Warning!!  Warning!!  PTD is spreading!  I’ve decided to do a little guest posting on Big Hit Box, a melee-centric WoW blog, and I went ahead and cross-posted this over there as well.  Be sure to drop by and add BHB to your reader! 

I don’t think I can even split hairs about it anymore.  My Warrior is my main.  It makes the title of the blog a tad bit deceptive, but hell, it’s my blog.  If BBB can spend his time writing about his hunter, I can surely write about my Warrior.  And I’m exceedingly confident that the Resto Druid Blog World has got that corner well covered.  Hell, is there any spec/class with more blogs devoted to it than Resto Druiding?  I really think not.  Maybe there is something about playing a Tree that lends itself to the analytical writing type.  I really don’t know.  I do know that Phaelia, Bellwhether, Leafy and many others have the whole Resto Druid blogging thing down pat.  They won’t miss me.  Much.

Though when I first hit 80 I went prot, a while back I switched to Fury adue to an overabundance of tanks in the guild.  (Strange, I know.)  And I can freely admit that I sucked at first.  I was barely breaking 1k DPS in my sorry Fury gear, as I hadn’t been picking up that stuff at all.  I languished somewhere below the tank on the damage meters my first few runs. 

Well, since then I’ve made huge strides in gear and skill, and can happily pump out 2300 or so DPS in heroics without much of a problem.  I can put out about 3k or so in a 25 man raid, with upwards of 3500 DPS on boss fights.  Not the best, to be sure, but not bad.  So in the interest of helping any other fresh fury warriors out, I’ll list five things you should know to help you avoid some of the problems I had in the beginning. 

1)  Don’t Level Fury

Ok, maybe I didn’t need this one.  I didn’t level Fury myself, that much you’d know if you read regularly.  I leveled Arms, and I’m a big proponent of the spec for leveling purposes.  For one thing, Arms is far FAR less gear dependent than Fury.  All you need for Arms is one good 2 hander.

To add to that, many of the plate DPS quest rewards are geared more towards a DK or an Arms spec warrior.  They normally favor crit over hit, which works great for an Arms warrior, but isn’t as big a priority for Fury.  You need a good deal of hit as a Fury warrior just to get your DPS off the ground.  At a bare minimum you need 164 hit rating, and that only serves to make sure all your specials will land.  A TG Fury warrior with only 164 hit will have very poor rage generation – and there’s nothing worse than a rage-starved Fury Warrior. 

Besides all that, Bladestorm, the 51 point Arms talent, is still perhaps my favorite warrior talent.  There’s nothing quite like mowing down 5 or 6 mobs in about 20 seconds.  Trust me, stick with Arms until 80, you won’t regret it.

2)  Don’t Spec Stupid

You don’t need to kid around as a Fury Warrior.  A lot of classes and specs have a good deal of variance.  Maybe they’ll have a Raid DPS spec or a 5 man DPS spec.  With Fury, there’s a fairly standard spec you can go with from the start.  18/53/0.  The Arms points are basically for Deep Wounds and 2 handed spec.  I’ve seen very small variants, like a 19/52/0 array, but for the most part 18/53/0 is the de facto spec for a Fury warrior.  So don’t go trying to get all fancy with a weird hybrid spec, the standard will give you all you want. 

3)  Learn to Love Your Threat Meter

It doesn’t matter which one you use, but make sure you’re using some kind of threat meter.  Fury Warriors can pump out a LOT of DPS, but at the same time they don’t have a Get Out of Jail Free card.  There are only two aggro dumps for a Fury Warrior, stop attacking or die. And nobody likes to stop attacking. You can’t Ice Block or Fade or Feign Death or even beg for mercy.  If you draw aggro in a heroic or raid, chances are you will die.  And don’t go thinking plate will save you, it doesn’t make you THAT much more resilient than any other DPS class.  You might last half a second longer than a clothie, but not much more.  So don’t be lazy, and watch the threat, Mister.

4)  Learn Your Rotation and Positioning

Like your spec, your skill rotation is pretty straightforward.  Whirlwind and Bloodthirst are your best friends, make sure you can use them whenever they are off cooldown.  After that, watch for instant Slam procs, and use them immediately (UNLESS WW or BT are off cooldown!)  If everything is on cooldown, and you’re sitting on 50 or more rage, go ahead and throw in a heroic strike on single targets or a cleave in multi mob situations.  So the hierarchy is WW –> BT –> Instant Slam –> HS/Cleave.  Rinse and repeat.

