Classic Vs TBC classes

[arkanon]

Just wondering, with TBC all but confirmed, what class/spec have you enjoyed in Classic that you wont continue into TBC.

Is the move to TBC enough to make you bench you Classic main to a new TBC main? If so, what are you changing from/to and why?

[nalle]

Playing an alliance rogue in classic but will reroll to a shaman when tbc hits.

I just like shaman the most from tbc and forward (played resto shaman för 8 years).

So will either play resto or enhancment in the possible classic tbc and keep the rogue as my farming/pvp alt.

[arkanon]

Playing an alliance rogue in classic but will reroll to a shaman when tbc hits.

I just like shaman the most from tbc and forward (played resto shaman för 8 years).

So will either play resto or enhancment in the possible classic tbc and keep the rogue as my farming/pvp alt.

I did "similar" when TBC was announced, i had a 60 warrior and 60 priest, but still rolled a shammy the day TBC released.

[WaltherLeopold]

All my classes are relevant in bc pve and pvp, I play warlock, paladin, mage.

I might reroll shaman in bc tho, no idea.

[Nak88]

Every class is enhanced and improved in TBC, so everything will be more enjoyable.

[Vibah]

Every class is enhanced and improved in TBC, so everything will be more enjoyable.

Lol, nice try.

[TeraAkkron]

I played mage at a very high PvE level throughout vanilla & TBC (racked up /350 days played, server firsts on all bosses up to Sunwell Plateau).

TBC was a very bad expansion for the mage class, unfortunately. I believe it marks the PvE low-point for the class throughout WoW's 16 year history to date:

- Spell rotation in raids/dungeons, for all specializations, consists of literally spamming 1 button. Nothing else, except for fire, where at least 1 mage in the raid had to cast 1 scorch every 30 seconds to keep up a fire-damage debuff on the target.

- Frost mage was not viable in PvE content although it was the only viable spec in PvP.

- PvE mages were almost exclusively Fire.

- For most of the TBC, right until a patch in the last few months of the expansion, Fireball and Frostbolt had a 10% damage co-efficient tax. This was absurd, and Blizzard admitted as much when they lifted this tax. During the tax period, mage damage was underwhelming compared to many other classes. Unfortunately, even after the damage tax was lifted, by that time other classes either had scaled to do more damage or they offered higher utility. The best evidence of this was the number of mages in raids in Sunwell. It was minimal - none at all or maximum of 1-2. Go check the videos from that era.

- Rogues with legendary swords from Illidan were unbeatable at damage dealing, followed by Warlocks and Hunters. Mages were in Tier B or C in the hierarchy.

- Utility was very important in TBC, particularly as buffs were group-wide not raid-wide (which was changed in Wotlk). Shamans brought totems and Blood Lust, which could be stacked on the same group by different Shamans as the Sated debuff did not exist. Shadow priests brought insane mana-regen back during a time where mages and other classes WOULD run out of mana if they went "all out" or had to use mana potions instead of damage potions. Druids brought a critical strike buff. Paladins brought Blessings.

- Mages brought nothing, except for an Intellect buff which could be cast outside of the raid group. They only brought damage, which was well below Hunters, Rogues and Warlocks and with a smaller HP pool to boot.

- The concept of "Arcane Mage" does really not exist, although it was improved over vanilla with the introduction of Arcane Blast. The spec (i.e. deep Arcane) was nowhere close to being viable except for a limited period during which a particular meta-gem (Mystical Skyfire Diamond) made it viable due to the absence of an internal cool down on the gem's proc. This was hotfixed during Black Temple and I doubt it will would be released without this hotfix in "TBC Classic".

Therefore, if you HAVE the option to roll a different class, I would avoid Mages for TBC content like a plague. No wonder they buffed them so much in WOTLK, including giving them Time Warp.

[Equoowe]

Lol, nice try.

What class/spec is that not the case?

[Nak88]

I played mage at a very high PvE level throughout vanilla & TBC (racked up /350 days played, server firsts on all bosses up to Sunwell Plateau).

TBC was a very bad expansion for the mage class, unfortunately. I believe it marks the PvE low-point for the class throughout WoW's 16 year history to date:

- Spell rotation in raids/dungeons, for all specializations, consists of literally spamming 1 button. Nothing else, except for fire, where at least 1 mage in the raid had to cast 1 scorch every 30 seconds to keep up a fire-damage debuff on the target.

- Frost mage was not viable in PvE content although it was the only viable spec in PvP.

- PvE mages were almost exclusively Fire.

- For most of the TBC, right until a patch in the last few months of the expansion, Fireball and Frostbolt had a 10% damage co-efficient tax. This was absurd, and Blizzard admitted as much when they lifted this tax. During the tax period, mage damage was underwhelming compared to many other classes. Unfortunately, even after the damage tax was lifted, by that time other classes either had scaled to do more damage or they offered higher utility. The best evidence of this was the number of mages in raids in Sunwell. It was minimal - none at all or maximum of 1-2. Go check the videos from that era.

- Rogues with legendary swords from Illidan were unbeatable at damage dealing, followed by Warlocks and Hunters. Mages were in Tier B or C in the hierarchy.

- Utility was very important in TBC, particularly as buffs were group-wide not raid-wide (which was changed in Wotlk). Shamans brought totems and Blood Lust, which could be stacked on the same group by different Shamans as the Sated debuff did not exist. Shadow priests brought insane mana-regen back during a time where mages and other classes WOULD run out of mana if they went "all out" or had to use mana potions instead of damage potions. Druids brought a critical strike buff. Paladins brought Blessings.

