The Noobs Guide to "The Holy Trinity" By Elliott Anderson Elliott Anderson is a college student from Portland, Oregon studying History and Photography. He's been a gamer since he was a young teenager, initially interested in First Person Shooters, strategy and console gaming. As he gained experience, the draw of playing with tens of thousands of other people became to great and he succumbed to games like Planetside, Everquest and World of Warcraft.

And I'm not talking about the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. Pretty much every class in every MMORPG serves a very basic purpose in combat. You are either a healer, a tank or a damage dealer. The exception being hybrid classes, support classes and crafting classes.. But, for the most part, the "Holy Trinity" is almost always first and foremost when creating classes for an MMORPG. This simply has to happen to fulfill the structure we've come to know and expect: heavy-duty bosses that require a group, team or party to defeat. Without a healer, the group will die, and likewise without a tank. And without damage dealers, who wants to play anyways?

Game designers often try to implement "hybrid classes" or allow the more "pure" classes, such as a mage or warrior, to focus their energy on damage dealing or some form of support. Hybrid classes certainly serve a purpose. Often times a hybrid is the best person for the job. Blizzard actually did an excellent job in implementing Paladins and Shamans in World of Warcraft as very good healers, even when a simple re-spec and change of gear can turn a shaman into a deadly damage dealer or a pally into a sufficient tank.

Each job requires a certain knowledge and a certain set of skills to implement properly. Too often have I seen a noobie that has put countless hours leveling a character, and nobody has taken the mercy on the poor guy and told him how to properly spec or play his character. Here is a basic rundown on the Holy Trinity, and the basics of playing a Hybrid in a group or party: