What new specs do you think are supported by the lore?

It’s been on my mind ever since Feral and Guardian were split into tow different specs, giving Druids an unprecedented fourth spec.

I thought, why just Druids? Shaman are about four elements. Elemental has stronger ties to Fire, Enhancement to Air, and Restoration to Water. It’s easy to envision an Earth tanking spec for Shaman. In vanilla, Shaman, Druids, and Paladins were presented as the “jack of all trades” hybrid classes. Shaman could equip shields and had abilities like Rockbiter Weapon and Earth Shock that generated extra threat. I myself off-tanked a few raids for my guild back in the day. And now we’ve got three leather classes that can tank and zero mail classes that can despite mail being the heavier armor class.

I know it’s not exactly a fresh take as I’ve seen it brought up a couple times over the years, but there is another idea I wanted to talk about: Serpent Style Monks.

There are four August Celestials. The Black Ox, White Tiger, and Red Crane are well represented with NPC’s, and the three monk specs each correlate with one of them. But the Jade Serpent is completely neglected. There are Serpent Style Monks in the game, why not open it up to players? It could be a ranged DPS spec that uses mysticism and chi projectile like Chi Burst. Crackling Jade Lightning already alludes to the Jade Serpent and fits the concept perfectly.

Both specs are constantly on my mind when I play, and while I’m not holding my breath on ever seeing them be playable, I do think it’s a darn shame. But I am curious if there is anyone out there who has given any thought to a new spec for one of the other classes, and not just in a “this would be cool to have” kind of way, but more like a “this is actually a glaring omission” kind of way.

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I always thought classes like Druid and Shaman were represented with specs for balance purposes when in reality they’re masters of all of it at once. Unlike, say, a Mage who does actually have to study a specific school to be good at it.

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Druids didn’t really get a fourth spec so much as it had their feral spec broken down into two specs so that druids couldn’t run DPS and tank with the same specialization anymore.

It was a nerf, not a buff.

Actually lore-wise druids should be more spec dependent than they are. Most druids prior to WoW could only assume the form of one specific animal based on their druidic sect. The idea of druids with a variety of forms is a fairly new invention.

Even now outside Malfurion most druids in the lore seem to have preferences and specialties. Loti is very clearly a shapeshifting focused druid. Same with Broll and Thaon Moonclaw. Then you have druids like Remulos, Celestine, and arguably Malfurion prior to the Darkshore warfront who we never see shapeshift but are very good casters.

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Yeah but aren’t we like Malfurion tier Druids? Back in the day we had to go around and specifically learn all of the forms from their specific aspects(except the aquatic one, that was assembling an amulet or something) so it does seem to be canon we can become all of them.

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Listen, I’ma go ahead and ignore the Lore part and just say give me TWO HANDED ENHANCEMENT SHAMAN BACK BLIZZARD!!! PLEASE MAKE IT A TALENT OR SOEMTHING!!

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Before Illidan eyebliterated Xe’ra, I was wearing the tinfoil hat on pretty tight that Illidan would live up to the golden Illidan prophecy from his novel and that Demon Hunters would get a third, holy based spec.

Could still happen whenever it is that Illidan comes back. Either way, it does feel like Demon Hunters are missing a spec to balance out Druids having an extra one.

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We’re not on Malfurion’s level, no. We are what is called a Druid of the Wild, which was a new group of druids who are able to do a little bit of everything. We do have all the forms but our aptitude with the core druidic skills, casting, shapeshifting, and healing varies by individual, hence our specializations.

Feral and Guardian being split is more of a game mechanics thing. Every other shapeshifting focused druid in the lore seems comfortable using all their shapes as needed.

Or at least we were. I have no idea how much of that lore was thrown out the window when the RPGs were de-canonized.

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Some class specs are separated in lore, but most are more blended in lore than we see in gameplay, and even that can change per Blizzard’s whims. Druids are a particularly interesting case when it comes to this particular bit of lore.

