Without any further ado:
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[Suggestion] Trapping: New Crafting Profession
I. What is this profession all about? (Overview)
II. What is the supporting profession?
III. What and how does this profession craft?
IV. What bonuses would this profession give to its users? / What is unique about this profession?
V. Why would this profession be a good addition to the game?
VI. Concerns: (Will be kept updated)
I. What is this profession all about? (Overview)
Trapping is about capturing critters and beasts to create minipets, guardians and mounts for the player and his allies.
II. What is the supporting profession?
Skinning. Skinned leather would be used to make collars, leashes, harnesses, saddles etc, which when combined with captured critters and beasts would create the final product.
III. What and how does this profession craft?
This profession would use leather from Skinning to trap, capture and subdue critters and beasts as Guardians, minipets and mounts. Critters would now be a tracking option on the minimap for Trappers, and many of the critters could be collected as profession materials (using the bag icon rather than the kill one, although by using an offensive ability, a Trapper could still kill critters). Captured critters would stack to 20, and be used in the crafting window along with leather-made materials to create the final product.
For example, 2 Light Leather might create a Light Leather Collar. Using this on a captured Spiny Lizard would create a Spiny Lizard Collar, a tradeable white-quality minipet Warp Stalker. Many critters would be trappable in this fashion, and all would be Bind on Use. Another possible addition could be actual Traps, made with higher quantities of materials and including metal bars; when laid, and checked later, these could have a chance of containing an Uncommon or even rare-quality Trapper-created minipet.
The Guardian creatures would be Trapper-only. At low levels, they would serve as battle assistants, and at higher levels, as non-attackable buff sources for the Trapper. To create a Guardian, items could be made with the Trapping profession which, when used on certain (specified) beasts, make the wild beast disappear and the new item appear in the player's bags. These Guardians would not be controllable, would have specific buffs and/or abilities and fairly short durations. They would, at end-game, boost the player's DPS, HPS or survivability or enhance his PvP capabilities depending on which Guardian is used. Higher-quality end-game Guardians would be reusable, with a cooldown.
At various points in the profession, Saddles, Reins or Bridles could be crafted to capture unique beasts as mounts. Early on, the plainer-looking (but still unique) beasts would be useable; later, the profession would have one or two Trapper-only mounts (BoE, like the Flying Carpet) and several tradeable ones. For lower levels, Basilisk mounts would be interesting--they would be unique, not too flashy and would not be associated with either faction specifically. Later on, Devilsaur, Warp Stalker and even Thunder Lizard mounts would be possibilities--even, perhaps, Pterrodax flying mounts!
IV. What bonuses would this profession give to its users? / What is unique about this profession?
* For the Trapper only, Guardian beasts would be summonable for a short time to assist the player. Non-controllable combat guardians (think of the Scarlet Tracking Hound) available for five minutes, for example, could be summoned to protect the player in combat. Later in the game, Guardians that buff heals given or taken, damage output and so on (through any variety of mechanics) would make the profession competitive with others for endgame content, mathematically. Selling the BoE minipets and mounts would ensure a decent income for those with this profession.
Other possibilities for Guardian creature buffs:
* Black Cat: boosts the player's Stealth Detection for ten minutes.
* Gazelle: boosts the player's Run Speed by 10% for ten minutes.
* Soaring Eagle: switch to the Eagle's view to get a look at your area from above! Creature lasts 5 minutes.
* White Cobra: increases the player's Critical Strike chance by 5% for five minutes.
* Monkey Assistant: this monkey sometimes practices his nursing skills, healing the player for 10% of his maximum health. Lasts 10 minutes.
There are hundreds of possibilities; be creative!
V. Why would this profession be a good addition to the game?
* Skinning would have another crafting profession associated with it.
* Animal lovers would be further attracted to the game.
* More variation in mounts and minipets.
* Many creatures are already modeled as mounts (for example the Warp Stalker) and all are already in the game, so minimal art work would need to be done to add the actual finished products.
VI. Concerns:
(Will be kept updated)
* Wouldn't this devalue already-existing minipets of the same model?!
Only specific minipets could be created, using the Trapping crafting window. There are enough critters in WoW that Trapping should be able to make plenty of minipets without worrying about overlapping with existing ones.
* This sounds too much like taming beasts; why not just roll a hunter?
Hunters have beasts that are controllable. Trappers will have minipets and buffing pets, as well as mounts. The concepts both include using wild beasts, but beyond that are quite different in mechanics.
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Thoughts?
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