Questions about Rogue/Mage/Ret

[TheCell]

Hey Everyone

This is my first time playing tbc, so i was wondering how the classes that i usually played perform.
I used to main Rogue and Ret, how are those two doing in PvE and PvP?

Also i would be interestet in knowing the same about mage, because i always was curiuos about mages.
If someone thinks i should play something besides these, just let me know.

Thanks in advance, Cell

[ItsPinks]

They're all pretty good. :D

If you need to pick one for PvE AND PvP, I'd stick with rogue.
Rogue is good, but it's not fantastic (in comparison to Vanilla) in PvP with PvP Resi added in the game, but it's still pretty good in raiding and only gets better over time.

Mage is good if you want to faceroll DPS like a hunter or warlock, you can also become a vending machine.

Ret, I got no idea, but they seem to have good numbers.

[Dreary]

Welcome to TBC, it's a blast.

As a short overview, for PvE ranged DPS are kings, especially early. Rogues will end up topping meters in Sunwell with full BiS gear, but Rogues pretty much get carried in T4 and T5. Melee in general suck until T6. Furthermore, TBC is the era of Hybrid DPS. Most specs are wanted for raids, but as 1-ofs, meaning 1 Ret, 1 Enhance, 1 Elemental... and so on. The only specs you will be stacking are Destro Warlocks, BM Hunters, Resto Shaman, 2 HPriests, and 2 Rogues.

As for Rogue, you're one of the better melee in T4 and T5, but you're still far behind ranged dps. Unlike other melee, you don't really have any utility either outside of kick. You need to pull numbers to justify your raid spot, especially when Rogue is such a highly played class in TBC. On most TBC servers, Guilds won't recruit Rogues, because 2 or 3 are the max, and those spots are usually filled by Officers or long-time established guild members. Finding a guild as a Rogue can be really tough in TBC.

Mages are never a bad choice. You will always be desired for Heroics and Raids, despite being just a step behind Warlocks in terms of pure damage. You're going to be the king of AoE, but in T4 you will be 2nd or 3rd on DPS behind Hunters and on-par with Warlocks. Warlocks out-scale you, and Rogues end up passing you in Sunwell, leaving you at around 4th by the end of Sunwell. Just because you aren't top of the meters doesn't mean you can't have fun, though. Fire is in my opinion one of the most fun specs in TBC. Getting lucky ignite stacks is incredibly satisfying.

Ret is hard to describe. The biggest problem you will face is people thinking Ret is useless, however it's just a meme. Ret is very strong in TBC, not because of their DPS (which by the way is absolutely garbage, unless you are Horde which ends up being OK in Sunwell) but because of the incredible buffs Ret provides. Most buffs are group specific in TBC, such as totems or Auras. However, Ret increases the crit chance for both spells and physical attacks for the entire raid in the form of a debuff on the boss. In addition, Ret will refresh the Judgements of any other Paladins in your raid, which really saves your Holy Paladin from a huge headache. Furthermore, Ret provides a passive 2% increased damage Aura for your party. Finally, Ret brings your raid your 3rd Blessing, which having 3 is borderline mandatory, and nobody is going to bring 2 Protadins or 2 HPalas. Ret's DPS might not be great, but the utility they provide more than makes up for it. The same can be said for many hybrid specs in TBC.



As far as PvP goes, Rogue and Mage are T1 PvP classes for a reason. Ret has some decent comps, but generally isn't considered a strong Arena class. By the end of retail TBC, Paladin was the least represented class in terms of number of Gladiators by class, as both Holy and Ret were just outclassed by other specs. If you're looking to be a Battleground Hero, however, Ret is a great option, if you know how to use your utility spells to help people other than yourself. 9 times out of 10 it's better to Freedom someone other than yourself.

Sorry for text wall, there's just been a massive amount of misinformation flying around, especially around Ret. If you're serious about PvE, I would avoid Rogue just because it has very limited raid spots and is a very popular class. Ret is likely to be underplayed, and any guild worth their salt will want a Ret if they know what they are doing. If you're serious about Arenas, Mage and Rogue are both great options. If you're serious about both PvE and PvP, Mage is probably the best option.

[TheCell]

Thanks for all that info, really nice of you.

i think i will go with rogue bc i prefer meele a little over ranged and if its harder to get into raid i just need to get better so i get to tag along ^^