I’m pretty new, SUPER casual, and usually play MMOs for the story & dungeons.
I prefer a simple/straightforward playstyle, LOVE healing, and tend to like HoT/DoTs and things like helper summons if possible.
CONTEXT:
For some reason I’ve found WoW healing to be a lot more stressful than some other games, partly because the default pace for running dungeons seems to be a veteran sprint so far (i know, expected with mostly PF groups, but still!)
I’ve been trying out priest since it was recommended as the most flexible & straightforward for newbies, but I’m just so far not a fan of the style (low mobility so catching up to & saving the sprinting tank is rough, barely any fun utilities, rarely using HoTs) - or really excited by the class/other specs so far :T
I’ve been thinking about switching to a DPS class (or more of a hybrid class with that option) - it would be my first game to try that in, but maybe it’d be nice to have a bit less stressful runs where I could take in the enemies & encounters a bit more!
TLDR
So - putting priest aside - out of all the classes, the ones that excite me the most after giving them a small try are Shaman & Paladin. They both have a healing and damage spec (no interest in tanking at all btw), and seem fun and with more varied, flavoured kits.
Which do you most enjoy/recommend more out of those two for a simple-minded casual, for both their DPS & healing options, and why?
Any tips at all are very appreciated!
(also, yes, I’ve considered Druids too, but they’re just not for me)
THANK YOU!!
As far as the healing style between the two, I’d say Shaman fits the bill a bit better. It’s uses straightforward healing spells, has a couple hots (and one dot even!), superior mobility, and a bunch of helpful utility in the form of various totems. It even does have a “helper” summon. I put that in quotations though as your earth elemental is very situational and is a substitute for a tank, generally in solo play. So you can’t exactly throw him around when the tank is alive or you’ll just end up making the tank lose agro, causing a bunch of trouble.
Paladin also uses straightforward healing spells and has plenty of tank saving utility, but once you progress farther with it, you’ll find it has a lot more spell interactions than Shaman, and that the most viable way to heal with it at the moment involves you jumping in to help dps in order to heal. While this can be a very fun playstyle, it’s not what I would call…
As far as the dps specs go, Enh Shaman and Ret Pally have a pretty similar feel to them, in a large way just involving pressing whatever buttons are available until another button lights up for you to press. Both are pretty simple to learn, and involve BIG crit numbers when everything lines up.
Elemental Shaman is a pretty basic caster spec as well, that at it’s core involves placing a dot on the enemy and proceeding to shoot lightning bolts at it until the dot procs a lava burst. All these spells build your resource bar until you’re able to throw out a BIG instant cast at the enemy.
Obviously there’s more to all 3 of these DPS specs than what I just described, but on a basic level that’s how they operate.
Not a problem. I’m usually pretty active here anyway, but with being stuck “working” from home, I’ve had more time than ever to stare at the forums during the day
See the icy veins class guides for rotation/priority/talents. This 100% exp buff makes leveling fast so you might want to level both to around 30-40 to see which you want to take to 120 first. You’ll have a decent feel for the class by then.
