Duo recommendation

[Nebu]

Breaking up the awesome look of the starter DK set and replacing it with an Outlands clownsuit is heartbreaking. 

This game really needs two things: an appearance tab and housing.  With the addition of the new achievements, this would make it near perfect as a diku. 

I'm still struck by the ease of pve with a hunter.  Having a pet take all the heat allows me to do things that I never imagined. 

So, my friend is definately playing a paladin... I'm torn between Druid, Shaman, and priest.  I've played a shaman to 70 before, but not the other two.  I'd like to play a class that can solo effectively, but still get invited to groups for 5 mans.  I think he wants to plat a ret paladin and possibly protection, but not as a healer.  He's happy playing tank. 

I'm thinking druid, but fear that it will have a hard time getting groups for a 5 man.  If that's the case, shaman or priest are my other options.

[Rasix]

I'm thinking druid, but fear that it will have a hard time getting groups for a 5 man.  If that's the case, shaman or priest are my other options.

Healers really don't have a hard time getting 5 man groups.  If he goes protection, you'll be able to fill up a group in no time at all.  Of course, if you're DPS, then you're pretty much just an interchangeable cog and are at the whim of other healers+tanks finding each other.  

With a de-emphasis on crowd control, it's not really hard for one DPS to get a group versus any other (unless you run into an asshole DK that says "no plate users").   

[K9]

Well the top four most common classes are Druids, Paladins, Warriors and DKs. In general I don't think druids have any problems getting groups, and there seems to be a persisting aversion to ferals, so you may not be expected to tank. Boomkins are probably the most common type of druids these days (although this may vary from server to server), and seem generally well accepted. Shamans are probably the hardest to get into bad groups, and the easiest to get into good groups; certainly as alliance Shamans are the least represented class; but they have the advantage that they mesh well with everyone. As a priest (healer) I have zero issues getting groups and have found very little of the content which I cannot handle if I approach it in the right way. As a healer, I think I will always prefer my priest to my shaman, although Shaman DPS is more enjoyable than shadowpriest DPS in my view. Disc is arguably the most enjoyable healing spec, it's the most engaging and offers more common utility than any other healer. Consider whether you prefer casting or melee. If you prefer melee I'd probably err towards the druid, as ferals are nice and versatile. If you prefer DPS casting I'd go for the shaman, and if you prefer healing I'd go for the priest.

[Nebu]

I should clarify: I enjoy playing a healer. 

Which healer is a) in demand and b) can solo effectively?  Can I solo effectively as a priest?  Keep in mind, that I likely will never raid so my gear will be crap. 

[K9]

For raiding resto druids are top of the pile, followed by priests. For everything else, anything works really. Having played a priest healer for several years now I can fairly say that we've never had a more enjoyable healing spec (that isn't retardedly unbalanced) than Disc. While it doesn't come into it's own until level 40ish (no healing specs do really) as you start filling out the bottom of the tree it's fantastic. If you want to play an interesting, useful and atypical healer, go disc.

Disc solos well enough; no healer spec will ever match a DPS spec for killing efficiency, but Disc isn't bad. In tandem with your friend it should do well as Disc has really good mana efficiency compared to Holy Priests and Resto Shamans. If he's playing as ret and giving you replenishment you guys will probably have zero downtime and will just plow through content.

[Rasix]

I should clarify: I enjoy playing a healer. 

Which healer is a) in demand and b) can solo effectively?  Can I solo effectively as a priest?  Keep in mind, that I likely will never raid so my gear will be crap. 

Can you pony up 1k gold for dual spec?  No worrying about solo effectiveness when you can switch roles at the push of a button.

[Hindenburg]

I should clarify: I enjoy playing a healer. 
Which healer is a) in demand and b) can solo effectively?  Can I solo effectively as a priest?  Keep in mind, that I likely will never raid so my gear will be crap. 

As previously said, all healers fit both criterias. I'd recommend going druid or paladin simply because you then also have the choice of being a tank, and prot/feral is damn good for leveling.