From Vanilla onward, we did have specific sects of druids we saw and were introduced to, the Druids of the Talon, and the Druids of the Claw. However, the player druids, the ones who were supposed to be Jacks of all Trades, were what Blizzard and lore dubbed ‘Druids of the Wild’, and this was the case for several years. However, we never actually saw any NPC Druids of the Wild, and by the time Cataclysm rolled around, they started moving away from the idea of having the PC Druids be ‘of the Wild’. Many druids have access to more than one blessing, and thus multiple animal forms, but they specialize in one single ‘totem’, and the same can now be said for the PC Druid (with some overlap because Blizzard has memory problems).

Feral= Ashen Druids/Druids of the Claw.

Guardian= Druids of the Claw.

Resto= Druids of the Grove (or Branch, they can’t decide).

Balance= Druids of the Talon (or of the Moon, Balance is kind of a lore black hole when it comes to WTF it actually is these days, since the celestial themes it uses are completely detached from the other specs).

As for other classes being separated in lore, spec wise, the only others really shown are Priests, and Death Knights, where it’s specifically addressed, with some vague allusions to it when it comes to Paladins, though nothing concrete.

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I agree with you analysis of a Shaman Earth tank and Monk ranged DPS.

In addition, I think Paladins and Priests have space for Holy ranged DPS specs, and Mages could support a Storm spec with lightning style nature damage.

Warriors could support a whole host of new specs. Gladiator spec and Single-Minded Fury to begin with.

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I’d like the lore to support cough cough a fourth spec for all classes that fill a different party role than their options.

But realistically, Blizzard wasn’t able to come up with a mechanically distinct third spec for demonhunters, so I’m not sure how much room there is for mechanically distinct fourth specs for everyone else.

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This wowpedia user has some ideas that Blizz should seriously consider.

User:GoldenYak/The Art of War

The Art of War

The world is filled with enemies more dangerous than mortal minds can truly understand. Distant lands thought lost to time have been found. New worlds have been discovered. Powers ancient and unfathomable have been harnessed. The mortal defenders of Azeroth are prepared to unlock new skills and new ways to wage war.

All classes have been granted 4 specializations, allowing players to unlock their character’s full potential and take them into battle in never-before-seen ways.

Warrior - Weaponmaster

A peerless fighter, possessing formidable speed as well as strength.

Weaponmaster.

Warriors who walk the path of the Weaponmaster focus on pushing their speed and agility to the utmost, combining these attributes with their fearsome skill with their chosen weapon. A Weaponmaster’s depth of training and focus borders on the near-mystical, allowing them to accomplish tremendous feats of physical acumen.

Weaponmasters specialize in dealing steady, sustained physical damage. Their abilities render the enemy gradually more vulnerable to taking damage while at the same time reducing the enemy’s capacity to inflict damage. Weaponmasters can move in and out of combat with ease, rapidly closing the distance between an enemy or quickly moving out of range.

  • Windwalk - Increases the Weaponmaster’s movement speed for a short time and increases the critical strike chance of their next ability.
  • After Image - The Weaponmaster’s speed is so great that he leaves behind an after-image of himself, appearing to his enemies as if he has become two. The mirror image absorbs 50% of the damage dealt to the warrior, and lasts for 4 seconds. After Images gain threat priority over the warrior against NPC targets.
  • Windcleave Strike - The Weaponmaster sweeps his weapon in a strike so swiftly the air itself is torn apart. Deals a burst of physical damage in an arc in front of the warrior, splitting the damage between up to 4 targets in the arc.

Rogue - Nightward

A shadowy protector that uses the powers of darkness to evade his foes.

Nightward.

Nightwards draw upon the powers of darkness to fuel their abilities, employing a rogue’s martial shadow magic to its fullest extent. Weaving the shadows around themselves in a manner distinct from traditional spell-casting, Nightwards can stand against the strongest of foes.

