No matter where you go, be it Reddit, MMO-Champion, or even Wowhead, you are guaranteed to at least see one forum with the question “What class should I play?” I admit this is the same question I have asked myself many times over the twelve years of playing World of Warcraft. With every class at level 110 and above 910 Item Level (besides two that are level 100) I have had an awfully hard time trying to pick just one class to main and focus on. Choosing a main in WoW is one of the most difficult things to do, but hopefully, this article will help you with your own decision. I must advise for new players not to follow this article. As a new player, I recommend just picking and leveling classes that appeal to you the most. After a while, if that doesn’t work, then you can come back and follow along with this article.
What Class is the Best?
This question is asked way too much. You’ll hear “What’s the best DPS, Healer, or Tank?” Spoiler alert, there is no “Best” class. I’ll use the DPS classes for this example. When players ask, “What’s the best DPS?” there is no cookie cutter answer. When it comes to DPS, there are many different styles. You first have to ask yourself if you want to play a ranged or melee. Next, you need to figure out what your goal is. Not one class is good at everything, so do you want to Raid, run Mythic+, or just do world content. Some classes will perform better in Raids more than they could in Mythic+. Shadow Priest is a great example. They perform well in Raids, but when it comes to Mythic+ they fall behind many classes until high-level keys when they start to perform a bit better, but still can’t compare to other classes like Hunters, or Balance Druids.
Another issue you run into when wanting to pick “the best DPS” is not one class/spec is ever on top for every raid tier. The top DPS will fluctuate over the entire expansion. At the start of Legion, Shadow Priests were ruling the DPS meters, now they are sitting at about average. During Tier 19 Mythic Nighthold, Fury Warriors were on top along with Havoc Demon Hunters, whereas now Arms ranks higher than Fury and Demon Hunter has fallen to the middle of the pack. Now, with all that said and knowing that there is never going to be a “best” class to pick, let’s move on to how we will choose a main.
Now, with all that said and knowing that there is never going to be a “best” class to pick, let’s move on to how we will choose a main.
Steps to Our Final Decision
To make things a bit easier, I will go over the process I used to choose my main. As previously stated, I needed to decide if I wanted to play a melee or ranged class. I have played melee for most of Legion so I thought it was time to try something new and play a ranged. Now I had to look at all of the ranged classes/specs. While looking at these classes I have to now think what my end goal is going to be. I enjoy raiding, but it won’t be my focus. I enjoy Mythic+, so I will need a class that will perform DPS-wise and that will bring utility to the group, i.e. Lust and Battle Res. I already have a buddy that plays a Mage, so that instantly cuts that class out.
Next, I want a class that can fill other roles, not just DPS in case I get bored I can swap to tank or healing, depending on the class. With that said, Warlock and Hunter are also cut. That leaves me with Druid, Shaman, and Priest. I stated above that my goal is to focus more on Mythic+ and because of that unless I’m going to Heal more often than DPS, Priest is no longer an option. Let’s go back to the utility that the class will bring. Druid will give us a Battle Res and Shaman will give us Lust, so it’s time to make our decision.
Making a Decision
Being left with just two classes to choose from, it actually wasn’t that hard to make my decision. Druid always has a spec that is good, so if I get tired of ranged DPS it also offers melee, healing, and tanking. Shaman seems to always be on the weaker side when it comes to DPS, but their Healing is amazing. After making a Pros and Cons list between the two, Druid was the clear winner. The major reason that put Druid above Shaman was the fact that it could fill every role. Because I’ve been playing for 12+ years, and not ever truly having a main, that makes Druid so much more appealing to me. Instead of swapping a class if I want to fill a different role all I will have to do is swap specs and I’m good to go.
Choosing Your Main
Just because I picked Druid doesn’t mean it’s the best option for you. I recommend going through and comparing each class that appeals to you and follow what I did to choose my main. I also would like to add that I didn’t talk much about choosing a Tank or Healing main because of those specs being a bit more open. Tanks are a bit of a cookie cutter decision depending on what you want to do. Every Tank has their own thing that makes them special. Yes, some Tanks are better than others, but when it comes to Tanking they are all a good decision. Same going for healers, some are always going to be more sought after, i.e. Resto Druid, Holy Paladin, and Resto Shaman, but all healers are viable and strong in their own way. Hopefully, this helps answer that overly asked question of “What class should I play?”
If you have any questions or have another method for choosing a main that you prefer, please let us know in the comments down below.
