Hello, you fantastic community.

Lambpage

New Member
Hey all,

I recently discovered that F2P lvl 20 communities are a thing. How cool!

I have been a long time WoW player. Vanilla, TBC, Wotlk, Cata for 2-3 months, Legion for 1-2 months. I have to say, the progression of the game focusing around borrowed power, daily quests, etc. sent me running to private servers, Rift for a time, ESO, GW2, MO1, MO2, etc.

I say this all to say, that I am hoping to get back into casually playing WoW in the F2P lvl 20 bracket, because the idea of self-imposing challenges, and ignoring the endgame progression systems sound like a blast to me. Achievement point hunting, here I come.

I've been scouring the lvl20 forums for SL for a class ranking of what is viable for soloing PvE, as well as being decent in PvP. I am not an alt-aholic; I want to pick one character, and complete as much content as I can possibly push them to do. I was interested in rolling a Demon Hunter (cause the movement looks amazing, and isn't something I've spent any time on), but have been pretty disappointed seeing a lot of the BG scoreboard postings. It seems like I'd be better off rolling almost anything else.

I know, I know; Class fantasy > class performance for intrinsic enjoyment, however, if I'm gonna get stomped in every random bg, I think there's something to avoiding that reality as well for the same reasons.

Anyone have any suggestions on a class ranking? Can hPaladins AoE entire dungeons still? Should I pick something that just works for the bracket? Warriors, Warlocks, Paladins, Hunters, Death Knights all sound okay to me; just having never played a 20 twink, I am unclear as to performance on the PvP side, and solo-ability for scaled dungeons.

Any advice is appreciated.
 
Welcome aboard!

If youre looking for a single f2p toon on which to push the account as much as possible over the long term, its probably best to ignore BG scoreboards from random games. They are… worthless

After all, all that can change in a content patch and will change xpac to xpac. And youre here for the long haul.

Historically speaking, hybrid classes have been the most favored by achievement hunting f2p. Druids, pallies, shaman… all excellent choices. These classes are what you might call "forever meta" for F2Ps. They have always been good and will likely always be good choices, just by the nature of their classes and low level toolkits.

Of those, I would probably recommend the druid. High mobility, specing into guardian (or any tank spec on any toon) will prevent daze/dismount while exploring, good personal sustain, stealth, etc. Just overall probably the best "all 'rounder" for a F2P toon. They also have been, since time immemorial, always good in low level pvp in some regard.

That said, people of all classes have done some serious achievement pushing. Given zone scaling, class choice is far less of a factor than it used to be. At this point its more about convenience than capability. You really can choose whatever you like. Some classes are just more convenient than others.
 
If you want to perform well in bgs, hunter/priest are the top tier right now. The rest of the classes are decent, but they are more gear dependent. Prot paladins prior to crusader enchant nerf, could solo dungeons. But after the nerf, it takes much longer to clear content. Brewmaster have only one spec ability, Blood dk and DH have some sort of self sustain, but not good enough for solo clear. Feel free to msg me in game for more a more in-depth chat.
wupdhawg#1138
 
Lambpage said:
class ranking of what is viable for soloing PvE, as well as being decent in PvP.
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To be fair, it's probably hunter, but no one likes hunters lol

I think you are going to have a rough go with DH, the damage just isn't there. They also don't benefit from their mastery movement speed until a later level. You do have the option to skip content, which is cool.

If you really take the time to grind BiS plate, I think it's hard to beat Pally. Prot can't be killed but slower damage, I think you can solo anything with Ret. With a full speed set you should be hitting 30% passive movement. Leech is also decent for PvE. Ret is definitely viable for BG. Prot less, but I think it can work with Holy Shield.

Here's a BiS ret link
https://retail.safe-armory.com/en/character/626fed9385d61

Here's my prot pally
https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-us/character/us/blackwing-lair/unkillabull
 
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DH ain't great not gonna lie. For solo content I'd say either prot pal or hunter. BM hunter has the highest single target dps from what I've seen and melts bosses with good gear.

I've had some success with shadow priest in soloing dungeons but my experience in that is limited and it takes forever.
Done some with arcane mage as well - you either kill the mob first or you die. Bosses are very hard. Wouldn't recommend.
Rogue just dies.
Warlock can do stuff due to drain life providing self sustain but it's really slow just like spriest.
Hunter is really solid as long as you don't pull too much.

