Rojan
01-27-2005, 12:24 PM
It will not be long before WoW will also hit retail within Europe, and after participating in the 2 final betas it is now time for me to make a final race/class choice. Based on personal preference, and the already availability of several holy-specced priests and rogues I have cut down the selection to either a Tauren shaman or an Undead frost/arcane mage. My playing time is limited and it is therefore that I ask for imput on the matter.
My main interest in WoW will likely be to fullfill a strong role within the upcoming battlegrounds. Judging from the "hold/capture the base" set-up that they have announced, and falling back on experience from Shadowbane, I tend to believe that ranged powers and especially AEs may be a dominant force (this is assumption 1, feel free to challenge <grins>). My group will have a priest, warrior, rogue, warlock/druid, and my class..
A frost mage seems a very viable alternative here; you have a great 80% snaring AE spell, shielding (I can count on priests for support as well), good ranged DDs, counterspell, sheep and nova for control and ice block for those emergency situations when you are caught with your pants and blink down. My biggest concern is that the range of blizzard itself is rather limited (30) and that it is a channeled power. Using it makes the mage an obvious target for hunters and fire mages (both of which have a higher range right there)... So: Is blizzard viable in larger scale PvP situation? Can it actually do decend damage or should we foremost consider it a tool to surpress incoming waves of attackers?
A shaman at first glance seems rather limited in its max-range abilities. Where in small scale PvP shocks (and their 20 feet range) are perfectly fine, they may just not get the job done when 2 larger forces clash.. If you move forward you are bound to become a primairy target and that role is best reserved for true tanks. So that leaves us with another set of abilities: purge (30 feet), lightning bolt (mana waste?), 3rd grade healing and the totems. The fire and frost resistance totems seem to be invaluable in back-line defense. It is not entirely clear to me how resistances come into the equation in WoW, yet adding +60 to forst and fire sounds like a perfect way to counter AE powers (Could anybody enlighten me on how resists work? max value and the effect against equal level opponents etc.). My view of a shaman is a that of a guardian during the innitial parts of a fight, ensuring the survival of the big DPS dealing casters and healers (Trying to counter any possible rogue who pops up by burst DPS and snares), with the option to move forward on the offensive (including purge) as soon as the majority of the warriors have made their charge.
So my main questions are:
- Are the above views even remotely correct in your opinion?
- Which of the two classes would fit better into the proposed warrior, holy-priest, rogue, warlock/druid, X team?
Lastly:
I have never myself been a big hunter fan, yet recently I am starting to have doubts on that view. Hunters seem to have excellent DPS in the biggest raids and impressive range (staying clear of any AEs)., and their damage potential in battleground situations (especially against cloth casters and while defending) seems impressive. When taking all their ranged talents into account they seem to be able to hit from over 40 feet, placing them well outside the counter range of other classes. So, the last question:
How do you belief that a team composed of: warrior, priest, shaman, hunter, hunter would perform during PvP?
Any imput is much appreciated!
My main interest in WoW will likely be to fullfill a strong role within the upcoming battlegrounds. Judging from the "hold/capture the base" set-up that they have announced, and falling back on experience from Shadowbane, I tend to believe that ranged powers and especially AEs may be a dominant force (this is assumption 1, feel free to challenge <grins>). My group will have a priest, warrior, rogue, warlock/druid, and my class..
A frost mage seems a very viable alternative here; you have a great 80% snaring AE spell, shielding (I can count on priests for support as well), good ranged DDs, counterspell, sheep and nova for control and ice block for those emergency situations when you are caught with your pants and blink down. My biggest concern is that the range of blizzard itself is rather limited (30) and that it is a channeled power. Using it makes the mage an obvious target for hunters and fire mages (both of which have a higher range right there)... So: Is blizzard viable in larger scale PvP situation? Can it actually do decend damage or should we foremost consider it a tool to surpress incoming waves of attackers?
A shaman at first glance seems rather limited in its max-range abilities. Where in small scale PvP shocks (and their 20 feet range) are perfectly fine, they may just not get the job done when 2 larger forces clash.. If you move forward you are bound to become a primairy target and that role is best reserved for true tanks. So that leaves us with another set of abilities: purge (30 feet), lightning bolt (mana waste?), 3rd grade healing and the totems. The fire and frost resistance totems seem to be invaluable in back-line defense. It is not entirely clear to me how resistances come into the equation in WoW, yet adding +60 to forst and fire sounds like a perfect way to counter AE powers (Could anybody enlighten me on how resists work? max value and the effect against equal level opponents etc.). My view of a shaman is a that of a guardian during the innitial parts of a fight, ensuring the survival of the big DPS dealing casters and healers (Trying to counter any possible rogue who pops up by burst DPS and snares), with the option to move forward on the offensive (including purge) as soon as the majority of the warriors have made their charge.
So my main questions are:
- Are the above views even remotely correct in your opinion?
- Which of the two classes would fit better into the proposed warrior, holy-priest, rogue, warlock/druid, X team?
Lastly:
I have never myself been a big hunter fan, yet recently I am starting to have doubts on that view. Hunters seem to have excellent DPS in the biggest raids and impressive range (staying clear of any AEs)., and their damage potential in battleground situations (especially against cloth casters and while defending) seems impressive. When taking all their ranged talents into account they seem to be able to hit from over 40 feet, placing them well outside the counter range of other classes. So, the last question:
How do you belief that a team composed of: warrior, priest, shaman, hunter, hunter would perform during PvP?
Any imput is much appreciated!