Class for a beginner?

WoW Classic WoW Classic General Discussion
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Hey yall, I’m sure questions like this are asked a million times a day but I struggle with decision paralysis to the point where it hinders my ability to have fun, so I come to you :dracthyr_a1:

I’m starting on Dreamscythe with the intent of just enjoying the 1-60, learning fundamentals and leveling professions, then taking the game more seriously for TBC.

I feel like there are classes that I want to play (Warrior, Paladin, Rogue) that have extremely limited slots, and those slots are already filled by more experienced players before the expansion even begins, then there’s classes that are easily stackable (Warlock, Hunter, Priest?) that I have passing interest in, but am afraid it will be nearly impossible to differentiate myself from the others who play it. Maybe this perception is wrong, but it’s the perception I have given what I’ve seen.

I have no gold, no guild, and a dream. Is there anything y’all are willing to recommend for someone like me? I’m aware of the “whatever you’ll enjoy the most” or “whatever you won’t burn out on” response, but honestly my enjoyment comes from being a valued member of a team rather than cranking DPS or really any single specific class fantasy.

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Mage is as simple as it gets. Very self sufficient. Good leveler. Exceptional if you want to aoe level, though in the open world that’s probably not too viable.

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As I hear it, hunter and warlock are basically 1-2 button classes in TBC, a beginner who puts in the effort to learn should be fine.

On your feeling of preferring to support rather than necessarily be the top individual contributor, Shaman will also be in high demand for buffs and bloodlust probably a bit more to them than hunter and lock but if you press bloodlust at the right time and keep totems up, I don’t think you’ll have much issue.

Paladin’s a good choice for beginners generally and there should be 3 per raid to get access to blessings.

I have a similar support mindset, not a speed runner or min maxer so take my advice as you will :stuck_out_tongue:

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Mages bring it all, valuable buffs, utility, sufficiency and survivability. Priests too when considering TBC.

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I would not go mage for a beginner, to be honest. It’s too easy to die if you dont know your abilities and how to manage mobs

I would say paladin is super beginner friendly. Easy leveling rotation, big armor, self-healing, multiple escape buttons, free level 40 mount, 3 needed per raid in TBC, etc.

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Based on the target of TBC go Warlock and enjoy.

Other classes are excellent but lock will let you see what is going on around you making the whole experience 10x better.

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It gets a bit better in TBC, but in vanilla Warr is the hardest class for a new player because it’s the most gear dependent.

Not saying you can’t do it, just be prepared that you’d likely die more and level slower esp. if starting before prepatch.

Mage, priest are non-pet classes that are pretty straightforward. Rogue is fine and will have more demand for dungeons at least because of cc.

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shaman.

in tbc you can really play any spec of shaman and be wanted due to totems and lust .

you can melee or spellcast or heal and is a very noob friendly class that you will learn tricks for as you level.

you also have heals that you can keep yourself up with in case things go a bit south.

really fun class .

btw with shaman quests for the totems dont be afraid to let the water totem quest sit till you get to like level 24 or something cause it has you go in higher level zones that you might die in.

also i dont usually recommend guides but restedxp and zygor have really good leveling addons that can guide you through the levels really well and i believe restedxp has up to lvl 20 for free.

check em out.

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Don’t think I’d recommend lock for a beginner player.

To be clear lock is amazing, especially in tbc, just that it’s also very button intensive, has pet management, debuff management, multiple different types of damage, a number of different spell ranges, and is very touchy about controlling range to target/positioning in pvp. IMO, it’s probably THE CLASS that can teach you the most about the game, but probably among the hardest to learn to play well.

THAT SAID, the basic pve skill floor is very low, and largely involves spamming shadow bolt for single target or seed of corruption for aoe.

It levels very easily, is very self sufficient, very strong soloing, and very powerfull in both pve and pvp… absolutely try one out, but I can’t garuntee it’s a fit for everyone.

As an addendum I can speak on dps specs I know/have played:

Warrior: easy but way less desired in tbc

Rogue: rogue is one of the easiest classes in the game imo, and has a SUPER HIGH quality of life with stealth, no mana, and never needing to buff others or do anything but dps. Just less desired

Priest: shadow is one of the easiest specs in the game to play, and they’re decently wanted.

Ret: the base rotation you could train a really slow toddler to play. It’s almost insulting your intelligence at a fundamental level. That said, actually doing well on it involves seal twisting, which isn’t super easy, and you also need extremely specific things (melee group, windfury…. The other paladin in your raid to not be a potato and actually judge wisdom)

Druid: not a beginner class

Shaman: I actually can’t remember for enhance. Ele is powerfully easy casting wise, the totems add button bloat.

