I currently have a level 60 mage however find the downtime to be a bit annoying. I’m looking to make an alt with the soul purpose of grinding mobs such as hearthglen/ tyr’s hand. I feel like warlock/hunter would be best but which one has the least downtime overall. I am willing to consider other classes if they have low downtime.
I spent a lot of time grinding Tyr’s hand on my lock in 06. If specced and played right you don’t have to worry much about downtime. Couldn’t tell you about hunter.
Downtime tends to be more of an issue when levelling, because taking on higher-level mobs results in using up mana or health to a greater degree (of course). Mage is obviously a damage dealer and a damage dealer through mana, unless you have a really good wand. If your sole purpose is to grind at lvl 60 then you’ll just have to ignore the inconveniences of levelling.
Warlock is powerful, but spell resist can be an issue against tougher mobs, unlike hunter, where you are still dishing out damage despite stings and arcane shot sometimes being resisted. All-in-all I’m convinced hunter is the strongest levelling class, plus you have the option of attempting red quests that are often not quite within the reach of warlocks. Once you get to 60 then these problems are not so applicable.
Warlock is also a bit more fiddly than hunter. Warlocks need soulshards whereas hunters only need a bit of food to heal their pet. Hunters can kite as well, far better than warlocks, and when the damage does go onto you when the mobs ignore your pet then the hunter can take a lot more.
There’s a big argument for beast master as the ideal levelling spec (because it makes your pet do all the work), but when the odds are stacked against you I find survival does exactly what is says on the tin. If you get killed then you will face downtime. If you don’t get killed then you’ll face less downtime and less time running from the graveyard.
While it’s true that mages have downtime, at least you get unlimited free water.
And AoE grinding as a mage is something no other classes can really compete with.
I’ve seen mages take 8-10 mobs at a time, then drink. On my rogue if I’m fighting mobs a few levels higher than me, I have to pull carefully and eat every one or two mobs.
This only works in specific areas though, based on what kinds of mob you’re dealing with. Doesn’t work so well on ranged or caster mobs for instance. Also depends on how quickly they respawn.
Druid has no recovery time betwean single fights.
Mage AOE farming averages downtime big time.
I have “spirit set” on my warrior with 6 items at ~20spirit from quests and inst drops that I change into with ItemRack between pulls - cuts down recovery ~40% easy.
Hunter, druid, warlock (in this order) have the least downtime.
Hunter barely has to stop for anything apart from healing their pet every now and then and restocking ammo & vendoring every 1h or so.
Druid (feral) is the same. You’re a rogue but with heals. The only thing you use mana for is heals and shapeshifting.
Warlock has low downtime but only if you know what you’re doing. Otherwise it can have just as much downtime as any other class.
On a side note, considering that you’re playing the class that has the fastest XP/h through AoE grinding, why does downtime bother you so much? Is it just the boredom of sitting and drinking or what? Because if XP/h is what you’re after, then mage is the undisputed #1.
Druid . Hunter . Warlock are known for little downtime.
I prefer hunter but it’s mostly due to how experienced i an with the class.
If i was you with no knowledge of any of the classes id pick lock maybe druid. Hunter takes abit more effort to learn imo. But can’t say much about druid.