Now the Warrior is my first melee DPS class, so I had to learn positioning.  With my Hunter I just stayed at max range and went to town.  With the warrior I have to try to make sure I stay BEHIND the mobs as much as possible, ESPECIALLY if it’s a boss.  They can’t parry if you’re attacking from behind, and you’ll do more damage.  Be careful not to pull extra packs, but try to stay to the side or behind as much as possible.

5)  Don’t Expect Big Numbers Right Away

As I’ve already mentioned, Fury warriors are fairly gear dependent.  Some people consider them THE most gear dependent DPS class. As I mentioned before, my DPS sucked when I first respecced.  I didn’t have 2 good weapons to use, and I didn’t have a lot of hit, not to mention poor AP and crit numbers.  Now a good fury warrior CAN lead the damage meters, but only with really good gear.  You don’t get to pump out 2500 in crap gear like a DK – not everyone gets to be OP you know!    Expect your numbers to slowly ramp up as you gear up.

Now ABOUT that gear.  I won’t get too far into it, but here are a few pointers.  Focus on hit until you’re at least at 164 hit rating.  After that, while you shouldn’t flat out ignore hit, you don’t need to go out of your way to find it, it comes naturally on gear that you’ll want.  You also want a good deal of Strength, as we get 2 AP for every point of strength.   I almost ALWAYS gem for pure strength.  I’ll put +14 str gems in minor upgrades, and I make sure and plug in +16 str gems in the really good stuff.  Don’t focus on socket bonuses, chances are you’ll be wasting your time.  Once you get close to 4000 AP unbuffed, then you can start thinking about gemming for Crit instead of straight strength.  But 4k AP is a long way off at the beginning.   

For some easy upgrades, work on Ebon Hold rep.  They have a nice 2 handed sword at Revered that will serve you well, along with the AP helm enchant.  At exalted they have a very nice set of epic boots you can pick up.  The other easy avenue for upgrades is Blacksmithing.  The Spiked Titansteel Helm is one of the best helms you can get period, and it shouldn’t be too difficult to make.  You also might want the Spiked Titansteel Treads and you will surely want the Titansteel Destroyer.  Get those upgrades, and you’ll soon be rocking the DPS meters.

There you have it.  I’ve found playing a Fury Warrior quite enjoyable, and I don’t regret the switch from Prot spec at all.  In higher end guilds, Fury Warriors are often at the very top of the damage meters, and I can see why.  I’m putting out 3.5k+ on bosses right now, and I still have some significant holes in my gear.  I can’t wait to see what I can do when I REALLY get geared out!  It should be fun! 

This is actually one of the earliest posts I wrote for my blog.  I found it interesting because while I was once utterly devoted to the Druid class, I now find myself playing my Warrior almost exclusively.  It’s interesting that I actually rated the Warrior LOWEST at the time.  My, how things change!

Also, if I had to rate the Death Knight, I would probably stick it in Tier 1.  They are still incredibly powerful, even after some nerfs, and they can fill two roles, and fill them well.  My only caveat is that you have to have a 55 to make one, and this article was geared more towards the new casual player.

Ok, maybe my title is misleading. I’m not going to blog about whether casuals have any class. I thought I would take a completely biased, totally subjective look at what I thought the "best" classes were for a casual, solo player. Casual players, by definition, don’t have the time to devote to the game that others do. Given that, it helps if we can focus on one character more heavily. We’ll divide these rankings into three tiers, starting from the bottom. There will certainly be multiple complaints and an abundance of hurt feelings – just don’t take it personally.

Tier 3

Warrior. If there was a tier 4, the warrior would be in it. So what’s the problem? Groups always need tanks, right? They do. The problem with the warrior is their extreme level of gear dependence. The one-trick-pony rogues and mages can at least get by with sub-par gear in many end-game five mans, heroics and Kara. The warrior, on the other hand, must be tricked out in great gear to attempt many of the same instances. Casuals often have the most difficulty "keeping up with the Joneses" gear-wise. Also, have you ever seen a warrior’s repair bill? Ugh!

