Primal Defender - any guesses?

[Hawke]

We now know that the Barbarian is a Primal Striker. I know they perhaps wont try to force roles that don't make any sense, but I think a primal defender is entirely reasonable. Anybody have any ideas on name, specific flavor, etc?

I'm guessing Druid will be Controller and Shaman will be Leader.

 

[That One Guy]

I immediately thought of a Native American warrior. I guess the whole spirit/nature evocation thing conjured up that idea in my mind. I don't know how the concept I see in my mind could come into play - let alone how to do it w/out being offensive.

Actually, why couldn't one just say, "Warrior"? Similarly, if we go w/ the thaneborn idea, what about a Scottish themed great-sword (or versatile weapon!) warrior? Not sure how primal that is, but it might work.

Was the Elementalist confirmed? It'd be peculiar if such a mage sounding class ended up being a defender. I'm pretty certain I'm wrong, but I cannot recall what the elementalist was confirmed as (if it even was...).

 

[Mouseferatu]

Was the Elementalist confirmed? It'd be peculiar if such a mage sounding class ended up being a defender. I'm pretty certain I'm wrong, but I cannot recall what the elementalist was confirmed as (if it even was...).

They've confirmed "elemental" as a power source, so I don't think there would be a primal character called the "elementalist."

 

[That One Guy]

Crickey! I knew it wasn't right for some reason.

Hahaha... that would be it. So, I'm hedging my guesses back to warrior.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Some sort of Totemist might make a good Defender.

Your Mark is kind of like a pack of spectral wolves hounding your enemy.

Your high AC doesn't come from plate necessarily, but from the toughness of the rhino and the elephant.

Could work some minor shape-shifting in there. For a moment you become a bear and embrace an enemy with a crushing grasp.

But I don't think it's really necessary.

 

[That One Guy]

Some sort of Totemist might make a good Defender.

Your Mark is kind of like a pack of spectral wolves hounding your enemy.

Your high AC doesn't come from plate necessarily, but from the toughness of the rhino and the elephant.

Could work some minor shape-shifting in there. For a moment you become a bear and embrace an enemy with a crushing grasp.

But I don't think it's really necessary.

So, that reminded me of this old post. The T for Totemist sounds good too. Much better than elementalist, I have to say.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Wasn't one idea roaming about was a "Warden" class. I could see that being a neat defender idea.

"This is my land and you will not cross!" He raises his greatsword as the land around him also rises up to keep the enemies at bay.

 

[I'm A Banana]

As much as WotC seems simpatico with me on the Barbarian, I'm worried that there's going to be dissonance with the Druid.

I like the idea of a druid as a manipulator of terrain. Calls in rainstorms and makes vines tangle you and uses trees to move in front of you and generally weaves the battlefield around you. This sounds like great Controller territory.

But I'm a little worried that someone with a delight in wildshape got behind them and pulled them away from that "nature spellcaster" role and into a more "turns into a wolf and bites you" melee combat role.

I mean, not that it wouldn't be cool, just that it'd be cooler, I think, as a Totemist kind of critter that specializes in battle transformations than as a Druid kind of critter that might only use them to talk to a squirrel or something.

I'd rather see Druids as the "Earth, Wind, and Water (and plant and animal)" mages in a way similar to how the wizard is a "Fire, Lightning, and Frost (and sonic and acid)" mage.

But eh. We'll see. Maybe they've come around.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

KM, that could be the roll of the Shaman as well, like the Shaman could "rouse the spirits of nature to do battle".

So you could have your Earth, Wind and Water, Plants and Animals as well (though I imagine animals would be more spirit animals). But how the communing is done between the PC and the force would be different. Instead of manipulating nature your talking to, asking permission, making contracts, etc. with the spirit that resides within that aspect of nature.

 

[Rechan]

Here's my guess: there won't be one.

Mearls blog had said that they were looking at the Druid to be a hybrid class, all striker/controller. But that it wasn't working out, or wasn't what they wanted to pursue.

The druid may end up being the controller, or (as suggested by the devs before), focus wholly on shapeshifting, being animals (which aside from a bear, are pretty striker/skirmisher anyhow).

The Shaman has been confirmed as a primal leader.

So I believe it's wholly possible we won't see a Defender from the primal source.