Upcoming Classes Speculation

[MaelStorm]

I think the psionic classes will be divided up as:
Psion (controller)
Psychic Warrior (defender)
Lurk/Soulknife (striker)
Ardent {looting the Divine Mind's auras} (leader)

Some powers are going to be called surges, vaguely based on the Wilder's Wild Surge. Psionic Focus will probably be the name of the Psychic Warrior's method of "marking" enemies to fill their defender role. Ego Whip, Id Insinuation, Psychic Crush, Mind Blast and the other former "attack modes" are probably the at will powers of the psion.

It's possible that the Monk also could be a psionic striker, since there's already 2 martial strikers.

I agree, psionic need a shake up.

 

[jsaving]

I agree with those who think the druid would have made a good controller. An entangling-and-weather-controlling class would have been much more interesting than a guy with a small collection of melee buffs we'll call "animal shapes." On the other hand, this does make clear the link to the barbarian, who will be a guy with a small collection of melee buffs we'll call "feral rages".

Regarding the druid's role, all we KNOW from the designers is that the druid won't be a controller. They've never explicitly ruled out defender or leader, though in the latter case it's hard to see how the act of wildshaping could bestow leader-ish bonuses on other party members.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

Perhaps though this opens the way for a Shaman as a Primal-Controller. Since if you use the model from the PHB. There will be 8 classes, as far as we know the probably only definite are:

-Bard
-Druid
-Monk
-Barbarian
-Necromancer (maybe)

And any of those could actually wind up in other books, so why not have a Shaman.

 

[Irda Ranger]

One possibility is that some classes in the future may not be confined to a single role.

No class, even in the PHB1, is perfectly confined to one role; the Paladin can Heal, as you note. But Mearls has specifically said that you won't see any class that is strong in more than one Role. Allowing such a class would nerf all the other classes in both of those Roles.

And the other lesson they've learned is that the Jack-of-All-Trades always ends up being the fifth wheel with no clear contribution to the group. The philosophy is: Pick A Role And Don't Look Back.

How do we know [the Monk is] not striker? IIRC, the races & classes book, or one of the designers, said that with the monk's emphasis on fast movement it's an archetypal striker.

That's not inconsistent with Controller though. A Monk that can go anywhere and Trip/Knock Prone anyone, with impunity, is effective at controlling the battlefield. Also, we already have two Martial Strikers.

Of course, the Monk may not be a Martial class at all if they come out with a Ki-Power or similar.

But wait ...

Monk has been confirmed as a striker, and the designers said at D&D experience that the label "martial striker" is at least 50% wrong for the monk, which means he isn't martial.

I trust you mean that the Monk is confirmed as a Striker other than from the above quote? Because "50% wrong" could mean Martial Controller.

Like fafhrd, I am hoping for a "secular" Monk.

*************

My own guesses:

Martial Controller: None. Mearls described this as "theoretically possible." 4E is also avoiding needless symmetry, so there won't be a power-role combo in every slot.

Arcane Defender: Swordmage
Arcane Leader: Bard

Shadow Defender: Hexblade
Shadow Leader: Death Knight (they won't call it that)
Shadow Striker: Assassin (old school, baby!)
Shadow Controller: Necromancer

Primal Defender: Barbarian
Primal Leader: Enchanter
Primal Striker: Sorcerer
Primal Controller: Druid

Psionic Defender: Jedi (in my dreams)
Psionic Leader: Hivemind (new concept)
Psionic Striker: Monk
Psionic Controller: Psion

 

[Atlatl Jones]

No class, even in the PHB1, is perfectly confined to one role; the Paladin can Heal, as you note. But Mearls has specifically said that you won't see any class that is strong in more than one Role. Allowing such a class would nerf all the other classes in both of those Roles.

And the other lesson they've learned is that the Jack-of-All-Trades always ends up being the fifth wheel with no clear contribution to the group. The philosophy is: Pick A Role And Don't Look Back.

In a The Tome podcast interview, Chris Perkins said that it could be possible for a class to be able to fit two roles. It sounded more like a class could be either role A or B, not both, depending on whether he took class option A or B. What he and the interviewer were talking about sounded quite theoretical though, a discussion of what might be possible, not neccessarilly discussion of upcoming designs.

Still, if any class could be designed to fulfill different roles, the druid is it. Focus on shapeshifting, and it could be a striker. Focus on nature magic, healing, and buffing, and it could be a leader.

 

[breschau]

From Races & Classes:

Barbarians: "We've also tied barbarians and druids closer together." = Same source, let's say nature until release.

Bards: "a bard is a leader who wields magic both dramatic and subtle." = Leader. Power source unknown.

Druids, the house that wildshape built. Nothing really about role.

Monk: "the class will likely be a striker." Andy Collins: Monk as Martial Striker? “At least 50% wrong.” With the other martial strikers and the bit from R&C it's likely a different power source. Something new, probably. Something like psionic or ki. For a nice round couple of classes they will likely be a psionic class. Focusing the power of the mind and all that.

 

[Terramotus]

I want to see a Divine Controller, and I think there's a really good niche for a worshiper of the Primordials as opposed to the Gods. Call him an Atavist, an Elementalist, a Shaman, whatever. I'd like to see this class be a summoning class, doing most of its mass damage through summoned Elementals, and most of the rest of its powers being used to control the battlefield. The earth roiling and knocking over foes, the winds binding, burning people inside their metal armor like Heat Metal, etc.

I'd love that class. It would also be useful to separate some of those things out from the Druid into this class if the Druid is indeed intended to be a Striker rather than a Controller.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Two things:

First, the Elementalist has been mentioned as a class in at least R & C.

Second, with regards to the Monk=Controller crowd: A Controller is not someone who manipulates the battlefield - necessarilly. Rather a Controller is someone who must easilly be able to hit lots of guys with damage at the same time.

 

[cdrcjsn]

Bard has been confirmed as an arcane leader, and the designers said at D&D Experience that the class has been completed.

I read that it's been confirmed that Bard has been finished, but I don't recall anyone saying that it's an Arcane leader. Don't get me wrong, it makes sense because of his role and the fact that he's been an arcane caster for the past two editions.

However, I can also see Bard as a primal caster, with the same power source as Druids and Barbarians. After all, in 1st edition they were ftr/rog/druid multiclass builds.

From a mythology standpoint, Bards fit well with Celtic druids and berserkers warriors.

 

[breschau]

I want to see a Divine Controller, and I think there's a really good niche for a worshiper of the Primordials as opposed to the Gods. Call him an Atavist, an Elementalist, a Shaman, whatever. I'd like to see this class be a summoning class, doing most of its mass damage through summoned Elementals, and most of the rest of its powers being used to control the battlefield. The earth roiling and knocking over foes, the winds binding, burning people inside their metal armor like Heat Metal, etc.

I'd love that class. It would also be useful to separate some of those things out from the Druid into this class if the Druid is indeed intended to be a Striker rather than a Controller.

One of the things I loved the most about Dark Sun was the elemental clerics. Another vote for the Elementalist please. Especially the para-elemental clerics. Ooo... 4th ed Dark Sun, I'm drooling already.