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There are quite a few articles about the comment that Ghostcrawler left on the Official WoW forums that take issue with the “tax” that GC wrote about. Specifically I would like to address the paragraph where GC said, “In our design, the pure dps classes (hunter, mage, warlock and rogue) should do slightly higher dps than hybrid damage-dealers all things being equal. All things are rarely equal. Player skill, gear, raid comp, latency, random luck and most importantly the specifics of the encounter will often favor one class, spec or player over another. ” GC made a statement first, and spent the next two sentences putting it into context.  The reaction has been quite rabid, so let’s dive into this issue together.

In the article “Tax Reform,” Plectical wrote,”My first reaction to this post was that GC was taking a very topical look at the contribution that hybrid classes make to instance and raid groups. If you’re looking at the DPS contribution of a Shaman to a raid, shouldn’t the raid wide increased damage of totems and heroism also be added to their DPS? Further, wouldn’t that actually make Shamans much more powerful than other DPS classes, thereby making undermining the entire notion of the tax?”

Rhabella also wrote about the same issue here, where he took a very through look at not only the tax, but the different taxes that are paid through the life-cycle of the hybrid toons. It is an excellent read and you can click here to read the full article.

“If a ‘pure’ DPS class does not have some sort of advantage over hybrid classes in DPS then why would anyone roll a ‘pure’ DPS toon?”

Both of these players are much smarter than I am and I make no claims that they are wrong, I just wanted to ask a simple question: “If a ‘pure’ class (ALL things being equal-player skill, latency, gear-level) does not have some sort of advantage over hybrid classes in DPS then why would anyone roll a ‘pure’ DPS toon?”

It was my understanding of the game that ‘pure’ DPS would be the star of the show, dealing top 3 damage pretty much all of the time, and ‘hybrid’ DPS would fall below a class such as the rogue. However, while the rogue might be sticking and stabbing her way at the raid boss, the pally would bring his own slightly lower DPS to the table, but also some pretty awesome raid-wide buffs

There are of course many considerations to take into account here. As GC said, “the Blizzard definition of hybrid in this context has nothing to do with the power of certain buffs or class synergy. We want all classes to bring useful tools to the raid.” Everyone should have a place in the raid. I completely agree with this. The rogue has no buff to bring to the raid, and as such, she should be an expert with objects that inflict pain. All she does is stab stuff. The druid can pop out of what-ever form he is in and cast a wipe-saving heal.  The high DPS ensures the rogue a place in the raid, and the buffs do the same for the pally.

As Rhabella pointed out, “When an enhancement shaman chooses to use his maelstrom weapon stack on an instant chain heal in the raid if the tank needs some emergency loving, he has decided he is willing to pay the hybrid tax.” Yes, I agree that doing this will lower your DPS overall, and the Shammy might lose his spot on the DPS charts, but if you are pissed that the wipe-saving heal on the tank dropped you down some on the DPS charts, then you might have to take a look at your role in the raid. Nobody in their right mind would reprimand the shammy’s DPS if he just saved 24 other people a corpse run.

Overall, I think that we can’t have it all both ways. If a ‘hybrid’ class gears up and plays the toon better than a rogue does, then I see no problem with that shammy living life on top of the DPS charts, but the ability to bring raid buffs, emergency healing and versatility has to come at some kind of cost.