Next Hero Class: Dragonsworn? (or: Why Bards, Necromancers and Tinkers Don't Work)

Community General Discussion
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I know Tinkers, Bards and Necromancers are all the rage right now, but I doubt we’ll ever seen any of them.

Firstly, a new class needs to be thematic. Bard nor Tinker will ever be such - there will never be a “music”-themed expansion, and sorry but Goblins and Gnomes are never going to take the spotlight. Necromancer might have a chance by this parameter in a Void/Death-based expansion, but this leads to the next requirement.

A unique niche in the lore. Necromancer steps on the toes of Death Knights, and they certainly don’t have the intrinsic, uniquely WarCraft value of a class like the Demon Hunter that might see the developers tread on another classes’ theme again. Tinker is covered by Engineering, whether or not you find any particular value in it currently. Bard might get a pass in this regard if they went the ETC-route with it, but it also fails the next category.

A unique gameplay niche. As demonstrated by ongoing changes to the Shaman and Paladin, there is no place for support classes in WoW. Unfortunate, but a reality. Necromancer has the minion fantasy fulfilled in Warlock. Tinker might have something unique to offer here (a D.Va-like tank might be interesting), but they offer nothing in the former two categories.

In short:

  • Necromancers might be thematic to an expansion, but they offer nothing truly unique as far as class fantasy or gameplay goes.
  • Tinkers might offer some unique gameplay avenues, but they’ll never be thematic or have a fully unique class fantasy.
  • Bards might have that unique class fantasy, but they’ll never have an expansion backing them, and their gameplay niche is unsupported.

Enter the Dragon(sworn)

A potential class that fulfills all these requirements is the Dragonsworn. Mortals who have sworn themselves to and are empowered by a particular dragonflight, this class is becoming increasingly likely given recent plot developments.

Thematic?
Those who have been playing close attention to hints about what the next expansion holds are probably very aware of Wrathion’s current activity and the resurgence of the Twilight Dragonflight. The search for the Dragon Isles and challenges to the waning power of the original dragonflights may become a central focus of the story going forward, perhaps tying into the overarching Void narrative given the new Void dragons will soon be making an appearance. It would make sense for the core dragonflights to reach out to mortals en masse for support in these dire times.

Class Fantasy?
Nothing comes close to a replicating the draconic empowerment fantasy that the Dragonsworn would provide. This would become even more unique if we have the ability to choose which dragonflight we align ourselves with.

Gameplay Niche?
The Dragonsworn would be a relatively unique entry given the usual choices available in fantasy settings, therefore there’s a lot of freedom here, unbeholden to preconceptions. That being said, when I think of dragons, personally, I think of mass destruction. That is, Area of Effect attacks that leave a lasting impact on the field of battle. The greater point, though, is that class design would be unconstrained by preconceived notions.

How would you design the Dragonsworn?

Glad you never asked!

I see the Dragonsworn as a mail-based class with three specializations - tank, healer and a majority ranged DPS class (with rotational melee attacks). Instead of a cloak item, their back item would be a Draconic Focus - an item that, in addition to the stats provided by a cloak, gives a unique empowerment similar to Azerite traits and manifests as a pair of wings.

I would also resist the temptation to theme the specializations around the dragonflights’ spheres of influence. I would much rather be able to choose my allegiance based on my lore or aesthetic preferences, rather than my current mode of gameplay.

And again, far be it from me to tell Blizzard how to design a class, but I do have a couple little concepts for how I would envision the gameplay of these specializations.

  • Tank: The polar opposite of the Demon Hunter, the Dragonsworn Tank lays claim to an area to the benefit of himself and his allies, and the detriment of his enemies. Utilizing large AoEs with long cooldowns that primarily provide defensive buffs to the tank and his allies, success is dependent on having a solid knowledge of the flow of the battle. Defensive cooldowns are powerful, but again require the tank to stand his ground and remain stationary.

