Druid, Warlock, or Shaman (Alliance)

[RapidSausage]

It's my first character, and i've played all of these classes before, but since i haven't been on warmane for a long time and Lordaeron is a progressive realm, i dont know how balancing and faction requirements look like, so i hope you guys could enlighten me.

I have no intention to play a healer (but i might consider it as a change of pace as an offspec) and melee is hit and miss for me no matter the class, so i intend to mainly be a caster.

I love all classes pretty much equally but i just can't decide which one to start off with.

There is no right or wrong answer as it is all subjective, my mind is currently set on a boomkin, but based on your replies i may be swayed to change my mind.

[xogen]

Warlock is the strongest one in pve by far at the moment. Shaman and warlock are both good in pvp druid not so good.

[Greedman456]

Go with lock as its the best in pve and very good in pvp and also has very nice lvl up. If you are going druid lvling as a moonkin will be very hard(feral is much easier) and as a shamman enhancement is much easier to lvl than elemental so if you want to lvl up as a caster go warlock

[RapidSausage]

Warlock is the strongest one in pve by far at the moment. Shaman and warlock are both good in pvp druid not so good.

What's wrong with druid in pvp (BGs)?

Go with lock as its the best in pve and very good in pvp and also has very nice lvl up. If you are going druid lvling as a moonkin will be very hard(feral is much easier) and as a shamman enhancement is much easier to lvl than elemental so if you want to lvl up as a caster go warlock

When leveling i could go feral/enh and switch later, my choice is focused mainly on endgame pve and BGs


edit: on the account of druid accused of being "masochistic" or not so good in pvp, i may consider playing shaman after all and forgo warlock, since all warlock does is damage damage damage with not much gameplay variety, even if warlock is super duper cool.

[MaxBlack1]

leveling druid is only an option if feral cat. bear isnt that great
moonkin/resto only if u have group for level. otherwise it will take ages to lvl.

shaman is quite fast and ally is low on good shamans that do not multibox ;)

warlock is high burst dmg and also really needed in endgame.

[RapidSausage]

leveling druid is only an option if feral cat. bear isnt that great
moonkin/resto only if u have group for level. otherwise it will take ages to lvl.

shaman is quite fast and ally is low on good shamans that do not multibox ;)

warlock is high burst dmg and also really needed in endgame.

What about what's been said above about boomkin being not so good in pvp (and bg)??

Also, how fast is "fast"??, like lvl 80 in 10 days of moderate play or more like 10 days ingame playtime?, cuz i pretty much have a month to play and only around 2~3 hours per day.

[MaxBlack1]

moonkin have second to none defensive cooldowns. you have barkskin and after that you are done.
of course you can master moonkin in pvp and have a lot of fun in BG's but nothing more. for arena moonkin is simply no-go.
compared to that hybrid resto/balance is way better and even very good in 2s and 3s arena.

average time to lvl 80 is around 5 day of gameplay time (5*24=120 hours) it is hard to go lower but not impossible. this may or may not include professions leveling (i.e. gathering take almost no time while things like Engineering requires more time)
with that I would say that - if we are talking about solo questing only (no dungeons etc) - shaman can do 100+ hours, warlock 110-120, cat/bear 110-120, moonkin around 130-150.

Zygor promises lvl 80 in less than 5 days so its good to use that guide

[RapidSausage]

moonkin have second to none defensive cooldowns. you have barkskin and after that you are done.
of course you can master moonkin in pvp and have a lot of fun in BG's but nothing more. for arena moonkin is simply no-go.
compared to that hybrid resto/balance is way better and even very good in 2s and 3s arena.

average time to lvl 80 is around 5 day of gameplay time (5*24=120 hours) it is hard to go lower but not impossible. this may or may not include professions leveling (i.e. gathering take almost no time while things like Engineering requires more time)
with that I would say that - if we are talking about solo questing only (no dungeons etc) - shaman can do 100+ hours, warlock 110-120, cat/bear 110-120, moonkin around 130-150.

Zygor promises lvl 80 in less than 5 days so its good to use that guide

Actually, given the tight timeframe i have, i decided to play on Icecrown and not Lordaeron.

I am currently playing a shaman, but i'm still probing the possibility of a druid.

[Greedman456]

moonkin have second to none defensive cooldowns. you have barkskin and after that you are done.
of course you can master moonkin in pvp and have a lot of fun in BG's but nothing more. for arena moonkin is simply no-go.
compared to that hybrid resto/balance is way better and even very good in 2s and 3s arena.

average time to lvl 80 is around 5 day of gameplay time (5*24=120 hours) it is hard to go lower but not impossible. this may or may not include professions leveling (i.e. gathering take almost no time while things like Engineering requires more time)
with that I would say that - if we are talking about solo questing only (no dungeons etc) - shaman can do 100+ hours, warlock 110-120, cat/bear 110-120, moonkin around 130-150.

Zygor promises lvl 80 in less than 5 days so its good to use that guide

Warlock has much faster lvl up than shamman. I can say with certainty that lock has the fastest lvl up in game, but y approximately what you said is correct about the lvling.

To the op now, i would lvl up in lord if i were you and enjoy the process. Lvling is one of the biggest aspects of the game, its exploiring the secrets of this world over and over again. End game is just a filler but it has taken much more of the game than leveling after all those years of lvling players to max lvl. If you havent lvled up to 80 to an *1 server i would suggest you do

[Touchooo]

Actually, given the tight timeframe i have, i decided to play on Icecrown and not Lordaeron.

I am currently playing a shaman, but i'm still probing the possibility of a druid.

That's a shame, since from my experience Icecrown is just an ICC simulator pretty much.

[RapidSausage]

That's a shame, since from my experience Icecrown is just an ICC simulator pretty much.

if i had the time i would definitely be playing on Lordaeron right now.

But the main reason i want to join warmane in the first place is to have a nice BG experience, since warmane has the numbers to support it, so if gearing on Lordaeron is annoying (buffed bosses and overtuned instances), and it takes an age to get a toon to lvl 80, then i'd rather bite the bullet and play on Icecrown.

Yes ICC will be the whole grind, but people still do Ulduar and Naxx sometimes, which i'll try to join to enjoy the lore and scenery.