BA Shared Topic: New Class, New Party Roll

Fumbleknock has posted Blog Azeroth's next shared topic: Should WoW implement a new class that will break the tank heal dps trinity?

I'm not quite sure how I stand on this issue. It's a delicate subject, methinks, and if Blizzard were to create a fourth to the trinity, it'd have to be done very carefully, as there are not many options that won't make some aspect of the game overpowered.

Most people seem to think that the most likely candidate to fill this position would be some form of crowd-control class. The first thing that comes to mind immediately after hearing this is 2v2. Imagine a mage and a CC-class. The cc-class keeps the healer out of commission for the 10 or so seconds it'll take for the mage to destroy the other of the team. Game over. It might make raids safer, but sometimes the best time is had when we accidentally pull another elite or a group of mobs and we actually have to work to down the pull.

Another popular answer is a sort of buffer class, one to improve an aspect of the trinity. This can be easily done without making the class overpowered - Three talent trees: defense buffs, attack buffs, heal buffs. Maybe physical power buffs, magical power buffs, defense buffs. Something along those lines. The most popular selection for this would be a bard, but I don't think that would work for the sheer bore factor. A bard plays songs to buff, and therefore will be just kinda sitting there, playing a song. One, it takes no skill to hit 1 and let your song play. Two, few people in their right mind would want to play a class that requires you to hit one button a minute. This can be offset, perhaps, if you give the bard some healing ability that will allow them to heal in emergencies, but in the long run, I don't think it'd be a very fun class to play.

Still on the subject of a buffer class, we could make a not-bard. I don't know what we could call it, but it would work in a similar way with the talent trees. Contrary to the bard, though, the buffs can be cast and done with (much like warrior shouts, but probably much shorter), leaving the class some time to actually mash some buttons. I'm always leaning toward healing ability for a buffer class, but it could be dependent on what tree you choose, too. The healing buff tree will allow the player to off-off heal (not enough to completely replace a healer class), physical damage buff allowing them to get right in on the action and hit some things, etc. I'm really kind of liking this idea. The class has the potential to be very involved. Buffs that need to be re-cast often leave room to switch buffs (from, say, attack power boost to damage reduction boost) as needed. Continue reading 'BA Shared Topic: New Class, New Party Roll'

BA Shared Topic: Enjoying Your Class

Siha of bananashoulders.com posted the first Blog Azeroth shared blog topic. Her question:

"What do you enjoy about the class you play the most?"

I have two answers, one for each main I have.

What do I like about Paladins? The first thing that comes to mind is "FoL spamming" because I'm a holy paladin. Whereas I do enjoy the incredible power of FoL spam, there's so much more to the paladin that I enjoy. They have the highest armor in the class, so even the healers are not squishy, granted the paladin doesn't downgrade armor. This, however, is another reason I like paladins. They can use any armor in the game that's not class-specific, so if those awesomely sexy Dragon-Quake Shoulderguards happens to drop and there are no shamans in the group, they're yours! As well, I love the hybrid factor they have. You can be healing today and tanking tomorrow, and even dpsing the next day (even though so many say that they can't. They can.) The buffs they give are some of the best, they have a great variety of buffs to benefit every class, every raid, just about every situation. They have 12 seconds of immunity, and can give others 10 seconds of physical immunity. The seal/judgment skills are not only extremely useful for a variety of situations, but they're also a great idea and can be a lot of fun. A slightly different look at the hybrid part of paladins is the shockadin spec. A shockadin truly deserves the title of the paladin: A holy warrior, able to smite enemies and heal allies.

And what about druids? Well, the hybrid part plays just as big a role here. On top of this, their feral spec is, in my opinion, the single greatest tree in the game. With some help from the restoration tree, you have a high-dps class and a great tanking class with one spec and two sets of armor. Druids also get to shapeshift. While this has its downs (there's no changing the appearance of your forms, so your level 10 bear and your SSC-tanking bear look exactly the same), it also has its ups, such as armor ambiguity. Great for pvp, as your opponents can't study your armor and know that you're in, say full vengeful. With every spec, you have something new to shapeshift into, be it moonkins or trees. Stealing Phealia's reason, druid healers are truly unique in the way they heal. I've never been one, but I'm always a fan of individuality, so it's definately a reason I like them. Lastly, instant shift into flight form. 'Nuff said. Continue reading 'BA Shared Topic: Enjoying Your Class'

Blog Azeroth

In case you haven't heard already, there's a new place to be if you're a WoW Blogger, Blog Azeroth. It's a place for WoW Bloggers to go to talk to each other, introduce their sites, get information, help, suggestions, all sorts of fun stuff for a blogger to spend some time on. Even if you're not a blogger, but enjoy reading WoW blogs, it's worth looking at. Definately worth at least checking out, even if you don't think you'll be signing up. Continue reading 'Blog Azeroth'