So the not-so-long wait to discover the new LOTRO class is over; and the news is: Beornings!
Read the whole letter here: A-letter-From-Executive-Producer-Aaron-Campbell-April-2014
Am I surprised? Not really. In fact a few years ago, while I was musing on the current classes (and in the process of discovering the rune keeper and warden) it occurred to me that beorning would be perhaps the most obvious class to create.
Am I disappointed? A little. I suppose there's always a bit of disappointment when you've waited for something and then you finally get to find out what it is. But I guess I'm more apprehensive than disappointed, but its only my own fault. I have certain preconceived notions as to what a beorning would be like, and of course now the test will be to see how well the LOTRO reality matches with my own thoughts.
I am a bit disappointed though, and I mentioned this in an earlier posting back in March, with the fact that the beorning will only be playable by the race of man. This will give Men 9 playable classes while Elves have 7 and hobbits and dwarves will both be stuck at 5 out of 10. Oh well, I knew it was going to happen and all can do is hope that maybe the next new class (if there is such a thing) will give me new reasons to play hobbits or dwarves.
Am I excited? Absolutely, and for a few reasons.
The game has seen a ton of new content over the past few years with Rise of Isengard, Riders of Rohan and Helm's Deep being released in successive years and with additional content being added intermittently with those. But as the levels and the content have been flowing in, Turbine has been working to streamline the classes a bit and to reduce the number of skills learned. This means that by the time you're level 85 there's really nothing new to look forward to other than some new gear. If you're one of those players who's run a number of classes up to a high level, well, things can feel a bit stagnant after a while. A new class every few years certainly helps freshen things up a bit.
Turbine has done an amazing job of having every class have it's own unique combat system; fervour for champions, battle ready and defeat response for cappys, gambits for wards, etc. So far the beorning has been described as "a light armor casting class with a focus on control of the battlefield. When a Beorning gathers sufficient rage, they may transform into a mighty bear" is somewhat exciting. Not only are shapeshifters almost always a fun class to play, but it sounds like the beorning will be a bit of a different take on the shapeshifter.
This may in turn bring some new excitement to tailoring, assuming that the beorning is a light armour class that has something other than will as it's prime stat. So far all of the light armour classes pretty much want the same thing, but hey, we'll have to see.
Of course this all means we'll be waiting with baited breath to see some concept art, and developed diaries and so on, ultimately waiting until we can play the beorning. Expect to pay a bit extra for the class though. It may be free for VIPs, but I doubt it, and definitely F2Ps and premium accounts will have to purchase it separately.
Will it flood the game with beornings? Yes, but only for a while and only in the starter zones. It will be exciting for most players to try out the new class, but most will want to keep up with their mains and the new content which will likely be released with the class, and of course there are a lot of toons who never make it into the Trollshaws, let alone Moria and beyond.
That said, we can expect to see some more action in EL, Bree and the Shire than we have in a while, so even if you don't decide to play a beorning (which, of course, you will) it might be a good time to catch up on some low level group play and relive your early days of LOTRO.
Am I Going to Play a Beorning? Does a beorning crap in the woods? (don't answer that) Probably. I have played every class to a fair degree and I find they all have something unique and desirable. The beorning is very likely to continue that tradition. Unless I feel it's overpriced I will likely get it as soon as possible. How much I play the beorning will in part depend on how much time I'm spending on my other toons to play new content at the time.
*Update*
I've been doing s a bit of reading on the forums and finally saw the comment I knew I would, basically calling the beorning a rip off of World of Warcraft. This isn't true for a number of reasons:
1. WoW didn't create shapshifters. In fact Blizzard (the company that produces WoW in case you live under a rock) used druids in Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, but that wasn't unique either since shapshifting druids have been around for decades in Dungeons and Dragons. Of course as with so many other elements of fantasy culture, it all comes back to Tolkien, who introduced us to Beorn (who was explicitly mentioned as a shapeshifter) not in the 1950's with LOTR, but in the 1930's with The Hobbit. So no, beornings are not a rip off of anything from WoW but an original creation of J.R.R. Tolkien himself...who probably borrowed the idea from mythologies and folklore as he did so much else...
2. The classes are very different. Granted, we haven't seen the LOTRO beorning yet, but from what we have been told, they're not the same. For one thing the WoW druid can take on several shapes, including some which fly, whereas the beorning will only have two forms, man and bear.
Another difference is armour; while the beorning has been stated to be a light armour class, the WoW druid is a medium armour class.
3. The combat sounds a bit different. Anyone who has ever played a WoW druid traited as a bear would almost certainly not refer to it as a "casting class". It is, in fact, a rather boring (albeit useful) tanking class (and let's be fair, the beorning may have a trait line focusing on tanking as a bear, but isn't that what bears are for?).
So...no...definitely not a rip off.
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