Hello and welcome to my F2P PvE guide. Because You're reading this on a twinking forum I'll assume You already know what PvE is, and want to read the guide to know more about it and how it's connected with F2P.
Often when I asked if anyone wants to do some PvE with me in /f2p chat I heard "nah I'm bored with the dungeons" or "lol what pve in f2p". PvE as in Player versus Environment doesn't only refer to dungeons. There are plenty rare and elite monsters in the outside world with various abilities, difficulty levels and effects to make it interesting for a long, long time. Personally, I enjoy PvEing in F2P more than PvPing and wanted to write the guide to show and interest You with the F2P PvE, so, without further ado, let's get into the guide.
To get started with PvE you need to know the basics. Both the Dungeons and the Outside monsters can be fought alone (soloed) or in groups (raided). Various classes do better or worse at different types of PvE, so for example a druid would prefer soloing, a warrior raiding and a hunter would find their role in both fighting types.
After deciding wether you want to solo, duo or raid a certain enemy You need to prepare some consumables and think of a tactic. Most popular are kiting or tank&spank, and they will be discussed later in the guide. You need to know your role in the fight, which is easy if it's a solo or a duo but needs to be decided in a raid, and You need to know Your High Hits (will be called HHs from now on). HHs are abilities that have higher chance of hitting a higher level enemy. The general rule of thumb is that if an ability connects both "magical" effects and "physical" ones then it should be a HH, good examples are
Judgment or
Arcane Shot.
Last but not least You should wowhead the enemy You want to take on, check on it's abilities and make changes in your trinkets - there is no point in keeping Insignia if the enemy has no Crowd Control, or very short ones.
You might know your class well from the PvP side but You might find out pretty early that it's not as good in PvE or it should be played differently. In this part of the guide You'll get to know what are the strong sides of your class and what are your HHs.
Druids are definetely on top of the PvEing capabilities. In-combat movement speed from
Travel Form makes the druid the best kiter. The minus side is having no HHs, but with being able to Travel Form after every spell cast what stops You from running around for a very long time casting
Moonfire?.
Soloing: 9/10
Group Fights: 5/10
HHs: None.
Top tier class in soloing, however doesn't bring much to the table in group fights. If the boss is oneshotting a protection warrior (cataclysm - pandaria ) there might be a need for a druid to take on the role of a kiting tank, running in Travel Form, changing to Bear to taunt and running again.
Specialisation:
Restoration should be used for healing, Guardian for tanking. For DPSing Balance>Feral.
Talents:
Feline Swiftness should be used if taunting+running or moonfire+kiting, Displacer Beast when the monster can't be outran even in travel form with Feline Swiftness and Wild Charge situationally.
Hunters are in my opinion the single best class to pick if You want to beat the PvE records and have raiding fights. Their ability to kite well with
Concussive Shot and
Disengage combined with
Arcane Shot and Concussive being a HH make the class a soloing god and the best raiding DPS.
Soloing: 10/10
Group Fights: 9/10
HHs: Arcane Shot, Concussive Shot.
Tips:
- when fighting high levelled monsters that can can kill you in 1-2 hits keep the growl off autocast and use it when the monster gets close to you with Disengage on cooldown and missed Concussive Shot for a lifesaver.
- Steady Shot gives focus even if it misses.
Specialisation:
Marksmanship for group fights so You can cast Aimed Shot without interruptions, Survival/BM for soloing. Beast Mastery can also be used for various raid buffs, especially
Ancient Hysteria.
Talents:
Posthaste when soloing, it's just too good to miss. For group fights the talent doesn't matter.
Mage is absolutely not recommended for PvE. Spells have very low chance to hit, and compared with the fact that they all have cast time that require You to stand in one place makes the class very weak at soloing and quite useless in group fights.
Soloing 1/10
Group Fights: 1/10
HHs: none
Specialisation:
Frost for soloing and Arcane for group fights, as you need as much CC and slows when soloing and can freecast Arcane spells for highest damage output in group fights.
Talents:
Ice Floes for soloing to keep moving in sticky situations, and for group fights the talent doesn't matter.
Monk is a good, balanced and versatile class to PvE at 20. The
Stance of the Fierce Tiger helps in kiting for the whole team, and the Mistweaver's single target heals are the best in F2P at the moment.
Soloing: 5/10
Group Fights: 6/10
HHs: Dizzying Haze, Fists of Fury.
Tips:
- Remember to take advantage of small cliffs and environment shaping while using Roll to gain distance advantage. As Windwalker/Brewmaster Your healing ability is using up energy, not mana, so you can kite around when in need of energy, heal up and come back to combat.
Specialisation:
Mistweaver should be used when healing, and Windwalker when soloing, because of higher mobility to be able to run away, heal and continue fighting.
