List of Hero Specs - Drop your suggestions on "better" ideas below?

Community General Discussion
205

For some of the questionable ones I feel like the legion titles might be a good fit.
For example I’m not super jazzed about shado pan for monk as an example since I don’t play a panda, and I’ve been hoping for some aspects from other monks we’ve seen in the game like the auchenai ones and the scarlet monastery ones. I’d take Grandmaster over it in terms of flavor. Though for monk I feel like they should focus more on themes rather then what we currently have, like what is a conduit of the celestials even? All three seem very pandaren which granted fits monks well enough but I’d like at least one to focus more on the martial arts rather then the pandaren lore side of monk. I’d like one that has a stormy name since ww and mw could easily have a fit for that like stormlord or eye of the storm or something(bonus points if its actually bad for eye of the storm).

Mage should get archmage, its a wc3 hero class and it really just fits for arcane/frost.

Evoker is fine and I’d like to highlight what I like about the evoker ones is that they clearly focused on a dragonflight for each one chronowarden is bronze and likely effects bronze spells for pres and aug, Ruby adept is red and likely effects red spells for dev and pres, and scale warden could be a general one for dev and aug with their blue and black spells respectively. Having clarity in the names like this is something that blizz should aim for with all the hero talents.

Now for a list of talent names I’m less impressed with and wouldn’t mind replaced with the title you got in legion

Death knight: I like them, was thinking about deathlord vs deathbringer but deathbringer is a title we have seen and deathbringer saurfang was cool and I want my dk to be similarly cool.

Demon Hunter:
both of them, either could be slayer which is still a weak name. Maybe keep it simple with something like Slayer and Avenger with slayer being more killy and avenger being more tenacious. Maybe upgrade slayer to demon slayer which sounds better. Avenger could also get a modifier like Avenger of worlds. Aldrachi Reaver is ok, but the aldrachi lore is basically nonexistent, cool if it gets fleshed out but if not its probably better to go for general and vague instead of specific and undercooked.

Druid: generally a winner, but maybe go Archdruid of the claw or change up wildstalker to be less generic.

Evoker: see above(its good)

Hunter: Huntmaster vs packleader. Sentinel lacks some oomph and Sentinel and Dark ranger make hunter disproportionately elfy since those are both elf things. Dark ranger stays its good stuff.

Mage: turn spellslinger into archmage. Spell breaker would be cool, but it doesn’t really evoke a fire feel and sunfury is elfy enough. Frostfire spellslinger might be better then frostfire by itself, frostfire isn’t really a title.

Monk: (see above its bad)

Paladin: I like them but templar and highlord are about the same level of oomph, in fact I’d same highlord wins out a bit. High templar or Templar champion might be better.

Priest: Oracle vs High priest, oracle is a weird one it doesn’t feel inherently priestly in fact its more of a shaman image to me.

Rogue: fatebound goes, nightblade could replace it but there is likely a better name out there.

Shaman: already has farseer and good on them for that. Totemic is weak, I would aim for something frosty or earthy like Tidesage or Earthbinder.

Warlock: hellcaller is the weakest, but acceptable and competitive with netherlord

Warrior: replace slayer, Executioner would be a good name but warrior is a weird one.

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Now that blizzard is apart of Microsoft.

Think of the game Halo.
The name itself is priestly and the Covenant worship these Halo structure relics or at least hold them in high regard and esteem.

Well the Halo caretakers, the AI Installation Monitors are called Oracles by the Covenant and are worshiped as deities as their entire way of life is through faith and conviction

So it’s not really much of a stretch to see a Priest that deals with Faith and worship to have a Hero Path named Oracle.

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Please don’t take Frostfire away from me. I’ve longed for a return of the aesthetic.

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Their most used ability is called WINDWALK…

You took only one ability, all WC3 heroes share abilities with wow classes. You share more with Mountain King and Tauren Chieftain.

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2 things all I care about. Having Unholy DK focus on minions and being a Necromancer spec so we can get our Necromancer fantasy in. And Balance druids keeper of the grove going full nature theme. Replace moonfire with Insect Swarm, replace Starfire, Starsurge, and Starfall with Nature themed abilities that come from the forest and not from the astrology bullscrap. For the love of god allow the druid known as nature fantasy class to actually fight using nature magic and not astrology. Space / stars / cosmic BS is not Nature its astrology!