Also, for vanilla wow, BM hunter pets not only can tank instances, they often do so even better than a normal braindead pug tank.

[Rendakor]

Enhance shaman solo like gods at higher levels (60+), and still do very well before that.

[Nevermore]

If you splurge on dual specs, then Druid will have no trouble at all getting into 5 mans as Resto and soloing as Feral.  You could probably do the same with a Shaman as Resto for raids and Enhance for soloing.  Or hell, make a Paladin of your own with Holy/Protection dual specs.

[Oz]

i'll throw in my 2 copper.  (all my opinion of course)

My preference for healers:

1. priest (my main):  i  disco.  it is so much fun it hurts.  also i found it very easy to solo stuff as shadow, still doable as disco now that penance does a little more damage.

2.druid (soon to be my new main):  i really enjoy healing as a tree. very interesting.  i like the interplay between swiftmend and nature's swiftness...tanking is ok...i just hate staring at bear butt and i don't feel like i hold agro as well as my tankadin.

3.pally :  i love tanking....despise healing (i found it very boring)

no experience as shaman...

[Nebu]

Can you pony up 1k gold for dual spec?  No worrying about solo effectiveness when you can switch roles at the push of a button.

No problem.  My main is a miner, so money is easy. 

Looks like priest vs druid for my choices.  My friend playing Paladin wants to play a more tank role than healer.  I have almost no experience on a druid and played a priest in a limited fashion so they are both foreign to me. 

[Nevermore]

To be honest, it isn't really that hard to solo with anything in WoW these days.  But if your soloing to be mostly questing, then the stealth on Druids is really, really nice.  I'd be hard pressed to find something a Druid can't do.

[Lantyssa]

Druid would give you more variety.  Feral/Restoration should allow you to do pretty much anything you want.  After leveling a bit if you only want to worry about one set of gear, you could even go Balance/Restoration.  (Don't solo early as Balance though... you will hate life.)

[Fordel]

Go Caster Druid. Resto for healing, Balance for DPS.

[Hindenburg]

Did they fix regen problems at lower levels?

[Jayce]

--Maybe players just like paladins. On the other hand, warriors die a lot and seem to get abandoned more often. Maybe they are too fragile or have too much downtime at low level and none of their cool moves (I'm talking more Charge and Overpower, not Heroic Strike) is enough to save them.

Heh.  I have two max-level warriors and about three abandoned low-level paladins.  I guess I'm just special a snowflake a glutton for punishment.

[proudft]

Did they fix regen problems at lower levels?

Define lower levels.  It's not tooo bad once you get to Dreamstate (3/3 is level 37+).   Not great, but not horrible.

[Paelos]

--Maybe players just like paladins. On the other hand, warriors die a lot and seem to get abandoned more often. Maybe they are too fragile or have too much downtime at low level and none of their cool moves (I'm talking more Charge and Overpower, not Heroic Strike) is enough to save them.

Heh.  I have two max-level warriors and about three abandoned low-level paladins.  I guess I'm just special a snowflake a glutton for punishment.

I have a max level warrior and 2 abandoned pallys as well. However, I do admit that if I hadn't rolled the warrior as the first character ever, I would have probably given up on it before level 15. Hell, up to level 10 all you have is thunderclap and heroic strike. Also you have dick for armor and can't kill more than 1-2 things at a time without dying

[Vash]

Heh.  I have two max-level warriors and about three abandoned low-level paladins.  I guess I'm just special a snowflake a glutton for punishment.

Nah, I'd say your smart or at least don't enjoy tedium.  Paladin 1-58 is probably the most boring class in the game regardless of spec (at least for me it was), auto-attack -> judge -> repeat until dead x infinity.

Even at max level 2 of the 3 specs have 4-5 main abilities (Holy and Ret) and are rather mundane in terms of spell/ability variety or diversity, and even Prot while using more abilities than Ret or Holy on a regular basis is still probably considered one of the easiest of the 4 tank classes.

