Number Two: Mage
It is pretty obvious as far as CC goes, it does not get much better than mages. If you need solid DPS, there is the mage again. Need some ad-hoc CC, they can always freeze mobs in place. Looking for some AOE, you guessed it, mages deliver. There is no deep secret here and for the most part I have found mages to be stable players with level heads on their shoulders. The only downside is that once they get aggro if the tank cannot pull it off, the mage will go down. In a solid group though this shouldn't be a problem.
Another positive side to having a mage in a group is the intellect buff. As a healer, I love that. It helps me have a larger mana pool, allowing for more versatility in the style of healing I wish to do. The vending machine aspect is also a nice touch and much appreciated as it allows the consumption of goods to restore my mana at will with little thought or concern for running out. At the end of a run, there is nothing better than having a mage port the whole group back to a major city. Makes for a nice ending to a successful run, which when a mage is present, seems to occurr more often than not.
The buff of choice for mages seems to be GBoW and why not? Restores their mana that much faster allowing them to mow down enemy combatants that much quicker. Healing is minimal for mages in my group. I usually have to ignore them and hope they can place theirself in a block of ice or a tank gets the agro off of them. I know, I am sorry guys and gals, but squishies make for a waste of mana. I try to pop a heal, but there are others who must stay up. Again, typically not an issue, but once in a while you have a bad pull or an "oh shit" moment.
So in closing we can see now how my group is shaping up. I have a hunter for solid DPS and CC. I have now added my second DPS in the mage, who also brings group buffs and unparralled CC. Only room for one more DPS now! Who will it be? As far as, the rest of the classes, I will continue the series and touch on each class and even explain the reason why I do not like death knights and priests.
This post was originally published on January 10, 2009, on the original Holy Shock blog site.