Warriors in Classic (and in Everquest, the game that WoW is based on) primarily hold aggro through their melee DPS. They have plate armor to survive attacks, unlike Rogues who have threat reducing abilities (Vanish, Feint) and Evasion to avoid attacks.
They are simply two sides of the same coin. Your definition of “hybrid” comes from playing the expansions, where classes are defined by their spec.
What? You’re misunderstanding entirely? I think any class can tank. Tanking well is a different story.
Not aimed at directly at you but when someone keeps pointing this out I assume there’s a reason for it and hopefully not one steeped in bias like Im sure it will be.
I’m speaking about the terms and the context of wow not everquest.
You know the game we’re playing and talking about?
World of Warcraft was not some laissez-faire fair approach to building your character to do Anything you want and yet you can still do anything you want. It wasn’t the Type of open build style RPG like other games at the time. You’re sort of more leaning into the dungeons and dragons style gameplay of games like Divinity sin or balder’s gate where you have respectively a lot more freedom in every aspect of what your character is capable of doing.
All 3 warrior specs require them to be in close combat and hitting their target with a melee weapon. Hitting your target up close with weapons is one role and one part of another.
Hybrid??! DUnn dunn dunnnnn
You decide.
Your positioning in relation to the thing you’re attacking is not a role. Tanking healing and doing damage is a role.
If you can do more than one of those (appreciably), you’re a hybrid.
A caster can theoretically also tank, but they will likely not contribute to the success of the group. They cannot tank appreciably.
The original 3 roles were actually tank, heal, and crowd control. Not damage. Your Blizzard post from 2006 that you linked a few posts above even says as much:
A Rogue is NOT a hybrid because they deal melee damage, that is their primary role. They cannot heal, tank, or crowd control (sap aside).
“Damage” is not a role in Classic WoW. All classes can do damage.
So by your logic hunters are hybrids because they do range damage and they also have melee ranged damaging abilities.
Hunters have okay tanking abilities + CC abilities + ranged abilities + melee abilities + a mix of physical and magical damage… aside from Druids, yes, Hunters are the most stereotypical hybrid in Classic WoW.
Bro, you’re really jumping the shark aren’t you?
Warriors can shoot a gun or a bow so they are also hybrids.
Warriors have no abilities using their gun. Not hybrids.
Hunters actually do have abilities that require a melee weapon and are based on melee weapon damage.
Also known as a hybrid
Yes they do.
“Shoot”
It requires a ranged weapon to use.
Or maybe you’re just so used to running in and Leroy face tanking everything as the warrior you are that you never use it.
That’s not an ability any more than a Mage has the ability to auto attack something with their staff.
A staff is not required to use auto attack.
“Shoot” is not an ability. It’s not a unique skill.
Neither is melee auto attack.
Can it be pulled from the spellbook and put on an action bar?
It’s an ability.
Okay then!
Mages are also hybrids because they have the ability to melee.
What is so hard about just accepting that your class is a hybrid??
Because then he would have to concede that the current iteration of his class is in complete violation of Hybrid Tax, a design flaw.