I posted this on the Official WoW Forums a while back, long before this blog was a twinkle in my brain, and thought I'd bring the idea back and write about it again, since I think it's a fairly good idea.
I have always been a fan of the prospect of playing a new class, so even though my new main still has that “New Death Knight Smell” (ewww) my thoughts have wandered to the next expansion and what the new hero class would be. I have read most of the forum topics on the subject and would like to throw in my 2 cents about what I think might be a fun new class that could fill a gap and make healing fun for a whole different type of wow player, thus eliminating the need to change healing for those who enjoy it, but hopefully, getting a few new people off their DPS toons and into some 5-man’s. Here it is:
Biomechanic
STORY
Biomechanics’ back story (since they have to have a reason for already being lvl 55 or 65 if that's the case) is very similar to that of Gnomeragon in that they lived in peace studying the finer points of biological engineering, mechanology and how magic relates to those fields. The player character would be the WoW equivalent of a grad student at the Biomechanic University (Scholomech?). The stating area looks like a mix of Goblin and Gnomish tech. At some point, the new antagonist of the next expac, whoever that may be, launches an assault on the school and it’s up to you to fight your way out before the school is totally destroyed/overrun.
GAMEPLAY
The main concept for the biomechanic class is a loose combination of shaman, hunter, warlock and disc priest. Allow me to explain: The biomechanic would be a ranged dps/ranged healing class that would be able to heal, though in different ways, from all three trees similar to the idea that Death Knights can tank in all three of their trees with the right talents. They would use ranged weapons, most likely guns, as well as two-handers, though they would rarely melee when dps’ing. They would also use golems that would work like a mix between a hunter or warlock pet and a shaman’s totem, depending on the golem in use. The golems could be used for HoTs (similar to the Jewelcrafting Figures that fall out of use by the time you get to BC, inasmuch as they would follow their target around while channeling a healing spell) for group buffs (dps buffs, group shields, etc kind of like the Unholy Death Knights' Magic Barrier), for CC (taunt or hold an enemy in stasis) or as explosives (smaller golems ala Dr. Boom in Netherstorm). Besides the golems heals, the main source of healing as well as dps for the Biomechanic would be his/her gun. Biomechanics would use regular bullets, but with a mechanic similar to the DK’s rune forging, they would be able to transform their bullets into darts. In this manner, when a Biomechanic is healing the main tank, they are firing darts into his back with restorative potions inside I personally feel that this mechanic would make healing feel a little more visceral and might appeal to previous DPS-only players). Bigger heals would be several darts at once and group heals would be handled my multiple golems and the Biomechanics “OS Button” which would be a shower of tiny robots (nannites?) that would scurry to all party members and repair damage done to them.
These same mechanics are used when the Biomechanic is DPS’ing. The tiny robots now act like Insect Swarm and put a dot on the enemy and lower his chance to hit. The golems can taunt the mob, hold it in stasis, or simply hit it. The darts inflict a stacking DoT on the target (the actual gun fire would do significantly less than a hunter, which would be compensated for by the refreshing DoT. Now to get specific.
TALENT TREES
The three trees I imagine for the Biomechanic would be Biology, Mechanology and Symbiotics.
Biology
This tree would focus on the DoT’s that regular gunfire would do, as well as additional poison/disease shots. Also, this is where the talents are to buff the Biomechanics direct healing.
Mechanology
This tree would focus on the dps and healing abilities of the golems, making them stronger and giving them more versatility
Symbiotics
This tree would focus on both group buffs as well as personal buffs, via stim-pack like injections. This tree offers some of the most difficult choices for the biomechanic as they will be able to talent into several group buffs that are only available in this tree (their own version of innervate, a battle rez . . etc). In addition, this tree has a focus on reducing damage to the biomechanic and the group with the use of shields and protective golems. This is the tree that you would spec into that makes healing similar to that of a disc priest, except with even more emphasis on preventing damage from happening (though buffs and shields), since healing power would be weaker.
EMPHASIS
The final aspect of this class is what allows them to switch between jobs in the party. This is similar to a hunters aspects and I am tentatively calling it Emphasis. The three Emphasis' (Emphasi?) would be Help (healing), Hurt (DPS), Buff (shields and buffs, obviously). Having mindsets would do for healing what DK's presences did for tanking and allow soloing with a healing spec just by changing your Emphasis from Help to Hurt.
So that's my idea for a new healing class for WoW. It targets a specific type of player that doesn't normally want to heal, but gives enough fun mechanics to change the way healing is done and make it more akin to what these players are used to. However, giving so many tools out also makes the class a challenge to use and versatile enough to adapt to many situations.
