5th Class Idea - THE VIKING

[ivalice]

I posted this idea on the official d3 forums, so I thought I'd post here as well.

Lore: After the destruction of the WorldStone, the once harsh climate of Arreat grew even worse. The lands had become barren, food had become scarce, and morale among tribes had become low. In there desparate struggle for survival, many Barbarians abandoned their former way of life and took to sea. These Barbarians are now known as, The Vikings.

Vikings now terrorize the seas and lands of Sanctuary; pillaging, plundering, and murdering. Tradeships, Cathedrals and Monastaries are the most common of victims of these violent marauders. Suvivors of Viking attacks have told tales of fearsome longships branding the heads of dragons. They often raid in the black of night, as villagers sleep soundly.

Unlike there former Barbarian tribes, these Vikings often rely on surprise attacks and stealth. Over the years, the Vikings have developed great skills in the form of archery, much like the famous Amazon tribes in the lands of Skovos. But also maintain the savagery of there former Barbarian tribes of the north. Death is delivered swiftly, by arrow, sword or spear, to anyone who dares stand in the way of these vicious and brutal warriors. Tales of riches and treasures in the TristramCatherdral reaches these warriors. The warriors now embark on there journey to Tristram in search of these unholy treasures.


Skill Trees:

Marauder Skills - (Melee Skills - Spear/Shield or Sword/Shield)

Archer Skills - (Bow Skills)

Primal Skills - (Summonable Hounds / Evasion Skills)

Armor: Light Mail's, Leather, Furs/Pelts, Shields.
Weapons: Bows, Spears, Javelins, 1H Swords/Axes.

Notes: Melee Capabilities - Not as strong as the Barbarians. Probably around the same Melee as Monks, just not as fast - yet more durable than the Monk defensively. Not as strong as a Barbarian defensively.

This class would fill the need of the ranged class archetype, allowing both a male or female version. It would also allow more use of shields in the game, instead of just the Barbarian. In my opinion, its a new twist for a ranged class versus the widely speculated cliche "Hunter" , "Ranger" , "Bandit" classes. It would also add depth to the game story, as this class is not battling for either Heaven nor Hell...but for lust and greed of treasure.

[Dimmu]

Not close enough to a pure archer and way too close to the barb.
Plus the word "viking" is more of a peice of history than a class name. And as far as lore, 20 years is certainly not enough time to change an entire race of people to murderous savages.

Now if the barb were just reskinned and given slightly different skills then given the name viking, I would be happy enough with that. But given what we already have; na, not gonna happen.

[ivalice]

Vikings were actually an agriculture civilization in Scandinavia in the 8th century. They turned to piracy and savagery due to overpopulation creating shortage of food in a land that was already difficult to farm. In desparation, they began to raid and pillage lands such as Iceland and Europe in order to survive.

I used to do disaster relief a few years ago, I worked in hurricane Katrina and Rita. You would be surprised what people do just to survive. So I have to respectfully disagree that 20 years isn't enough time to change a culture of a civilization or a group of people.

[Sonolin]

I actually like this idea. And a viking could play VERY different from the barb (I think the OP was mentioning it as a stealthy-type class.. how is that a re-skinned barb????).

Although, I have to say, a stealthy "viking" does not sound too much like the vikings I think of, but hey its Diablo.