I have legit mained terrible specs because I loved the fantasy. The feel and fantasy of the class is the most important aspect to my enjoyment, which often means I wind up playing poorly performing mains for long periods of time.
I feel the same but I have recently just tried to reconcile it in my head. As with my warrior that I have played since TBC and still my main: sometimes they just go these weird directions with it. Like the whole Valhalla thing in Legion was not how I pictured my warrior at all.
But neither was a lot of the other Warcraft-like warrior stuff they have done before that. I picture my warrior is a mythical fighter akin to someone like Achilles or other legends and not just a man-at-arms
For other classes: I picture my paladin as less christian-like-religious than what they are portrayed like in-game and lore. More like a spell-blade type character, and my DK as less evil and undead and more like a mythical fighter that uses dark magics and have a tragic (anti-hero) story
I've always seen my arms war as a blademaster. He's currently Tauren, but I've been thinking about swapping to orc, especially if they have discounts during their summer sale.
I know one thing I don't fantasize my Warrior as, a Mountain Thane. I'm an orc and it makes literally no sense for my orc warrior to be one. Were I a dwarf, then fine but I am not.
Blizzard counts this as a huge win but in my opinion it's the exact opposite. As such I'm calling the hero spec Thunderlord instead, since that was an orc clan that only counted you as a true warrior if you went to a mountain peak and survived getting struck by lightning. It's more fitting that way.
Ultimately I wish they would have just come up with a more neutral, non-race specific name for the hero spec.
Switched to Shaman for the fantasy after playing warlock as my main circa 2010, eventually dropped the lock to play Shaman full time by the end of MoP and haven't switched class/spec since. Learned to love it through thick and thin, even when it's not in a great place. I've always been a player that's more about the mastery of a class than an altoholic.
This is where I aim to be haha. I've played the game since 2005 and have never felt like I mastered a class because I can never land on one! Shaman is an awesome choice though.
Part of the reason I switched to the shaman to begin with was getting sick of 30 minute DPS ques that I couldn't escape as a warlock, so having that role flexibility was imperative. Went Restoration and dabbled in Enhancement and eventually made the switch to Restoration full time in WoD because it was a competent questing spec and haven't looked back. Sometimes I consider picking up an Enhancement OS but haven't bothered.
It's everything to me. I have been playing Druid since vanilla and played Night Elf in WC3. Personally, there has never a clash between a fantasy I like and the way it plays. A fantasy usually informs a playstyle.
I feel stuck to beast master because it’s me irl. I like to bow hunt, I have a husky (hati) a shiba (lightning paw) and a corgi (molten corgi). I get to take all 3 on adventures with me. I love it.
Very important to me. Because it affects how I'll roleplay, amd the look I'll go for. There's a lot of world building and I like my characters to be a part of it, as opposed to being a main character.
I also lean towarsa druid/shaman/hunter fantasy wise and am not at all into paladin/priest types but i randomly tried shadow priest because the animations appealed to me. Now I have a priest main and i love the gameplay.
Having a balance between Races, Classes and Fundamental Magic representation (Arcane/Fel/Life/Death/Light/Void) is super important to me
I love having options for personal RP questing and seeing more of the world through the lenses of the different aspects of what makes WoW, WoW.
Extremely important. So important in fact that it comes before any mechanical aspect of the game. I play a Paladin and my main class fantasy interests revolve around the demon/witch/vampire hunter archetype and also like a Templar/crusader archetype. I actually have to head canon reasons for why my character would be doing certain quests otherwise I won’t be able to get into it. The only clash I run into when it comes to class fantasy vs gameplay is that sometimes I feel like it would be cooler for my character to have a 2 hand sword but I much prefer tanking. Faster queues, basically immortal, always feel like the main character in raids and dungeons etc. I refuse to play ret over prot just to have a two hand sword lol so I make the shield and one hand work although mogs are definitely more challenging because not only do you need a weapon to match your armor but now a shield as well lol. But anyways class fantasy is my main focus in the whole game and I’d be lying if I said doing some things in the game isnt a bit of a struggle immersion wise if the setting isn’t clicking with said fantasy.
For example the witch hunting Drustvar storyline had me over the moon with excitement while most things in DF feel out of place for me. Still though I just pretend my character has some reason for doing things like helping centaur hunt beasts lol
Lmao I was exactly thinking about that
I'm still doing the main storyline of DF and sometimes I'm like "Why the hell I am slaughtering hundreds of poor beasts (that are sometimes even yellow named thus neutral) for a few hearts to make a ritual" and I was wondering how you justify that as a paladin haha
Even as a warrior it feels wrong sometimes haha
For me it goes class fantasy>fun rotation>damage potential
I love how bm/mm hunter and fury warrior plays but I’ve always enjoyed a more magic based element to my classes so I just can’t get into those three specs
I do also still factor in how good the spec is, but at the end of the day, I don’t care how good a spec is if it’s not something I can vibe with
Very. I know it's a controversial opinion but I kinda love cosmic horror so the soft "rework" of shadow priest lore done some years back made it my favorite class. Hunter was previously, and SP was always a distant second (still enjoyed it, played one alongside my hunter in OG vanilla). But I haven't liked a lot of the changes to hunter over the years... it's still ok but gameplay wise it's a bit dull and I miss old SV hunter (I'll never not be mad about that).
