Found this:
I have decided to make this guide as a precursor to my upcoming final template builds. A lot of different peeps have different ideas how what is, and what is not, ?uber? templates. So before I start releasing my final templates, let?s take a look at my thought process. (Yes, I know that is scary)
Regardless what you may think, there are actually only 4 different classes in any MMORPG, and they are Magic, Missile, Melee, and Hybrid.
1. Magic = Any class that primarily uses ?Magic? as a Primary source of damage output, these classes usually also have ?Mana? which is a limitation on how much power it can focus in a given time period. If a Magic user had unlimited mana then obviously they would just sit there and spam cast the most powerful spell non-stop.
2. Missile = Any class that primarily uses a ?Ranged Attack? as a primary source of damage output, these classes usually have ?ammo?.
3. Melee = Any class that must come in physical contact with another object to cause damage.
4. Hybrid = Any class that uses a combination of the above 3 classes as a primary source of damage output.
In WOW it is very easy to tell which classes fall under these categories:
1. Magic = Mage, Priest, Warlock.
2. Missile = Hunter.
3. Melee = Rogue, Warrior
4. Hybrid = Druid, Paladin, Shaman
Now in order to get the best ?build? of a character you must realize that each class only has to choose between 5 options:
1. Offensive = An ability that decreases the amount of time it takes to kill a target. For example: Increasing % to hit, % to crit, damage output etc?
2. Defensive = Any ability that increases the amount of time it takes for a target to kill you. For example: Increasing defense, block %, parry %, hit points etc?
3. Solo = Any ability that only effects your character.
4. Group = Any ability that effects more then just your self, or effects more then 1 enemy target.
5. Non Prejudice = Any ability that adds power to ALL 4 options as listed above, such as increasing ones mana pool.
Now as you look through your characters possible talent abilities, you will see that every single talent in WOW will fall into one of the 5 categories listed above. In my opinion you cannot choose from more then 2 without gimping yourself. (Non ? Prejudice abilities do not count as a choice) Another words you must choose 2 of the following:
1. Offense
2. Defense
3. Solo
4. Group
I will give you an example of what happens when you try to choose 3. In Mythics MMORPG called DAOC, there is 3 realms, the ?tree huggers? the ?tin cans? and Albion.(guess which one I played, LOFL) In Albion there is a ?Cleric? class. This class has horrid melee skills, so it had 2 options.
1. Be a healing cleric, in order to do this you had to be in a group 24/7 when you were logged on which was just about impossible.
2. Be a Smite cleric and severely gimp your group healing abilities.
Obviously the vast majority of peeps went Smite. Now when you hit the level cap and basically went into PvP full time to get your realm points, you were basically a mage in chain armor. For smite clerics this was awesome as they went Offensive, Solo. However they did not remember to take into account the others players that needed healing. So began massive amounts of TPW?s. (TPW = Total Party Wipeout) This is when they tried party healing and failed miserably, it got so bad that Mythic nerfed the Smite abilities to try and encourage more peeps to go healing. This was too little, too late, Mythic even put in ?respec stones? so peeps could simply wipe out all their Smite skills and change them to healing. This helped some, but the vast majority simply switched to the ?Enhancement? spell line.(Enhancement is just another word for buffs, and these Clerics were referred to as ?buff bots? ? ?Buffs bot? is also used to describe a peep that had 2 accounts and buffed his alt then went out to PvP and left the buff bot by the guard house) It was not until Mythic gave a hell of a lot of love to the Healing spell line, that you saw full Rejuve(Rejuve = Rejuvenation or Healing) Clerics as a common site.
Now this did not happen overnight, and actually took over a year, (actually I think it took 2 years) before Mythic finally figured out WTF to do. The above is an example of a transition, going from ?Offensive Solo?(As a Smite Cleric) to ?Offensive Group?(As a ?Buff bot) to ?Defensive Group?.(As a Full spec Rejuve Cleric) As you can see, the time periods between these transitions they had tried to be 3 instead of 2 and really screwed over their teammates.
So how should you build your character? Well, I have decided on the following for my peeps.
1. Mage = Offensive Group
2. Priest = Offensive Group (nope the Priest is not my healer, as a healer would be ?Defensive Group?, later in this tutorial I will ?prove, beyond a reasonable doubt? that the Priest is not the best healer class in WOW. WTF am I talking about??? Read on?)
3. Rogue = Offensive Solo
4. Hunter = Offensive Solo(however I will have ?Trueshot Aura? which helps the group)
5. Warrior = Offensive Group(I am trying damn hard to make this possible, but am running into numerous roadblocks, If I cannot make a decent Offensive Group, then he will be Offensive Solo)
6. Druid = Defensive Group(yes, this is my healer)
7. Shaman = Offensive Group(I can make a ?better? Offensive Solo Shaman, BUT I do not see me running around BG all by myself killing 100?s of Alliance peeps)
8. Warlock = Offensive Solo
The first question you might ask is ?where is the Defensive Solo peep?? LOL, call me a warmonger if you wish, but I see a Defensive Solo peep as useful as a used condom!