Talents:
Tiger's Lust should be used both when soloing and in group fights. Cast it on Your healer or tank when they need to get away from some bad situation.
Priest is the class that increases the total damage Your tank can get in one hit thanks to
PW:S. Very high single target heals and PW:S make Priest a wanted and sometimes required addition to a raiding group. Sadly, Priests struggle in soloing and are best used in a group.
Soloing: 2/10
Group Fights:: 9/10
HHs: none
Tips:
- You remain in combat while casting Spectral Guise. To keep the clone alive a bit longer cast a Power Word: Shield just before using Spectral Guise.
Specialisation:
Discipline should be used for both soloing and when healing in group fights. Chastise has low chance to hit, and Shadow is generally weak without some necessary spells at level 20, so Holy and Shadow should not be used.
Talents:
Spectral Guise should be used when soloing, and Desperate Prayer/Angelic Bulwark when healing in group fights. Using Spectral guise when healing in raids would make you unable to heal your tank, making you useless, and healing would make shadow disappear making Shadow Guise as a talent choice useless. Use Desperate Prayer/Angelic Bulwark, depending on what's higher: the Prayer's healing or 15% of your health.
Rogue is a weak class in F2P PvE, however it's not as bad as a Mage. If played correctly it can solo some average difficulty level bosses and can be useful addition to a raiding group in the DPS slot.
Soloing: 4/10
Group Fights: 4/10
HHs: Sinister Strike,
Eviscerate
Specialisation:
Assassination should be used when fighting in raids, and Combat/Assassination should be used while soloing, depending on preference. Assassination is better for raids because of Envenom, which inflicts a DoT and refreshes Slice and Dice which should be up 100% of the time.
Talents:
Not much of a difference in rogue's PvE, However Shadow Focus should be used so the ambush attempt wouldn't be too punishing if it misses, as Ambush is not a High Hit.
Tips:
- Fights can sometimes take more than 2 minutes, especially if you have RoA. Use Evasion early in the fight to be able to use it two times in one encounter, unless your enemy has an ability or a phase that should be Evaded (such as Randolph Moloch's Wildly Stabbing.)
- Try to keep Recuperate active all the time when soloing. In a similar manner, try to keep Slice and Dice up all the time when raiding (and if possible also when soloing, but Recuperate has a priority).
- Don't forget the poisons!!!
Shaman is a versatile class that can deal magic damage, fight in melee or heal others. Shammy's heals are considered as very high, and the supportive spells he can bring to the table are outstanding, and makes shaman a valued raid member and sometimes a necessity. Most notable of Shaman's abilites are
Riptide, instant healing spell with an additional heal over time and maximum health increase,
Water Shield that helps sustain mana while in longer fights,
Purify Spirit and
Purge to help fight spellcasting monsters.
Soloing: 5/10
Group Fights: 8/10
HHs: Flame Shock
Specialisation:
Restoration should be used when healing in group fights and Enhancement when DPSing, as it has higher chance of hitting the enemy than Elemental. When soloing the specialisation is situational and up to preference.
Talents:
Nature's Guardian should be used when Group Fighting as it reduces threat if you get hit, and Stone Bulwark Totem when soloing as it will keep shielding You every 5 seconds and shamans can no longer kite.
Warlocks being spellcasters have problems with PvE fights, however they are not in as bad spot as mages are. Their
Voidwalker can tank lower level bosses pretty efficiently, and in case of emergency can be instantly summoned by Demonology Warlocks. The
Soulstone cast on a Tank or healer before a fight can provide the only combat ress available to F2P. While soloing, Warlocs can use Voidwalker,
Healthstone,
Corruption and
Demonic Leap for some decent kiting.
Soloing: 2/10
Group Fights: 4/10
HHs: None, however Corruption can be cast on the run and it will eventually hit.
Specialisation:
Demonology should be used both in soloing and group fighting, because destruction's power lies in spells that need casting time which together with their low hit rate makes them useless. Demonology enhances the Voidwalker's tanking power by increasing your armor by 250%. Affliction can be experimented with in group fights.
Talents:
Talents are to be experimented with, although Dark Regeneration should be used in soloing. For group fights it doesn't have much of an effect. Do the math for your Warlock and run a few tests if Harvest Life talent will be more useful healing wise than Dark Regeneration.
Warriors are the best F2P tanks when it comes to stationary tanking. Their high base health combined with mail armor and shield are helping, but the true tanking power of a Warrior lies in
Defensive Stance that decreases the damage taken by
20%. To show how much that can be, an average hit from the Fel Reaver on a mail armor+shield target is around 2000, but with Defensive Stance it will only hit 1600. Defensive Stance is also the main rage source in combat, as your autoattacks and abilities will rarely hit.
