Class Picking Guide
by Gallow • 24th March 2019
Having trouble picking your class? Fret not! Gallow has got you covered. Below is a simple, text based guide to help you pick your first character for World of Warcraft Classic. Note that these are all personal opinions, and your experience will likely differ from mine. At the end of the day you should pick what you want and have fun with it, regardless of your playstyle!Click on the class images below to view other classes.
Druid
- Keywords: Shapeshifting, hybrid, fast leveling, versatile, Battle Res
- Leveling: Early levels are pretty boring. You cast spells and melee stuff. Bear form unlocks at level 10, and cat at 20. Once you get your Cat Form, you will be breezing through content. You also get travel form which will help you get to places easier. Stealth in Cat Form also means you can avoid danger easily. You can tank leveling dungeons with no issue, and if you have a caster gear, healing is also an option without the need to re-spec. Sadly balance is terrible for leveling. Your DPS is nothing spectacular, but the versatility is great in dungeons. Tank dead? Pop bear form. Healer low on mana? Swap out of cat form and throw in some heals. You are also very slippery so you can escape unwanted ganks on PvP servers with little to no issue.
- Ease of leveling: 9/10. Very easy to level.
- Fun of leveling: 8/10. Early levels are a drag, but your journey to 60 will be plenty fun.
- Server population: You will not see many Druids in vanilla, because they are very Jack of all trades, master of none.
- End-game, PvE: You can tank 5 man dungeons just fine, but serious raids will not be main tanked by you (certain exceptions apply such as Patchwerk soaking in Naxx, and perhaps some MC bosses with the right gear). That being said Offtanking is always possible on many bosses. Kitty DPS is not competitive, but not terrible either. You just need to put in a lot of hard work for "OK" results. Balance is terrible. Healing may not be very engaging, but does the job fairly well. You have innervate and the only Battle Res in the game, and a very strong buff, so finding a raid spot should not be difficult. You will not be topping healing/damage meters but the flexibility means your contributions will be noted by keen-eyed players.
- End-game, PvP: Great flag carriers, very fun in BG’s. Very good in 1v1, but hard to master. Not terrible healers, but people will likely bring other classes for healers in premades.
- Suggested professions: Herbalism, Alchemy, Skinning, Leatherworking. Enchanting can also make the BiS Smoking Heart of the Mountain trinket for tanks.
- Why should you pick this class? If you enjoy the idea of a truly versatile class, want to be the hero in dungeons and raids for that clutch battle res/innervate/swapping to tank or healer mode to save the day, look no further! If you are not bothered by not topping the healing/damage meters and can bring in a positive attitude and some good gameplay, you will be everyone’s favorite furry helper.
- Items to look out for: https://classic.wowhead.com/item=8345/wolfshead-helm is an amazing helmet that will serve feral druids well into MC/BWL. Some argue that it is BiS. https://classic.wowhead.com/item=943/warden-staff is almost BiS (aside from one or two high-end raid weapons), try to get this one if you want to tank as a feral. https://classic.wowhead.com/item=11819/second-wind is an amazing healer trinket.
Hunter
- Keywords: Pets, fastest leveling, great low-level twinks
- Leveling: If there is one class that has almost zero trouble leveling, that is Hunter. You start off alone as a Hunter, and need to kite mobs until you get your first pet at level 10. Pets in Vanilla need to be looked after! This means you need to feed them regularly, or they will literally run away. But they will become your best buddies in return, taking any enemy head on. Journey to 60 is arguably easiest for the Hunter. You can also track many different enemy types, and you have access to Aspects (buffs that affect you/your party) and one of them allows you to run faster. Note that if you (or anyone else in your party) is hit with this Aspect of the Cheetah active, they will get Dazed. Please remember to turn this off in dungeons! Also regarding dungeons, please turn off Growl (pet ability). Tanks do not like it when they are not being hit. Another side note for dungeons is that pets cannot jump from high distances; they will run to you dragging many mobs inside the dungeon – which will usually wipe your team. So please dismiss your pet before you jump! One final closing thought on pets is that (almost) each tamable beast comes with their own skills and skill ranks, which you can teach to your main pets. So get ready to tame lots of pets to "build" the best pet!
