WoW newb needs advice

[John Reynolds]

Having tired of EQ2, and having viewed the great Office Space ad, I decided to d/l the 10-day trial version of WoW. So I'm looking for advice on character classes. EQ2 sucked when solo-ing, so unless WoW is pretty solo friendly I'd prefer a class that's currently pretty desirable for XP groups. And I'm basically looking for advice in general on the game.

TIA

[mouselock]

Wow is the epitome of solo friendliness. Pick anything but a priest and you're set. (Though priests solo fine after they have enough talent points, it's a bit ugly to start off IMO.)

Be sure to keep stocked with food (melee and caster) and drink (caster) and use them to do away with any downtime that's annoying you.

If you're really, really mostly interested in soloing, I'd suggest a hunter (easier) or a warlock (slightly more complex). But every character type solos just fine; it's just that these two are soloing beasts (kind of like necromancers were in original EQ; they're both pet classes, etc..)

[zabuni]

WoW is quite solo friendly. I don't know of a single class that can't solo well.

For maximum solo-ability, I might recommend a hunter or a warlock. They both have many abilities, and the addition of a pet serves as a nice meatshield/extra attack.

For maximum group/solo capability, I would recommend a priest, more precisely a shadow priest. Speccing in shadow talents makes the character a force to be reckoned with in soloing, and priests are usually welcome in groups.

XP is not usually done in the group sense. A person in WoW, at least in the low level game, doesn't sit in a corner and grind mobs. Faction grinding does come later. Quests usually are the easiest way to gain xp, and almost all of the ones that don't say elite or dungeon are completable solo.

Edit: Beaten.

[sluggo]

I have four level 60 toons, and my favorite by far was the rogue. The ability to stun makes it easier to take on multiple mobs at a time, and you have all sorts of OHCRAP! abilities to help when things go wrong, like Evasion and Vanish. Just keep stocked on food and bandages and you can level like crazy.

[Damien Neil]

Having taken a hunter and priest to 60, I'd recommend against the priest unless you really want to be an end-game healbot. The journey up through the levels was FAR more fun on my hunter.

[Sharpe]

There have been a few threads on this topic - its probably worthwhile to do some searching, and the official WoW site (http://worldofwarcraft.com) has a nice basic player guide.

In terms of specifics, WoW IS a very solo friendly game for most classes. However, some of the best solo classes are only so-so at grouping in instances (at least by reputation). I would say the overall easiest class to learn the game with is a hunter which is a very strong solo class, but the hunter has a difficult time finding end game groups. Warlock is also a strong soloist, and has a bit better time finding groups, but probably takes a bit more skill to learn and play. Rogue is a class that many recommend. I would actually not reccomend the warrior or priest to a completely new player as they are somewhat complicated to play well. Of course if you are very familiar with a role from EQ, many of the skills will transfer.

If you want a decent solo and good group class, the Paladin on Alliance and Shaman on Horde are actually pretty good, especially with the new talent revamps. You will hear complaints about both but I think both work well for new players.

Be more specific if you want more advice :0.

[Tom McNamara]

I personally wouldn't recommend a warlock at first. It can be a bit difficult to juggle pets, dots, nukes, charms, fears and the like. For the easiest route, there's the hunter or the mage. With the hunter, you basically have a pet tanking for you when you're running around solo. The mage, meanwhile, does so much damage that he doesn't need a pet. Runs out of mana quickly, but he can conjure more for free. The mage can eventually teleport to multiple capital cities, and even open portals for others. With either class, you should be able to find a rhythm pretty quickly.

If there's any class I would personally avoid, it would be the paladin, as Blizzard can't seem to decide if they are healers or tanks. The pally's versatility in a 5-man group is very handy, but not so much in a raid.

I could go on for pages. But that's the gist.

[Damien Neil]

It takes 10-15 days of /played time to hit level 60. That's plenty of time to learn the intricacies of playing any class you care to try.

[Tom McNamara]

It takes 10-15 days of /played time to hit level 60. That's plenty of time to learn the intricacies of playing any class you care to try.

