Blizzard's WoW Forever class survey: the 11 class ideas and what they'd play like
· ForeverDB
A survey in the Battle.net launcher asked players about 11 class ideas for WoW Forever, from San'layn and Tinkers to Necromancers, Witches and a rune-carving class with several names. It's a survey, not an announcement: the Forever client still has only the nine Classic classes.
A player survey, not an announcement. Blizzard hasn't said any of these classes is coming. Everything below comes from the survey pages players shared, and is Speculation until Blizzard says more.
In late September a temporary survey tile appeared in the Battle.net launcher for some WoW Forever players. Wowhead reported the tile but didn't publish the questions, because the survey carried a confidentiality notice. Players have since shared screenshots of its pages, and creators such as Bellular have gone through them in detail.
The survey showed each class idea with a short lore pitch, its roles, armor and weapons, a resource and a few example abilities, and asked which ones players would want. Players didn't all see the same pages: some classes appeared under different names or with different abilities, which looks like Blizzard testing versions against each other.
What the Forever client says
The beta client (build 1.60.1.70058) has exactly nine classes: Warrior, Paladin, Hunter, Rogue, Priest, Shaman, Mage, Warlock and Druid. None of the survey's class abilities (Bone Spear, Shell Game, Silvered Wind, Iron Fist, Chaos Strike and the rest) exist as player spells in it. So there's no sign in the game files that any of these is being built into Forever yet.
The 11 ideas
- San'layn: vampire elves who broke free of the Lich King alongside the Forsaken. Plate, melee weapons and shields; tank, melee damage and even a caster role. Example abilities: a Blood Bolt that costs health, a defensive that passes damage to the enemy, and Vampiric Bite, a big self-heal and damage buff that the bitten enemy also gets 15 seconds later.
- Demon Hunter: not Legion's Illidari. No double jump, glide, Fel Rush or Vengeful Retreat, and they start at level 1. Tank and melee damage, Fury as the resource.
- Death Knight: the original Wrath-style abilities, but without some staples such as Death Grip and Army of the Dead, and without the Wrath starting experience.
- Monk: without Roll, Stagger and some other signature abilities.
- Tinker: engineers in mech suits, in the style of the Warcraft III hero; when the mech is destroyed the Tinker jumps out rather than dying. A support role is suggested, with abilities such as a Supply Drop of crates that heal and empower allies, and a new weapon type: wrenches.
- Bard: singers and storytellers who heal and buff allies with music, keep playing while they attack, and would bring musical instruments as a new weapon type. Another support idea.
- Necromancer: a cloth caster who raises and controls up to six undead minions, conjures Bone Spears and uses Corpse Explosion. The ability names match Diablo's Necromancer.
- Warden: the order of Maiev Shadowsong, opening its ranks to new races out of necessity, as agents of Elune. The survey page with its abilities reportedly repeated the San'layn page by mistake.
- Illusionist: a leather-wearing, worldly arcane caster (ranged damage) who fights with mirror images and 'phantasmal creatures' such as murlocs, learns new illusions by fighting those creatures, and can swap places with an image (Shell Game).
- Witch: 'old magic', a folk caster mixing elemental power and rituals. Examples: summoning a blood golem with your own health, and placing a cauldron that allies can use in combat for more damage dealt and taken.
- Rune class (Runemaster, Rune Knight, Runesmith or Metalborn): fighters who carve Titan runes into their flesh and weapons, can tank, heal ('the lost powers of creation') or deal melee damage, and use Death Knight-style runes named iron, silver and lead. Example spells include Iron Fist and Silvered Wind.
Icons from the WoW Forever client's own files, chosen to match each idea; they're not the survey's artwork.
What it might mean
- Blizzard is gauging interest; asking about 11 ideas doesn't mean one is coming, or when (Speculation).
- Several ideas lean on Warcraft III and WoW's own history (the Tinker, the Warden, the rune class that inspired Death Knight runes) rather than on modern classes, which fits Forever's setting (Speculation).
- Watch the client: a new class would show up in its class table and spells before any launch, and we'll report it the day it does.