WoW Classes and You

A recent article on Geeklat made me ponder and respond.

What Your Class Says About You left me wanting. And so my opinion. Because you know this important topic matters.

Druid



When levelling any other class, it seems that the only thing that drops is druid gear. This is the class that goes best with the undecided. The class that can fill all three rolls, exceptional healers even if they are undergeared or underplayed, beast dps just by switching to boomkin, and tanks. Well, tanks because they can. I find druids who are tanks are such because they really really hate healing. When you roll a druid, you just want to do it all.

Death Knight



The "I really don't know anything about game mechanics and want to face roll my toon" class. Honestly, having played a death knight (can't beat them, join them idea), that is all there is too it. I don't even understand the rotation. Just bash, you will have the highest dps in the party. Guaranteed. The problem arises when button mashing syndrome gets to be so bad that many death knights think they can tank. Since its introduction, I have ran with three (count them, 3) successful dk tanks.

Hunter



One of the funnest classes to play, in my opinion. You get your own tank to run with, while you stand back and pew pew. What I don't understand is a hunter without a pet (ie marksman or survival). Can you tell I roll a BM? As a hunter, your pet is the reason for the class. If you want a range class with a lot of crowd control and big hits, roll a mage. Want to be a bit more social and run as a team? Roll a hunter.

Mage



Glass cannon. Enough said. Mages are big hitting squishies. And our egos match. All we ask for is a tank that can hold the aggro we generate. If you like big damage numbers scrolling, roll a mage. And make sure you know where your ice block button is.

Paladin



I have a huge bias against paladins. When I get ganked by one, or get one to 2% of his life before he bubble hearths, I get angry and want to quit the game. Then I run my lowbie pally and get frustrated by that. Honestly, I can't get passed level 24. My co-writer to this blog runs a pally tank and by all accounts its fairly easy. In raids I love pally tanks, both from dps and healing perspective, as I can cut loose on aoes and overhealing (which I do frequently) is not a problem. That being said, I find most pallys have egos bigger than mages. I had one raid where our main tank (a pally) actually got up to answer the phone and was afk for quite some time and maintained aggro on the boss. Another class that can do it all - tank, heal & dps. Another class for megalomaniacs.

Priest



It has become my standard response on my priest to say, "Sorry, I'm shadow". I say it often enough I should just have it macroed. I do heal, I don't like it too much. It is hard work. And you get blamed for everything. Tank over pulls? Where are the heals? Mage runs into a crowd and expects to tank? Where are the heals? To roll a priest you really need the personality of one. Patience really is a virtue. Either that or you really need to be an ass.

Rogue



My rogue sucks at pvp. Ok, most of my toons suck at pvp. That would be the controls behind the toons. But! As a brand new 80 wearing mostly greens, my rogue is awesome in dps. It is astounding how often blizz caves and nerfs rogues (and they did it again recently, dropping hunger for blood from 15% to 10%), and yet they still do all kinds of damage. And sustain it. Quiet personalities play the raid rogues. Those who just nod & smile. And gut you when you sleep.

Shaman



From the dawn of Warcraft, I am pretty sure the Blizz CEO is a shaman. It explains why they can now heal as well as they do. Because the two forms of dps they out do everyone on just isn't enough. Expect a tanking tree in the next expac. That being said, the shamans I have run with are the most easy going players around. A common response to any issue is "Meh, we'll get through it."

Warlock



Taking the best parts of the mage, shadow priest & hunter and rolling it into one massively cool goodness. Incredible dps & crowd control, and great looking gear. The only thing that is missing on a warlock is a good threat wipe. Which is fine, since most warlocks don't really seem to care. And they are awesomely fun to play.

Warrior



One class I have yet to figure out how to play. I am in awe of a good warrior tank. Since he has probably been around since WoW launched, a good warrior gets it. And they do insane damage which I drool over. Unfortunately a dps warrior also expects the tank to hold aggro over the 3000 dps more that he is doing over everyone else in the party. A warrior has to be a grounded personality, with a "just get it done" attitude. And he should probably like Conan.