Now that SnarlStorm (my Paladin) has basically become my End Game Raider, I have been attempting to determine what will be my next class to level. I think this is a question a lot of players have, especially new players, once they get that illustrious first 80 up to Raiding.
The process for me has been a little daunting. I’ve tried every class (except a priest), I have a rogue, warlock (alliance), warrior, shaman, death knight, druid and a mage. I do want to get another toon up to 80, but decided which toon to take up has been rough on me. Do I want a similar experience to what I had with the Paladin? Do I want a fast progression to 80? Or do I want something completely different?
Leveling the DK would be an obvious choice, if I wanted basically a secondary version of what I have. A DPS / TANK toon. While, my DK is at 60 and the closest to 80, I haven’t been too hot on him, since I respecced to Blood. Perhaps I should go back to UnHoly.
The next highest is my DRUID @ 32, but for some reason, I’m having trouble getting behind the Druid. I guess, I don’t like Tauren’s that much.
My Warlock is on the Alliance side, and I have to say, I confirmed my suspicions. I just hate playing Alliance. It’s boring.
So, who won? Well, it’s my Mage. Playing a mage has been a complete change from leveling my Paladin. As a solo leveling experience, wearing plate and having the ability to heal myself made the process somewhat… well… easy. I had good defense, I could heal out in a jam, I was unkillable basically. The Mage is completely different. I can’t heal myself and I’m wearing cloth. However, the process has been really different and in a way, very invigorating this time around. I’ve learned a lot from the first trip up and that helps a lot in how I play the mage. Tanking has taught me the beauty of surviving the fight vs winning the fight, and I have applied that to my little cloth wearing friend.
Survivability is a big turn off with clothies, whether it be the priest, warlock or mage. However, in my experience to this point, the reality is that each class has a playstyle that favors a certain ability to survive. What is odd about my time as a Mage is that I am dying far less frequently than I did as a Paladin in the early stages. Mages have this great ‘escape’ artist spell early on called Frost Nova. This coupled with Blink @ level 20, gives you the ability to run away, quickly.
It’s interesting but we rarely focus on surviving and defense when leveling, favoring more DPS. But in reality, if you understand how to survive either via self heals, or retreat, I think it will make you a better over-all player later down the line. Something for everyone to think about as you’re grinding your toon.