User:Vorbis/Herald idea

''Please note that this is a very rough idea so it may ramble or go round in circles occasionally. That; and I haven't dealt much in specifics.'' ;)

Class: Herald
Well, here we go... I made this class because I thought that if Blizzard wanted to bring out a new class in an expansion, they'd want it to be playable by as many people as possible. And so... here's the Herald idea. You see 'Heralds' - generally known as Standard Bearers - in pretty much every Real World war setting pre-1914. They're a fixed role in Medieval armies; waving their standards around for their country and consequently bearing the weight of honor on their shoulders. In this idea, I've mixed their role with that of another familiar person - the Musician. Those guys who across the centuries have tootled or drummed away at a variety of instruments to help marching or raise spirits.

To keep things simple, I'm keeping things to horns - they can easily be held in one hand, and used in a one-animation-fits-all way no matter how long or crazy it may get if it's epic (I'd expect something beyond just Viking horns...). They *do* exist in lore (see 'Exemplar' in the Paladin lore section and Malfurion's trumpeting at Hyjal amongst other things) and thanks to their malleability, can be used for *every* race, which will at least give a boost to gnomes and tauren.


 * New concepts: Voice Bar (thanks to FieryAxel for that), off-hand Warhorn, Battle Standards (totem-like)
 * Function: Partial hybrid of Warrior, Hunter and Shaman, but with many original concepts too
 * Races: All
 * Weapons: 1-Handed Swords, 1-Handed Axes, 1-Handed Maces, Daggers, Bows, Guns, Crossbows
 * Armor: Cloth, Leather, Mail at 40 (subject to change for balance reasons)

I'm wondering whether the voice bar (coloured in purple?) should start in the middle and function like a cross between a mana bar and a rage bar; going up at some points and down at others. Too radical? Maybe a mana bar would be more suitable, but 'voice' is a good idea nonetheless.

Lore
Heralds are present on almost every battlefield, the rock around which a battle rages. Holding the banner of their people high, they wade into the melee or strike from afar with ranged weaponry; the sound of the Battlehorn calling their fellows to even greater heights of heroism and striking fear into the hearts of their ardversaries. Every race has at least one of these brave soldiers, upon whose shoulders rests the honor of their nation.

Specs

 * Oratory: In effect, yelling, blowing your off-hand horn and other buffs and debuffs.
 * Including:
 * - Rabble-rousing abilities such as 'Rallying Cry' (probably something to do with Fear dispel or somesuch), 'Words of Wisdom' (not quite sure ^^), 'Rousing Ballad' (yeah a bit of a grab from the 'Bard' class here too)
 * - Warhorn (off-hand) abilities such as 'Sound the Charge' (something impressively offensive), 'Dread Noise' (scary?), 'Victorious Trumpet' (um... yeah)


 * Exemplary: Deals mainly with fighting. Both ranged and melee combat, focussing on use of arms and the associated abilities.
 * Including:
 * - Warrior-like attack abilities with names like 'Thrusting Strike'. No charge ability (of course).
 * - Either a system like the hunter autoshot with special ranged weapon abilities OR a system where the Herald chooses from an 'Aspect'; one gives rapid fire, another gives autoshot with poison effect, another gives no autoshot (you've got to click 'Attack' yourself) but gives another effect etc. After all, we do need another ranged weapon user.


 * Heraldry: In effect; focussing on the use of these battle-standards and defending oneself.
 * - Battle standards look a bit like the flags you see in Warsong Gulch and Alterac. THey function in a similar way to shaman totems but more in the ways of buffs and debuffs rather than spell effects, though it would be nice if something like a 'Standard of Legion' called in a few temporary race-specific NPCs to fight for you. Another standard I can imagine would look ragged... 'Standard of the Last Stand': makes friendlies within 10' immune to fear effects (I know I've mentioned fear before... but these ARE the bare bones) and gives them a big boost to defense, but slows them down (no fleeing!)
 * - Parry would be welcome (thanks to the lack of shield)

I think that, like the priest, there should be a race-specific battle standard; either like the 'Standard of Legion' I mentioned before or another applicable one bearing suitable heraldry. As for Warhorns, they should most probably be quest rewards with one or two random drops in high levels - the ultimate being, of course, the Horn of Cenarius. As well as being used as part of a Heralds abilities, they would make up for the lack of a shield, two-hander or extra weapon in one way or another (probably by giving an armor bonus). Of course, there would be low-level ones and high-level ones... pretty much the same as any other off-hand item.

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No, I'm not going to be pretentious enough to think Blizzard will use such an idea (and such a rough one at that), but remember that you heard the word 'Herald' from me first. :P--

See also: Class ideas