Sure, but it takes about 20 levels before any of them really start to become fun. If a newb chooses a warrior or druid, for example, they might never cross that threshold to begin with. There's a lot of "what's the big deal" with the first few hours of play.

[mouselock]

Sure, but it takes about 20 levels before any of them really start to become fun. If a newb chooses a warrior or druid, for example, they might never cross that threshold to begin with. There's a lot of "what's the big deal" with the first few hours of play.

This is true of a lot of classes, though. Off the top of my head the mage and rogue are about it in terms of getting the main gist of what the class is before, say, level 10. And none of the classes really blossom until early to mid 20s at least.

[Athryn]

I have 2 60 hunters, a 60 priest, a 60 shaman and a 40 priest and a burning crusade level 40 paladin.

Out of those classes, I actually enjoyed leveling priest the most. It can be a little rough up until level 20, but once you get there, it's smooth sailing as long as you play shadow. I had much less downtime as a priest compared to any of the other classes I've played.

Hunters are fun and all, but they're pretty repetitive, and at this point I can probably play one with my eyes closed. Maybe I played them too much, I realised the other night have about 60+ /played days spread out between my 2 hunters. :(


I will agree, most classes really start to become fun at level 20, at least in my experience.

[Ryan A]

For a solo player, I'll agree that Rogue is the most fun. I always found hunter gameplay to be mind numbingly boring. Probably because they are so overpowered compared to the other classes. Same goes for Warlocks. So if you want an easy time roll a Hunter or Warlock. But that's a deceptive statement because, honestly, every class in WoW is easy. WoW is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a game that requires even a modicum of skill or intellect: as evidenced by the vast number of drooling idiots running around as level 60's.

The most satisfying times I've enjoyed in WoW have been tanking 5-man instances with my warrior and my paladin, neither of which I got out of their 40's. My rogue is the only character I got to 60. The game is incredibly fun and addicting 1-60, but don't rush it because the post 60 game is profoundly unfun.

[Sebmolo]

"Post 60", as of 1 month from now, will include Burning Crusade - which I'm anticipating will be a barrel of crazy ethermonkeys level fun. Also, the new honour mechanics are, if not the total awesome, at least 100x better than before. And there's an assload of 60 content you can do even before you hit the raids - I've had a sixty for six months and still haven't been in Strat, Scholo, DM, UBRS or any of the raid instances.

Don't lay the jaded 60's thing on the dewy-eyed noobster, it's really not that bad.

Edit: My recomm is also a rogue - the stealthing is unbeatable, especially if you're on a pvp server, but even on a pve it's handy for tough quests. If you're soloing, get improved gouge & stunwatch and get used to the 'gouge, wait, then stab-em-in-the-ass' trick. It never gets old.

[John Reynolds]

Thanks for all the feedback, folks. I was thinking of a human pally just because paladins always appeal to me. Feel free to warn me if paladins suck, though. And I've got a few cousins playing on Zul'jin that lead a guild, so end-game recruitment shouldn't be a problem if I stick around on that server.

[LesJarvis]

Paladins level slowly, but rarely die. It's a good choice for starting out (relatively straightforward mechanics, the ability to heal yourself,) but they can be kind of a drag. I never got mine to 60.

[Ryan A]

Paladins suck.

1. I think that, of all the classes, they take the longest to kill anything (apart from that magical 20-26 range if you're smart enough to pick up Verigan's Fist as soon as you can and 1-2 shot just about everything you fight if you use your Seals and Judgements properly).

2. 90% of the Paladins in the game are absolute idiots who don't know how to Seal/Judge and never heal in parties. So even though you're playing the character type with the most to offer parties, you won't ever be "in demand' for instances because most lower level groups don't even know what a well-played paladin can offer since there are so few well-played paladins.

I strongly recommend playing a paladin if you will have a partner to play with. They are *so* much fun in a duo (or larger party). If you'll be soloing, you'll find the 30's and 40's incredibly tedious.

Regarding my comments about post-60 life sucking, yeah I forgot about the Expansion. That actually has piqued my interest. Not enough to buy BC and resub, but enough to be participating in a WoW thread!