  • Healer: The Dragonsworn healer, like the tank, finds their unique niche in having very few abilities that require a target. Instead, most of their heals, shields, and support abilities are low-cost AoEs that require a bit of predictive power and cooperation from one’s allies. In ideal situations with a group that knows how to take full advantage of this healer’s unique strengths, that top spot on the healing charts is all but guaranteed.

  • DPS: Giving the game its first new ranged specialization since release (breaking even since one was more-or-less taken), the Dragonsworn DPS focuses on building and expending Draconic power. The majority of the rotation is composed of breath attacks and other ranged abilities, however, this specialization is not without its claws. Its spending phase sees the Dragonsworn leaping into melee range, tearing into their opponent for a brief melee phase, finishing with a magnificent aerial breath attack that returns the player to range. For the more melee-inclined players, a certain talent might build charges for each completed melee phase, expending X amount to transform into a drakonid to keep the high damage melee phase rolling for an extended period of time.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on the likelihood of any of the classes mentioned? My personal bias is laid out above, but I’m always open to hearing counterpoints!

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I’ve been thinking that something along the lines of a “dragonsworn” would be a pretty logical idea for a hero class. I can’t decide whether I want each aspect to be it’s own spec (Blue is ranged dps, red and green are healers, etc) or for each spec to mix their magics together in a unique way using some of that patented “mortal creativity”.

Plus depending on how it’s built it, may be the closest thing we’d get to a “spellblade” or “battlemage” type of class

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To be perfectly transparent, I fell in love with the rotation of FFXIV’s Red Mage. The majority of the time, they’re ranged damage dealers, but they have a quick burst phase where they leap into melee. I’d love to see WoW’s take on that style of gameplay. The closest that comes in Survival, but that’s only because Survival has no idea what it’s trying to be at this point.

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Problem with this idea is the lore behind the dragonflights.

They are dying out, the aspects are pretty much powerless and I believe the lot of them are mortal now, sure dragons live long lives as such but they don’t have anywhere near that kind of power anymore to even empower their own dragons.

Not to mention most of the dragonflights themselves are on the last legs. Malygos pretty much nuked his own flight, the bronze flight are mostly lost in time / corrupted, greens were pretty much wiped out by the nightmare, reds were almost destroyed by the orcs and blacks… well enough said about the handful of them left.

Not to mention in one of the novels, the last clutches of eggs were annihilated when they were in the dragonshrines.

So not many dragons left to empower a class - they’re probably more concerned with restoring what is left of their own people.

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I appreciate your thoughtful reply, and everything you stated about the current state of the dragonflights is correct. I disagree, however, on where the story of the dragonflights is heading.

Wrathion is searching for something. What it is, we do not know, but it involves the Dragon Isles and places of import to his own flight. As a character, we know he is willing to sacrifice anything for survival. I would surmise that he is looking for a way to reinvigorate his - and possibly the other dragonflights - given that mortals, left to their own devices, are failing in their duty to protect their own.

Meanwhile, the Twilight Dragonflight, in the depths of Grim Batol, and the Infinite Dragonflights are re-emerging, challenging the “true” dragonflights. Even “Void” dragons of some form will be making an appearance.

It makes perfect sense to me that the dragonflights would themselves recruit mortals to their causes both supplement their diminished ranks and perhaps seek a way to replenish their power.

If they don’t try something, they’re just going to be whittled away into oblivion while other powers take over.

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Problem here is… they can’t trust mortals with that power. We’ve seen in game how mortals have used, abused and otherwise destroyed dragons, their items and their trust.

I mean look what Garrosh did with the eye of eternity… he turned it into a mana bomb. The old horde rode and subjugated the red dragonflight. Humans have been abusing the blue dragonflight, capturing their whelps etc.

I don’t think the flights would trust mortals with what is left, if any at all, of their power.

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Tinkers are very basically in the game already. The goblin island team are basically 2 (maybe all 3) tinkers. Not sure about what horde fight, is there a gnome equivalent?

