WRATH DPS Tier List [3.4.1]

Today in the Wrath DPS tier list, I will organize all the DPS classes individually and give you my reasons for placing them in different positions. In WoW Classic: Wrath of the Lich King, players may be stumped while trying to choose a playable class, and damage per second is a simple measure of how much damage a specific class can do in any given situation.

Although most new classes perform around average. There are clear winners and losers. Wrath of the Lich King is balanced enough that players may focus on other aspects of the game without worrying too much about their class choice since each class has at least one specialty that performs well at some point in the expansion.

Key Points

• 23 DPS classes will be ranked in our list.
• Ranking will be based on damage, value addition, and support.
• The highest tiers include classes like Frost Death Knight, Combat Rogue, Unholy Death Knight, Affliction Warlock 
• Among the lowest tiers, you will see Subtlety Rogue, Frost Mage, Beast Mastery Hunter, and Blood Death Knight.

Summary

To summarize the list we have developed a table for a quick view.

S Tier

The S-Tier has tremendous damage and utility-granting classes in the current meta. Due to their superior performance, recruiters tend to seek out those with specific credentials in more significant numbers. Because of this, the best choice in the current meta is a DPS class at the S-tier. S-Class is the flagship model. To those who live in a world of Warcraft, they are the standard of excellence.

Frost Death Knight

In Wrath of the Lich King, Frost Death Knights are a relatively new class, yet they quickly rise to the top in damage dealt ranks. This is because the damage dealt by a Frost DK’s spells (Frost Strike, Howling Blast, etc.) is magical and hence ignores armor, much like the “top dog,” the Assassination Rogues. The lack of armor penetration on Phase 1 gear limits the effectiveness of most melee DPS, but a Frost DK can easily outperform them.

The single-target damage dealt by a Frost DK is second only to that of an Assassination Rogue. But we have something they don’t: access to Howling Blast, a fantastic cleave tool. This implies that you will almost always be doing the maximum amount of damage possible during cleave-style battles. Frost DKs feature some excellent raid utility, such as Horn of Winter and Improved Icy Talons (only shared with Shamans), making them a desirable spec for many reasons than their damage output.

Combat Rogue

The gameplay of Combat Rogues hasn’t changed much from Vanilla WoW to World of Warcraft: The Twilight Hammer since Blizzard chose the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude. Sword Specialization is renamed Hack and Slash, allowing us access to additional damage reduction cooldowns and utilizing weapons other than swords during our Killing Spree. The most notable difference is that our Expose Armor no longer restricts us since we do not need to employ it in Wrath.

As with many other melee classes, Combat Rogues struggle with the lack of strength and protection from armor in their Phase 1 equipment. Our single-target and area-of-effect/cleave damage are diminished, even though we have access to fantastic damage scaling. Consequently, we’ve sunk to the bottom of the B tier and can only stare up in envy at the top of the DPS meters occupied by our Assassination colleagues.

Unholy Death Knight

While Frost Death Knights tend to steal the spotlight in Phase 1 DPS conversations, it’s important to remember that just because Unholy Death Knights aren’t as visually striking as Frost Death Knights doesn’t mean they’re any less effective. In reality, they are S-tier quality by most measures. As with the last two melee damage dealers, this is because most of our damage is magical, which does not rely on armor penetration.

We Unholy DKs, like our Frost kin, deliver excellent area-of-effect (AoE) and cleave damage in addition to our already formidable single-target capabilities. However, it’s important to note that our illnesses provide damage over a more extended period than Frost DK’s Howling Blast, making us significantly weaker in AoE scenarios. It’s perfect here in the Wrath DPS Tier List.

Affliction Warlock

In WotLK, the play style of Affliction Warlocks has changed significantly. We go from a low-cost, Shadow Bolt-spamming form of Destruction to a fully-fledged spec with a concentration on damage over time. We’re no longer only a support role but rather an S-tier one in WotLK. Thanks to our high damage-over-time and the new execute-like component of Drain Soul. Affliction can deal a lot of damage to a single victim.

However, because of our multi-dotting abilities, we flourish in cleave and area-of-effect (AoE) clashes. You will almost always be towards the top of the DPS meters. Affliction Warlocks’ utility has taken a significant hit in World of Warcraft. Both our Curse of the Elements and our Improved Shadow Bolt have been nerfed to the point where they are no longer unique.

We no longer even use our Curse of the Elements because it is now applied automatically by Balance Druids and Unholy DKs. Although, we are still the best at using our Improved Shadow Bolt. Because of this, our special utility is now restricted to summoning and creating health and soul stones. This isn’t a horrible thing by any stretch of the imagination. Still, it does mean that we aren’t as versatile as we were.

Feral Druid

In WotLK, the play style of the Feral Druid is drastically altered. Powershifting has been replaced with a more straightforward energy management system, much to the dismay of those who appreciated it. We acquire many DPS tools centered on bleed effects, transforming us from a tank spec that can sometimes DPS when tanking is not required into a cat main that occasionally off-tanks.

The single-target damage dealt by ferals is excellent, rivaling or exceeding the abovementioned specs. The recently implemented Swipe ability gives Ferals access to great AoE (Cat). Because so much of our damage is dealt with via bleeds, which take time to apply, and because we lack significant cleave abilities, we tend to be sluggish to begin. When it comes to some battles, they’ll shine, but when it comes to others, they’ll suffer. Due to this irregularity, we are now in the lower half of the B-tier.

In terms of practicality, feral animals provide slight variation from TBC. Standard Druidic abilities like Gift of the Wild and Innervate remain available. Sure, our 5% crit benefit (Leader of the Pack) and bleed damage debuff (Mangle) may now be applied by Fury & Arms Warriors, respectively, which is technically a nerf. However, we’re still the best at applying it overall. Thus our usefulness is not at all endangered.

Assassination Rogue

The Assassination Rogue is regarded as the most refined damage-dealing spec in the game during the Wrath of the Lich King’s first expansion. The reasons for this are apparent; poison does a disproportionate amount of damage to an adversary without being reduced by their armor. They are, therefore, primarily immune to the rarity of the armor penetration stat in Phase 1 gear. At the same time, assassination rogues may lack usefulness compared to other classes. 

Their sheer damage makes up for this, especially in one-on-one encounters. In addition, with Fan of Knives, the area of effect is now among the best in the game. And they are not quite as good as Death Knights in cleaving. Thus they frequently win 2-3-on-1 clashes against them. The fact that assassination is considered “temporary” expertise is the worst downside of the profession.

The distance between combat and us widens with each passing phase, yet we are never entirely obsolete. It would be best if you kept an eye out for some decent Combat gear for subsequent phases since the great daggers you got up in Phase 1 won’t be as valuable later. 

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A Tier

The A-Tier reflects powerful DPS specialties that provide an abundance of damage and usefulness but fall short of providing the maximum attainable damage output. 

Retribution Paladin

Although Retribution Paladins were considered a poor spec in the original version of TBC, this no longer holds in TBC Classic. Blizzard made significant changes to them in WotLK, and for a while after that, Ret was much stronger than other classes. Sadly, Blizzard quickly brought the nerf-hammer down on our niche, and we’ve been left somewhere in the center of the B-tier ever since.

Indeed, Ret’s single-target damage isn’t the best of the best, but it’s usually in the pack’s center. Our cleave damage was already impressive, but our new ability, Divine Storm, boosts it to high A-tier levels. Unfortunately, most Phase 1 boss encounters are single-target affairs, so we can’t make the most of its strength just yet.

What Ret lacks in single-target damage, it more than makes up for with probably the most beneficial raid buffs and debuffs of any spec in the game. Particular abilities are shared with the Paladin class, such as the Blessings, and others that are exclusive to the Retribution class, such as Judgements of the Wise, Heart of the Crusader, Sanctified Retribution, and Swift Retribution.

Demonology Warlock

In WotLK, the demonology specialization also undergoes a significant stylistic change, evolving from a PvP-centric spec into a fully realized DPS spec. It’s not quite as powerful as Affliction in raw damage, but its special ability, Demonic Pact, makes it a top-tier choice. Single-target damage in demonology has been significantly increased thanks to a slew of new skills added to our Felguard companion.

Its area-of-effect and cleave abilities have also seen significant boosts. Shadow Cleave and Immolation Aura, two new skills available after using Metamorphosis, significantly improve our area-of-effect play. Our damage will be pretty effective in shorter engagements when we can keep Metamorphosis up for a more significant percentage of the game. Still, it will struggle and fall below some other A-tier specs in longer clashes.