- Ease of leveling: 10/10. Easiest to class to level. Tips for leveling hunters: Learn how to kite while running forward, and learn how to manage your pet to attack/stop attacking different targets. It is a valuable skill to have at max level.
- Fun of leveling: 9~10/10. You get to kite stuff, kill stuff, give food to your pet, tame different pets, camp rare pets. There is just so much to do.
- Server population: There will be a good deal of hunters in any server.
- End-game, PvE: Hunters start off strong in raids, but their damage falls off in later raid tiers. Regardless, one or two hunters will be mandatory for that sweet Tranquilizing Shot (which is not a base ability, but rather a drop from MC!). If you are a decent person and a nice player, people will welcome you regardless.
- End-game, PvP: Great in BG, even more so at lower levels (where you can kite the melee all you want, and can kill cloth wearers in few shots). Pets are resilient in large battles and people usually ignore them, which means that clothie you’ve just sent your pet to is going to suffer a lot. One quirk that hunters have is that they have a deadzone. A deadzone is when an enemy is too close to shoot your arrow/bow, but just tad away for you to melee them. Good casters will use this against you.
- Suggested professions: Herbalism, Alchemy, Skinning, Leatherworking, Enchanting
- Why should you pick this class? You enjoy the company of your pet! The necessity to feed your pet and keep its happiness at a high level might sound cumbersome at first, but it really makes you attached to your pets. That one time your rare kitty dies way too many times in the dungeon, you running out of fresh meat to give to her, watching the happiness slowly go down and trying to frantically run around to find food really creates a bond between you and your furry little friend. In return, your pet will make you so that you can solo pretty much anything – including open world elite quests. If you like the idea of a Lone Wanderer and their little helper friend, Hunter is the class for you!
- Items to look out for: https://classic.wowhead.com/item=2825/b ... ing-arrows Slow attack speed is great for Marksmanship, and it will proc quite a lot. The opposite is https://classic.wowhead.com/item=2824/hurricane with extremely fast attack speed and still a very good proc chance. It means less burst but more sustained DPS overall. The actual fastest weapon is https://classic.wowhead.com/item=2100/p ... -boomstick, which offers a great deal of agility but no procs, so it's less "flashy". At lower levels https://classic.wowhead.com/item=6469/venomstrike from Wailing Caverns is a godsend, and https://classic.wowhead.com/item=6696/nightstalker-bow if you are lucky enough to find the rare boss in RFK.
Mage
- Keywords: Great grinders, high DPS, portals, teleports, free food
- Leveling: Quite easy to level, but also very damn squishy. Monsters can resist your spells and the higher their level, the higher the chance of resisting. Two mobs resisting your Blizzard can be your end if you are low on life. Luckily you have many tools at your disposal; mage armors, blink, etc. You are the king of CC (Crowd Control), so you can gather up many mobs and AoE them all at once. Note that humanoid mobs tend to run away while at low health and return with their friends. You can make free food and drinks, which will save you a pretty penny. You’ll need to buy reagents to teleport or make portals, but other people will appreciate this and often give you a tip for your time! Teleporting also shortens the endless runs you need to make (and believe me that you will be running around a LOT in classic). You have many buttons to press as a mage, which can be a curse or a blessing depending on how you look at it. 5 man dungeons will LOVE you for the free foods/drinks. Just be nice and provide everyone some stacks (you can craft them before the run begins. I usually carry around extra stacks to give away to anyone that asks and oh yes, people will ask).
- Ease of leveling: 8/10. You need to be actively thinking while leveling. Being squishy means taking risks can be the end of you, but the rewards of faster leveling can be worth it.
- Fun of leveling: 7~8/10.
- Server population: There will be a good number of mages in every server. They deal great damage, are number 1 in CC, relatively easy to level and always in demand.
- End-game, PvE: 40 players means a lot of DPS is needed. Luckily you provide excellent DPS. Some boss fights you will be expected to Decurse a whole lot of players. There should be addons to do this for you. Also food and drinks… There are no mage tables in Classic, which means that you need to trade everyone food and drinks separately. I’d suggest logging a good 20-30 minutes before the raid starts just so you can craft many stacks of replenishments.