- Mages brought nothing, except for an Intellect buff which could be cast outside of the raid group. They only brought damage, which was well below Hunters, Rogues and Warlocks and with a smaller HP pool to boot.

- The concept of "Arcane Mage" does really not exist, although it was improved over vanilla with the introduction of Arcane Blast. The spec (i.e. deep Arcane) was nowhere close to being viable except for a limited period during which a particular meta-gem (Mystical Skyfire Diamond) made it viable due to the absence of an internal cool down on the gem's proc. This was hotfixed during Black Temple and I doubt it will would be released without this hotfix in "TBC Classic".

Therefore, if you HAVE the option to roll a different class, I would avoid Mages for TBC content like a plague. No wonder they buffed them so much in WOTLK, including giving them Time Warp.

Thank you so much for this post. I have two mains (shaman and mage) in Classic and I will keep the shaman as my main in TBC, and after reading your post and some other posts about mages in TBC, I think I won't play him, I'd probably roll protection paladin.

[WaltherLeopold]

Mages are not bad in TBC, they aren't as good as the 2 top tiers but they aren't bad. They become very good in Sunwell, too.

[Kallor]

I played mage at a very high PvE level throughout vanilla & TBC (racked up /350 days played, server firsts on all bosses up to Sunwell Plateau).

TBC was a very bad expansion for the mage class

I agree with most of what you said. Dungeons were the only place where mages thrived in TBC.

[Sughs]

Played Enhanc since TBC, Arms and a bit of Rogue as alts. For Classic I wanted a Shaman to complete playing the class in all expansions but I didn't want to spend half my time putting totems up so I rolled Mage.

For TBC I am thinking Warrior and Rogue are improved quite a bit. How was Mage's mana in TBC compared to Classic?

[arkanon]

Played Enhanc since TBC, Arms and a bit of Rogue as alts. For Classic I wanted a Shaman to complete playing the class in all expansions but I didn't want to spend half my time putting totems up so I rolled Mage.

For TBC I am thinking Warrior and Rogue are improved quite a bit. How was Mage's mana in TBC compared to Classic?

Depends on spec, but as a whole, all mana users had a MUCH easier time during TBC.

[Schmilblick]

Enhancement Shaman and Ret Pal.

[Pebrocks The Warlock]

with TBC all but confirmed

You got a source for that or are you just saying what you hope to be true?

[TeraAkkron]

Played Enhanc since TBC, Arms and a bit of Rogue as alts. For Classic I wanted a Shaman to complete playing the class in all expansions but I didn't want to spend half my time putting totems up so I rolled Mage.

For TBC I am thinking Warrior and Rogue are improved quite a bit. How was Mage's mana in TBC compared to Classic?

No mages in first kill KJ-Sunwell at all. This doesn't mean that mages were totally useless, but the truth is, at the cutting edge, there was no reason to bring mages over warlocks, hunters or rogues.

Regarding mana: it was easier than Vanilla but still a problem for mages. You couldn't go all out in any fights longer than 3 minutes. That's why a Shadow Priest was so useful in TBC. Warlocks had an easier job as they could re-charge their mana in other ways.

Overall, mages were one of the most balanced classes throughout the history of WoW. They had ups and downs, but never truly overpowered or underpowered for a long stretch of time (e.g. they're overpowered RIGHT NOW in Retail, but only at the end of the expansion due to scaling and corruptions).

I'm just saying that TBC is definitely the "low" point for the class throughout the 16 years of its existence. This is when all 3 specs were relatively underpowered compared to other full dps classes.

You WILL not regret being a Shaman in TBC, it was by far the most stacked class in raids due to Blood Lust, but also had very good utility as a healer with Mana totem and Chain Heal and very good utility as Enhancement Shaman when put in the same group as rogues. Bloodlust + Windfury + good damage on its own.

[Gaidax]

You got a source for that or are you just saying what you hope to be true?

I mean, it's a given. Same goes for WoTLK.

Almost free bigbucks for Blizz.

[Kralljin]

You got a source for that or are you just saying what you hope to be true?

Considering they send out a poll that straight up asked how they're supposed to roll out TBC, i'd say it's all but confirmed.

Them saying at Blizzcon 2019 that the legwork for BC / Wotlk is done is also a huge hint.
Ion also saying that "TBC is the next logical step" being another hint.

At this point, not announcing it would be the real surprise.

[Zka]

Prot warrior was a real blast to play in BC. Excellent raid tank, very challenging but fun in 5mans, can do fair dps with the right gear when not needed as tank. What else you need?

- - - Updated - - -

Every class is enhanced and improved in TBC, so everything will be more enjoyable.

That is quite true, after a few patches ALL classes had at least 1, but often 2 raid viable specs, including things that weren't really viable before. For example ret pally, boomkin.

[Cempa]

Just wondering, with TBC all but confirmed, what class/spec have you enjoyed in Classic that you wont continue into TBC.

Is the move to TBC enough to make you bench you Classic main to a new TBC main? If so, what are you changing from/to and why?

Warlock: SL/SL PvP and Destro PvE. PvP find a good resto druid and +2k! PvE the spec is fantastic for raids at any level AND sac VW for solo questing.