World of Warcraft : The Pures vs Hybrids Debate

If you participate in any kind of PvE in WoW then you've probably heard, if not taken a part in it yourself, of the Hybrid vs Pure debate. Sticky situations between Hybrids and Pures are not new to WoW, or even the RPG genre. In most games, there's always one class that's more powerful than another just because it is so hard to strike a perfect balance. While the debate is not new, the current incarnation is. It all began when Blizzard unveiled their new plans for balancing classes in WotLK. They summed it up with an easy to remember phrase, "bring the player, not the class." In other words, the idea is that you aren't forced to stack specific classes in your raid just because you need that class's buffs.

The argument stems from the difference between a Hybrid class and a Pure class. Hybrid classes are those that can perform multiple roles in a raid setting. There are only three roles in the game according to Blizzard: Tanking, Healing, DPS'ing. Pure classes on the other hand can only perform one of the three roles. So with that in mind, the only Pure classes are Warlocks, Rogues, Mages, and Hunters. Everyone else is a Hybrid.