Nightward is the rogue tank spec. Rather than using high health pools to absorb large amounts of damage, Nightwards use evasion-based abilities to survive. Nightwards can avoid damage entirely, re-direct is back at its source, or absorb it to fuel strong physical damage-dealing abilities.

  • Evasive Stance - Allows the Nightward to avoid all damage at the cost of Evasion Charges. Building charges to maintain Evasive Stance is the key to a Nightward’s survival when tanking.
  • Shroud of Shadows - A magical shield that converts dodged attacks into a protective barrier, which absorbs direct damage. Absorbed damage generates Evasion Charges.
  • Spirit of Vengeance - The Nightward conjures an Avatar of the shadows to absorb damage inflicted upon them. Absorbing damage allows the Avatar to spawn invincible soldiers of darkness to assault the Nightward’s enemies.

Paladin - Crusader

A noble knight that smites the wicked and defends the righteous.

Crusader.

Crusaders are paladins whom have been hardened through constant battle on the frontlines of a thousand conflicts. Experienced in wars against the foulest foes of Azeroth, Crusaders have learned the value not only of striking the enemy without mercy, but also of supporting their comrades-in-arms on the battlefield.

Crusader paladins use holy power to fuel their abilities. In the midst of combat they can decide between using their power to inflict damage upon the enemy, or to use it to heal and support themselves or their allies. A Crusader can extend magical auras across the battlefield which gradually increase in potency, slowly building up the might of his comrades or protecting them from ever-increasing damage.

  • Sword of Light - The Crusader hurls their weapon at a target location, suspending it in a Sword of Light that imbeds itself in the ground. The sword generates an aura around itself for 15 yards. Any target within the aura of the Sword of Light can be affected by the Crusader’s abilities, regardless of range. If a Crusader moves more than 35 yards from the Sword of Light , their weapon will immediately return to their hands. Crusaders are disarmed while the Sword of Light is active.
  • Chastise - When the Crusader activates this ability, their physical strikes generate an aura of righteous anger around themselves. Enemies who stand within this aura gradually grow more fearful, steadily losing attack power, while allies have their attack power gradually increased.
  • Ardent Fear - The Crusader leaps to a target location, dealing a burst of holy damage to all nearby enemies. If this ability is used while Sword of Light is active, the Crusader will immediately leap to the location of the Sword of Light , canceling that affect and dealing a burst of holy damage to enemies within 15 yards.

Shaman - Chaos

A shaman who has forsaken balance to harness the raw destructive power of the elements.

Chaos Shaman.

The elements of the world have not escaped the conflict that has engulfed Azeroth in recent times. With the absence of many elemental lords, the chaos wrought by the Cataclysm has contributed to the instability of the natural world. Some shaman have embraced the imbalance as a source of great power, favoring chaos over order.

Chaos shaman are not bound to a single role in combat. They are capable of dealing out punishment at close range using the power of earth and fire, and call upon the storm to batter their foes from a distance. When their powers are fully unleashed, the elements blend together into raw elemental force, which can be dangerous to friend and foe alike.

  • Wrath and Storm - Chaos Shaman switch between Wrath Stance and Storm Stance , allowing them to be effective at both close and long range. Using the wrong stance will put the Shaman at a disadvantage.
  • Tremor Strike - A powerful blow that knocks back the enemy and reduces their movement speed. This is an ideal ability to use before switching to Storm Stance.
  • Font of Chaos - The Shaman tears open an elemental rift, allowing raw energy to geyser up from the Elemental Plane. Standing in the font greatly increases damage dealt and damage taken for the shaman and their allies.

Mage - Blood

A spell-caster who uses his very life’s blood to fuel fearsome magicks.

Blood Mage.

The Blood Mage has uncovered the grim art of fueling magic using the vital energies of living organisms. Distinct from warlock magic that sacrifices life force to generate fel energy, blood magic redirects the vital forces of living beings to produce a wide variety of potent magical effects. Though Blood Mages walk a fine line between the arcane and the powers of darkness, blood magic is a power of potent and vital life, that can be used to protect as well as destroy.

