World Of Warcraft Offers An Early Look At The War Within’s New Hero Talent System
One of the key additions coming to World of Warcraft when The War Within expansion arrives later this year is the new hero talent system. Blizzard describes it as an “evergreen form of character progression” that will offer new unlockable spells and abilities for each of the game’s classes and their respective specializations. It’s still a work-in-progress but Blizzard is offering an early look at the new talent trees to gather and get the community involved in its development.
The preview blog showcases the hero talent trees for specific class specs for the Keeper of the Grove Druid, Dark Ranger Hunter, Frostfire Mage, and Oracle Priest specializations. The hero talent trees will open up at level 71, each of which will feature 11 new skills and abilities that build on the existing talent trees of each class spec, with a “keystone” ability that defines the overall theme of a given talent tree.
“Players can choose a single Hero Talent tree to activate on a character and these talents can be changed in the same way class talents can be currently changed in the game,” Blizzard explains. “There are three Hero Talent trees for each class (excepting druid with four and demon hunter with two). Each specialization has two Hero Talent trees they can choose between, and each of these trees is available as an option for two specializations.”
Warriors, for example, will have access to the Slayer, Colossus, and Mountain Thane hero talents. Fury specs will be able to choose between Slayer and Mountain Thane; Protection specs will have access to Mountain Thane and Colossus; while Arms specs will have access to Colossus and Slayer.
According to Blizzard, the ultimate goal is not to change the mechanics of a class spec but to add another layer of depth to player builds.
“We want players to be free to choose the Hero Talent tree that has the gameplay, visuals, or flavor that they prefer,” says Blizzard. “We're working to avoid abilities or bonuses in Hero Talents that could make a certain tree feel ‘required’ for activities where we can. […] Keeping Hero Talent balance close is one of our priorities so that players can play what they prefer and still be viable in any content.”
Blizzard promises to share the rest of the new hero talent trees over the next few months leading up to The War Within’s official launch. In the meantime, you can dive into the new hero talents for the above-mentioned classes in this developer blog.
The War Within arrives this year! Get the latest Hero Talents preview, including:
🌳 Keeper of the Grove Druid
🏹 Dark Ranger Hunter
❄️ Frostfire Mage
✨ Oracle PriestRead now: https://t.co/3xaeRwzu6f pic.twitter.com/4G8TYDv9QR
— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) February 7, 2024
