Got a dumb idea, and I need to hammer it out onto the Forums so it’ll stop popping up in my headspace.
Rather than level 60 in a straight class, Blizzard offers a side-path, in which you can take levels in a second class. Level 60 is still the cap (or 70 if they pop the level cap next expansion) but you can take 40 levels in your ‘main’ class, and 20 levels in a simplified version of your ‘secondary’ class. You gain access to their armor and weapon skills and unique mounts and skins, but that’s as far as you can go with the ‘Secondary’ class.
And to simplify things even further, you can only level in specific specc of that secondary class, so only abilities unique to all three speccs, and abilities unique to that specific specialisation.
So for example, a level 60 character could be Priest 60, Priest 40/Monk 20, Priest 50/Monk 10 or Priest 59/Monk 1. Players can choose their ‘secondary’ class. At 1st level in their Secondary Class, the Character gains the option to choose two abilities from the Specc they choose as their Secondary Class, and at levels 4, 8, 12, 16 and 20, they gain one more ability from the options, allowing players to tailor this ‘secondary’ class to suit their playstyle and function.
Say you’re a Warrior, but want some companionship and utility on your adventures?
What about a Mage who wants to explore their people’s shamanistic heritage?
A Paladin who wants to more ‘Inquisitor-ish’ and dabbles in the questionable ways of the Rogue?
A Warlock who wants to dabble in the powers of the Shadow?
A Priest who kicks 
for the Light?
Let’s go for the first one as an example.
I wanna be Rexxar
A Warrior is an up-close melee combat, and with the way the inventory is set up now, there's no room for a ranged weapon slot, so Beast Mastery and Marksman are not really options for a Warrior that doesn't want to be using macros to switch weapons every few seconds.So they specc into Survival Hunter as their Secondary Class, and Choose [Tame Beast/Call Pet 1] and [Mend/Revive Pet] as their starting abilities. They can now have a pet running around with them, but it is only half as strong as it would be for a level 41 Survival Hunter in terms of stats and DPS. Likewise, the Warrior gains Focus in addition to Rage, but their pool is half the size of a Hunter’s.
At 4th level, they pick [Spirit Bond] to maximise their damage with their pet, but they don’t have any Focus-spending abilities right now, but the 0.5% regen helps with their overall survivability, even if just by a smidgen.
At 8th level, they pick up [Kill Command] to boost their pet’s effectiveness as a DPS partner. It is only 1/2 as effective as a Survival Hunter, but it does tie in with [Spirit Bond].
12th level they pick up [Intimidation] because another Stun is always fun to have at your fingertips.
16th level, they take a lower-level choice, [Harpoon], to supplement their Charge/Intercept/Heroic Leap roster. The fact it also roots the target adds some utility and help for other melee characters who might be struggling to catch up to a speedy target that’s staying out of range of their own slows.
Finally, at 20th level, their final choice is [Command Pet], allowing them to draw out their beast’s latent power, albeit at 50% effectiveness.
While leveling up in this ‘Secondary’ Class, their stats are likewise altered. The normal level-up bonus to stats is split between the attributes favoured by Warriors and Hunters, with only stamina not being affected. IE, instead of +2 Strength and +2 Stamina for a Warrior, or +2 Agility and +2 Stamina for a Hunter, they’d get +1 Strength, +1 Agility and +2 Stamina for each level in their ‘Secondary’ Class. This ensures their Primary Class remains viable, their secondary class can be useful and their health is not unfairly crippled. This also means that mains of the ‘secondary’ class aren’t immediately out-classed by multi-class players, since the multi-class players ‘secondary’ class abilities are 1/2 the strength of those of a main, and their stat attributes are lower as well.
So you could have a level 40 Fury Warrior/20 Survival Hunter running around playing at being Rexxar with their Wolf companion, being the most mobile bastard ever to walk the face of Azeroth, and they’ve also cemented a certain amount of uniqueness compared to their companions. They’re not quite as beefy as other Fury Warriors, and they will never have the range of pets or finesse of a Survival Warrior, but their natural crit range is higher than their Fury Warrior counterparts, and they’re beefier and are not so tied to their pet to do damage as a Survival Hunter is.
Maybe it is competitive, maybe it isn’t, but it adds a grab-bag of abilities for the players to mess around with.
Next, onto the Mage/Shaman.
Storm Mage Build
A Kul'tiran Mage decides to explore the ways of their religious leaders, and level into Shaman. Being a caster, melee isn't the best option, and as a Mage, they're already melting faces quite handily, but they want *more*.Choosing Elemental Shaman at 1st level, the Mage picks up [Reincarnation] and Healing Surge, granting them some self-sufficiency, as well as granting them access to shields, mail armor and the weapons of a Shaman. Reincarnation has double the cooldown, but it is still useful, and Healing Surge only heals for half as much. But both the Mage and the Elemental Shaman are casters. Unlike the Warrior/Hunter above, they share a primary stat, and the Mage has a mana pool large enough to risk firing off a weak heal to a friend if they’re in a pinch.
At 4th level, the Mage picks up Chain Lightning. Because screaming “Unlimited POWAH!” has been a dream of theirs for years now. It is only half as strong as an Elemental Shaman’s Chain Lightning, but it’s an AoE that isn’t tied to a single location or requires channelling like some Mage AoEs, and can be cast way at the back of the pack.
At 8th level, the Mage picks up [Elemental Overload] because of course they do, again, at 1/2 efficiency of the Full Shaman ability.
At 12th level, the Mage picks up [Earth Elemental] because of course they do, again, at 1/2 efficiency of the Full Shaman ability.
At 16th level, the Mage picks up [Earthquake] because they can fire that off, then drop a Blizzard ontop of that and just really ruin somebody’s day, at 1/2 efficiency of the Full Shaman ability.
Finally, at 20th level, the Mage chooses [Capacitor Totem] for a stun to help them get the heck outta dodge, or maybe [Healing Stream Totem] to give a group-wide HoT for when things are getting hairy in a close fight. It might only have half efficiency, but it’s still contributing and easing the jobs of the primary casters somewhat, and for competitive pushes, that fraction of a % can mean all the difference.
Since both the Mage and the Elemental Shaman share a lot of their stat allocations, they’re a lot more focused in that direction and suffer less than a Warrior/Hunter would. Their armor class increases significantly because they not only have their Mage Armor abilities, but also the added protection of both Mail armor and a shield, making them a much tougher nut to crack at the cost of a slightly smaller mana-pool than a full Mage and having to break up their rotation to cast Shaman spells to power up for an Earthquake. Makes for a very powerful combination and grants the Mage/Shaman an opportunity to throw out heals if the primary healers in their party or raid are getting hammered or are in the wrong position to save somebody.
Your thoughts?