- End-game, PvP: Great in PvP, but can be squishy. Hunters and shadow priests will be your bane, also good Warlocks can pose a problem. Good vs. Warrior and Rogues (as long as they are not supported by a pocket healer). You are very strong and left unchecked can demolish large number of enemies. Later in the game you get to PoM+Pyro one shot weaker people if you have the gear for it, which never gets old.
- Suggested professions: Herbalism, Alchemy, Tailoring, Enchanting
- Why should you pick this class? Do you enjoy watching things burn? Helping others with food and portals, teleporting to places? If you like the idea of a caster DPS, Mage is the choice for you. People will love you for your foods, and you can even make a pretty penny selling portals/food&drink stacks to randoms. If you truly want to become the most legendary mage there is, why not aim for Atiesh? The rarest legendary staff in the entire game! Yes, Warlocks, priest and druids can obtain it too, but the bonuses it gives to Mages was the best so good guilds would give their first one to their Mages. If you like the power fantasy of a powerful caster, go Mage!
- Items to look out for: https://classic.wowhead.com/item=6505/crescent-staff from Wailing Caverns questline is the best weapon that can last you till lvl 25-30. https://classic.wowhead.com/item=873/staff-of-jordan will last you from level 35 to 60. If you join Classic later it can also fetch a good price that will help you buy (or outright buy) your epic mount training because it is the best twink caster weapon in the entire game. Also for fire mages https://classic.wowhead.com/item=3075/eye-of-flame is amazing, but the prices would be really high since mages will be very common in Classic. Similar with https://classic.wowhead.com/item=942/freezing-band.
Paladin - Keywords: Buffs, bubbles, resilient healers, anti-undead
- Leveling: Let’s be honest. Paladin leveling sucks. You are god awful slow, but on the bright side you will probably not die. It’s just that one single mob takes a good 20 seconds to kill when leveling. Then again you have no downtime. People also love your buffs. You get a free mount at level 40, which is an enormous help, and an epic quest for your epic mount at level 60. The level 60 mount is not free by any means, but the materials are cheaper than flat out 1000g. You also have many “o shit” buttons such as the iconic Bubble, Lay on Hands that instantly fully heals someone, or Divine Intervention; which lets you sacrifice yourself in order to protect an ally (preferably someone who can resurrect people).
- Ease of leveling: 5/10. You can hit a mob, alt tab, and watch some TV. Average to slow at best, but by no means difficult.
- Fun of leveling: 1~2/10. I love the class fantasy but let’s be realistic; leveling a paladin is the exact opposite of fun.
- Server population: Allies will always have a good deal of paladins running around because they make great healers for PvE, absolutely amazing healers for PvP.
- End-game, PvE: You can tank 5 man dungeons during leveling, but definitely not any raids. Main issue is not the lack of taunt (bosses were immunte to taunts except Naxx), but that Mana regeneration as a Paladin tank is non existent so you simply stop generating threat for long fights. However one needs to mention that you are amazing when it comes to tanking Scholomance and Stratholm (undead side) since almost all mobs are undead. Your DPS leaves much to be desired and unless you're in a friends and family guild not many people will want Ret paladins. Therefore you will be expected to heal 90% of the time. In addition, your buffs last only 5 minutes so you will be buffing everyone. Therefore you can and should use addons for buffing people.
- End-game, PvP: Premade BG guilds will love you. You are one of the best healers for PvP due to all that plate armor, and the blessings & buffs you bring to the table make you a strong PvP'er when combined with other damage dealers on your team. Ret is not too shabby either, but certainly not one of the higher ranked specs. Unfortunately prot spec does not exist for PvP. There is one special mention and that is "Shockadin". We are not sure if spell damage will scale the way it did in peoples memories (as private servers may have gotten these wrong), but with good raid gear (t2+ gear, ZG trinket, meteor trinket from AQ40 etc.) Shockadins are supposedly very strong 1v1'ers. More (actual) data from Classic is needed to see whether this spec will do as well as people say.
- Suggested professions: Mining, Blacksmithing, Herbalism, Alchemy
- Why should you pick this class? The class fantasy is very strong with this one. So much so that I – mainly a horde player – am thinking of going Ally just so I can play a Paladin in Classic and fight the Undead in EPL/WPL. The clutch saves you can provide to your team in PvE or PvP will make you the hero of the day, and all the bards in the realm will write songs about you! Okay maybe not that last part.. Paladins are one of the most iconic classes in WoW and they have a pretty strong lore associated with them, so if you like the idea of being the Undead slayer, shield wielding healer, go for Paladin!