[John Reynolds]

Heh, just tried logging in on several different servers and got hit with a waiting queue of 170+. That's fucking crazy at this point in time to still be getting "oh, sorry, server is full." My interest in WoW just took a huge dive.

[Marcin]

Heh, just tried logging in on several different servers and got hit with a waiting queue of 170+. That's fucking crazy at this point in time to still be getting "oh, sorry, server is full." My interest in WoW just took a huge dive.

This is a very sane response. However, if you're still determined, pick a "new" server.

Hunter or warlock will do you fine, solo-wise. Once you get into your 20s or 30s, look for a guild and start asking them pointed questions about raiding. You can't go wrong starting with one of those 2 classes though.

[snowcrash22]

I would actually not reccomend the warrior or priest to a completely new player as they are somewhat complicated to play well

I'll bite. I, too, am a WoW neub but have stuck with my warrior character (currently level 19ish) and get him up and rolling before letting the alt-itis creep in.

I know about alt-itis because I played City of Heroes for a few months. And I figured I know melee because I played a non-casting swordsman in Asheron's Call up to about level 99.

So while I am open to finding my own optimal warrior path and not looking for template of the month per se, what are some classic warrior blunders to avoid?

[mouselock]

Heh, just tried logging in on several different servers and got hit with a waiting queue of 170+. That's fucking crazy at this point in time to still be getting "oh, sorry, server is full." My interest in WoW just took a huge dive.

It's a permanent feature. Basically rather than letting too many people online degrade performance, they hard queue it. Apparently handling lots of people on a single server is impossible to scale. :/

[Ryan A]

what are some classic warrior blunders to avoid?

Putting any points at all into the Protection tree.

Not levelling your first aid skill.

[Athryn]

Hunter or warlock will do you fine, solo-wise. Once you get into your 20s or 30s, look for a guild and start asking them pointed questions about raiding. You can't go wrong starting with one of those 2 classes though.


One of the big points that hunters have against them is that because there are so many of them, it can be hard to get a group for an instance unless you have friends.

[Mordrak]

Heh, just tried logging in on several different servers and got hit with a waiting queue of 170+. That's fucking crazy at this point in time to still be getting "oh, sorry, server is full." My interest in WoW just took a huge dive.

Also keep in mind that this should drop eventually. You're seeing an increase in active players because of the new patch. However, with BC coming out in January, I wouldn't be surprised to find the queues continue for 3+ months on some servers.

In regard to locks, it's one of my two 60s. It's by far my favorite class to play. Lot's of interesting abilities, great talents, and their end game class gear generally looks pretty sharp (at least more consistently than most other classes). However, I do find a lot of people play the class and don't get into it. I don't know what they are smoking though. =P

[Tom McNamara]

Putting any points at all into the Protection tree.

Not levelling your first aid skill.

Yes. I would also add Cooking. Food isn't expensive, but it's a cost you can do without. And cooked items have some decent bonuses.

I also recommend using a 2-handed weapon and following the Arms tree (while keeping a sword and board for instances). You definitely do not want to grind with a sword and shield. That's almost as bad as leveling a paladin. Get a 2h, preferably a blue one. I recommend checking Thottbot.com for blue quest rewards as you level up, because blues at the auction house tend to be obscenely priced, on account of loot farmers.

[Ryan A]

Fury is more fun though.

[Tom McNamara]

Fury is more fun though.

If you mean dual wielding, I agree to a certain extent. In my experience, you need some pretty nice gear to make Bloodthirst equal to or more effective than Mortal Strike. Plus those 2h Cleaves and Whirlwinds with Impale crits are sweet.

[mk56]

Heh, just tried logging in on several different servers and got hit with a waiting queue of 170+. That's fucking crazy at this point in time to still be getting "oh, sorry, server is full." My interest in WoW just took a huge dive.

Try a lower population server?

[Marcus]

Heh, just tried logging in on several different servers and got hit with a waiting queue of 170+. That's fucking crazy at this point in time to still be getting "oh, sorry, server is full." My interest in WoW just took a huge dive.


Pick Moonrunner and play a rogue.