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Super destro? Personally i think Hellcaller sounds like a destro warlock really focused on summoning Infernals. I.e a mix of Demo and Destro.

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Hunter - Mortar Team, just like in ol’ Warcrraft.

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Hunter is class that accomodates the most all the non-elven hunters. BM is just “pet spec” which fits any beast tamer, MM even has an orc with a rifle on it (with a couple talents for the Windrunners), and Survival is essencially orc/goblin/any kind of hunters that uses traps, bombs, etc (none of these feel very elven).

In general, there isn’t much besides the fact Hunters have pets and use bows to indicate they can be Nelves. Sentinel is probably the first ability that feels Nelven after 20 years of game.

I guess Lich makes more sense. With Frost and Unholy in mind, feels more interesting. Liches also have higher ranks. There could be some “phylactery” mechanics to protect the DK from dying, too, which resembles Blood magic.

I was thinking about some Shadowlands concepts, like the Maw, Kyrian and Night Fae, to enrich the concept of a DK a little. Reven. and Mald. are already heavily represented within the class.

2 Likes
213

Here’s how I think Shaman should go:

Elemental → Farseer ← Enhancement → Shadow Hunter ← Restoration → Tidesage ← Elemental

All three of these hero specs would actually mean something to players. Totemic and Stormbringer are just kind of generic.

Concept:
Farseer (Ele/Enhance) - Since this is already one of the proposed specs, I am sure Blizzard already has a concept they are working with, but here is my take: WC3 Farseers have Dire Wolves and Earthquake, which are Enhancement and Elemental Skills respectively, while every shaman has access to Chain Lightning and Far Sight. Farseers don’t use any Restoration spells, so this one seems pretty straight forward to me. Additionally, Thrall is a farseer, and in WoW Thrall is mostly depicted as an Enhancement Shaman.

Shadow Hunter (Enhance/Resto) - This is the hero that brought us Hex, Searing Totem (Serpent Ward), and Chain Heal/Healing Wave. It’s a good fit for Restoration to be able to select this. Initially, Searing Totem led me into thinking this should also be an option for Elemental shaman, but then I was reminded of the fact that this is a ranged weapon user, and Enhancement is the only spec that has offered talents to unlock new weapon types in the past. This hero spec could give Shaman access to Warglaives, Bows, or best of all: Throwing Weapons (bring back throwing weapons!). Since many WC3 hero units are either already playable classes (paladin, death knight, demon hunter), normal specs (beast master, brewmaster) , or upcoming hero specs (dark ranger, keeper of the grove, farseer), this is the perfect time to bring in my favorite WC3 hero unit, the Shadow Hunter!

Tidesage (Resto/Ele) - I initially forgot about this one, but reading comments reminded me of it, and I’m on board! This gives us an Alliance coded hero spec as well as a major Shaman type that originated in WoW as opposed to WC3. Since Tidesages are primarily concerned with water, Restoration is an easy fit. And it can reskin some Elemental attacks into offensive Water attacks to really sell the class fantasy. I’ve also heard Spritwalker be suggested as the third spec, and I support this too since it’s also a unit that contributed to the amalgamation that is the modern WoW shaman.

So there it is. I think this would make many Shaman players excited as each of these hero specs have deep roots in the lore already. They are all iconic, and they are all distinct. I truly feel like this would be the best setup for Shaman Hero Specs that would appeal to the most players.

3 Likes
214

The reason why tidesage doesnt fit for Shaman is because they also use earth to heal/shield even touuh there is a huge lack in term of abilities and thats why it requiere a rework.

The thing I hope for Farseer is to bring more earth related abilities to resto shaman. Meanwhile the totemic one would focus more on support and boosting totemé I really hope there will be an effect similar to unleah life but for totems.

it hasnt been in the game for a while my friend.

Also the Farseer heros from W3 is based on Drek’tar not Thrall. Thrall is just a heros who use the same model related for the quest. Thrall never been a Farseer in WoW.

Plus you have to keep in mind Hero talent are just passive added to certain gameplay. It does change but it doesnt turn you into a new class

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I’m wondering if the hero specializations will add any visual effects to standard spec abilities to make the player fit that hero talent theme.

Like if a marks hunter selected Dark Ranger, would all of their abilities have a shadow-y appearance or would their standard spec abilities look normal while their occasional Dark Ranger abilities are the only ones that match the aesthetic.

