Transitioning to a Caster

[cerebro]

Hello, I have been playing WOW since BC and I have always been a melee class. Generally I have played tank for PvE and Melee dps for PvP (war/druid/dk/paladin). I want to transition into a caster class and would like advice as to which is the easiest class to transition into. I have tried almost all of the classes and I quickly see how limited I am as a caster.

[cerebro]

I did not really think about hunter, guess I see them more as just a ranged class.. not a caster.

[Duschaefer]

Elemental is a pretty good choice. The rotation is simple enough to help you concentrate on your movement and just adjust in general, but it has enough depth to be super enjoyable once you get the hang of it. Also, as Luccas mentioned, you could always switch to Enhancement and do some melee if ranged doesn't end up being your thing.

[Silent Earth]

Of the casters, Shadow and Elemental have always been my favorites (for very different reasons). Don't know how much that's worth, but they're both fairly easy to learn as well. Though, if being mobile is a must for you, I might shy away from them.

[Bombino]

I think it really depends what melee you play/felt most comfortable as. I was use to managing tank cd's and rogue buffs from vanilla->wrath and transitioning to a warlock demo/aff was very comfortable. I think another aspect of warlock I like is they have high movement capability, like hunters. I think switching to a turret class might be a big change.

[Blithe]

If you hate relying on others for survival, don't play Elemental or Shadow, and as the above poster said, if you like mobility - don't pick these two. Mage and Warlock are very similar and besides having no self-heals, fair off a lot better than the aforementioned two. Balance takes the lead in about every aspect though.

I play Balance, Elemental and Shadow mainly, and Mage and Warlock if I'm looking for a change.

[dekal]

The options listed won't give you a clear picture, elemental is not equal to an entire other class. A destruction warlock for example is so much easier to play than a demonology warlock which are known to be very unforgiving if you screw up.

That said from my experience of all of the listed classes, elemental is definitely the easiest, followed closely by destro locks, then frost mages.

[Snuggli]

Elemental is veeeery easy at the moment. Not only is it as simple rotation-wise as Shadow and Boomkin, but it's very proc based and a little more tanky than both the above. You rely less on defensive CDs and kiting and more on healing and killing.

I'd avoid Lock and Mage until you're fully comfortable playing casters. Both play EXTREMELY different to any melee class.

[ErothTV]

Warlock or Mage.

They are always good, and are not hybrids like the other ;-)

[Alanar]

Hello, I have been playing WOW since BC and I have always been a melee class. Generally I have played tank for PvE and Melee dps for PvP (war/druid/dk/paladin). I want to transition into a caster class and would like advice as to which is the easiest class to transition into. I have tried almost all of the classes and I quickly see how limited I am as a caster.

My bet would be the mage or elemental, you have to get the hang of things when you need to cast. Sure Il just nova things blink and start casting them frostbolts same with elemental on Frozen power.
Shadow doesn't realy have that and is a little trickier to get used to, so mage and elemental will be safest bet!