World of Warcraft - Classes

Druids
The druids of the Cenarion Circle regard themselves at the caretakers of the world. Having an affinity with all things nature, druids have the power to do a good many things -- and therein lies their power. Druids are versatile. While they may not be the best at particular roles, they are capable of mostly anything.

Druids are normally regarded as casters who have slightly better physical options than the three cloth classes of mage, priest and warlock, and slightly worse magic options. In truth, a druid can heal about as well as a priest can, and can do some decent spell damage when they mean to, although not nearly as much as a mage is capable of.

However, druids' most significant aspect is their ability to shapeshift into various animal forms. At level 10, druids learn to turn themselves into a bear, that effectively makes their character behave like a warrior. The bear has a rage bar, some better combat options, and can take hits far better than the druid in "caster form". Level 20 also brings the druid catform, which lets them behave like a rogue. While catform is not as able to take hits, like a rogue compared to a warrior, a cat deals better damage than a warrior and can even go into stealth.

In instance groups, druids will generally be healers, but can certainly fill in on other roles as needed if healing is covered. The same goes for raiding, although druids are further pushed towards healing and removing poisons and curses. In PvP, druid roles vary a good deal, but the shapeshifting abilities become rather important in the battlegrounds where a feral druid can do a lot of good.

Tanking: good
Healing: high
Damage: moderate
Utility and support: good

Strengths:

•     Capable of filling most any role
•     Easily adjustable to personal style
•     Able to travel swiftly with Travel and Aquatic forms
•     Excellent buff spells and heal-over-time options
•     Generally low populations lead to high demand for a druid

Drawbacks:

•     May not be considered the best at any one thing
•     Restrictions on abilities by current form or being outdoor-only
•     Being effective at each role takes a set of gear for each
•     Requires the management of many different abilities, and even multiple resource types
•     Highly limited choices for race

Available races: Night Elf, Tauren
Usable armor: Cloth and leather
Usable weapons: Staves (starting weapon), Maces, Two-handed maces, Daggers, Unarmed

Hunters
Stalkers of the wild, hunters rove the land in search of prey. Skilled trackers and ever vigilant, they attack with gun and bow, while sending their animal companion to keep their adversaries at bay. If the hunter weren't fearsome enough alone, having a tiger or bear assail you to boot is enough for other members of the world to respect the power of a hunter.

Hunters are a class that is known for its ease in soloing and general lack of skills to bring to a group, however that isn't entirely fair. Many hunters are loners, who have figured out how to work by themselves, and are not always exposed to the rigors of party combat until much later in their career.

Hunters are capable in close quarters, with many weapon proficiencies and wearing moderately heavy armor, but their strength lies in their ranged skills. Because of this, their "pet", a beast that they tame out of the wild to fight alongside them, provides a distraction for the hunter to maintain range. Some hunters have great reliance on their pets, as a tiger's claws are still rather sharp.

In instance groups, hunters will typically fill a damage-dealing role, although the good ones will also provide decent utility. Hunters are good "safe" damage on raids, as they are generally not exposed to opponents' dangers from afar and are not nearly as limited by mana as a mage. Hunter PvP roles vary greatly, but a skilled hunter often uses their tracking skills and lies in wait to surprise opponents.

Tanking: moderate
Healing: none, except a pet heal
Damage: high
Utility and support: good

Strengths:

•     Can tame nearly any beast in the world to join their hunt
•     Highly-skilled at ranged combat, making it hard to reach or escape a hunter
•     Very self-sufficient, and often capable of fighting difficult world elites alone
•     Very wide array of available equipment

Drawbacks:

•     Cannot use ranged attacks within 8 yards of their target
•     Loses considerable inventory space to carry ammunition and food for pet
•     Highly-maligned reputation
•     Lack of a clear group role

Available races: Night Elf, Dwarf, Draenei, Orc, Troll, Tauren, Blood Elf
Usable armor: Cloth and leather, mail at level 40
Usable weapons: Axes, Two-handed axes, Swords, Two-handed swords, Daggers, Polearms, Fist Weapons, Bows, Guns, Crossbows, Thrown Weapons (starting weapons vary by race)
Talent trees: Beast Mastery (pet focus), Marksmanship (ranged damage focus), Survival (utility and self-preserMages
Wielders of powerful magic, mages through history have concerned themselves with their lust for power. This great power led the mage Kel'thuzad toward being the catalyst for starting the plague that took over Lordaeron. However, not all power corrupts, as the remaining members of the mage city of Dalaran would like to uphold.

Of the three "caster" classes, mages place their combat focus on destruction. Ice Bolts and Fire Balls freeze and sear opponents into oblivion. But being general overall spellcasters, mages do have slightly more than just blowing stuff up...like, um...polymorph, to disable an opponent so they can better blow them up.

In fairness, mages also can cast teleport spells and conjure some supplies. A few of their spells also have a significant amount of utility usage. Mages may be a bit fragile, but they are also very capable.

