The old saying goes all that glitters is not gold and thus is the case with the Demon Hunter. This brand new class, announced at Gamescom 2015, will be making an appearance in the newest World of Warcraft expansion: Legion. Most of the community is aflutter with excitement at the notion of a brand new class to play, myself included. However, after pulling back the shiny exterior and taking into account the essence of the Demon Hunter, we have to wonder if this class is the right one for the new WoW expansion.

Fitting In

When looking at the Demon Hunter from a story perspective, the class is flawless. With the Burning Legion heading to Azeroth and Illidan making a return appearance, the Demon Hunter seems to be the logical choice. Just like peanut butter and jelly, the Demon Hunter just makes sense.

If simply fitting into the expansion was the only concern posed with the new class, there would be no misgivings at all. However, the issues with the Demon Hunter spawns not from its ability to make sense with the expansion, but for its ability to make sense inside a raid.

Melee Overwhelming

The core issue here is that the Demon Hunter has been made into a pure melee class, which is far from ideal in the current state of the game. The market for melee is already heavily saturated, enter any raid setting and you will find the overwhelming majority of the DPS there are melee. Ranged DPS has become harder to find than ever before, so much so that they are at somewhat of a premium, much like healers and tanks often experience.

You might be wondering why it matters if there are more melee DPS than ranged. DPS is DPS...right? While this is true in some settings, it is not so in a raiding environment. Raid encounters often (if not always) require a mixture of ranged and melee DPS. A great current example is Mannoroth in Hellfire Citadel, where the Infernals can quickly overwhelm a raid without enough ranged DPS. A relative balance of ranged and melee DPS is essential.

Supply and Demand

With this balance of DPS already on tenterhooks, the Demon Hunter could not be introduced at a worse time. Melee classes are already currently proven to be more popular than their ranged counterparts and also outnumbered, with far more melee class choices than ranged. Then in comes the Demon Hunter, further tipping the scales for melee. In theory we can assume that there will be quite a few Demon Hunters and in a raiding scene already saturated with melee, this could become quickly problematic for raid groups.

Of course, Demon Hunters can also take up a tanking role, but with only two main tanks currently needed in any raid, those wanting to play this class will find their only other option is to take up melee DPS. With players taking up the Demon Hunter as their main and new players rushing to try one out, the new expansion is quite likely to push us towards a more melee centered core. This is an distasteful notion for raid leaders who recognize that most raid encounters require a certain number of ranged to be successful.

The Solution

How to fix this potential problem is currently unclear, although there have been many speculations on the subject. Here are some of the more popular solutions that seem to have resonated with the community:

Ranged Demon Hunter

Many fans believe that it would be worth while to add a ranged spec to the Demon Hunter. This spec would be a caster who used a bow or crossbow. It has even been argued that a ranged Demon Hunter wouldn't break from lore, as Blood Elves and Night Elves already have an affinity for archery and Illidan himself pulled off some purely ranged DPS during his encounter in Black Temple.

The downfall here is of course the Demon Hunter specs have already been announced. It may be way to late in the game for a new spec to be added. Not to mention that game developers may not be to keen on changing their

Melee-Centric Raids

Raid encounters are and almost have always been dependent on ranged DPS. With melee classes becoming ever more prominent, some believe that it is time for this to change. The proponents of this solution feel raids should cater to the more melee heavy style, making the need for ranged classes smaller or perhaps even nonexistent.

Self Balance

Finally, many in the community believe that things will ultimately work themselves out. They tend to agree that after the initial rush to play a Demon Hunter things will calm down and return to normal. No action is needed, the balance will be restored all on its own.

Each solution has its own set of merits and deterrents with no right answer easy to see. Of course, the Demon Hunter problem may turn out to not be a problem at all. All we can do is wait and see if and how this new melee class will change the face of raiding and what the repercussions of the Demon Hunter may be.