Need advice on soloing in WoW

[00slash00]

So as happens every time a WoW expansion is hyped up, I'm thinking of returning to the game. I want to start a new character, rather than just make a level 90 character (having every ability all at once seems a bit overwhelming). I've heard people say WoW has gotten easier and grouping isn't as necessary but does that mean you can easily solo with pretty much any damage or defense focused class? I had fun playing a shapeshifting focused Druid. How easy would it be to solo up to at least the Cataclysm or Pandera expansion as a shapeshifter Druid and how useful would they be in groups?

Side question...why does everyone seem to hate the Alliance?

 

[BloatedGuppy]

So as happens every time a WoW expansion is hyped up, I'm thinking of returning to the game. I want to start a new character, rather than just make a level 90 character (having every ability all at once seems a bit overwhelming). I've heard people say WoW has gotten easier and grouping isn't as necessary but does that mean you can easily solo with pretty much any damage or defense focused class? I had fun playing a shapeshifting focused Druid. How easy would it be to solo up to at least the Cataclysm or Pandera expansion as a shapeshifter Druid and how useful would they be in groups?

Side question...why does everyone seem to hate the Alliance?

Soloing as any class should be easy beans, although the recent stat squish has created some anomalies in the older content, and I'm not 100% sure if all of it has been caught and patched yet, so if you get randomly one-shot don't come back here and throw it in my face. =D

Your best course of action is to pick a play style you enjoy and just stick with that. I highly approve of your decision to level up through the content, as it creates character attachment, just be aware the mass of people will be in level 90+ content...so the game is top heavier right now than at any other point in time. So it might get a bit lonely out there. Queues should still be okay, especially as people start leveling alts, and particularly if you keep a tank/healer spec on hand for the occasions when you want to dungeon it up.

Guardian/Feral Druids are still pretty strong, although they're not what they used to be (Guardian and Feral are now completely split, instead of the old Feral Druid who could be a bit of everything). As someone who has been away a long time it might not bother you so much, but some of the long time Druid players are smarting a bit.

I don't hate the Alliance. I prefer the Alliance. Gettin' pretty tired of the Horde constantly losing their shit and going off the rails.

Depending on your choice of server, I'm available for in game advice and possibly assistance, depending on what I'm up to at the time.

 

[VoidOfOne]

Speaking as someone who only played WoW before it was known as "Vanilla" WoW (which is a term that annoys me, but it is what it is...), it's just like Guppy said: play the class you want. WoW has changed so much that getting in is easier than ever, to a point. And it sounds like Feral Druids are still good. In trying to group, it should hopefully not be a problem.

And not everyone hates the Alliance, since someone is on that side. Statistically, someone has to be.

As for me... My calling has been the Horde. Orc Shaman. If I ever go back, I'd start over as that, after I do my Pandaren...

 

[Gdek]

As someone who recently leveled up 3 characters 1-90 I can say that feral druids are incredibly strong right now while leveling. I haven't seen any moonkin and the few resto have failed to leave a mark however. Also leveling is pretty lively right now, I figure the people who truly hate leveling will just buy their way to 90, leaving the leveling content for those who enjoy it. Dungeon queues are fast even for dps usually 10 min or less. PvP queue for alliance is near instant if you enjoy that.

I think the horde's reputation for being the cooler/more skilled faction has finally caught up with it, attracting a lot of crappy players who want to be on the winning team.

Leveling battlegrounds are in a pretty sweet spot right now, with the removal of the item level spikes at the start of the old expansions. There is no longer ridiculous power spikes and odd scaling in the 70's and 80's brackets making them actually playable. Soloing as any class is basically what the outdoor leveling content is based around, so you should have no trouble as a feral druid. In fact you will likely one shot a lot of enemies. If you enjoy dungeons, feral druids are fantastic tanks, and also put out tons of dps.

 

[Loop Stricken]

So as happens every time a WoW expansion is hyped up, I'm thinking of returning to the game. I want to start a new character, rather than just make a level 90 character (having every ability all at once seems a bit overwhelming).

You get a sort-of tutorial that gradually unlocks your abilities.

As for the rest of it, solo levelling is not even an issue. Unless you're trying to heal the enemies to death, it's simple.

 

[Muspelheim]

My suggestion would be a protection paladin. They're some rock hard bastards. You're durable and got plenty of self-heal spells, besides just looking cool. And you get the short tank queue.

As for the Alliance hate, well... There are a lot of twats on Alliance. There's more people overall playing Alliance, and thus more of the dregs.

Not to mention, Blizzard's lore department are more interested in doing Horde stuff and Horde stories. It's always about those damn Orcs, isn't it?

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

Any tank can solo pretty easily. I might get around to killing the Lich king myself when I hit 100... I am a death knight so it is kinda personal.

Edit: though tanks that can heal can get a lot further, can a Druid tank self heal a little?

 

[sanquin]

Soloing as any class is easy these days. You can now have 2 specialities and switch between tehem whem out of combat once you get that. Druid, in that aspect, is a good choice. Feral and guardian druid (as said, they're not a combined spec any more) use pretty much the same gear anyway. So you can solo, and switch to tank and do a dungeon when you feel like it.