In instance groups, mages are excellent at dealing damage, and specialize in area effect (AE) damage. They also use Polymorph, Frost Nova and Counterspell to try to take their opponents out of the fight. On a raid, the crowd control aspect of the class is often stifled, but mages are always called upon to do damage. Mages can be very potent in PvP, casting single-target and area damage spells.

Tanking: poor
Healing: none
Damage: high, highest for AE
Utility and support: high

Strengths:

•     Able to destroy many opponents before they can lay a finger on the mage
•     Can harm many opponents at once
•     Able to remove a target from combat with Polymorph
•     Teleportation spells and conjuring their own food/drink

Drawbacks:

•     Low survivability rate, when their magic fails them
•     Limited equipment choices from having only cloth to use
•     Heavy dependence on mana, and total reliance on being able to stand still long enough to cast their spells

Available races: Human, Gnome, Draenei, Troll, Undead, Blood Elf
Usable armor: Cloth
Usable weapons: Staves (starting weapon), Daggers, Swords, Wands
Talent trees: Frost (longevity), Arcane (general enhancement), Fire (rapid destruPaladins
Traditionally human, the Order of the Crimson Hand also includes dwarves in this post-third war era. Defenders of The Light, justice, and honor, Alliance paladins are holy knights that excel at both healing and defense. With the arrival of the Burning Crusade, the Draenei were found to also be ardent followers of the light, whose powers supposedly the Blood Elves have managed to steal and create their own cadre of Blood Knights.

Paladins are heavy armor specialists that do not excel at damage dealing, but instead make good healers because, though their spells lack the sudden punch of a priest, they are incredibly hard to kill. Indeed, when called to the task, paladins are capable tanks if they can hold aggro.

Paladins also possess some very potent spell effects they can bestow on other players, such as blessings, auras, and (indirectly) judgements. Though the blessings are very short in duration, and a paladin can only cast one on each target, many consider them the best buff spells in the game.

Groupwise, the paladin will often find themselves playing a support role. After blessing their group and activating the appropriate aura, a paladin will often be back-up healing and off-tanking as needed. In the absence of a warrior or another healer, sometimes the paladin will be the main tank or healer, but this is usually not preferred. Paladins are excellent back-up healers because they can resurrect, meaning if something should happen to the priest or druid late in the instance, the group is not screwed over.

Tanking: good
Healing: good
Damage: low
Utility and support: high

Strengths:

•     Frustratingly difficult to kill
•     Can wear any armor and most weapons
•     Excellent support and emergency skills
•     Free mount at level 40, and special quested mount at 60

Drawbacks:

•     Low damage output, little more than autoattack
•     No ranged attacks
•     Only (currently) playable by one faction
•     Very gear-dependent

Available races: Human, Dwarf, Draenei, Blood Elf
Usable armor: Any (plate after level 40)
Usable weapons: Maces, swords, and axes -- both one- and two-handed.
Talent trees: Holy (healing power), Protection (defensive), Retribution (offensive)

Priests
Spiritual leaders across many different races are loosely defined as "priests". Every race has priests to guide their beliefs besides the shamanistic orcs and tauren, and the technocratic gnomes. While priests are generally revered as healers, each race's priests are slightly different, and some priests are more intent on using the darker powers of their faith.

Priests will combine holy magic mostly reserved for healing and protecting, and shadowy magic that manipulates, damages, and withers opponents. A priest makes for a good ally and an unwanted enemy.

Priests are very often sought out for groups simply for their healing capacities. Though priests are capable of much more, this is the role they are normally reduced to in any kind of group or raid environment. However, in PvP, shadow priests melt faces.

Tanking: poor
Healing: highest
Damage: decent
Utility and support: good

 

Strengths:

•  Powerful healing spells
•  Protective magical shield to help prevent incoming damage
•  Very popular with other players
•  Capable magician in their own right

Drawbacks:

•  Limited to cloth armor, and often easily killed
•  Usually cast into a healing role, which can be boring and thankless

Available races: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Draenei, Troll, Undead, Blood Elf (see spell list for race-based spells)
Usable armor: Cloth only
Usable weapons: one-handed Maces (starting weapon), Daggers, Staves, Wands
Talent trees: Holy (healing power), Shadow (offensive), Discipline (staying power and all-purpose eRogues
The cat burglar. The street thug. The ruthless assassin. All of these people are united in that they often transgress the law to succeed, and by hook or crook, they will take what they need. Usually not one to engage in open confrontation, rogues do not fight a fair fight, and typically the first indication a rogue is nearby is from the dagger in your back.

Rogues are melee combatants that focus on their skills rather than their armor to keep them alive. Masters of moving in stealth, crafty rogues have skills for just about every situation, and without mana, they are generally only limited by their own endurance -- one only has the energy to do so much at once.

Rogues make for the best single-targest damage in the game, and this often brings them into groups, who might also want a rogue around to sneak ahead and scout or sap an opponent, or to pick the locks on doors and chests. This does require the rogue to be up front and possibly in the line of fire, however.