Blood Mages are ranged spell-casters that can fulfill a tanking role. Their ability to convert mana to health and use health for their spells ensures that they will rarely run out of the resources necessary to maintain their abilities. Their special Blood Casting form also unlocks powerful abilities fueled purely by sacrificing health.

  • Blood Casting - A specialized form that the Blood Mage takes. When active, a Blood Mage’s mana bar is converted into a second health bar, and their abilities cost health instead of mana. Health lost through damage or expended on abilities is split between their health and mana bars. Some spells can only be used while Blood Casting is active. Damage dealt by the Blood Mage while Blood Casting is active will heal the Blood Mage’s allies.
  • Blood Elemental - The Blood Mage animates an elemental made from the shed life’s blood of those around them, sacrificing some of their own blood to bind the creature to their will. Blood Elementals can attack the enemy and sacrifice themselves to absorb damage done to the Blood Mage. They can even be sent to protect a Blood Mage’s allies. A Blood Mage may have several elementals active at one time.
  • Blood Reservoir - Any healing a Blood Mage receives while at full health contributes to their Blood Reservoir . This ability allows them to fuel abilities while Blood Casting is active without draining their own health.

Warlock - Dark Metamorphosis

A wielder of dark magic who has given himself over to his demonic side.

The fury of Dark Metamorphosis.

Warlocks who have unlocked the power of Dark Metamorphosis have fully given how their flesh and spirit to the powers of chaos, corruption, and darkness. Rare indeed are those who can invite the very essence of the demon into themselves and remain un-ruled by evil intent. These warlocks have enhanced the resilience of their demon form, allowing them to engage in close combat with powerful enemies.

Warlocks who take the Dark Metamorphosis spec unlock a new way to use their demon form. Rather than granting improved ranged DPS capabilities, the Dark Metamorphosis demon from improves survivability and close-combat abilities, allowing warlocks to tank. Like Demonology warlocks, a Dark Metamorphosis warlock fuels their demon form with Demonic Fury , but must maintain it at a certain level to avoid transforming back into their vulnerable mortal form. Tanking in demon form involves using abilities to maintain a sufficient level of Demonic Fury through the use of various close-combat abilities. Warlocks can also make creative use of their demon form to maximize DPS and safely escape combat.

  • Dark Focus - The warlock gathers his energies, rapidly regenerating Demonic Fury . This ability can be used in combat, but if they are struck during this spell, they lose all Demonic Fury.
  • Shadow Carapace - While in demon form, any damage the warlock suffers causes Shadow Fragment elementals to spawn. Shadow Fragments attack the warlock’s enemies and can be sacrificed to shield the warlock from damage and restore Demonic Fury .
  • Demonic Diffusion - The warlock separates themselves from their demon side, allowing the two to act independently. Any damage the warlock deals while separated builds Demonic Fury.

Priest - Twilight

A powerful sage who walks the line between Light and Shadow, dealing harm and healing in equal measure.

Twilight Priest.

Twilight priests are those who strive to find a balance between the forces of the Light and the Shadow. Believing that neither force can exist without the other, Twilight priests harness both, and in doing so have discovered a power that can be used to lift up as well as cast down. Rather than subscribing to the chaotic doctrines of the Twilight Cult who seek the doom of eternal nightfall, Twilight priests fight for the new dawn to come.

Twilight priests have found a balance between light and darkness, and so are able to use both restorative and damaging abilities. Twilight priests generate Twilight Power while using their abilities, and when sufficient amounts have been generated, their can empower themselves with either Light of Dawn or Nightfall . When empowered with the Light of Dawn , Twilight priests are capable of greatly enhanced healing, and can increase their resistance to damage, improve their combat capabilities, and perform other feats to support their allies. The power of Nightfall grants the priest increased damage to all of his spells and causes them to deal purely shadow damage.

