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Can't decide what class to play, so many factors!
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Post by
Vinni
Hello wowhead forums!
I am in dire need of guidance, please hear me out!
(This is a wall of text, please read before commenting)
I am looking for a MAIN. I'd like to become an iconic character on my realm, actually try to push some ratings, do some progress... I'd like to do it all!
But this is really hard to do when I currently play 4+ chars in ToS HC every week.. All my chars are mediocre because I dont focus on one character enough, so it becomes an endless grind with no real progress. So I have decided to put an end to this, and find something that I'd like to play, and try to really settle for next expansion.
The goal is to pick a favorite class before the launch of the next expansion and level that one character only, at least for the first couple of months.
I have put myself in this same situation expansion after expansion, and I dont feel that the countless hours I put into this game are improving me as a player in any way.. I feel "stuck".
I'll share some of my background story to point out what type of player I am some more.
The beginning - The Burning Crusade
I started playing World of Warcraft in the very late state of The Burning Crusade, so late that I wont really say I played TBC, because in theory, I didnt.
Late TBC I created my first character, some random dwarf hunter.. I grinded my way to like 31 or something before I was so tired of playing him + without any friends. Once I was around 31 I found out many kids at my school played WoW, so I asked to play with them. That wasnt a problem, except.. They were Horde. But, since the fun of the game basically faded really fast when I played on my own, I thought "ey, lets give it a shot". So I made a Blood Elf Paladin that I leveled all the way to 55 and Wrath of the Lich King hit the shelves! And of course, once that was out I rerolled from my Blood Elf straight to a Death Knight to tag along the Death Knight spree.
First "End Game" Character - Wrath of the Lich King"
Some friends from school stayed at my place for the weekend where we would sit questing and grinding our way to 80. I remember being the first of the bunch to hit 80 on my death knight, one of my friends had gone to bed and I woke him up in excitement "DUDE! I DID IT! I HAVE REACHED LEVEL 80!" he wasnt that excited since he had slept for like 2 hours, but still laughed and congratulated me. This is most likely my fondest memory from Wrath of the Lich King.
Death Knight was as predicted, OP.. And I enjoyed it for what it was.. A mob-meatgrinder.
But now I was "max level" so I wondered, what do we do now? So I did some research, found a guild, watched some PVP movies, some PVE movies etc, got really excited and was faced with the hard grind that they dont show in most movies.. And BGs etc was pure hell for me. I basically didnt even know my own class... Now I am trying to kill other characters that are other classes than me and I have no idea what's going on. I have no pure memory of this, but I am certain that I was horrible / a free kill.. Being a teenager and trying to learn Death Knight etc + a foreign language was no simple task.. But after learning the game more and being totally wrecked by some talented players that played certain classes made huge urges for me to reroll.. I also saw countless mage/warlock/rogue movies, wich of course tempted me.
So after I gave in to my urges, my first alt was made. An undead mage. A few months into wotlk and thousands of deaths to the insane power of much more geared melee characters I gave in and decided to reroll again (away from mage? makes no sense, I know). This time, a Warlock. Of course the Drakedog movies had a special part in my heart, along with Viscus, Kinzin and Vimpe (and of course many others, but these were special) so I figured, I'll try warlock!
I actually managed to stick to warlock for a long time. Warlock had all the cool transmogs, great class fantasy, kind of a friendly evil in the horde. It's exactly the part I'd like to play! So this turned out to be my "real main" for the longest time!
"Vincus and the extinguished flame" (such RP lol)
So yeah! I had a main! I played my warlock from ICC days all the way to pre-Legion where my tanking of nerfs cought up to me, and I couldnt stand to play warlock anymore. Everything that happened in PVP I had really unhealthy view on because of the way my class had be treated by the devs. I was so furious that I completely quit the game for a couple of months. Almost a year..
Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria had alot of interesting changes for us warlocks. Heals, running and casting, gateways, new talents... There was so much new! But after this it only felt like a huge nerf patch after patch... We got huge nerfs to our new tools, then in the end most of them were removed.. Destruction playstyle wasnt about swapping pets to use their powers anymore, it wasnt about tanking/healing damage while balancing healing and damag, we couldnt run and cast anymore, our class-abilities became options (teleport becoming an talent to chose between stun, heal&cc or a short teleport? cmon now) and I'd almost go as far as say "worst of it all" after all of this they made a new spec for us... And in my eyes they gave our cool demonology spec to the new class, and we're left with summing tons of pets? Cmon man, im no hunter.. Rip meta form.. All of us warlocks were hoping for a demo tank spec or something unique and cool, instead a new hero class gets our abilities and we fake a hunter.. I was furious.. Negative patch notes after patch notes... I was fed up. I couldnt stand it anymore.. So now it was this wotlk scenario all over again.
What to play now?
The obvious choice to all my criterias!
I won a Legion beta key from Venruki's stream, and man was I ready to try it all! But I had one class in mind that would most likely be the perfect candidate! A druid I thought! It has all the roles! Tank, Healer, Melee and Caster. It must be the perfect class for me since I want to do it all! And druids always has at least 1 good spec each patch.. So this would be my main from Legion.. But now I am back to what to play already.. Druid does not really have the playstyle I am looking for, but at the moment I dont think any class has what I am looking for..
Goals for BFA
I have set some goals for myself for BFA, and most of these are grinding goals, so I kinda have to figure out what to play.. I want to be part of a raiding team that can do some pushing, and when I dont do that I'd like to spam some arenas, basically learning every aspect of this game for my class. "I wanna be, the very best, like noone ever was!"
But I obviously have to have fun aswell! But "fun" can be so many things, OP, skilled, stable etc.. The thought I am stuck with at the moment is that I have found my main character.. My warlock, but back in the days.. Nothing comes close to what destruction warlock used to be..
Unrealistic criterias
I would like to chose a class that always is a stable choice, before, now and in the future. Of course this cant be guaranteed in any way, but you know what I mean. So I can play my main class in classic when those servers comes + play it on retail + it being somewhat stable in the future. So in other words warrior, rogue, mage or affli lock.
Personally I dont find dots or hots OP. And healing aint really my cup of tea. As you've probobly picked up by now, being a huge fan of WoW videos, mainly pvp videos I really enjoy crits. Entertaining damage... In the current state of the game (and earlier lately) WoW has been veeeeery melee-OP. Casting still suffers pushbacks while being bursted down before being able to do anything.. I feel like no matter who I meet as a caster vs a melee I get overrun. Tons of defensives to stop basically all my damage, more mobility than me, more CC than me and more damage than me. So choosing a caster VS a melee is really hard, even though I really enjoy casters previously, but I am fed up with being overrun by melee classes while feeling useless. But still I dont want to play a melee..
And most classes feel too similar these days.. So I basically CANT find anything fun to play.. Wich is sad in my opinion.. Since I really like the game. Or maybe I like the game for what it used to be.. I am not sure.. I am unsure about everything wow-related these days..
So what I am looking for:
All around strong! - Past, Current and Future
Interesting to play, not just 4 "different" damage buttons to press"
Stable and good in both PVE & PVP
Battleground champ class
Entertaining to play AND to watch (for future projects)
A class from classic, no DK, Monk or DH.
Thoughts around classes for Classic & BFA
I have seen the stun nerfs coming next expansion... So rogue will be great again? Rogue has always been great..
Seems like BFA has alot of content to do, but feels like a PVP heavy expansion.. Still melee heavy though? Warrior seem really dull at the moment to be honest.
Maybe shaman? I have played alot of Elemental, wich is alot of fun certain patches, but a really unstable spec through the times (and on classic that wouldnt be an option)
Out from what I've written this far it seems like the only choices I have are either Warrior, Rogue or Mage.. But I dont know about melee..
