Mage or Warlock?

[Golden Carp]

I wanted to know which of two easier to play and do the best dps. I just started playing wow not too long ago, so I'm pretty new. Oh, and not to be rude, but most forums when a question like this is asked all say that it depends on your play style, etc. and I completely get that so I guess I want to know what YOU think is the best. Thanks!

[Deleted]

I play warlock, but roll a mage and counter everything.. done.

[Exoblade]

Mage, way easier to play imo and are way op constantly.As a lock in TBC and who continues to keep him up to date as a alt i can tell you locks 99% get the shit end of the stick from blizz.

Warlocks are not competitive on dps at all and are very punishing if you screw the rotation.

[Deleted]

Go with mage if you want ease-of-play.

[DPA]

Well being new the playstyle is probably not your biggest problem.
I'd go mage. I ususally see mages performing better than warlocks. Also I find my mage doing more damage than my warlock, even tho my warlock is better geared.

[Exoblade]

But don't get the wrong idea, i love my warlock. Affliction is my fav spec to play out of all the classes but its just such a weak spec and the ramp up time is horrible.

Everyone can agree on that arcane in firelands was so easy to play and op, blizzards "fix" to this was to buff fire sooo much that it ends up being thee raiding spec. I don't see this changing so id roll a mage.

[Deleted]

If you don't like a lot of keybinds, don't go the path of Awesomesauce Warlock class!

[Deleted]

IMO for pve i'd say warlock (because arcane is kind of boring and it has the label of 2-button spec, fire is heavily RNG based you can do really good or really crap depending on how often you crit, and frost is for PVP, whereas lock all 3 specs are doing good in DS), for pvp mage (frost or fire).

[xskarma]

When you say you want the easiest to play class I can guarantee you ( as has allready happend) that everyone will say "go mage" and it's true. But mages have a rather bland and boring and simplistic playstyle, so if you want a character that you will enjoy in the long run and can keep learning about and getting better at, than I'd say go warlock.

I've got a shrewd suspicion you'll roll mage after most of the comments so far, so I'll tell you this, keep in mind that in Mists of Pandaria, Warlocks will get a nice revamp and that we will most likely be one of the shiny new classes everyone wants to try at that time. I mean, on demand powerfull demon form to blast enemies to shreds in or building up so much firepower you actually catch fire? Where else will you get stuff like that?! certainly not mages, I can tell you.

If you want easy and bland and comfortable: go mage, if you like to have fun, learn about what you are doing in this game, and be slightly evil to boot: go warlock.

[Deleted]

Go for the mage. Warlocks are somewhat known to have a higher skill treshold just to manage similar DPS results as other classes. Mages don't have pets, no combat ress, no 6 (10 really...) minute cooldowns that need to be used very specifically to get full DPS benefit etc. etc.

[Zaldabor]

6 (10 really...) minute cooldown that need to be used very specifically to get full DPS benefit

This!

If you want to enjoy the game in all aspects and looking for something that requires some more strategy to play well than the rest, you should go for Warlock, else, Mage all the way.

I have a Warlock and I am proud of it

[Peepo]

I wanted to know which of two easier to play and do the best dps. I just started playing wow not too long ago, so I'm pretty new. Oh, and not to be rude, but most forums when a question like this is asked all say that it depends on your play style, etc. and I completely get that so I guess I want to know what YOU think is the best. Thanks!

last time i checked i thought the order of highest dps in bis was:

fire mage
arcane mage
affliction lock
demo lock
destro lock
frost mage

ofcourse that requires perfect rotations and bis gear...

clearly arcane mage is the easiest of all 6 specs/classes, outside of managing some cooldowns, it's pretty much a 1 buttons spec... so if you want the easiest and best dps combo... arcane is the way to go...

imo, if you want the most fun spec to play, try affliction lock and frost mage...

[Deleted]

I play a mage main and and a warlock alt. Have to say that I enjoy both classes a lot but of course with a certain love for mage. If you're new you should probably go with mage.