  • Twilight Thorns - Wraps an enemy in mystical thorns that inflict damage whenever they attempt to move. With Nightfall active, thorns burn with dark energy and deal periodic damage over time, while with Light of Dawn active, this ability can be cast on friendly targets, granting them increased damage resistance and causing anyone attacking them in melee combat to take physical damage.
  • Nightfall - Grants access to a Twilight priest’s strongest damage dealing abilities, and imbues all the priests holy abilities with shadow damage.
  • Light of Dawn - Grants access to a Twilight priest’s mightiest support abilities, as well as allowing him to protect and strengthen his allies.

Hunter - Ranger

A roving mystic who combines unique spell-craft with unparalleled marksmanship.

Ranger.

Rangers are hunters who have become so attuned to the natural world that they are able to draw upon the inherent magical energies of nature. In their solitary wanderings, they have learned to focus the magical power within themselves to such a degree that they can project it outwards, infusing it into their weapons as extensions of themselves.

Rangers are hunters who rely more heavily on magical damage and effects than raw physical damage. A ranger can use a wide of variety of magical-based ranged attacks to not only damage the enemy, but debilitate and control them, ensuring that combat always proceeds as they see fit. A ranger can shape the field of combat with a handful of well place magical traps, and turn any region he wishes into a killing field that will see their enemies laid low.

  • Searing Arrow - When active, every attack the Ranger makes is imbued with searing light, dealing holy-fire damage to the target. Consumes mana with every attack.
  • Punishment Trap - Places a trap that binds a target with mystical filaments, causing them periodic damage. The further from the trap the target strays, the greater the damage they suffer.
  • Owl Scout - The Ranger summons a spectral owl to spy for them. Rangers may switch their sight to the Owl Scout at any time. Owl Scouts are invisible and and detect invisible units.

Death Knight - Lich

A fearsome dark warrior who has unlocked the full power of undeath to become a lich.

The power of a Lich unleashed.

In the wake of the Lich King’s demise, some death knights have embraced undeath completely, making the transformation into lichdom. Shedding most of their physical form and becoming creatures of powerful magic, Lich Knights trade martial prowess with their rune-weapons for deadly spell-casting abilities.

Death Knights who choose the Lich specialization use Lich Form to transform themselves into liches, allowing them to deal magical damage at long range. Liches can make use of every aura to unlock their ranged abilities, but can only effectively use an aura for a short time before needing to switch to another. Frost and Unholy auras are used to deal damage, while Blood aura is used to protect the Lich from damage.

  • Unholy Aura of the Lich - Transforms all runes into Unholy Runes. Grants some of the Death Knight’s unholy melee abilities a 40 yard range and allows the Death Knight to use Runic Energy instead of runes. Prevents the use of certain abilities. Unholy Aura consumes Unholy Runes over time. Unholy Runes regenerate when Unholy Aura is not active. Blood and Frost auras operate in a similar manner.
  • Runic Shell - Surrounds the Lich in an aura that reduces all magical damage taken. The aura also has a chance to reflect a certain number of direct damage spells back at the caster.
  • Phylactery - The Lich places its phylactery at a target location. When reduced to below 15% health, the Lich automatically teleports to the phylactery. If the phylactery is destroyed, the Lich takes 20% of its total health as damage.

Monk - Thunderhand

A master of martial prowess who can focus their inner energies to perform tremendous feats.

Thunderhand.

Thunderhand monks have refined the art of chi manipulation to such a degree that they are capable of projecting it out from their bodies in destructive bursts. Thunderhands substitute ferocity in close-combat for the ability to defeat a foe before they can even approach.

Thunderhand monks are capable of battling effectively at both long ranged and in close combat, fueling their abilities with Thunder Chi. Whenever a Thunderhand uses an ability that requires Chi, the next orb of Chi that they generate will be a Thunder Chi orb. Thunderhand ranged abilities are fueled with both energy and certain amounts of active Thunder Chi orbs. Thunderhands specialize in building up Thunder Chi in close combat with steady melee DPS, and then bombarding their foes from afar with powerful ranged abilities. A Thunderhand’s ranged abilities are effective at any distance, allowing them to remain mobile and effective in virtually any combat situation.

