I know that this topic has beaten to death, but I’m hoping that you can help me out personally.

I’ve currently got both of these classes to level 30 and both are fantastic and here are my negatives/positives and what I’m currently struggling with. I want people to be able to get a really good understanding through this post, so it now only helps myself but other people.

hunter
advantages:
- better at solo’ing
- more fun while going through the levelling process
- dps is good and the pet systems is solid and not had many issues to be honest
- levelling/questing is insanely fast and there is little downtime
- easily to farm late game in terms of solo’ing dungeons for gold etc

hunter
disadvantages:
- worried about their usefulness end game in both PvE and PvP
- lack of sustainable damage PvE wise in end game
- Annoying arrow and food mechanics
- can suffer from dead zone issues
- fall off heavily after mc, bwl, etc.

mage
advantages:
- amazing at aoe once you hit a certain level, which is always fun
- great farming/money making machines
- free food/water/mana crystals saving you lots of money over the course of the game
- frost spec is really fun from 22 and continues all the way to end game which becomes the go to spec for both PvE and PvP
- free portals/great utility

Mages
disadvantages:
- really slow levelling early game, I’ve not been able to aoe farm properly yet at 30, maybe i need better zones or just more talents really
- constant downtime without aoe, you’re drinking every 2-3 fights
- questing/typical grinding will definitely not be a fun or a fast levelling experience for you and this is how I normally level so you may have to go out of your comfort zone
- portals and food can become an annoyance when you’re constantly being asked for them, you can turn this into a slight profit, but annoying none the less

So, I’m struggling on what to do really. I’ve got a decent guild in game, I enjoy playing both but I don’t know what to choose or which one to choose over the other really, I think the hunter is the more fun of the class, but once you get past 40 on mage and get some decent farming spots, the game becomes ez mode, the damage really starts to kick in and you can farm for days.

What are your views? Very interested to read all of your opinions!

I think class choices should be a personal decision (don’t want someone else to blame if you have regrets later) but it’s worth pointing out that AoE farming in general (specifically before level 30) requires 100% talent dedication. If you’re trying to keep a little single target efficiency with your talents that’s probably your issue as there are quite a few good spots at/before 30. It’s worth mentioning, though, with the efforts to reduce layering impact and no way to put yourself ahead of the pack this far past launch, AoE grinding may be very tedious moving forward.

So, I still think you're a bit wrong about mage early game. I think even if you're only single-targeting, mage is pretty quick.

I think you'll like hunter more, just judging off of what you have here. But go ahead and level both a little ways and pick one. The time commitment to level 12ish for either one is pretty small.

Mage is a better class. There's not way around it. Better single target DPS, better AoE DPS, better in PvP and more group utility. And with the whole aoe dungeon meta going around, they're certainly not slower levellers as well. If you're looking for the best class, pick Mage.

Hunter has a fun playstyle though. Play it if it appeals to you. One thing I really like about playing Hunter in group PvP... usually Mages go pretty close to the front line to AoE people down with CoC and AE. They are such juicy targets for your Aimed Shot crits. Feels like you're playing a sniper trying to take out high value targets from a safe distance. Mage feels more like playing short range artillery, lots of disruption and AoE damage, you don't really care about single targets, you just want to hurt as many people as you possibly can as much as you can.

Gensei wrote: ↑

5 years ago

But go ahead and level both a little ways and pick one. The time commitment to level 12ish for either one is pretty small.

Telvaine wrote: ↑

5 years ago

Gensei wrote: ↑

5 years ago

But go ahead and level both a little ways and pick one. The time commitment to level 12ish for either one is pretty small.

Lol he said he already has both at 30.

To give you a good answer, the more important info we need is how you play the game.

The most important question here is what is the most important aspect of the game for you. Both are very strong levelers, mage is stronger post aq pve, both are solid wpvp though I prefer hunter because I enjoy the scout role. What is the most important part of the game to you?

You're going to enjoy leveling and world PvP'ing with your Hunter, but in every other situation the Mage will take the prize.

I agree with @Jpy here. Clearly you are aware of the pros and cons of each class. No one will make a better decision for yourself than you.

I played a mage until level 26. At 25 I respecc'd to AOE then quit all together and rolled a hunter. A lot quicker with the pet and BM spec. I hated the down time to constantly drink after every 1 to 2 fights. I'm happy with my hunter. If I ever decide to level an alt I'll just continue the mage.