Alright, just figuring we should just sit down and get this all out of the way right away.
In Vanilla WoW, classes were VERY unbalanced; everyone knows this right now, and we are not expecting huge power balance overhauls at the moment. As such, based on my relatively fuzzy memory of the time, here is my take on how powerful each class was during Vanilla WoW.
And yes, we are speaking classes. Trust me, there's not much point ranking the individual specializations... heck, we would have to consider some strange hybrid builds that most people have forgotten about, like SM/DS for warlocks.
As for whether this is PvP ranking or PvE ranking? To tell truth, there wasn't much difference that I recall... but I'd say this list is more PvP.
Onto the rankings!
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#10 - Warlocks
Okay, as for there being 10 ranks but only 9 classes? Wait until you see #1. As one video once said, "Warlocks are mushrooms". Warlocks were at the butt end of many jokes during Vanilla WoW, requiring Soul Shards (a not easily farmed consumable item stored in your bags back then) for many of their most potent spells. In the right (and VERY well-practiced) hands, Warlocks could be surprisingly potent due to their heaps of abilities that could interact in interesting ways... but for your average player, it felt like you were handling one of the weakest classes in the entire game.
#9 - Druids
Back during Vanilla WoW, druids couldn't seemingly kill ANYTHING. Boomkin didn't exist back then for one thing, and most of their spells could easily be survived through. The one thing was Druids were strong healers, so killing one was just as difficult as him killing you; if you got into a battle of attrition with a Druid, he was going to easily outlast and whittle you down until you keeled over. That being said, duels between two druids could literally take FOREVER.
#8 - Paladins
Much like the Druid, Paladins were NOT a high damage class... so they were quite unlikely to kill you. They were, however, strong healers who were hard to kill. However, they had a few advantages over Druids: Seal of Command could do some hefty damage (if randomly), and the "Reckoning Bomb" was another good source of burst damage (even after the post-Kazzak-one-shot nerf). On the healing front, they had three aces up their sleeve -- Cleanse removed EVERYTHING (except curses), so you couldn't keep them debuffed for long; Lay of Hands completely healing them in an instant, if at the expense of ALL their remaining mana; and the infamous bubble (officially called "Divine Shield"), followed by the notorious Bubble-Hearth. On a minor note, duels between Paladins were ALMOST as notorious those between Druids; the main difference being their heals having cast times and a lack of HoTs, leading to *slightly* more excitement... but it still could take forever.
#7 - Warriors
Your run of the mill warrior was actually not that much of a threat, with only so-so damage to call upon and a complete lack of healing he could be taken down with relative ease. Furthermore, their preferred stance in combat - Berserker - increased their damage taken by 10%. The one secret to beating them? Kiting them. Stay out of range of the warrior and constantly keeping them slowed will make them a relatively easy kill.
#6 - Hunters
First things first... most hunters were BAD back during Vanilla WoW. Well, to tell the truth, most players in general were rather bad; but hunters were especially bad. However, the class itself was quite strong and could do rather well in most situations. Clever hunters? They were VERY dangerous and surprisingly powerful. Very little extra damage to speak of, but a rather large toolkit which could be put to good use in the right hands.
#5 - Shaman
Behold, the hybrid class of Vanilla WoW. Shaman were in a weird place during Vanilla WoW, being SEVERELY limited to their wide array of totems being party-only... however, some of those totems were VERY potent as well, such as the mighty Windfury totem. Windfury Weapon as well, so they had a solid chance to gain multiple attacks in one swing for some MASSIVE burst, along with a wide array of ranged spells (including FROST SHOCK!) to both damage and control their opponents... alas, much of it very much under-utilized. Much like the Warlock, could be VERY potent in the right hands... and that seemed to come around a bit more often than the Warlock.
#4 - Mages
Behold, the turret class of Vanilla WoW... they pretty much spammed Frostbolt, and LIKED IT. There really wasn't too much else to know, mages were squishy and beating one was always a matter of how good they could play keep-away. Close the gap, and they fell down like nothing... but at range, there was almost nothing as dangerous as the mage during Vanilla WoW.
#3 - Priests
On their own, priests weren't all that dangerous; we are, after all, speaking of the PREMIER healing class of Vanilla WoW... and there's your danger right there. Players defended their healer zealously. Priests kept their team alive, and they returned the favour. Shadow Priests were quite uncommon, but the best description would be a Warlock who could actually fight back and switch over to being a half-decent healer in a pinch.
