12-04-2004, 11:42 AM
For purely selfish reasons, I'm going to repost this little topic I started on the Amazon's Basin. I'll probably be playing as an Alliance character on Stormrage pretty soon. I hope I'll see some of you about.
Cheers.
**
Hola,
My name is Dan and I'm a recovered MMORPG addict. I'm fairly certain that I am about to fall off the proverbial wagon. I was manfully holding out on buying WoW until one of my roommates purchased it -- and then offered to pay my monthly fees for three months if I took the plunge as well. What a prick! :P
I'm at the stage now where I'm trying to decide on a character class. I haven't bought my copy of the software yet but I'm doing my homework. Based on a number of criteria, including personal appeal and downright bloody-mindedness, I've narrowed my potential choices to four classes: warrior, priest, druid, and hunter.
At the risk of seeming to be a real attention ho, I thought it would be very productive to solicit the advice of those who have played the game; So here I am. I apologise in advance for what is about to become a rather long-winded post. I hope you'll indulge me just this once.
I'm mostly interested in building a character who is flexible (group and solo play, long and short game sessions), useful for parties and guilds, durable, and has an attractive concept. Moreover, I would like to play something that isn't too much like an EQ shaman -- a class I played for the better part of two years. This is going to sound silly, but I also don't want to be playing a darling class -- something super popular/common. I chose shaman over druid in EQ partly because of the sheer volume of druids and I may do the opposite in WoW for similar reasons.
After doing some reading, this is what I've come to believe about the four classes I've mentioned earlier.
Warrior:
The warrior's primary role in a party is to sop up damage. He will likely be expected to pull. Both are mild departures from what I'm used to -- which is good. Probably not as flexible as I might like. Valuable to a group but probably only on a 1-to-1 basis -- or is WoW like EQ where tanks and clerics are needed in godlike numbers? The ability to crack skulls is very attractive, although I understand that the warrior is not the heaviest damage dealer (behind rogue and mage, or so I've heard). A human swordsman or dwarf polearm/rifleman character has some appeal.
Priest:
Robed sissy-boy. Being a robed sissy-boy in life makes me want to have a few thousand hit points in game. :) I worry that playing a priest would be a lot like playing a shaman (grouped) -- sit on your ass medding and saving all your mana for healing (zzzz). I've also started to get the impression that a priest has to be built especially for soloing if he wants to do a little damage on his own.
All in all, the priest is not my favorite of the four candidates. Nevertheless, he is a potent spellcaster, combining the better parts of the cleric and enchanter powers. The spiritualist/holy man type characters appeal to me and I enjoy playing defence in a group, so he is still on the list.
Some information on what it is like playing a priest in WoW and how common they are would be greatly appreciated.
Hunter:
A very interesting concept. Pokemon-style pet class with some medium-strong fighting abilities, traps and self-buffs. The class seems adequate for soloing, although maybe a bit tricky -- sort of like a beastmaster from EQ. I'm concerned about the char's group appeal; am I right to assume that pets aren't exactly popular in instanced dungeons? How does this class hold up sans-critter? Can he take a horrible beat down and survive?
Great appeal here. I could play a dwarf *and* own a boomstick. I could even name him Ashe. Whee!
Druid:
Like I said, I would probably play a druid just to not be a shaman. My dear old class looks to be very potent and very fecund in WoW. The druid is versatile and powerful -- what is the downside here? Warrior/rogue/mini-cleric? Wow. Soloing looks possible, even profitable. Does the druid require a specialized talent load to be a good group character? And does he have to sacrifice some of his broad focus to do so?
My primary concern with the druid is that he may be a jack of all trades. After playing a character class that was valued mostly for a couple of spells (ok, mostly just the slows), I'm worried that I could end up as a versatile but superflous toon this time around. The druid's main group spells also appear to be a high-powered regeneration and a solid buff -- also disturbingly similar to the buff-monkey/second-rate healer shtick I'm familiar with.
I like the concept. Running around mangling things as a bear seems right somehow. I like the versatility. But I have concerns about where the class fits in.