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I don’t agree Bards, Necromancers or Tinkers would be a better choice than Dragonsworn. Also, this fake thing you call Class Fantasy already does not exist with the current classes and specs.

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We need a battle pet themed pet. Like a hunter, but with cuter pets and no none pet attacks.

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Depends on the mortal. “Dragonsworn” exists as a concept because there are mortals out there worthy of the empowerment.

Unfortunately, we need to work within the factions as far as player character goes, but we can easily work under the same conceit as Death Knights and Demon Hunters - we could serve as envoys of our respective dragonflights rather than outright joining the Alliance or Horde.

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Tinker or bust, pal. You wanna play a Dragonsworn? Go play Divinity 2! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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Honestly, I think you’re already as close to Tinker as you’re ever going to get. A gun and goggles, and whatever other transmog you want to cobble together, is the best we’re going to get on that front.

A class needs to be thematically, and centrally so, relevant to the expansion in which it debuts. I would never say it’s impossible, but I can’t imagine Blizzard ever going full-fledged Goblins & Gnomes for an expansion. They’re a sideshow.

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Or we could get the infringementborne, their main ability is projection of copyrighted materials like a flurry of mickey mouse heads. Their more powerful abilities drain opponents power like DMCA silences, and the legendary Cease and Desist Shouts gained by consuming the souls of lawyers as you level up.

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Interesting, but I’d much rather see a playable Dragon race.

You’d be able to be any race in the game, but designate them as a Dragon, and select the dragon-color (either directly or just by picking out the hair color). This would give you access to racials like a Dragon flight form, flame breath, bonus rep, etc. If they really wanted to put some elbow-grease into it they could also give all the races an intermediate Aspect-like form with different shapes of horns, talon-hands and glowing slitted eyes.

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Well written! I still wanna see Bards in some shape or form and don’t agree new classes need a new expansion to explain them in, however.

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Who says they need to be mutually exclusive? Perhaps patch X.3 of the Dragonsworn expansion could see the dragonflights return to their former power, taking a more active role in the meddling mortal’s political lives.

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That’s why I play a Hunter, it’s the closest I can get. Add in the new mecha-pets and I’m golden.

No it doesn’t. If that was the case we may as well remove everything except Death Knights, Demon Hunters, and Monks because none of the other Classes have ever had a central identity unique to an expansion.

Ah, now we’re getting closer to the truth. An anti-Goblin, anti-Gnomist, eh? Just 'cause you ain’t got no appreciation for the finer things in life doesn’t mean the rest of us share your short-sighted view, Champ. :moneybag:

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They don’t need to be making another class, they need to fix the classes that we have.

Semper Fi! :us:

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All the “base” classes were those designated to be integral to the core WarCraft experience when the game was first developed. Everything that came after was icing, themed to the current conflict.

And don’t get me wrong - sideshows exist because they’re so entertaining. But they’re never in the spotlight. For example, I love Chewbacca, but you could never give the character his own movie to carry. He’s too extreme in mannerisms and physicality and would alienate your average movie-goer as a central protagonist.

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Its a cool idea, but I still don’t buy your argument that it passes your own test… no prevalence in lore, need for a whole new item slot?, over powered AoE abilities?

The very few classes even mentioned in lore that we haven’t see are thinks like Shadow Hunters, Wardens… essentially major lore NPC level classes that combine 2 or more classes into something with unique flavor.

This is why I would love to see a secondary class system more than any other class. Something that opens up at close to max level and allows the player to create some (much more limited) version of whatever Tirande is (priest/hunter) or whatever… A warrior with some mage spells, a druid with some priest spells, a hunter with some warlock/shadow priest/shaman flavor.

I think it would be easier to balance, easier to fit into lore, creates more customization options for player flavor. etc…

I think your idea is really cool though - It just doesn’t fit in the game from what I see, and I don’t see how you balance it - a pure AoE class would be a nightmare to balance against single target. How does damage shift from content to content (raid, pvp, dungeons) - do AoE heals have a max target? I guess I don’t understand the mechanics your going for.

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