Rank the classes on old raid soloability

[Tazienne]

Clearly DKs are still the top of the chart, but not by as much as they once were. Any Tank has self healing now when they need it, and can trade it for DPS when they don't. So safety-wise, they will always be the best choice for soloing simply because survivability is the name of the game when you're going 1v1 against a raid boss.

As DPS/Hard Enrages are the next issue, then offspecs for tanks and pet classes have the power here. If there's something that a tank struggles at because of damage, not survivability, then its likely that a DPS spec or pet class will make it doable. So these are all quite high up in ability also.

Below that comes the various DPS classes, likely the melee ones (Rogue/Enhancement) over casters simply because they have skills designed to keep them alive when things hit them in the face. This will vary by the fight though of course. There are plenty of fights where a caster burning CDs and just destroying something in 30 seconds is preferable.

If you're asking because you want a class to use for soloing from what you already have or want to roll, then pick whichever of the tanks you have/prefer. They're the best bet and each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Druid's come with stealth built in, sometimes useful if soloing content closer to your level since you can often skip a lot of trash. DKs have generally been the first to solo nearly everything as it becomes doable, likely due to their plethora of varying CDs (Not just Tank CDs, things like Army are key to certain fights like pre-nerf Viscidus). Pallies have strong healing in their DPS spec which is downright handy when Enrage timers or DPS matters (Twin Emps). Warriors are my own weakness as I haven't played one end-game since BC, but they likely have their own useful skills as well.

[Vulcanasm]

Original poster: Shaman and Paladin should be much, much higher. I've found one fight "hard" on an Elemental Shaman -- Fathom-Lord in SSC took 3 tries. The difficulty was only in timing my shield to align with his second cataclysm bolt (fail this and get one-shotted, I promise). I've soloed everything through WOTLK 10 mans with him, including Sarth 10 +3 and parts of Ulduar for transmog. sets.

I'd rank classes in the following order, strictly based on what my friends and I have done:

1. DK. I know a number of people who are leveling up blood DKs for this very purpose. They're just that good. The only problematic fight is Kael -- he'll MC you if you pop DRW, or ghoul, or army, and some DKs claim he'll even do it if you get an unlucky bloodworm proc. Also, being routinely locked out of your character for 10 seconds is annoying. My Shaman kills him in 1/3 the fight time, with no change in real-life blood pressure.
2. Monk/Druid (tie). 5th? Are you kidding me, OP? Go level a Monk and then tell me they belong in 5th place. I soloed dungeons on my Brewmaster at-level (e.g. Steamvault at 67, though I dinged 68 after Steamrigger and hearthed to go to Northrend, 'cause fuck Mechanar, that's why). Eat the power pellets, pac-man! Mistweaver's even easier; pretend you're Chun-Li and bind all your keys to Spinning Star Keeeck.

[Note -- all these are close. If you asked me to put numbers on them, I'd say they're maybe half again as hard as 1 & 2.]
3. Shaman: Not sure why people don't think Shamans solo well. They're great at it. Enhancement has surprisingly high survivability, and Elemental can blow up anything through about Tier 8 with Bloodlust + Ascendance. Notable: If you're as bored as I was, Sarth 10 +3 is fun, even if you're forgotten that you have the drake already.
4. Paladin. Would be #1 if Prot single-target dps was 50% higher (it is *that* bad). 25 man enrage timers are hard to make. You might need DPS flasks, which can get expensive when you're doing mount runs.
5. Hunter. Hunter's #1 when fight mechanics can be ignored, but this doesn't happen as often as I would like. Kael'thas gets annoying here, too. He likes to make you fight your own pet and despawn.
(huge gap)
6. Warlock. I've just played my Warlock so seldom that I no longer know what I'm doing. Is that eyeball that talks like the Metalocalypse character the only reliable interrupt? Pet micromanagement makes me twitch.

No experience/can't judge: Warrior, Priest, Mage, Rogue. My highest level of each (except Warrior) was roughly 22. None of my friends who play Rogue or Priest mains solo old content at all. I hear Mage is hilarious fun, though there are some fights that non-epic Mages can't do. My Warrior is 85 and permanently mothballed, though I'd love to hear if people can solo old content with theirs.

(edit) Now that I think about it, 3-5 need rearranging. Enhancement's ability to solo old content is amazing, and it's going to get even more impressive in 5.2. Glyph of Flame Shock is the best argument I've seen in years for an Enhancement offspec.

