I have said it before, and I will say it again.
Class Skins, rather than New Classes. We have too many as things stand, and Blizzard struggles to balance the Classes that we do have.
Only the visuals for the spells change, the damage type does not.
Warlock Class Skins could be Warlock, Necromancer and Conjurer.
Warlock is the baseline.
Necromancer replaces Fel and Fire-themed spell effects for Cold/Ice spell effects. Demons are replaced by Undead. Letâs go. Skeleton Mage for the Imp. Skeleton Soldier for the Void Walker. Wraith or Ghost for the Fel Hunter. Banshee for the Succubi. A skeletal Death Knight or something special for the Fel Guard.
Conjurer functions like a Mage who went all in on summoned Elementals. Shadow and Fel-themed spell effects are swapped out for Arcane and Ice spell effects. Demons are replaced with Elementals. Lilâ baby Fire Elemental for the Imp. Ice Elemental for the Void Walker. A Mana Elemental for the Fel Hunter. A Wind Djinn for the Succubi. A Magma Elemental for the Fel Guard.
Mage Class Skins could be Mage, Blood Mage and Technomage.
Blood Mage replaces Ice and Fire spell-effects for Blood-themed effects.
Technomage uses technological devices in place of Spell-Effects, grenades, staves made of gems and technological devices, steam-punk-like aesthetic.
Priest could have Priest, Sunwalker and Tide Sage.
Sunwalker replaces all Void effects with more Light and Fire-like effects, Shadow Form becomes Light Form, etc etc. This works not only for Tauren, Draenei and Light-Forged Draenei, but offers options for more shamanistic races being priests who may flinch at dabbling with the Void.
Tide Sage replaces Light and Void effects with Water and Lightning effects, Shadow Form becomes wreathed in mist and small electrical effects, Holy Smite instead summons water. This not only works for Kulâtirans and shamanistic races, but for races who may not have a strong tradition with the Light.
Warrior could have Warrior, Spell-Knight and Totem Warrior.
Spell-Knight adds arcane-like effects to the Warriorâs attacks and abilities, to represent the use of the Arcane to improve and expand their repertoire on the battlefield.
Totem Warrior adds dashes of fire and electrical magic to their attack, representing their use of Spiritual magic to improve their abilities on the battlefield.
Paladin could have Paladin, Void-Knight and Firebrand.
Void-Knight is a fairly simple explanation of swapping out the Light-themed spell effects for Void-themed ones. Be the Anti-Paladin your mother warned you about.
Firebrand replaces the Light-themed effects for Fire ones. Works both for the Horde and for those who see the Light as a scourging flame against the wicked and the corrupt.
Death Knight could have Death Knight, Goreblade and Blasphemer.
The Goreblade is an avid follower of the Knights of Blood to the point even the disciplines of the other Knights is corrupted by their devotion. Undead minions from Unholy are replaced with bloody versions, or blood slimes and slime-giants. Frost spells from Frost are replaced with red ice and sprays of frozen gore. Their blood abilities are even more gory than before and are accompanied by great gouts of blood and bone.
The Blasphemer took their Undeath to a whole new level, corroding and corrupting everything they touch. Unholy-themed, all their blood effects are now rotting greens and blacks, their frost effects are glowing green crystals or spews of bile-green fluids. Their undead companions radiate clouds of pestilence or leave patches of bile and corruption in their wake that, mercifully, vanish shortly afterwards.
Rogue could have Rogue, Bandit and Shadow Blade
Bandit could apply more sparks and flame to their effects to reflect a more earthy, less magical take on the class, using the tried-and-true method of fire and low blows rather than supernatural attacks and illusions for their abilities.
Shadow Blade goes in the opposite direction and leans heavily into shadow and void-themed spell effects added to their attacks and abilities to ham up their reliance upon magical assistance to push the envelope further.
Demon Hunter could have Demon Hunter, Void Hunter and Argus Sentinel.
Void Hunter is a Demon Hunter who has realised the next great threat to Azeroth is the Void and so dabbles, learning to channel Void energy much as they once channeled Fel from the âDemon Withinâ, replacing their green Fel abilities with vibrant purple Void energy instead.
Argus Sentinel is a Demon Hunter who dedicated themselves to not only policing other Demon Hunters and making sure their Runic Tattoos remain sufficient, but has begun to question if the Pantheon of the Titans really is capable of being trusted. Taking the energies of Argus into themselves, the red energies from the core of the Legionâs central command infuse them, granting red lightning and glows to their abilities instead of the green Fel-Flame their kind are normally known for.
Monk could have Monk, Blade-Master and Spirit Walker.
Blade Master would not be that different from the Monk, but rather than Flurry of Blows and Spinning Crane Kick using the Monkâs fists and feet, it would use their weapons, with Flurry of Blows being multiple fast strikes with the weapons, and Spinning Crane Kick being a rip of the Warriorâs old favourite, Bladestorm. For other abilities, like the Chi Lightning, the weapon itself serves as the attack, with the Chi Lightning having the Blade Master hurl their weapon at range and manipulate it telekinetically to attack the target.
Spirit Walker focuses more on being a beacon for the Ancestral Dead and protecting places of respite for the dead, having a far more spiritual theme to the Classâs abilities, like the multi-form technique of the Monks instead summoning two ghostly apparitions of the Casterâs race to assist them, and their Chi abilities taking the form of black and white energy rather than mists.
Hunter could have Hunter, Gun-Slinger and Ranger.
Gunslinger gives access to pistols and basically uses them to dual-wield for most of the Hunterâs ranged abilities. This alone might be the sole Class Skin that doubles your rate of fire but halves your damage to make the mechanic work, but otherwise I see no issues with this.
Ranger removes the magical nonsense from Hunter abilities and brings the class down to a much earthier feeling. No glowing turtle shells or anything like that, but more audio cues to help down the attention drain when the screen is already full of more flashing colors than a fight between half a dozen rainbows.
Shaman was a toughie, but I think Shaman, Light Shaman and Void Shaman would work decently here.
Light Shaman infuses the Shamanâs spells with Light, lightning is brighter, Lava burst is a gout of light rather than lava, Water spells are infused with motes of Light that give it a golden effect, a more Draenei take on the Class but also one for Shamans who want to embrace the more positive side of the religion.
Void Shamans or Dark Shamans use the darker side of Spirit Energy, Entropy, to bind and force Elementals to do their bidding. Their spell effects are all darker or replaced with Void versions of the spells to represent their use of the Force of Entropy, and their Elementals are visibly shackled and chained with crackling chains of dark energy.
I have been staring at the screen for half an hour and, for the life of me, I cannot come up with alternative class skins for Dracthyr. Somebody else whose brain is not poisoned or who has more than three functioning brain cells pick this up and run with it.