- Items to look out for: https://classic.wowhead.com/item=11819/second-wind is an amazing healer trinket. https://classic.wowhead.com/item=2291/k ... ecapitator is a beast 2H weapon, but it can sell for a really high price on AH since it's the best for the 40-49 twinks. https://classic.wowhead.com/item=1204/the-green-tower is actually quite decent for AoE grinding as a prot paladin, even at near max level, until you get a https://classic.wowhead.com/item=1168/skullflame-shield.
Priest - Keywords: Heal, Shields, Mana Burn (Shadow)
- Leveling: Ahh, leveling as a priest. My first character to hit 40. The early levels are brutal until you get Spirit Tap. Even after that, there is not much variation in how you level. You DoT a monster, shield yourself, and wand them to death. Regardless they are not the slowest leveling character by any means, just nothing spectacular. Once you reach 40 you can unlock Shadowform, which helps with survivability and your damage. One thing to note is that you cannot use holy (healing) spells in Shadowform. The road to 60 is a bit mediocre as a priest; you are not fast but also not that slow. Along the way you will find a spot for a 5man pretty easy (as a healer). If you like shields and the fantasy of healing, Priest is your best choice. Note that priests get one different spell depending on your race choice. In addition, you will always be expected to heal at some point in the game, so if you do not like that idea I suggest skipping Priest.
- Ease of leveling: 5~7/10. They are mediocre, but not bad either. You rarely need to drink thanks to Spirit Tap.
- Fun of leveling: 5/10. Again, the same mediocrity.
- Server population: There will be many priests in a given server. They are the best healers for many PvE activities.
- End-game, PvE: You are the best healer for raids, period. Everyone will want you. Grinding will be a problem in a healer spec however, as killing enemies will be painfully slow in healer spec/gear. If you grab a DPS buddy, you can pocket heal them and breeze through any content with virtually zero issues though! Shadow is a bit different story, as their DPS is not that great in raids or 5 man dungeons, and you will make people a lot happier if you just heal instead.
- End-game, PvP: You want to know the secret of a successful healer in PvP? Get a warrior buddy. You two will wreak havoc in any PvP scenario; be it World PvP or Battlegrounds. As a shadow priest you can also melt faces. With the right gear, people will actively avoid fighting you since you can just DoT them, and mana drain any mana-user so they become virtually useless against you. Also special shoutout to Mind Control for throwing people off cliffs and edges.
- Suggested professions: Tailoring, Enchanting, Herbalism, Alchemy
- Why should you pick this class? You like helping people! Actually, you adore helping others! If you want to be a healer that people will fight over (“No. He said that he will come heal Scarlet Monastery for us…”) and secretly enjoy the mini-drama that comes from it, go with the Priest! Also a side-note; you have arguably the best looking weapon known as https://classic.wowhead.com/item=18609/anathema / https://classic.wowhead.com/item=18608/benediction - which is only available to Priests that involves a long (raid) quest.
- Items to look out for: https://classic.wowhead.com/item=11819/second-wind is an amazing healer trinket. https://classic.wowhead.com/item=873/staff-of-jordan will last you from level 35 to 60. If you join Classic later it can also fetch a good price that will help you buy (or outright buy) your epic mount training because it is the best twink caster weapon in the entire game. https://classic.wowhead.com/item=6505/crescent-staff from Wailing Caverns questline is the best weapon that can last you till lvl 25-30. Another good staff for you is https://classic.wowhead.com/item=1484/witching-stave which has a bonus damage on shadow spells. A similar one is https://classic.wowhead.com/item=1980/underworld-band although being a BoE epic ring means it will be somewhat costly.
