I mained a Hunter in WoW Classic, and I mained a Mage in Shadowlands. After lots of back-and-forth I went with Hunter for TBC Classic. However, I’m having some real bad FOMO not playing a Mage.
I know all the reasons - Pros and Cons - of playing a Hunter in TBC, or at least are more familiar than that of a TBC Mage. Are there any major downsides to playing a Mage that maybe I’m not considering? For example, if I was answering this question for someone else in Classic Vanilla asking about a Hunter I would mention dead zone, no traps in combat, lack of pet scaling, arrows (ironically most of which was fixed in TBC).
I suppose I’m asking more about playstyle, lore, quality of life, etc. I already know about the DPS differences between the two classes.
Any downsides to playing a Mage that I should consider before using my boost on one? I really only have time to focus on one character - working/married dad. Main focuses are PvE (casual raiding and occasional Heroic dailies once 70) and PvP (arena, WPvP and BGs).
just Using the SABCD tier this is how I would rank mages in TBC
PVE: A tier. Viable, good dps but just under lock/hunter. Doesn’t really offer much utility outside of int/table
Battlegrounds: A- / B+ Tier. Locks and druids are both very problematic for mages and among the best/most popular classes in TBC. Enough of them on the enemy team can certainly make a mages life tough.
Arena: S tier. Very very strong when paired with a rogue. Maybe just only A- / B+ for a more average player but at the top level they’re definitely among the best in all brackets
I played Mage, Shaman, Druid, Warlock, Paladin and Hunter in SL.
In Classic: Hunter, Shaman, Warlock, Paladin and probably not Mage.
I always found the Mage to be tough to deal with in close quarters. Plus, they are squishy. I like their flashiness, portals, aoe…the usual. But for survival compared to everything else there are definitely frustrating moments that made me stick to other classes.
TBH, I loved Ele Shaman in SL more than Mage. Utility, survivability like you wouldn’t believe, plus heavy hitters. I’m leveling an Enhancement Shaman right now, which I will probably swap to Ele later, only because for pure early leveling it is less painful.
Anyway, whatever you want to do. If something is pulling you in one direction, give it a go. Worst case scenario is that you hate it then have to level something else the regular way.
Pros: very easy rotation, competitive dps, not as many compared to warlocks now (I always get invited to groups and people are legit surprised to see a mage), cool class lore, amazing in heroics because of CC, needed in raids, frost is amazing in pvp both bgs and arenas, good at farming gold, easy threat drops in raids, free ports/food/water, always a solid class.
Cons: Not FOTM like Warlock/Hunter and will do less dps equally geared and skilled usually, but honestly so far i’m always just right behind hunters and i’m still just frost. squishy (so if a sweaty warrior uses a free action potion you’re screwed), tier sets not as cool as warlock’s
way more pros than cons. i’m having a little bit of FOMO from not playing a warlock but i’ve played a warlock before and the cons are having to manage pet, shards, drain soul, way more keybinds to deal with, soul stone, life tap, no threat drop/immunity , bad cc for crowded places/dungeons. mage cons are way less bad tbh