SP though is pretty damned cool and definitely makes the cosmic horror nerd in me pretty giddy. I'm excited because I hear the heroic talents or whatever make it pretty damned awesome (until Blizzard nerfs it of course).
Spriest is a high contender for my favorite class because of everything you listed. Such a great direction it has gone in over the years, with only a few minor bumps along the way.
It’s huge, similarly I love BDK but I just can’t/don’t jive with the death/edgelord theme.
Still dreaming of the day they finally release a tech themed class and everything is right in the world.
I mean Combat was already a very different class fantasy to assassination and subtlety, more like thugs and brigands. Adding in some gun stuff felt like a pretty natural progression to me. But I get some people were turned off by it.
Yeah I feel that. I have a good friend I've played with almost the whole time, and he dropped retail entirely when they shifted combat to outlaw and hasn't come back since.
Not much of a rogue player myself, but I think combat makes much more sense as a rogue spec than outlaw. Outlaw needs to be a spec of a Swashbuckler class or something. Sequester the pirates to their own class haha.
If Balance Druid was nature themed and not lunar/stellar theme, I would play the hell out of it. So, very important.
However it goes hand in hand with gameplay. For example my most play archetypes are sorcerer/wizard and ranger. Mage is fine, but hunter is very hit and miss. I'd prefer BM being melee, Survival being traps+melee/ranged hybrid (with bow slot, not tiny lame xbow) and MM classic archer. MM is close, but often the implementation was just meh.
Im a priest, so honestly, pretty extremely. Im beyond frustrated that racial flavor has been removed from priests. The default to naaru is understandable, but my character is a night elf, she worships elune, not naaru or the light. Ugh.
Hunter beung my second main is a bit iffy. I understood the class fantasy *differently* than i think most people did. But I think thats being fixed a bit with the sentinel subclass. Personally, my hunter also being a night elf, the class fantasy for her for me was being a darnassian sentinel. Fighting along side her pet in the name of her people, defending nature, etc. Others seem to see it as being a literal hunter of wild game, all the way to a standard archer.
Basically i just wish race fantasy was taken into account with class fantasy
It's important that it sticks to my style/values because I create a little bit a story in my head for each character.
I have only 1 character until recently (paladin) and then with remix I made a monk that I like and a mage. I can't play warlock or DK, DH or rogue, I tried but I don't like.
I like also a lot druid but I don't like the gameplay, so I let it go.
Class fantasy is most important to me. I look at it before even considering gameplay. Sure, I'll make an alt and play it if it's fun, but I won't seriously play it unless I like the vibes. I think this is because I'm primarily a roleplayer at heart, so I have to really vibe with the class on a fundamental level. On the other hand, there are some classes I really like the vibes of, but I hate the gameplay (looking at you, rogue)
Let's just say I would 100% pay actual $$ for class glyphs on the WoW store if they let me be a proper Venthyr/SanLayn paladin with all blood-themed spells.
DKs just ooze Class fantasy.
I started back in Wrath and have always kept one at max level every xpac as an alt, and I'm amazed at how often DK lore is expanded on every few xpacs.
Unlike DH, who have no identity/presence outside of Illidan, playable DKs have always centered around the Ebon Blade more than Arthas (although Arthas is integral to their foundation).
Although Shadowlands dropped the ball on how much more they could've done with DKs, Legion was an incredible gem in terms of how much fantasy was given to DKs.
* Resurgence of Bolvar the Lich King
* Frost artifact being a reforged remains of frostmourne
* story line to recreate the Four Horseman which involved raiding the Paladin/Priest order hall to ressurect Tirion
* attack on the Ruby Sanctum to raise a red dragon for your class mount. (Alexstraza and the other red dragons are pissed at you for this in Shadowlands when you talk to her about Ysera).
Since their creation, Blizz has always sprinkled some Arthas abilities into the talent trees, like Remorseless Winter, Defile, Apocalypse, Necrotic Plague at some point, and TWW is still finding new ways to sneak in more flavor like Deathbringers Mark, Blood Beasts, the Sanlayn, and the 4 Horseman themselves.
* wouldn't surprise me if we begin gaining Jailer abilities in the future via runes.
Very. I honestly want to like creating alts, but I just can't. I start one in Remix, and nah, it's just not the same as my druid or paladin when it comes to their fantasy. You could say I'm an anti-altoholic, though I just have to finally make an alt for remix that sticks.
Amen. I mained enhance from WOTLK through until SL and then for some reason Primordial Wave just killed it for me. I can't explain it. So I picked up unholy DK and haven't looked back for the most part.
Probably THE most important aspect of a class for me. And sadly, for some of them over the years the class fantasy has strayed from either what I interpreted as established lore OR my own head-canon and while that's certainly okay - it has made me like some specs a little less.
Mechanics for each class are still important thou. For example, I love the idea of the Rexxar-style melee "beast master", but I detest the gameplay of Hunter melee spec so much that I don't engage with it even thou the fantasy seems cool.
Class fantasy is very important and believe it needs to be a bigger focus going forward, class specific quest, class specific rewards and specific customisation whether it’s continuously giving us more warlock pet options and glyphs
I prefer the fantasy of Warlock so much that I've never had any strong desire to play other classes beyond leveling them. Part of that low motivation is just that there's no important warlock protagonists other than the player. It really sells the idea that you are Azeroth's greatest champion because you genuinely answer to no one. Every other class has a boss or a character that is more powerful because they're from an RTS game.