Rogue - Keywords: Stealth, poisons, lockpicking, pickpocket, stunlock, popular class
- Leveling: You are very fragile. Few extra mobs mean certain death if your “o shit” buttons are on cooldown. But you have a very colorful leveling experience due to poisons and lockpicking. In vanilla Poisons are crafted items and you need to level this skill. You also need to buy reagents. Lockpicking is also something you need to level by picking lockboxes. I strongly suggest that you keep these two skills around similar level to your actual level. Aside from that, the actual rotation and skills to use are somewhat straightforward. The class fantasy is great with rogues; poisons and lockpicking have their own quest lines. In PvP realms you are the safest class to level due to your stealth. Note that higher level mobs/players will be able to spot you from far away even in stealth!
- Ease of leveling: 5/10
- Fun of leveling: 7~10/10. Depending on how you like rogues!
- Server population: There will be a LOT of rogues. They are the kings in PvP and PvE – DPS wise.
- End-game, PvE: You see that DPS meter addon? Yeah, delete that and replace it with a threat addon. You will easily do one of the highest DPS in a raid, but remember that a dead DPS is NO DPS. You will be favored in 5 man dungeons as well; as you can sap enemies and open locked doors/chests. A specific room in BWL requires rogues to disable traps.
- End-game, PvP: Stun, stun, more stun, and vanish. You are hated by everyone because of how deadly you are. You will see many rogues in Battlegrounds and in World PvP. Once focused down you die pretty much instantly, but if you do your job well you will be a major headache to the opposing faction. Just be nice and don’t /spit or teabag others.
- Suggested professions: Engineering (for PvP), Skinning, Leatherworking, Herbalism, Alchemy, Enchanting. Herbalism is great for self-sustaining Rogues because you'll need https://classic.wowhead.com/item=3818/fadeleaf to cast blind, and https://classic.wowhead.com/item=2452/swiftthistle to craft https://classic.wowhead.com/item=7676/thistle-tea.
- Why should you pick this class? Because you are a dirty bastard…. Okay, okay, kidding. You like ruining people’s days! Well, maybe. Actually definitely if you are playing on a PvP realm. Just try not to grief others that much, OK? Thanks! In all seriousness, the rogue appeal is pretty strong in vanilla with Poisons and Lockpicking. You can venture in pirate ships and find lockboxes, gather ingredients and make various poisons, stealth your way out of the danger, or.. into one. Any of these apply to you? Well then congratulations because you are actually a Rogue in heart!
- Items to look out for: https://classic.wowhead.com/item=6504/wingblade great early reward from Wailing Caverns questline or https://classic.wowhead.com/item=6472/stinging-viper for your main hand (also from WC but as a boss drop). Be very careful if you somehow end up finding a https://classic.wowhead.com/item=1482/shadowfang, it is by far the best 19 twink weapon that can sell really really well. As for epics https://classic.wowhead.com/item=869/dazzling-longsword is actually a really nice weapon that can last you for a while, and https://classic.wowhead.com/item=2163/shadowblade can last you well in your first raid or so. The dream would be https://classic.wowhead.com/item=11684/ironfoe but good luck with the grind.
Shaman - Keywords: Hybrid, Totems, Heal, Self Res
- Leveling: I may be biased but Shaman is one of the best leveling experiences in Vanilla. Not because of efficiency or killing speed, but because of just how many different things you can do. Your totems can heal you and your party, taunt enemies, misdirect spells, give mana, increase the attack damage, increase your resistance/armor etc. You have a ton of spells, self buffs, weapon buffs, heals, and a self resurrect. As with other classes, you will need reagents to self resurrect so always carry a stack of Ankhs. The class fantasy is amazing, as you need to do quests to get your totems which are filled with great shamanistic lore. At level 20 you get Ghost Wolf which makes you run 40% faster, which in return makes leveling a lot faster. Elemental is not a great leveling spec as you will have to drink after few mobs, but Enhancement is great and once you get Windfury (level 30) seeing those multiple melee hit procs is going to make your day.
- Ease of leveling: 6~7/10
- Fun of leveling: 8~10/10
- Server population: There will be some Shaman in your server, though not that many.
- End-game, PvE: You will be expected to heal. Elemental shaman is not that hot, and Enhancement – while not terrible – just lacks the damage to compete. You bring great buffs with your totems though, and there may be some merit in speccing deep Enhancement for better totems for other melees. For healers Chain Heal is just a very damn fun ability, so a shaman healer is always a very welcome spot in any raids.
