbh. Maybe a First One can manipulate the Cosmos itself against us (Hence why Murmur and co exist), and it's our duty to stop this from happening once and for all? I like it.

"As much as I would love a heavy metal bard, I was afraid it would be looked at as too whimsical and didn't have the serious feel I was going for. I also wanted the class to have more of a medieval style."

With ETC and that death metal band in Darkmoon Faire, I wouldn't say a Heavy Metal spec goes against the Bard at all tbh. Make the 3 specs Medieval like, and then make the 4th Heavy Metal spec all "You hit people with your guitar" or "You summon spirits that can play the drums to apply buffs to your party" etc. Would totally work imo. But I see why you did what you did.

[FossilFree]

Bard should be a new profession not class

They don't craft anything though.

[Hastis]

They don't craft anything though.

i mean you could craft songs by matching together lyrics, chords etc. then you can "play" that song and everyone who is listening to it get buff, also you can craft instruments guitar gives so additional buffs, drums something else etc

[Aquinan]

While you put a lot of thought into it, and the effort shows, this whole necromancer/bard/tinker thing just needs to die already, been flogging this dead horse for so long even a necromancer wouldn't want it.

[Rootsbum]

Sounds fantastic!
But ive always wanted a Bard to be a pet-class, but with a humanoid.
A dancer for healing, acrobat for DPS and a mystic for ranged.

I always play bards when I can. I find it to be such a fun fantasy

[Naiattavain]

lol i have to say your creating a new rogue class why not just merge sin and sub into one spec and have a 3rd spec bard for rogue.

[Triceron]

I really dig this concept. It's really well fleshed out and has a strong identity. I especially like the diversity of specs, and the fantasies each fulfills.

The only suggestion I have is to have a brand of Bard that would be more fitting to the Horde, like a Wardrummer. Although not a typical Bard, it would be more fitting to tie at least one aspect of the Horde into the class since it's designed to fit all races on both factions, and I don't see many classic Horde races donning lutes and harps as much as it would be for the more noble races. Tauren, Orcs and Trolls would benefit the most from having Wardrums to represent their music over the Harp.

[FossilFree]

I really dig this concept. It's really well fleshed out and has a strong identity. I especially like the diversity of specs, and the fantasies each fulfills.

The only suggestion I have is to have a brand of Bard that would be more fitting to the Horde, like a Wardrummer. Although not a typical Bard, it would be more fitting to tie at least one aspect of the Horde into the class since it's designed to fit all races on both factions, and I don't see many classic Horde races donning lutes and harps as much as it would be for the more noble races. Tauren, Orcs and Trolls would benefit the most from having Wardrums to represent their music over the Harp.

Wardrummer would be very appropriate. In fact, you could argue that wardrummers are the original WoW bard, going all the way back to the strategy games.

[Amunrasonther]

I replaced the Minstrel's Time Ward spell with the following because I wanted them to have a spam-able quick heal:

Ah, so something akin to "Elements of the Cosmos", rather than the forces themselves. Would be a neat Expansion idea after beating the Void Lords tbh. Maybe a First One can manipulate the Cosmos itself against us (Hence why Murmur and co exist), and it's our duty to stop this from happening once and for all? I like it.

Exactly! Does a being like Murmur have a creator? If not, and he's this mindless force that just destroys, I'm sure there are more like him if not more powerful.

With ETC and that death metal band in Darkmoon Faire, I wouldn't say a Heavy Metal spec goes against the Bard at all tbh. Make the 3 specs Medieval like, and then make the 4th Heavy Metal spec all "You hit people with your guitar" or "You summon spirits that can play the drums to apply buffs to your party" etc. Would totally work imo. But I see why you did what you did.

Oh it certainly doesn't go against the Bard concept. Hearthstone does classify ETC as a warrior, but I know that doesn't really mean anything either.

While you put a lot of thought into it, and the effort shows, this whole necromancer/bard/tinker thing just needs to die already, been flogging this dead horse for so long even a necromancer wouldn't want it.

At least Bard concept posts within mmo-champion are more of a rarity compared to all the posts on Necromancers, Dark Rangers and Tinkers, haha. My only intent was to make the Bard feel like a possible addition. Thank you for your kind words!

Gosh. Admittedly I clicked this thread by accident. Usually just gloss over the class concept threads, cos... yknow... the tinker fella.

But what an amazing amount of work you've put into it. Kudos for that.

Thank you very much! I try to look at others' class concepts posts but if it's too messy, not organized, and lacks visual appeal, I also gloss over them lol.

ETA: Murmur. Shudder. Memories of running Heroic SLabs over and over and over and over and having PIGs full apart over and over and over again on the pulls in the final room... but I was NOT going to be denied the final piece (chest?) of my D3 (?) Assassination set. Think I wasd in there for a good 9 hours once as tanks and healers came and went. Heh. [shudder]

Yes! So many good TBC memories. I'm really looking forward to TBC:Classic since I don't play retail anymore..

Sounds fantastic!
But ive always wanted a Bard to be a pet-class, but with a humanoid.
A dancer for healing, acrobat for DPS and a mystic for ranged.

I always play bards when I can. I find it to be such a fun fantasy

My Bard's Glamour spell can be used on literally anything. So, it can definitely be used on humanoids and is therefore a quasi-pet class. Bards are just so charming that anyone could fall under their spell!

lol i have to say your creating a new rogue class why not just merge sin and sub into one spec and have a 3rd spec bard for rogue.

Why do you feel this is a new rogue class? Is it because of the Optical Illusion passive that makes Bards invisible to classes that are under stealth/invisibility themselves? I would not categorize my Bard concept as a stealth class. The Optical Illusion passive is more of a gimmick.

I really dig this concept. It's really well fleshed out and has a strong identity. I especially like the diversity of specs, and the fantasies each fulfills.

The only suggestion I have is to have a brand of Bard that would be more fitting to the Horde, like a Wardrummer. Although not a typical Bard, it would be more fitting to tie at least one aspect of the Horde into the class since it's designed to fit all races on both factions, and I don't see many classic Horde races donning lutes and harps as much as it would be for the more noble races. Tauren, Orcs and Trolls would benefit the most from having Wardrums to represent their music over the Harp.

Wardrummer would be very appropriate. In fact, you could argue that wardrummers are the original WoW bard, going all the way back to the strategy games.

I hear both of you and have added this to the mmo-champion version (unfortunately, I cannot fit it in the google doc):



I really like it a lot and was happy to find a picture that matches the art of the other instruments! lol

[LionSinMaikeru]

I love this. It's so well thoughtout and the abilities / passives are believable.

There was a time back in Blizzard's heyday when they hired people off the forums (usually with no experience in the field / degrees) to work for them. Posts like yours make me miss that time because it was a far more creative time for the company.

[Aquinan]

At least Bard concept posts within mmo-champion are more of a rarity compared to all the posts on Necromancers, Dark Rangers and Tinkers, haha. My only intent was to make the Bard feel like a possible addition. Thank you for your kind words!

That is true, I would not have been so kind do another tinker post lol