That's not to say there isn't plenty of skill involved in using that small pool of abilities to their full potential and using the other utility spells as well, but on the whole it can lead to the gameplay feeling dull or boring much quicker than other classes.

[Kail]

Did they fix regen problems at lower levels?

On a related note, what about priests?  I'm trying to level a priest myself, and running into huge mana issues as a L30 Shadow.  Looking up the tree, the only mana regen ability I'm seeing is Dispersion waaaaaay up a the top...  My shaman was having similar problems until he hit 20, got Water Shield, and now never gets low, but I'm not seeing anything comparable for priests.  Am I doing it wrong?

[Ingmar]

Did they fix regen problems at lower levels?

On a related note, what about priests?  I'm trying to level a priest myself, and running into huge mana issues as a L30 Shadow.  Looking up the tree, the only mana regen ability I'm seeing is Dispersion waaaaaay up a the top...  My shaman was having similar problems until he hit 20, got Water Shield, and now never gets low, but I'm not seeing anything comparable for priests.  Am I doing it wrong?

Did you skip spirit tap or something? Spirit tap is *huge* for leveling.

[Kail]

Did you skip spirit tap or something? Spirit tap is *huge* for leveling.

No; got it maxed.  It was great at level 15, but now, not so much.  Do I need to gear for spirit for it to work?

[Gobbeldygook]

On a related note, what about priests?  I'm trying to level a priest myself, and running into huge mana issues as a L30 Shadow.

It's been a while, but IIRC the Shadow Priest Method (tm) is to dot targets, run away, fear it when it catches up to you, and mind flay it as it runs back towards you.  Finish it off with your wand.

[Azaroth]

Heh.  I have two max-level warriors and about three abandoned low-level paladins.  I guess I'm just special a snowflake a glutton for punishment.

Nah, I'd say your smart or at least don't enjoy tedium.  Paladin 1-58 is probably the most boring class in the game regardless of spec (at least for me it was), auto-attack -> judge -> repeat until dead x infinity.

Even at max level 2 of the 3 specs have 4-5 main abilities (Holy and Ret) and are rather mundane in terms of spell/ability variety or diversity, and even Prot while using more abilities than Ret or Holy on a regular basis is still probably considered one of the easiest of the 4 tank classes.

That's not to say there isn't plenty of skill involved in using that small pool of abilities to their full potential and using the other utility spells as well, but on the whole it can lead to the gameplay feeling dull or boring much quicker than other classes.

Plenty of skill in using a Paladin properly. I was the best known Ret on my server, and it wasn't because I was the most geared out (well, I was eventually).

As far as leveling a pally, go prot when you get bored. You can't go straight prot because you'll kill yourself, but you can grind out a few levels aoe grinding for a complete change of pace. Find a spot with lots of melee-only mobs and let them kill themselves on your shield 15 at a time.

But it's straight grinding. Grinding the same 2-3 spawns with no quests over and over again is fucking mind-breaking eventually.

[Hindenburg]

No; got it maxed.  It was great at level 15, but now, not so much.  Do I need to gear for spirit for it to work?

Spirit Tap
3 Ranks
Gives you a X% chance to gain a 100% bonus to your Spirit after killing a target that yields experience or honor. For the duration, your mana will regenerate at a 83% rate while casting. Lasts 15 sec.

Kinda.

Heck, if you're on a pve server, all you need to worry about is spirit and spell power, all the rest is useless.

[K9]

i'll throw in my 2 copper.  (all my opinion of course)

My preference for healers:

1. priest (my main):  i  disco.  it is so much fun it hurts.  also i found it very easy to solo stuff as shadow, still doable as disco now that penance does a little more damage.

2.druid (soon to be my new main):  i really enjoy healing as a tree. very interesting.  i like the interplay between swiftmend and nature's swiftness...tanking is ok...i just hate staring at bear butt and i don't feel like i hold agro as well as my tankadin.

3.pally :  i love tanking....despise healing (i found it very boring)

no experience as shaman...

