hero-class
Latest
Breakfast Topic: Should Death Knights get unique racial abilities?
So with WoTLK fast approaching, there's still plenty of discussion and debate about that whole Death Knights being all races thing. We've already covered the lore aspect, but another thing lot of people have been discussion is how Racial abilities will work with Death Knights. Some people are concerned that abilities like Gift of the Naaru aren't something a Death Knight steeped in shadow should be able to use. Now me, I think that if the Naaru can forgive the Blood Elves for M'uru, they can forgive Draenei Death Knights and give them back Gift of the Naaru. Still, commenter Clayton sent an intriguing thought into WoW Insider's secret headquarters the other day: Who says Death Knights have to use racials? When you consider what a Death Knight is, there's at least some measure of sense to it. Death Knights have undergone a radical change. They're suffused with dark energies, they have forsaken what they knew of love and life and light, they have forsaken whatever skills they knew in the past, all to take up the Runeblade. It is true that not all Death Knights become actual undead, but the total control the Lich King exerts over them leeches away much of their former identity. Because of this, it seems possible that Death Knights could have lost their connection with their racial identities, and through that, their racial abilities. This could also be a quick and easy way to ensure a bit of balance between the various races. There's a whole lot of considerations to made with racials and Death Knight abilities. Will Arcane Torrent combined with anti-magic tanking abilities just make Blood Elf Death Knights too powerful against casters in PvP? Giving Death Knights their own unique set of "racials" based around their class would be an easy way to sidestep this, and probably justifiable since Death Knights are their own seperate "hero" class category. Then again, it might put them under undue pressure to make special racials for all other hero classes as well, so they might want to stay more flexible. Which side of the issue do you fall on? Should they keep it simple and just keep the racials like they always have? Or do the Death Knights need a whole new set of racial abilities, and if so, what?
Getting Death Knights epic in only 25 levels
Boomslang has an interesting point of view on the fact that in the next expansion, Death Knights will start at level 55. We've heard his concerns that there'll be too many Death Knights floating around, but he says that starting them out at level 55 is, in his words, "cheap." Every other class, he says, had to roll up from one, so why should Death Knights be any different?The given answer is something that we heard at BlizzCon last year: Blizzard wants this Hero class to be epic in a way that no other class has before, so they don't want anyone who can literally command death running around as a level one noob. But does that justify cutting off more than half of the Death Knight's lifespan? Can a class that you started past the halfway point really be as epic as that Hunter or Warlock that you leveled to 80 all the way up from level 1?Again, we don't yet know exactly how a Death Knight is created -- maybe there's something in the quest to get one that will explain what's going on here. And other people say that just letting the Death Knight start at 55 isn't enough -- if you get a character to level 80, you should be able to get a head start with any class, without having to go back and do all the lowbie quests again. We'll see in the expansion if Blizzard can make a class that you level only 25 levels feel as epic as they say it will.
What will we find at BlizzCon?
BlizzCon was announced on Monday, and ever since, there's been a question bouncing around the back of my mind: just what is it for? Blizzard doesn't just host an event because they love us or because they feel like it -- they host events to release news. WWI last year was where Starcraft II was announced, and Wrath of the Lich King got announced at the previous BlizzCon.We do know that we're expecting Wrath in "the second half" of the year, and whatever we see at BlizzCon could depend on when that releases. If Wrath appears in August (before BlizzCon in October), we might be seeing the announcement of the next expansion (probably the Maelstrom or the Emerald Dream, or both) in Anaheim: Blizzard has said that they want to release them faster, and there'd be no time like BlizzCon to get an announcement out. If Wrath doesn't show up until November or December, though, Blizzard could use their convention to announce brand new features we haven't heard about yet -- maybe another Hero class?Of course, we could be grinding the wrong quest mobs entirely -- remember that BlizzCon is about Blizzard, not just World of Warcraft, so anything they announce might have nothing at all to do with their MMO. Diablo 3, anyone? Or maybe they do just want to hang out with their fans and get some good press before the big release. We won't know for sure until they open the doors at the convention center in October.