Any insights into what I could expect while playing these classes and how they generally operate would be greatly appreciated. Reading the forums and faqs can only tell part of the story.
Cheers and beers,
MM
Cheers.
**
Hola,
My name is Dan and I'm a recovered MMORPG addict. I'm fairly certain that I am about to fall off the proverbial wagon. I was manfully holding out on buying WoW until one of my roommates purchased it -- and then offered to pay my monthly fees for three months if I took the plunge as well. What a prick! :P
I'm at the stage now where I'm trying to decide on a character class. I haven't bought my copy of the software yet but I'm doing my homework. Based on a number of criteria, including personal appeal and downright bloody-mindedness, I've narrowed my potential choices to four classes: warrior, priest, druid, and hunter.
At the risk of seeming to be a real attention ho, I thought it would be very productive to solicit the advice of those who have played the game; So here I am. I apologise in advance for what is about to become a rather long-winded post. I hope you'll indulge me just this once.
I'm mostly interested in building a character who is flexible (group and solo play, long and short game sessions), useful for parties and guilds, durable, and has an attractive concept. Moreover, I would like to play something that isn't too much like an EQ shaman -- a class I played for the better part of two years. This is going to sound silly, but I also don't want to be playing a darling class -- something super popular/common. I chose shaman over druid in EQ partly because of the sheer volume of druids and I may do the opposite in WoW for similar reasons.
After doing some reading, this is what I've come to believe about the four classes I've mentioned earlier.
Warrior:
The warrior's primary role in a party is to sop up damage. He will likely be expected to pull. Both are mild departures from what I'm used to -- which is good. Probably not as flexible as I might like. Valuable to a group but probably only on a 1-to-1 basis -- or is WoW like EQ where tanks and clerics are needed in godlike numbers? The ability to crack skulls is very attractive, although I understand that the warrior is not the heaviest damage dealer (behind rogue and mage, or so I've heard). A human swordsman or dwarf polearm/rifleman character has some appeal.
Priest:
Robed sissy-boy. Being a robed sissy-boy in life makes me want to have a few thousand hit points in game. :) I worry that playing a priest would be a lot like playing a shaman (grouped) -- sit on your ass medding and saving all your mana for healing (zzzz). I've also started to get the impression that a priest has to be built especially for soloing if he wants to do a little damage on his own.
All in all, the priest is not my favorite of the four candidates. Nevertheless, he is a potent spellcaster, combining the better parts of the cleric and enchanter powers. The spiritualist/holy man type characters appeal to me and I enjoy playing defence in a group, so he is still on the list.
Some information on what it is like playing a priest in WoW and how common they are would be greatly appreciated.
Hunter:
A very interesting concept. Pokemon-style pet class with some medium-strong fighting abilities, traps and self-buffs. The class seems adequate for soloing, although maybe a bit tricky -- sort of like a beastmaster from EQ. I'm concerned about the char's group appeal; am I right to assume that pets aren't exactly popular in instanced dungeons? How does this class hold up sans-critter? Can he take a horrible beat down and survive?
Great appeal here. I could play a dwarf *and* own a boomstick. I could even name him Ashe. Whee!
Druid:
Like I said, I would probably play a druid just to not be a shaman. My dear old class looks to be very potent and very fecund in WoW. The druid is versatile and powerful -- what is the downside here? Warrior/rogue/mini-cleric? Wow. Soloing looks possible, even profitable. Does the druid require a specialized talent load to be a good group character? And does he have to sacrifice some of his broad focus to do so?
My primary concern with the druid is that he may be a jack of all trades. After playing a character class that was valued mostly for a couple of spells (ok, mostly just the slows), I'm worried that I could end up as a versatile but superflous toon this time around. The druid's main group spells also appear to be a high-powered regeneration and a solid buff -- also disturbingly similar to the buff-monkey/second-rate healer shtick I'm familiar with.
I like the concept. Running around mangling things as a bear seems right somehow. I like the versatility. But I have concerns about where the class fits in.
Any insights into what I could expect while playing these classes and how they generally operate would be greatly appreciated. Reading the forums and faqs can only tell part of the story.
Cheers and beers,
MM