Seriously though I'd pick moonrunner if only because there are at least a few of us there.

Also I'll hook you up with stuff!

[Fuzzydevil]

Eh, play as whatever you want to. I've class-hopped more times than I'd like to count. I started with the most cliched class possible - Night Elf Rogue - and got bored of that before I hit 20. Swapped to Mage, Priest, Shaman, and I've eventually settled on a Human Warlock, which is about level 50.

I should get back into this. I want to hit 60 before Burning Crusade. WoW never really had me "addicted", but then no MMO's ever quite managed that.

Tim

[Gordon Cameron]

1. I think that, of all the classes, they take the longest to kill anything

I am leveling a ret specced pally and he kills stuff plenty fast. I think you need to keep him geared with a nice blue weapon, which is obviously harder if you are a true beginner rather than somebody with higher level characters and more resources etc.

edit: the first 20 levels were pretty tedious though. It gets better when you have more talent points.

[Gordon Cameron]

I also recommend using a 2-handed weapon and following the Arms tree (while keeping a sword and board for instances). You definitely do not want to grind with a sword and shield. That's almost as bad as leveling a paladin. Get a 2h, preferably a blue one. I recommend checking Thottbot.com for blue quest rewards as you level up, because blues at the auction house tend to be obscenely priced, on account of loot farmers.

I've found Arms with a big 2 hander, and dual-wield fury, to both be perfectly viable PVE builds. Warrior is my favorite class but it's a lot more fun when you keep him geared with good (preferably blue) weapons all along the way. I've found some blues at the AH to be reasonably priced as long as they aren't in certain twink brackets etc. Others like the Butcher always seem to go for a lot.

I actually leveled my first warrior with a prot spec and a 1h/shield combo most of the way to 60. I didn't really know what I was doing.

[LesJarvis]

Long, long ago Paladins were really good at leveling. Then they nurfed Seal of the Crusader.

[Ryan A]

I am leveling a ret specced pally and he kills stuff plenty fast. I think you need to keep him geared with a nice blue weapon, which is obviously harder if you are a true beginner rather than somebody with higher level characters and more resources etc.

What level is he? Even ret spec, I think the killing pace REALLY slows down in the mid 30's. With a blue weapon. With a firey enchant.

[Gordon Cameron]

What level is he? Even ret spec, I think the killing pace REALLY slows down in the mid 30's. With a blue weapon. With a firey enchant.

36, with a blue weapon (Viscous hammer, which is actually getting a little rusty for the level) and a fiery enchant. I find that Seal of Command procs enough, and I have enough crit %, that I do fine, and every now and then I get a crazy burst of damage. I'm not saying it's the fastest class for killing things, but I haven't noticed any problem in a while. It's not like I switch to my lock or Arms warrior (also with a blue weapon) and suddenly think "wow this is so much better!"

[Marcin]

One of the big points that hunters have against them is that because there are so many of them, it can be hard to get a group for an instance unless you have friends.

Yeah, but getting into the 20s with a Hunter can't be wrong. Like I said, after that any guild he'll get into will steer him into a more raid-friendly class.

By then, he'll probably know if he wants to take it that far. I quit at Hunter 41, meself.

[Sebmolo]

My buddy's first char is a pally - he's levelled to 48, most of the way solo and loves it - but it's very much a personal preference thing, as people have noted. The last 10 levels he swapped to proudmoore and we've been 'pwning shit hardcore' to quote the kids. A duo of a prot spec warrior and a holy pallie fear only rust. And I'm pretty fond of the prot tree, i dole out revenge stuns like poisoned candy.

As to the warrior - two things. First, if you head into a dungeon with a group people will probably expect you to know how to tank, which isn't rocket science but isn't self evident either. Either learn, or make it clear that you're a newb to avoid bad feeling. The other point is to work hard on getting good gear - warriors are the most gear dependent of any class, so do what you have to at least keep yourself in even level greens and you'll kick ass.

Edit: Beaten by Gordon - but it bears repeating. A good trick is to look on thottbot for green quest reward weapons of your level - for instance the main quest reward in wailing caverns is an excellent (for the level) one hander.

