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

Community General Discussion
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Honestly, I fully expect the next expansion to break the pattern and forego a new class. My expectations for BlizzCon were tempered by last year’s, to say the least.

That being said, Tinker, I’d be fine with, if not surprised that they chose to go with that theme for an expansion.

Dark Ranger would be disappointing. They’re a very specific fantasy - Elven, dark and brooding. I don’t think we need another one of those. They’d probably make for a better Allied Race, but even then, the concept is still too narrow.

WoW’s draconic lore reliably results in strong thematics, and can have incredibly strong stories to tell with the right writers. Dragonsworn would allow us to tap into that fantasy, and give the developers a lot of creative freedom with the design.

Also, to those above, a Warrior is inherently no more a Dragonsworn than she is a Paladin or Death Knight. Nor is a Mage no more a Dragonsworn inherently than he is a Warlock or Demon Hunter.

Aside from a few abilities being draconically themed, the full fledged fantasy of utilizing that draconic power fully is not represented at all.

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As long as the new hero class doesn’t take away from other hero classes and other classes just to make them viable I’m OK with them exsisting

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There’s going to be a new class next expansion. Blizzard isn’t going to allow WoW to go 6 years without a new class. They know that new classes are selling points for new expansions.

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128

I’d have to see a more thorough example of what a Dragonsworn would be before I’d be interested.

I’ve already seen write ups of Tinkers and Necromancers that I’d want to play. They’re also both Warcraft units that have yet been made into classes so I’d prefer to see both of them done before this.

I’m not opposed to it. All classes are just nifty visuals and mechanics slapped on numbers. I’m just curious what’d make this more cool than the two mentioned above. Same for a bard. It could be done and would likely be cool, I’m just curious how.

Currently, which all the void influence and such, I’d really like to see some sort of Void knight with really need mechanic.

Necromancers definitely need to be a thing.
Death knights are great, I play one, but it’s not a necromancer.
The focus needs to be on undead minions, the player shouldn’t be in the thick of things. This is why the unholy death knight falls short. He’d be better to focus more on the knight aspect and less on the summoner, and leave that up to the professional.

YES MORE! ALL THE MOAR!
I find I prefer melee.

That combined with all the other gnomish and mech feature in this is expansion is the perfect setup for a tinker class.

BLECH

Or deranged… =D summons a skeleton

A bit, but I have no issue with a necromancer cutting off the toes of a Death Knight and using them as reagents to summon minions…mmmm toe bones.

They’ve been a great unit in pretty much each RTS game. How is that not a key element?

Kinda like the warrior but expanding on the idea? =D

I want undead, not demons.
Just have to get creative in how to set them apart…or just use one as the base for building the other =D

I really wouldn’t mind getting multiple new classes. It really wouldn’t surprise me at this rate either, we’re getting multiple new races, and classes are just visual rethemes for numbers. Pretty much every ability for a demon hunter came from another class with new looks.

It really wouldn’t surprise me at all if they dropped Dark Rangers, Tinkers, and Necromancers for the next expansion.

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Necromancy has strong ties to WarCraft lore. Necromancers, not so much. Allow me to explain.

Liches and Death Knights are the ultimate expressions of Necromancy is the WarCraft setting. Necromancers, while a smattering few do exist, are generally treated as banal hedge wizards. Dabblers in the Dark Arts, rather than masters of them. Necrolytes, as seen in the Old Horde and the Scourge, are a step up from this, but are still depicted as cloyingly subservient. To whom? Death Knights, such as Teron Gorefiend and Arthas, or Liches, such as Kel’thuzad.

All that being said, I do suppose you could say the same thing about the Dragonsworn being subservient to a dragonflight. The difference being that it is unlikely we’ll ever be able to play as an actual dragon - playing with the power granted to us is the best those who enjoy a draconic fantasy will likely ever see.

Necromancers, on the other hand, are the bottom of the rung for expressing the Necromancy fantasy as far as the WarCraft universe is concerned. Why settle for that when you could go for a Death Knight or Lich?

As for Mechagon “hinting” at an increasingly tech-based focus for the WarCraft universe… keep dreaming. Advanced technology has been on the periphery since WarCraft II. But it is the contrast with the core medieval fantasy setting that makes it interesting. To shift it to the center both betrays the core fantasy and voids the contrast that made it interesting in the first place.

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130

So like how demon hunters did with warlocks hence why they stole their demon form?

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Keep reading.

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No, like Skyrim’s Dragonborn :stuck_out_tongue:
But guess the warrior could easily be a “Dragonborn” in WoW, only if the shouts let you throw people off cliffs.

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If Dragonsworn are a race, they need to have 5 specs. Thematically, this would make the most sense. And would add some cool flavor.