Hunter: don’t know for tbc, they where pretty easy in vanilla to play, but a bit annoying/involved on pets compared to lock

Then there’s mage… which is just a warlock with severe brain damage.

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Level a feral druid. Everyone loves having a tank around. Even if you decide feral isn’t the spec for you, you can dual spec as resto or boomkin at end game. Gets even better in BC.

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Thank you for the replies everyone!

I’ll be trying out a Priest & a Warrior to see how they feel, then go from there.

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I would go Warlock especially when tbc hits.

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If you want to move alot and be active go melee. If you want to stand and cast in dungeons go caster. If your not sure go druid, they have all the specs. Don’t worry about difficulty you will learn as you level.

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Warlock is the way to go. Everyone will love you in TBC

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Since you’ve highlighted these three, I’d point out that Paladins probably have more slots on average than the other two in this list, and if you’re comfortable playing the class rather than a single spec, you’ll have a lot of opportunities to find something that matches your play times.

:woman_shrugging:

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My primary concern with Paladin as it stands is I’m going to be playing Horde (I got a buddy who wants to roll with me, and we decided on Horde) and sitting on my hands until Prepatch (or leveling something else purely to have gold & greens to funnel to a paladin) then either paying for a boost or mongo speed leveling seems stressful as hell.

To be honest, I tried to get a Belf Paladin leveled during the 2016 TBC prepatch, and it burned me out so bad I quit. I don’t want a repeat of that experience.

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Fair enough! Well, while I do think that Paladin fits your criteria exceptionally well (easy to play, desirable roles to easily find a raid spot), if additional criteria are Horde and available prior to prepatch, then that changes things a bit.

I think this is probably a good call. An almost free mount at level 40, and a great class for leveling in general, as well as not to complicated of an end-game raid rotation probably fit your criteria on the Horde side quite well.

I wouldn’t worry about differentiating yourself too much personally. Though, if you are concerned about this, you can do so by working on getting decent raid logs, which I think is more or less the only way to do so.

And while you didn’t mention it, I would personally probably more strongly consider priest in this case, due to the viability of priests in some of the top arena comps in TBC.

:woman_shrugging:

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Yeah, I think I’m starting on Priest and pivoting to something else if it doesn’t feel right.

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All classes are fairly simple in TBC tbh. Some may have some funny gimmicks, iirc, hunters need to trap weave to maximize their damage to parse. But overall, nothing is too complex.

I’d focus on the aesthetics and the playstyle that fits your desires.
You can even look up how Tier sets look for every class and go off of that too.

Additionally, you can go watch this Class Guide by WillE. He goes over every class.

Keep in mind, every class has a spot and a role in raiding set up. Some may be slightly better than others and in more demand, but those also tend to be far more competitive for gear. Additionally, given the parsing nature of the game (rankings), being GOOD at a B/C-tier spec is better than being bad at S-tier spec.

So, DPS wise, just focus on the gameplay and the artstyle,
If you choose to go healer, honestly, same thing. All healers do play a tad differently though.
For tank, I’d just say go Prot Paladin - really good in AoE/Dungeon settings and you would be the off-tank for the raids.

Good luck & have fun!

edit: I’m going Rdru for a few reasons:

  • For the most part of my WoW’s “career”, I’ve been a healer main (10+ years Rdru)
  • Rdru is my favorite healer spec in WoW. I even play it on Retail in keys. I was Rdru main end of TBCC, all of Wrath and all of Cata. Swapped to Ret for MoP-C to get the set :smiley:
  • Rdrus are HoT based playstyle, so there is a tad more management that goes into it.
  • I find them to be fairly strong early game and Brez is nice in dungeons.
  • Rdrus also have some damage toolkit - 2 DoTs and a Hurricane AoE. I’m a M+ player, so doing damage as a healer in dungeons is in my blood by now. And having innervate makes it easier to self sustain on mana.
  • Tier looks sick asf imho.
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Warrior: Very involved in terms of action. It’s a fun class to play, but you can get burned out on raids since tanks are responsible for a lot of deaths and raid outcomes. If you want a lazy role this is NOT it.

DPS is simpler for warrior, but you likely will tank at some point. Especially in heavier raids. Warrior is a bit of a slog when leveling too.

Paladin: Very good healer and an optional tank. Will excel at AoE tanking in TBC dungeons.

Rogue: Pure damage, very simple class for PvE. More options when doing PvP.

Paladin will probably be the most popular ask in TBC. Remember also you will have Shaman. Likely to be a highly sought class but that one is a bit complicated as well.

I’m a guild master, so if you are looking for a guild feel free to DM me.