#2 - Rogues
Rogues were the class to fear from level 1 all the way through until level 60. They had it all: strong DPS, near endless crowd control options, and the element of surprise in all PvP situations. The videos of naked rogues soloing geared players are factual, and were definitely abusing the "element of surprise". The trick to beating Rogues was to survive the initial stunlock, which is MUCH easier said than done... and of course, they will ALWAYS wait until you're on your own. The bane of countless players during Vanilla WoW, Rogues are the class you want to play if you want to dominate the game from start to finish... well, almost.
#1 - Epic Geared Warrior with Healer(s)
Behold, the Avatar of Death and Destruction.... the epic geared warrior. Getting within reach of these monstrosities was certain death, and they were VERY good at getting close to you. To top it all off, if they had all this mighty gear, they almost certainly also had healers backing them up; now you have an IMMORTAL killing machine to deal with. The usual hallmark was one of the various "signature weapons" from early WoW: GM/HWL sword, Zin'rokh, Ash'kandi, Kalimdor's Revenge, and so on. Swords were preferred because of the fact Sword Spec (5% chance at extra attacks) could potentially proc off itself; the Hand of Justice trinket could also be in play as well, and that worked regardless of the weapon used. Sulfuras was quite rare, but just as dangerous. In any event, an epic geared warrior was the terror of the battlefield; it was a LONG road to get there (notice how low your average warrior is on this list), but once you were there it was GLORIOUS!
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Maybe I'm remembering things a bit off, but that's more or less how I remember them. At the very least, this is how I'm expecting the "flavour of the month" classes be decided upon. Kind of. Maybe. Let's see how it all plays out.
Things were... interesting... back then.
Feel free to re-rank them according to your own experiences and memories.
I always thought Warlocks were strong, when you got to max level you DoT enemies and they just die a horrible death.
Other than that, good list!
Other than that, good list!
11/12/2017 08:16 PMPosted by MendaxusI always thought Warlocks were strong, when you got to max level you DoT enemies and they just die a horrible death.
Other than that, good list!
DoT scaling in Vanilla WoW was considerably weaker than it is currently, only 100% of spell damage across the full duration (and only half that for Siphon Life); it scaled FAR less than nuke spells, so at max level Warlocks were unlikely to kill players in a single round of DoTs.
The other complication is that the main PvP strategy, "Seduce-Nuke", required NO DoTs to be used. Any damage taken would break Seduce, so DoTs were not an option. Fear-kiting was common, but not very reliable; especially with up to 4 DoTs ticking, it would break quite frequently on players by itself.
That being said, killing off a lock with only half health and having a full set of DoTs on you could DEFINITELY be fatal.
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In any case, the key phrase for a LOT of classes was "in the right hands".
This was especially true for Warlocks, who were easily killed and hit like wet noodles otherwise; if you didn't know how to play one half-well, you were HELPLESS. The same can't really be said for any other class.
Did end of vanilla have diminishing returns for rogue stuns yet?
11/12/2017 08:23 PMPosted by TeampupnsudzDid end of vanilla have diminishing returns for rogue stuns yet?
I'm pretty sure those were implemented mid-Vanilla.
It didn't hurt them THAT much, you can trust me on that one.
I would probably place Warlock at least above Druid.
Fear was an incredible tool, and if death coil and voidwalker sac were used properly you could even survive warriors (unless they popped recklessness) and rogues to some degree. Dot specs were pretty solid too.
Soulshards were a thing but were not an issue for a well-prepared warlock, and what kind of PvP warlock didn’t prepare? It only really sucked if a BG went on so long you actually had to start farming them from players.
There was also the matter of destro locks in world PvP. Seduce and shadow bolt were pretty nasty combined, along with shadowburn.
Fear was an incredible tool, and if death coil and voidwalker sac were used properly you could even survive warriors (unless they popped recklessness) and rogues to some degree. Dot specs were pretty solid too.
Soulshards were a thing but were not an issue for a well-prepared warlock, and what kind of PvP warlock didn’t prepare? It only really sucked if a BG went on so long you actually had to start farming them from players.
There was also the matter of destro locks in world PvP. Seduce and shadow bolt were pretty nasty combined, along with shadowburn.
Excuse me but nobody protected their Priests. Just solo hero's running ahead of the group shouting, "heal me ffs heal me!" while I have a dagger in my back and my throat being cut. Top it off with, "healer sucks!" because they didn't survive their 1v3.