This, except I'll add that resto shaman healing isn't very interesting, but Enhance and Elemental are awesome specs. For healing Disc priests are fantastic.

Did you skip spirit tap or something? Spirit tap is *huge* for leveling.

No; got it maxed.  It was great at level 15, but now, not so much.  Do I need to gear for spirit for it to work?

Yes, also you want to pick up meditation around now. At level 30 you should have Twin Disciplines, Nightfall, Spirit Tap, Imp Spirit Tap and Probably Shadow Focus and Imp SW:P. For gear, focus on stuff with spirit, int and spellpower, you need these three stats. Don't bother too much with stam, hit, crit or haste. Stam you'll get aplenty from PW:F, and the other stats don't really show up until you get raid gear. You should also keep yourself buffed with divine spirit at all times.

With decent spirit, using a SW:P > Mind Blast > Mind-Flay > Wand until dead kill order you should have no problem eating through content without much downtime. You should have meditation filled out by level 38 or so, and from then on it just gets progressively easier.

[Fordel]

If you kill fast enough, mana is going to be an issue for every spell caster but affliction or demonology warlocks.

[K9]

I think I had to drink about 4 times on my elemental shaman going from 58-80, they have fantastic mana efficiency.

[Rasix]

If you kill fast enough, mana is going to be an issue for every spell caster but affliction or demonology warlocks.

Why demo? I know affliction from experience, but wouldn't demo have mana issues?

[Ingmar]

If you kill fast enough, mana is going to be an issue for every spell caster but affliction or demonology warlocks.

Why demo? I know affliction from experience, but wouldn't demo have mana issues?

They can steal mana from the pet or whatever.

[Fordel]

Demo can Lifetap without worry, since the pet will be taking all the beatings.

It isn't terribly exciting mind you, but you can go at a good click just by DoTing, Draining and Taping as required.



Elemental is really efficient once you get all the stuff for it, but it suffers the same issues at the low levels everyone else does.

[Sjofn]

Breaking up the awesome look of the starter DK set and replacing it with an Outlands clownsuit is heartbreaking. 

That's why you just don't replace anything until Northrend except your weapon. 

[Selby]

On a related note, what about priests?  I'm trying to level a priest myself, and running into huge mana issues as a L30 Shadow.

At that level a shadow priest spell rotation should be something like: open with Mind Blast, Mind Flay, Mind Flay, Mind Blast if mob is still more than 50% of health, repeat.  Assuming you have all the points in your Mind Blast cooldown reduction talent and Mind Flay talent, which you should.  Once the mob is down around 10-20%, wand it the rest of the way down.  The idea is not to completely burn all of your mana as quickly as possible.  Let spirit tap go for more than a few seconds if need be and repeat.  Putting yourself in a bubble or adding a SW:P to a mob that will be dead long before it ticks out is mana inefficient.  Putting any DoT's on a mob that you don't intend to fear around the room (such as an elite or a mob you will take major damage from before you can kill it) is a waste of mana.  Once you hit 40 and get Shadowform, the damage goes up and you usually only need 1 rotation of your spells to down a mob.

My shadow priest never has to drink and hasn't regularly since around 20 or so.  After a big pull or after taking down 4-5 mobs in a row without stopping for air, I might.

[Lantyssa]

Demo can Lifetap without worry, since the pet will be taking all the beatings.

It isn't terribly exciting mind you, but you can go at a good click just by DoTing, Draining and Taping as required.

Demo 'locks are also just as well off using wands since none of their direct damage spells get a boost early on and it still heals your pet if you took the first tier talent.  DoT, DoT, Wand.  Throw in a fear if you're not letting the Void tank.

It's not exciting most of the time, but it is very safe.  Now that Sacrifice takes a miniscule amount of health from the Voidwalker, even moreso.  (At 35 it does 88 health to my VW's 3k.)

[Sheepherder]

DK Armor: It's better than most of the instance shit anyways.

Shadow Priests/Warlocks: SPIRIT!!!