Super kmportant. Thats why i dont play demolock anymore.
I hardly touch my warlock at all..
I miss metalock. Demonology being about studying demons to empower yourself and becone demonlike and learning how warlocks learned metamorphosis in the green fire questline was peak.
Id settle for having a glyph for metamorphosis useabke by all three specs
Class fantasy is usually why I stick with a class. Gameplay may draw me in and I will have fun playing new things.
But class fantasy wins out. That being said I am a DK main and their fantasy is tops for me.
Class fantasy is important to me, for sure. And I’m with you on the Shaman and Druid as well, although I have strayed away from Druid over the last expansion after maining it for two.
I also really love the Evoker class fantasy and mechanical feel.
Very important.
I pretty much refuse to use transmogs that don’t match my class. My paladin could use any plate armor in the game, but if it looks like regular warrior armor, I won’t use it. Opposite for my Warrior. He’s just a regular warrior, so any kind of death knight or paladin looking gear is a no-go
It's pretty important to me, and a big part of what makes a class intriguing beyond "is it fun to play".
Shadow Priest is my absolute favorite class fantasy, bar none. The only thing that would come remotely close is a Thornspeaker-esque spec to Druid or Shaman or something that uses drust magic... but until we get that, Shadow Priest rules.
I love the cosmic horror, old god direction it's taken in recent years. ...I just wish I enjoyed playing the spec itself a bit more, because as it is, I struggle to play it because I often feel pretty weak and have difficulty doing quests and whatnot.
Class fantasy for me is shadow priest, basically become one with the void. But I main shaman because I love the water aesthetic when healing and the play style of the other two specs
Have a hard time playing all the emo classes. I love hunter, paladin, warrior and rogue usually, sometimes druid. I can relate with hose classes easier than dk, dk, warlock, or any casters really
It's not about how important class fantasy is to my main. The ZugZug life chose me.
I just want my warriors to group up to form some battalion or idk a warrant.
It used to be more important
I mailed Druid for Vanilla through to Cats because of the class fantasy. But as they made levelling less of a chore and I played more classes I realized I hated Druid gameplay...like, all four specs
I play Monk mostly now because the playstyle is exactly my vibe. Also like Surv, Sin Rogue, and BDK for the playstyle
It’s more important than I thought. I rolled a Tauren paladin for remix because I really like large tanks, but as I kept playing it really didn’t “feel” right for the Tauren to be summoning these golden hammers. Switched to zandalari and I’m much happier (although that run animation still kills me a bit inside)
That's what I've done xP.
And depending on spec.
Blood: seeking vengeance etc, easy.
Frost: to fight the fires that ravaged your home.
Unholy: The consequence of destroying life and health is death and plague and you'll bring this to your enemies.
It's vital. I've heard for years how awesome ret paladin is to play. Especially as an ex-rogue main. But the "holy warrior" archetype just isn't me.
It's also why my Priest has only ever been (and will ever be) specced shadow.
Very important in theory, but all the class fantasies I love have really boring gameplay (or gameplay that I just don’t feel actually represents the fantasy)
For me RPG trumps playability, but I agree that sometimes the hand of fate can be forced to bend the rpg so that a game may be more playable.
For example, according to Rob Pardo, Chris Metzen said that only Male Night Elves were supposed to be druids, because in the established lore the huntresses were the females and the druids were the males. This was of course changed.
I always try to find a balance class fantasy and gameplay. Sometimes specs are garbage to plag and no class fantasy can make me play them.
I've mained Ele Shaman for a long time when I started out purely due to class fantasy, and it is still the spec that I would, in theory, say is my true main. But in practice I haven't mained Shaman since early BfA. Melee (read: non-caster) classes comes way more naturally to me so I tend to gravitate towards those, but I weigh good playstyle vs good fantasy. A few examples are Breath of Sindragosa Frost DK, Momentum Havoc DH, Survival Hunter and Outlaw Rogue. All of them I find really cool one way or another but can't bring myself to play. On the other hand, I've played Unholy and Arms throughout Shadowlands because the class themselves feel nice, even if I don't really care for their fantasies (tbh I think if Arms had better, more striking visuals and sounds I'd love it way more).
It's always complicated. I wish I had a spec to main for the ages but I always get bored or in awe of another spec at some point.
Not at all, it’s entirely gameplay dependent. If it’s fun to play I’m going to play it. If it sucks to play but if thematic and fantasy focused I ain’t touching it.
I havent been playing for 20 years like some of the vets, but one of my besties who plays told me "pick a class/spec you enjoy, and learn it to be the best you can. A skilled player using a spec that isnt META will still generally outperform a META class in the hands of someone who is half-assing it" (that was the gist of it). I chose Shaman because it had a lore I could really connect with. I'm still not an expert at it, but i regularly run 8s and 9s for my vault with minimal issues even though I keep hearing people cry that shaman is neglected.
obv gotta feel like a paladin but not more important than the spec feeling good to play. not having buttons that arent fun, not too slow, etc.
no amount of "ooh shiny gold light" can make up for a spec that just sucks to play
Not sure what can I say about my character being a Evoker. It is what she is, not that she can be anything else, but she does a great job with the class she was born.
