Which class is strongest?

[Dalgar]

An often-debated topic among WoW players is "which class is best?". In a well balanced game like World of Warcraft, such a question can be difficult to answer. Blizzard has made a solid effort to make every class in the game viable in almost any situation.

Still the question must be asked. In your opinion, which class do you believe is the strongest? What makes it the best? Does the strongest class change when looking at things from a PvE or PvP perspective?

Secondly, let's discuss what criteria should be looked at when trying to determine the strongest class. What matters most? Damage, healing, armor? Survivability, aoe, speed? Why?

Finally, be sure to post what class you play. How might this influence your perspective on which class is strongest?

[Formless]

Strongest? Damage wise its simply the mage. The problem is mages armour and HP is hugely sacrificed for these Insane amounts of damage. Many people fail to realise Mages can own anything and everyone, simply because they don't know how to use these skills to their advantage.

[Ivaron]

Yes if a mage does it well, he can kill me. The problem is, every class can also counter them. For instance, im a hunter, and when i see a mage i lay a simple freeze trap. The mage will blink between my ranged and melee if he knows i've already seen him, *bang* frozen = dead mage.

Oh well, to be honest, when it comes to hunters, it's always about who sees who first

I think shamans are the best in 1v1 PvP. They kill people faster than any paladin, and they can shock like a motherfucker. (excuse the language)

Hunters are best at group PvP though. The targets are just for the picking

In PvE, though, i think it would be the paladin. My brother has one and when i see him playing he's plays really laid back and everything and clicks skills real slowly and stuff and he does things in PvE i couldn't do with any other class.

In BG, the druid owns because of travel form, stealth, and root.

[Kaldorei Druid Oakshadow]

Well as far as the most powerful class goes I'll have to say the druid. Even after it's dead it takes on a whisp form to continue play and gets increassed speed. Also it has the most powerful buff spells a few healing abilities can get into melle or ranged very well has Decent armor despite the limit to cloth armors. Also it's wild shape abilitie makes it just that much more of a tank. And harder to reconise as a player. The aquatic mode is also really hand for travling around as the druid. So in my personal oppinion the druid PWNS every one, well except for maby the rogue but htat's jsut cheap and dirty.

[Contier]

Ouch,

smaller font, brighter color please

While I can see that a druid could be considered the strongest class, using the wisp form as part of your arguement doesn't hold to much as all Night Elfs get wisp form.

IMO there is no "true" strongest class, as in each class as its strengths and its weekness's. Making your class the 'strongest' comes down to knowing your class in and out along with the other class's strength's and weekness's.

As a NE Warrior I can PvP a shaman and get owned if that shaman knows his class extremly well, and my class. I can also own a shaman if they dont know thier class that well.

Alot of it comes down to how well you as an individual can play.

[Dissapear]

Strongest Class?

Definately the Rogue, we can stealth ... being able to move without being seen is a huge factor in already why I feel Rogues are the strongest IMO. Rogues can ambush/bs crit to create huge amounts of burst damage. Rogue's can also sustain more then an ample amount of Dps, we also have a giant utility in our talents such as vanish, cold blood (100% on next ambush,ss,bs,evis who doesnt love it?), evasion(50% to dodge, gg Other Melee Classes), Blind , and did i mention sprint? Including preperation in your build also allows you to use all of these great talents more then once. Oh yeah and some lil things called stuns ...

But when it comes down to it ... it's all about the skill of the player not the class that he chooses.

[Ivaron]

smaller font, brighter color please

pardon me? smaller? I réally hope you ment bigger fontsize..

Well dissapear, a warlock can easily spot rogues. A hunter can too, though it doesn't work well enough to be considered.
Besides that, any horde player that is grunt or higher can immediatly trigger their anti-stun trinket.
And, I as hunter, always beat rogues because as soon as i have to stand in one place or sit or whatever i immediatly lay a freeze trap. Mages, rogues, warriors, shamans, pallies, about anything, beware.
You stealth, walk up to my back to do your stunning, and *bang* frozen, can't do squat. I walk into maximum range, put a marker on you, use aimed shot, immediatly after stun you (20% chance of immobilizing you), then poison you (not much damage, but it's nice), use a skill to shoot 40% faster, shoot you unbelievably, use an arcane shot, and if you get too close i can use a distracting shot to get back in ranged and finish you off. You use your incredibly fast running? Distracting shot. You decide vanish? I know where you were standing and what way you'll be heading, poof, a flare points you out.

And a hunter has about the same amount of dodge, ánd has also high parry chance, and can take more hits because he can wear mail.

I'm not saying hunters are better than rogues. I'm just saying i don't think rogues are the best. There are classes that can still counter them. (especially warlock - although most don't know how to do that, hunters, and warriors).

In the end, any class has counters against any other class. And any class excels in some things other classes don't excel in.

[Contier]

pardon me? smaller? I réally hope you ment bigger fontsize..

lol he changed it. It was quite large...

I agree now it needs to be bigger and a different color.

Oh well to each thier own.

[Wiggy]

I'm a paladin. What's the strongest class? Why, paladin of course! So long as you don't need to get aggro, paladins are the best tanks there are (not counting the warlock's disposable tank, the Voidwalker). Paladins take a lickin' and keep on tickin'. The lack of ranged abilities is a problem, but it doesn't matter unless you're going up a mage who can kite you very well; you just keep taking damage and shrugging it off as you walk towards that hunter over there...

I think WoW is a very well balanced game. I've dueled against every class except a shaman (well, there was one duel, but just as I was about to win, the shaman ran in a straight line, out of the duel area, into a tree, before being disconnected). I've won and lost against every class. It all comes down to player ability. If you play your class well, you will do well in a duel against an even-leveled opponent. You may not win every time, but a duel should be close unless luck is against you.

The best class is always the one that you play the best. I've seen my warlock friend lay a smack down on a shaman. I've seen a holy paladin beat a retribution paladin who was 5 levels higher than him. WoW's balance means that in almost every situation, any class can come out on top of the other classes if you try hard enough.

[Dramarian]

There is no strongest class. All classes have benefits and downfalls.
Mage; High Damage, Low Health, Low Armor, No Healing, Mana Required.
Druid; Low/Medium Damage, Medium Health, Medium Armor, Heals, Mana Required.
Warrior; High/Medium Damage, High Health, High Armor, No Healing, Rage Required.
Warlock; Low/Medium Damage, Medium Health, Low Armor, No Healing, Mana Required.
Paladin; Low/Medium Damage, High/Medium Health, High Armor, Heals, Mana Required.
Shaman; Medium Damage, Medium Health, Medium armor, Heals, Mana Required.
Priest; Medium Damage, Medium Health, Low Armor, Heals, Mana Required.
Rogue; High Damage, Medium Health, Low/Medium Armor, No Heals, Energy Required.
Hunter; Medium/High Damage, Medium Health, Medium Armor, No Heals, Mana Required.

As for an outcome, basically, if you kill fast, you die fast, and if you kill slow you die slow but how you use this to your advantage will put any class over the top.