i want to play classic because bfa has finally burnt me out of dk and no other classes on live are fun. what would you recommend? i was thinking warrior
Warrior is fun but probably the hardest class in Vanilla Wow.
Play a warlock
Warrior 1234
Warlock has the dark/evil feel to it similar to DK but the gameplay will be a lot different.
If you want the gameplay then warrior is probably the next closest thing.
If you want that ‘Evil’ dark feel for your toon, Warlock. If you enjoy smashing things up close in the face - Warrior. Or if you want a bit of both, Rogue.
I main a Warrior and did start when classic went to TBC, so I didn’t get the full feel of a Warrior til 70 TBC they were amazing during TBC.
Then I did some research to see how they were for Vanilla esp for PvP , most said for back then Arms was awesome for PvP and that Fury was better for Raids. but you can play what you like spec wise.
Plus they survived better solo compared to TBC. then WOTLK came and Warriors were not that great. I used my Lock for raids .lol
I think warlocks are gonna be the closest to DK, but honestly, I would try everything until you find what you like. I mained an unholy DK, but ended up enjoying shadow priest.
Warrior is pretty similar to DK.
DK has Frost, Unholy and Blood. Warrior has Arms, Fury and Protection. Warrior call them stances. Changing stances during the fight was what warrior does in Vanilla. You have to make a macro to switch from 2H sword to 1H Sword and Shield. Stance dancing differentiates a good warrior from a noob one.
As others have said, warlock is going to be the best fit thematically, but you may not want a range class.
I’d say gameplay wise you might want to look into a shaman. Both use a hydrid of melee and spell damage, and both imbue their weapons with unique enchantments depending on the situation at hand.
Of course if you’re just looking for 2 handed/duel wield playstyle, then arms/rogue would be your best bet respectively.
warrior is probably closest to death knight, paladins are also like death knights but the holy form of them, of course the classes in vanilla are very different from how they are now so might as well give each a fair chance
Play ret paladin
If you want next closest thing I’d go warrior or rogue, but check out all classes, see maybe you’ll like something else entirely.