Hybrid PVP

My two current main characters in WoW are a feral druid and a holy pally. I play both of them in pvp and pve, but my druid is mainly for pve and my paladin was mainly rolled for pvp healing. In the last month or so I have rediscovered my enjoyment of pvp and the 2.3 patch changes to AV and the start of season 3 arena have just added fuel to my rekindled love. Hybrid classes are strongest in situations where many roles (damage, crowd control, or healing) are needed over the course of a fight. This occurs from time to time in pve, but it is the case in every fight in pvp. So, while I could play my 70 mage in pvp, I much prefer to play my druid or paladin.

My druid is feral specialized and has a hybrid set of epic and blue cat and bear gear, and a couple pieces of gladiator and veteran pvp gear. I have enough points to get a season 3 chest or something next week to replace the 68 blue chest I am still stuck with. He has great damage and stealth in cat form, survivability and charge in bear, and can root, cyclone and heal in caster. I can help with damage, then pop a few heals and crowd control, and then charge in an finish off a fleeing enemy. The hybrid player excels when they can really take advantage of their flexibility. In small groups this flexibility allows me to play in whatever role is lacking.

Last night I was in a fresh AV, I rode up all the way through the battle and then prowled down below the bridge and up to the mine. A Horde rogue had the same idea, so we hooked up and snuck through the mine and killed the boss in it to capture it for the Horde. We came up and found the Horde just taking the Stormpike graveyard. We snuck across the bridge, and stealth captured one of the towers. Then I headed over to the other tower, I saw a few people in trouble there, so I tossed a few heals to top them up and then went cat form to help deal with a few annoying alliance players. The team had taken relief hut by then, so I moved with the group into the lair of Vanndar Stormpike. There was no tanks in evidence, so I switched to my tank set (thank you item rack), and went at that pompous dwarf. With the support of the other players healing and damaging, I tanked him to his death and the Horde victory. It is this versatility of roles and play that I love so much about playing a hybrid in pvp.

I have been playing pvp for over two years at this point, and I long ago realized the power of healing in pvp. I attempted to use my druid to assist healing in BGs and Arena, and quickly found realized how ineffective it was as a feral druid. I was an easy target out of form, and was not using my specialization’s strengths. Since I was happily tanking in pve on my druid, I rolled a new paladin just to pvp and arena heal. I had never really been interested in healing or in paladins, but their survivability and post-TBC healing prowess sold me on the idea. I had no prior healing experience so playing a healer in a group has been heaps of fun to learn. Also, having a healer in my stable of 70s has been great for those times when my group is in that eternal search for a healer to go to an instance.

My paladin is very different then playing my druid in pvp, but he still brings his hybrid abilities to the table and allows me to do the three roles he is good at: healing damage, taking damage and annoying the hell out of his opponents.
I play much more of a support role on my paladin then my druid, seldom dealing damage on my own, but enabling others to do more damage through buffing and healing them. When I am not busy keeping my fellow Horde players up, I am stunning, mana tapping, and generally harassing the Alliance. Since my build has 20 points of protection in it I can take quite a beating and keep on healing and defending for ages. The bubble allows me time to heal unmolested and works as a quite effective short term agro wipe.

Between my two hybrid classes there is a nice mix of play style options and fun to be had. If you are bored with your single role, damage dealing class, give a hybrid a go and see if you can’t find new enjoyment in the game.