The best of WoW Insider: May 6-13, 2008
It was a hell of a week in the World of Warcraft. Not only did we get a flood of information about the upcoming Wrath of the Lich King expansion, but Blizzard announced that they are in fact having another BlizzCon this year -- and as you can see from the picture above, last year's was just plain awesome. For info about BlizzCon and everything else WoW, count on Joystiq's sister site WoW Insider. News The Death Knight class revealedBlizzard drops the goods on the game's first Hero Class. More Death Knight news and clarificationsClearing up players' questions and concerns about what the Death Knight is for. Is it really OK for Arthas to be 10-mannable?The game's baddest bad guy (mortal, anyway) is going to be able to be taken down by 10 players. Are we really that powerful? More Wrath of the Lich King impressions and informationLots more news about the new zones in Northrend and what we'll find up there. Blizzard cracks down on Arena win tradingCheaters never win... trade. At least not anymore. Features Around Azeroth: Grand Theft AzerothOur daily screenshot column mixes up Liberty City and the World of Warcraft with wacky results. Arcane Brilliance: Level 70 checklistThings to do for Mages at the highest level in the game. Scattered Shots: Why certain pet families are popularWhy do some Hunters choose bears and others go for boars? Find out here. Spiritual Guidance: 30 If statements that priests should adhere toYou might be a priest if... most of your Showbiz pizza tickets came from Whack-a-mole. Guildwatch: Going too farYou don't have to be in a guild full of drama to love our scandalous weekly column about how mean people are to each other in game, but it helps.
GameSpy speaks with Jeff Kaplan about Wrath of the Lich King
In addition to all the other info dropping today (apparently Blizzard held an event this last week at their HQ to show off some new Wrath information), GameSpy got to chat with Jeff Kaplan, WoW's Lead Designer, about Death Knights and what they're going to be for in the next expansion. Apparently Kaplan says Blizzard has designed "zero" raid bosses for the next expansion yet, so he isn't sure where they'll fit among Pallies, Druids, and Warriors as tanks. DKs will have a disease-based DoT, as well as the creature and ghoul summons we've posted about previously As we heard before, Death Knights will serve as a "Fury Warrior" type of tank -- damage based rather than protection based. Blizzard hasn't determined exactly whether there will be faction differences in the epic class quests, but they won't be too different for races or factions, just because the stories, he says, should be the same Finally, Kaplan clarifies again that Death Knights will be available to all races, and that Arthas himself became not Undead, but Scourge In case, maybe, Arthas wants to come back? We'll let you read the rest into what Kaplan said -- he unfortunately didn't tell us too much new information, but he did clarify a few points we already knew about Death Knights. And the news about Blizzard's nonaction on raid bosses so far is interesting -- has Blizzard really not made any raid bosses yet, or are they just not ready to tell us about them?
Tigole talks about Inscription and Hero Classes in Wrath
In an interview at Computer and Videogames, Tigole mostly discusses some things we've already heard about, such as the Lake Wintergrasp PvP zone and the process to unlock the Death Knight class, but also reveals a few very tasty little morsels of new information as well.First, he tells us a little bit more about Blizzard's philosophy behind Inscription, the new trade skill slated to be released with the expansion. While it appears that only one inscription will be allowed to be on a spell at one time, their goal is not to create one or two all-powerful inscriptions that will be used above all others, but to give players a variety of valid choices as to how to modify their spells. The example he gives is that of Frost Nova. One player might choose an inscription that gave their nova a longer range, while another might choose one that would lengthen the duration of the root associated with it. And what's this? More hero classes?
Breakfast Topic: Is adding a tank class solving the tank shortage?
Blizzard stated that one of the reasons they choose the Death Knight as the first Hero Class to introduce to the game was to address the shortage of tanks. But with Warriors, Paladins and Druids already fulfilling the tanking role, is it really a lack of choices?Or is it the lack of fun of being a tank. No one wants to be low on the dps, but that's often a trade off tanks (and healers) must make to do their job protecting their teammates. How is the Death Knight going to address that? And should it?What is fun about being a tank and how can Blizzard make it more enjoyable?
Official Wrath of the Lich King forums are live
Late this afternoon, Blizzard created an official forum for their next expansion, The Wrath of the Lich King. Both the U.S. Wrath forum and the European Wrath forum are just now filling up with the usual questions, and some are already getting blue responses.From the U.S. forums: CM Nethaera confirms one new hero class is planned for each expansion CM Bornakk confirms the level restriction on using flying mounts in Northrend has not be set yet (maybe L78, maybe not) CM Bornakk implies that initial travel to Northrend will by boat and zeppelin The European forums have plenty to offer as well: CM Vaneras has moved the all things announced about Northrend post to this forum and confirmed today that Ulduar is a dwarven instance that will be accessible by both Horde and Alliance CM Vaneras also moved the all things announced about Death Knights post to this forum Forum VIP Schwick has stickied his round up of all confirmed dev quotes about the Wrath expansion and put it at the top of the forum Keep your eyes on those forums and on WoW Insider for future news about the expansion.
