Best Class for PvE and PvP in WoW

Picking a class in World of Warcraft is a permanent choice. Even though you can reroll to try another one, you'll be stuck with it until you delete your character. You won't be as effective when you're playing a class you dislike, and the opposite is also true. When you like playing a role, you're better motivated to know everything about it. You'll research the best rotations, builds, and everything else you can get your hands on to become more efficient or deadly to enemies.

The question still remains, though. How do you know which one to choose?

Choosing Your Class

First, you'll have to decide what role you want to play. There are three: the DPS, the tank, and the healer.

The DPS is the damage dealer tasked with attacking the enemy and reducing its health. Tanks defend the party by protecting the DPS and healers, taking the attacks, and focusing enemy attention from targeting the less durable allies. Lastly, the healer keeps everybody alive with healing and other supportive actions.

As an additional step, you'll have to choose between melee and ranged if you want to be a DPS. Both have their pros and cons, so you have to pick. There's also the decision between magical damage and physical damage.

Pick a role to narrow down your choices. There are 12 choices, but you can immediately filter out the ones you don't like when you choose a direction and gameplay style. For example, you can select the ranged classes if you don't like getting up close to the enemy. After that, it's just a matter of picking a role you want to play.

Anyway, here's a breakdown of the classes and the roles they can fit into.

How to Pick a Class in WoW?

Each class has three skill trees that determine its build and specialization. Only a few can be called hybrid classes, those that can switch between two roles in a pinch. One of those is the Druid; it's the most versatile class depending on how you build it.

That also makes it an excellent starter class, as you can try out various roles. It can heal, tank, and do melee or ranged DPS by reallocating your points. Other hybrid classes include the Death Knight, Paladins, and Monks.

Others may be loosely called hybrids, but they can only fill one role depending on their build. The classes listed above have enough flexibility in their allocation to play two or three positions, switching between them on a dime. The others would need to respec to be able to change. Then, some can only be DPS, called 'dedicated DPS,' and have the highest damage output of any class. The only difference is how they deliver the hurt. That's another consideration if you want to play as one.

Anyway, find the gameplay you want to experience and the role you want to play in a party. If you don't like partying up, you should get a DPS class. If you don't party up as a healer or tanker, you'll have a hard time as these roles don't defeat enemies efficiently. They can, but it'll take longer than if a DPS-capable class does it.

Here are other suggestions for beginner-level classes and builds:

• Hunter - Beast Mastery Tree
• Warlock - Destruction/Affliction

These two are easy enough for beginners to use. They're pretty straightforward, but finesse would have to be practiced. Still, they can serve as an introduction to the game's systems. It's easy to create another character to experience another class or role, so you don't have to worry too much.

Other Considerations

To have a more thorough decision-making process, you can also consider the most recommended classes for PvE and PvP. Be sure to check back frequently, as the constant balance updates shift these recommendations around. Also, the current meta depends on the latest available content (raids, PvP season). Hence, no class keeps its place in the rankings for too long.

The Best PvE Classes in WoW

PvE means 'player vs. environment,' aka when you're battling against the AI-controlled enemies of WoW. This includes raiding and dungeon-delving, plus general exploration and farming resources. It's a less competitive aspect of the game, focused on trying to avoid damage while trying to reduce the target's health to zero.

Subtlety Rogue

Rogues have the highest single-target damage output potential. Of course, it's in how the player builds them and uses their abilities. The best version of the Rogue for PvE is the Subtlety tree, focused on mobility and backstabbing.

Despite their fragility, they can dish out tons of damage stealthily, with the enemy not knowing they were there. To offset their weak defenses, they have various mobility skills, from Evasion to the Cloak of Shadows. Those make the rogue hard to hit if the target survives their onslaught.

Warning: not a character for beginners.

Demonology Warlock

Warlocks have been almost entirely overshadowed by Mages for a long time, but now's their time to shine. Demonology Warlocks have effective spells of both the AoE (area of effect) and single-target spells. Combine that with the reduced cooldown for summoning Demonic Tyrants, and you have a veritable magic cannon that can nuke enemies frequently.

These Warlocks have a problem with mobility and utility, though. They'll be the first to fall if something goes wrong with their tank. Their high damage output means they are a threat, and it's easy for the enemy to target them next.

Fury Warrior

Warriors are formidable combatants, but none more so than the Fury tree of their specialization. With their excellent mix of single-target and AoE attacks, they're ready to take on bosses or a mob of minions. They also have good mobility and survivability, making them almost a tank. Plus, they can provide the Battle Shout buff, which is essential to all melee allied combatants.

The Best PvP Classes in WoW

PvP is different than PvE because you'll be playing against your fellow players instead of an AI-controlled one. That means they think and react as a player would. You'll have to outsmart, outthink, or out-gambit other players to get on top. Also, using a class that excels in the game mode helps greatly.

Best 2v2 Class

• Fury Warrior
• Subtlety Rogue
• Survival Hunter

Best 3v3 Class

• Fury Warrior
• Fire Mage
• Retribution Paladin

Best Battlegrounds Class

• Balance Druid
• Affliction Warlock
• Subtlety Rogue

Fury Warriors and Subtlety Rogues have been discussed in the previous section, so we can move on to the new classes and specializations. Survival Hunters have a good mix of utility and offensive abilities, so they can get themselves out of any situation they fall into. Also, their pet can be a force to be reckoned with in this specialization.

Fire Mages specialize in fire attribute spells, obviously. This means they can set others on fire and deal damage over time. If their enemies can't clear the status quickly, it'll be their death. The only downside is, as magic users, they're mostly glass cannons and will have to rely on their teammates to survive.

Retribution Paladins are the masters of counterattacking, or is it damage reflection? At any rate, the more you attack them, the higher the damage they can return to you. This makes them a bit of a high-risk, high-return specialization, like a berserker but with holy damage. Paladins also have a natural affinity to tanking, letting them take the attacks and return them with twice the power.

Balance Druids, as mentioned above, have the versatility to fill any role in the party. They can heal, they can tank, and they can deal damage with the correct transformation. This makes them a little unpredictable, which can take enemies by surprise you can take advantage of. Still, some builds skew their effectiveness into one aspect (DPS, tanking, or healing), leaving the other two mediocre.

Affliction Warlocks take advantage of damage-over-time status effects and a draining ability to keep them alive. Again, status effects have a massive influence on combat flow because if enemies don't clear these effects, they won't live long.

You Decide What's Best

Ultimately, what's best for you might not be what's best for others. These are just recommendations you don't have to follow. Just make sure to pick a class that you'll enjoy playing. As long as you have fun, then popularity doesn't matter. Play what and how you want to.

While it is a permanent choice, you can always restart with a new character. You'll have to put up with starting all over again in leveling, though. If you haven't gotten far with the other character, this shouldn't be too much of a problem.

Anyway, hope this helps in starting your WoW journey the right way. Remember, having fun with your class and the game is the most important thing.