[nightfalls]

Interesting topic as there doesn't seem to be much agreement aside from DKs and Hunters at 1 and 2.

To be objective, I'd say make a list of what's been done by what class. I'm going to wager most if not all (aside from a few mechanics-based stuff) of Vanilla and BC at this point is doable by every class, so we can start Wrath of the Lich King and work our way up to Dragon Soul.

[skitzy129]

Warlocks are 3rd in place imo, but else your list is pretty accurate. Affliction pet healing is insane.

Edit: 1000 WHOOP WHOOP

I only put them down lower because in the event that they screw something up, it's almost guaranteed that they die. When it comes down to it, Warlocks just got demolished if they have to take damage on something compared to the classes I listed above them.

Really the bottom 4 I listed are the only classes I feel aren't very strong at solo'ing.

[SamR]

6. Warlock. I've just played my Warlock so seldom that I no longer know what I'm doing. Is that eyeball that talks like the Metalocalypse character the only reliable interrupt? Pet micromanagement makes me twitch.

Meta form has an interrupt and so does toggable perma-tank-form.

I don't have much experience clearing old raids with different classes, but with crazy AoE, super voidwalker, and an toggle-able tank form, I would expect Warlocks to be pretty high up there.

edit: Not raids, but in the case of world elites I have an easier time killing them with my Demo Lock than with my Blood DK. They just go down so much faster because of the higher DPS and with a tanking pet that's instantly resummonable should they die, there's much less risk involved.

[skitzy129]

To be objective, I'd say make a list of what's been done by what class. I'm going to wager most if not all (aside from a few mechanics-based stuff) of Vanilla and BC at this point is doable by every class, so we can start Wrath of the Lich King and work our way up to Dragon Soul.

I'm pretty certain that every class even in moderate 470-480ish gear can handle all of TBC no problem.

I agree Wrath would be a good place to start, even then though every class should be able to handle something like Ony with absolutely no issue.

---------- Post added 2013-01-21 at 06:51 PM ----------

5. Hunter. Hunter's #1 when fight mechanics can be ignored, but this doesn't happen as often as I would like. Kael'thas gets annoying here, too. He likes to make you fight your own pet and despawn.
(huge gap)

KT can actually be done with a pet out with some LoS trickery involving the pillars. He's been soloable by the class since Wrath thanks to this.

It's difficult to pull off, but very rewarding in a time where we couldn't just stand there and DPS through KTs damage like we can now.

[Chickat]

dk
pally
hunter
druid
monk
warrior
lock
rogue
shaman
mage
priest

[HardCoder]

I'm pretty certain that every class even in moderate 470-480ish gear can handle all of TBC no problem.

Ehhh, there are some bosses that aren't possible or are highly impractical for most classes. Reliquary, Fathom-Lord, Vaelastrasz, et cetera.

[nightfalls]

I'm pretty certain that every class even in moderate 470-480ish gear can handle all of TBC no problem.

I agree Wrath would be a good place to start, even then though every class should be able to handle something like Ony with absolutely no issue.

Was mainly referring to stuff like Kalecgos and pre-nerf Reliquary, basically shitty mechanics that make soloing "hard" with the TBC part. I think all of Vanilla is cake now after the 5.1 nerfs. Onyxia I think is doable by everyone now, but 25m would be a snooze for melee for instance. Toravon 25 I'm not sure about either.

Personally I only really solo content if I can clear it fast (not clear it, but clear it fast) and it drops a mount, so that's why my experience on "extreme" soloing is a bit low.

[skitzy129]

Seriously rating Rogues like this? I was expecting one person at max to do it but geez seems like everyone(not just in this thread) underestimates the power of Rogues in old raids...
You do realize a Rogue could probably do better than a Warlock,Hunter or a Warrior if played right with correct timing and usage of cooldowns? Now ofcourse a Rogue will not be able to solo stuff like heroic Lich King which DK and Hunter can but they will do pretty damn good! Personally, as a rogue, I have solo'd MOST of the Old Content and I have it on farm every single week for gold,transmog,pets and mounts. Don't believe me? Okay, your problem, go rerroll a rogue and see for yourself.

What do you consider to be old content?

I would base most of my ranking of solo'ability from ICC through Cata. Anything before that is just stupidly easy for every class.

I have a Rogue and my main focus in this game is solo'ing content on the cutting edge of what's soloable (right now Cata is giving solo'ers a run for their money), and Rogues just don't cut it most of the time. They don't have the self healing and damage mitigation for tanking Cata bosses unfortunately.