I have always been a fan of the prospect of playing a new class, so even though my new main still has that “New Death Knight Smell” (ewww) my thoughts have wandered to the next expansion and what the new hero class would be. I have read most of the forum topics on the subject and would like to throw in my 2 cents about what I think might be a fun new class that could fill a gap and make healing fun for a whole different type of wow player, thus eliminating the need to change healing for those who enjoy it, but hopefully, getting a few new people off their DPS toons and into some 5-man’s. Here it is:
Biomechanic
STORY
Biomechanics’ back story (since they have to have a reason for already being lvl 55 or 65 if that's the case) is very similar to that of Gnomeragon in that they lived in peace studying the finer points of biological engineering, mechanology and how magic relates to those fields. The player character would be the WoW equivalent of a grad student at the Biomechanic University (Scholomech?). The stating area looks like a mix of Goblin and Gnomish tech. At some point, the new antagonist of the next expac, whoever that may be, launches an assault on the school and it’s up to you to fight your way out before the school is totally destroyed/overrun.
GAMEPLAY
The main concept for the biomechanic class is a loose combination of shaman, hunter, warlock and disc priest. Allow me to explain: The biomechanic would be a ranged dps/ranged healing class that would be able to heal, though in different ways, from all three trees similar to the idea that Death Knights can tank in all three of their trees with the right talents. They would use ranged weapons, most likely guns, as well as two-handers, though they would rarely melee when dps’ing. They would also use golems that would work like a mix between a hunter or warlock pet and a shaman’s totem, depending on the golem in use. The golems could be used for HoTs (similar to the Jewelcrafting Figures that fall out of use by the time you get to BC, inasmuch as they would follow their target around while channeling a healing spell) for group buffs (dps buffs, group shields, etc kind of like the Unholy Death Knights' Magic Barrier), for CC (taunt or hold an enemy in stasis) or as explosives (smaller golems ala Dr. Boom in Netherstorm). Besides the golems heals, the main source of healing as well as dps for the Biomechanic would be his/her gun. Biomechanics would use regular bullets, but with a mechanic similar to the DK’s rune forging, they would be able to transform their bullets into darts. In this manner, when a Biomechanic is healing the main tank, they are firing darts into his back with restorative potions inside I personally feel that this mechanic would make healing feel a little more visceral and might appeal to previous DPS-only players). Bigger heals would be several darts at once and group heals would be handled my multiple golems and the Biomechanics “OS Button” which would be a shower of tiny robots (nannites?) that would scurry to all party members and repair damage done to them.
These same mechanics are used when the Biomechanic is DPS’ing. The tiny robots now act like Insect Swarm and put a dot on the enemy and lower his chance to hit. The golems can taunt the mob, hold it in stasis, or simply hit it. The darts inflict a stacking DoT on the target (the actual gun fire would do significantly less than a hunter, which would be compensated for by the refreshing DoT. Now to get specific.
TALENT TREES
The three trees I imagine for the Biomechanic would be Biology, Mechanology and Symbiotics.
Biology
This tree would focus on the DoT’s that regular gunfire would do, as well as additional poison/disease shots. Also, this is where the talents are to buff the Biomechanics direct healing.
Mechanology
This tree would focus on the dps and healing abilities of the golems, making them stronger and giving them more versatility
Symbiotics
This tree would focus on both group buffs as well as personal buffs, via stim-pack like injections. This tree offers some of the most difficult choices for the biomechanic as they will be able to talent into several group buffs that are only available in this tree (their own version of innervate, a battle rez . . etc). In addition, this tree has a focus on reducing damage to the biomechanic and the group with the use of shields and protective golems. This is the tree that you would spec into that makes healing similar to that of a disc priest, except with even more emphasis on preventing damage from happening (though buffs and shields), since healing power would be weaker.
EMPHASIS
The final aspect of this class is what allows them to switch between jobs in the party. This is similar to a hunters aspects and I am tentatively calling it Emphasis. The three Emphasis' (Emphasi?) would be Help (healing), Hurt (DPS), Buff (shields and buffs, obviously). Having mindsets would do for healing what DK's presences did for tanking and allow soloing with a healing spec just by changing your Emphasis from Help to Hurt.
So that's my idea for a new healing class for WoW. It targets a specific type of player that doesn't normally want to heal, but gives enough fun mechanics to change the way healing is done and make it more akin to what these players are used to. However, giving so many tools out also makes the class a challenge to use and versatile enough to adapt to many situations.
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