- End-game, PvP: If you are dedicated and can get a good set of Enhancement or Elemental gear, you can roll the dice and one shot many people in Battlegrounds. You make great support classes as you can purge the enemies’ buffs. The paladins have a slight edge over you in Premade BG’s, but such is life.
- Suggested professions: Skinning, Leatherworking, Enchanting, Herbalism, Alchemy
- Why should you pick this class? You.. like totems? Well good, go roll a Shaman! They are extremely fun to level and still a great fun at max level. You are very self-sufficient during the leveling process (which takes a good 2-3 months for casual players), and while you cannot take on elite enemies that easily, you can do pretty much anything else with no problems. You have so many buttons to press, so many totems, so many spells and self-buffs. I don’t enjoy healing that much, however even I found shaman healing just so much fun. There is something so satisfying to watch that Chain Heal jump to different targets. The lore for Shamans are also pretty strong (on par with Paladins), so there is that as well. If you are a Horde at heart but never played Shaman, I 100% strongly urge you to play one!
- Items to look out for: https://classic.wowhead.com/item=11819/second-wind is an amazing healer trinket. https://classic.wowhead.com/item=2291/k ... ecapitator is a beast 2H weapon, but it can sell for a really high price on AH since it's the best for the 40-49 twinks. This weapon is extremely good for Enhancement shamans for PvP due to a possible Windfury proc ruining the enemies day.
Warlock - Keywords: Minions, Summon party members, Healthstone, Soulstone, DoT
- Leveling: Slightly behind the Hunter, the Warlock is the second easiest and fastest class to level. Your pets hold aggro quite well, and you have ways to drain health and convert your health into mana. You can also fear unwanted enemies while dotting everyone around you, and continuing to drain health. This ensures in a fun chaos leaves you very open to getting ganked (on PvP servers), but when left alone a Warlock can and will decimate every mob around them with little to no problem. The class fantasy is on par with Shaman, as you need to obtain all your minions (except the Imp) through quests. To summon your strongest Minion (a Doomguard), you will need a party of 5 for the ritual which randomly kills one of you! After that, you’ll still need to enslave the Doomguard or that thing will kill anyone in sight. Similar to Paladins, you get a free mount at 40 and an expensive and long quest at 60 (which is still cheaper than 1000g).
- Ease of leveling: 9~10/10
- Fun of leveling: 9~10/10
- Server population: Not very popular! Great for the hipster DPS'ers out there.
- End-game, PvE: Everyone will love you for your summons, Healthstones and Soulstones. Note that you need 2 other people to help summon others, and running to an instance is more or less always expected from a Warlock. People would love some Healthstones and a healer would love you even more for a Soulstone – which enables them to self-resurrect after a party wipe. For all of these spells (and many others), you will need to farm items called Soul Shard. You are expected to farm these before you venture in a dungeon/raid. It takes about 20 minutes of grinding for a general 40man raid, which can be a drag, but honestly it is not that bad. Your DPS is not as good as a mage, but also not that bad. Later in AQ40 gear it gets very close to top tier. Your rotation is pretty much spamming the same spell over and over again, but minion management makes it a tad more interesting. The warning for Hunters also applies to Warlocks! Desummon your minion before you jump or they will pull the entire instance!
- End-game, PvP: If there is one thing that people hate in PvP, that’s gotta be the endless fears, dots and health drains from a warlock. Remember that fear is not dispelled by the PvP trinkets for all classes. They are great in 1v1, or even a 1v2. Same with leveling you are pretty open to getting ganked and a good rogue will probably kill you, but if chaos is what you are after in a BG, Warlock is going to make that happen.
- Suggested professions: Tailoring (Semi-mandatory for raiding Locks), Enchanting, or Herbalism and Alchemy to a lesser degree
- Why should you pick this class? Do you enjoy being a special snowflake? Warlocks were criminally under-represented in Vanilla (and private servers), and people really LOVE having one for summons and health cookies. Not to mention the Wipe-Insurance soulstones. Your pets can actually do a surprising well job for holding aggro should do tank die, so you can also get to be the hero of the day in a 5 man dungeon. The class quests are really great, and the free mounts help a lot to your wallet. You have many tools to handle many situations, and all of your spells are just so rich with lore. If enslaving demons sounds appealing to you, look no further and pick up that staff and go be a Warlock!
