With new expansions we get new features. Sometimes these features translate to new races, sometimes to new classes or new mechanics. There has been a lot of talk about adding a new class to this expansion, either Dark Rangers, Dragonsworn, Shadow hunters or Tinkers.
Rather than introducing a new class I suggest redesigning the class system, refreshing and reinvigorating the new classes.
The below is a concept of how I re-imagine the class system to change to. The objective is to allow some more flexibility and player agency on how each player develops his character while at the same time still following set class templates. I will be describing each mechanic idea below, giving a class example to bring it all together and then introducing concepts for the classes.
Class design
-
Class abilities
Starting from level 1, each class while leveling will gain a set of core abilities that provides the identity of the class and is what differentiates a warrior from a paladin, a mage from a warlock etc. This is the same as recent expansions, where core abilities were given to the class as a whole irrespective of what “spec” these abilities fall into. As an example, shield slam, shield block etc. are available to the warrior in general and not only if the warrior is a protection spec warrior.
This is important as we want to build a solid class / theme.
-
Mastery
Mastery is now the name of the entire Specialization and Mastery system. Whereas previously Specialization was selected to follow a certain theme and Mastery referred to the special identify of that theme, the new Mastery refers to both.
-
Mastery tree and Mastery points
The Mastery page (N) replaces the current Specialization page and will have the following look:
Each Mastery tree will have 3 tiers and to advance to the next tier the player is required to spend at least 10 Mastery points. Each tier will have more than 10 points to choose from in order to allow for options. A player must unlock tier 2 of one tree before being able to spent points in another tree (i.e. spent at least 20 points).
Every two levels starting at level 1, 1 point is earned, which the player spends in the Mastery trees. This means there are 30 total points that the player can spent.
Incentives are given to players to unlock Tier 3 of each tree (40/20/10) rather than going 30/20/10.
At the bottom of each Mastery tree there is a bar, which counts how many Mastery points are spent in each tree.
The total Mastery points that can be earned is 60, which is the same as the level cap.
The remaining 30 points are allocated to the 3 Mastery trees, 10 each, and are allocated passively. From level 1 every 3 levels, 3 points are earned (1 in each tree) so that at level 30 all are earned.
-
Mastery
Mastery in this new design concept works somewhat differently. The passive effects are similar to the ones used in game name, but are more thematic to the Mastery tree they relate to. In addition the base Mastery is assumed at 100%.
This Mastery is then modified by the allocation of Mastery points spent in the trees and then affected by any Mastery from gear.
As introduced above, Mastery points are earned both passively and actively and at max level 60, 60 points are allocated to a character. Let as assume that a player is playing a Warrior character and spends all his earned points in Arms. That character has 40 points in Arms, 10 points in Fury and 10 in protection.
This would mean that the character has spent 66.67% of his points in Arms, 16.67% in Fury and 16.67% in protection. The character will therefore gain the benefit of all tree masteries in the above percentages.
Mastery gained from gear will only affect the Mastery of the tree with the most points.
-
-
Talents
Talents are the same as in the current game design wise but their purpose is to define a play style or a theme relevant to the mastery tree they fall into.
The key difference with the existing trees, is the way these talents are earned. Rather than being earned every X levels, the talents are unlocked when a tier is maxed in each tree. Each tier of each tree offers 3 options to select 1. Tier 3 may give less than 3 options or may overlap with another tree.
Furthermore, at level 10 the class is allowed to select 1 talent from each tree (Tier 0), which will form the core playstyle and theme that character will play as.
-
Example
We will bring the above concepts together with a simple example, that of a Warrior.
-
Arms
The warrior focusing in the Arms Mastery tree is a master of arms increasing the effect of the weapons used. Spending points down the tree will allow the player to specialize in their preferred weapon. Maxing out tier 3 will grant the warrior two talent options Blade Master and Juggernaut.
- Weapon specializations: Sword – Attack additional time, Axe – Crit damage increased, Spear / Polearm – Applies a DoT, Hammer – Armor debuff increasing dmg from warrior
- Mastery increases the effect of each weapon type
- Tier 0 options: Two-hander specialization, Dual-wield specialization, Shield specialization.
- Blade Master: The blade master is a master of weapons, granting bonuses to weapon passives
- Bonecrusher: The juggernaut forgoes mastery of weapons in exchange of more brute force / damage
-
Fury/Rage
The warrior focusing on the Rage Mastery tree is attuned with his inner rage. By mastering ones rage the effects of being enraged or effects of rage on abilities is amplified. Maxing tier 3 will give access to Berserker and War Lord.
- Mastery increases the effects of enrage and rage on various abilities
- Tier 0 options: War machine, Anger Management, Warpaint
- Berserker: The berserker is all about maintaining enrage uptime by staying in combat as much as possible
- Warlord: The warlord amplifies the bonus to their shouts and flags to the party while also being able to deal damage themselves.