Demonology’s primary strength is in our practical applications. Although Warlocks lost some of their usefulness, Demonology didn’t have much to begin with, and now has access to the powerful spell, Demonic Pact. Until you have above 2800 spell power, an Elemental Shaman’s version will be somewhat better. However, this is an upgraded version of the spell power enhancement granted by Shamans.

Survival Hunter

Survival Hunter has undergone a significant overhaul. The days of being a cheaper version of Marksmanship are over; skills like Explosive Shot and Black Arrow offer a distinct playstyle that no other spec can match. As our primary damage-dealing spells (Explosive Shot, Explosive Trap, and Black Arrow) are magical and bypass armor, Survival Hunters can maintain a strong position in the top tier of gear throughout Phase 1 of WotLK.

As Survival Hunters, we can provide exceptional single-target damage. We have an advantage over many other ranged damage dealers because most of our skills are immediate and are not disrupted by movement. Unlike our Marksman brethren, we also have excellent cleave / AoE damage thanks to Explosive Shot and Explosive Trap. However, the usefulness we offer to a raid has been reduced since Expose Weakness has been nerfed such that it only increases our attack power.

Fury Warrior

Someone of enormous importance has been taken out. When WotLK first launched, Fury was the best single-target and third-best cleave DPS spec. Some may wonder, “How could it happen?” given that Fury didn’t experience significant changes throughout the expansion. Titan’s Grip allows for larger weapons, and Bloodsurge grants us immediate Slams. Thus indeed, this should make us more powerful.

Sadly, our damage is all physical, and since Phase 1 armor is so weak, even our 2-handed solid weapons have little effect. While our damage to a single target is equivalent to Arms, their cleave damage is substantially more significant, and thus Fury regretfully finds itself displaced by our traditionally lesser sibling. It may be argued that we are viable, given that our cleave damage is still enough, but Arms’ is simply superior.

As far as practicality goes, we don’t exactly excel. Thanks to Rampage, the 5% crit increase is now available to us, but Feral Druids still have it and are far more powerful than us. Therefore we seldom choose this skill. The last nail in our gigantic coffin is the removal of the stacking effect of Battle Shout and Blessing of Might. It’s terrific news that this is just a temporary situation.

Arcane Mage

For the better part of TBC, Arcane Mages dominated, and they continue to do so in the early stages of Wrath. While their A-tier status is precarious at best at this phase, their damage output is universally considered devastating. Since their inception, Arcane Mages have been best suited for dealing damage to a single target.

When we cleave, we do almost minor damage, but our damage to a single target is incredible. Phase 1 battles are usually quick, so we may freely spam Arcane Blasts without worrying about running out of mana. Especially in melee-unfriendly encounters, Arcane Mages will often be found to have the most DPS. In addition, WotLK provides a slight utility increase for Arcane Mages.

As if the new Focus Magic enhancement for all Mages weren’t enough, we now receive the Arcane-only Arcane Empowerment. Since our boost does not stack with their Ferocious Inspiration, there is no longer any purpose for your raid to have a BM Hunter since we do far more damage. Sorry, BM pals, but only the strong will make it in our Wrath DPS Tier List.

Fire Mage

WotLK’s changes to the Fire Mage class attempt to bring back the class to its previous glory in the Classic era. Our whole skill tree has been rethought, and our playstyle has shifted to revolve around spamming immediate Pyroblast with the Hot Streak and, to a lesser degree, maintaining the new Living Bomb DoT.

Because of their high single-target and area-of-effect damage, fire Mages have the potential to be among the game’s most potent specializations. But that’s the problem: we haven’t even begun to tap into that potential at this stage. Our scaling is excellent, but we fall far short of our Arcane brethren in the early game due to a lack of crit that prevents Hot Streak from taking off.

However, unlike Arcane, which has little cleave, our area-of-effect (AoE) and cleave (Cleave) damage is exceptionally respectable. We also have a little lack of use due to our low crit rating. Aside from the 5% spell crit debuff, our utility is identical to the other Mage specs, including Arcane Brilliance and the brand-new Focus Magic (Improved Scorch). 

B Tier

Marksmanship Hunter

Marksmanship’s gameplay was tweaked somewhat, with the addition of Chimera Shot and the quick reloading of Aimed Shot. Even more crucially, it received some modest damage increases and is now positioned around the bottom of the A-tier for the first phase of WotLK.