WotLK talent speculation: Is it ever too early?
Snuffles of Whisperwind server has used a web-based talent tree generator to speculate on WotLK druid talents. He proposes all sorts of class balance breaking goodness. A druid using these talents could probably solo Illidan. While AFK.Digging more into this talent tree generator, I found people have built all sorts of ideal talent trees. But the most interesting ones are what people would like to see for the Wrath of Lich King Hero Class, Death Knights. Fantasy talent trees range from the overpacked to the well thought out to the one in Korean I wish I could translate.What kind of talents would you like to see in the expansion for your class or the new Death Knight hero class?
Will we ever see more hero classes?
I'm pretty sure we've all heard about the Death Knight by now and know that it is going to be the game's first "hero" class -- unlocked by a level 80 quest and starting at a higher level than a non-hero character. But I'm not really wondering about Death Knights right now, but instead about other hero classes that might be in our future. It struck me as an odd move to release an expansion with a single hero class purely for practical reasons -- as soon as people start hitting level 80 with their mains, we're going to see a swarm of new baby Death Knight alts. (That Death Knight Spree isn't just a joke!) The best counter to this, in my opinion, would be more than one hero class in the expansion. Of course we'd still wind up with a lot of new hero class players, but at least there would be a variety of them. And on the forums Nethaera gives a bit of hope for future hero classes, though not in this expansion:We are thinking at current that any future hero class additions will be made in expansions further along the line so that we can control just how many classes the game has and continue to work on attaining balance as we add them.I'm still hoping they'll come around to the idea of more hero classes sooner, rather than later.
Breakfast Topic: Runes and hero classes
As we look forward to the release of Wrath of the Lich King, I've been thinking on the new resource system they are introducing with the Death Knight. The runes carved into the Death Knight's blade are not necessarily unique amongst MMOs, but they are certainly new to WoW. I wonder though, as more hero classes are added to the game, will they use the new runic system? And how exactly would that work?I can see many classes as defined by their weapons, the Blade Master and his sword, the Archmage and his staff, so it's not too far off to expect that when we have access to new hero classes they might use this system, but they might not. Adding new novel ways that we play the game we love is one of the reasons I do love WoW so much. I admit more than a little curiosity as to how this might play out. What sort of resource system do you see being used by, say, the Demon Hunter? Would they use mana, energy, rage, runes, or something completely different? Are there any advantages to the runic system over the others?
Paladins and Death Knights
Now that Wrath of the Lich King and its first hero class is in the works, I've been thinking on the shifts the paladin has made in Warcraft of late. I'm not so much talking about how the class plays, but more what the class is about, its roots and changing story. Originally paladins are the holy warriors of Azeroth, wielding the power of the light of some divine entity, able to heal and to harm with its touch. When The Burning Crusade was released, the paladin class was added to the Horde faction, and we learned that this type of Paladin was a very different breed. The Blood Elf pally was a warrior who drew on the light as well, but funneled from a holy being. This parasitic nature of the paladin was definitely a dark twist on what was considered a decidedly good-goody class. Now the paladin was sucking the power they used from a captive Naaru.
Breakfast Topic: Hero classes
Hero classes were in the "on the horizon" section of the Under Development page for a long time, though they have since been removed. Tseric has said that they are still looking into "alternate character advancement," but we should maybe forget the term "Hero Class." At any rate, they've been since release one of the most desired improvements for the game by many players. So when someone comes forward claiming to be working for Blizzard and to have the inside scoop on how they're looking at hero classes these days, it gets me excited. Now there is, as the poster rightly points out, no credibility whatsoever to this information, aside from the fact, as Tobold says over at his blog, that it's just boring enough to be something Blizz would do.Basically, each class would be able to specialize as one of the three different hero classes, each corresponding to one of the class's talent trees. Then, by spending "Hero Points," which will be earned in unspecified ways (but will be indefinite (!)) in a fourth, linear talent panel, they could gain access to special abilities. The hero classes would also have some passive benefits. It actually sounds pretty decent to me, except for the fact that, supposedly, your choice of hero class would be absolutely permanent, like profession specializations used to be. I think it would be much better to do it how profession specs are now -- you can re-specialize, but only if you completely unlearn the profession. With hero classes, I'd make it so you could choice a new one, but you'd lose all your invested Hero Points.Anyway, that's the rumor. My question for you: how do you think they should do hero classes? Or is "hero class" just an outdated idea and we should focus on novel methods of character progression?[via Tobold's MMORPG Blog]