Soloing: 3/10
Group Fights: 8/10
HHs: Thunder Clap
Specialisation:
Protection should be used when tanking in group fights, Arms when DPSing and Fury when soloing. Will have to run more tests to check Fury's DPSing possibilities in raid fights, but it is definetely the spec to go when soloing thanks to self healing.
Talents:
Double Time should be used generally, Warbringer might be experimented with as it changes the 1.5s root to stun giving you around 1-2 free attacks without enemy retaliation. Double Time might come in handy when charging to critters in fight when in need of running away a little bit to bandage / give healer some time to cast a heal.
Tips:
- Mark all nearby critters before the battle so you can easily charge to them when needed.
- Always keep a shield in your inventory together with a Stance-Dance macro that equips your shield in offhand slot and changes stance to Defensive, even when soloing or DPSing.
Paladin is the best class to solo in F2P without kiting. The paladin is very solid with heals, high armor and reasonable damage connected with powerful long cooldowns.
Soloing: 8/10
Group Fights: 4/10
HHs: Judgment
Specialisation:
As for now, PvE should be done either on Retribution or Holy paladin, as Protection lacks in mana regeneration needed to last long in fights. Prot can be used as tank in raiding, but it's the worst tank spec out of all classes for F2P PvE. For DPSing in raids use Retribution and for healing Holy.
Talents:
As Judgment is a HH you should use Long arm of the Law as protection or retribution, however Holy being able to selfcast Holy Shock should use Pursuit of Justice. Speed of Light should be used situationally.
Tips:
- Remember that Divine Shield and Lay on Hands trigger a 1 minute cooldown. That won't allow using the other one.
- Use Divine Shield when you're out of mana for a safe bandage.
- If tanking in PvE raid or want to keep a hit or two off your tank you can use Divine Shield and immediatelly after taunt with Reckoning. If you don't use taunt the monster will swap targets to the highest threat party member - which would be healer.
Consumables are boosts that can be used before fight to increase your character's power or in combat - Combat Consumables. Consumables should always be used when fighting, wether it's soloing or group fighting, and the best consumables (like rare event ones) should be stored in bank and used when fighting a hard boss.
Consumable List:
Rod of Ambershaping
Blizzard's second gift for F2P PvErs. Rod of Ambershaping works like a ranged sap for one minute, interrupted by damage, and with a 5 minute cooldown. The item
does not disappear on use, so after the 5 minute cooldown is over it's ready to use again, and it does not have diminishing returns, which means that in theory five players can keep a monster stunned forever.
Use this item when fighting and you're oom and low health to heal up (with heals or bandage), one minute should be enough to get your health and mana back to full. Also, use your cooldown abilities before RoA so you have 60 seconds off your cooldowns.
Make sure that the monster you're about to CC does not have any DoT on it. When raiding use a macro saying that you're about to use RoA - please stop attacking!
Despite the fact that the section is called Conclusion it's more of a list of tips & tricks. A lot of PvE knowledge can't be grouped in the sections so this will be just a list of random facts that you should know:
Proper monster kiting
A lot of people don't know this. I learned this while playing a level one twink from [MENTION=11232]Bon[/MENTION]ne , so huge shoutout and thanks. To properly kite and gain as much distance advantage you should run from a monster and click A -> D -> A -> D.... assuming the default hotkeys ( so you want to turn, not strafe). This will bug out the pathing for the monster chasing you making it follow you in zigzag. You should just run forward and click adadadadadadadad as fast as you can, which will make you run in an almost straight line, while the monster following you will run in something like this: /\/\/\/\/\/\
Of course while running forward you can't attack. If you're soloing jump every now and then and fire a few shots / moonfires back and continue A-Ding. If you're with a partner or a group just let them take aggro and swap roles.
Elite range
Usually when you kite a monster far enough it will start evading and flee, elite and rare monsters however don't. If you want to kite a monster fight an elite or a rare.
Taunts always hit
Using Shadowmeld will get you out of combat but leaving shadowmeld gets you back into combat with your full threat
All dungeon bosses in all dungeons are CC resistant except monsters in Wailing Caverns (the only CC resistant boss there is Verdan the Everliving). All dungeon bosses are also elite monsters and they can be kited on the whole dungeon.
(more things will be added on when I remember or learn something new. Feel free to add your tips in the comments!)
And this should be it for the guide, of course it will be a work in progress all the time, being updated when new expansions hit with new consumables, tips tricks and whatnots. I hope that it interested you at least a little bit and if you want some motivation to do F2P PvE watch some of the videos below:
Looking for feedback and I hope it was a good read.
~Crys