The lack of armor penetration on the gear in the early game is a significant problem for us, as it is for most physical damage dealers. Chimera Shot provides Nature damage, but the rest of our abilities are physical. Moreover, although our single-target damage is quite respectable, we lack substantial AoE, which puts us at a disadvantage in engagements with several ads, where our Survival counterparts may reach some of the top ranks on the DPS meters.

Marksmanship has also been somewhat weakened since the 10% attack power benefit from Trueshot Aura is now shared by Enhancement Shamans and Blood DKs, and the buffs do not stack. This leaves us with Misdirection, which is impressive but can’t make up for our deficit in raw damage as our lone distinctive utility.

Balance Druid

Balance Druids, commonly known as Boomies or Boomkins, are in a similar position as Shadow Priests, with significant damage increases transforming us from zero to hero compared to our TBC performance. Our specification has improved to the point that we are now considered an A-tier. Single-target damage for Boomies moves from being the joke of DPS specs to becoming fairly respectable, especially early on before other casters take off because of their better scaling.

Whenever there are a lot of adds in a battle, you can expect to see Boomkins towards the top of the damage meter, thanks to our new 51-point skill, Starfall, which does excellent AoE damage on a 1-minute cooldown. Amazingly, WotLK also improved our usefulness. Druid mainstays like Innervate and Gift of the Wild are still available. The new 3% haste boost and 13% spell damage debuff are bonuses.

Elemental Shamans may now provide the 5% spell crit increase we get in our Moonkin Form, but they are often weaker than we are. Last but not least, our Improved Faerie Fire no longer grants a 3% physical hit but rather a 3% spell hit, and it may now be applied by Shadow Priests as well. New rotations have been implemented, emphasizing switching between Wrath and Starfire utilizing the exciting new Eclipse mechanism.

C Tier

The C-specialities Tier’s less potent than the rest of the DPS tree. They are nonetheless playable since they sometimes provide helpful buffs and debuffs and are often entertaining. But you won’t have the easiest time getting a raid group, and you probably won’t be towards the top of DPS meters with these specs. 

Arms Warrior

While other specs have seen significant changes in WotLK, Arms has had relatively few because to Blizzard’s “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” philosophy. Bladestorm is the most notable addition, while Sweeping Strikes’ return to the Arms tree after a short vacation on the Fury tree is also noteworthy.

Especially in shorter engagements where we enjoy high cooldown uptime, the two adjustments above dramatically skew Arms’ damage towards the cleft side. Nonetheless, our damage against a single victim is weak. This is a particularly pernicious problem since our damage is physical, and Phase 1 gear cannot break through armor. Since most Phase 1 battles are centered on a single target, this puts us in the middle of the pack, at best.

Also, Blizzard has something against Arms Warriors in PvE since our usefulness has been much reduced since TBC. Our Blood Frenzy is no longer class-restricted, and our Battle Shout no longer cancels off Blessing of Might. The substantially stronger Feral Druid spec instantly applies our brand new debuff, Trauma.

Destruction Warlock

Oh, how the great have fallen. In TBC, Destruction Warlocks were widely considered a top-tier specialization, but in WotLK, they have failed to the middle of the pack as a C-tier class. Undeniably, the loss of the Demonic Sacrifice spell and the absence of new abilities to replace it is to blame; the new addition, Chaos Bolt, isn’t powerful enough to make up the difference.

Both our single-target and area-of-effect damage are competitive. The problem is that we are not very strong in either area. The sole WotLK utility we have that is unique to Destruction is Replenishment (Improved Soul Leech), which is also supplied by substantially better specs, and merely adds insult to injury. While we have access to Warlock mainstays like Demonic Soulstones, our other specifications are superior, and there is no need to bring a Warlock specializing in Demonology.

Destruction’s power briefly surges during Phase 2, reaching A-level status for a short time. This means you may give Destruction a prolonged commitment if it provides sufficient enjoyment. After that moment, however, only the most dedicated Destruction players will continue to play that spec, as most Warlocks will instead choose one of our other available specs. As a result, it will be placed in the C tier of the WRATH DPS Tier List.

Elemental Shaman

Few changes affect Elemental Shamans in World of Warcraft. Lava Burst, the new spell, is the most noticeable change, although it’s just a different color nuke button. Our advancements are more subtle; our damage output has increased significantly since TBC, and our mana problems have been eliminated owing to Thunderstorms.

