What Class

[Gidan]

I am looking to fin dout what class somone should play.

What would people consider the best solo class to play? I know hunter but not much when it comes to the solo power of others. I have the list down to War, warlock and Shaman.

For those who play those classes, how do you think they do solo? I know they all can solo but how well.

[The Kizzy]

Before I left WoW, I soloed with a druid, which was great becuase I could go into heal mode, or DPS mode, or tank mode depending on what I was fighting. I also love being able to heal myself in the middle of a fight that I am in Bear Form tanking. With teh right specs you can have an instant heal that won't get interrupted. That was nice.

I also soloed a mage, which are very powerful, but do rely ALOT on potions, so I would suggest making alchemy one of your professions if you choose to go with a mage.

Druids are over all more flexible though. IMO

[Maeya]

The beauty of WOW is that everyone can solo their way to 60.

What you choose to play really comes down to your playstyle. If you like classes that have a bit of everything, try a shaman or druid, which are really versitile.

A warlock is good for long duration soloing, but unless you're shadow specced with some + shadow dmg gear, most of your soloing is done through dots/fear kiting, which is slow.

A mage is good for killing stuff quickly and has a pretty high survivablity, with instant root and blink. Plus being able to summon your own food and water saves a bunch of money, and is extremely convenient. The mage has been my favorite class to play so far.

I've not tried a warrior, priest, or hunter, simply because I have no desire what so ever to play them, and have never been much for that style of play.

I've always thought rogues looked like a lot of fun, but have only gotten my little rogue up to 15 or so. I don't know what they play like after the last patch, but I think they are still pretty decent for solo play.

Each class is very powerful in their own way, and it's really nothing like EQ where certain classes *had* to find groups or they were useless in soloing unless the mob was light blue.

[xaoshaen]

Hunters and Rogues are two of the fastest classes to solo with. Both have high survivability in PvE with impressive DPS.

A mage has relatively low DPS, unless they AE, but have quite a few tricks up their sleeves if things go pear-shaped. Having played both frost and fire mages, I really can't emphasize enough how much easier it is to solo with a frost mage. With the ability to summon food and drink, they're one of the most independant classes out there. With 112 (113?) levels of mage behind me, I can tell you that you don't need potions to level any more than other classes.

Warriors are fine, right up until the shit hits the fan. They lack crowd control or escape options.

Locks have great DPS, but have a comparable issue to warriors: outside of Fear, which has a cast time, some builds are short on the escape options. On the upside, they have the potential ability to kill things few other classes can attempt. They're not half as broken as some Locks like to make them out to be, but Shards are a royal pain in the ass... particularly if, like me, you took engineering as your profession.

I don't actually like soloing with a priest. In my experience you're much better off duoing. With someone else to absorb the aggro, you can Mind Flay to your heart's content. Duoing with a rogue, I almost never have to drop out of Shadow Form. Shield and Vampiric Embrace were plenty of damage control for the two of us, even fighting elites.

The druid was my least favorite class to solo, though I've not played a high level paladin. While they're versatile, none of their forms were well-rounded enough to be good soloers. A much, much better class for grouping. I haven't played a high level druid since the patch though, so things might have changed.

[10sun]

Warriors are fine, right up until the shit hits the fan. They lack crowd control or escape options.

AE fear was an escape option that always won for me. Same with AE snare... and retaliation(counterattack every attack that comes your way).

Seriously, a properly played warrior can own stuff hardcore solo. Only really difficult thing I came across was even level elites... even then I could win against them so long as it was just one.

-Adam

[xaoshaen]

Warriors are fine, right up until the shit hits the fan. They lack crowd control or escape options.

AE fear was an escape option that always won for me. Same with AE snare... and retaliation(counterattack every attack that comes your way).

Seriously, a properly played warrior can own stuff hardcore solo. Only really difficult thing I came across was even level elites... even then I could win against them so long as it was just one.

-Adam

Oh yeah, a warrior is certaintly a capable soloer. With a 30 minute cooldown on retaliation, it's not something I care to rely on though. I haven't tried a build with Piercing Howl yet, though I'm strongly considering it on my current warrior. You think it's worth sacrificing protection points (particularly Improved Taunt) for? I always found Intimidating Shout to be a bit hit or miss myself. It seems like the one fucker remaining would always, without fail, daze me before I outran his hamstringed ass.

