After nearly 2 decades, players in World of Warcraft finally get the ability to cast spells on allies. This is made possible through Inscription.
With the next expansion Dragonflight, the developers of World of Warcraft seem to want to make amends with the community.
There are numerous smaller and larger changes that many fans have been waiting for. Even role players will get something in return, as a long-held wish of theirs is being fulfilled: The ability to cast spell effects on allied targets.
What comes next? In the alpha of Dragonflight, players can currently try out the revamped profession of Inscription. The colleagues at wowhead have noticed some recipes that may be considered more as “fun”. For Inscriptionists will be able to craft various parchments that allow characters to cast different spell effects on allies. So far, these include:
- Aqua Torrent: Fires a volley of 3 Water Bolts at the target.
- Arcane Burst: Fires an Arcane Surge at the target.
- Chilling Wind: Fires a volley of 3 Frost Bolts at the target.
- Love Charm: Casts a heart effect on the target (only in group or raid).
- Magma Missile: Fires a Lava Shot at your target.
- Shadow Orb: Fires a Shadow Bolt at your target.
- Whirling Breeze: Fires a Wind Gust at your target.
All effects are merely visual in nature. No damage is dealt.
What is this needed for? For most WoW players, these scrolls will likely just be a gimmick, but role players can derive real benefits from them. RP enthusiasts are always looking for new ways to incorporate spell effects into roleplay. So far, this has been somewhat cumbersome, such as starting a duel – which, however, comes with a rather annoying flag. Alternatively, one has to rely on toys that at least somewhat resemble a suitable spell effect.
This has all worked rather poorly so far. The fact that magical parchments will now enable exactly these standard effects of Shadow, Arcane, Frost, and Fire should offer many RP actions new possibilities to represent actions more effectively.
Isn’t that annoying? Those who are now concerned that allies will continuously leap around, trollingly casting spells on the player character, can defend themselves against this. Following the old market principle that one must sell not only the problem but also the solution, Inscriptionists can also create a parchment that makes targets “immune” to these effects for 30 minutes (“Spell Shield”).
The users will then receive a message that the selected character has “no desire for these antics” and the attempt fails.
Roleplaying with spellcasting classes should therefore be a bit easier to portray in the future, without the need to cumbersome rely on hard-to-farm toys or duels.
It would be nice if Blizzard expanded this offering a bit more. Especially canalisated spells with effects lasting several minutes would be a great thing – but at least this is a start that can be built upon.
How do you like such gimmicks? A nice thing for all players or simply unnecessary to spend development time on?
Similarly “unnecessary”: A deathly boring boat ride in WoW lasts 60 minutes – and everyone loves it.
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