Even though we have significantly increased damage, we are still in the middle of the pack for C-tier due to our below-average single-target damage. However, owing to Chain Lightning, our cleave damage is somewhat respectable; it’s terrible that there aren’t more cleave-focused encounters in Phase 1, so we may use this capability better.

In Wrath, Elemental and the rest of the Shaman family see a significant reduction in their usefulness as virtually all of our totems no longer provide Shaman-exclusive benefits. Totem of Wrath is still the most potent spell power enhancement for Phase 1, but Demonology Warlocks have an even stronger one for every phase. Guilds often field two shamans, one of whom is an Elemental, to provide Heroism and Bloodlust boosts and totems.

D Tier

Specs rated D are, in a nutshell, not feasible. Although they are entertaining to use, you will have a hard time accepting raids and may even get expelled from groups due to your low damage output. 

Blood Death Knight

Blizzard tried to balance the Death Knight specialties so that all three may function well as tanks and damage dealers. Blood was the most potent DPS spec at the beginning of the expansion since Death Knights were so powerful overall. Unfortunately, Blood has severely reduced its DPS in the expansion’s last patch, which we must use in Classic.

However, this spec thrives as a tank, with its many self-healing and mitigation skills, which offer it an advantage over other tanking specifications. But, bluntly, our damage is the worst in the game, both in terms of single-target and cleave damage. Our D-ranking is debatable, but given that we have access to Hysteria, the game’s most robust boost, we may be the best choice. But a tank Blood DK can provide this benefit just as well.

Thus no good guild would send a DPS Blood DK only to get an additional Hysteria. Unfortunately, Blood DPS is a meme; not all memes can be wishes. Check out Feral Druids if you want a DPS spec that doubles as a tank; they’re excellent. 

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Beast Mastery Hunter

The field of Beast Mastery is the most recent to fall from favor. One of the best single-target DPS specs in TBC but currently one of the worst in Wrath. What went wrong, and why? In case you haven’t heard this tale before, BM Hunter does just physical damage, which is why we can’t even begin to compete due to our lack of armor penetration in Phase 1 equipment.

The only significant modification we’ve made is adding Beast Mastery, which improves our single-target damage to an acceptable level (at best), but does little to improve our weak cleave or area-of-effect capabilities. There is no compelling reason to play BM over our other specs, especially because Ret Paladins have access to our BM-exclusive utility, Ferocious Inspiration.

While the situation improves for some of the other “fallen titan” specs that have dropped in the DPS rankings, BM’s never seems to recover. Only the most committed Beast Masters will choose this spec since our damage is never significant but is never wrong. As a result, it will be placed in the D tier.

Frost Mage

The presence of a Frost Mage on a battlefield or arena is enough to strike fear into the hearts of any opponent. However, their dominance is limited to PvP since they are a terrible PvE spec. Blizzard tried to make us more viable in PvE by giving us Deep Freeze, but it wasn’t enough; our single-target damage is so low that multiple classes can defeat us while we’re primarily idle. 

Subtlety Rogue

Blizzard did not attempt WotLK to modify the spec’s historical concentration on PvP. Shadow Dance, our new cooldown, improves our damage for 8 seconds, but after that, we’re back to doing some of the worst damage in the game. This spec is terrible for PvE because Subtlety serves no particular purpose. As a result, it will be placed in the D tier of the Wrath DPS Tier List.

Comparison Table

Patch Notes Version 3.4.1

With Patch 3.4.1, the following changes have been made to the classes.

• Resurrected power bars will no longer have a strange faded appearance.
• Hunter pets will generate the intended amount of focus, without exceeding it.
• Reflected spells will no longer be absorbed by the Grounding Totem.
• Ranged weapons in Ulduar now have their proper DPS values.
• Kill Shot will no longer cause the clients of nearby players to crash when used by a Hunter.
• Stormjewels are now limited to one per character.

Verdict

These 23 DPS classes are among my favorites, as seen by this list. As difficult as it is, I must bring this up for discussion. I ranked them according to their damage output in Wrath, although you may disagree with my ranking choice. In the space below, I invite you to share your thoughts. I’ve always found analyzing DPS classes a relaxing pastime, but I’ve recently started doing it more often.

I’ve taken it upon myself to compile what I believe will be the whole catalog of DPS classes into one convenient web place. First, I compiled an entire inventory of every DPS class in the game. To simplify the list’s stipulations. Any level DPS class has the potential to do more damage than any other level DPS class. The DPS class on the left is still the favorite to succeed.