Aside from the gear problem, there is also the issue that as the tank you are often tasked with leading the run. You are often responsible for marking kill targets, assigning CC, pulling and more. It can get to be a bit much.

Rogue. The mind-numbing, explosive DPS can make casual play sessions seem VERY worthwhile. The ability to stealth is also a boon for a casual player, as it can help make gathering skills a little easier, and allow a player to see more of the game solo than they could with any other class.

The problem with the rogue is that it’s a one trick pony. You are a pure melee DPS class, plain and simple. Although there are big differences with spec choices, it only affects how you deal your melee damage.

The problem doesn’t come with leveling, it comes when you reach the later stages of the game and instancing becomes more of a concern. Asking a group if they have room and hearing "full on rogues" makes a casual’s heart heavy.

Mage. The mage is another pure DPS class, only this time from range. Again, this can make the leveling fun, as a casual player loves to kill stuff FAST to maximize playtime. Then, of course, you find yourself on your fanny drinking after every other fight or so. Casuals no likey downtime. Give the mage class bonus points for the teleportation and portal spells to make travel quicker and easier.

As with the rogue, no matter the spec, a mage is still a mage. Ranged DPS. Period.

Mages do provide a touch more to group situations with their slightly more useful CC and their AOE abilities. Also, who doesn’t like Ritual of Refreshment? You do find yourself fighting with a handful of other classes for DPS spots, however.

Tier 2

Paladin. You’ll quickly notice a theme with Tier 2. Healers. Healers, like tanks, are always needed. Unlike warriors, you can often get away with lesser gear. Paladins make great healers with the safety of plate to help out a bit if you happen to pull aggro.

Paladins are also VERY hard to kill. One thing that can help a casual player is to NOT DIE so much. Paladins are great in this respect. The tradeoff is that they can take a LOOONG time to kill stuff. Paladins are the kind of class where you can engage a mob, go make a sandwich, and not really miss anything or fear dying. Heck, the mob could still be up when you return.

Paladins also have a good deal of versatility when it comes to spec. They are now one of only two classes that can fill any role in a group depending on spec. (I’ll get to the other class later.) You can be a tankadin, a healadin, or a retadin. I’m not familiar with how much DPS a retadin can supply, but it is at least an option. Pallys do lose a few points because they have a certain degree of gear dependence, especially if you plan on tanking.

Priest. You won’t have any problems finding groups with a priest, most likely. They are probably the class that receives the most random group invites. They make great healers, and are not especially gear dependent. (The caveat is that gear ALWAYS helps, some classes can just get away with lesser gear.)

Priests also have a good deal of flexibility with spec. You can spec to be a face-melting DPS class with some utility (shadow), or take the more traditional healer/utility route with Holy/Disc. From what I understand, leveling as a shadow priest is not to be missed. I’ve often watched in awe the way a shadow priest can burn down a mob with impunity.

I’m taking away a point or two due to the fact that before 40 as shadow, or the whole way as disc/holy, leveling a priest can be a somewhat frustrating experience. (Hence the reason my priest still sits at a dusty 31.) Unless, of course, you have patience and/or a good group to roll with often.

Shaman. Yeah, I know, another healer. As a casual player, it just helps to have a lot of group viability. Healers seldom complain for lack of groups. Shammys with their totems and chain heals can be quite the powerful, versatile healing and utility class.

The shaman trumps the versatility of the priest, but doesn’t quite reach that of the paladin. You can spec to be a pure healer, or spec to be either a ranged or melee DPSer. That kind of versatility is golden.

Leveling a shaman, with the right spec choices, can also be a great experience. An enhance shammy, once they get windfury, can be quite the fierce solo DPS machine. I’ve also heard that it can be hard to beat a well-geared elemental shammy for pure DPS. Add to that the ability to heal yourself and totems, and you have a leveling winner. If my main weren’t a druid, there’s a good chance it would be a shaman.

Tier 1

Hunter. Now here we are, to the meat and potatoes. Why the hunter? Because it is one of the best leveling/grinding/solo classes there is. A well-played BM hunter can be a DPS machine, and they can also get away with lesser gear and still get spots in heroics and beyond.