Tanking: moderate
Healing: none
Damage: highest (for single target)
Utility and support: decent

Strengths:

•  Able to sneak past danger, or sneak up behind their kills
•  Excellent at dealing damage in a hurry, making for rapid grinding
•  Able to pick locks other classes have no way of opening
•  Abilities to respond to mostly any situation

Drawbacks:

•  Have to engage consistently in combat with only leather armor
•  Many abilities have reagents or lengthy cooldowns
•  No range on primary abilities

Available races: all but Tauren and Draenei
Usable armor: cloth and leather
Usable weapons: All one-handed weapons and ranged weapons besides wands
Talent trees: Combat (straight fighting), Subtlety (stealth skills and avoiding combat), Assassination (ruthless offense)

Shamans
All people turn to their spiritual leaders from time to time. Some of the more tribal races have shamans to fill this role rather than a priest. The shaman communicates with spirits and the elements, and has visions of the future, to guide their people through the darkest of time.

Shamans are no pushovers, however. They possess a variety of potent combat skills in addition to their magic, and eventually wear mail armor along with the option to protect themselves with shields.

However, what shamans are best known for in combat are their totems. Long the Horde complement to the paladin, the shamans short-term buff abilities and other temporary effects come from the laying of totems. The shaman eventually comes to master each of the four elements, and has specific totems that are associated with each. One totem of each kind may be active at once.

Tanking: decent
Healing: moderate
Damage: moderate
Utility and support: high

Strengths:

•  Great versatility, being capable of both melee and magic
•  Good burst damage and quick effects from "shock" abilities
•  Earliest-learned escape ability at level 20 with Ghose Wolf
•  Strong healing capabilities to outlast opponents

Drawbacks:

•  Run out of mana very quickly
•  Are very limited in their totem use during multi-group encounters
•  Cannot greatly effect an opponent outside of 20 yards

Available races: Draenei, Orc, Troll, Tauren
Usable armor: Cloth, Leather, Mail (at level 40), Shields
Usable weapons: One-handed maces and axes, daggers, staves. Two-handed maces and polearms available with talents.
Talent trees: Elemental Combat (offensive magic), Enhancement (close combat), Restoration (defensive and support Warlcok
Warlocks were mages that delved too deeply into the roots of demonic power. Consumed by a lust for dark knowledge, they've tapped into chaotic magics from beyond the world. The Burning Legion now feeds them their powers, allowing them to channel destructive energies and call upon the powerful emissaries of their demon masters.

The Warlock is a more involved class to play. Warlocks have pets, many different spell combos, and a reagent component requirement for some of their spells. This means that playing a Warlock takes a bit more learning than some of the more straightforward classes. The Warlock has a lot of very cool and fun abilities including Eye of Killrogg, Fear, Pets, and more. The Warlock is a very fun class to play once you figure things out.

Allowable equipment: Cloth
Allowable weapons: Daggers, Wands, Staves (with training), Swords (with training)

Strengths:

•  Can use pets for fun and to attract enemy aggression
•  Can create healing potions in the form of Healthstones
•  Can summon other players using Ritual of Summoning
•  Can breathe underwater using Unending Breath
•  Can summon its own Felsteed horse rather than buying one for a lot of gold
•  Can use Eye of Killrogg to scout
•  Can take control of a Demon for a short amount of time
•  Can heal itself using Drain Life
•  Can solo very well by using a petto act as a group of two characters complementing each others' skills

 Weaknesses:

• Can only wear cloth armor
•  Very fragile and easily killed incertain situations
•  Soul Shards take up inventory space

Warriors
Warriors are the melee-centered class. These characters are tough as nails and masters of weaponry and tactics. The special abilities of the Warrior are naturally combat-oriented. The Warrior is the ultimate toe-to-toe fighter with the most options available to him. Unlike other Warriors you might have played in other games, the Warrior of World of Warcraft has many different options and abilities to use during combat.

Tips

•  Team up with healers (Priest, Shaman, Druid) to keep you alive.
•  Pick one or two of the two-handed weapon types to use. It costs points to train in each type, so focus on just a few.
•  Manage your Rage! If you are fighting a caster save some for a timely shield bash/kick to stop them from blasting you or healing themselves. That one extra use of Heroic Strike may have caused some extra damage but if the monster heals it's like starting all over.
•  Try and plan your Talents ahead of time. If you want to make a fierce close in fighter with many hit points, you should stick with the stamina and prowess Talents. If you want to be an offensive powerhouse, you should stick with the Strength and Weapon Specialization Talents.
•  Protect your group mates. A Priest or a Mage isn't meant to take the brunt of an enemy's attack. Use the Taunt ability to focus the attacks on yourself.

Allowable equipment: Cloth, Leather, Mail, Plate, Shields
Allowable weapons: One- and Two-Handed Axes, Maces, Swords, Thrown, Daggers, Polearms

Strengths:

•  Able to equip all armor and almost all weapons
•  Takes the most damage before becoming incapacitated
•  Great close range melee skills
•  Lots of equipment options
•  Slaughter monsters

Weaknesses:

•  No healing abilities, relies on food or other players to heal
•  Very gear dependent class