Knowing this community, Support Specs wouldn’t being doing much damage considering how they work, then would be screamed at and kicked by Raid Leaders and Guilds for having low damage output.
I can see it now.
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If blizzard incentivizes a reason for them to work, then they will work. If they do what supports do a buff people’s damage or tankieness or healing output theres no reason 1 or 2 shouldn’t be brought…
i’d even venture to say that maybe wow needs a support class to freshen things up and make things just that tiny bit of a difference we all want.
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As long as Blizz makes the buff good enough, they’ll be mandatory. Question is will it be mandatory to have one in every 5 man group outside of raiding too, because if not that’s probably going to be doa for most folks unless they have a very good off spec for other content.
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I see a big difference between a support spec and a support class. The former I could support, the latter I would not. Everyone has their threshold. To me, I consider a healer a support spec, because I don’t enjoy playing them outside of dungeons and raids.
So adding a bard? Bad idea. But a buffing or debuffing spec, maybe even approaching an affliction warlock, or even a new one like bard in an existing class for party buffing seems like no great offense - albeit boring at times.
Blizzard systematically tore down the hurdles for this. No more levelling weapon skills individually, easy spec changes, not even the dual spec stuff anymore.
So I don’t think a support spec is any big thing. But a support class, would be.
We already have em though, they’re called healers.
I think you could sway it just like they do in MOBAS… your support can actually be a support or damage so if there’s a support in the que sure you can do 1 tank 1 heal 2 dps and a support, or 3 dps doesn’t matter. Might even make dungeons feel more like dungeons again and not this 2 minute 40 yard dash to the end.
Can bards not also dps? I don’t see how it could be detrimental to the game to have a support class that has a support spec and a dps spec or support/healer/dps spec etc.
the only thing id consider close to a support spec rn is disc.
healers are healers, not supports.
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If the support slows down the run considerably, they’re not going to be very popular.
doesn’t have to slow down the run per se I’m just saying maybe dungeons don’t /need/ 3 dps
Ironbark, Power Infusion, Paladin Hand spells, the list goes on. There are several support spells at their disposal, making them support. And they also have damaging abilities in their tool box as support also helps put out some damage.
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ok, but a class having a support spell or two in their kit is nothing like having an actual dedicated support whose job it is to buff other players or maybe even debuff the boss in some way. Support can be so much more.
Not sure Disc priests follow your logic.
They don’t need 3 now, you could always take an extra tank or healer (or 4 DPS of course)
I’m not sure how else a support would stop the “40 yard dash” when compared to a DPS. (But I might just be missing it)
They aren’t exactly straight up healers, is what I was getting at.
well two tanks would be mildly absurd because it’s hard enough to get 1 tank let alone 2
Well having 1 dps would i’d imagine slow things down a tad while not making it crazy slow, and it’s always nice feeling like a god, specially when someone’s in the back buffing you to do more dmg. idk different stokes for different folks i guess.
Then don’t roll one. Problem solved.
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Yeah, but with timed content being such a focus, Blizz would have to get the support buffs to be on par with having that 3rd DPS, otherwise groups would pass on them to get the faster run. (We see this complaint with Meta comps already)
I’d think Blizz would almost have to bump groups to 6 and make that support class as required as a tank and healer, but that opens up a whole other can of worms.
I’m certainly open to alternate roles if available.
When I played a bard in FFXI I don’t remember having fun outside of parties 
A red mage played just fine though and I would argue a debuffer is support. So I’m sure Blizzard, with their proclivity to try to balance everything (poorly) to pew pew in pvp will manage to have some alternate specs that can still melt faces and play well alone or in groups.
I’m sure you are right there, but my comment was that it should never be a support class - so there are spec options to allow dps.
A healer is not dps, so I’d call it support. The “holy trinity” is only a concept if you include all three parts of the triangle and discuss it as a complete model. Otherwise it is no longer inclusive of all roles and needs a new model. In other words, you don’t have a holy trinity once you are willing to grant that support exists.
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FFXIV has support classes and they’re always wanted in group content. What they lack in DPS they more than make up for with various buffs, offensive and defensive. The groups perform better with one than with another pure DPS.
So it will depend on how this spec is designed and we have no info on that at all yet.
Assuming the rumours are true, I’m interested in Blizzard’s approach to balancing these tentative support talents in group content. It’s a fine line between nice-but-not-mandatory and must-have.
Exactly, if Blizz does that with them they’ll just be required by every group. (It may also depend on if you need 1/2 for a whole raid or 1 in every 5-man)
If they don’t, I think it’ll be a hard sell for a lot of players.