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I’m really only pushing for Shadow Hunter. I’ve heard other people suggesting Farseer/Shadow Hunter/Spirit Walker as the trio, and I like it better. That’s the OG shaman squad. Tidesage was a compromise to get an Alliance rooted spec in the mix.

I keep forgetting that! I play Resto. I keep thinking Searing Totem is still around for Ele shaman. Still, we could always bring it back. Or just Serpent Wards for Shadow Hunter.

Drek’Thar is even more melee oriented than Thrall, at least in Alterac Valley. However, Thrall is the Farseer character we play as in WC3 campaign.

Passives are mostly all it would take. A passive to add a new weapon type (which is not new to shaman, they’ve done this before). If they do warglaives then it would barely change anything and mostly be cosmetic. If they gave us a ranged weapon then it would change the feel of the class, but if Hero Talents aren’t meant to do that then what even is the point? Besides, Ascendance already turns enhance shaman auto attacks into ranged attacks for a short time (amongst other things), so ranged weapons aren’t such an out there idea.

A passive to augment Chain Heal/Healing Wave and Hex. We have these spells already. Just buff them and we’ve paid tribute to Shadow Hunter WC3 spells. They could also just bring back Searing Totem and then make a talent that replaces it with Serpent Ward/Totem, which is just a superior version of the same thing.

The only thing that would require an active talent is Big Bad Voodoo, but they could also find a way to rework it as a passive if passives are a hard and fast rule, which I don’t think they are.

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Exactly! The more I think about it as well, Frostmourne was pretty much a tool of necromancy more than it was ever just a sword too. The majority of the time it didn’t even need to make contact with the enemy, just like a magical staff.

Lich or Necromancer, I just chose the latter naming since that’s been a hotly requested 4th spec/new class for a while. Seems like this is the perfect opportunity to squeeze it in seamlessly, just like how they did with the Pirate Fantasy into Rogues.

That Phylactery Idea is great too, and also seems like a less-busted version of their OG zombie mechanic lol, and more closer to Anivia’s Egg from League of Legends.

I’m doubling down on this idea even more now, as we’ve seen both Survival Hunters and Enhancement Shaman “melee attack from a distance”, so letting this hero spec allow DK’s to do the same seems totally in line.

Once they’ve specced into this, all they’ve got left to do is transmog into any of the DK sets with robes, and change their weapons to any of the dozens of scythe-variants in game. Viola! You’ve got yourself a well-fulfilled Necro fantasy!

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Maybe because survival is forced and doesn’t fit. Too bad for the 5 players that love and play it.

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Fatebound is a mega lame name. Definitely needs to change. Even to something simple like Shadowstalker or Assassin.

Other than that, I think Blademaster would be better than Slayer or Colossus.

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I really want to know what each of the hero talents are suppose to do before making name suggestions. The names they gave were pretty generic but if the talents affects are limited to what they showed in the balance example with some light spell fx tacked on it’d be a waste to take names from things that could be full specs.

like i think shadowhunter would be a cooler name than totemic but if tree is still just gonna be % damage/healing increases for having totem out, free totem procs/faster recovery time, and a fancy bigger/high rez totem model, similar to what the keepers of the grove is shown doing for druids and treants, it feels like a waste of the name.

3 Likes
222

Shadowhunter have been reworked to basically just be the Troll version of “priestesses of elune”

They’re basically archer priest

Not really “shamans”

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It was mostly an example cause i’ve seen a lot of people recommend it. My point was, name suggestions feel like they dont make to much sense until we know what the actual abilities affected by the trees will be.

Blademaster for warrior is neat idea, but not if the tree doesnt have anything to affect bladestorm.

Wildstalker might feel weird for resto druids now, but if its a bunch of talents that make me do better healing/damage when i cast them from prowl it would make sense.

what the talents the tree does and doesnt affect would be what justify the name for a lot of these.

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Generally, I think the names are too closely tied to specific races/cultures that don’t fit the universal nature of a system like talents. So its a bit of a flavor fail.

Aside from that, I think heroic talents are too narrow in scope to really be called hero talents. They seem like slight improvements on a single ability or two. If they were influential enough to really change your playstyle, that would be cool but from the examples we have seen, that isn’t the case.

What are the goals with these?

225

what im cncerned about with this is which one is suposed to be the affy one?
soulharvest i guess? but id rather see blight spreader or pox populi or maybe plague incubator