[10sun]

Retaliation was a nice "oh shit" button to hit. Piercing Howl was most certainly worth it, I didn't have much in protection talents myself. A mix of Fury & Arms was far more efficient for everything I did... granted I ran around in Defensive stance about 75% of the time =p

-Adam

[xaoshaen]

Retaliation was a nice "oh shit" button to hit. Piercing Howl was most certainly worth it, I didn't have much in protection talents myself. A mix of Fury & Arms was far more efficient for everything I did... granted I ran around in Defensive stance about 75% of the time =p

-Adam

Any particular reason for using defensive stance while soloing, or were you just grouped most of the time? With Tactical Mastery, I'll flop into Defensive for Shield Bash, but I usually rely on Battle Stance at the moment.

Yeah, retaliation has definitely won a few fights for me, but I generally prefer to save it for when some hordling tries to gank me. In any event, I seem to get myself in trouble more quickly than retaliation refreshes. I usually get myself out of it with hamstring and sometimes intimidating shout... or just chucking a bomb, chugging a potion, and cleaving my way to victory, but I assume that won't cut it in the future.

[Susvain]

I also soloed a mage, which are very powerful, but do rely ALOT on potions, so I would suggest making alchemy one of your professions if you choose to go with a mage.

I'm a frost mage, I definetly do not require potions to beat a druid, or to do any leveling. They help, but no way are mages dependant on potions

[Maeya]

I definately go through more potions on my mage than I do my warlock, but I agree that they are not dependent on them for leveling.

[Arlos]

Paladins are actually exceptional soloers, they just do it very very very sllloowwwwwwwlllllyyyyyyy. Beyond my pally, I've worked a mage up to 49 and a warrior up to 43. Both of them solo faster than the pally, but the level ranges they can solo are much more limited. On my pally, which was leveled up immediately after release, and so absolutely un-twinked, I could solo +5s without much worry, and could even occasionally handle a +6, if it was a relatively weak mob. As for elites, once I hit the 30s and 40s, I could do equal levels all day with little downtime, and could usually do +1 elites with no problem, and occasionally +2s.

On my mage, anything over a +3 I would get chain resists, and doing even a +4 was problematic. The warrior has a similar issue, in that the melee miss rate on a +4 means my rage generation is negligible because I can't hit the damn thing. With the pally, sure, I couldn't hit it any better than the warrior, but I had vastly more staying power (plus mana-free damage shield), so eventually I could wear the mobs down in a battle of attrition.

Where the pally sucks though is in its ability to deal with multiple mobs at once. There were sometimes situations with 2-pulls where I couldn't handle it on the pally, but could on the mage by using poly. Pull with sheep, kill one mob, keep the 2nd sheeped while I bandaid and use evocation if necessary, then kill. With the pally, the DPS output of 2 mobs at once meant I couldn't get one dead before I died, or at best I'd kill one, die, run back, eat/drink then kill the 2nd.

Do note, however, that I've heard of rogues & hunters being able to do similar feats to the pally, or even better, at least when it comes to killing elites higher level than you are.

-Arlos

[Donnel]

What talent spec is your Pally?

4 even's or +1's is no problem for me. Two -2 elites are no biggy either at my current level.

[Arlos]

Oh, I was talking about multiple +3s or even-level elites, and that was back when my gear sucked ass. As of right now, I can, for example, head in to Blackrock depths and solo my way to the overhead window over the dorf highway, then I can get to and solo Incendius easily. Only thing that's a problem is if I happen to aggro a group of 3 mobs at once.

-Arlos

[10sun]

Retaliation was a nice "oh shit" button to hit. Piercing Howl was most certainly worth it, I didn't have much in protection talents myself. A mix of Fury & Arms was far more efficient for everything I did... granted I ran around in Defensive stance about 75% of the time =p

-Adam

Any particular reason for using defensive stance while soloing, or were you just grouped most of the time? With Tactical Mastery, I'll flop into Defensive for Shield Bash, but I usually rely on Battle Stance at the moment.

Yeah, retaliation has definitely won a few fights for me, but I generally prefer to save it for when some hordling tries to gank me. In any event, I seem to get myself in trouble more quickly than retaliation refreshes. I usually get myself out of it with hamstring and sometimes intimidating shout... or just chucking a bomb, chugging a potion, and cleaving my way to victory, but I assume that won't cut it in the future.

I fought casters a lot to level up and to farm cash.

I'd actually jump around stances a lot in order to stop casters / shield myself whatever. I honestly don't remember a whole lot. Towards the end I felt like a bard though switching through stances and hitting hotkeys based on what was going on.

[Donnel]

Oh, I was talking about multiple +3s or even-level elites, and that was back when my gear sucked ass. As of right now, I can, for example, head in to Blackrock depths and solo my way to the overhead window over the dorf highway, then I can get to and solo Incendius easily. Only thing that's a problem is if I happen to aggro a group of 3 mobs at once.

-Arlos

I'm sorry I wasn't trying to dis on you or anything.

