Challenging Classes vs. Meta Dominance in WoW Retail– A Call for Balance and Recognition

Community General Discussion
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Upon returning to the game after years of hiatus, I find myself engrossed once again. With the game’s newfound flexibility, I’ve explored all classes and specs, currently immersing myself in the adventures of four characters. My main boasts a formidable 3080 rating in Mythic+, while the other three hover around the 2.7k mark. Each has achieved Heroic status, with my main having cleared 1/9 Mythic for reference.

In my rediscovery, I’ve observed stark discrepancies in the ease of dealing damage across various classes. The stark contrast between mastering a class like Arcane Mage, requiring vast practical experience, dungeon knowledge, coordination, and split-second reactions, compared to the relative simplicity of a BM Hunter or DH Havoc, perplexes me.

This issue may discourage newcomers from embracing the game. It’s unreasonable to expect fledgling players to gravitate toward meta classes to excel. Let’s refrain from equating the experiences of seasoned veterans, who’ve devoted years to a single character, with newcomers.

My primary concern lies in the lack of reward for mastering non-meta specs. It’s not that these classes are inherently inferior; rather, achieving competitive DPS requires relentless effort, often surpassing that of more favored counterparts. Having explored all options, I can unequivocally attest to this disparity.

Blizzard, consider rewarding the most challenging classes with greater damage output. Diligent dungeon performance deserves recognition, especially when executed flawlessly across all classes. By prioritizing classes that demand meticulous effort, we can cultivate a more inclusive gaming environment, particularly for newcomers.

Below, I’ve outlined the classes and specs I find particularly challenging to outperform in the current meta (DPS Only):

  1. Arcane Mage
  2. Unholy DK
  3. Shadow Priest
  4. Arms Warrior

It’s crucial to recognize that popularity doesn’t necessarily equate to damage output or skill. Many shy away from these classes due to the difficulty of optimizing damage output. If the current gameplay mechanics persist, consider bolstering overall damage output to alleviate the frustration associated with mastering these classes.

Ultimately, players should feel rewarded for mastering challenging classes, as competition in raids often revolves around DPS performance.

Rant concluded.

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God please, you just pick a meta spec for your class and do damage by pressing 2 buttons. No one could care less about a handful of those who like playing a church organ and telling others that they should be rewarded for that…

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Do you write in such a pompous way naturally or do you have to practise?

Look at the stats and you’ll find most players don’t gravitate towards meta classes and they do just fine with the content they want to do. It’s a problem mostly with a) the top 0.01% and b) wannabes who want to be 0.01% but are playing at 40th percentile and think it’s the lack of meta-ness that’s holding them back, when it’s not.

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Not sure how it is in NA, but that’s not the case in EU. 90% play Meta Classes, and guess what happens when you want to apply as a non-meta Class in M+ and in Raid.
Besides, I personally know people who rerolled a non-meta Spec, because they’re tired of doing less damage in raids and M+.

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On the top 0.1%, indeed. Below that people don’t and it isn’t needed either.

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I thought that was serious until I saw that.

But on a serious note, why should basic rotational complexity be tied to higher output?
If you tie higher output to ANYTHING, then this is gonna devolve to a REALLY BAD community perception problem, as well as worse experience in game (with the game being flooded with players in “challenging” specs).

But generally the idea to tie performance to rotational complexity is just bad for the game (and a product of bygone era thinking).
You could make the same arguments more or less to push for higher output depending on:

  • Defensives: Since the higher you go in content, the difficulty arises from being able to survive, so it is fair to assume that “glass cannons” specs should provide the most damage.

  • Utility: Since one of the most important aspects is utility, you can also argue that specs that bring the fewer utility abilities should provide the most output.

As you see, there are multiple “handicaps” that could be argued should give certain specs more throughput.

What fortunately happens, is that blizzard tries to ignore such logic and instead tries to balance almost every spec (with varying degrees of success).

Nice statistic, source?

Also for RAID?!?!! for raid meta classes are 38/39 specs. The only specs that are not “meta” are poor ele shamans cause they bring no buff.

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I find this very hard to believe. The bulk of raids and mythic plus groups are not meta.

Some players may always choose whatever is strong but the bulk just play what they like. Even if the average Joe Bloggs plays a meta class they aren’t guaranteed to be any good at it.

1 Like
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Meta seems to be in flux a great deal of the time. If you play a class/spec you particularly like, you’ll find yourself ranking high at some point usually. And not so high at other times. Balance is not a static thing in WoW in most cases.

Besides that, I am guessing the lower entry classes with still decent to good performance are actually a great way of starting for newer players, especially if they aren’t that experienced with mmorpg’s. It’s more forgiving. People with more experience and/or who like a challenge will pick up more difficult specs.

Balance shouldn’t be correlated to difficulty of a class/spec. You’d make it less inviting, not more, to the target demographic you are talking about.

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