This site makes extensive use of JavaScript.
Please enable JavaScript in your browser.
Classic Theme
Thottbot Theme
"Support" Class...Will We Ever See One?
Post Reply
Return to board index
Post by
342791
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
469109
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
367590
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
Lecks
A buff class could work fine. Just like a pure healing (priest) class. They would just give it one tree for damage. It could still be a dps-er if it chose to, like all wow classes. Or it could choose to fill the buff roll.
If it is going to be enjoyable though it almost has to be a combo heal-buff class with active situational buffs. Buffs that last 10seconds or less maybe and are thrown on a target retroactively to the situation.
i c wot u did thar!
At least, I hope you were joking.
Post by
367590
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
409530
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
xaratherus
Creating a pure buff class, given the current WoW design philosophy (take the player, not the class) would be impossible.
For simplicity's sake, I'll refer to our buff class as the Bard.
In order to make the Bard worthwhile, the buffs or debuffs he offered would have to be unique from those offered by any other class, either in effect, duration, or power. As a design point, the buffs and debuffs would also have to be actively tied to the Bard's presence in combat; otherwise, Bards wind up warming the benches Paladins occupied in the Sunwell era (sitting outside SWP to drop Kings on the raid as they ran back in from dying).
However, in order to fit the design philosophy, the Bard's abilities could not be so unique that the raid
has
to have a Bard to succeed. That means that the Bard's buffs and debuffs would either have to be available to other classes (in which case we lose the point of having a support class in the first place), or they would have to be weakened and then have that mitigation weakened through the ability to fulfill some other raid role like DPS or healing (in which case we have a Shaman).
They could easily make the Shaman a buff class by weakening its DPS and healing output in those respective talent trees, and then greatly increasing the power of the Shaman's totems, allowing the Shaman's shield spells to be cast on other, multiple party members, and adding much greater debuff effects to the Shaman's shocks.
However, would that really be entertaining? I don't personally think so. Click - drop totem; click - shield; click - shock; stand there until the next battle? That really isn't engaging game play.
The concept of support isn't missing from WoW. However, Blizzard looked at the four roles commonly found in an RPG (tank, healer, DPS, and support), focused on the most active and entertaining of the three roles, and then spread the effects of the fourth role amongst the other three.
Post by
Geewizz
I really can't knock it before I try it.
But it just sounds like healing only more mobile minus the regaining of health.
It would be one of those things where I'm feeling lazy and don't want to compete with the 10 other dps in the group I would just run around buffing and trying to stay out of the fire like what I do in tree from. :)
Post by
300001
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
444258
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
152121
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
444258
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post by
s4ndwitch
There were classes like that in Ragnarok Online. For example priest had only one damage spell, but he could buff you in many different ways, slow enemies, double damage done to a creature, halve damage incoming, silence. Or scholar that was mainly used for AoE buffs/debuffs, counterspell, dispell and distributing mana between teammates.
I enjoyed these classes the most. However I see a big problem in WoW with this support class, since you can already one-shot someone if you have good gear. Now imagine that double damage debuff right before Chaos Bolt lands on its target. Even if the class didn't have this exact spell, it would have to have some sort of buff that would make one or more players considerably stronger, so it could have its place in raids and arena teams.
And as said above, it would be incredibly hard to balance this class, so that it wouldn't be mandatory to have one in party.
Post by
367590
This post was from a user who has deleted their account.
Post Reply
You are not logged in. Please
log in
to post a reply or
register
if you don't already have an account.