 

[VanQ]

Assuming you're saying you have the option to just make a level 90, I assume you have a character boost, just go ahead and make the 90. Freshly made 90 boosts only start out with a few abilities and do a bunch of quick quests to unlock the rest now. Besides, with the ability pruning, there is no issue with having too many skills on your bars.

Take it from someone that has levelled 10 classes to 90 and boosted 1 with my free boost. Solo leveling in the old content is dull. Dull, dull, dull. If you want to jump back into the game and experience the most contemporary and modern content, just go ahead an make a 90 and join all the other players new and old in the latest expansion. Besides, level 90-100 aren't over in a day. You have plenty of time to learn your class in that window.

By the time you get to 90 leveling the old fashioned way, you'll miss out on the best part of any expansion. The very beginning, where people are out in the world and active, giving the world that vibrant and living feeling.

Anyway, to directly answer the question, any class can solo effectively these days. DPS specs or tank specs are very viable for leveling solo. Healer and tank specs are great for dungeon spam.

And as for your bonus question, allow me to quote myself from another recent thread.

The WoW community seems healthier than ever on Horde side, and worse than ever on Alliance side. Horde side mostly has progression focused players that know how to act mature, no matter their age, and put in the effort to get things done or get out of your way so you can get things done. The very worst I've seen since I started playing Horde was some anal spam in trade chat and the occasional asshole here and there.

Alliance has this incredible divide between much older and extremely young players that creates this atmosphere of clash between its own players. I tried raiding with Alliance on an alt for some time, the players were lazy, uninvested in the game and prone to rage quitting and arguing with each other. In PvP, Alli has a very XBox Live feel to the community, where I see the most profane shit in chat whether you're winning or losing. While I experienced a bad player from time to time on Horde, on Alliance I experience them daily and in large numbers.

As a note, I've been playing Horde and Alliance for about 10 years now and my experience of the factions come from US-Thrall Horde and US-Frostmourne Alliance.

 

[LetalisK]

So as happens every time a WoW expansion is hyped up, I'm thinking of returning to the game. I want to start a new character, rather than just make a level 90 character (having every ability all at once seems a bit overwhelming). I've heard people say WoW has gotten easier and grouping isn't as necessary but does that mean you can easily solo with pretty much any damage or defense focused class? I had fun playing a shapeshifting focused Druid. How easy would it be to solo up to at least the Cataclysm or Pandera expansion as a shapeshifter Druid and how useful would they be in groups?

Side question...why does everyone seem to hate the Alliance?

You can solo with pretty much any class. However, some are easier than others, though the difference is minimal. Hunters and Warlocks are at the top(Warlocks take a little more getting used to their style and Hunters can sometimes get boring with how brain neutral you can go with them) and I would put Druids and Paladin right after them. The bonus of the latter two is you can easily switch to a tanking/healing spec and get quick dungeon queues, whereas you don't get that benefit from the former.

As for the Alliance vs Horde thing, this is my impression since I play both sides. The only difference you're going to see is in end-game pvp. Leveling pvp is pretty much even, but once you get to end-game you might notice that Alliance have a more defeatist attitude while the Horde are more likely to yell at each other for stupid shit if things dare go south for them. Edit: Oh also, as far as Raid Finder is concerned(the Raid pick up group tool), I always have a worse experience with Horde and their elitist attitude. I've always had a handful of toxic motherfuckers, usually the tank and a healer, who see it as their job to demean the whole rest of the raid for not being awesome like them.

Personally, I'm playing through WoD as Alliance first. Their story interests me more as it seems like they're trying to do new things while Horde seems like a whole lot of old hat.

 

[Maxtro]

If you wait to level 60 to boost you get max level professions without having to skill them up at all. It would only take a few days to get level 60 on a new character and by then you should fully know how the class works.

Imo the easiest classes to solo with are Hunter, Warlock and Paladin. Hunter and Warlock are pet classes that do a ton of damage. My level 90 Hunter is able to easily do level 85 raids with just her and the pet. With the right glyph Hunter's also get stealth which means I can just walk right by monsters I don't feel like fighting.

A Retribution Paladin does a lot of damage and self-heal, turn invincible. It's pretty hard to die when soloing as a Paladin.

 

[Aaron Sylvester]

I wouldn't come back to WoW right now, give it at least 3-4 more days. Currently the game is unplayable.

 

[briankoontz]

Having just soloed a Holy Priest to Level 100, it's safe to say any class/spec can do it. Just watch out for those Level 100 mobs in the north of Gorgrond, otherwise a level 94 zone. DPS specs level *faster* than tank or healer classes, since damage reduction and healing don't have much benefit during leveling.

 

[LetalisK]

Having just soloed a Holy Priest to Level 100, it's safe to say any class/spec can do it. Just watch out for those Level 100 mobs in the north of Gorgrond, otherwise a level 94 zone. DPS specs level *faster* than tank or healer classes, since damage reduction and healing don't have much benefit during leveling.

If I may put an asterisk on this, DPS specs level faster when questing. Tanks/healers blow DPS out of the water if you level via dungeons.