01-11-2005, 06:54 AM
I can't claim any late game experience, but I've played every class to 15 and most to the twenties.
My recommendation for your first 'try things out' character: Druid.
You start as a caster, but with heavier armour and a mix of healing and damage spells instead of the usual focus on one or the other.
At level 10 you can click a button and try the Warrior style. With a smaller selection of skills to be sure, but with more armour, hit points and base damage. At least compared to any of the similar level warriors I've compared stats with.
At level 20 you can click another button and try out the Rogue. I'm only level 18, so can't say how the stats compare there. Even if it proves useful only for stealth, that is no small "only".
Druid is the last class I got around to trying. If it had been the first I might not have started so many characters - in a single class I use several different styles of play and can switch between them even in the middle of combat.
As an example, when preparing for a hard fight my plan runs something like this:
Start as caster.
Cast a long duration heal spell on myself.
Cast a direct damage spell on the target.
Instant cast a damage over time spell on the target.
Instant cast a heal over time spell on myself.
Shift into bear form (this is about when a melee enemy reaches me)
Enrage, sacrificing a bit of armour to get rage.
Fight as bear for a while (and invisibly regenerating mana while doing so. I'll say that again, it's important - the Druid has special abilities that cost no mana and don't break mana regeneration).
If health gets under ~50% and I can see that I won't win without healing, stun the enemy.
Shift back to caster.
Cast a big heal.
Renew the instant heal and damage spells.
Switch back to bear form and pound away again.
According to the blizzard forums Druids become virtually unplayable past level 40. As the activity on those forums can be summarised as [my class] needs to be improved, [every other class] is superior in [every way] except for [a few token abilities], I'm going to wait and judge for myself. For instance I see the paladin shields that cause so much whining on those boards to mostly be a good way to get the rest of the party killed :D
My recommendation for your first 'try things out' character: Druid.
You start as a caster, but with heavier armour and a mix of healing and damage spells instead of the usual focus on one or the other.
At level 10 you can click a button and try the Warrior style. With a smaller selection of skills to be sure, but with more armour, hit points and base damage. At least compared to any of the similar level warriors I've compared stats with.
At level 20 you can click another button and try out the Rogue. I'm only level 18, so can't say how the stats compare there. Even if it proves useful only for stealth, that is no small "only".
Druid is the last class I got around to trying. If it had been the first I might not have started so many characters - in a single class I use several different styles of play and can switch between them even in the middle of combat.
As an example, when preparing for a hard fight my plan runs something like this:
Start as caster.
Cast a long duration heal spell on myself.
Cast a direct damage spell on the target.
Instant cast a damage over time spell on the target.
Instant cast a heal over time spell on myself.
Shift into bear form (this is about when a melee enemy reaches me)
Enrage, sacrificing a bit of armour to get rage.
Fight as bear for a while (and invisibly regenerating mana while doing so. I'll say that again, it's important - the Druid has special abilities that cost no mana and don't break mana regeneration).
If health gets under ~50% and I can see that I won't win without healing, stun the enemy.
Shift back to caster.
Cast a big heal.
Renew the instant heal and damage spells.
Switch back to bear form and pound away again.
According to the blizzard forums Druids become virtually unplayable past level 40. As the activity on those forums can be summarised as [my class] needs to be improved, [every other class] is superior in [every way] except for [a few token abilities], I'm going to wait and judge for myself. For instance I see the paladin shields that cause so much whining on those boards to mostly be a good way to get the rest of the party killed :D