Easy Mode - All Classes Are Easy to Level
- Posted by Walkere on March 22nd, 2008 filed in Grinding
I came across this topic the other day on WoW Insider. Are certain classes easier to level?
Many people point to the hunter and say - “Easy Mode!” While the hunter certainly has it’s advantages, every class can be leveled quickly and easily… if leveling is done smartly.
The “Slow” Grind - My Paladin
After my first character (a Human Mage) was 70, I decided to roll a Paladin. I wanted to have a tank and/or healer available to help the guild out.
Everybody said, “That’ll take forever!” “You’re gonna hate leveling the Paladin!” “I tried it, it’s so boring!”
I’m sure you’ve heard the statements before. I found them all to be untrue.
In the early levels, a Paladin is a monster. Throw on some nice armor and a heavy two hander, and go to town with Seal of Command. I dumped a few points in Holy to help heal myself better, and every other point went straight into retribution.
Every once in a while, I noticed that my DPS was dragging. After some inspection, the culprit almost always ended up being my weapon. When I had a brand new weapon, with top notch DPS and high end damage, I could blow through mobs. When I had a 10-level-old weapon, I’d whittle them down a bit slower.
I got my Paladin to 60 in around eight days (before the patch that made leveling easier). He took some time grinding rep in Outlands and still made it to 70 in 11 or 12 days.
The process wasn’t that much harder, slower, or more boring than my Mage.
Every Class Is Easy to Level
If you remember two things, every class is pretty easy to level.
Spec Correctly. More often than not, people that complain about leveling a Paladin, Priest, or Warrior do so because they put their talent points in the wrong tree.
You want to be a Holy Priest? Fine. Wait until you’re 70! Unless you have a consistent group of people that are willing to wait for each other and maintain the same pace from 1 - 70, you should never level a class as a healer or a tank.
If you’re a Priest, spec shadow. If you’re a Paladin, spec ret. If you’re a Warrior, spec Arms/Fury. If you’re a Druid, spec feral. Every class is capable of doing DPS, if you spec it correctly.
Update Your Weapons. This is especially important for melee/ranged classes - not so much for casters. No matter how much you tweak your armor, your DPS is most reliant on your weapon.
A [item]15213[/item] has a DPS of 18.8. A [item]15215[/item] has a DPS of 26.7.
That’s approximately 8 DPS difference between the two weapons. If you were to make up that difference through stats, you would need 14 (AP Per DPS) * 8 DPS = 112 AP. For most classes, that would be 56 Strength.
You’d better start lookin’ for some good armor to make that up. Or, you could simply upgrade your weapon and be good to go.
It’s fine to let your armor lag behind a few levels. Chances are the one to two point stat upgrade isn’t going to make a whole lot of difference. Your weapon, on the other hand, makes a huge difference in your overall damage output. Keep it up to date, and you’ll be much better off.
Level Smart, Level Quick
The bottom line is that any class can be leveled quickly if it is done wisely.
Remember to spec correctly. Choose a DPS spec over a tanking or healing spec. You can switch when you get to or get close to level 70.
Also keep your weapons up to date. No matter how good your armor is, you’re DPS is going to be severely hampered if you’re using a sword that you found 10+ levels ago.
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