For years World of Warcraft gamers have needed a non-healer class that may assist allies from afar, a mixture of help and DPS. Latest datamining from the sport’s upcoming patch 10.1 (opens in new tab) means that the wait would possibly nearly be over.
Admittedly, the proof for a ranged help class specialization is slim, however it will match with the current course of the MMO. The complete Dragonflight growth was pitched as a return to the sport’s excessive fantasy roots, and Blizzard retains including options (opens in new tab) that gamers have needed for years.
The Dragonflight growth’s new race and sophistication, the Dracthyr Evoker, solely has two specializations to select from: healer and DPS. Most of WoW’s lessons have three. Paladins may be healers, DPS, or tanks, for instance. Whereas having solely two specializations is not exceptional (poor Demon Hunters), the Dracthyr have a powerful narrative purpose for having a 3rd.
Patch 10.1 will dig into the origins of the Dracthyr, a race of dragon-human hybrids created by one of many authentic Warcraft villains, Deathwing (aka Neltharion). You would possibly bear in mind him because the dragon that burned Azeroth to a crisp within the 2010 Cataclysm growth. The Dracthyr have the distinctive capacity to mix the powers of the varied dragonflights (helpfully color-coded) in WoW’s lore, however they’re notably lacking a specialization that revolves round Deathwing’s black dragonflight.
Yesterday Wowhead (opens in new tab) datamined a quest in 10.1 that makes it seem to be the Dracthyr are about to get a brand new specialization. The work-in-progress quest textual content actually says Dracthyr gamers will get a pop-up window that reads: “New specialization remembered.” WoW would not use the phrase “specialization” for anything, so until this can be a mistake, it nearly must be pointing towards a brand new position for Evokers.
The ultimate a part of the search features a boss battle and the textual content says you may “enhance/heal” your ally. Dracthyr cannot at the moment buff or enhance allies, even of their therapeutic specialization. “Increase/heal” could possibly be a novel mechanic for this particular quest, or it might merely be a typo. But when the “specialization remembered” textual content pop-up is true, it could possibly be a quest that introduces you to a brand new specialization.
In a current interview (opens in new tab) with affiliate sport director Morgan Day, WoW streamer Towelliee requested a couple of potential tank specialization for Evokers. “We have by no means actually added a spec, so I can not actually communicate to that,” Day stated. “Tanks have been mentioned within the early days when Evokers have been a glimmer in our eye.”
Day’s response is simply obscure sufficient that it would not rule out the opportunity of a ranged help class. It is a position that WoW has by no means had and is often requested for within the type of a bard class (opens in new tab), just like the one in Last Fantasy 14 (opens in new tab). The concept is that you can forged useful buffs to your allies that feed again into your personal DPS rotation. This theoretical class/specialization would most likely not prime the injury meters or something, however it could possibly be helpful for the sport’s robust endgame content material. It is the form of specialization that might make sense as a post-launch addition due to its supplementary position—I doubt it will seize the eye of all of the gamers who wish to be as self-sufficient as doable.
That is all of the proof there may be for the second. Though these quests have been datamined from patch 10.1, which additionally features a raid concerning the Dracthyr, Day’s feedback could possibly be interpreted as a affirmation that it is not taking place fairly but. The search textual content could possibly be a placeholder for a specialization that is not prepared for the patch’s supposed late-spring launch. WoW’s 2023 roadmap (opens in new tab) would not have any clear indications of it both. My guess is that if we do not see it in 10.1, it’s going to are available in patch 10.2 close to the tip of the 12 months or in early 2024.
Morgan Day was proper: WoW has by no means added a model new specialization to a category (Druids’ fourth spec (opens in new tab) barely counts) in its nearly 19-year historical past. However WoW retains making unprecedented strikes; sufficient that it has gamers discussing what different long-requested characteristic (opens in new tab) will arrive subsequent. A ranged help class could be a really welcome shock.