I haven't tried the rest but I can imagine they're not great. Prot pala seems like the most suitable for the task if you can handle the bosses imo. Although clearing without gear could prove problematic. If you fancy BGs as well, go with a hunter. As a starting f2p you won't be as overpowered as vet hunters or geared f2p hunters but the class will still make it bearable and enjoyable. Once you start getting gear you'll see how broken the class is even if you can't reach the bis potential. I even use BG crate gear on mine even though I have bis gear just so it's playable and I don't steamroll everyone.

I've done quite some researching on hunter builds so I can help you picking items if you're completely new. I don't recommend looking in the armory thread here as it's full of undergeared or poorly geared characters that aren't optimal.
 
Welcome!

DON'T PLAY A FUCKING HUNTER

+1 vote for paladin but grinding 300 enchanting on a f2p for crusader is... well self explanatory
Echoing Chops here:
Chops said:
class choice is far less of a factor than it used to be. At this point its more about convenience than capability. You really can choose whatever you like. Some classes are just more convenient than others.
Click to expand...
 
I do PvE for funsies and like soloing dungeons. Here's what I have experience with.

  1. Paladin. Kills everything. Prot is great for AoE. Ret can use a https://www.wowhead.com/item=13505/runeblade-of-baron-rivendare?bonus=6712 and kill most bosses without ever needing to use self-heals.
  2. BM Hunter. Really high damage. Bad at AoE. Can use Feign Death shenanigans to skip large packs. Has good CC.
  3. Demon Hunter. Decent damage and AoE. Self-heals are baked into your AoE kit. Double jump and gliding are super fun. You can use it for faster traversal and skips.
  4. Druid. Decently tanky. Good AoE. Decent damage. Has to leave bear form to heal. Can go cat-form and stealth past mobs you don't want to fight.
  5. Resto Shaman. Decent single target damage. No AoE. Can solo almost everything with a combination of kiting and healing, but it's slower. Can handle a lot of encounters as elemental due to high damage.
  6. Death Knight. I wish it were better. Damage is okay. Good AoE. Pretty squishy, limited self-healing at 20. Capable enough, but it's way more effort than the other options. You'll probably hit road blocks without https://www.wowhead.com/item=137538/orb-of-torment?bonus=1826:1472
 
https://www.wowhead.com/item=13505/runeblade-of-baron-rivendare?bonus=6712 is def your wep, I'll just add the heal is roughly ~200 for ret (tooltips are all over the place). It's scaling off your attack power to healing conversion (used for Flash Heal), which is significantly more then say for a Warrior, they are ~40 every 5.

The drop isn't impossible like it used to be, although soloing dead side is not going to be fun. You can't Q this one at 20, have to walk in.
 
Hot dang!

Thank you all for the great insight and feedback; and welcomes.

Goesid said:
druid would give you alot to do with 4 specs and youre guaranteed that atleast 1 of them is gonna be good at all times.
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Totally understand the appeal there - a ton of pros. I've never been a druid player, personally Shapeshifting in and out of forms is not my jam.

Hashbrowns said:
You do have the option to skip content, which is cool.

If you really take the time to grind BiS plate, I think it's hard to beat Pally. Prot can't be killed but slower damage, I think you can solo anything with Ret. With a full speed set you should be hitting 30% passive movement. Leech is also decent for PvE. Ret is definitely viable for BG. Prot less, but I think it can work with Holy Shield.
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DH movement is the coolest thing about them imo. Is the reason I'd want to play one. The skips look amazing.

I am leaning towards a Ret pally at this point.

CigNus said:
+1 vote for paladin but grinding 300 enchanting on a f2p for crusader is... well self explanatory
Click to expand...

Looks like grinding is back on the menu, bois.
 
Hashbrowns said:
I think you are going to have a rough go with DH, the damage just isn't there. They also don't benefit from their mastery movement speed until a later level. You do have the option to skip content, which is cool.
Click to expand...
Hashbrowns said:
This would be the place to start https://xpoff.com/threads/20s-dh-guide-shadowlands.96959/
Maybe you can make it work but from what I've seen in BG and heard, it's going to be a rougher go.
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nah, he'll be fine.
the dmg is also fine, for PvE & PvP.
just have to build your stats around the winning condition of the spec (referring to arenas mostly, but this applies to BGs & PvE also).
universal "vers is king" builds don't work in SL as well as they did in BfA; they are still very good for certain specs, though.

