Gearing For PvE Via PvP
One of my guildies asked a very interesting question recently:
What classes can you gear up best for PvE with PvP gear?
Given the ease of acquiring PvP gear nowadays, I thought this was a great question. Let’s take a look at it.
The first thing that you need to understand is that PvP gear is designed to excel in PvP, not PvE. No class is going to be as effective in PvE situations while wearing PvP gear as they would be in PvE gear. So I want to make this clear: while certain classes and specs might be viable for PvE in PvP gear, they would all be improved by getting and using PvE gear. If you want to gear up for Kara more quickly, and plan on doing PvP to get that gear, I would encourage you to do some PvE as well and get at least some of your gear that way.
That said, on to the question.
The three PvE stats that PvP gear lacks most are Defense, Hit/Spell Hit and MP5 (mana regen). Because of this, most tanks and healers are pretty much boned here. (That’s not to say that tanks and healers can’t use PvP to fill in some gaps in their gear, but the primary source of their gear has to be PvE.) So if you are planning on gearing up a character through PvP, chances are it’s going to have to be a DPS class (there is one exception to that which I’ll cover later).
Also, if you are going to gear a character for PvE via PvP, then you’ll want to do everything you can to minimize the gear deficiencies. Basically, you’ll want to avoid dual-wielding (use a 2-hander) and take any +Hit/+Spell Hit talents that you can.
So another way to look at this question is “What DPS classes/specs can still contribute to a raid even when their personal DPS is not superb?”. The ideal classes here would hopefully be able to do at least a decent amount of DPS, but more importantly, bring some added utility to the raid. So let’s break it down.
Top Choices
Shaman - Elemental or Enhancement
Druid - Feral (DPS) or Balance
Paladin - Retribution
All three of these classes would be good choices here. They can all do decent DPS, and all provide great buffs for their party and raid. If I had to pick one overall choice, I think I’d go with a Shaman. They are among the best in a support role anyway, so not having tremendous personal DPS wouldn’t be too much of an issue.
Other Options
Warrior - Arms
Hunter - Beast Mastery
Mage - Arcane
Warlock - Affliction
Priest - Shadow
Each of these classes would be a decent choice for this situation, but none give the utility that the top three choices do. If your raid already has one or two of the particular class and spec listed, then chances are good that you would be redundant. Also, the specs I’ve chosen are the best option to minimize the lack of PvE stats on your gear.
To Be Avoided
Rogue
Warrior - Fury
Both of these classes rely heavily on +Hit to be most effective in DPS’ing, and neither of them bring much to the raid in terms of utility. Sorry.
Special Mention
Druid - Feral (Tank)
Bear Druids get a special mention here because PvP gear is somewhat viable for them in PvE. Tanking Druids can achieve crit-immunity (against raid bosses) with enough Resilience, and the PvP gear will be loaded with high armor and stamina, both are excellent for PvE. The main stat the PvP gear will be lacking is Dodge, so some PvE gear focused on that would definitely help a lot.
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