---------- Post added 2013-01-21 at 07:06 PM ----------

Ehhh, there are some bosses that aren't possible or are highly impractical for most classes. Reliquary, Fathom-Lord, Vaelastrasz, et cetera.

Reliquary isn't a challenge for anyone now with the nerf, but I will agree for some classes it might've been tricky pre-nerf (though definitely still doable).

Fathom-Lord was only barely a challenge in Cata in my experience with a good amount of classes, and now he might as well be a trash mob.

Vael just requires a 2nd player so no one should be trying that anyway.

[Inthrall]

I'm putting my money on Enhancement being just below DK's, and possibly on the same level as Hunters (not too sure on that though). Ascendance + ancestral guidance makes Alysrazor solo kills super easy. Just cleared TotC on normal, but can't quite take the hits from Cata bosses (yet). They will be on my kill list later in the expansion, just need more gear. As far as I know, the only bosses doable that enhancement cannot do require vengeance, something we cannot get without a tank spec.

[Lilly32]

To be honest, monks are way before rogues chi wave and all that as either tank or WW is pretty strong for soloing things so that should be 4th atleast

I put rogues ahead just because of stealth. Skipping everything and only killing bosses is a huge benefit since most time spent in a raid is usually killing trash not counting wipes. Time is money.

[Inthrall]

Well, if you can solo, for example, LK 25 nhc (or even hc) and ragnaros (fl), than you might be on line with hunters..

DK
>Hunt
>>Warri/Lock
>>>not sure about rest.

Normal mode LK has been done, but not Heroic (that I know of), if anyone has got a cleared instance I'd give Rag a shot

[skitzy129]

I put rogues ahead just because of stealth. Skipping everything and only killing bosses is a huge benefit since most time spent in a raid is usually killing trash not counting wipes. Time is money.

The bosses are what count. Rogues get destroyed on high end Wrath and all Cata solos

[Lilly32]

I think all of Vanilla is cake now after the 5.1 nerfs.

All of Vanilla was easily soloable by every class in Wrath and by some classes in TBC dont know what difference 5.1 would have made. Only hard ones were the emerald dream dragons that spam sleeped you. But stacking nature resist could overcome that problem.

[Ethes]

I'm always soloing stuff as retri it's awesome if you don't like prot dps while soloing go ret it's one of the best soloing old content specs.

Ret is frikking terrible for soloing stuff. As you can't take on anything that does damage or you'll end up having to heal yourself instead of dpssing. It works fine for TBC and Vanilla raids. But even for things like ToC10 you'll run into trouble

[skitzy129]

All of Vanilla was easily soloable by every class in Wrath and by some classes in TBC dont know what difference 5.1 would have made. Only hard ones were the emerald dream dragons that spam sleeped you. But stacking nature resist could overcome that problem.

I think hes mostly referring to the Razorgore nerf where as before only Hunters and Goblins could get past him on their own due to the LoS exploit.

---------- Post added 2013-01-21 at 07:30 PM ----------

Ret is frikking terrible for soloing stuff. As you can't take on anything that does damage or you'll end up having to heal yourself instead of dpssing. It works fine for TBC and Vanilla raids. But even for things like ToC10 you'll run into trouble

Agreed. Everything works fine in TBC and Vanilla raids, but Ret runs in to issues with being able to do anything other than stay alive in harder content.

[Deleted]

Vanilla and BC - propably any class
Wrath - most classes could do well in Naxx, Ulduar10 should be fine either (soloed majority of it on 460 hunter), TOC propably too, ICC - you'll cockblock on lootship :S
Cata - this is where it gets tricky and tank classes shine. Hunter pet tanking is kind of nerfed in MoP.

[nightfalls]

All of Vanilla was easily soloable by every class in Wrath and by some classes in TBC dont know what difference 5.1 would have made.

Even Razorgore and Twin Emps? And Reliquary of Souls? I'm talking about the hardest fights to solo based on "anti-solo" mechanics, not just "tank/spank" fights that you outlevel.

6. Warlock. I've just played my Warlock so seldom that I no longer know what I'm doing. Is that eyeball that talks like the Metalocalypse character the only reliable interrupt? Pet micromanagement makes me twitch.

Just because you're bad at playing a class doesn't mean the class is bad at soloing.

[Lilly32]

Whats the most faceroll class when it comes to soloing? Id imagine some classes need to use all of their tricks and abilities and then rely on some luck where another class goes into the same encounter and beats it with 3 buttons.