So, I’m probably in the minority here, but I wasn’t really a fan of adding Dual-spec to the Anniversary servers; it just changed the design structure a lot, and I don’t think really offers an “authentic” experience.
But then “Classic+” doesn’t necessarily need to be purely old-school. I’m sure we all have differing opinions, but I’d love seeing everyone else’s opinions, and just be able to share our thoughts, why we stand where we stand, and see what we can glean from each others’ views.
So; my personal take?
I’m… still not a huge fan of dual-spec. But let me explain! When Death Knights launched at the very start of Wrath (the start specifically), I thought those are the best talent trees Blizzard have ever made. The reason is; they were designed to add “hybrid” options in all three of the talent trees, allowing you to pick up a little bit of an “off-spec” with minimal deviation from a hyper-specialized build.
To me, that is the kind of design philosophy I would love to see applied to the Classic classes.
For example; let’s say you’re a Paladin and you’re going Ret (because of course you are – no judgement, you are my people!). Well, what if deeper in the Ret tree, you also got a few relatively “cheap” talents that could open up some new options? Like “Zeal”, giving you a chance on being struck to immediately counter-attack (setting up some “off-tank” options), or a talent that increases your healing output the longer you go without dealing damage (for the “off-healer”).
Here’s my rationale:
The whole concept behind a talent tree is allowing the player to customize their character. How does my Ret Paladin differ from your Ret Paladin? Maybe you go all-in on damage at all costs, giving up any additional utility do you can eek out that little bit of extra damage, whereas maybe I give up like 15% of my theoretical “max” damage, in order to pick up the ability to pick up aggro and tank a boss if one of our “main” tanks gets unlucky with a boss crit and dies.
Now, this would obviously require changes elsewhere as well. Maybe instead of all these different “green stats” on gear, maybe you get talents that convert your primary attributes to granting those kinds of effects as well. Maybe instead of a gold cost to respec (which is trivialized by making gold, and just becomes an arguous “speedbump”), you can only respec once a week, meaning you have some real investment into your spec.
Ultimately, my goal is that your talent choices should speak to what you value as a player, and how you want to play your particular character. With the addition of dual-spec, I feel like it just caters to the min-max mindset, which is something I think has actively destroyed the game over time. Anything that encourages more variety is a good thing, in my opinion.
Oh, also; for Mages, I would love to see more variety in whether you go all-in one a single magic type, or want to play around with multiple schools. I’ve had enough fun with healing as an Arcane Mage (though I wouldn’t be devastated or anything if the option never returned, healing still feels “wrong” for a mage imo), I didn’t like how I was pigeonholed into only dealing Arcane damage. I would’ve loved to be able to choose between increasing my damage output (presumably investing in Fire), or adding some utility and crowd-control through improving my Blizzard, without completely sacrificing my ability to heal by using non-Arcane spells.
That’s just my take, though.
I’m curious where you guys stand, and moreover, why you feel that way. Reading my thoughts, what things do you disagree with, and what do you not like? Do you see room for a happy medium, refining suggestions others have posted, or even sparking new solutions entirely?
).