Looking away from same class on classic as retail, DK does not have enough mobility to be fun, and being constantly kited will make me furious. Monk seems too unstable but has the mobility and burst factors.. DH is just jumping around, %^&* that.
I've always really liked Rogue, Mage and Warrior. Rogue being the coolest "iconic" class, warrior being the "iconic" tank + great transmogs etc and very good dps. Very stable. Mage also being a really stable class with the toolset to handle many players at once in pvp...Urgh, the choices...
If I chose by what I get the most "fanboy" feeling of seeing then I'd choose warrior. A tauren male warrior tank is so cool, or a crazy ANY race warrior. Huge weapons, plate, shields... With the proper gear I can really mash faces. It has mobility and loads of damage, can also be fairly tanky. But even though they have mobility they are also very easily kited....
...
Posting to not loose my wall of text, its being edited, so refresh if you've reached this far!
Post by
stigaa
Well on pve everthing works great, what ever u gonna play u can progress mythic with it
For pvp u need to understand that every season or weeks even, there is a new meta but overall the melee meta is always there
And overall blizzard always make the class most played alittle bit overpowered
So go for War/Mage/Rogue for dps and ofc druid for overall class (always a spec is op on both pvp and pve at the same time (talking about dps/heal druid))
Post by
Vinni
So go for War/Mage/Rogue for dps and ofc druid for overall class (always a spec is op on both pvp and pve at the same time (talking about dps/heal druid))
Good tips, thanks. Will keep that in mind. Will try out mage/war/rogue and continue to play my lock/sham/druid untill next xpac.. But yeah.. Removing artifact and merging some traits and abilities might stir some doubt into the mix though...
This with maining a warrior.. Anyone here got alot of experience with maining a warrior? What are some of the pros and cons of maining warrior?
Post by
Vinni
Thank you for a great reply fotheringham!
I do understand where you're coming from, but some parts of what you're saying is kinda off.. I said that I really enjoyed the playstyle for destro.. Hell, for many classes in wotlk because they are more skill-based an interesting. And that constantly playing destro ruined the fun of my game because they broke that playstyle. My struggle is to find something new.
But yeah, currently I have set a goal to try out a couple of classes and grind the arena to learn much more about classes in gereral and how "arena-play" works, since I havent played too much arena, I am more of a BG player.
There is some truth in what you're saying though, I'll agree with that. But I did not make this thread to complain, I made this thread to get tips on how to stick to one character. Those of you that do play 1-2 characters only and get really good at them, how? What drives you to keep playing that class?
But you're right, I have the incorrect mindset for the current type of pvp. I want to cause havoc and just dominate, but currently the game seems to be at a place where everyone can do this, so everything seems tempting and I get stuck in a constant loop of rerolling. I guess what I am looking for is some advice to stay put and grind. As I've mentioned I did grind for several years as warlock only. But recently, wod and legion has completely deleted this "skill" from my brain. I cant be presistent.
Post by
Vinni
Hehe, yeah. I've done alot of that myself, silly items, engineering, silly talents etc. But I feel like these fun things are devestating for you now. If you lose ilvl in pvp you instantly suck and most of engineering is so heavily restricted etc.. And they dont even add something new to compensate...
But great story, I really miss those days!
I think I've made up my mind. The goal for the rest of Legion will be to play a littlebit of everything. Next season, gear some more in the new raid and get to prestige 1 on all my chars and try them all out, see what I like. So play some rogue/mage/war/sham and see how it feels. Even in the early stages.
I am kind of leaning towards my warrior at this point. But yeah, I'll spend the rest of Legion to decide, try most of them etc.
So yeah.. The grind will be real.
Currently I am thinking "I'll stick to warrior, and if I REALLY have to, I'll play my shaman as an alt" but we'll see. Grinding pvp rest of the xpac might change this mindset.
But does anyone have any tips to mindsets etc when it comes to playing a main / 1 char only?
Post by
Jkpman
It sounds almost like something from the Star Wars universe at this point, still searching for the one to bring balance to PvP.
