Melee Class Suggestions?

[Taktics]

Hello! I've been raiding Tier 15 so far as a Fury Warrior. I've learned through 12/12 normal, and 4/12 heroic experience that it's just not the class for me. You know, you have a class you think you'd really love, only you just can't get it quite right for some reason? Yep. That's Fury for me. And Arms becomes non-viable once you pass a certain gear point.

So I am basically looking at going back to one of my old characters. I'm looking at either an Enhancement Shaman (a class I'm very comfortable with, and have played for a long time) or my Windwalker Monk (newer to the class, but enjoy the playstyle). The big issue though, is now that I'm looking for a new guild, the only melee classes people want are a Rogue or DK. Otherwise they want ranged.

So, what do I do? Have you seen many Enhance Shamans or Monks having success in 10-Man guilds? Or am I going to have to resort to leveling my Rogue or Shadow Priest? I know you don't know me personally, but I'd like a little advice if possible on which route might lead me to a success in finding a solid 10-Man guild to join up with.

Thanks for your constructive input.

[bleh bleh 420 bleh]

You wil rarely find any enh shamans in 10s but that doesnt mean they arent good. If you can play it well go enh sham, theres plenty of WW monks out there. Also enh shams you only have to fight for gear with huntards, whereas monks have to fight against rogues and druids. I play enh and i love it.

[Nairobi]

So, your current guild (4/13) is kicking you? Or you just don't want to play DPS warrior, and either 1) want to leave or 2) assume you'll be kicked or not allowed? Does your current guild want/need any other melee that interest you?

You can do 2 things here:
1) Find some guilds at the progression level you are looking for that are recruiting, and try to get in and play what they need.
2) Figure out the class you want to be, then try and find a guild.

There are pro's and con's to both: You may love Enh, but find that nobody needs it. You may find a guild that you like, but only wants a Rog or DPS war (which you don't want to be).

Melee is a tough spot; the spots are at a premium, and almost always the fights favor ranged. SPriest (and moonkin/lock) are rarely ever NOT wanted. Personally I play/prefer melee (well tanks, but also melee) over everything, but for some reason I really enjoy Shadow, and don't mind moonkin or lock either. Maybe try some things out before committing to a big change.

That's basically my whole point I guess; you have a few options in how you approach the problem you have, but you need to set out what you're looking for. Do you want to fill a needed raid spot in a roster, or do you have a class that you want to play and try to make fit? Both can be done, but your enjoyment may vary based on which option you choose.

[Taktics]

So, your current guild (4/13) is kicking you? Or you just don't want to play DPS warrior, and either 1) want to leave or 2) assume you'll be kicked or not allowed? Does your current guild want/need any other melee that interest you?

It's sort of a mixed bag. I decided to go Fury for a few reasons this patch, though I hadn't played it really since ICC days. It turned out that while I felt like I grasped the class, the finer details eluded me. It was frustrating. I found a really great guild, but in the end after talking with the raid leader, they expressed that they really only wanted to use one melee (a Rogue) in their comp, and focus instead on ranged. They ran a 12-man roster, and I was only rotated in on non-progression fights, as I was a trial.

This got me to where I am today. I realize that going Warrior was a bad choice. I'm a long time Enhance Shaman and Feral Druid. I haven't had much experience as Shadow, though I did try it a little in Dragon Soul. I know Enhance isn't the most desired class right now (Shaman in general really, which is sad), but I know I would play at a high level. Add the buffs coming in 5.3 and I feel like they would mesh well with almost any 10-man group.

It's just tough deciding which direction to go, as I really want to commit to something and find a group to play with long-term. Add in my time restrictions (trying to find a late-night guild) and it's a daunting thing to look at.

[Venant]

Aren't you concerned that it is going to be incredibly difficult to work your way back to heroic raiding if you are starting a new toon now, if not just because you will be quite some time away from being able to get the legendary meta again? On that note, you should consider rolling a rogue, you will do amazing competitive DPS and have the best survivability of all classes.

[Squirl]

Enh is really solid. Their offhealing is some of the best in the game and their DPS isn't terrible. I think the reason we don't see many is they can very easily just play ele and be ranged, plus they get all the int mail.

Rogue is also in a pretty good spot. We can crush meters on a lot of fights, we have amazing personal survivability with Feint and Cloak, and we have a raid CD now.

WW really doesn't bring much to a 10man group. They have a little bit of heals and some cool stuff, but they just don't seem to fit well in a 10man.

If you can play a Shadow Priest, I would play it. They have pretty great offheals/shields, VE, Dispersion, and they can swing Disc when you need another healer. If you're looking for a new guild with decent progression, it's going to be a lot easier to sell a Shadow Priest than any melee.

On another note about melee in hc 10man raiding, you do have to work around some annoying things, but we run 2-3 melee plus a MW on pretty much every fight. It's not that big of a deal. Your melee just have to step up and do mechanics rather than tunneling the boss.

[Taktics]

That's EXACTLY what I have been facing. I really love my Shaman as Enhance. Playing Ele really has zero appeal to me. I want to raid, but want to play something I'd enjoy.

I have played Rogue before back in DS. Was pretty fun. Finding a group that is missing one is going to be a challenge I think. And I also agree about Shadow Priests. Viable raiding class, lots of utility. And it would be a lot easier to find a slot as ranged as opposed to melee.

