Class accessories

Class accessories was a planned feature which will allow player characters to display cosmetic accessories appropriate to their class. As of May 2014 the feature is still early in its inception phase, and is not expected to be implemented until after Warlords of Draenor.

Design

The class accessories feature will allow players to collect a variety of accessories, which can be optionally added to their character's appearance. A range of accessories of each type will be available, with players able to choose which to display.

Class accessories are intended to provide an additional level of cosmetic character customization, which can be used alongside transmogrification to create a "nearly endless" number of possible combinations. Accessories appear to be intended to be easily changed, allowing players to alter their appearance to suit new pieces of gear and experiment with new looks.

Accessories are planned either to upgrade with the character's level, or to become available in more advanced forms as rewards for leveling. For example, a hunter may start with a simple leather ammo pouch; reaching level 60 may see that pouch expanded in size and gaining additional pockets and bullet-straps; and reaching level 100 may see it gaining golden clasps and detailed ornamentation.

Accessories will be appropriate to each class, such as bubbling vials of poison and belts of throwing stars for rogues, and will feature appropriate options for different specializations. The feature will see the cosmetic return of many types of gear removed from the game with Mists of Pandaria's removal of the relic slot, such as shaman totems, druid idols and paladin librams, as well as hunter quivers and ammo pouches. However, these will be appearing as purely cosmetic accessories, and will not have any effect on gameplay or combat.

Accessories will be available in Horde and Alliance colour schemes, and will likely also feature texture detail variations, or the addition of faction insignias.

Accessories may be rewarded in a variety of ways, including gaining in level and defeating raid bosses. The developers plan for players to have easy access to a range of options, but with a number of rarer accessories available only through completing more challenging tasks.

History

Having relic-slot items such as librams displayed visually on characters was considered by the developers prior to Mists of Pandaria. However, the sheer volume of additional work required to produce unique visual appearances for each individual piece of gear meant this was never implemented. With the removal of the relic-slot items from the game in Mists of Pandaria, it became a viable idea to reintroduce these items as purely cosmetic features without the connection to an actual piece of gear, drastically reducing the volume of design work needed to implement them as visual components.

External links

Artcraft—Concept: Class Accessories (2014-05-20)^{[dead link - archived copy]}