The true vanilla experience.
The true vanilla experience.
This sounds like a list made by a warrior with a healer.
11/12/2017 08:25 PMPosted by Raelhorn11/12/2017 08:23 PMPosted by TeampupnsudzDid end of vanilla have diminishing returns for rogue stuns yet?
I'm pretty sure those were implemented mid-Vanilla.
It didn't hurt them THAT much, you can trust me on that one.
4 or 5 months in, a very needed change
Warlocks were a lot higher if we are talking pvp potential.
Priests early on didn't need to be protected either because fear could be cast over and over with no diminishing returns and there were no trinkets.
For the same reason druids could just root a melee and starfire or whatever that dot was they cast.
The fun thing about early days was the rock paper scissors where most classes had a counter class, or one they dominated.
Priests early on didn't need to be protected either because fear could be cast over and over with no diminishing returns and there were no trinkets.
For the same reason druids could just root a melee and starfire or whatever that dot was they cast.
The fun thing about early days was the rock paper scissors where most classes had a counter class, or one they dominated.
Inasmuch as Blizzard always said they didn't balance for 1v1's, this thread captures neither PvP nor PvE relative power accurately.
#1 is accurate.
I played ret pal in vanilla. I geared more for support, and would BG with a warrior buddy. freedom + heals + clense on a geared warrior was devastating for the other team.
I played ret pal in vanilla. I geared more for support, and would BG with a warrior buddy. freedom + heals + clense on a geared warrior was devastating for the other team.
Warlocks were pretty good, after they died their dots usually killed you.
I had a warlock in blues that did pretty well in bgs. Squishy as heck, just needed to get some dots out and fear, and survive. I had engineering boots to run like hell.
Cool thing about classic, you could judge a warrior by his weapon.
I had a warlock in blues that did pretty well in bgs. Squishy as heck, just needed to get some dots out and fear, and survive. I had engineering boots to run like hell.
Cool thing about classic, you could judge a warrior by his weapon.
11/12/2017 08:23 PMPosted by TeampupnsudzDid end of vanilla have diminishing returns for rogue stuns yet?
Somewhat, base stuns had a diminishing returns but mace stuns had separate diminishing returns, then there were completely separate diminishing return CC's like sap, blind, disarm, etc.
I agree with warriors and rogues occupying the top 2 spots and (in the absence of balancing fixes) predict they will occupy the top 2 spots for class population in new classic. Just like the private vanilla servers.
Hmm ... Really depends if you rank for PvP only, PvE only or Open Content truthfully.
Warriors were goldlike end content for PvE, Lords in bg only when healed by a dedicated healer. Warlocks were really good in PvP, and actually could be topping the damage meters in PvE content as well. Plus, there were bringing really important debuffs for casters, and utility for the raid in general.
Shamans were the best raid healers, enhance only good in PvP and elem was ... close to useless apart if you are geared with Naxx content taken from the Mages and Warlocks.
Warriors were goldlike end content for PvE, Lords in bg only when healed by a dedicated healer. Warlocks were really good in PvP, and actually could be topping the damage meters in PvE content as well. Plus, there were bringing really important debuffs for casters, and utility for the raid in general.
Shamans were the best raid healers, enhance only good in PvP and elem was ... close to useless apart if you are geared with Naxx content taken from the Mages and Warlocks.
i remember low level pvp in wsg against warlocks and shamans was auto death. locks would chain fear and dot ya to death. shammies would almost invariably one shot you with windfury bursts. i also remember that i beat a warrior to death by using a 2 handed staff and circling him just out of his reach (staves have longer reach than swords/maces/axes)
11/13/2017 04:54 AMPosted by Pôwderi remember low level pvp in wsg against warlocks and shamans was auto death. locks would chain fear and dot ya to death. shammies would almost invariably one shot you with windfury bursts. i also remember that i beat a warrior to death by using a 2 handed staff and circling him just out of his reach (staves have longer reach than swords/maces/axes)
Wat
pretty generic list. warriors were gods when geared in pvp and so where locks. And pretty much everyone pvp'd back then in Wpvp.
11/13/2017 06:08 AMPosted by Dreamscapepretty generic list. warriors were gods when geared in pvp and so where locks. And pretty much everyone pvp'd back then in Wpvp.
not in low level pvp. low level pvp was owned by rogues, locks and shamans. :D