[Ryan A]

Good point, Gordon. My problem may have been leaving my 44 ret. paladin stranded on Frostwolf, levelling a rogue to 60 on another server, and then levelling a paladin to about 34... compared to how quickly rogues kill stuff, just about everything else probably seems slow.

Of course, there's the proc issue too... with a Ret. Paladin, when the procs are good, they're very good and stuff goes down nicely. When the procs are bad, it feels like it's time to get up, brew a cup of tea, wait for the tea to cool, drink the tea, read a magazine, use the bathroom after the tea has passed through your system, and return to the computer just in time to see that damned trogg finally die to your autoattack.

[Tom McNamara]

I've found Arms with a big 2 hander, and dual-wield fury, to both be perfectly viable PVE builds.

Well, I didn't say DW Fury wasn't viable :) But before the rage normalization, at least, I needed approximately 875 AP to match MS's weapon-based damage. And unless I'm a twink, that's not going to happen until after I hit 60. So I chose a big honking sword or axe. Circumstances differ in group PvP. The primary DW advantage for me was being able to put Crusader on one weap and an AGI enchant on the other. 2h makes it much easier to catch runners, both in PvE and PvP.

Either way, though, I found the warrior to be the most frustrating class to play. No one else is so easily rooted or snared. Sometimes I'd be willing to lose Charge and Intercept, just for the ability to not stand still and get nuked/backstabbed. My current toon is a warlock, and he's neat.

Edit: On the other hand, the Burning Crusade weapon selection is so powerful that you could easily reach 875 by level 60 -- but you can't really access the content until you're like 57.

[Gordon Cameron]

Ahhh math! I'll take your word for it.

Sometimes I'd be willing to lose Charge and Intercept,

See to me, Charge is the greatest spell in the game and half the reason to play a warrior.

[krayzkrok]

Not sure why everyone thinks WoW only hits its stride until 20+. The early discovery of the world, plus the addictive Diablo-style gameplay was absolutely instrumental in me getting hooked. I got frustrated in the early 20s because I didn't have much fun playing a warrior solo, but when I learned how to tank and be useful to a group suddenly I was having a blast again.

I currently have a lvl 50 Warlock and, frankly, it's much better to play solo - much more fun, much easier with higher level mobs and adds (whereas the warrior was frustrating doing this). However, I find it far less satisfying in groups compared with the warrior.

[Gordon Cameron]

The early discovery of the world, plus the addictive Diablo-style gameplay was absolutely instrumental in me getting hooked.

I remember feeling pretty meh at the *very very* beginning of rolling my first toons in WoW, but before long I was getting into it. By level 6 or so you start getting enough spells to make it interesting, and the way the larger world unfolds is great. The first time I saw Ironforge off in the distance of Dun Morogh while playing my little gnome lock was a revelation. I still enjoy replaying Elwynn Forest just for the heck of it. And just now I was playing my noobie troll mage and getting back into the old Barrens vibe.

much more fun, much easier with higher level mobs and adds (whereas the warrior was frustrating doing this)

Lack of options dealing with adds is one of the tougher aspects of playing a warrior, except once per half hour. (Retaliation renders certain fights trivial that would be very difficult to solo otherwise.) Warrior CC (intimidating shout) is tricky because it involves fearing multiple mobs, and they could bring buddies back with them; plus of course it's a one shot deal, not renewable like sheep or 'lock fear etc. (For all practical purposes anyway, given the long cooldown.) Still, if you keep a supply of healing potions and keep yourself geared with a good weapon, you can sometimes just brute-force your way through tough solo pulls.

[Nellie]

If you only intend to solo or you intend to join a guild with people you know(or do PvP down the line) then hunters are fun, but you'll almost never get let into a Pick Up Group to do instances. I've lost count of the number of LFGM calls that end NO HUNTERZ!!11! but then the running joke is that we're played by 12 year olds who roll on your loot anyway (not entirely without merit). And a badly played hunter can wipe your group in so many interesting ways. Up to level 60 I've had a blast with the Hunter. In the end game I'm only there because frankly, I do stupid amounts of DPS and dont need much healing rather than for any specific hunter related skill. "Rar, rougues SAP, Mages Sheep, druids fill the gaps in any number of ways, Warrirors tank etc Hunters? Stay out the way, do some DPS and don't need any healing kthxbye?"