  • Thunder Palm - The monk focuses their chi into a sphere of energy and hurls it at the target, dealing a burst of magic damage.
  • Tiger Breaker - The monk focuses their chi into a kick that sends a spectral image of Xuen the tiger pouncing at the target. The spectral tiger will leap to attack additional targets if there are any nearby.
  • Noble Void Palm - Redirects the flow of negative energy in the area, forming a protective aura around the Thunderhand. The monk takes 50% reduced damage from all area of effect damage while standing within the aura, and any allies standing in the aura take 25% reduced damage.

Druid

Druids already got one, so nyeh.

P.S. I would really like to try the blood mage.

P.P.S. Sorry, Druids…lol.

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The game is a bit short on ranged DPS compared to melee, and very short on ranged specs that aren’t turret casters (which is why the already more numerous melee specs are so dominant) other than BM; I’d like to have mobile ranged DPS options with a less dull playstyle than “Maintain 3 stacks of frenzy, keep stuff on cooldown”.

I’d start off by giving Hunters MoP-ish SV back as a fourth spec, a proc-based magic damage DoT spec where the fantasy revolves around poisoned/cursed arrows, explosive shells, etc.

DK should get a Necromancer/Death magic ranged spec, with a playstyle based on the old version of Demo Warlock but without the hardcasting. You’d use more quickly regenerating runes to spread DoTs and raise lesser undead in caster form, building up your RP slowly until you shift into a Lich-like form, and start blasting things with the Death magic we’ve seen Sylvanas using recently.

DH I would do something centered around throwing the glaives as ranged attacks, along with Fel casting to debuff enemies and empower your glaives. A combo of abilities throwing and recovering the glaives through crowds would be worked in as the AoE/cleave mechanism.

Monks could fit in a Dragonball-esque highly mobile ranged spec jumping around shooting Chi-based projectiles/energy blasts.

And while a bit off-topic in discussion of new specs that fit existing lore, the existing caster specs need to go back to being able to cast at least filler spells while moving, like it was in MoP. Turreting and long casts/channels is not fun in a endgame based around twitch-reflex “move out of crap every 2 seconds”.

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I’ve always wanted night elves to get paladins just as paladins get a fourth spec about ranged combat with a bow. (And all paladins get glyphs to adjust their holy spell colors to silvery/purple-ish/reddish/blue-ish/etc.)

With only two specs now who use bows/guns/crossbows, it seems like that would be a good one to add.

I’d like to see priests get a holy dps spec - “Inquisitor” or the like. They could either stick with normal priest weapons or also get to use ranged weapons.

And, since tanks are always in burning-hot demand, I’d love to see an Earth-themed shaman tank, and maybe a swashbuckler rogue tank.

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You’re right, but it was a necessary nerf handed to them because they came from a privileged starting point, and they remain privileged.

Compare that to what they did to Shaman. If you look at the Enhancement talent tree in classic, it’s pretty clear the tree was a mix of two ideas, just like Feral. In the same tree you got talents that buff your 2-handed weapon damage and talents that buff your shield block rate. Between Shield Specialization, Guardian Totems, Anticipation, Toughness and Parry, you can see classic Enhancement has a lot of parallels with classic Feral. Shaman and Druids had a caster DPS spec, a healing spec (that shares the same name), and a third spec that buffed their physical combat, both in regards to damage and tankiness. Druids had to change form while Shaman had to change weapons, which we can do in combat so it’s not that different from changing forms.

But while they split Feral into two specs, which granted is a nerf, they just deleted the tanking elements of Enhancement entirely. That’s a mega-nerf. Shaman were supposed to be a hybrid like Druids and Paladins, but they can only do two things: dps and heal. If doing two things makes you a hybrid, then we need to be prepared to call Warriors and Priests hybrids as well, since they could also do two things since vanilla.