- Items to look out for: https://classic.wowhead.com/item=6505/crescent-staff from Wailing Caverns questline is the best weapon that can last you till lvl 25-30. https://classic.wowhead.com/item=873/staff-of-jordan will last you from level 35 to 60. If you join Classic later it can also fetch a good price that will help you buy (or outright buy) your epic mount training because it is the best twink caster weapon in the entire game. Another good staff for you is https://classic.wowhead.com/item=1484/witching-stave which has a bonus damage on shadow spells. A similar one is https://classic.wowhead.com/item=1980/underworld-band although being a BoE epic ring means it will be somewhat costly.
Warrior - Keywords: Tank, Slow levelers, Most popular class, Extremely good at higher content
- Leveling: You will have a miserable experience. There is just no other way around it. You cannot fight multiple enemies at once without using those long cooldowns. You need to bandage/eat after few mobs (Protip: find a mage friend to create some food for you at the beginning of a play session, and tip them some silver. This is way cheaper than buying food). Your damage and survival is extremely gear dependent. If you do have a friend who wants to pocket heal you though (preferably a priest), your life is instantly 10 times better. Grab a shield and a one hander and keep them relevant for dungeons. You can tank them in DPS spec just fine (until level 50~ I’d say). Alone, you are the slowest and least efficient leveler in the entire game. However don’t fret! Your hard work will soon be rewarded.
- Ease of leveling: 1/10
- Fun of leveling: 1~5/10
- Server population: You will be the highest represented class in the entire vanilla, and for a good reason. However do note that many people will quit leveling a Warrior simply due to how slow they are.
- End-game, PvE: If you made it to level 60 as a Warrior, I salute you! Now the real game begins. You are the only tank that any serious raiding guild will bring. If you mention “tank, LF anything” in trade chat, it will take approximately 0.2 seconds before someone invites you for a 5 man. The gear (in a good guild) will always go to the warrior tank first. People will bend over if you are a capable tank. Tanking is not that easy though, so you better know your encounters and your abilities very well. If you do this, and get a loyal guild, you will be golden. Key is finding a good guild, and performing well yourself. There will be many warrior tanks, but around 10% of them will be exceptional, and 50% will be terrible. 40% will be OK. Be the 10%. At higher tiers your DPS goes through the roof into the Outlands. These two reasons are why there are so many Warriors in vanilla.
- End-game, PvP: Find a pocket healer. Dominate PvP. Not much to be said here. Just remember to protect your healer from sneaky rogues/druids, and you will win 90% of the encounters.
- Suggested professions: Engineering (PvP), Mining, Blacksmithing, Herbalism, Alchemy, Enchanting
- Why should you pick this class? Do you have a god complex? Do you like finding parties in an instant? Do you also have what it takes to grind for hours and hours for repair bills, respect costs, buying the best flasks, potions, farming world buffs, items? Well then you can slowly become a legend on your server. Guild will disband over fighting you, the earth beneath your feet will TREMBLE UPON YOUR FOOTSTEPS AND YOUR BLADE… uh. Let’s not get carried away. There is a good reason why Warriors are the most represented class in Vanilla. But don’t get cocky because a great Warrior is not only hard to master, but also incredibly time consuming. Now that doesn’t mean that casuals can’t become good and reliable tanks or DPS’ers, but the difference between an OK Warrior and an amazing Warrior is crystal clear.
- Items to look out for: https://classic.wowhead.com/item=6975/whirlwind-axe the most iconic warrior weapon. Quest is available at level 30, but you will need help from level 40 players due to final boss. https://classic.wowhead.com/item=2291/k ... ecapitator is a beast 2H weapon, but it can sell for a really high price on AH since it's the best for the 40-49 twinks. https://classic.wowhead.com/item=14551/ ... handguards BiS for fury warriors in PvE, including Naxxramas drops. For tanks https://classic.wowhead.com/item=14549/ ... -avoidance or https://classic.wowhead.com/item=14552/ ... -pauldrons will last you well into your first raid or two.
Closing thoughts
- Regarding professions: I've suggested Engineering for some of the classes, but in reality ALL classes can use Engineering; it's fun, has very useful gadgets, and is very good for top tier raiding and PvP. It is however very expensive and time consuming to level. If you're going to pick Engineering no matter what, pair it with Blacksmithing.