-
Protection
The warrior focusing on the Rage Mastery tree is attuned with his inner rage. By The Protection Mastery warrior is one with his armor. The warrior is able to utilize or gear and combat abilities to the fullest.
Mastery increases the defensive bonuses gained from gear.- Tier 0 options: Into to Fray, War Paint, Defensive Stance
- Knight: The knight gains additional defensive bonuses to mitigating damage and keeping agro.
- Gladiator: The gladiator forgoes some of the defensive bonuses but instead focuses more on disrupting the enemy.
Using the above, a player at level 60 has spent his 30 points in Arms, and is therefore 40/10/10.
At level 10 the player chose 2-Hander specialization, War Machine and Into the Fray.
Due to unlocking and maxing Arms tier 3, the player has chosen to be a Blade Master.
Without any gear, Arms mastery is at 66.67% and the other two at 16.67% each.
-
-
Class concepts
Below are some concept ideas for the classes. Some classes have more detailed descriptions to elaborate more on the design.
-
Deathknight
Death Knight will remain largely unchanged as the 3 trees do provide distinct flavor and character.
- Blood Mastery tree focuses on syphoning the life force of the opponent to heal and empower the death knight or allies. The player can play as a either a blood healer or a self-healing tank (similar to current blood dk).
- Frost Mastery tree empowers the death knight’s attacks with frost, while also providing hard and soft crowd control (snares, roots, stuns, haste debuffs etc.) to opponents through direct attacks (spells and melee). The player can choose to play either as a Lich (focusing more or ranged spells) or a Reaper (melee attacks).
- Undead Mastery tree gives the option to the player to play entirely at range or melee, with a pet or without. The primary focus of the tree is improving plagues, dots, undead minions. The two tier 3 talents allow the player to play as a Necromancer or a Plague bringer.
[Note: I am debating whether the blood healer and Lich are spreading the DK too much, similar to how a druid can perform all four roles]
-
Demon Hunter
The changes to this class that I can think of is whether creating 3 trees rather than the existing two. 1 tree should focus on Fel empowerment, 1 on combat and one on more defensive / utility (i.e. wards, sigils, demon spikes etc.).
Most people have been asking for a third ranged spec, and perhaps by breaking down the trees to the above, one of the tier 0 options on combat could be the use of only thrown glaives and ranged spells as damage.
-
Druid
Druids can function as is in the current system. However, the proposal is to rename the Druid specs to their organizations and combine the two melee trees. All druids have access to all shapeshifts, but the mastery trees empower specific areas. The druid should be a versatile class that can adapt to any situation, even if not the best at all roles at all times. i.e. a Bear speced druid should be able to shapeshift either to moonkin or cat and provide more damage than a bear druid, but less than a dps speced class.
- The balance tree, Druid of the Moon, plays the role of manipulating nature to do damage or impair the enemy
- Druid of the Claw, plays the role currently performed by Feral and Guardian. The mastery focuses on the followers of Ursoc that focus on combat prowess, either through protecting their allies or shredding enemies.
- Restoration, Druids of the Branch, uses nature to protect and heal allies.
In this system, the two shapeshifting specs could be brought back to one spec that focuses on enhancing shapeshifting abilities and through the talent choices be more offensive or defensive. They can function as two mastery trees but they are more intertwined than not, and offers the druid more versatility through shapeshifting.
-
Hunter
My first proposal is for hunters to be renamed to scouts or rangers. I believe this description fits the class more and is more suitable for all races, rather than hunters. Furthermore, ALL hunters gain access to melee and ranged attacks. It will be the choice of each player on how to play their hunter, and also dictated by the Mastery tree they focus on. This will also give a uniqueness to the class in that they are hybrid damage dealers, taking advantage of both melee and ranged depending on encounters.
- Beast mastery tree tier 0 talents will allow the option of going pet less (Lone Wolf) or focusing more on beasts or mechs. The tree is all about the hunter being one with their animal companion, or being one with the beast.
- The Marksmanship tree gives the option of altering the combat style of the archer, either through the use of elemental infused ranged attacks (fire, frost, poison), “normal” (piercing dmg, explosive arrows, etc.) or shadow / undead infused ranged attacks.
- Survival will focus on traps and melee weapons. The idea is for a tier 3 talent to give the option to play as a headhunter, whereby the player forges the use of bows/guns but instead can equip spears as their ranged weapon. This will also allow for the player choosing a 10/10/40 build picking (Lone Wolf, Undead as supporting talents) to play as a damage dealer oriented shadow hunter.
-
Mage
The first idea was to separate mages based on schools of Arcane. This would give them a tree focused on Evocation (Frost/Fire/Arcane dmg), Necromancy and Transmutation & Abjuration (Chronomany and Protective magic). Unfortunately Necromancy plays a very similar role to Undead DKs and Warlocks, so that idea was scrapped. Instead the following are proposed:
- Arcane focuses on manipulating primordial and raw arcane energies to deal damage to enemies. They do not focus in a particular school of magic but rather a mix from all.