As someone at almost alt cap and who has more or less mained a different class with each expansion I guess I'm in the bracket of someone who really can't make their mind up. Honestly it's never a problem in my opinion, I'm happy with playing characters I enjoy, and if/when Blizzard do something ala Warlocks to make me no longer enjoy that class, I move on.
There really is no right answer to which is best, the question should be which is best for me? and only you can answer that. Find something you have fun playing, which ticks more boxes than it crosses, and play that.
As for PvP dominance, as Fotheringham so bluntly put it, that's on you, and again I feel you are looking for something that simply doesn't exist, and if it does for a brief moment in time, then it will quickly be squashed. So for you the battle is to get yourself out of that mindset.
Post by
Vinni
I am enjoying my shaman alot, but as I've mentioned, I will try out a few classes and specs over the course of Legion. Get most characters ready for next xpac etc and make a decition on beta/ptr
Post by
FlayOnDarkIron
Affiliation warlock is still where it's at. In classic I mained my mage, TBC spriest, Wrath I played my pally exclusively, went back spriest for Cata, MoP went lock and never looked back.
Aff feels like it gets no love sometimes, but dotting and draining will never get old. Sure it sucks that you can't dump soul shards into haunts anymore for absolutely nuts burst, but overall aff is one of the most enjoyable specs to play. Spriest has a ton of cool flavor that it gets from its artifact weapon.
If you're convinced warrior is the way to go, luckily with just a few minor moments in time, warriors have basically never been a bad choice at any time in WoWs history. They've had their downs (normalized rage), but they have never been and never will be a bad choice.
Post by
Vinni
I am not a huge fan of dots/bleed specs.. Personally it does not feel destructive enough for me. I know affli does a ton of dmg, but with loads of numbers, so the feeling of actually doing alot of damage kinda gets tunnelvisioned by me..
Over the course of this last week I have played my shaman alot. And I really enjoy it. Considering to tryhard ele/resto for arena aswell. I like the resto spec, since I can cast and get reward (not hots). Ele is destructive + hybrid + shields are cool :D. I am dabbing into enhancement aswell, but currently im sticking to ele/resto.
Post by
zothar
Hey Vinni,
I’ve been playing since Vanilla and have a couple of comments.
PVP is incredibly frustrating unless you’re willing to put in the time to invest in the self-improvement above - I haven’t had the time so I haven’t bothered with PVP in years.
I have leveled every class into the mid-40s and have always gone back to the following:
Prot Pally
Resto Shammy (Enhance for leveling)
Here are the things I love doing in-game:
Questing solo with the ability to take on elites solo - prot pally no problem.
Do old raids solo - I’ve done all of them up to MoP with my pally, which also happens to have one of the largest selections of weapons and armor - great for transmog collecting!
Combat that has variety and is fun to watch. Now, most classes have been normalized down to 4-6 button rotations and I’d say Shamans are a slight exception.
Dungeons and very light raiding - DPS has always become boring fast for me, so I like the challenge of healing or tanking.
Now, I also like having tons of perks, which other classes have too - indoor movement, self-heals, bubbles, temp pets, etc.
At the end of the day, a lot of the previous comments stand true - play something you like the look of and the feel of. WoW is a loot-chasing treadmill and in the long run you’ll want something to keep you going. For example, look at the artifact weapon - is it amazing enough to keep you chasing its different tints? I know those are going away but it’s an example. Do you like the way end-game gear looks on your character? Is there a mount you love? Questing has gotten a lot better but is still really a means to a loot-filled end. I spent months going through old raids, feeling powerful as I one-shotted bosses, taking in the lore and stories I missed, and collecting $%^&loads of transmog stuff.
As a parting comment, I’m looking at other classes and these are my picks as we head into the new expac:
Unholy DK
Monk (SO fast to level and lots of good rotations across all three specs)
Demon Hunter - just new and fun and lots of mobility
Good luck!