[Deleted]

Warlocks requires skill and lots of keybind and do good dps, mages requires almost no skill and does the best dps in the game. Choose wisely

[Deleted]

I love playing casters and my very first char back in vanilla was a mage. After many years of playing as all different classes/specs i gotta say warlocks are by far THE most fun caster class. For me it wouldnt matter whether X class does so and so much more damage, I always play what I find most satisfactory, so I would definately reccomend warlock. All three specs got their particular playstyle, affli being my personal favourite. Mage just feels.... meh.. to be honest. I dont like how the spells work, it just feels boring to me. Warlocks require more finesse and have such a vast toolbox for questing, pvp & raiding.

Just my two cents.

[Qly]

last time i checked i thought the order of highest dps in bis was:

fire mage
arcane mage
affliction lock
demo lock
destro lock
frost mage

ofcourse that requires perfect rotations and bis gear...

clearly arcane mage is the easiest of all 6 specs/classes, outside of managing some cooldowns, it's pretty much a 1 buttons spec... so if you want the easiest and best dps combo... arcane is the way to go...

imo, if you want the most fun spec to play, try affliction lock and frost mage...

Arcane is below all 3 lock specs in both all parses and top 100 in raid bots, so NO

However, as much as i'd like to say GO LOCK (because we're so awesome) someone high up in blizzard has a mage, they are always FOTM (arc or fire) for pve and frost has been stuck at OP for so long in pvp that it's a joke.

I'm not saying you cannot perform extremely well with a lock in either pve or pvp it's just much much harder (I play both btw) and the pay is less

Don't forget MoP is right around the corner though, so it's all moot really

[Skygoneblue]

I firmly agree with everything in this thread. After playing a BM Hunter forever, playing a Warlock makes me think two things distinctly:

1. It takes a lot more of everything just to do anything. Killing a single mob questing, AOEing, or just pulling competitive DPS in a group. Warlocks just take more spells to do what other classes do with very little.

2. Despite #1, it's damn rewarding. I've been playing this game since Molten Core, and I can say that there's no other class that requires so much finesse and excellence as a Warlock does. When I do it right, it's a hell of a good feeling.

[Mitchell Rane]

I've played both classes to some acclaim and as far as enjoyment I beg you to consider playing a Priest.

No trolling here. I'm just someone that also gets gung'ho about using magic to destroy my enemies from range which I'm guessing is a playstyle you prefer as well. I will say that I played a lot of Mage and Warlock and it was a lot of fun, but now my Priest is my main and I run as a healer. Playing a healing class I found is a much more rewarding experience than competing in a DPS race. If you still want to do some dps you can always go Shadow as well. As a Priest you're still a clothie spellcaster with an arsenal of spells, the only difference is a lot of them are for defensive use

I'm not telling you to play a Priest. I'm just saying from my personal experience, I wish I played one much sooner. I hope you enjoy this game no matter what class you pick.

[Deleted]

As much as I love my warlock;
Warlocks are 120% effort for 80% output, for mages....just reverse that :P

That being said, so long as this remains one of the more challenging classes in all specs whilst keeping up very competitive damage/utilities.. I will never change. People often class swap for flavour of the patch, but players who started out with a warlock... generally wont change. Warlock love <3

[Deleted]

I've played both classes to some acclaim and as far as enjoyment I beg you to consider playing a Priest.

No trolling here. I'm just someone that also gets gung'ho about using magic to destroy my enemies from range which I'm guessing is a playstyle you prefer as well. I will say that I played a lot of Mage and Warlock and it was a lot of fun, but now my Priest is my main and I run as a healer. Playing a healing class I found is a much more rewarding experience than competing in a DPS race. If you still want to do some dps you can always go Shadow as well. As a Priest you're still a clothie spellcaster with an arsenal of spells, the only difference is a lot of them are for defensive use

I'm not telling you to play a Priest. I'm just saying from my personal experience, I wish I played one much sooner. I hope you enjoy this game no matter what class you pick.

Actually I would agree with this as well. You should definately try priest out if you havent already, they are very fun to play both as dps and healer. I too wish I started play one earlier. Especially disc has an awesome playstyle and you can even quest and do dailies since you can do quite decent damage.