But since I haven't played Shadow in quite a while, I was trying to avoid leveling/gearing mine up in order to raid on it, unless I knew it would be something I wouldn't have issues with like on my Warrior. Hard to know without doing though...

---------- Post added 2013-05-13 at 12:39 PM ----------

Aren't you concerned that it is going to be incredibly difficult to work your way back to heroic raiding if you are starting a new toon now, if not just because you will be quite some time away from being able to get the legendary meta again? On that note, you should consider rolling a rogue, you will do amazing competitive DPS and have the best survivability of all classes.

I am very concerned about this. But I really have no option. Raiding on my Warrior is pretty much done at this point. I have other 90's that I've already spent time on that aren't terribly far behind on the meta (esp with 5.3 and the change from 6K VP down to 3K). My Rogue is still 85, but have been doing some leveling. Hard to choose an 85 over another class I have at 90 though.

[Berserk157]

For T14 content I played a Frost DK in a highly progressed 25m guild and did very well. That guild fell apart and I joined my current guild for T15 content. I wanted to switch to 10m for T15 but I found it very hard to get into a top guild as Frost so I switched to Blood and am Tanking now. I use to Tank for Firelands and Dragonsoul so it made no difference to me cause I actually love Blood and am very skilled at it. We run 2 Melee (Rogue+Ret Pally) and even then we usually sit one for a Ranged DPS, so they take turns. It sucks that Blizz is so damn dead set on favoring Ranged over Melee but it is what it is.

I actually also have an Enhancement Shaman alt and the posters are correct that they are in a good place DPS wise. It's such a fun spec to play too. Well whatever you decide to do good luck to you man. Pray that Blizz somehow figures out how to incorperate Melee into raids.

[Deleted]

Out of those 2, go with Enhance for sure. Strong offhealing, great burst and solid single target damage.

My "main" is an enhance shaman, but the state of our on demand aoe currently is very frustrating. However, I have a DK which I switched to shortly after normals - originally frost but made the transition into UH now.

That said, with the buffs coming to enhance in 5.3 we'll see a nice increase in both our burst and sustained damage, so look forward to it and play enhance. I know your concern re: highly progressed guilds seeking a rogue/dk, but people should recognise the utility enhance brings to a 10man - you don't really see many around unfortunately just because people do prefer ele for their shaman dps. Either because of their range + lolcleave or since it reduces loot distribution clashes (hunters)

[Ebonheart]

Hello! I've been raiding Tier 15 so far as a Fury Warrior. I've learned through 12/12 normal, and 4/12 heroic experience that it's just not the class for me. You know, you have a class you think you'd really love, only you just can't get it quite right for some reason? Yep. That's Fury for me. And Arms becomes non-viable once you pass a certain gear point.

So I am basically looking at going back to one of my old characters. I'm looking at either an Enhancement Shaman (a class I'm very comfortable with, and have played for a long time) or my Windwalker Monk (newer to the class, but enjoy the playstyle). The big issue though, is now that I'm looking for a new guild, the only melee classes people want are a Rogue or DK. Otherwise they want ranged.

So, what do I do? Have you seen many Enhance Shamans or Monks having success in 10-Man guilds? Or am I going to have to resort to leveling my Rogue or Shadow Priest? I know you don't know me personally, but I'd like a little advice if possible on which route might lead me to a success in finding a solid 10-Man guild to join up with.

Thanks for your constructive input.

I feel you and totally get what you are saying. However, it seems I don't really learn from my mistakes or from the past.

Melee has taken a back seat since the first raid in Cataclysm. Range is heavily favoured. People are even willing to take Elemental Shamans and Hunters over most melee.

However, I still went ahead and levelled a Ret Paladin during Cataclysm. However, I found a decent guild and switched to healing since it was too melee heavy.

Then I decided enough was enough, levelled a Hunter during Firelands and a Mage during Dragon Soul. Took a break from the game and on returning transferred to a new realm. Decided a Death Knight would be easier to level since they seem pretty strong and serve my purpose of soloing old raids. The thing is that I hate tanking current content and would never tank raids that require co ordination since I often tend to be very shy on vent.

Well I levelled a DK anywho, and now I am finding a harder time finding a raid group only cause there are so many Death Knights on my realm.

But if I were you I would probably level a Rogue or a Death Knight. They both seem to be in a really good place. I often find its easier gearing a rogue since you have no competition for your gear and weapons.

However, I've called my time on melee and gone ahead and levelled a lock. Its just that I feel comfortable questing, dungeon griding etc on most melee characters than I do on range. I feel in control on any melee class more than I do with range but its completely different in raiding. I find its easier being a Range DPS than a Melee DPS. Its hard trying to stay in minimum range and also trying to focus the boss when the tanks keep moving them. Garalon stands out when its hard trying to focus the boss when he moves so much.

But if melee have it hard, Enchancment Shamans are non existent. Sure in a 25M or among a group of friends you can probably roll with an Enhancement Shaman but otherwise it isn't recommended. Rogues will be preferred to you at all times.

[Taktics]

Hey I just really wanted to thank everyone for the input here. Especially those who feel the pain of where Enhancement is. But really, I think there's a general feeling of unbalance for melee classes unless you play a Rogue or DK. I actually managed to find a guild that was able to accommodate my Monk into their raid group. Not my Shaman, I know, but still a class I was interested in. Thanks again for the advice