Pure Class DPS vs. Hybrid Class DPS
Posted by 
Bastosa on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 - 79 Comments Tags: DPS, buffed, design, hybrid, nerf, pure
Bastosa on Wednesday, March 25, 2009 - 79 Comments Tags: DPS, buffed, design, hybrid, nerf, pure 
Ghostcrawler made an interesting comment on the official forums the other day which has sparked lots of conversation lately. In a thread discussing DPS among the different classes. He states:Our logic is actually pretty simple. If hybrid classes can do the same dps as pure classes, then why have pure classes in the game? So we design the pure classes to do slightly higher dps.
He continues on to say that they define slightly as somewhere around 5%.
The debate is around if this should be the case - should some DPS roles be higher than others by design?
This is something I have debated with my friends on and off for years now. I remember one particular instance where a fury warrior friend went on a screaming tirade about how Ret Pallys need to be nerfed and how one class shouldn't be able to "do it all."
As someone who plays a class that can "do it all," it is hard for me to say. In the end I do think I agree with GC. There should be a reward for giving up flexibility. It seems like the easy conclusion to make, but I do feel like I need to play devil's advocate a bit here. There are downsides to playing the hybrid classes, among them are having to collect and maintain all the gear sets (I think we all know a druid with 8 gear sets) as well as deal with all of the respec fees. After all, while hybrid classes can take on multiple roles, they cannot do them all at the same time!
That being said if you want to do as much DPS as possible, it only makes sense that you should roll a pure DPS class. There is something to be said about a pure class with one designed role, and there are actually not many of them in the game.
For me I enjoy the flexibility that hybrid classes allow. Where do you stand on the issue?
Reader Comments (79)
I dont really think there is a pure class or hybrid almost all classes are functional in dps depending on what your aiming for.
Paladins for example they almost Couldnt dps without DS or CS but with Exoricm its not a problem you just have to know how to play. I for a change play hybrid paladin and im doin overdamage when i get Reckoning and reckoning can trigger by seal of blood now so thats good :)
But then lets take a hybrid class and turn it over.
Warlocks, Dks, hunters BAH! they have a split up on Damaging talents in the builds and can therefor do a high standard dps and also as good talents in all builds so if you want Nightfall take it its on 15+ AFf if you want backlash fine its at 20+ Destro extra crit extra hit extra damage and other stuff..
Every class has cons and pros when it comes to Hybrids so find out what :P
Lets go back to my pally cuz of SoB dmg i gain reckoning atleast once per 10 hits and as a pally i have 3 damaging attacks using my build. CS, Exo, Judge + Extra attacks and i can trigger thoose often and when i get reckoning which is an extra hit i just use. auto Atk, Auto atk cs and it will trigger double blows + SoB so that works for me and ive had 7k dps and i havent even reached 80 ...
As one of the players that enjoys a pure DPS class (warlock in my case) i actually don't think that pure DPS classes should be designed to do more damage.
Firstly - 5% is really a small margin and one that would almost impossible to balance IMO. Different situations/fights/gear/lag/skill will have far more of an impact than that. So the choice is either make the difference greater or just forget it in the first place and make them all the same.
Second - Assuming the design is set to be the same DPS output for all classes then allow the non hybrid classes to bring something unique to the group/raid.
Here i think warlocks have it good in the sense we can summon (into instances now) in case sum1 d/c's etc and we have healthstones/soulstones as well as pets for buffs and CC. I don't see mages/hunters/rogues bringing half as much usefullness to a raid or group as locks and i believe they should... This would allow the pure dps to believe they have *something extra* to make up for the fact that we cannot fill multiple roles with the click of a button or enjoy another playstyle without lvling to 80 again :)
soulreava
Pure DPS (Just DPS)
- Rogue, Mage , Warlock , Hunter.
Hybrid (DPS + Heal or Tank)
- Warrior, DK, Priest, Shaman.
Super Hybrid (DPS + Heal + Tank)
- Paladin, Druid.
With same lvl gear pure DPS classes should be always on top of dps metter. I think it should go like this :)
-DPS
1.Rogue, Mage 2.Hunter, Warlock (cause they have some useful buffs and abilities for the raid and ofc pets n_n) 3.Hybrid classes 5. Super Hybrid classes
-Heal
1.Priest,Shaman 2.Paladin, Druid
-Tank
1.Warrior, DK 2.Druid, Paladin
You will say that it would be a huge nerf for the "super hybrid" classes . NO . They have best buffs of all classes they have ress they can respec and fill a role of any class . More different classes in the raid , more flexible is the raid group .
That's just only my opinion :)
Oh crap forgot the 4 :) Sorry for the double post :)