I’m just a guest but a had an idea (An extremely nerdy idea as it be) A class that’s skill use was based of using symbols in a specific order to unlock skills to be used.

Say a person could press symbol number 1, trigger a global cooldown, and then use what skills that symbol would unlock, then symbol number 2, trigger a global cooldown, then use the skills available to that symbol.

Then say symbol 1, trigger global cooldown, then symbol 2, trigger global cooldown, then trigger available skills.

the longer the symbol chains, the more powerful the technique unleashed would be, granting a unique new way to unleash skills that would be more engaging that clicking a button and watching a spell cast bar go by

It would be a new system that would require foresight, not neccesarily be a great reactive class, so tanking would certaintly not be a very good role to fit the system. Neither would healing I’d imagine, but for A ranged/Spell DPS (like we need another one lol) it sounds like it could be really interesting to me.

If you don’t think I’m a complete dork with a bad idea, I’d really like to hear any other ideas on a new, or interesting idea for a new way of playing a possible new class. (I’ve left a few posts here, since i havnt needed a password or anything, i figured it was ok, but if it isnt, please tell me and I’ll shush)

It does seem like Blizz has been constantly nerfing/tweaking them since they arrived, and that in the right hands they are capable tanks. Yet I wish that Blizz had forced us to reach level cap before rolling a DK. It might have made people not so hasty to ditch their ‘main’ for an ‘OP alt’. Hopefully the 3.2 changes will level the playing field in terms of tanking (except for Bears…).
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The real mistake that they made, in my view, was that it looks as if several encounters were designed around validating DK tanking. Personally my experience of DKs at heroics level was that they were the *worst* tanks to heal, however by the time we got to Vezax our first kill was tanked by an off tanking spec DK (when none of our main tanks – pallies – could get it done).

At the moment DK tanking (despite being nerfed every patch since Wrath was released) is still far and away the strongest choice for hard modes. In a world requiring cooldowns to survive, he with the most cooldowns wins.
.-= Silk´s last blog ..3.2 – Numberz =-.

actually shamans are no longer kings of AoE… more the king of the “smart burst”

With fast hitting spammable heals that splash smartly onto other units that need it the most we are good at responding to emergencies one to three targets at a time. When the whole raid is taking damage though we will rarely beat out wild growth+rejuvenation or the holy priest’s selection of spells. On Hodir this means I keep the people closest to death from dying, but it’s our druid that actually tops everyone up.

Part of me suspects that Blizzard made DKs extra powerful at release to a) match players’ expectations and b) compensate for the short, steep learning curve. When you’ve only got 1 quest to learn how to use that new ability or talent before you get another, it is hard to master and I suspect Blizzard hedged against that.

Both of those reasons are related I think: if players roll a DK expecting it to be “epic” but fail to understand the mechanics (because of how quickly they are introduced) and play poorly, then DKs would get a bad reputation that would be hard to shake. So a “hero” class almost has to, by definition, be overpowered at launch and nerfed down to equality with other classes only after players have gotten the hang of the class mechanics.

If Blizzard made a mistake, I’d claim that it was underestimating how quickly people would master the class and reach its full, overpowered, potential. But if they were to introduce another class in the future, hero or not, I’d assert that they are almost required to make it overpowered at launch so it didn’t quickly become the laughing stock of the player-base. Making a “hero class” that starts at a high level just exacerbates the problem because a) it is easier to measure them against other classes at the level cap and b) Blizzard has to compensate for the steep learning curve to keep the class feeling powerful despite its players.

The fact they have a problem doing this with classes that have existed since the beginning of the game is a bad sign imo. I love the idea of a heroic healer (like say dnd’s 4th ed bard) but I’m not so sure I have faith in their ability to pull it off without overshadowing existing heal classes.
.-= Lenelie´s last blog ..Life in the Geek Lane =-.

I think Blizzard made a mistake adding “hero” classes, they should’ve just add another class and have no distinction between the two.

But yes, class balance is tough. Very tough and every new class always has a tough time being the right fit. Look at Everquest. The Beastlord was way overpowered yet the Berserker was incredibly underpowered. It’s funny too because how powerful or weak a new class is when it launches can really effect how people view it for the longterm.
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