It’s hard to beat a BM hunter in a leveling competition, as they can pump out huge DPS numbers with little or no downtime. They can also farm anything you need with reckless abandon.

They don’t have the kind of versatility as some other classes, so why do I rate them so high? Because I am assigning more value to pure soloability and ease of leveling than versatility. It is nice to be able to respec to fulfill other roles, but that practice can be expensive, and also necessitate multiple gear sets. With a hunter, you can focus and just pump out mad DPS with a great deal of survivability and little downtime.

Warlock. I would be hard-pressed to decide which class is better for the casual, the Warlock or Hunter. They have a good deal of similarity. Both are great solo classes that are easy to level and can really pump out the DPS. They can also both get away with subpar gear for longer.

Who doesn’t want a class that you can roll your face on the keyboard and have success? That’s the warlock. Easy to play, easy to level, and a great farmer. (Although I will add that though it’s easy to play a warlock, it’s tough to be a GREAT warlock.) Again, there isn’t much in the way of versatility, as you are a pure DPS class. What casual wouldn’t want to be the class largely considered "OP?"

Druid. I told you this would be biased! For me, the druid is hands down the best class for the casual player. They are the only class other than the paladin that can fill ANY role based on spec. The advantage with druid is that you can cover both melee DPS and tanking with the feral spec, and you can even fill the role of ranged DPS as a Boomkin as a balance druid.

The druid can be like three characters in one. I have gear for feral DPS, feral tanking and resto healing. If a group is ever short DPS, I can easily respec and hit the bank to join in the fun.

It can be tough through the first 20 levels, but the druid blossoms at 20. Once cat form hits, they level with fiendish speed. They can’t quite compete with a lock or hunter, but they can get close. A feral spec druid is, IMO, the best leveler in the game. The reason for this is that you can solo wonderfully and also almost always find a spot in a group as a tank. This is all out the window if you want to try leveling as a resto, but I know Phaelia at Resto4Life did just that.

In addition to all that goodness, you get to fly before any other class, without having to pay out 900g. You can’t beat that!

So there you have it. I told you it was biased, didn’t I? I do honestly believe that the Druid is the best class for a casual player. Their combination of versatility and soloability is unmatched in the World of Warcraft. The first 19 levels can be a bit of a pain, but from 20 on it’s like every day is Christmas. Thanks for reading!

WoW is a game about carrots.  When you start out, there are a whole slew of different carrots you can chase.  One of the great things about WoW is how many carrots Blizzard managed to stuff into the game.  Instances, raids, PvP rewards, badge gear, vanity pets…there is just too dang much to list. 

But, things aren’t always perfect.  Just because there’s a whole mess of carrots, that doesn’t mean they can keep everyone interested.  Even fanboys like yours truly can get tired of the game.  I have been playing since the dawn of WoW, and even a little before, so it wouldn’t be surprising if I became a little burnt out.

But no, I am not tired of WoW.  Not yet.  I have, however, discovered a little something that irritates me.  As we go on, the paths of real progression grow ever narrower.  Before we really get into it, I’ll get into what I’ve been doing in game.

In Game Update

I do like to talk about what I’ve been up to in game, but I don’t wan to devote entire posts to it.  So from here on out I’ll try to separate these journalistic endeavors into an "In Game Update" within the body of larger posts.  If you don’t care what I’ve been up to, feel free to skip ahead to the next heading where I’ll get back to the meat of the post.

My Druid has essentially been functioning as a bank toon in Dalaran.  I am not done with the druid, and I’m happy to have a heroic ready healer in my back pocket, but he hasn’t been my focus.  Part of the reason is that I hate soloing with him, but the real crux is that I’m enjoying my warrior too dang much to log in my Druid.  If someone really needs a healer, I’m more than willing.

So let’s talk about that warrior.  I had been playing him as a tank for the first couple weeks after I hit 80.  I made great strides in his gear, and got him defense capped and comfortable tanking heroics.  I enjoy controlling the runs I am on, as it allows me the opportunity to pull like a madman.  I don’t like to mess around too much with long-winded explanations and stuff, I just like to roll in and blast stuff apart. 

