DPS Range classes

Community General Discussion
1

Hello,

I love to play healers/support classes in games, I played Druid, Priest and Paladin (all healers) in Classic, but in retail I just dont feel the role, its not very enjoyable, people rushing dungeons and a lot of unexpected damage makes the role very stressful. So I decided to pick up a class which is pure DPS and not very hard to learn/play as someone who find himself as a casual player (normal and some heroic raids at the end of the patch/expansion, keys up to 15 for the title and mount and open world questing) and also someone who is not very good as DPS player (never toping metters).

After looking at guides and few class trials I shorted my list on 3 classes - Hunter, Mage and Warlock.

All 3 classes have really nice fantasy and have at least 1 “easy” spec which is beginner friendly. But I would like to hear from more experienced people some thoughts and outputs about these classes, how they perform, how much they are desirable, useful, fun and easy/hard to learn.

I would like to be able to play more then one spec, just in case the current one is in the bad spot or I get bored and want to change my playstyle. Also something with more consistent damage and not focused that much on big CDs.

Hunter - I like the mobility of the class and having your own tank is big bonus for the open world. BM spec is the one I like the most, I usually like to stay on the distance so not sure how much I will put focus on Survival and MM seems a bit harder to learn/play then BM. The concern about the class is theres a lot of Hunters and you dont bring a lot of utility to groups.

Warlock - Has really nice utility and also has a pet which makes it more resistant then other cloth classes. Also has 3 specs with different playstyle which is nice. Destro and Demo seem like specs new player friendly, I like Afflic but not sure how hard it is and will I struggle with DoT playstyle. The concern about the class is low mobility and not many instant cast spells.

Mage - Huge utility toolkit, instant spells, high mobility for caster and teleports for big QoL improvement. Frost is the spec I like the most, not sure how I feel about Arcane, seems very complicate. I like Fire as well, but seems very punishing. The concern about the class is Arcane and Fire look like the advance specs.

To be clear, I am not looking for high DPS class, that changes from patch to patch, I am more focused on the playstyle, how fluid is the rotation and how fun is to play it. I am sure there is a lot of people whos playing this game for a long time, they tried these classes or main them and would like to hear your opinions, suggestions, advices and thoughts. I am not interested in melee classes or classes with only one range DPS spec like Druid, Evoker, Shaman and Priest.

Thank you in advance,
Regards.

2

As someone who has all 3 on lvl 70 they are all great classes. Getting into groups as a mage or warlock will be easier however bm hunter is just overall the most chill gaming experience you can have.

Ofc hunter and warlock generally also bring with them the headache of having to deal with pets, which some can find a turnoff.

BM hunters are generally considered a really easy spec to play however it is in no way just as braindead as people would like you to think. Not keeping your frenzy stacks on 3 will hurt your dps pretty badly.

Warlocks are an odd class because they have some of the best looking transmogs in the game and really cool lore however their gameplay is really static and some might even consider it pretty boring.

With mages the current issue is that fire is kind of a dud while arcane requires a degree in rotatorology and frost is not really shining the strongest in pve.

All in all I play all 3 of those classes and they all shine in their different own ways and they all have their own different annoyances that you have to live with.

3 Likes
4

I saw some guides about Arcane and I was so confused. Do you find fire friendlier? And how do you feel about MM and Surv Hunter specs?

To be honest Hunter and Mage are classes that I am a bit more focused then Warlock, mostly because I am not very dark person and prefer to be more mobile during fights.

5

I used to love old arcane but the new arcane is just confusing, rotations to set up other rotations to do big damages…not my taste.

Fire has always been a very twitchy spec, gotta go fast mentality, how you always see fire mages jumping in place when it’s their go time, also not my personal taste.

Frost is kind of the “chill” spec of mages. You have a few abilities, you have a few procs and you press your abilities and when the procs light up you press your other abilities. Really nice and relaxed playstyle, at least in pve.