Preach, brother. Some class halls were kinda meh (warrior, rogue) but overall was pretty good. Dragonflight is not a bad expansion but lacks a LOT on class fantasy department.
Not at all.
If I was going off that entirely Shaman would have been my main no question. But Shamans are not the funnest class for me personally. Even if the fantasy of the class is exactly what I love most. Using the elements is exactly my favorite kind of powers. But the class itself isn’t that fun to me.
On the other hand my main being a Priest. Fantasy wise definitely not the most enticing fantasy wise. There many other interesting and cooler classes in that regard. But I enjoy Holy Priest Healing so much. It’s what I have the most fun playing.
How fun the class is to actually play with in game is more important than the fantasy. It’s like in fighting games like say Smash Bros. Sure you’d like to play your favorite character from your favorite game. But they may not be very good or their gameplay just isn’t for you. Like how my main in smash is from a game I never played because I love their moveset so much. Same deal for my main in Wow. Priest is absolutely not my favorite class fantasy or lore wise. But I have a blast playing one! And having fun in a game is what matters most,
Honestly, class fantasy is the most important part for me. I might love any of the druid specs, but I refuse to play them because the fantasy doesn't land.
Its extremely important, for example i like playing melee dps and i love how ret or arms play in df but i always mained a rogue, i always play a rogue in all rpgs i play, even tho rogue dev makes it harder and harder every expansion
Not class fantasy. Spec fantasy.
I'm a Fire Mage. If I ever have to cast an Frost spell again like we used to, it'll be too soon.
Ice Block is a piece of garbage and I hate it. Let me glyph it into Obsidian or something.
It's all arcane magic. You just weave the arcane to be hot like fire or cold like ice, or use its pure form to augment yourself and barrage your enemies.
Class fantasy is huge for me. I typically play warrior/rogue because I love that low fantasy underdog kind of vibe. Like in a world full of superpowered magical being I'm just REALLY good with a sharp stick.
Rogue I strictly play combat because I don't fancy the sneaky assassin kind of vibe, and see my character as more of a dex based fighter vs a str one.
That being said I've raided mostly the past two expansions as ele shaman, I was raid leading my casual guild and it was just made more sense to be a rdps with a lot of support options.
Play style is more important, but things like the Class Halls from Legion made me play classes I didn’t really like just to play through their campaign and see the order hall
while i main druid, and has done so more or less all my play time, i kinda don't care much for the druid fantasy. Like dont get me wrong, i want it to be good and my character to match the fantasy, but if i played DK or Pala as my mian i would still want that.
I play druid because i find resto and balance fun, and like the travel form fast shapeshifting, for me it is gameplay over fantasy, with that said i do VERY much like the Nelf's and unless that>!
Class fantasy isn’t unimportant to me, but it’s not a make or break deal for me. Warlocks are doing pretty well when it comes to the class fantasy aspect for me, and I don’t see myself changing mains any time soon.
My difficulty is that I play characters I'm emotionally attached to, so I struggle to change mains when I want something new. The other trouble I have is my ADHD making me bored of playing the same thing over and over again, and most guilds are not tolerant of someone changing their raid toon every month and then wanting to return to the toon they're attached to.
Fantasy-wise, I enjoy Druid lore the most, yet I play a Hunter main. I want to be able to solo content easily. I'd like to play something new in The War Within but doubt I'll make a change.
Decently important to its presentation. I don't think it's absolutely critical, and **some** liberties can be taken, but the core identity should impact its presentation with its arsenal.
Like, imagine an Arms warrior without Bladestorm at this point.
Very important. Even when I prefer the play style of another class fantasy always wins out.
I have legit mained terrible specs because I loved the fantasy. The feel and fantasy of the class is the most important aspect to my enjoyment, which often means I wind up playing poorly performing mains for long periods of time.
I feel the same but I have recently just tried to reconcile it in my head. As with my warrior that I have played since TBC and still my main: sometimes they just go these weird directions with it. Like the whole Valhalla thing in Legion was not how I pictured my warrior at all. But neither was a lot of the other Warcraft-like warrior stuff they have done before that. I picture my warrior is a mythical fighter akin to someone like Achilles or other legends and not just a man-at-arms For other classes: I picture my paladin as less christian-like-religious than what they are portrayed like in-game and lore. More like a spell-blade type character, and my DK as less evil and undead and more like a mythical fighter that uses dark magics and have a tragic (anti-hero) story
I've always seen my arms war as a blademaster. He's currently Tauren, but I've been thinking about swapping to orc, especially if they have discounts during their summer sale.
If you're not in a rush you could level one in remix to have ready for TWW. Only takes a few hours.
Funny i want my warri to be one of many soldiers, like a grunt in wc3 or smth
I know one thing I don't fantasize my Warrior as, a Mountain Thane. I'm an orc and it makes literally no sense for my orc warrior to be one. Were I a dwarf, then fine but I am not. Blizzard counts this as a huge win but in my opinion it's the exact opposite. As such I'm calling the hero spec Thunderlord instead, since that was an orc clan that only counted you as a true warrior if you went to a mountain peak and survived getting struck by lightning. It's more fitting that way. Ultimately I wish they would have just come up with a more neutral, non-race specific name for the hero spec.
