Nostalrius Begins - Quality wow vanilla realm (1.12)

Hey, so my background real quick:
I played vanilla retail and my first character was a Paladin. I loved, and still like, the idea of a tanky healer. I was very casual back then, and spent most of my time in BGs or organizing/seeking out world PvP skirmishes. By the time TBC came out, I was only level 45. So I restarted as a Shaman, because I was always into hybrid classes. I wanted to heal, and do some damage. Anyway, I got the Shaman to 70 and quit soon after, never really experiencing true endgame content.

So now I'm an adult, I have a job and other hobbies which take priority over video games, but I would like to reexperience some of my favorite childhood game. I'm leveling a Paladin right now on Nost - just at level 19, but I'm having second thoughts and concerns. So here's what I'm looking for:

1. PvP utility. I don't necessarily want to just deal damage; I like feeling useful to the rest of the group more directly. Usually that means healing, but I do still like to be able to hold my own in an encounter. I think this is what originally drew me to Paladins - being able to provide great utility to my teammates in the form of heals and cleanses, but also being able to hold my own in the front lines.

2. Casual-friendly/not too raid-gear dependent. I don't see myself getting into any serious raiding; I simply don't have the time any day of the week to dedicate to a whole raid. If I can get by on PvP/rep reward gear, that would be awesome.

3. Fun! Paladins have a lot of idle, auto-attacking, and while I love the concept of the Paladin, sometimes I worry it won't get any more exciting.

So the classes I've been considering the most are (continuing with) Paladin, Druid, and Priest. I don't really want to level a Shaman again - there are many aspects of them I don't enjoy (mainly totems). Paladin I'm just not sure will meet my needs right now. Priest my only concern is being too squishy or too focused on one roll. Druid I really don't know much about, but they seem fun. Can they swap roles quickly, or if I go resto will I be glued to the back lines?

Regardless, I wouldn't know what spec for any of these classes, or what race to choose.
I will also definitely consider other classes, but I'm less and less interested in Hunter and Rogue these days.

Any input would be awesome!

Dwarf priest

Shadow or holy/disc works. Good in healing, good in BGs, decent dps, fear ward.

1. Paladins can't be beat in terms of PvP utility. You'll also be tanky as fuck and can laugh at rogues, even as a healer.

2. As far as gear dependence goes, Shadow Priests are the least gear dependent spec in the game. Their PvP set also is pretty good for them, as opposed to Paladins, which is more of a DPS set. Shadow Priests also happen to be, in my opinion, the strongest 1v1 class in the game. They have their counters, yes, but they are very potent and don't require tons of raid gear to be relevant.

3. I find Paladin extremely fun in BGs as a Healer. Tons of spells to cast, even when not healing.

As for the classes you are specifically looking at:

Paladin: By far the best PvP healing class, and it isn't even close. Tons of utility, high mana efficiency, and you're a healer in plate with a shield. PvP set is designed for Ret, and is a weak Holy set.

Priest: Healing is strong, and have utility that Paladins don't, but not nearly as much. Very squishy and easy to be globaled by a Rogue. Shadow, on the other hand, is exceedingly strong and doesn't need gear to be good. PvP set is designed for Shadow.

Druid: Healing is strong in BGs, have one of the best "oh shit" buttons with Swiftmend, and are tanky with Bear form even as a healer. As Feral, you can deal damage quite effectively, and have great utility. Your Bear form as a Feral is extremely beefy, and you will be desired for any WSG premade as Feral is by far the best flag carrier. PvP set is designed for Feral, with a bit of Spell Power which helps your heals.



If you're looking to PvP, you can't go wrong as a Holy Paladin, Shadow Priest, or Feral Druid. If you're also looking at possibly raiding, Holy Paladin is the best choice out of the 3, though raid guilds do take 1 Shadow Priest, and some take 1 Feral Druid.