P.S.: thanks for the plug! :)
 
I can't say much for other classes. But strat on a DK if you're just starting out can be rough. Not a lot of power from self healing and a little squishy. How ever if you limit your pulls and take her slow and easy it can be done! It's also worth noting that while farming for Rune blade is a optimal, make sure to run the other half as well for Roghteous Orbs. You're gonna want to farm a healthy amount of them for Crusader!
 
Asylum said:
nah, he'll be fine.
the dmg is also fine, for PvE & PvP.
just have to build your stats around the winning condition of the spec (referring to arenas mostly, but this applies to BGs & PvE also).
universal "vers is king" builds don't work in SL as well as they did in BfA; they are still very good for certain specs, though.

P.S.: thanks for the plug! :)
Click to expand...

Don't tempt me with additional suffering. I started a DH yesterday, having never done the starter zone. Accidentally continued the quests after hitting lvl 20 before looting in the zone. Cried on the inside.

Flying around is the real class fantasy.
 
i don't rly get why people like ret. i can do as much damage as holy AND have hella heals.
dh isn't top tier but it isn't bottom either. if it's really what you like it'll be ok enough.

keep in mind you're coming in pretty late and things have quieted down a LOT.
still enough people playing to call it an ok scene but man ya shoulda seen it early patch.
 
fungchewuchi said:
i don't rly get why people like ret. i can do as much damage as holy AND have hella heals.
dh isn't top tier but it isn't bottom either. if it's really what you like it'll be ok enough.

keep in mind you're coming in pretty late and things have quieted down a LOT.
still enough people playing to call it an ok scene but man ya shoulda seen it early patch.
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Holy shockadins and prot pallies in arenas were a blast back in TBC.

Now that I've experienced the glide mechanics, it is hard to imagine walking around. I'm not too worried about PvE content on the DH; self heals and damage seem reasonable there.

If you had to rate it for PvP, is it mid damage, high mobility, decent tankiness? Does it have a place/role in BGs or Arenas? I definitely like things that aren't FOTM, but I don't want to shoot myself in the foot with getting too far down a grind with a class that isn't viable. I know things change with large balance patches and expansions, so that point in and of itself could also be pretty moot; but it also could be an extended period of time before something changes.

Ammonite said:
  1. Paladin. Kills everything. Prot is great for AoE. Ret can use a https://www.wowhead.com/item=13505/runeblade-of-baron-rivendare?bonus=6712 and kill most bosses without ever needing to use self-heals.
  2. Demon Hunter. Decent damage and AoE. Self-heals are baked into your AoE kit. Double jump and gliding are super fun. You can use it for faster traversal and skips.
Click to expand...
Comparing the DH to the Ret Pally with runeblade, whats your opinion on the totals PvE output for a DH? (% of Ret as baseline)
 
Lambpage said:
If you had to rate it for PvP, is it mid damage, high mobility, decent tankiness? Does it have a place/role in BGs or Arenas?
Click to expand...
in arena, DH dmg is terrifying during meta but you either win in that 30 second window or you dont. Once its over, you're a rogue with fewer options.

In BG's, its really quite good if you tunnel objectives and get picky about your encounters. Playing around your CDs is probably more crucial than other classes but if you do it well you'll be an absolute nuisance.
 
If you enjoy shockadins/prot pally in tbc; you will also enjoy them in the current patch. Prot from 9.1 was a viable tank in bg, you could dive in and soak dmg and provide notable offheals. Their damage and heals may not be as high as other dedicated roles, but your HK will be the highest because you last the longest in a fight... but since their heal nerf, its less viable and you need to be selective in large fights. Queing as prot pally to pickup TBC gem gear could get you pretty far, you can change your loot specialization to holy/ret to get proper gear from bosses. However I find ret/holy leans more on i28 than prot; prot relies on +2str/+2sta sockets.

I'm not familiar with DH bg/arena, but I mainly use mine for i28 farming. (It is more fun to play and quicker than a crusader/destiny/whirlwind warrior). I think DH tanks are most viable in flag maps, [infernal strike] + [Abyssal strike] = 12second 30yrd leap. Someone wrote a great dh write up, definitely worth a read if you are interested.
https://xpoff.com/threads/20s-dh-guide-shadowlands.96959/
Just be cautious for [Brutarg's Sword Tip], from my testing, the damage is not that high as tooltip is describing.

Sharing old screenshot from 9.1; gone are the days you can stall fights during 1v2/1v3
 

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