The mechanics are/were there, and from a lore/flavor point of view their ties to the Earth element is underutilized. All our old threat generating spells were Earth themed.

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My main character is a dual-class hunter/druid. He started out as a druid, lost his connection to the Dream, and had to learn to use melee weapons. Now, he’s got his magic back, and he combines transforming/melee weapons with his natural spells and a pet.

I love this idea because, in other RPGs, Druids are “The most nature” then Rangers/Hunters are “Second Most Nature”. They’re so in-tune with the surroundings. Hell, if you thematically make “nature magic” the rationalle behind BM and Survival hunter abilities, like… Basically druids that bond with animals rather than transforming into them. Fighting alongside them. “A Murder of Crows” becomes “calling to nature”. Even the horde of dire beasts.

THIS WOULD BE SO FREAKIN’ COOL! Man, imagine if they got a CD that allowed them to fly temporarily. Go super pandaren, big aura, leap into the air, hovering around firing off Chi blasts? Gimme. I might RP this anyways.

For me, a third demon hunter spec would be a ranged demon hunter that uses bows/crossbows. We have three weapon classes only used by one class. There isn’t any clear-cut example in lore, but night elves and blood elves are known for their rangers. It wouldn’t be too much of a stretch that a demon hunter would combine their old skills with new powers. Add in a few “throw glaive” cooldown, and it’d be aesthetically pretty awesome.

Elunite Paladins! I want them so bad, but not for a while, because one of my future characters (Hi, I’m Falothorin, and I’m an elf addict) is a priestess aspirant, who I want to become a paladin. But, I want to do that before it’s actually available in-game, so I can have be a special-snowflake.

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I’ve seen it suggested before that monks should get a bow spec following the Zen Archer archetype, and while I think that idea is cool, I don’t know how to marry it with the Serpent Style idea. I think there is a big lore demand for monks who serve Yu’lon, and thematically she has been all about that magic damage. We could see some bows with Int stats, but Serpent Style martial arts has nothing to do with bows. Maybe the bow can just hang on the back and only be used sparingly. It is a monk spec after all.

That said, I could get behind priests with bows since Priestesses of the Moon exist. Possibly paladins too. It would be nice if both priests and paladins were expanded to fit more cultural identities in the game instead of being so heavily tied to human ideologies.

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A shaman spec centered more on interacting with spirits. The living and the dead. Tauren, orc, and trolls all have really strong traditions centered around interacting with their dead ancestors and particular beasts.

Hunters, Warlocks, Death Knights all get permanent pets. Shamans can only summon them for a limited time on a cooldown.

I think there’s totally justification for something like a pet spec, where you could have a permanent spirit companion to assist you in battle, buff allies, debuff enemies, etc. As a cooldown, they could summon several such spirits.

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I can see the balancing issues when it comes to the game itself, but I’m surprised there are no mage knights or spell blades going around.

We’ve already seen that in universe, people know giving armor to a spell caster provides beneficial results. Paladins with priests and Death Knights with necromancer/warlocks showing what they could do.

So what’s stopping mages from training in heavier armor? Or taking a warrior with modest magic potential and teaching them how to use it in combat.
One doesn’t even need to be the best in either field. I imagine just locking blades in combat and just channeling fire into someone’s face(referencing the Witcher III when Geralt sears a stronger opponent through the holes of his faceplate.)

Does it really take new order to get the ball rolling to something that otherwise seems the next logical step? Or is it that it would break the wizard in robes fantasy?

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Fourth specs will kill the game but there’s lore to justify lots of things

I don’t think every class should get a fourth spec, which is why I didn’t want to open the conversation up to things that were simply cool ideas. I’m more interested in specs whose absence make the class, game, and/or lore feel incomplete.

To me, an Earth based Shaman spec and a Jade Serpent based monk spec fulfill those criteria. I’m curious if others feel the same way about these or other classes.

This thread is not about handing out a new spec to everyone just for the lols.

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