Dream Spec - Green Dragonflight - Healing
Time Spec - Bronze Dragonflight - Support (Healing / DPS)
Magic Spec - Blue Dragonflight - Ranged DPS
Life Spec - Red Dragonflight - Tanking
Earth Spec - Black Dragonflight - Melee DPS

Each spec would change / alter the focus on their back and give them traits of each Dragonflight they’re specialized in.

Originally, I had an idea similar to yours in case they ever added Dragonspawn / Draknoids as a playable race…you’d be able to customize which dragonflight your character came from thus giving yourself different racials - but I think it could fit with a class, nicely.

Though I don’t know if Blizzard would ever be not lazy and actually give a class 5 specs…Demon Hunters only got 2 >.>

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Interesting thought experiment - might be cool to play a Time-themed healer that, instead of healing by a set amount, primarily returns the target’s health to what it was X seconds ago.

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Are all Druids bears though? They transform into them so surely that means the race of the class itself is Bear right?

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Lol, I know. I’ve just thought it was funny when Dragon Roar was added to the Warrior. Felt like a definite dragonborn reference.

Most of the suggestions for Necromancer classes have lich rolled into the idea somewhere. Usually as a spec or a transformation for one. Works well.

I play a death knight and I still want a necromancer because the death knight doesn’t capture that fantasy. Sure they can be similar but they’re still different in much the same way priests and paladins or demon hunters and warlocks are.

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Druids can transform into Bears. The only beings I’m aware of that can turn from the playable races into dragons are the dragon aspects themselves.

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Demon Hunters can transform into demons. Warlocks summon demons and use them as pets.

Necromancers summon undead minions. DKs summon undead minions. Typically the only issue that Necromancer advocates can come up with is numbers and range. Personally I don’t think creating a ranged DK that summons more minions really justifies a new class.

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139

It is heavily implied, particularly by the in-game Dragonmaw Ascendants and Dragonsworn lore, that drakonids and dragonspawn are former mortals who have been exposed to draconic energy for an extended period of time. Drakonids appear to be “artificial” in the sense that they tend to be created in a short period of time, generally experimentation, whereas dragonspawn appear to be a natural evolution over a long period.

Both are one-way, however, as far as we know.

140

I think Tinker is definitely the next class. Play a few Island Expeditions, and you will fight one. They’ve already basically created the class, and are just waiting for the next xpac to put it in. Personally, not all that interested, but there seems to be a lot of interest and 8.2, plus the NPCs on expeditions, and you have the groundwork all set for tinkers.

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When you really think about it, Blizzard has been grooming us to accept the concept of a Tinker class for some time now. I think they want to avoid what happened with Monks, which seemingly came out of nowhere, and give us a non-hero class that we’ve been more or less prepared for. Especially a class as outlandish and crazy as one based on a Goblin or Gnome piloting a robot suit.

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As much as I’d rather have an independent tinkerer, necro, bard, & dragon class, I think I’d be okay if they added them as fourth specs for hunters, DK’s, rogues, and warriors accordingly. But there is so much more potential for other fourth specs, or making fully fleshed out new classes, imo.

Also, many continue to believe that DK’s are necromancers and would be too similar if they were split apart… Well many thought the witch doctor in D3 was the same as a necro, but they managed to make their necromancer feel pretty unique. I think WoW COULD do it too.

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I agree, there’s ways of making a necromancer unique to both the Demonology warlock and Unholy Death Knight.

For example:

  1. To distinguish them from Demonology, which is a primarily one pet spec with many temporary pets, it could have multiple permanent pets as a part of its arsenal. Skeletal warriors, skeletal mages, etc are visually very different from imps and felguards.
  2. Like you said, D3 has a Witch Doctor and Necromancer. Imps and Demons are very different thematically from skeletons, which is where they could take the Necromancer.
  3. Take a look at the D2 necromancer. There’s a multiple of Poison and Bone spells that don’t exist thematically in WoW they could draw from. Poison Nova, Bone Spear, etc.
  4. Golems. Could be a permanent pet option that’s different from ghouls (unholy)/demons (demonology).
  5. Curses. The necromancer could have a variety of support spells that seek to enhance the damage of their pets/abilities or function as a debuff on their enemies. Slowing enemies, disorienting them, taking extra damage from pets, etc.

Just to start…

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144

Oh! I just realized that the Dragonsworn idea is the same exact thing, as an AD&D-based game’s, Dragon Disciple. Which is a Prestige Class, or in WoW’s case, Dragonsworn would indeed be a Hero Class. It should be restricted to Humans, Night Elves, Gnomes, Undead, Blood Elves, and Orcs.