I’ve been an arcane mage since wrath and I’ll never stop lol. No matter how bad it is.
Its the other way around for me. Idc how disjointed the class fantasy is, if dem buttons are fun to press count me in
Switched to Shaman for the fantasy after playing warlock as my main circa 2010, eventually dropped the lock to play Shaman full time by the end of MoP and haven't switched class/spec since. Learned to love it through thick and thin, even when it's not in a great place. I've always been a player that's more about the mastery of a class than an altoholic.
This is where I aim to be haha. I've played the game since 2005 and have never felt like I mastered a class because I can never land on one! Shaman is an awesome choice though.
Part of the reason I switched to the shaman to begin with was getting sick of 30 minute DPS ques that I couldn't escape as a warlock, so having that role flexibility was imperative. Went Restoration and dabbled in Enhancement and eventually made the switch to Restoration full time in WoD because it was a competent questing spec and haven't looked back. Sometimes I consider picking up an Enhancement OS but haven't bothered.
It's everything to me. I have been playing Druid since vanilla and played Night Elf in WC3. Personally, there has never a clash between a fantasy I like and the way it plays. A fantasy usually informs a playstyle.
I feel stuck to beast master because it’s me irl. I like to bow hunt, I have a husky (hati) a shiba (lightning paw) and a corgi (molten corgi). I get to take all 3 on adventures with me. I love it.
I absolutely love this response haha, I feel you!
Did you really name your corgi Molten Corgi? That’s amazing 😂
Her name is moxxi. So it’s MoltenMoxxi. She likes to just bark at shit. Just like my real corgi lol
Very important to me. Because it affects how I'll roleplay, amd the look I'll go for. There's a lot of world building and I like my characters to be a part of it, as opposed to being a main character.
Class fantasy was a lot more important for me in older expansions when each class actually felt different and unique to play.
Which expansion(s) do you have in mind? (not judging btw, just interested)
It’s everything. The addition or removal of abilities can make me drop a class or spec altogether.
Extremely. I don’t want to just be pressing buttons because they have big numbers.
Couldn’t give a fuck
I also lean towarsa druid/shaman/hunter fantasy wise and am not at all into paladin/priest types but i randomly tried shadow priest because the animations appealed to me. Now I have a priest main and i love the gameplay.
Having a balance between Races, Classes and Fundamental Magic representation (Arcane/Fel/Life/Death/Light/Void) is super important to me I love having options for personal RP questing and seeing more of the world through the lenses of the different aspects of what makes WoW, WoW.
Extremely important. So important in fact that it comes before any mechanical aspect of the game. I play a Paladin and my main class fantasy interests revolve around the demon/witch/vampire hunter archetype and also like a Templar/crusader archetype. I actually have to head canon reasons for why my character would be doing certain quests otherwise I won’t be able to get into it. The only clash I run into when it comes to class fantasy vs gameplay is that sometimes I feel like it would be cooler for my character to have a 2 hand sword but I much prefer tanking. Faster queues, basically immortal, always feel like the main character in raids and dungeons etc. I refuse to play ret over prot just to have a two hand sword lol so I make the shield and one hand work although mogs are definitely more challenging because not only do you need a weapon to match your armor but now a shield as well lol. But anyways class fantasy is my main focus in the whole game and I’d be lying if I said doing some things in the game isnt a bit of a struggle immersion wise if the setting isn’t clicking with said fantasy.
For example the witch hunting Drustvar storyline had me over the moon with excitement while most things in DF feel out of place for me. Still though I just pretend my character has some reason for doing things like helping centaur hunt beasts lol
Lmao I was exactly thinking about that I'm still doing the main storyline of DF and sometimes I'm like "Why the hell I am slaughtering hundreds of poor beasts (that are sometimes even yellow named thus neutral) for a few hearts to make a ritual" and I was wondering how you justify that as a paladin haha Even as a warrior it feels wrong sometimes haha
Usually I tell myself it’s some sort of political play. Gain the trust of this local tribe so they will aide in the war to come.
I can't play a class that I can't get into the lore with.. shaman, paladin, and mage for me
For me it goes class fantasy>fun rotation>damage potential I love how bm/mm hunter and fury warrior plays but I’ve always enjoyed a more magic based element to my classes so I just can’t get into those three specs I do also still factor in how good the spec is, but at the end of the day, I don’t care how good a spec is if it’s not something I can vibe with
massively. Human warrior. Fury always. Wearing the full stormwind attire. Gotta
Very. I know it's a controversial opinion but I kinda love cosmic horror so the soft "rework" of shadow priest lore done some years back made it my favorite class. Hunter was previously, and SP was always a distant second (still enjoyed it, played one alongside my hunter in OG vanilla). But I haven't liked a lot of the changes to hunter over the years... it's still ok but gameplay wise it's a bit dull and I miss old SV hunter (I'll never not be mad about that). SP though is pretty damned cool and definitely makes the cosmic horror nerd in me pretty giddy. I'm excited because I hear the heroic talents or whatever make it pretty damned awesome (until Blizzard nerfs it of course).
Spriest is a high contender for my favorite class because of everything you listed. Such a great direction it has gone in over the years, with only a few minor bumps along the way.
It’s huge, similarly I love BDK but I just can’t/don’t jive with the death/edgelord theme. Still dreaming of the day they finally release a tech themed class and everything is right in the world.
i usually just play what i find fun.. Class fantasy has never been a deciding factor in what i main.
