How Many Specs Does Your Class Need in World of Warcraft?

To be honest, I want to discuss this, but it wasn't my idea.

     On the latest Blizzardwatch podcast they discussed whether classes needed more specs, less specs, or were just right.  The episode (#99 that came out Dec. 22nd 2016 respectively) had a large discussion.  To summarize Anne Stickney and Alex Ziebart both felt there were classes that could use less specs.  They pointed out rogues in particular in which Assassination and Subtlety had very little difference in idea and weapons.  Matt Rossi felt that with some classes that was correct, but with others (and he cited his favorite which is Warriors) saying that they could use a couple more specs as they lost Gladiators stance which was a DPS sword and shield spec, and single minded Fury which was duel wielding with two one handed weapons.

      Honestly, you should dig in and listen to this podcast for this discussion.  It is why I want to bring it up here.

      There are three classes I have played for any amount of time this expansion.  Rogue, Paladin, and Demon Hunter.  I have toyed with others a bit, but I have to start with the ones I know.

       Paladin is near perfect.  They don't need another spec, they don't need to lose another spec.  All three specs feel good and different.  Ret doesn't feel as good as I would like it too, but damage wise it is fantastic right now and tanking feels smooth.  I don't heal on my Pally, but what I have seen of that spec was fine.

      Demon Hunter is good as well.  While I would like them to figure out a ranged spec for the class, (I think the game is a little Melee heavy when you look at the classes right now) The two it has are solid and feel different.  Tanking felt alright the couple of times I have done it and DPS is nice as well.

     Rogue I will have to agree with the hosts.  They could go to two specs and not lose much.  Roll Subtlety and Assassination in together and call it good.  I don't see a need for further specs, but unless they can make it feel different pare it down a little.

     And the next opinions are subjective as I have not played the classes extensively and I will admit upfront to possibly being dead wrong.

     Monk- Keep it as is.  Three distinct specs.  Three different roles.

      Shaman- As is, two roles, two very different types of DPS.
   
     Mage- This I can see being pared down to two specs.  I like the suggestion that you do fire and frost and mix the arcane spells into them.  Arcane has always felt weird to me in the first place.

      Warlock- I think this one needs someone smarter than me.  I think all three specs are distinct, but as mentioned in the podcast, Demonology has been overhauled into something else.  I don't know how your reface it without stepping into the demon hunter feel of things which is why the demon form aspects were removed.  The idea of being a master of demons is still cool, but I don't see why we can't have two classes taking on those aspects if they are different.  (Make your demon featured warlock fly and shoot fireballs)

      Priest-  I am going to disagree with the podcast here.  I like all three of the specs.  The idea of two different types of healing, one re-active and one pro-active interests me.  If anything I would split Discipline into two different specs and have a DPS spec for priests that wasn't shadow/void based and one healing spec that was all about shielding and preparations.  I think having Disc straddle both kind of keeps it from being it's own animal.

     Druid-is good- Four specs for four different jobs.

     Hunter- This one I think is better now that survival is melee spec.  From what I've played around with all three specs feel different enough to be justified.  No complaints.

     Warrior- I am going to agree with Rossi on one point.  I would like a sword an board DPS spec. It would make more sense to me with the warrior, but I could see the Paladin having one as well. I do like the idea of the fighter who uses his shield as a weapon as much as his sword.  I think a single minded fury spec would end up being to similar to the fury spec we have now.  Harder to justify.

     Death Knight- I would love to make the argument for a fourth spec here.  My favorite tanking was duel wielding as a frost DK in Wrath of the Lich King.  I would love to see it come back as I though at the time it had felt darn near perfect.  I can't honestly make the argument though.  Blood is a good tanking spec, and works.  The two DPS specs feel different enough that I can't say we need another choice there either, or that we might need to merge them.  Keep them as they are.

     How do you feel?  Does your class need more specs and variety, or do you feel lost with your choices and would you like it pared down to something else.  Is the three spec idea outdated, and would things work better if classes weren't limited by a number that might serve some better than others?  Demon Hunters started with two specs, how would you feel if the next class had four?  Or maybe just one?

    Where do you weigh in on this discussion?

Lag

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The First Week of Legion's Excitement

So three days in, and I’m loving it.

   Yes, I realize that Legion still has its new shine to it, which can be heavily influential on opinions.  So far, I have been leveling my Paladin Lag as Retribution, and enjoying the experience.  The balance with this scaling seems nice as everything I fight doesn’t go down quickly, but at the same time the damage they deal is manageable.  I normally don’t die unless I have several mobs on me, or if I take something on that is bigger than I can chew.

   The only area I have finished so far is Azsuna, and I thought the zone was great.  The locations are beautiful, the stories are interesting, and I’ve flat out enjoyed exploring the area.  My favorite thing, and I know it’s silly, was the fact we have Murlocs again.  After two expansions, (I don’t remember Murlocs in Pandaria, but I could be wrong) I was questing and heard the familiar Mrggglggglggl.  My heart jumped in excitement I was down sword swinging with a smile on my face.  Sometimes the older traditional mobs are the best.

    The side quests have been fun too.  Stopping to fight a demon invasion in Exodar (I can’t say much more without spoilers) Khadgar pulling me here and there randomly to explore things.  And the artifact quests.  So far I’ve done Ret Pally, Prot Pally, and Frost DK.

    And let me tell you, (just not in this post) the DK artifact weapons quest brought up a lot more questions for me than it answered.  It also might point to some things coming up.  But after some time passes I will comment more.  Enough people are hopping in still I don’t want to destroy the surprise for anyone.  I really don’t.  All the quests and fun have been worth discovering and doing first hand.