Consider my question and statement as two different responses. One asking you what your talent spec is because I'm interested (not because I think you suck or anything). They other part was saying what I can do as a level 43 pally at the present time to reinforce the idea that pally is a great solo class.

So... what's your talent spec?

[xaoshaen]

I fought casters a lot to level up and to farm cash.

I'd actually jump around stances a lot in order to stop casters / shield myself whatever. I honestly don't remember a whole lot. Towards the end I felt like a bard though switching through stances and hitting hotkeys based on what was going on.

I'm still four levels away from Berserker stance on my current warrior, but I hear you about stance hopping. Having a built-in script language helps a ton, though the 'one cast per macro' rule is a bit limiting, if understandable. Some of the folks I've talked to in game advocated going Fury early, but I don't know how I'd get by without Tactical Mastery. If you don't mind me asking, how did you wind up specced, particularly in the Fury tree.

I think I have a solid Arms build down, though I'm not sure I want to stick with Axe Spec yet, but I'm not sure about Fury yet. Cruelty is a given, but the second and third tiers seem to be full of dubious talents at best. Unbridled Wrath is great if you're dual-wielding, but if I'm toting a slowass two-handed axe, is it still worth taking? If not, what else should I consider? Piercing Howl is a given, but the other four points are more fluid... Improved Cleave? So far, I'm looking at:
Cruelty (5)
Unbridled Wrath (5)
Improved Cleave (3), Piercing Howl (1), Blood Craze (1)
Dual Wield Specialization (5)

[Donnel]

I don't see how any build could get bye without tactical mastery.

Stance dance is just too useful to neglect imo.

[xaoshaen]

Wow, the first sentence of the second paragraph in my previous post may be the most poorly written phrase, well, ever. I'd edit it, but it's just too glorious in its disarray to disturb.

[10sun]

Arms Talents - 31 points
Improved Heroic Strike rank 0/3
Deflection rank 5/5
Improved Rend rank 3/3
Improved Charge rank 0/2
Tactical Mastery rank 5/5
Improved Thunder Clap rank 0/3
Improved Overpower rank 2/2
Anger Management rank 0/1
Deep Wounds rank 3/3
Two-Handed Weapon Specialization rank 4/5
Impale rank 2/2
Axe Specialization rank 0/5
Sweeping Strikes rank 1/1
Mace Specialization rank 0/5
Sword Specialization rank 5/5
Polearm Specialization rank 0/5
Improved Hamstring rank 0/3
Mortal Strike rank 1/1
Fury Talents - 20 points
Booming Voice rank 0/5
Cruelty rank 5/5
Improved Demoralizing Shout rank 5/5
Unbridled Wrath rank 1/5
Improved Cleave rank 3/3
Piercing Howl rank 1/1
Blood Craze rank 0/3
Improved Battle Shout rank 0/5
Dual Wield Specialization rank 0/5
Improved Execute rank 2/2
Enrage rank 3/5

That is the one I used originally, then I played around a bit and found a better one.

Arms Talents - 21 points
Improved Heroic Strike rank 0/3
Deflection rank 5/5
Improved Rend rank 3/3
Improved Charge rank 0/2
Tactical Mastery rank 5/5
Improved Thunder Clap rank 0/3
Improved Overpower rank 2/2
Anger Management rank 0/1
Deep Wounds rank 3/3
Two-Handed Weapon Specialization rank 0/5
Impale rank 2/2
Axe Specialization rank 0/5
Sweeping Strikes rank 1/1
Mace Specialization rank 0/5
Sword Specialization rank 0/5
Polearm Specialization rank 0/5
Improved Hamstring rank 0/3
Mortal Strike rank 0/1
Fury Talents - 30 points
Booming Voice rank 0/5
Cruelty rank 5/5
Improved Demoralizing Shout rank 5/5
Unbridled Wrath rank 3/5
Improved Cleave rank 3/3
Piercing Howl rank 1/1
Blood Craze rank 0/3
Improved Battle Shout rank 0/5
Dual Wield Specialization rank 0/5
Improved Execute rank 2/2
Enrage rank 5/5
Improved Slam rank 0/5
Death Wish rank 1/1
Improved Intercept rank 0/2
Improved Berserker Rage rank 0/2
Flurry rank 5/5
Bloodthirst rank 0/1

That is the one I loved to use. Sustained DPS for the most part.

[10sun]

Forgot to add, Improved Cleave + Sweeping Strikes = phat damage.

[Kramer]

priest and shaman to 40's was simple...

priest got pretty boring after while, same old round of spells every time.....

shaman were fun with their mad melee crits at times.....

course has been couple months since i stopped playing

[xaoshaen]

I'm assuming both builds were under the restriction of Piercing Howl requiring five ranks of the otherwise useless Improved Demoralizing Shout. If you don't need to spend the points there, would you max out Unbridled Wrath?