I haven’t tried MM in dragonflight yet, only played it a bit in Legion and BFA however the lack of pet has always turned me away from it, idk a hunter needs a pet.

And survival is one of my guilty pleasures, I honestly believe that it is one of the most fun melee specs in the game. It’s not the strongest, it’s not to hardest or easiest but it’s just super fun jumping in and out of combat, throwing down traps and then throwing ranged mongoose bites and bombs at enemies. Just all around super fun melee spec.

1 Like
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I agree about frost spec, I love the whole utility that spec giving you, very enjoyable to play.

I was so confused about fire mage, because by looking at some youtube guides some people jump and some dont, Do you really have to jump or its some kind of myth/“luckydo” thing or you really have to jump? If do that is stupid.

I am not huge fan of melee specs, mostly because I have a bit hard time to be in the place surrounded with many people, mobs and spells over the floor, and have some small visual disorder problem IRL, so I rather stay at the distance.

Also agree with hunter and pet, Hunter needs to have the pet, I am too much Classic hunter style player :smiley:

7

I love my frost mage from the bottom of my heart but I would never recommend it, even to my worst enemy. The “easy and chill” gameplay is too glorified in my opinion. Yes, it’s easy and quite fun to play in open world, normal raids, lower keys but as soon as you reach HC and higher keys you will notice there is a big wall in front of you which isn’t easy to climb over. You need to master your spec to the point that you need to calculate and evaluate every second in the fight and there is no room for error. For Arcane it’s even worse. I believe hunter and lock are much more flexible (mainly because you are not tied to the RoP).
And even if you manage to master every fight, every boss, every Icy Veins and RoP cast - you will be rewarded with being in the bottom of the meters.

8

I see, so most of the time youre relied on your big CDs as frost. You mentioned Arcane but not Fire, how do you feel about it?

To bad it is such in a bad spot, pure fantasy of the class is awesome.

9

Frost damage is actually really flat, the CD-s you use are pretty much integrated - they don’t really make your damage higher, they just make you deal normal damage. Icy Veins, our main ability, is supposed to be up pretty much 24/7 but it’s really difficult to do. And Rune of Power - most of the mage players hate it, including myself. Frost can not use it but I still think you still have to use it if you really want to min-max but at the same time this spell is really annoying and frustrating (and it can even feel unfair compared to other classes - we need to cast something and stay put just so we can do our normal damage while others just run around and do whatever they want and still do better damage, especially Hunters).
I mained Fire in SL, it’s not playable in DF at all, it’s pretty much a general consensus and there isn’t much to talk about.

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This sounds very discouraging but I am glad you wrote the true state of the class.

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From my personal experience dps cloth isnt a right choice for someone who isnt used to dps.
Mage and warlocks are generally very powerful casters, and mage is easy to play. I highly suggest Take at least leather range.

Hunter or druid.

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Go BM. The rotation is easy, but not brain dead at all. It’s more or less like a fury warrior and a few others, as far as complexity is involved, you do all your damage on the move and at a distance - and that’s what makes the class easy. What you gain in mobility you lack in defensives though, but you still bring an immunity which is helpful. You also bring tranquilizing shot and BL so it’s not that bad, and you are also one of the best classes to deal with mechanics.

The only real drawback I can think of it’s that visually speaking it’s a bit boring.

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While it is somewhat true the current dire beast build where you literally lob beasts at enemies is hilarious as hell.

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14

Is it about the tankiness or? As frost mage you have a lot of defensive CDs like Ice Block (plus talent to heal while youre in the ice), you can also repeat it with Cold Snap, Barrier, Alter Time… And as Warlock you have a lot of healing spells like Coil, Drain and Cookies. I think the Hunter even as melee user has less defensives then cloth ones.

EDIT: Not sure about Druid, all I know is that I tried to play it during SL (Balance and Resto) and I had really hard time as Balance to figure out the rotation, it was so clunky and it required a lot of preparation and for Resto HoT playstyle was a bit stressful as newish player even if I was maining Druid in Classic I couldnt adapt on it.

