Comparing Faction Strengths and Weaknesses in Season of Discovery: Alliance versus Horde

World of Warcraft Classic's Season of Discovery has ushered in a plethora of changes, including new raids, items, and an array of class spells through the rune system. However, amidst these transformations, some aspects of the game remain timeless. The perennial debate rages on: which faction reigns supreme, the Horde or Alliance? In this article, written by WowCarry, we'll delve into the strengths, weaknesses, and disparities between these two factions in the Season of Discovery.

The Distinctions Between Horde and Alliance

When comparing the Horde and Alliance, two significant factors set them apart. Firstly, in the Vanilla versions of the game, prior to The Burning Crusade Expansion, the Horde exclusively possessed the Shaman class while the Alliance boasted the Paladin class, a fact that remains unchanged in the Season of Discovery. Both classes provide noteworthy buffs to the party and can fulfill roles as damage dealers, healers, or tanks, albeit in distinct ways.

The second distinction arises from the racial abilities bestowed upon the races of each faction. Powerful activated abilities such as the Horde's "Will of the Forsaken" wreak havoc on enemy Warlocks and Priests, significantly impeding their control over Undead players. Furthermore, the racial attributes not only impact player versus player combat but also affect player versus environment scenarios. For instance, the historically advantageous PvE Human racial ability "Sword Specialization" may be overshadowed by the increased availability of weapon skill in the Season of Discovery.

Paladins vs Shamans

The presence of Paladins within the Alliance and Shamans within the Horde stands as the most substantial disparity between the two factions in the Season of Discovery. Shamans offer several potent totem buffs to players in their party, while each Paladin bestows a single Blessing buff upon every member of a raid. Generally, a player can benefit from three or four Blessings simultaneously, meaning that even a full raid of 40 players can be fully buffed with only four Paladins. Conversely, many of the Shaman buffs are only applicable to their immediate party, necessitating the inclusion of a Shaman within each 5-person party in a raid.

In larger 40-player raids, which may arrive in the future, Paladins prove more efficient, requiring fewer raid slots to provide all necessary buffs. On the other hand, Shamans excel in smaller raid sizes, maximizing their impact within a single party. Currently, with 20-player raids, the efficiency of these buffing classes is quite balanced.

A particularly contentious element surrounding Paladins and Shamans is the relative power of "Seal of Martyrdom" versus "Shamanistic Rage." For an extended period, Horde casters and healers enjoyed significantly greater mana reserves compared to Alliance players, owing to the substantial mana regeneration provided by "Shamanistic Rage" in contrast to the meager mana gain from "Seal of Martyrdom," which some players did not even utilize. However, in a recent update on April 16th, Blizzard significantly enhanced the mana restoration from "Seal of Martyrdom," thus shifting the mana advantage to Alliance raids. Each Paladin utilizing "Seal of Martyrdom" now generates mana at a rate requiring almost three Shamans employing "Shamanistic Rage" during boss fights. While acknowledging the need to reassess and rebalance these potent mana restoration abilities, Blizzard's update addresses the issue of continually augmenting mana regeneration, which cheapens the resource.

Alliance vs Horde Racial Advantages

While many players select their character's race based on personal preference or aesthetics, others meticulously research the racial bonuses unique to each race, choosing an option that maximizes their character's power in PvE, PvP, or solo play. Throughout the Classic Era experience, Humans dominated as the most formidable melee damage dealer race due to their racial abilities "Sword Specialization" and "Mace Specialization." However, in the Season of Discovery, boss levels have diminished in significance, reducing the importance of weapon skills. Moreover, methods to acquire bonus weapon skill have become more widespread than on the Classic Era servers.

This shift has diminished the emphasis on selecting Human for melee damage dealers in PvE encounters and created opportunities for other abilities such as "Blood Fury" and "Berserking" from Orcs and Trolls to emerge as optimal choices for damage-oriented classes. These Horde racials now outshine the Alliance's offerings, most of which provide situational benefits such as "Escape Artist" or "Stoneform." Although these abilities can be exceptional when relevant, they often prove inconsequential. This stark contrast to the consistently impactful "Blood Fury" and "Berserking," which enhance damage or healing performance in various scenarios, leads many players to believe that Horde is the unequivocal choice for performance-driven individuals. While not all players prioritize these performance disparities, numerous individuals do, and they may feel constrained to select specific races for their characters.

In a world offering meaningful choices, there will always be a "best" option depending on one's desired goal. Personally, I find this diversity more compelling than having multiple race and class choices feel indistinguishable from one another.

Share Your Perspective

What are your thoughts on the Horde and the Alliance in the Season of Discovery? Are you a staunch "For the ALLIANCE!" loyalist or do you find yourself exclaiming "Lok'tar Ogar!" every time you face Eranikus in Sunken Temple? As we all know, the voice from the future is telling everyone that the best power each race and faction seek is... gold! Goblins are sneaking around and whispering into our ears: gold, Gold, GOLD! And WowCarry team prepared a ton of it for each need and whim.