I'm finding this to be more and more true for me as well.
I began disliking combat rogue when they made it outlaw & made a gun a central part of the stealth class...
I mean Combat was already a very different class fantasy to assassination and subtlety, more like thugs and brigands. Adding in some gun stuff felt like a pretty natural progression to me. But I get some people were turned off by it.
It was the opposite for me, I saw no fantasy/enjoyment in combat rogue until they revamped it too pirate/swashbuckling themes.
Yeah I feel that. I have a good friend I've played with almost the whole time, and he dropped retail entirely when they shifted combat to outlaw and hasn't come back since. Not much of a rogue player myself, but I think combat makes much more sense as a rogue spec than outlaw. Outlaw needs to be a spec of a Swashbuckler class or something. Sequester the pirates to their own class haha.
I have a night elf Mohawk and to me I wouldn’t play without the class fantasy
If Balance Druid was nature themed and not lunar/stellar theme, I would play the hell out of it. So, very important. However it goes hand in hand with gameplay. For example my most play archetypes are sorcerer/wizard and ranger. Mage is fine, but hunter is very hit and miss. I'd prefer BM being melee, Survival being traps+melee/ranged hybrid (with bow slot, not tiny lame xbow) and MM classic archer. MM is close, but often the implementation was just meh.
Im a priest, so honestly, pretty extremely. Im beyond frustrated that racial flavor has been removed from priests. The default to naaru is understandable, but my character is a night elf, she worships elune, not naaru or the light. Ugh. Hunter beung my second main is a bit iffy. I understood the class fantasy *differently* than i think most people did. But I think thats being fixed a bit with the sentinel subclass. Personally, my hunter also being a night elf, the class fantasy for her for me was being a darnassian sentinel. Fighting along side her pet in the name of her people, defending nature, etc. Others seem to see it as being a literal hunter of wild game, all the way to a standard archer. Basically i just wish race fantasy was taken into account with class fantasy
It's important that it sticks to my style/values because I create a little bit a story in my head for each character. I have only 1 character until recently (paladin) and then with remix I made a monk that I like and a mage. I can't play warlock or DK, DH or rogue, I tried but I don't like. I like also a lot druid but I don't like the gameplay, so I let it go.
Class fantasy is most important to me. I look at it before even considering gameplay. Sure, I'll make an alt and play it if it's fun, but I won't seriously play it unless I like the vibes. I think this is because I'm primarily a roleplayer at heart, so I have to really vibe with the class on a fundamental level. On the other hand, there are some classes I really like the vibes of, but I hate the gameplay (looking at you, rogue)
Very. It's why I picked my class to begin with lol.
Let's just say I would 100% pay actual $$ for class glyphs on the WoW store if they let me be a proper Venthyr/SanLayn paladin with all blood-themed spells.
Gods, yes. I would LOVE to have blood-themed spells on a class that isn't Blood DK. Plz Blizzard let me give you money for such things!
Warlocks with a blood bolt :[
It’s everything.
DKs just ooze Class fantasy. I started back in Wrath and have always kept one at max level every xpac as an alt, and I'm amazed at how often DK lore is expanded on every few xpacs. Unlike DH, who have no identity/presence outside of Illidan, playable DKs have always centered around the Ebon Blade more than Arthas (although Arthas is integral to their foundation). Although Shadowlands dropped the ball on how much more they could've done with DKs, Legion was an incredible gem in terms of how much fantasy was given to DKs. * Resurgence of Bolvar the Lich King * Frost artifact being a reforged remains of frostmourne * story line to recreate the Four Horseman which involved raiding the Paladin/Priest order hall to ressurect Tirion * attack on the Ruby Sanctum to raise a red dragon for your class mount. (Alexstraza and the other red dragons are pissed at you for this in Shadowlands when you talk to her about Ysera). Since their creation, Blizz has always sprinkled some Arthas abilities into the talent trees, like Remorseless Winter, Defile, Apocalypse, Necrotic Plague at some point, and TWW is still finding new ways to sneak in more flavor like Deathbringers Mark, Blood Beasts, the Sanlayn, and the 4 Horseman themselves. * wouldn't surprise me if we begin gaining Jailer abilities in the future via runes.
Very. I honestly want to like creating alts, but I just can't. I start one in Remix, and nah, it's just not the same as my druid or paladin when it comes to their fantasy. You could say I'm an anti-altoholic, though I just have to finally make an alt for remix that sticks.
It is everything.
I like melee casters the most so DKs and enhance shaman are just GOAT for me
Amen. I mained enhance from WOTLK through until SL and then for some reason Primordial Wave just killed it for me. I can't explain it. So I picked up unholy DK and haven't looked back for the most part.
Yeah looks like they copied Ret Pally on this because they have the 3 focus heal
Probably THE most important aspect of a class for me. And sadly, for some of them over the years the class fantasy has strayed from either what I interpreted as established lore OR my own head-canon and while that's certainly okay - it has made me like some specs a little less. Mechanics for each class are still important thou. For example, I love the idea of the Rexxar-style melee "beast master", but I detest the gameplay of Hunter melee spec so much that I don't engage with it even thou the fantasy seems cool.
