Tja, grad im Gildenforum entdeckt, kein Plan, wie viel dran ist. Klingt jedenfalls sehr glaubwürdig und auch recht tight.

"I’m a senior at Concordia University, and I’m lucky enough to work at Blizzard as a part-time raid tester. Technically I'm bound by the NDA I signed (and they do reserve the right to sue my ass...), but here's what I managed to dig up about Hero Classes:

Firstly each of the nine base classes can branch out to exactly three hero classes. For example, Druids can branch out to Druid of the Talon (nuking), Druid of the Claw (feral), and Keeper of the Grove (healing), while Paladins can be Champion of the Light (healing), Mountain King (defense, and yes they twisted lore here), and Knight of the Silver Hand (offense). More details on specific hero classes later. As you can see, each of the three hero classes plays to the strengths of that classes' three talent trees. However the main purpose of Hero Classes is to allow players to tangibly improve their characters at max-level through means other than gear. Since Hero Classes will be released after The Burning Crusade, they will be obtained at level 70. Surprisingly they’ll not only be available to every player, without a quest, but they’ll either be trainable for free at the corresponding class trainer, or require a simple and straightforward quest. Blizzard’s reasoning is that Hero Classes should be a natural progression and reward for all players who have achieved max-level, rather than a grind for only the “hardcore”.

There’s two catches though: 1) specializing in a Hero Class is like specializing in a profession - you’re stuck with it forever, and 2) you won’t immediately have access to all hero skills. Think of it as starting a new class - you start off with a couple of base abilities, you get a few more from class quests, and the rest come from your class trainer. The same applies to hero classes; picking a Hero Class will start you off with two new hero skills, and the rest will come from hero class training (called “hero talents”) and hero quests. Here’s the interesting part: hero talents uses Hero Points, rather than currency or regular talent points. Blizzard hasn’t finalized how Hero Points will be earned, but they will most likely be obtained through a combination of experience/honor, and unique items that give you one or more hero points when used. Most likely those items will be given as both quest rewards, and drops off legendary mobs like Illidan and outdoor raid bosses (emphasizing the “heroism”).

Hero talents are, naturally, learned through a fourth talent panel. However, instead of a tree, it brings up a linear list (similar to the very first incarnation of talents during beta) where you place points. There’s a massive list of things to train in, including straight stat boosts, and a variety of new skills and bonuses tailored to your hero class. Even though Hero Points are earned linearly and indefinitely, it’s going to be impossible to amass enough points to train in every single hero talent (especially because skill costs ramp up quickly). However, remember that the stated purpose of Hero Classes is end-game character advancement, not character customization.

They plan to have at least one epic hero quest chain for each hero, which will earn you the Hero’s signature move (metamorphosis for demon hunter, bladestorm for blademaster, etc). Eventually they will add more interesting hero quests.


Finally, here’s the planned list of Hero Classes going in:

Balance focused Druid -> Druid of the Talon - think moonkin =P
Feral Druid -> Druid of the Claw
Restoration Druid -> Keeper of the Grove

Beast Mastery Hunter -> Beastmaster
Marksmanship Hunter -> Archer, Rifleman (Dwarf only)
Survival Hunter -> Ranger

Arms Warrior -> Blademaster or Headhunter (Troll only)
Fury Warrior -> Beserker
Protection Warrior -> Guardian

Arcane Mage -> Archmage
Fire Mage -> Pyromancer
Frost Mage -> Ice Sorcerer or Lich (Undead only)

Affliction Warlock -> Bringer of Pain
Demonology Warlock -> Dread Lord
Destruction Warlock -> Blood Mage

Assassination Rogue -> Assassin
Combat Rogue -> Warden
Sublety Rogue -> Shady Thief

Holy Paladin -> Champion of the Light
Protection Paladin -> Mountain King
Retribution Paladin -> Knight of the Silver Hand

Elemental Shaman -> Far Seer
Enhancement Shaman -> Earthshaker
Restoration Shaman -> Shadow Hunter

Discipline Priest -> Archbishop or Priest of the Moon (Night Elf)
Holy Priest -> High Priest
Shadow Priest -> Dark Cleric

Of course this is subject to change (but most likely won't). They also do plan to add more racial-specific heroes in the future. Finally, you may be thinking “omg no demon hunter???” I forgot to mention that there are a few “universal” hero classes that multiple classes can specialize in. Since the theme of the expansion is fighting the burning legion, all hunters, rogues, and warriors can become a demon hunter to become an expert demonslayer (which will be very useful for certain end-game dungeons), and gain some nifty bonuses to melee combat and survivability (namely metamorphasis - one hour cooldown). The other universal classes haven’t been determined yet, but the special heroes who train you in these classes should be extremely hard to find (and will most likely require you to complete quests before you can speak to them). There are three planned for the initial implementation (one more for each faction), bringing the total number of Hero Classes to exactly thirty.

Finally, every Hero Class gives one passive hero trait. The few that have been decided are the Blood Mage trait that causes you and your pets to deal 3% more fire damage, the Druid of the Claw trait that allows 70% mana regeneration in shapeshift form, and the Assassin trait that increases the damage of your first attack when coming out of stealth. As with the entire Hero Class system, they want hero traits to be relatively balanced.

Of course there are going to be some (justifiably) pessimistic people who will think this is all bull, and that I’m trying to spread false rumors. Well since I have no way to prove that this is real… I’m not going to try to convince anyone. Still, I hope it was an interesting read!

Mal gespannt und so.