If you like the look of a Pally, I'd say give the pally a go for a few levels, you can get to level 10, which is where the fun starts, in a couple of hours and by then you'll know for sure whether it's worth playing on to 20, to 30 etc. If you get the skills at level 10 and you're still not enjoying the class, then change it before you waste any more time. I've ground my mage to level 15 and I still loathe playing it. Personally I'm one of the saddos that plays nothing but Night Elfs because of what little RP comes packaged with WoW, it's the Elfs that appeal to me. That and aesthetically they're the least annoying and they get to be druids, which just rock as a class. Hunters are fun but I love the hybrid nature of the druids. 3rd tank, 3rd melee DPS, 3rd healer often all at the same time at lowever levels at least.

[JM]

Well, I didn't say DW Fury wasn't viable :) But before the rage normalization, at least, I needed approximately 875 AP to match MS's weapon-based damage.

There's more to it than just "Is Bloodthirst doing the same amount of damage as Mortal Strike", though.

[DeepT]

The most important thing I can tell you is to log on at 8pm and look at all the servers. Pick a server that is New or Low for population. Don't take a chance on medium either.

The next thing Id do is try to find one of these low-pop servers in your time zone. If you go with one that is not in your time zone, you might have trouble finding a raid guild that will fit your time schedule.


On Pallys:
Ignore these people about how slow the are to level. Your level speed is mostly due to how familiar you are with the game, not your class. Your first character will be the slowest to level regardless of class. Your second will be the 2nd slowest.

Pallys can kill quickly and are very survivable. Once BC comes out, you are going to see the pally population skyrocket. In fact right now, there are lots of new pallys out there. Over the last week I have gotten no less then 6 offers to buy my character which is absurd. Never have I ever gotten one such offer till last week, maybe the farmers have discovered that WoW pallys will make a good profit on Ebay or something.

If you are going to level a pally, I would strongly suggest a ret build although at level 64 protection will outshine ret, but at that point your almost done anyway.

When I leveled my pally, he was character number 4, I had almost zero down time. Yes, I didn't kill as fast as a rogue or a mage, but I never stopped. I didn't need crowd control because taking on 2 or 3 mobs at once was no big deal.

If you want a melee class with a lot of utility, then the pally is for you. He took 8 days / played to get to level 60. He was my third character to get to level 60.


Mage:
My first character was a mage. He took 20 days / played. He is level 60 now, but I find them so dull to play. They are totally a one dimensional class. In the end game they are in big demand because not a lot of people play mages, however so are warlocks because they are even rarer.

Warlock:
My third character, 2nd to level 60 though. Lots of fun, lots of utility. Warlocks are hard to play well but easy to play 'meh'. I contend that a well played warlock is the most powerful class in the game. The warlocks are clear winners in the BC with thier new talents, each tree is a big win. If you are going for a soft dps caster, Id reccomend this over a mage any day of the week. Warlocks are in very high demand in the end game for both PvE and PvP.

Rogue:
My 2nd character, I stopped playing him at level 45. I can see the attraction of these guys. Stalking players is a lot of fun, but overall combat tended to be dull and the rogue seemed to be the melee equivilent of a mage. They have a few more tricks, but not many more. If you want to gank people, this is a very good choice. On the bad side though, rogues are a dime a dozen and you will often find raids saying they have enough rogues (and hunters).

Hunter:
My 5th character, also around level 45. Fun and good for soloing. The only reason I do not play a hunter is becuase I got a level 60 lock and I just prefer locks over hunters. If you do not like cloth casters then I would go with a hunter for sure. In the end game they are a dime a dozen and raid spots fill up fast.

Priest:
My 6th character. I found them imensly dull. I hate being a heal-bot. I only got to level 14 and that was forced labor. Some people love them, but I can't stomach them.