- Frost and Fire trees will be merged as a single tree called Evocation, allowing the player to either play as a Cryomancer of a Pyromancer.
- The 3rd tree will relate to Transmutation and Abjuration which will deal with Chronomancy and protective magic (shields). This tree will give the option to the mage to focus on buffs, debuffs and time manipulation to assist their allies. The player will be given the option to play as a Chronomancer (ranged healer spec) or a War Mage a mage that prefers to be in melee combat using a sword and staff and protective magic to defend themselves.
-
Monk
Monks follow a similar trend to their current design but also gain a fourth Mastery tree. Each tree represents one of the August Celestials. This means that the already present 3 trees are joined by a 4th inspired by Chi-Ji and allows the monk to specialize in ranged combat or empowering wind and lightning based attacks.
-
Paladin
Paladin trees focus on Holy, Protection and Retribution as they currently do. The combat system is somewhat changed from a combo point mechanic. The Paladin will have a full bar of 100 faith. Certain abilities like auras and blessings use a fixed amount o faith to maintain, lowering in essence the max faith held. The paladin generates faith through normal abilities and can spend faith on big feats of faith (i.e. Dawn of Light, Seraph etc.) which have big effects.
- The Holy tree tree will focus primarily on spells that the paladin can use and amplifying spell power of enhancements or spells.
- Protection will deal primarily with imbuing the paladin or its party with defensive magics. This will be in the form of self-buffs (holy shield), auras or blessings.
- Retribution will deal with the paladin’s ability to engage the enemy in combat, primarily through their melee weapon and by imbuing their attacks (i.e. seals, additional holy dmg etc.)
The above changes will enable the player to play a pseudo caster damage dealer similar to the shockadin from Vanilla. Furthermore, Holy should be disassociated from Light and should refer to the divine or deity the paladin worships. This will allow for races that do not follow the light to make more sense. It is recommended while the class be presented as a paladin in unit frames combat etc. that in game text be changed to race appropriate names. BE should be called Blood Knights, Tauren as Sunwalkers, NE as Priestess of the Moon etc.
-
Priest
Priests offer a good template for their mastery trees. Not all priests are Light worshippers as we have Trolls priests (Loa), Dark Iron (Fire), Tauren (An’she) etc. Changing the flavor text to match the race will help with the immersion. This is a similar change to what is proposed for paladins.
- The Discipline priest focus on balancing Holy and Shadow, healing and damage and as such focuses on healing through inflicting pain to their enemies.
- Holy priests unlock the full devotion to their deities, being able to heal and bless their allies. They may be followers of the Light, Loa etc.
- Shadow priests derive heir powers from the Void and are the contrast to Holy priests.
-
Rogue
Rogues again are a class with pretty good defined Mastery trees.
- Assassination tree will focus on toxins and poisons, slowly chipping the health of enemies and using finishing attacks deal burst damage to unsuspecting foes.
- Combat tree will focus on weapons and dirty fighting.
- Shadow tree will focus on subterfuge and limited use of shadow magic to enhance the rogues’ attacks.
-
Shaman
Initially I considered giving the shaman four mastery trees, one tree for each elemental. I then considered keeping the shaman at three mastery trees, however amending them slightly.
- Enhancement focuses on enhancing the shaman’s weapon and gear either to increase the damage towards enemies or to improve defensive capabilities. Shields buffs and weapon enhancements are the primary method. This will give the option to the player to either tank or deal melee damage.
- Elemental keeps the focus as is. The shaman harnesses elemental energy to inflict damage to enemies.
- Restoration focuses on the restorative powers of nature (through the water elemental) and also close ties with the spirits and shadow magic. The player will be given the choice of focusing more on spirit / loa healing or elemental healing.
-
Warlock
The warlock class are mages that have forgone conventional arcane magics to seek and understand darker magics.
- Affliction mastery focuses on damage of time, curses and slowly draining opponent life force to empower their own.
- Demonology mastery focuses on the warlock’s pact with demons to empower them to dispose of their enemies. A demonology warlock may specialize in summoning an army of demons, or sacrificing them to empower the warlock for specific tasks.
- Destruction warlocks focus on burning down foes either using fire damage or shadow damage.
-
Warrior
As previously warriors tree focus on one aspect of the warrior.
- Arms mastery focuses on weapon specialization and passive effects to the type of weapons.
- Fury mastery focuses on buffing the effects of enrage of the effect of rage on abilities.
- Protection mastery focuses with making the warrior one with their armaments, increasing defensive bonuses or forgoing some defense for offense.
-
Again I would like to emphasize that the above is a concept. A work in progress. Feel free to discuss, point any issues you do not like and what you would have done differently.