I'm also a bit curious as to why you chose Sword spec over Axe. Are there just more good swords available? As far as I can tell, with the appropriate talents, a crit should do more damage than an extra swing: 100% base damage + 100% crit bonus + 60% bleed damage + 20% additional crit bonus = 280% damage, while an extra swing nets you 200% damage, modified by hit percentage.

Did you find the 4% extra damage from Two-handed Weapon spec useful, or was that the only attractive spot to dump points to get to the next tier. I've been pondering getting Improved Charge instead, on the basis that more rage is always better, but it's another decision that doesn't seem clear-cut to me.

[10sun]

Unbridled Wrath was just filler, nothing better to spend the points in.

I used swords more than axes because they generated more aggro, at least they seemed to. Bleeding doesn't stack. You aren't thinking about innate crit percentages anyways.

Two Handed Weapon spec was just filler as well. I wasn't allowed to charge a lot while instancing, thats why I dropped that a long time ago.

[Arlos]

Holy Talents - 14 points

Spiritual Focus - rank 5/5
Improved Holy Light - rank 3/3
Illumination - rank 5/5
Divine Favor - rank 1/1


Protection Talents - 6 points

Improved Devotion Aura - rank 5/5
Toughness - rank 1/5


Retribution Talents - 31 points

Benediction - rank 5/5
Two-Handed Weapon Specialization - rank 5/5
Deflection - rank 5/5
Vengeance - rank 5/5
Seal of Command - rank 1/1
Precision - rank 3/3
Consecration - rank 1/1
Conviction - rank 5/5
Blessing of Kings - rank 1/1


Basically, the main point of the spec was to get my melee ability as up there as possible, without sacrificing the most important healing talents. Honestly, the way the holy tree is currently set up, there's NOTHING higher in the tree that would improve my healing that is in any way worth the points, so that 14 points is really all you need there, unless you're making a Holy Shock build, or you really want to get Improved Blessing of Wisdom. Improved Flash of Light is absolutely and grotesquely useless, don't even think of spending points there. First, Flash of Light is itself at best a situational heal, which I rarely ever use in the first place. Second, even if you put 3 points into Imp Flash, you save yourself the absolutely staggeringly huge amount of 17 mana per cast of Flash. For 3 talent points. Oh yeah, that's SO worth it. not. Beyond that, there's no healing-specific talents in the tree.

One of my biggest considerations in making the spec was to try and make the talents be as weapon loadout-independent as possible. The sole nod I make to either 1h+shield or 2h is in the 2h weapon spec over Imp Crusader, cause I never use crusader given that I have command. That's why I have improved Devo Aura over Redoubt, for example. Devo aura always helps, and really helps any dress-wearers I happen to be grouped with, whereas redoubt only helps when using a shield. One thing I should have probably done is put the spare point into Imp Blessing of Protection over Toughness, but oh well. I chose Benediction over Improved Might because I normally put Kings on myself, and Benediction lets me cast more Consecrates.

BTW, you MUST always have 5 points in Spiritual Focus, period. ANY pally who does not is a complete flaming retard.

Ultimately, I think the +3% to hit helped a lot in soloing the high level mobs. It actually gave me a minor chance to hit them, and when you combined that DPS with damage from Retribution Aura, along with Stun-heal and, if necessary, DS-heal and/or BOP-heal combos throughout, along with judged Wisdom or Light to keep mana or HP up, and it was pretty viable. Slower than hell, but viable. Oh, btw, I really wouldn't worry too much about getting Kings til the 50s or so. Since it gives a %-improvement rather than flat rate, it isn't going to help a whole lot unless your stats are already pretty high up there.

-Arlos

[xaoshaen]

Unbridled Wrath was just filler, nothing better to spend the points in.

I used swords more than axes because they generated more aggro, at least they seemed to. Bleeding doesn't stack. You aren't thinking about innate crit percentages anyways.

Two Handed Weapon spec was just filler as well. I wasn't allowed to charge a lot while instancing, thats why I dropped that a long time ago.

Even without the bleeding damage from Deep Wounds, crits should outdamage extra swings as long as you have Impale. My crit percentages with maces, daggers, and swords were all identical (within the margin of error) for my rogues, but obviously I didn't get to play with axes. Do warriors have a different innate crit percentage with different weapons that I've ignored? In any event, it shouldn't matter for the purposes of talent selection as far as I can tell, since you're adding a 5% chance to crit or get an extra swing in either case.

Did you try Improved Hamstring? It seems like it would be a liability in PvE most of the time, but as I'm on a PvP server, it may well be more useful.