On Specs and Roles: Ghostcrawler’s Thoughts Worry Me A Bit

There’s a post Ghostcrawler replied to in the official forums about dual specs and his reply worries me a little. Basically the poster, who plays a warrior, was complaining about being criticized for tanking using a dps spec. He fears that when the dual spec feature comes out, he’ll be forced to use prot.

Ghostcrawler replied to this with an idea that sounds cool at first but when you think about it longer just makes me feel funny. Below is just a small part of his post, the whole of which you can find here.

We can totally imagine a world in which Arms, Fury and Protection all can tank using different styles. The Prot tree would just be more about sword and board style than tanking per se. Perhaps an Arms warrior would tank with a two-hander more like a DK does. I’m not saying we will 100% for sure go down that road, but it is interesting idea to think about.

It seems like the success of DK’s and using a non traditional tanking method, that is with two handers or dual wielding, has inspired the idea that other classes could make it work. Obviously the only other class that made this work was the druid. Using a 2-handed mace or a feral druid staff, the druid could was the pioneer in tanks who didn’t need a shield to tank. But you see druids and DK’s have certain class mechanics that allow them to do this while other classes rely on other mechanics that make them tank a different way.

Ghostcrawler’s post worries me because it seems like he dreams of a time when classes that can tank can be viable in doing so without speccing into the appropriate tanking spec. The corollary to this statement seems to be that he also dreams of a time when classes that can heal can be viable doing so without speccing for it. Sure, prot warriors now have improved viability doing damage but that’s just enough to make leveling and grinding easier, In no way does this mean prot warriors should start dps-ing in raids.

The dissolution of the spec=role bond might seem cool but just think about what this implies. If I can tank just fine as Ret pally compared to a Prot one, then why have talent trees at all? the bigger question is that if I can do so, then that means that our talent trees will be so filled with talents that would just bloat them. The point of the trees is to offer a sort of specialization to define the role. I really wouldn’t want to have a talent that increases my threat generation taking up space in the Fury or Arms tree since that’s exactly what I don’t need. But to make what Ghostcrawler’s idea work, that something they might have to do.

DPS classes see different styles of play with each spec but the fact is that’s all we can do. Classes other than the pure dps classes have that option to play more than one role but this ability to do so comes at a cost - not having much luxury of choosing a tree and expecting to fill a role not meant for that tree and that’s how it’s supposed to be.

The dual spec feature is not there to force people into filling a role with a certain tree like prot = tank or ret = dps just because you can switch specs and therefore be forced to take on a prot spec to tank In no way is this a result of the upcoming dual spec feature but of the way the game and class mechanics work. Changing this will just make a mess of things, create balance issues and nobody wants that.