Hey All,
I’m thinking about giving WoW actually go finally lol. I never actually played it past the free trial and only played the Beast Hunter earlier in 2019. Looking for a MMO to play. All my other MMOs have been Super Hero based ones like City of Heroes or DC Universe Online. I did play some Rift back in the day and Played ESO for a month or so as well.
I guess I am looking for something with a easy rotation. Ranged or Melee doesn’t matter to me. I tend to enjoy both. I never really played Tanks/Healers. I always enjoyed being damage but I would be open to playing a different role too. I will say most of my gameplay will be solo. I really have no one to play with so being able to solo is a huge thing for me also.
I was looking at a Demon Hunter but I haven’t bought the game yet just been messing with the free trial like I said. Leveled a Beast Hunter to 20 and was playing a Paladin sitting at level 15.
To play a demon hunter you’ll need to either use a boost (which is kind of a waste since they start at level 98 anyways) or will need to already have a level 70 character on that server, meaning you’ll have to start with a different class. They’re fun and have a pretty easy rotation.
I would consider a hunter or a warlock as your first class. They’re both ranged DPS and have pets that can help you while you’re leveling up. Hunter also has a melee spec you could try if you would prefer to be up close.
Besides that I think you’ll find any class’s rotation to be pretty easy provided you level them up yourself and don’t just boost it since you’ll get the abilities one at a time and learn to use them but if you boost you’ll have too much info thrown at you all at once and will likely just get overwhelmed. With that in mind, truly pick whatever sounds the most interesting to you since you’ll be putting a lot of hours into it.
Never played a DH myself (I’m sure I will someday), but I have met a few mentally handicapped people who did and did so passably well. I also know a few brilliant individuals that play DH and do so incredibly well and generally make me feel like my dps is inadequate by comparison. Its currently a class that is very strong at the top end in nearly all types of pve and pvp content.
Beast Mastery Hunters are generally considered easier to play in pve because they are ranged, can have a very tanky pet, their rotation and skills fit together well (not the simplest rotation but far from the most complex) and unlike some other ranged dps nearly every ability is usable while moving.
Aside from the pet classes that have already been mentioned (and are both good options!), I would also suggest checking out the paladin a bit further.
Retribution’s rotation is a simple builder/spender system that can put out some very large numbers. It’s survivability is also very high with it being a plate wearing class that has multiple defensives and heals to keep yourself going. Once you get your full compliment of abilities, you essentially have to die 3 times in order to actually finally fall in combat.
I would say that all classes are pretty newbie friendly. You get some customization in how complicated/forgiving your rotation is through the talents you choose. (There are also some gear choices that can impact how complicated things are, primarily trinkets.)
The one exception I might throw out there are priests, as they only have one dps spec, and it’s one of the more finicky ones. (Although if you don’t mind healing holy is one of the easier healing specs, and disc is braindead easy and super tanky for questing out in the world.)
Tanking and healing are a bit less new player friendly, but all classes have a dps spec. Tanking and healing aren’t really harder mechanically speaking, just harder in the sense that groups expect those roles to take on more responsibility. It’s more prominent for tanks, who are expected to know the dungeon layout and pulls. For healers the biggest pitfall is that healers are often the first blamed when things go wrong.
The tank and healer thing only applies to group content, though. They tend to have the simplest dps rotations, so out in the world they are very easy to play (just slower than a dps class.) I always run around the world in tank spec on my Death Knights and Demon Hunters but will swap to a dps spec for instanced group stuff so I don’t have the stress of leading a group. (But I will tank stuff out in the world for groups.)
When it comes to regular world solo content, any class can do stuff just fine. If you want to be able to do trickier stuff (like soloing group content closer to your level) tank specs (especially those with good self healing) tend to be the most reliable option. If the Demon Hunter caught you eye, level up a Death Knight (which starts at 55) to 70 to unlock Demon Hunters. That will let you get a taste of Death Knights and give you the fastest path to unlocking Demon Hunters without blowing your boost.
Since your not sure if you want to heal, dps, or tank, I would level the paladin to 30ish and play all three specs in dungeons starting at level 15. Healing and tanking will be easy on the low level dungeons don’t be afraid. Google the popular “Icy Veins class guides”. and use the rotations and talents so you don’t form bad habits early. There are also you tube guides on every class/spec. Almost everyone plays multiple specs on their character so keep that in mind.
If your tanking, say “new player” at the start of the dungeon so they know why your slow. go through quickly people like fast runs and almost everyone has done those dungeons many times on alts. Push the pace and only slow down if you wipe. Some dps will run ahead of you and pull if your too slow.
I think it’s a good idea to level a few classes to 25-30. For dps, havoc demon hunter is the easiest. Bm hunter, frost DK. arcane mage, ret paladin, affliction lock (maybe) are on the easy end. That said, all classes and specs are easy after you play them awhile. Don’t use a boost without testing on a level 110 trial characters and never boost a demon hunter.
Here are some threads from the past few months to browse for dps classes and other information.
If your healing, the most important thing you need is The ability to cast on players by hovering mouse over their party/raid frames without actually clicking them. It’s mandatory.
This is the macro I use with every skill that targets a player. Just copy and paste to make macros for every skill that targets a player and change the skill name obviously. Some people use addons for this but I just use the macros in conjunction with my ELVUI add on.
I also use this macro on all my characters dps, tank, heals, for every skill that targets an area on the ground. The skill casts immediately wherever your mouse pointer is instead of bringing up that green circle and having to click, move circle, click again.
I would prefer to play DPS. So I guess I will mess with the Paladin a bit more and decide between him or the Beast Hunter. When I did play the BM I did enjoy it, though not my usual playstyle lol. I just felt like I did more damage than the paladin so far anyway. I just want something that has a easy rotation with out too many buttons.
If you only want to dps, paladin is not a very good choice IMO because you only have one spec to play. The more specs you play on a class the more variety the more nerf protection and the less chance of long term boredom.
I wouldn’t base my first class decision on performance because performance rankings change, and it’s a long way to end game but… Example. Ret paladins are currently bottom tier dps in the current raid. Since they only have one dps spec, they are stuck playing a bottom tier spec. They are also below average dps in mythic + end game dungeons
If you are on a class with two or three dps specs, you could switch to the better performing specs for different types of content…and even in between raid bosses. This is called nerf protection. That said, you obviously need to enjoy the class you play.
I’m going to agree with Anacrussys and say that if you want to focus on dps, find a class with at least 2 dps specs. Especially when starting out, it can really take a while to get a feel for a spec, and having multiple options means that if you get to 120 and don’t enjoy one spec, you’ve got something else to try before rerolling completely.
Hunter is a great choice, because they have both melee and ranged options. (Druids and shamans are the only other classes with both.) Also, pets are useful for soloing. (Although as marksman, you have the option to go petless, which is also sometimes nice.)
Also, it’s probably important to note that WoW is a game where most people play more than one character. Leveling in WoW is pretty painless. (Especially once you’ve got the hang of things and have a high level character that can start buying heirloom gear.) So, don’t stress out about picking the perfect character on the first try. There’s lots of useful things to do with high level characters even if you don’t play them much. Things like access to more professions and extra chances for things like mounts each week from soloing old raids.