Bored waiting on servers to launch.
Open to discussion, but here’s my class tier list based on deathlog data and personal experience.
This is going to be based solely on safety/speed getting to 80. I understand some classes may be more enjoyable than others, but I’m not taking that into account.
S Tier - Mage
Almost in a class of their own. Even with non SSF HC, having food and ports readily available is huge and can save you a lot of time and avoid dangerous situations caused by running. They also have more escapes than any other class between nova, blink slows and IB and are generally pretty quick levelers. They also have one of the highest average death log levels/probability of hitting 60. You generally have to really screw up to die as a mage. Additionally, they’re not very gear dependent which should help in the early days of the servers.
A Tier -
Paladin - Even without bubble hearth paladins are still hard to bring down. They’re naturally tanky, have snare/debuff removal, heals, a stun and if all else fails they can bubble and run. They’re probably the safest class to 60, but they’re also pretty slow, particularly if you’re leveling a safer tankier build so they lose a couple points for that. If you’re just highly death averse, a Paladin is probably the way to go though. Bonus points for being able to tank/heal or dps in groups which should let you hit your daily allotment pretty effortlessly.
Druid - Tanky, tons of escapes and not super gear dependant. A druid can often just tank pulls that would kill most other classes. They’re not quite as tanky as a Paladin, but make up for it with higher dps, arguably better escapes and a super nice early movement speed boost from cat/travel form. They’re also not very gear dependant outside of the wolfshead helm which you should really focus on picking up.
B tier -
Rogue - One of the better escapes in vanish plus sprint/evasion/gouge etc if you end up in a bad situation. Good dps, solid control and can take out elites that other classes may struggle with. They are fairly gear dependant however so if you’re not lucky with drops or rich enough to Ah one you may struggle some. Also fairly squishy and your escapes have long CD’s, so if your CD’s are down and you get in trouble its often ugly.
Hunter - One of the best escapes in Feign death, when it works, and leveling with your pet is usually safe. Usually… The problem is once anything goes wrong the hunter has very little to fall back on other than feign death, which can be resisted and has a decently long CD. So if either happens your only hope is usually a pet stun or praying it gets aggro back, which is often unreliable. If you get a random mob or two on top of you most of the other classes above have multiple ways to get out. If a hunter’s feign death is resisted they better have consumes ready.
Shaman - The hordes counterpart is a little worse off. They’re don’t have as many ways to get out of danger, but a snare totem/wolf form is usually enough to get away from all but the worst situations. And while they are more squishy, they do significantly more damage and should level much faster than a paladin. An extra HS also isn’t a bad thing to have while leveling.
C Tier -
Priest - Few escapes, relatively squishy and a fairly slow leveling process. Wanding/spirit tap is pretty safe as long as you take it slow, but it’s pretty slow until you get shadowform. Your only real escape is AOE fear, which can often just make a situation worse. However, with PWS they’re reasonably tanky and as long as you grab a decent wand (which can be supplied by an enchanter early) are good regardless of gear.
Warrior - I know people are going to take this personally because it’s everyone’s favorite HC class… but realistically, particularly for a newer HC player, warrior is just a much harder class to play. You’re kinda tanky, but without any heals or reliable stuns you end up effectively squishier than most other classes, and since you spend all your time in melee that means you’re often sitting at fairly low health. So if anything goes wrong Warriors just don’t have much to work with aside from consumes and hamstring. They’re also the most gear dependent out of every class which will hold you back on a new server, and even after with the restricted instance runs, and tend to level slower than average.
D Tier -
Warlock - Statistically the class that dies the most, at the lowest average level in all of HC. They’re squishy and have few escapes outside of seduce/pet aggro. Their dps is good, but also seems to encourage players to multi-pull which often ends poorly. Life Tap is a trap. Few heals, no movement speed buffs, close to zero escapes… For experience players/masochists only. You’ve been warned.
Taking all feedback etc. And mostly just bored waiting on the servers
I think people end up getting too greedy with chain pulling, run OOM, and then meet their bitter end
