First experience classic was paladin. Had very little downtime if any, sometimes on tougher mobs. Tried warrior was A LOT more difficult solo/quest.
I am on mage now, finding myself having to eat/drink depending on level of mobs fighting.
Is this normal for most classes? Whenever Ive seen Hunter/warlock quest/solo, they seem to have little downtime.
By definiton pet classes are ezmode because the pet takes the damage and both classes can heal the pet, Warlock better than Hunter, so unless the player screws up and lets their character get hit thereās little to no need to ever recover HP or mana.
Only thing Iām not sure of is whether Warlock can recover MP, they can in āretailā but Iāve not played a 'lock this time round so not sure here.
In my long but forever-casual experience, hunters and warlocks have the least down time. Paladins can go for awhile depending on how you play it, and rogues as well if theyāre not getting hit too much. Priests are also ok when soloing around level 14-15 if they immediately spec into spirit tap, because each kill gives a guaranteed mana regeneration boost. You have to land the killing blow though, so in groups thereās no benefit, and it becomes up to the tank how frequently you have drink.
If you are going to play a caster (priest, lock, mage) then get a wand. Most useful tool you will have for many, many levels.
A wand is a must-have if you want to level up at a decent pace as a caster.
First off, the higher level you get (or the more your gear lags behind your character level) the more any class will be eating/drinking. A lot of the middle ground leveling classes (e.g. shadow priest, solo feral druid, paladins) spend the first 30ish levels vendoring their food and drink, but later will start to see looted moonberry juice or morning dew as sweet manna from heaven.
But some classes are definitely worse than others. The old saw is that a solo leveling warrior or rogue is not Arms or Combat spec, but first aid spec. They take more damage and have less means to restore it outside of consumables, period.
That said, the hybrids are not as far from them as it often FEELS like. That ret paladin has no downtime from combat because he is conserving his mana to heal instead of kill the mob faster, the warlock is draining life or mana instead of shadow bolting, etc. Both increase recovery at the cost of time, but one is active and free and the other is passive and uses consumables.
I just bandage. I have 8 sec of downtime SOMETIMES. If i have poisons up, use my cc, and play right (not lazy) then i have very little downtime.
My mage is 14 now, I can usually get two back to back kills before Iām at zero mana but thats it. I usually drink after ever kill. But I donāt have a wand 
I carry food and water just in case, but I very rarely have to use it.
My mage, on the other handā¦
Warrior - Yes, unless you are geared because its an alt or you have bandages that actually heal most of your hp.
Warlock - No
Priest - No, front load spells and wand
Mage - Yes, more than anyone else.
Paladin - No
Shaman - Sometimes. You can front load spells and melee, but generally if you are chain pulling mobs you will be on your butt eventually.
Druid - No
Rogue - Same as warriors but slightly better because of defensive cds and lets be real, you are undeadā¦ just cannabilise.
Hunter - No
By definiton pet classes are ezmode because the pet takes the damage and both classes can heal the pet, Warlock better than Hunter, so unless the player screws up and lets their character get hit thereās little to no need to ever recover HP or mana.
Only thing Iām not sure of is whether Warlock can recover MP, they can in āretailā but Iāve not played a 'lock this time round so not sure here.
I play a lock, and let me tell you, i drink and eat a LOT. Mostly because most battles involve more than one mob, and that really drains my resources. Voidwalker doesnāt hold aggro very well, and dies quite easily imho.
It might change when I get higher level but as a warlock I only have to eat after a bad pull. Big blue can handle 2-3 ok, Dot them up Fear one if needed wand down the others healing pet as required or lifedrain if I need it. Afterwards I will tap for mana and either eat or bandage.
lifetap was a thing in vanilla im like 99% sure
I was leveling this warrior and have to eat after every pull, then I dicide to level a alt mage, it is so easyā¦Iām level 10 there, have a wand, and only have to drink after 3/4 pulls. If I pull more than one I just polymorth and have a easy life. I never have to eat, at least until this level.
Ive also noticed if you eat/drink at the same time it seems to increase the effects of both. I am mage maybe it only applies for mage or mage food/drink.
It might change when I get higher level but as a warlock I only have to eat after a bad pull. Big blue can handle 2-3 ok, Dot them up Fear one if needed wand down the others healing pet as required or lifedrain if I need it. Afterwards I will tap for mana and either eat or bandage.
I wonder how you handle that. In my experience, fighting mobs of same or 2 lvls above, I find that pulling 3 is very risky, even if I fear one. Most times my blueberry dies and I have to use sacrifice and summon a new one. By the time Iām through, Iām out of mana AND health. Got a bit easier now that Iāve hit lvl 20 and have better gear, but on the whole my experience has been such.
Grinding greens on my warrior or shaman? Nope, I dont have to sit at all. But thats with a lot of melee/white damage and not so much spells.
The entire response is great but bonus points for referencing āthe old sawā instead of calling it a āmemeā.
I try to keep things at my level and heal my pet. Might help that Iām Demonology, not sure what tree people start off with but thatās the one I picked and it really buffs the pets.
Youāre level 17ā¦of course you have no downtime.