I know some gameplay-focused folks have said that we have enough classes already, but for me class choice is as much about lore as anything else. I don’t mind redundant classes in gameplay so as long as they fill a new lore niche.
I invite everyone to pitch ideas for class themes they feel are missing.
Necromancer
I’m starting with this because I think it’s relatively simple. Necromancers have been a central part of Warcraft since the Necrolytes of Orcs and Humans. While Death Knights gave us a death-themed class, they’re a heavy armor melee class rather than a lightly armored caster, which matters a lot when it comes to character theme.
I do think it would be hard to argue for Necromancers as a whole new class though, but because of Warlocks rather than Death Knights. The direct damage/damage over time/minion master breakdown of the Warlock specs is exactly what I’d expect for Necromancers.
Which is why my pitch for a Necromancer class is a Class Skin. A Class Skin is a theoretical idea from the community for a way to heavily retheme the abilities and effects of a class to another theme. This could be as simple as turning the Light of a paladin into Void like Tyrant Velhari. Here it would be a little more involved, but still not require any sort of class design or rebalancing.
Turn the damage over times into plagues, turn the summons into abominations and crypt fiends and gargoyles, give Warlocks back a Demon Form so Necromancers can change it into a Lich Form, etc. There would technically be some gameplay differences, as I’d expect the Necromancer version of Corruption, for instance, would be a Poison or Disease instead of a Magic effect, and their abilities should deal Nature or Frost damage instead of Fire, and perhaps something new like Domination damage instead of Chaos. In most cases those changes shouldn’t mean too much though.
Tinker
The more I think about this idea, the more glaring it seems to me that it’s missing. I think at the game’s launch the Engineering profession was probably supposed to fulfill this theme, but as the game has evolved professions simply do not fill a primary enough gameplay role to make up for the lack of a class that fits this theme.
I’ve heard it said before that goblins and gnomes aren’t very popular races, but why should we be surprised? You can’t actually play a goblin or a gnome in a class that truly fits most of the goblins and gnomes we see in game (not being able to have silly last names doesn’t help either).
This class wouldn’t have to be limited to them either, though. Lots of races have memorable bits of technology at this point, all the way from the draenei’s naaru tech, to the blood elves’ anima constructs, to even the human’s harvest golems.
Also, it would be nice to have another class that actually uses bows and guns.
The way I see such a class would breakdown like this:
Mech - Tank Spec
This is the iconic shredder concept. You get into a big suit that would be at least as customizable as Moonkin form is now.
Backpack - Damage Spec
This would be like the Tinker from Warcraft III or Gazlowe from Heroes of the Storm. You have a backpack with arms and rocket launchers or whatever.
Alchemist Perhaps? - Support Damage Spec
Inspired by the Goblin Alchemist from Warcraft III. Each spec has an “invention”. For the tank it’s the mech. For the DPS it’s the backpack. For the alchemist it’s their concoctions. They lob various bombs or vials that can damage, buff, and maybe even heal a bit. This would also open up some more roleplay opportunities for Forsaken Apothecaries.
Spell Breaker
This is my personal most wanted class. The image of the blood elf with a tower shield and double-bladed throwing blade was incredibly iconic back after Frozen Throne. Spell Breakers haven’t had much of an impression since, but they have appeared. A bunch of them appeared in Legion (implying it was a much older, night elf tradition considering the nightborne had them), and Ko’ragh and his buddies in Warlords of Draenor showcased a very similar concept in a different way.
Obviously I’m not asking for a class that specializes in attacking mages and burning mana. Also, Mages already have Spellsteal and Death Knights have Anti-Magic Shell and Zone.
But part of my whole point with this thread is that I can’t have both on a short-ranged/melee character with a shield.
Elsewhere I drew up three specs for a Spell Breaker class, though not called that because Spell Breaker was just one spec. The others were a Spellblade spec and a Runemaster spec (which I called Spellward).
I also really want a Spellblade archetype in the game and I think it’s easily something that can be combined with Spell Breakers. There are Kirin Tor Spellblades and Spellbows all over the Isle of Thunder, but we can only pretend. This is something I think could work as a fourth, melee-focused mage spec, but we’d have to start getting new specs for theme instead of merely for new gameplay.
For the record, my Runemaster idea took the visuals of high and blood elven runic tattoos (and the Quel’thalas runestones), mixed it with the ogre Magic Breakers and Mar’gok’s runestones, and ended up with something resembling the popular old RPG class. Thanks to the Magic Breakers, and since Monk is so heavily Pandaria themed, I thought a fist-weapon-wielding runemaster would work better paired with Spell Breaker than Monk.
Honorable Mention - Tidesage/Sea Witch
This is an honorable mention because Shaman has been fairly consistently used to portray this concept in game. I just think Shaman has too many things going on to truly convey the concept is a satisfying way.
I think the Tempest in Diablo Immortal shows how cool a dedicated storm class can be if it’s not an afterthought.
Does anyone else have an idea for a character concept that doesn’t fit any of the existing classes in a way that works for them?