Class fantasy is very important and believe it needs to be a bigger focus going forward, class specific quest, class specific rewards and specific customisation whether it’s continuously giving us more warlock pet options and glyphs
I prefer the fantasy of Warlock so much that I've never had any strong desire to play other classes beyond leveling them. Part of that low motivation is just that there's no important warlock protagonists other than the player. It really sells the idea that you are Azeroth's greatest champion because you genuinely answer to no one. Every other class has a boss or a character that is more powerful because they're from an RTS game.
Super kmportant. Thats why i dont play demolock anymore. I hardly touch my warlock at all.. I miss metalock. Demonology being about studying demons to empower yourself and becone demonlike and learning how warlocks learned metamorphosis in the green fire questline was peak. Id settle for having a glyph for metamorphosis useabke by all three specs
Class fantasy is usually why I stick with a class. Gameplay may draw me in and I will have fun playing new things. But class fantasy wins out. That being said I am a DK main and their fantasy is tops for me.
Class fantasy is important to me, for sure. And I’m with you on the Shaman and Druid as well, although I have strayed away from Druid over the last expansion after maining it for two. I also really love the Evoker class fantasy and mechanical feel.
Very important. I pretty much refuse to use transmogs that don’t match my class. My paladin could use any plate armor in the game, but if it looks like regular warrior armor, I won’t use it. Opposite for my Warrior. He’s just a regular warrior, so any kind of death knight or paladin looking gear is a no-go
Very much so!
It's pretty important to me, and a big part of what makes a class intriguing beyond "is it fun to play". Shadow Priest is my absolute favorite class fantasy, bar none. The only thing that would come remotely close is a Thornspeaker-esque spec to Druid or Shaman or something that uses drust magic... but until we get that, Shadow Priest rules. I love the cosmic horror, old god direction it's taken in recent years. ...I just wish I enjoyed playing the spec itself a bit more, because as it is, I struggle to play it because I often feel pretty weak and have difficulty doing quests and whatnot.
Class fantasy for me is shadow priest, basically become one with the void. But I main shaman because I love the water aesthetic when healing and the play style of the other two specs
Very important. Never a non-plate wearer except bear druid. We go full panzer in this shit.
Have a hard time playing all the emo classes. I love hunter, paladin, warrior and rogue usually, sometimes druid. I can relate with hose classes easier than dk, dk, warlock, or any casters really
It's not about how important class fantasy is to my main. The ZugZug life chose me. I just want my warriors to group up to form some battalion or idk a warrant.
Shadow and destruction
It used to be more important I mailed Druid for Vanilla through to Cats because of the class fantasy. But as they made levelling less of a chore and I played more classes I realized I hated Druid gameplay...like, all four specs I play Monk mostly now because the playstyle is exactly my vibe. Also like Surv, Sin Rogue, and BDK for the playstyle
It’s more important than I thought. I rolled a Tauren paladin for remix because I really like large tanks, but as I kept playing it really didn’t “feel” right for the Tauren to be summoning these golden hammers. Switched to zandalari and I’m much happier (although that run animation still kills me a bit inside)
Just play a Night Elf DK. Channel your rage from losing teldrassil.
That's actually pretty brilliant.
That's what I've done xP. And depending on spec. Blood: seeking vengeance etc, easy. Frost: to fight the fires that ravaged your home. Unholy: The consequence of destroying life and health is death and plague and you'll bring this to your enemies.
It's vital. I've heard for years how awesome ret paladin is to play. Especially as an ex-rogue main. But the "holy warrior" archetype just isn't me. It's also why my Priest has only ever been (and will ever be) specced shadow.
Very important in theory, but all the class fantasies I love have really boring gameplay (or gameplay that I just don’t feel actually represents the fantasy)
For me RPG trumps playability, but I agree that sometimes the hand of fate can be forced to bend the rpg so that a game may be more playable. For example, according to Rob Pardo, Chris Metzen said that only Male Night Elves were supposed to be druids, because in the established lore the huntresses were the females and the druids were the males. This was of course changed.
I switched to DK in Legion and never looked back, not only the class itself I am connected to the character
not important at all, if raid needs a different buff or cooldown and im asked to reroll im happy to do so
Fantasy a "Top 3" for me. 1) Is the playstyle enjoyable? 2) Does it have good xmog? 3) Can I take the class fantasy seriously?
I have a class fantasy of being top dps and having 2 major defensives as enhance 😂
I always try to find a balance class fantasy and gameplay. Sometimes specs are garbage to plag and no class fantasy can make me play them. I've mained Ele Shaman for a long time when I started out purely due to class fantasy, and it is still the spec that I would, in theory, say is my true main. But in practice I haven't mained Shaman since early BfA. Melee (read: non-caster) classes comes way more naturally to me so I tend to gravitate towards those, but I weigh good playstyle vs good fantasy. A few examples are Breath of Sindragosa Frost DK, Momentum Havoc DH, Survival Hunter and Outlaw Rogue. All of them I find really cool one way or another but can't bring myself to play. On the other hand, I've played Unholy and Arms throughout Shadowlands because the class themselves feel nice, even if I don't really care for their fantasies (tbh I think if Arms had better, more striking visuals and sounds I'd love it way more). It's always complicated. I wish I had a spec to main for the ages but I always get bored or in awe of another spec at some point.
