Hello, I’m pretty new to WoW only been playing a couple months now and have a few characters. I’m really excited for this new expansion but the only issue i’m having is I don’t know what to play. I already know what I want to do (heal) but for the life of me can’t choose a class. So I’m debating between Undead Priest, Blood Elf Pally, and Troll Shaman. I love the idea of giving buffs to people so naturally I would like Pally and shaman, but I don’t think Shaman really matches with the shadowlands vibe with Maldraxxus, Venthyr, etc. So why don’t I play Pally that makes sense, well in the lore the only horde side Paladin that uses the holy light are the Blood Elfs… And I HATE them! They just are really snobby and I don’t think they fit the horde at all. So why don’t I just play Tauren? Well I don’t think they really fit the whole holy vibe and the Zandalari too. But I could just play Alliance but the only issue with that is that all my friends play horde so I feel inclined to play horde! So now we come to my final class i’m debating, Undead Priest. So I think in the lore Undead Priest are really cool and look awesome in that new witch doctor set from Castle Nathria! Only downside being is that I don’t like both of the priest playstyles at all, Holy isn’t that fun for me because it’s really generic, and I want to heal not DPS when I play a healer. so I never found disc that fun either. Can anybody give me insight into what choice I should make? Its been tearing at me for weeks now.
Definitely make sure it’s a class you enjoy playing. If you don’t enjoy playing a priest, liking the aesthetics and lore will only help so much with enjoying the character. From what you’ve said, I’d cross priest off the list.
While a lot of the more recent Shaman story has been very elemental based, it’s important to remember that a lot of the various Shamanistic cultures in wow have an ancestor-based vibe. That would seem to fit in pretty well with a tour of the afterlife. Probably not for Goblins, but definitely for the other Horde races that can be Shaman. (And lets not forget that the Loa that Trolls call upon are tied to Ardenweld.)
Next, while Tauren Paladins look at the light a bit differently than humans, in some ways that makes them a bit more interesting. There’s a short story following the main Sunwalker (Paladin) Dezco after the events in Krasarang Wilds. I’d give it a read before you write off Tauren Paladins.
Thank you for the advice, I know I shouldn’t play priest but that plague doctor set looks so good! But you’re right cosmetics only go so far and when you’re actually playing the class what you find fun matters. Now i’m split on Shaman and Paladin! Shaman I find fun but I don’t know a clear covenant to join and I don’t want to only be useful in raids. While on the other-hand A venthyr Paladin atoning for his sins stands against everything they represent and sounds awesome. (Especially a Blood Elf) but I don’t enjoy playing a blood-elf! And the only issue I see with Tauren is that none of the transmog gear really fits with them as they worship the sun and not the holy light. But a melee healer sounds awesome. What do you think I should do?
If you have not played Beta, there are tons of recent In depth you tube videos on every spec.
I’ve watched almost every video on Youtube about the SL beta healers and still don’t know what to do! I’ll think I made a decision but an hour later I end up regretting it.
I like both priest heal specs better than holy pally. If you go pally, you get only two specs since you don’t tank. You mentioned holy priest needs to dps, but it does not and you don’t have to. None of the dps skills affect healing like disc. You could make some level 110 trial characters to see if you like melee or ranged.
Although you want to heal, you will spend a lot of time on the dps spec in the open world. The shadow priest rework is looking incredibly cool and they are happy on the priest forum. Ret pally is basic and spriest is more involved.
I guess I really haven’t given Disc a try and just cast it off to the side, I’ll go check it out now!
Late reply here, but there are a few things to consider before selecting your class in SL:
First, you aren’t just limited to one. Try them ALL out. Some classes are getting big overhauls in SL and you may just find that you like something that you may not have liked before.
Second, consider what content you intend to do the most of. Shamans weren’t the most powerful healer in BFA, but when you look at why you may understand. Many raid fights required a lot of spreading which does NOT benefit a tight group healer like Shaman. Healing rain and chain heal did not get max benefit. Looking at the new dungeons and Castle Nathria, there are many more fights where the raid/group can be stacked taking advantage of Shaman’s many tools like healing rain, chain heal, and spirit link totem.
Third, unless you are playing at the highest level of the game, i.e., Hall of Fame raiders or Cutting Edge, then your class/spec may not matter NEARLY as much as you think it does. It is imperative that you ENJOY playing your class, or you will burn out fast and lose the enjoyment of the game.
And last: Do NOT, I repeat do NOT only watch guides and make a determination if you are going to play that class or not. Hearing someone’s positive or negative takes on something can on some level affect your decision using THEIR emotion about it. Don’t pigeon hole yourself. This is a brand new xpac. We’ll have ~2 years of content to figure out what we like and don’t like.
TL;DR, Play what you like. Enjoy yourself!
~Ol’ Man Dremkins
Definitely late here, but if you do try disc, watch at least one guide on it. The damage through healing mechanic is very difficult to master, which is why disc preists are regarded as the hardest healers in the game. Additionally, I really like orc shamans. I know it seems a bit odd, but if you read some of the lore behind orcs, them being shamans actually fits really well.