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Hybrid classes are classes which carry elements of the three core types: tank, healer, or nuker. Realistically, no character can tank, heal, and nuke at the same time, but hybrids are frequently flexible enough to serve in one role or another (no matter what spec they have), if they've collected the gear required to serve that function.
There are different views on how many possible functions are needed to consider a class a "hybrid". The most limited definition here would be any class that has three or more different possible functions they can be good at, given the correct talent spec and/or gear. This definition would only consider Paladins, Shamans, and Druids as hybrids. Some consider hyrbids to be any class that has two or more functions that they can spec for – their "token group role" (healer, tank, or dps) and a side role, usually taken as helpful in soloing or in PvP. If the definition is widened in this manner, Warriors and Priests are added to the list of hybrids, as well as Hunters and Warlocks using their pets or themselves as an Off Tank.
World of Warcraft has several hybrid classes, as listed below.
Druid
The Druid is a hybrid of scout, tank, healer, and nuker.
- Advantages
- Good, Great or Excellent healing abilities, depending on spec. Feral druids can heal but have a very restricted mana pool and little to no mana regeneration enhancements. Balance druids have an expanded mana pool and often have enhancements to both damage and healing, but still lack mana regeneration when compared to Healing specced druids.
- Arguably the most powerful buffs in the game make for more effective parties
[Mark of the Wild]. - Shapeshift ability allows druid to serve as a tank (Bear/Dire Bear form) and increases survivability if drawing aggro by accident, can scout (Cat form), and will render a druid immune to
[Polymorph]. The act of shifting will also remove any host of Root and Snare effects from the character. - Tree of Life Form likely has the most mana efficient heals in the game, and is specifically geared to raid healing.
- Moonkin form (tier 7 balance talent) has a caster buff aura.
- Leader of the Pack (tier 7 feral talent) has a physical damage buff aura.
- Tree of Life Form (tier 9 resto talent) has a healer buff aura.
[Rebirth] is the only resurrect which can be cast in combat.- Properly geared Druids can tank raid level bosses.
- Disadvantages
- Lightly armored (leather), just a little better than a cloth wearer, with next to no survivability if in caster (humanoid) or Tree of Life forms. However
[Barkskin] combined with [Dire Bear Form] or [Moonkin Form] may provide enough damage mitigation (and time) for a main tank to re-acquire a mob. If you are in PvP combat, this same switch will often cause (especially mele dps) players to switch targets out of frustration with the greatly increased armor and hit points. - A druid can only multi-tank up to three mobs at once (the maximum number of targets hit by shred). Compare this with [Consecration] or [Thunder Clap], which allow warriors and paladins to tank an unlimited number of targets when played properly.
- [Rebirth], a combat resurrect, is on a 20 minute timer. (30 before 2.3)
- Druids lack traditional Crowd control relying on [Entangling Roots], a spell which only works in outdoor instances, [Hibernate], which is only castable on beasts and dragonkin, and [Cyclone], which is only useful in PvP and as a temporary fix when another class's crowd control breaks.
Hunter
The Hunter is a DPS class with tank abilities. A good puller class.
- Advantages
- Good DPS usable at range, and are the only ranged class that deal physical damage.
- Can effectively continue to DPS even when low on mana, and can regain mana quickly at higher levels.
- Pets usually serve as substitute tanks, and are fairly easy to replace. When properly specced, pets can be a menace to casters in PvP.
- [Trueshot Aura] (tier 7 Marskmanship talent) buffs all party physical damage.
- Various methods of scouting, including Tracking, Eyes of the Beast and Eagle Eye.
- Disadvantages
- Pet is based on hunter level, so is not usually as powerful as the opponents in a group hunting situation.
- Healing can only be used on pet.
Paladin
The Paladin is a hybrid of tank and healer.
- Advantages
- Armored in plate, paladins can take a lot of punishment, and are widely regarded as the single hardest class to kill.
- Ability to heal and resurrect makes them sometimes vital to a party.
- Wide variety of important buffs for all classes.
- Several auras with various beneficial effects for the party.
- One of 3 classes capable of recovering the raid with their Divine Intervention (the other being Warlocks and Shaman).
- Great tanks, having [Consecration], [Holy Shield], and [Righteous Defense] avaliable to them.
- Disadvantages
- Very little in the way of ranged attacks.
- Lowest DPS output of any class specced for it, except when fighting Undead or Demons, against which they have some of the highest damage output.
Priest
The Priest is a mixture of a healing and DPS class with buffs as well.
- Advantages
- Considered the best healing class overall, while other hybrids are competetive in particular areas, the priest is an excellent healer for just about any situation
- Shadow priests provide good DPS, as well as healing with the [Vampiric Embrace] talent, mana recovery with [Vampiric Touch], and abilities to increase damage from other classes on an enemy.
- A wide variety of utility and defensive spells, including [Mana Burn], [Mind Control], [Power Word: Shield], help party survivability and effectiveness.
- Several escape and aggro lowering abilities, [Psychic Scream], [Fade], though psychic scream is not very useful in instances.
- Disadvantages
- Cloth armor and no pets leave priests more easily damaged than other hybrid classes, though they do have defensive abilities such as [Inner Fire].
- In shadowform, has no healing aside from [Vampiric Embrace]
Shaman
The Shaman is a hybrid of healer, melee DPSer and nuker.
- Advantages
- Very versatile, considered the true hybrid class
- A wide variety of totems can be used to buff party members and debuff opponents
- Ability to heal and resurrect makes them very useful to a party.
- Powerful, instant-cast direct damage Shock spells with secondary effects (slow, damage over time, and interruption of spellcasting)
- Only class capable of solo-recovering a raid via Reincarnation, albeit only once per hour. A Warlock's Soulstone and a Paladin's divine intervention both need the caster and a target, as Paladins can not DI themselves and Warlocks can't resurrect the raid should they Soulstone themselves.
- Disadvantages
- Jack-of-all-trades, but master of none. Does not tank as well as a warrior, nuke as well as a mage, melee DPS as well as a rogue, or heal as well as a priest, even when trying to specialize for one of these roles.
- Stationary totems that can only affect party members, not a raid.
- Mana-inefficient
Warlock
The Warlock is a nuker with tank abilities. A decent puller.
- Advantages
- Pets add to the firepower of the party and number of targets available to the enemy; variety of pets can fill roles vs. caster/melee/humanoid mobs.
- Can switch pets during a run at the cost of shard(s) if one particular pet is especially needed for a specific encounter.
- DoT spells are ideal against opponents that like to run away when heavily damaged and for steady damage in boss fights where burst damage can get you killed.
- Can make a [Soulstone] which will allow one party member to self-res for 30 minutes. Good to put on primary healer so they can res the group after a wipe.
- A [Master Demonologist] Warlock using the Voidwalker with [Soul Link] has roughly 50% damage mitigation.
- Disadvantages
- Not really a true nuke class, as most of their spells are DoT rather than sheer damage.
- High level pets (Infernal and Doomguard) are inneffective at accomplishing anything but causing chaos.
- Management of [Soul Shards] can be difficult and take inventory space away from necessary items.
Not a Lot of Hybrid Classes
Rob Pardo said it was their goal to not have a lot of hybrid classes. Because of this, the Death-Knight and Necromancer classes, which were originally slated for, got the axe early on.