    The one theme of this expansion I am hoping is Redemption.  I think that we will see a redemption of Illidan in this expansion.  I think he will remain demon formed and sarcastic, but there is a path set forward in which we could see him become one of the champions of Azeroth.  Hopefully this time he won’t get shafted (thank you Malfurion) and we won’t put him back into the position of being the enemy.   

    If you have read the book Illidan, you probably feel this way as well.  There are some heavy implications towards the end of that book as to Illidan’s destiny.  The other half of that book did prove that Illidan was a bit villainous, however I don’t feel he didn’t do anything for the sake of evil, more for the sake of him feeling the ends justified the means.

    I am hoping, against odds, that we see a Sylvanas redemption story as well.  This one may be a bit unlikely.  There was an interesting discussion on it between Matt Rossi and Anne Stickney on Blizzardwatch where they laid out the reasons she really can’t be redeemed.  Part of it being that she is undead and that has a severe effect on her mindset.  Meaning, some things for her are rational when they shouldn’t be. (for example, killing her sister so they can be together forever, which was one of her ideas in “War Crimes.”) And the fact she really isn’t corrupted by an outside influence. The Lich King holds no sway over her, she recovered her body so that’s her own, and other than being undead which effects how she experiences the world, her thoughts are her own.

    That being said, we have magic in Azeroth.  What if she was brought back to life somehow? Why do we consider her being brought back to life the same as redemption?  Is there an in between we could find?  There is a chance they that her redemption could be sacrificing herself for the greater good. I honestly ask these questions because if anyone deserves some happiness in her story it’s Sylvanas.  I would not be unhappy if they did find a way to bring her back to life, and or if she found redemption.  It is strongly hinted her sister Alleria will be showing up, might she have found something in her off world adventures that could bring Sylvanas back?

    I will say it now, if she stops leading the forsaken, I vote for Lillian Voss to fill that role.  I have always found her interesting, and she is probably the next most recognizable forsaken that I can think of.  While her fate wasn’t certain after Scholomance, I’m a firm believer that if we didn’t see a body, they aren’t dead.

     The trolls have a similar problem.  Other than Vol’jin, who amongst them is going to lead now?  I can’t think of a single one that is nearly as recognizable.

     What is everyone else’s thoughts on this new expansion so far? Are you loving it? Is it more of the same to you?  Or is there an opinion you would like to share that is in between?

Lag

Can You Avoid the Cookie Cutter Build?

It's always been there, in one form or another.

      There was an article released recently that was very interesting on Blizzardwatch.com. It's How cookie cutter builds discourage player customization.  It's a good read going into how player perceptions effect the choices that players overall make.  Give it a read, I'll wait.

      For those who have played World of Warcraft for a long while, you remember Talent trees.  Instead of one defined spec, you could take points in all three moving up as you leveled.  In order to take full advantage of a spec, you had to put a large amount of your talent points into it, but by picking and choosing different abilities in different trees you could make some very interesting choices.

     In theory this meant that folks could have some very customized options in their characters.  You could stick to the bottom half/third of all three specs at one point and never advance to end talents.  Or you could take your fire mage and then give him a bunch of power in frost once you topped off the fire tree.  This should have lead to a bunch of differently balanced characters doing really cool things.  Instead once some number runner figured out what talent point configuration put out the top DPS in the trees the community would all start to adopt that talent point spread.  If you wanted to be taken seriously pugging raids or finding a team you had to be running the popular choices.

     What should have been customization was in fact an illusion.

      As time went on Blizzard started putting constraints on the trees.  The first was that you had to put X amount of points into a specific spec before adding points to a different spec.  Then the trees got pruned and simplified taking out pointless choices, like add X damage to ability B.  Things that they knew everyone in the talent tree would take.  Then eventually the talent tree got the boot out the window and we were given essentially what we have now.  The talents tab.

     By simplifying the system and giving choices that where meaningful when it came to the feeling of game play Blizzard wanted to get rid of the cookie cutter build.  I would say they have been mildly successful, but overall people still depend on which choices are rated the best, or are the most popular.  There are some good options with choice, but most people stick with the popular track.

      I will admit I'm in that pack.  When I level a character I haven't picked up for a year or so, and decide to make that jump to level 100 I normally go to Icy-Veins.com and see what talent choices are rated the best, and which ones I can choose without a DPS loss etc...  I even do this for characters I know will probably not even make LFR.  While the idea of switching and testing different talent choices sounds fun,  a part of me just wants to make sure I'm doing things "right."  This is the part that often wins.

    I guess the question then becomes, is it possible to escape the cookie cutter build?  In legion we will be able to run all three specs and if I read correctly won't need to spend points to switch talents.  I think part of the goal has been for people to swap abilities for different fights, but I find myself only doing this in the rarest of circumstances.  Apparently you won't need a resource to do this swap next expansion which is probably another step in the right direction, but I still think folks are going to mostly follow the crowd.

    This makes the question what can you do to make your game play feel customized?  If talents are just another illusion of choice does it really matter if Blizzard includes this mechanic rather then just giving you the abilities to use as needed?  Is there anyway to beat this Illusion of choice and make it meaningful to game play?  Obviously if the talents had to do with things non-combat related (mount speed, character's dance etc...) then it feels like choice, but it doesn't matter in the over all scheme of things.  How do you all feel about it?

Lag.