If you’re into MMORPG games, you’ve probably heard that World of Warcraft is preparing to release a classic version of the game this summer. However, not many people have played in the real Classic and current in-game classes might seem completely unrecognizable to some. In the early days of World of Warcraft, the class choice was very important – leveling was super slow, which meant that you could get stuck with your character for months.
Furthermore, each class had unique abilities which made them perform better at certain aspects of the game. That’s why it’s very important to pick a class you’d love. To ease this task we’ve prepared a short overview of World of Warcraft: Classic classes, their pros and cons in PvP and PvE environment, as well as their general usability.
Druid
Druid is one of the most versatile classes across all of World of Warcraft Classic. By picking Druid you will have plenty of options to choose from while leveling. However, in the end-game, most groups will expect you to heal, though, Feral and Balance druids are also very desirable for their Innervate and Rebirth abilities. Additionally, various animal forms will make traversing the world into quite an uncomplicated task.
PROS: Can tank, heal, and do DPS; amazing in world PvP.
CONS: Versatile, but average performance; is only available for Tauren or Night Elf races.
Hunter
If you like playing solo – there’s no better option than the Hunter. Hunter is considered the most efficient solo-leveling class so you’ll ding level 60 in no time. As a Hunter, you will be able to tame various beasts across the world and use them as your pets. Pets help you tank groups of mobs and enable you to tackle some of the group quests alone. However, their PvE power falls off in the end-game, but their PvP potential is enormous. Skilled Hunters are a pain to deal with since it’s almost impossible to catch a masterful hunter.
PROS: Best class for solo questing; ability to kite other players and even world bosses.
CONS: Average damage numbers in the end-game; ammo cost a lot of gold and takes inventory space.
Mage
You can’t go wrong with a mage. In fact, Mage was the most popular class in World of Warcraft: Classic due to their ability to farm with ease. Back in the day, the player majority even leveled mages as alts in order to gather gold quickly. In addition to their monstrous ranged DPS, mages also have tons of useful utility. As a mage, you’ll be able to conjure food and water, place portals to the major cities, and even earn gold from doing so.
PROS: Easy farming; Ability to make their own food and summon portals.
CONS: Certain raids require you to play a specific talent specialization; there are a lot of mages around!
Paladin
This is the first faction exclusive class available only for the Alliance players. Paladins in World of Warcraft: Classic end-game were considered as one of the best single target healers around. However, other Paladin specs were not that popular. While Protection Paladins found their spot with tanking groups of mobs across the dungeons, Retribution Paladins weren’t very popular in the end-game. However, Paladins were amazing levelers and World PvP participants due to their amazing utility skills and ‘oh shit’ buttons such as Lay on Hands or Bubble.
PROS: Amazing utility skills; Plate armor baby!
CONS: Not all specs were viable in the end-game; available only for the Alliance.
Priest
The priest was considered the best overall healer in vanilla WoW. Priests had the biggest selection of healing and defensive spells which could be used in various different situations. Due to this fact, Priests had an easy time finding groups and guilds. If you’ll embark on leveling priest, expect some random whispers from other players inviting you to join their group as a healer. Shadow Priests were also considered as one of the best duelists in the game boasting with serious damage and healing.
PROS: Great PvP and PvE healers; easy to find groups
CONS: As Shadow, you won’t be invited to raid; players will expect you to heal all the time.
Rogue
There’s the reason why some players used to call the game World of Roguecraft. Rogue was one of the most popular classes in classic WoW and there’s a good reason for it. During vanilla, Rogues topped DPS meters in raids and dungeons, but their main strength was world PvP. Rogues could stealth through enemies avoiding unwanted engagements with the opposing faction. Additionally, a huge variety of crowd control abilities and high burst damage made them the worst nightmare for the cloth-wearing classes. However, Rogues were in a bit of disadvantage regarding end-game gearing since most of their gear pieces were useful to other in-game classes as well.
PROS: Probably the best class for World PvP; ability to unlock things without keys.
CONS: Hard to find a group due to the huge popularity of the class; in need of various additional resources such as poisons, vanishing powder, etc.
Shaman
Similarly to Alliance’s Paladin, Shaman is a unique class option for Horde. Shaman boasts amazing group utility with its strong buffs through totems. Windfury totem is a must in any raid while Bloodlust in Classic is unique to the Shaman class. Restoration Shamans were considered the best group healers while other specs were also amazing in PvP environment capable of dishing out insane burst damage. Additionally, Shamans were able to wear mail armor, so any piece with spell power on mail set piece was almost certainly yours.
PROS: Probably the most useful support class in WoW: Classic; ability to reincarnate in the same place in case of death.
CONS: Only available for Horde; mediocre DPS, which means that in the end-game you’ll have to go Restoration.
Warlock
For some weird reason Warlock used to be underrepresented in vanilla WoW. However, the least popular doesn’t mean that they were bad. Warlocks had amazing damage and some truly unique utility abilities allowing them to summon players or create Healthstones for the whole group. Similarly to Hunters, Warlocks were amazing for solo players with the ability to summon various demons to help them.
PROS: Cool looking mounts at level 40 and level 60; not dependent on mana due to Life Tap.
CONS: You will have to farm a lot of Soul Shards; Affliction spec is not desirable in raids.
Warrior
Warrior should be a go-to choice for everyone who wants to get into the end game. Protection Warriors in Classic WoW were considered as one of the best tanks, Fury talent build was a great option for DPS while Arms were dominating PvP environment. However, Warriors’ strength relies on the character’s gear, which means that you might need to put some hours into finding the right items for your class. It is also worth mentioning, that Warrior might be one of the hardest classes to level up in World of Warcraft: Classic but rest assured, if you’ll manage to hit the level cap and find suitable gear, Warrior is one of the strongest classes in the game.
PROS: All talent trees are a viable end-game option; it’s easy to find a group as a Warrior.
CONS: Gear dependant; slow leveling speed.
