The newly announced World of Warcraft: Forever may be hiding a brand-new class role in plain sight. World of Warcraft‘s heavily rumored “Classic Plus” came true with World of Warcraft: Forever, which is a version of the game’s vanilla era with plenty of new content, a brand-new Elf race called Skyborne, and plans to support it “horizontally” for the long run, never increasing the level cap past 60. The game will have 1,000+ new quests, new Dungeons and Raids, it will be realmless, and it will come with new race/class combinations.
World of Warcraft: Forever will have Undead Paladins, Orc Mages, Warlock Trolls, and Skyborne Shamans for the Horde, whereas the Alliance gets Priest Gnomes, Human Hunters, Shaman Dwarves, and Skyborne Mages. Except for the Skyborne, which is an entirely new race, each of the other six race/class combinations is new to vanilla WoW, and this lineup gives both factions access to the Paladin and Shaman. Interestingly, the game may secretly be planning the addition of a new class role that is not even present in modern WoW.
World of Warcraft: Forever May Add The Shaman Tank
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Image via GameRant; Source: Blizzard
World of Warcraft: Forever may add the tank role to the Shaman class, as suggested by the game’s premise and various talents that increase defensive stats and increase threat generation in the Enhancement tree. The Anticipation talent gives up to 6% increased dodge chance to the Shaman, Toughness can yield up to 10% increased Stamina, and, more importantly, Spirit Weapons gives the Shaman a chance to parry attacks and increases threat generation while Rockbiter Weapon is active. With hard-hitting spells and increased threat generation, as well as various defensive bonuses, the Shaman could at the very least be a decent tank in 5-player or 6-player groups. However, since the game is making a point of being vanilla WoW with horizontal progression and new features, World of Warcraft‘s Shaman class might get more tools to become an actual tank, such as a dedicated taunt skill or ways to do that via in-game item sets.
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This is not even implausible, considering that the tank Shaman was a thing in WoW Classic‘s Season of Discovery. Furthermore, the game currently features various ways for the Shaman to become more resilient, such as Stoneskin and Windfall Totem, and the Guardian Totems talent further increases their resistance values. Blizzard also stated that the game will be community-driven, and with how many players are already asking for tank Shamans, it’s very likely that more options will be added if not already present at launch. Still, World of Warcraft: Forever‘s beta launches in just a few days, debuting on September 17. The game might be hiding some tank features for the Shaman class, but if so, they should be verifiable during the beta.
In order to get into World of Warcraft: Forever‘s beta, fans will need to purchase either the Skyborne Epic Pack or the Warcraft Forever Collection, priced at $59.99 and $79.99, respectively. The base Skyborne Pack does not include beta access, though it does grant early name reservation and includes both the Skyborne race and its respective starting zone. The beta runs from September 17 through October 21, whereas the game launches on November 4.
Even if WoW Forever doesn’t have many features from the modern game, it’s already having an impact on it. In fact, WoW Midnight Season 3 will introduce Night Elf, Troll, and Undead Paladin combinations for the first time in the series.
- Released
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November 23, 2004
- ESRB
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T for Teen: Blood and Gore, Crude Humor, Mild Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Alcohol, Violence (online interactions not rated)
- Engine
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Unreal Engine