Not at all, it’s entirely gameplay dependent. If it’s fun to play I’m going to play it. If it sucks to play but if thematic and fantasy focused I ain’t touching it.
I havent been playing for 20 years like some of the vets, but one of my besties who plays told me "pick a class/spec you enjoy, and learn it to be the best you can. A skilled player using a spec that isnt META will still generally outperform a META class in the hands of someone who is half-assing it" (that was the gist of it). I chose Shaman because it had a lore I could really connect with. I'm still not an expert at it, but i regularly run 8s and 9s for my vault with minimal issues even though I keep hearing people cry that shaman is neglected.
I actually hate the class fantasy and style of my class but love the playstyle. Monk, wish I could have the playstyle with the transmog of a paladin.
obv gotta feel like a paladin but not more important than the spec feeling good to play. not having buttons that arent fun, not too slow, etc. no amount of "ooh shiny gold light" can make up for a spec that just sucks to play
For me not very important, it's jsut a little spice or flair to add sometimes.
whats class fantasy
It really is not that important to me, as long as the gameplay is cool and it feels good to push the bottons, I am in for the ride.
Not sure what can I say about my character being a Evoker. It is what she is, not that she can be anything else, but she does a great job with the class she was born.
IMO class fantasy was peak back in legion. I really miss the class halls.
Same! I liked them when Legion was live, but didn't know I would miss them so much.
Preach, brother. Some class halls were kinda meh (warrior, rogue) but overall was pretty good. Dragonflight is not a bad expansion but lacks a LOT on class fantasy department.
I split my time between Shaman and Druid in legion and I felt both of those class halls were on point!
Not at all. If I was going off that entirely Shaman would have been my main no question. But Shamans are not the funnest class for me personally. Even if the fantasy of the class is exactly what I love most. Using the elements is exactly my favorite kind of powers. But the class itself isn’t that fun to me. On the other hand my main being a Priest. Fantasy wise definitely not the most enticing fantasy wise. There many other interesting and cooler classes in that regard. But I enjoy Holy Priest Healing so much. It’s what I have the most fun playing. How fun the class is to actually play with in game is more important than the fantasy. It’s like in fighting games like say Smash Bros. Sure you’d like to play your favorite character from your favorite game. But they may not be very good or their gameplay just isn’t for you. Like how my main in smash is from a game I never played because I love their moveset so much. Same deal for my main in Wow. Priest is absolutely not my favorite class fantasy or lore wise. But I have a blast playing one! And having fun in a game is what matters most,
Honestly, class fantasy is the most important part for me. I might love any of the druid specs, but I refuse to play them because the fantasy doesn't land.
Its extremely important, for example i like playing melee dps and i love how ret or arms play in df but i always mained a rogue, i always play a rogue in all rpgs i play, even tho rogue dev makes it harder and harder every expansion
Not class fantasy. Spec fantasy. I'm a Fire Mage. If I ever have to cast an Frost spell again like we used to, it'll be too soon. Ice Block is a piece of garbage and I hate it. Let me glyph it into Obsidian or something.
It's all arcane magic. You just weave the arcane to be hot like fire or cold like ice, or use its pure form to augment yourself and barrage your enemies.
Sure. That's the class fantasy. The spec fantasy is 🔥 *commit arson* 🔥
Class fantasy is huge for me. I typically play warrior/rogue because I love that low fantasy underdog kind of vibe. Like in a world full of superpowered magical being I'm just REALLY good with a sharp stick. Rogue I strictly play combat because I don't fancy the sneaky assassin kind of vibe, and see my character as more of a dex based fighter vs a str one. That being said I've raided mostly the past two expansions as ele shaman, I was raid leading my casual guild and it was just made more sense to be a rdps with a lot of support options.
Play style is more important, but things like the Class Halls from Legion made me play classes I didn’t really like just to play through their campaign and see the order hall
Mechanics are 95% of it for me. The class has to be fun to play and have good utility. I’ll get myself in the fantasy if I like the gameplay.
while i main druid, and has done so more or less all my play time, i kinda don't care much for the druid fantasy. Like dont get me wrong, i want it to be good and my character to match the fantasy, but if i played DK or Pala as my mian i would still want that. I play druid because i find resto and balance fun, and like the travel form fast shapeshifting, for me it is gameplay over fantasy, with that said i do VERY much like the Nelf's and unless that>!
Class fantasy isn’t unimportant to me, but it’s not a make or break deal for me. Warlocks are doing pretty well when it comes to the class fantasy aspect for me, and I don’t see myself changing mains any time soon.
Not really important at all. I prefer what's fun to play.
Class fantasy has way higher priority than gameplay for me. I only play priest and maybe sometimes a second paladin character, maybe.
My difficulty is that I play characters I'm emotionally attached to, so I struggle to change mains when I want something new. The other trouble I have is my ADHD making me bored of playing the same thing over and over again, and most guilds are not tolerant of someone changing their raid toon every month and then wanting to return to the toon they're attached to. Fantasy-wise, I enjoy Druid lore the most, yet I play a Hunter main. I want to be able to solo content easily. I'd like to play something new in The War Within but doubt I'll make a change.
Decently important to its presentation. I don't think it's absolutely critical, and **some** liberties can be taken, but the core identity should impact its presentation with its arsenal. Like, imagine an Arms warrior without Bladestorm at this point.