Breakfast Topic: The best class choice for new players
by Michael Beck 
Aug 8th 2010 at 8:00AM
I'm living a dream that many guys out there have: My girlfriend is actively learning how to play World of Warcraft and is enjoying it. After a couple of false starts, she finally found a class that suited her.
First, she tried a warlock. Too many things to remember. Keeping DoTs up, keeping up with soul shards and collecting them, keeping tabs on her demon in battle. It was too much for her.
She tried a hunter. Taming her own pet was cool at first, but then she had to feed it and manage it in dungeons. Throw Feign Death, Deterrence and Disengage into the mix, and it was not her cup of tea. She's flying back 10 yards into other packs of mobs and feigning death every time the cooldown is up because she's afraid of the tank yelling at her for "doing the aggro thing." I was dismayed that a hunter didn't work out, because I always deemed it the default starter class for new players. At least it was for me.
Then came the paladin. Oh, blessed paladin, how she loves thee. At first, all she had to do was run up to the mob and hit it with Judgement of Light. The only "tricky" thing I had to teach her was when the Judgement of Light button was dark and wouldn't let her use it, it meant she needed to apply her Seal of Righteousness again. I even put the Seal right above the Judgement so she wouldn't forget. She was actually having pure joy with her new class. She didn't wonder if she was doing it right. She didn't worry about forgetting something. Just kill, kill, kill and love every second of it.
The new spells and abilities were so spaced out between levels for paladins that she had plenty of time to master the first skill before having another attack inserted into her rotation. Flash forward five months later, and now she's a level 61, dual-specialized retribution/holy paladin who complains that my death knight is a squishy tank. (I love you too, honey.)
Now that I've seen first hand how easily a new player was able to learn to play a paladin and how quickly she got comfortable with it, I would personally recommend it as the default starter class for any new players. Now I ask you: What do you think is the easiest class for a new player to start and why?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 12)
Illdoit Aug 8th 2010 8:06AM
My first class I got past twenty was a rogue, and looking back on the rogue play style, their isn't much to master at early levels. I suppose if you wanted to go in-depth combo points combined with various stealth mechanics would be a tad more confusing then say, a warrior where you charge in and lay the hurt.
But for the most part a rogue leveling at early levels, while not having the advantage of being able to wade in and destroy elites five levels higher, is simple and fun.
Vogie Aug 8th 2010 11:06AM
My wife's first character was a mage - it was the only one that she 'got' from a FF background. She liked it, but didn't like how squishy it was (she was also leveling as arcane). She tried a White Mage - a priest - next, and it was too nauseatingly boring.
So I told her to get an enhancement Shammy. She picked that up much faster, and it's still her main today. From her point of view in retrospective - Druid didn't make any sense (she wanted some definition & Direction to the class), and paladins & rogues was just too boring. The difference? Directional Variety. The cool thing about shamans is they make sense right off the bat - they have the tools and style that makes both caster & melee styles work right out of the gate.
Ibanthemage Aug 8th 2010 11:16AM
Mine was a mage too! Oh the mage... dedication and love :D
BubblePriest Aug 8th 2010 4:13PM
I had a few false starts with my husband starting WoW (I also thought that hunter would be a good idea for him to start out), but rogue was the class that finally got him into the game for good. Once he discovered stealth he never looked back.
This isn't true for everyone... but when it comes to overgrown boys who like to pretend they're ninjas while at the grocery store... yeah rogues are the only class to start with.
PictoKong Aug 8th 2010 4:51PM
yeah, first character ever was a mage (and is STILL my main)...
I died a lot at lower level and while leveling, but i did learn how to kite and avoid damage fast... Also, Free food and portals made my leveling experience much more fun (at higher levels)
When i rethink of it, i could see my mage getting stomped in the barrens while trying to kill mobs, and then seeing the same mage kiting the heck out of a zangarmarsh elite ;)
Eisengel Aug 8th 2010 5:04PM
My 1st character was a Rogue too, and I have to say, I think it is one of the harder classes to work with, especially as a beginner.
Rogues are pretty squishy, so by the the time you get up past level 10 or so, two mobs at once usually is instadeath. You really have to stalk in stealth, watch patrol paths, carefully set up kills, and manage your combos/attack chains to lock down mobs as much as possible and blow them up before they punch you to bits. Now i haven't played a low-level Rogue since Vanilla, but looking over the skill list, it doesn't seem they've changed too much.
Honestly I haven't found a class as difficult and error-sensitive starting out as Rogue. It could just be me. I won't say I didn't enjoy stalking a kill and ambushing single mobs in dead spots in patrol paths - but it was a pretty hair-trigger thing. I leveled my next two characters (a Priest & Druid) to 80 in half the time it took me to level my Rogue to 60. I think if you're good at making snap decisions, thinking quickly and have great situational awareness, Rogue can work for you. Otherwise, I can respect the simplicity and survivability of a Paladin or Warrior. On my 50ish prot Warrior I still only use about 4 buttons: Charge, Thunderclap, Rend and Shield Bash.
Zeknif Sokolniki Aug 8th 2010 11:02PM
Levelling as a rogue was always easy... hell, we EZ Mode roughly half of all the quests in the game with stealth and cheese the rest with cooldowns. PvEing as a Rogue used to be about as complex as a Retadin rotation save for the occasional raid that had no warrior for Sunders.
Now then, that said, PvPing as a Rogue is probably up there in complexity right now, especially RMP Arena style teams we find ourselves in. And recovering from not getting the initial opener in a RvR duel is one of the most difficult things to do in PvP.