The problem is that there are just too many tanks floating around my guild.  I was having an inordinately difficult time getting groups together.  Well, about 2 weeks back, someone was practically begging for a DPS to fill a heroic run.  While I had never really played as a fury warrior, the idea of slinging around two huge two handers was awfully enticing.  So I went ahead and took the plunge.  I made sure to let the tank know that my DPS gear sucked (and it truly did…I was using a two hander from a Borean Tundra questline for an offhand) and that I didn’t have a lot of experience.  He didn’t care, he needed a body.

So it was that my days as a Fury Warrior began, and I honestly don’t know if I’ll ever look back.  I am enjoying the hell out of the spec.  My DPS on that first run was admittedly poor, I was one of those chumps who couldn’t even keep up with the tank.

Well, a host of heroic runs and an investment in a whole mess of titansteel later, I began to see the true power of a Titan’s Grip Warrior.  I have probably four great pieces of gear, and a whole lot of filler everywhere else.  I’m still quite easily pushing 2k DPS in heroics, and have been as high as 2400.  That’s with mostly meh gear.  I can’t wait to see what happens when I upgrade my chest, boots, bracers, legs, and trinkets.  Visions of 3k DPS are dancing in my head.

So I find myself farming heroics as a DPS Warrior and having a grand old time.  I also found a late night group to run with, and can almost always find a heroic when I log on.  It’s great, and I only feel a little bad for my poor, neglected Druid.

More on Progression

When you first hit level 80 in WoW, it can be a little overwhelming trying to decide just what the heck you should do first.  Work on Hodir dailies for rep?  Grind instances or heroic instances for gear?  Do some PvP to grind for THAT gear?  Plan your eventual assault on Naxx?  There are many, many things you can do.  As you check things off that phantom list, however, your focus naturally narrows. 

I think that is where I often run into problems.  I’ve been a bit of an altoholic since I began the game.  I took way, way too long to get to 60, because I couldn’t stay focused on one character.  It wasn’t until quite recently that I figured out why I did that.

As my focus on progression narrows, I start to lose interest.  If I realize that to continue to improve I only have one or two choices, I start thinking about alts.  If I have to farm one or two heroics, and hope that ONE boss drops that ONE piece of loot that will really make a difference, I start to lose my nerve.  The trouble is multiplied if said drop or two comes from a raid instance.  Because then I have to make time or find a big old group of people to help me out.

Alts, on the other hand, can be a nice change of pace at that point.  You get your constant progression just from the act of leveling, and along with it you acquire new shiny gear, new skills, and perhaps work on a new tradeskill.  Suddenly all of these avenues for advancement are opened up to you again.

I can’t fault Blizzard for my particular form of dissatisfaction.  Like I said, they stuffed an awful big variety of carrots into WoW.  It just so happens that I have no real interest in a few of them.  PvP, for example, is something I wouldn’t get into, at least not on my server.  (If I want PvP, I’ll go to a PvP server…all or nothing there, if you ask me!  Hell, I even have a level 50 undead warrior on Warsong!)  I’ve also never gotten a lot of enjoyment out of dailies.  Yes, gold is great, but I prefer when it comes as a side effect of my natural adventures.  And yes, I know there is usually rep attached as well, but I’m not into rep grinds either. 

I also have to give Blizzard a lot of credit for the Achievement system.  This has helped alleviate my Progression Problem, as it gives me a lot of things I can do on my own for fun.  Soon I plan to go on a grand tour of old school instances.  There are still a few I have never seen, and it will be fun to go back and just destroy some of that old content. 

So What Can Be Done?

Sadly, I’m not smart enough to know.  It’s not a fault in the game, it’s just natural that as you go on, you have less to do, and your options narrow a bit.  Especially if you’re not interested in certain aspects of the game.  I wish I had some groundbreaking idea for the genre, some interesting way of keeping players occupied, but I don’t.  The only thing I could really come up with is this:  avoid making ONE drop from ONE boss in ONE heroic be the end-all for pre-raid gear.  I suppose it could be argued that its my own perception that makes those purple pants so precious.  The blue ones I have ain’t too shabby, but, well, they’re blue! 

Don’t take this post the wrong way.  I’m still enjoying the heckfire out of my Warrior, and I have plenty of work I can do on the Druid, not to mention my Hunter that languishes at 70, and my new DK.  Uh oh…there I go again….talking alts…