News that Warhammer online might not ship with all classes ready to go at release is making the rounds, which got me thinking about the possible impact that might have on the game. As most know the current system is set up so that each race has four classes, a tank, a healer, melee dps, and ranged dps. My initial reaction was that you can’t possibly remove any of those from certain races as it would cause balance issues in the RvR portion of the game.

Thinking about it a bit more however, I could see how changing the format to only three classes per side could actually be very beneficial. Instead of breaking down dps into range and melee, combining the two would actually solve a few general MMO issues. First off the game would be structured in the ‘holy trinity’ for each side, tank/healer/dps. Add in the fact that we have three races per side, you now give your players three types of tank/healer/dps, with each race being similar with slight differences. Then we toss in the mastery system, which gives each class three paths, and we have a huge range of diversity among our classes without running into the usual ‘hybrid class’ problem. What I mean by that is classes like the hunter in WoW, who is a great solo class due to having a pet as a tank, being able to heal a bit, and having ranged dps. Put the hunter in a group, especially in a raid, and now he is the ugly ducking; his pet is useless, gone is his ability to heal said pet, and his ranged dps is inferior to other classes. That really fun solo class is now unwanted by groups, causing end-game issues.

The mastery system itself could define the type of dps a player would prefer. One tree could be ranged heavy, the other melee, with perhaps a support or utility tree as a third option. With the option to respec, adapting to your groups needs or your currently availably items would be easy enough. Instead of loading up on ranged dps classes because encounter x caters to them, therefore forcing your melee dps classes to sit out, all that you would need to field an ‘optimal’ group is for a few of your players to respect, a much easier solution.

This also brings up another interesting point; do we really NEED that many classes? WoW has 9, and while many claim this is low and limits options, I would argue that it’s too many, creating both guild and encounter balance issues. Going back to the example above, a guild only needs so many hunters, and once you reach that amount you basically exclude all other hunters based on class alone. If instead WoW had only three classes, but then greater diversity in the talent tree system, guilds would have a much easier time getting a balanced group together without alienating it’s members. Too many ranged dps class specced people online tonight? No problem, just have one or two respec for the night and you are all set, no need to exclude anyone or field a weaker group just to keep all members happy.

By also defining the three basic rolls so heavily, you could avoid the general problem with hybrid classes. Using WoW as an example, we know warriors can be tanks, but we also know druids can tank, as can paladins. Now a warrior can’t heal, but a druid and paladin can, so what if you need more healing that night, but your druid really enjoys tanking. You either force him into a healer, or you run a healer short and field a weaker group. By defining the basic rolls from day one, you avoid such issues. You know anyone who plays a tank class in WAR understands that they will be asked to tank in one form or another. Same goes for dps and healing. Their exact method may differ due to the mastery options, but the basic class roll is filled without confusion, letting everyone play their way without creating a problem for guild or group.