Druids:
My 7th character, only level 20 or so. The feral tree was the only tree of interest to me here. If I wanted to heal Id play a priest. If I wanted ranged magic damage Id play a mage or warlock. The biggest thing about a druid is the flexability. You can be great melee dps, melee tank, healer, or nuker. Really if you have zero idea of what you want to do, this is a really good choice since they can do it all, just not as well as other classes doing thier own 'thing'. In the end game druids are desired, but somewhat pigeon holed into healers (like pallys), although with the new talents this may change. I stopped playing my druid becuase everyone was saying at level 60 all you would do is just heal.

Warrior:
Number 8, only 10 levels here. Can't say much other then why play a warrior when you can play a pally?

[Adam B]

You people and your mage hate =(

Although, to be fair, raiding (current endgame 40-mans, anyway) is like pulling teeth with the Mage. Frostbolt ad nauseum, or Fireball, or Scorch, or whatever you're specced for. All the fun parts of the Mage class are completely ignored in the raid game, sadly.

Soloing, 5-mans, and pvp are all very fun with the mage, though. If you can't get a chuckle at busting a 3k crit all over some noobelf's face, you're dead inside.

[MikeOberly]

You people and your mage hate =(

Although, to be fair, raiding (current endgame 40-mans, anyway) is like pulling teeth with the Mage. Frostbolt ad nauseum, or Fireball, or Scorch, or whatever you're specced for. All the fun parts of the Mage class are completely ignored in the raid game, sadly.

Soloing, 5-mans, and pvp are all very fun with the mage, though. If you can't get a chuckle at busting a 3k crit all over some noobelf's face, you're dead inside.

All the fun parts of *every* class are ignored in the raid game. As a Warlock, for example, all you'll do is spam shadowbolt all day, and maybe crowd control in some situations.

[JM]

Yeah. Which is why it's a good idea to impose some raiding limits and enjoy the rest of the game as well.

[Adam B]

Or just stop raiding before you're so burnt out you can't enjoy the game any more ;)

[Tom McNamara]

There's more to it than just "Is Bloodthirst doing the same amount of damage as Mortal Strike", though.

True, but (until the expansion) these two talents are the chief goals of exploring each tree, unless you're a Prot hybrid. The warrior benefits greatly from instant attacks that don't affect the swing timer. If you have enough rage built up, Mortal Strike is often a better choice than Execute, as it leaves you with some rage left over. And Bloodthirst can be used while disarmed, since it's based on your attack power and has nothing to do with your equipped weapon.

[Glycerine]

Mage:
My first character was a mage. He took 20 days / played. He is level 60 now, but I find them so dull to play. They are totally a one dimensional class. In the end game they are in big demand because not a lot of people play mages, however so are warlocks because they are even rarer.

Warlock:
My third character, 2nd to level 60 though. Lots of fun, lots of utility. Warlocks are hard to play well but easy to play 'meh'. I contend that a well played warlock is the most powerful class in the game. The warlocks are clear winners in the BC with thier new talents, each tree is a big win. If you are going for a soft dps caster, Id reccomend this over a mage any day of the week. Warlocks are in very high demand in the end game for both PvE and PvP.

I disagree. I always thought Warlocks were boring as fuck to play, Mages are much more fun. Both require skill to be effective and I wouldn't recommend either to a first time player. Warlocks get a couple cool abilities, a free mount at 40, and a cool pets about every 10 levels. Mages can have the highest burst DPS in the game if spec'd right, can teleport to any of the major cities when they hit higher levels (never use the zep/ship again!), can create their own food/water, and are just a blast to play.

Ultimately, just like anything else, it's all about personal preference. I'd take a Mage over a Warlock any day, to play or group with, but that's just me. I'd say the best thing to do is start a few characters and play them at least to 6-10 range before you decide on trying to stick with one. It only takes a few hours and you'll know what playing style is right for you.

glyc

[Ranulf]

Priest:
My 6th character. I found them imensly dull. I hate being a heal-bot. I only got to level 14 and that was forced labor. Some people love them, but I can't stomach them.