15

I would go with hunter
Especially as an open world casual player

Damage wise they’re pretty decent
BM spec is quite easy to play

If you’re into collecting rare pets, that would add an extra activity for you to do
In open world you also have a pet that can tank for you making things much easier to solo for example.

So pretty much if i was in your shoes i’d go with hunter

16

Thank you for the suggestion, I see even Mage players doesnt recommend their own class, which is very disappointing and most of the people suggest the Hunter as the class to go to.

Have you tried other classes beside Mage? Which one is less focused on the big CDs and has more consistent damage?

17

At the moment i don’t recommend mage to anyone :slight_smile:

i’m currently playing outlaw rogue and they have very good sustained
so don’t get tricked with my forum character. this mage used to be main in the past (not anymore).

but since you want a ranged class
It is true that BM hunters are heavily reliant on their main cooldown
however, you can maintain very high uptime on that cooldown since your main focus regen ability lowers its cooldown by 12 seconds each time you use it and you’ll be using it quite often

in dungeons for example you might pop Bestial wrath multiple times on the same trash pack
so just picture how high uptime you can maintain on it, so i don’t think it’s a big issue.

Frost mage isn’t heavily reliant on its cooldowns, but it can be a bit boring to play.

i haven’t played warlock since very long time so i can’t say anything about it.

18

Thank you very much.

Depends what you mean by boring, I think frost can keep you on toes with the spell proc playstyle.

Think I will check what Warlock can bring to and compare it with Hunter and for now will put Mage class on hold. As I said, as long as the style of class is “fluid” I dont mind even low numbers if it is fun and straight forward, not very complicate and dependable on small CD windows because I dont find it fun to enter in to the “god mode” every few minutes, prefer something more constant.

19

If you want range and you dont want boring, go warlock. But unless you are going to main it, the lack of tankiness just isnt worth it.

At the end of the day, if you dont like it, just make a new character.

20

If you are looking for enjoyment instead of peak DPS play any of the 3 classes.

I ditched Lock before DF so can’t really say how it is now but before DF it was fairly easy to die, required certain abilities/spells to make use of good mobility. Yes depending on the spec can bring DoT DPS and some extra healing for raids and such.

Played Mage and currently making MM hunter.

Haven’t touched Mage in a few weeks fire Mage is garbage don’t even think it’s ever going to be a good spec, yes frost is easy for beginners but your DPS flatlines after a certain point. Never bothered trying Arcane Mage since rotations either didn’t suit my play style or was far too complicated for no reason. Over all Mage can be good but one wrong move and you’re begging for healing.

MM Hunter having some fun with it, I don’t bother using a pet outside of PvP BG or on bosses. Unlike normal pets from Lock, hunter pets stay next to you unless to tell them to move to X spot or they are attacking a mob, They also don’t require a spell from your skill tree either. This is great for dungeons since Lock pets tend to think they can pull like proper tanks.

Also different pets bring something different, raptor extra move speed, spider extra leech so it’s more about what you need at the time. No point using a raptor pet against a boss when leech would be better. Rotation is fairly easy on a MM hunter it’s more about resource management, or it is for me currently.

I tried BM Hunter but it felt as I was doing supplemental DPS to the mobs as my dual pets seemed to do more. So I changed to MM and haven’t looked back.

21

Thank you very much. After some more guides and reading/leveling I ditched the Warlock, mostly because it is not my coup of tea, it is not very mobile and I am not very big fan of dark fantasy, so I stayed between Hunter and Mage. So far, tried BM Hunter and Frost Mage, both seem straight forward.

I see you found your place with MM Hunter, but would like to ask you, since you tried most of them, by looking at how hard/easy is the learning curve of each class/spec, how would you rate them? I am not very good as DPS player, usually I am down at metters. With all this said, do you still think I should stay with these classes since I am looking for range DPS or you would suggest to consider something else?