Post by
Quellv
Heya Vinni,
I am still
relatively
new to the game compared to you, but I have leveled most classes to the mid 60's before I decided on my own main, Paladin, and just want to run down why I chose that class.
Multiple Fun Specs
At level 110 I actively play all 3 of my specs. I started raiding as Holy, but as my guild's needs have changed, I raided on Prot and now Ret. I'll do a quick tl;dr on what I like about each spec in order of time I've played them.
Personally, I love tanking, and Prot Paladin felt really good for the short time I played it in a raid environment. Your Shield of the Righteous just feels good to use, and you can provide a lot of utility to your raid with certain talent choices.
You stated that healing isn't your "cup of tea", and it really wasn't for me either. But Holy Paladin was very entertaining due a central part of the spec being massive crit heals with holy shock. This, along with other interesting talents/abilities (Auras, Beacon of Light, Light of Dawn, etc.) made the spec feel very interactive to me, more so than other healers.
Ret I honestly disliked at first. When I hit 110 I vowed to never pick up my Ashbringer because the leveling experience on it felt clunky, and rather uncomfortable. Now however, Ret is my main spec and I love it to death. Wake of Ashes is such a good feeling ability and adds a lot of fluidity to the spec that I didn't feel at all in the leveling process. Your kit feels very cohesive, every ability you use influences other abilities in your kit. Once again, Paladins also can offer good raid utility with certain talents.
Solid in PvE and PvP
Pretty straight forward. In PvE they aren't as "OP busted" as afflocks or shadow priests, but they do hold their own on damage meters. My only big concern when it comes to PvE is your lack of mobility compared to a lot of classes. I believe the only class you are more mobile than is Death Knight.
As for PvP, Holy is very good in 3v3 rated arenas, taking a spot as one of the best PvP healers in the game. Ret is also fun due to the insane burst damage you can pump out during Avenging Wrath/Crusade. Blessing of Protection is a very valuable tool in both arenas and bgs. I actually got into PvP because of how fun it was to play Ret in random battlegrounds.
Addressing Your Criteria
So I can play my main class in classic when those servers comes + play it on retail + it being somewhat stable in the future
Paladins in Classic, from my experience, are pretty alright. Obviously not as silly as Warriors, but it's classic. What do you expect. With the right mindset, and a lot of practice however, Ret becomes very fun in both PvE and PvP. Holy Paladins are also good for healing in PvE, but I'm not too sure about PvP. The only challenging part for Ret in Classic is convincing your guild to give you gear over a Warrior.
I really enjoy crits
I love crits too! It's why I started playing Holy Paladin. Ret can get some big crits as well in Legion, and they're pretty satisfying. For Classic, check out some Seal of Command videos. Those crits are insane.
a stable choice, before, now and in the future
As you said yourself, this cannot be guaranteed in any way, but Paladins in my perspective are always middle of the pack or higher. Holy Paladins are always amazing tank healers, Prot is iffy in my experience but it's overall consistent if you learn the spec. Ret has never been "bad" in my opinion either. Going into BfA there will not be a lot of major class changes from what I've come to understand, so finding a main in the last chunk of legion to play into BfA isn't a bad decision.
Entertaining to play AND to watch
Just touching on this one real quick to say that I think Paladins have really cool spell effects. They are generally big and flashy. They're noticeable and after all this time I'm not bored of any of them.
Closing Statements
I think more than anything it's important that you love the class you play. I did flavor of the month for a while and it drove me away from the game. Also anything is viable* if you put work into it. Just look at the really good Survival Hunters. You say you love to play ranged then do it. You said you like Ele Shaman? Play it! Who cares if it's "unstable." If you are good at your spec and have the dedication to do progression content, from what I've seen that should be enough to raid. Everyone wants different things. At the end of the day, just
try everything.
Do not consider if the spec is "good" or not. Consider if you enjoy playing it enough to
make it
be good. I hope you find your class soon!
<3 Quellv
*see my comments on classic
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