- There are many, many more item suggestions for each classes, but these were the ones that stood out at a first glance. The idea was to give you some idea for starter weapons, and some mid-end tier BoE items. While this isn't this guides focus, let us know below if you have some tips for key items to look out for while leveling!
This guide is created by me on /r/classicwow. Link to the original post is here.
If you're still struggling on what race you'd like to pick for your class - try out the Race and Class Comparison tool which lets you compare base stats and race/class synergies for every combination.
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It's just beyond me how everyone's on about how locks are underrepresented and whatnot, yet they are in the top 3 every single time when they're polling people about what will they roll in classic. We'll be full on lock, I'm sure of it.
A bat in the hand is worth two in the belfry.
Finally a guide that is comprensive but not too long! Thank you very much :D
Ish-ne-alo por-ah (May the days ahead be guided by the elders of long ago)
Hydraxian Waterlords - RP - EU
Hydraxian Waterlords - RP - EU
- Fendor - Tauren Shaman
- Ildebrando - Dwarf Hunter
- Osandiron - Dwarf Priest
What class do you suggest for a casual player? I expect to play maybe 10-15 hours a week at most and want to focus mainly on PVP but obviously plan on gearing up my character by doing PVE end game content.
I literally have changed my mind dozens of times regarding which class I want to be my main. I'm currently debating between Priest (Shadow), Druid, Hunter or Paladin. Which of these 4 are best for a casual player?
Great post! The only thing I'd note is that Shamans get windfury at level 30, not 40.
I thought I knew what I wanted to play but now I'm confused again lol.
I'd recommend Hunter just because it's the fastest class to level so as a casual player it won't take you forever to get to 60. They're also strong in PVP so you would be good in that regard.bilal wrote: ↑5 years agoWhat class do you suggest for a casual player? I expect to play maybe 10-15 hours a week at most and want to focus mainly on PVP but obviously plan on gearing up my character by doing PVE end game content.
I literally have changed my mind dozens of times regarding which class I want to be my main. I'm currently debating between Priest (Shadow), Druid, Hunter or Paladin. Which of these 4 are best for a casual player?
Thanks! Fixed.Dunkleberg wrote: ↑5 years agoGreat post! The only thing I'd note is that Shamans get windfury at level 30, not 40.
Hunter, as mentioned, is great for casual play. If you are in no rush, Druid is also good for PvP but it is a lot harder to micro manage. Although for Druid you can do away with semi-OK gear and still perform well. Plus you can tank 5 mans in PvP (feral) spec with no issues, so you can gear up even faster.
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Crescent Staff lasts you until level 25-30? Hell, it lasts me until level 50 and beyond!
This is a wonderful guide for picking a class for what someone might expect. Thank you for posting this. It was a great read!
Faelior of <Royal Authorities> on Grobbulus
awesome guide! Thank you!
Quicks - Orc Hunter - US Sulfuras
Chablo - Undead Mage - US Sulfuras
Chablo - Undead Mage - US Sulfuras
Thanks for this guide! I highly appreciate it! Looking to play a Rogue!
Great guide, really appreciate it. Found a small bug: The Tailoring page links to Herbalism (at least on the Warlock page).
Amazingly well done! I had my mind set already on the class, but nice to have all information coming together so nicely.
Awesome guide, good job. This should come in handy for me and my friends since we're all still quite undecided on what classes to play in Classic.
Great guide! The only thing I'm a bit sad about vanilla is the underperforming aspects of some hybrid classes in end-game PvE, like pala, druid and shaman. It's like they went unfinished. Might be an unpopular opinion, but some balancing and touching up would be cool.
Very easy to read. I knew the class I was going to play a long time ago and I read all of these anyway. Recommended to my friends who are still thinking about what class to choose!
Great guide! Superb work!
I used to main a warrior way back when, but I’ve decided to main a rogue this time around. Most likely I’ll make a warrior alt though, for full blown nostalgia. This is also a way of making the game feel a lot more “new” to me which I love!
Awesome guide! Very informative, easy to navigate and not too long. Thank you, @Gallow!
Also I liked the "Items to look out for" section. Never seen something similar in any class picking guide, great idea.
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