Hoof Aug 9th 2010 8:49AM
I'm pretty sure Blizzard has said since WoW started that the Paladin was designed to be very easy to play and "noob friendly". Having played one myself and watched many others play, I've got o agree. To put it blunt, it takes a whole army to kill a new Paladin player, once experienced, it takes not one, but two jormungers... errr, armies to kill a Paladin. They're an awesome class when you're new to the game, and they can become quite the unstoppable force once you become good with them.
Jamie Aug 8th 2010 8:06AM
While I am totally biased to Paladin, I'd say the best boon for a new player is to play as a Night Elf Rogue, stealth + Shadowmeld really is the best way to go.
Although I really do believe the best class for people to play as is the one they have the best mentality for, if you only play melee classes you're hardly going to want to be a caster and vice versa - and if you just don't find your ideal class to work out try something else, you either mesh with it or you don't!
mark Aug 8th 2010 9:40AM
agreed - paladin is probably best - if your melee
for ranged.... mage
no dots no pets etc
fire and forget - and if its coming to fast your frostbolt debuff just ran out
MrLee Aug 8th 2010 9:57AM
I don't really see how standing still doing nothing (shadowmeld) is the 'best way to go' for a new player but there you go.
Personally I did play a warlock as my first character, back at launch and while it was tricky (especially back then) I still feel as if warlock is 'my' class despite having played them all by now.
I would agree with paladin being good for new starters though, they are super easy to play now. I recently soloed MC (not unusual these days) with my pally wearing only gear I picked up from PuGs.
Jamie Aug 8th 2010 10:04AM
@MrLee:
You're missing the point regard Shadowmeld, playing as a rogue is relatively safe as you can skip a lot of mobs control them, with Shadowmeld if you make a mistake you can often escape and go back into Stealth for another shot.
You're taking one of the best aspects for levelling and then improving upon it, you can learn a lot by simply watching and keeping safe.
Killik Aug 8th 2010 10:07AM
Paladin is probably the best first character. It's simple to pick up and almost unkillable. Also, as you level you have a chance to dps, to tank and to heal, giving you a taste of every role in the game so you can find your own preference. You could argue that Druids offer that same utility, but I found them frustratingly squishy and weak at low levels.
Penny Aug 8th 2010 11:50AM
Night Elf rogue was actually the very first toon I rolled, back when I downloaded the trial. I couldn't stand the sneak-sneak-sneak-STABITY fighting style, and I actually let the trial run out without getting the game. Turns out now I know I just hate rogues and nelves.
Later a coworker got me to try again, and I rolled a priest. I can kill things with blasts of light or shadow AND heal myself if times get tough? Count me in! Oh how I love my bubble.
Magicslime Aug 8th 2010 12:50PM
Night Elf Rogue was my first real toon. I absolutely hated it after the first 30 levels, and just went to 55 to get to dk. This is because of the annoying facts that:
A) Rogues are kind of squishy, and are melee.
B) They have NO heals, which is horrible for leveling.
I'd go paladin, hunter, or lock for a first character now.
Oni Stardust Aug 8th 2010 2:30PM
Night Elf Rogue was my first character and she's still my main. Shadowmeld + Stealth is effectively like having Vanish at lv1, and when you get the real Vanish later on you effectively have two copies of the spell with separate cooldowns.
Having an early Vanish/second Vanish was a lot of help while leveling since it gave me a lot more room to make mistakes and learn from them.
Of course I loved the stealth mechanics and enjoyed the concept of playing a character that wins battles through skill, dexterity, and deception as opposed to just smashing things like a Warrior would. But I know not everybody likes that kind of character and that can be a big factor.
Would you rather be a Fighter or a Thief? Cloud or Yuffie? Battista or Eddie Guerrero? If the first options in those questions appeal to you more, you might prefer rolling a Warrior or Ret Pally. But if you'd pick the latter Rogue is the way to go.
Me personally, I'd rather lie, cheat, and steal than smash, smash, and smash.
Rajah Aug 9th 2010 1:58AM
Jamie wrote: "the best class for people to play as is the one they have the best mentality for"
Truer words were never spoken. There is no one "best" starting class. One of the most clever things Blizzard has done is to create such a broad variety of classes, each with its own characteristic playing style, so as to appeal to the widest possible range of players. (Although, to be fair, they did not originate this idea; most of the classes have their roots in D&D.) When you find a class that clicks with your personality, that makes the game more enjoyable to play and leads to greater success. Happy players renew their subscriptions, everybody wins.
Saitenyo Aug 10th 2010 2:58PM
Definitely agree with this. My favorite class (and the first class I leveled to max) is my frost mage. I found it so easy and fun. I tried a paladin recently, after 5 years of playing as mage, and found it confusing and a little boring. Yet my friend who just started playing last week found pally to be the easiest and most fun for her to play with no prior WoW experience.
Also after grinding through 62 levels of shadow priest (the supposed easier/better priest leveling spec) I got so frustrated I vowed to never play a priest again. Until two weeks ago, when I rolled a holy priest. Now I'm almost level 40 and loving every second of it, wondering why it's so much easier than shadow was and wondering why everyone says holy is so hard to level. I find it a breeze! Kinda reminds me of the burst damage and utility I have with my frost mage.
Clearly different people have different playing styles, so what's "easy" for one person may be a real pain for another, and vice-versa.
Elazul Yagami Aug 8th 2010 8:07AM
I'd probably say a warrior, not much thought process for a first timer.
Dreamstorm Aug 8th 2010 8:10AM
Bandaging every other fight...? Meh