Another thing you may want to keep in mind is ?NEVER? believe anything you hear in-game, or on the ?chat boards?. 95% of the stuff you hear is pure BS, simply ask me or one of the other knowledgeable MPS peeps. (trust me there are tons of knowledgeable peeps here) Also do not judge your class by what is thought to be ?common knowledge? such as a Priest ?must be? a healer. That is pure crap, Bliz has given so much power to the Shadow talents, that it would almost be silly to choose otherwise. Of course if you do not have a Restore Druid, you can create a ?healing Priest?. A healing Priest is truly awesome in groups, it is just that a Shadow Priest is so overpowered. I would actually have 2 healers, my Druid and my Priest, however Bliz has put so much ?secondary healing? in the game, 2 healers are not needed.
What did I mean earlier, when I said Priests are not the best healers? Let?s take a look:
Here we will be comparing the Priest to the Druid and their healing abilities. These will be looked at as levels 60?s since all other levels are meaningless in the endgame.
The Priest:
Healing:
Prayer of Healing:
Requires: None 1030 Mana
3 second cast
A powerful prayer that heals nearby party members for 939 to 991.
Greater Heal:
Requires: None 1005 Mana
4 second cast
40 yard range
A slow casting spell that heals a single target for 2413 to 2693.
Renew
Requires: None 370 Mana
Instant cast
40 yard range
Heals the target for 820 damage over 15 seconds.
Flash Heal
Requires: None 385 Mana
1.5 second cast
40 yard range
Heals a friendly target for 823 to 971.
The Druid:
Tranquility
Requires: Tranquility (Rank 3) 1235 Mana
Instant cast
10 minute cooldown
Efficiency: 1.19 health per mana times the number of group members
Regenerates all nearby group members for 294 every 2 seconds for 10 seconds. Druid must channel to maintain the spell.
Regrowth
Requires: Regrowth (Rank 8) 880 Mana
2 second cast
40 yard range
Efficiency: 2.41 average health per mana
Heals a friendly target for 1003 to 1119 and another 1064 over 21 seconds.
Rejuve
Requires: Rejuvenation (Rank 9) 335 Mana
Instant cast
40 yard range
Efficiency: 2.48 health per mana
Heals the target for 756 over 12 seconds.
Healing Touch
Requires: Healing Touch (Rank 9) 790 Mana
3.5 second cast
40 yard range
Efficiency: 2.82 average health per mana
Heals a friendly target for 1890 to 2230.
Group Healing, The Priest spends 1030 mana to heal up to 991 that is an efficiency of .96. The Druid spends 1235 mana to heal 1470 that is an efficiency of 1.19. 2 things to keep in mind here:
1. The Priests heal is a ?soft heal? doing 939-991, however the Druid?s heal is a ?hard heal? of 294 every 2 seconds. This is an advantage to the Druid.
2. The Priest?s group heal is a 3 second cast but after casting, guarantees the heal, the Druid however must channel. This is an advantage to the Priest.
Conclusion: Group healing gives a slight advantage to the Priest.
Single Healing, The Priests greater heal has an efficiency of 2.94, (which is awesome) but take 4 seconds, the Flash heal has an efficiency of 2.52 and only takes 1.5 secs. The Druids Healing touch has an efficiency of 2.82 and takes 3.5 secs, The Regrowth spell has an efficiency of 2.48, and takes 2 secs to cast. Some things to keep in mind:
1. The efficiencies here are very close, both big heals from the Priest and Druid are very long casts.
2. The Druids Regrowth spell here really kicks ass, because it is a fast cast, (2 secs), and you can cast this early when you see your party members health start to drop and it keeps on healing. While it is true that all the health is not instantly healed as with the Priests greater heal, I still see this as an advantage. You can heal 2 peeps in the time it takes a Priest to heal 1. However you must heal early as the 2nd half of the heal is overtime. After you are in PvP for awhile you will know which classes are going to be attacked first.
3. I really did not want to bring talents into this discussion, however these 2 talents give a huge healing advantage to the druid. Look at the Priests talents, there is nothing even remotely close to this! Increase the crit chance of Regrowth by 50%!!! This is a passive skill and does not need to be activated!!!
Improved Regrowth - 5/5 points
Increases the critical effect chance of your Regrowth spell by 50%.
Innervate - 1/1 point
Increases the target's Mana regeneration by 400% and allows 100% of the target's Mana regeneration to continue while casting. Lasts 20 seconds.
Conclusion: Single healing gives a medium advantage to the Druid.(you are more then welcome to bring up any Priest Holy talents to debate my opinion here, but see for yourself there are no Priest talents at all that can touch Improved Regrowth)
IHOT?s (IHOT = Insta Heal Over Time)
The Priests Renew has an efficiency of 2.21 and heals for 54.6 a sec. (average per sec). The Druids Rejuve has an efficiency of 2.25 and heals for 63 a sec. (average per sec)
Conclusion: IHOT?s give a very slight advantage to the Druid.
Overall Conclusion:
We could debate for weeks the above info, we could also debate the Priests STA buff compared to the Druids MOTW and Thorns buff. If you really want to get me started, we could debate the survivability of both classes on a modern day battlefield, I mean a dead healer cannot heal very well. The Druid has long been known as the master escape artist, and there is no way in the world you will convince me that a priest would stay alive longer then a Druid in Dire Bear form. Let it be known however, that the only true negative for the Druid compared to the Priest as a healer is the mana pool. The Restoration Druid must have a lot of +INT gear or his mana pool will shrink too fast to be an awesome healer.
O.K lets open it up for discussion, who wants to draw first blood?
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