Its a chore until lvl 14 or so but thankfully its not that hard for any character to get to 14 especially if you are playing with another or have friends to help. At 14, with 5 points in spirit tap you no longer have to drink after every fight. Then get a good wand, put five points into wand damage, then everything else back into shadow till lvl 40. Then respec full shadow for shadowform. I've never leveled my priests past 29 but folks are not exaggerating when they say how strong shadow priests are. At 45 my rogue could not keep up with a priest in shadowform damage wise. Although, by the late 30s to mid 40s, all caster classes hit the zone of being able to kill stuff very fast.

[Gordon Cameron]

Warrior:
Number 8, only 10 levels here. Can't say much other then why play a warrior when you can play a pally?

Charge, sweeping strikes, retaliation, recklessness, zerk rage, mortal strike, cleave, whirlwind, intercept, intimidating shout, to name a few. A well geared warrior can put out a lot of hurt (AoE hurt) in a short amount of time. I find it more fun than a pally, though I'm warming to the pally more lately. It's nice to be able to heal yourself after battles, but that's what bandages and food are for.

Oh yeah, another reason is when I play a warrior in groups I don't have to fuss with annoying individual group-member buffs of short duration. Just tap Battle Shout every few minutes and I'm good to go.

Edit: one other reason why to play a warrior and not a pally: There are no tauren paladins.

[DeepT]

To open a can of worms:

There should be Tauren Paladins, and the Tauren should be on the alliance side (philosophically) if it was not for their debt to Thrall.

Similarly there is no way the Blood Elves should have been on the horde side for many reasons. At best they should have been neutral, at worst they would be an Alliance race. There is no way Thrall could stomach blood elves, and there is no way blood elves could tolerate the Forsaken or the trolls.

However, Blizzard's lore is total bullshit so none of it if really matters or has to make sense anyway.

[Gordon Cameron]

Tauren are definitely "good guys," but so are Orcs as far as I can tell. Thrall and his cause seem righteous enough. I'd take either over gnomes, who strike me as amoral "mad scientist" types. Did Mekkatorque *really* have to nuke his entire city to deal with the trogg threat?

Taurens associating with Forsaken is tough to buy lorewise. I justify it to myself as a very reluctant alliance of convenience -- a case of strange bedfellows. (Sorta like how we were all lovey-dovey with Papa Joe during WW2.)

[TheTrunkDr]

If you've played WC3 you'd know that Tauren siding with Horde makes complete sense, also Thrall's Horde is not evil in anyway. The Forsaken is tough to swallow as being a Horde race, infact it's difficult to justify them being either Alliance or Horde. The Dranei are just stupid, they should be the original and they should be Horde side as Blood Elves should be Alliance.

[Damien Neil]

One of the things I do really like about WoW's lore is that the two sides aren't "evil" and "good", even if people keep trying to force them into those buckets. The EQ approach of Lawful Good vs. Bioware-esque Stupid Evil bores me.

[Jason Cross]

John -

Don't worry too much about the server queue. The estimated time it tells you is often totally wrong, and it doesn't take that long to get in. It's been busy because of the new patch and everyone staying on to do PvP a lot. I didn't often see queues before that.

Second, roll a character on Moonrunner. Whether Horde or Alliance, that's where the QT3 guilds are.

Third, don't worry too much about advice or solo-able classes. After playing EQ2, you'll find every class VERY easy to solo, and none of them are that complicated. The gameplay mechanics are introduced to you as you level, in nice little tooltips and tutorial text. Read those - don't skip them - and you'll "get" the whole game in no time.

[Adam B]

Re: Lore

In case anyone hasn't seen it yet, http://lorelol.ytmnd.com has all of your Burning Crusade lore questions answered for you.

[Gordon Cameron]

Yeah we'd be happy to have you join us on Moonrunner where we can shower you with crafted goodies and bags and whatnot. I have to advocate going Horde, but Alliance is busier at the moment. It's worth rolling characters on both factions to get the full WoW experience anyway. If you do roll on Moonrunner do a "/who drop bears" or "/who bear drops" command (depending alliance or horde) and whisper someone for a guild invite.