World of Warcraft’s constant updates shift the balance of power between certain classes and specs, making some rise in power, while others fall. The War Within brings its own changes to all the classes that modifies the Dragonflight balancing days. This article will list down each DPS spec’s position in the meta and what makes each of them special.
S-Tier
Arcane Mage
Arcane Mage currently has some of the best single-target damage skills in The War Within. With the introduction of the Hero talents Spellslinger and Sunfury, Arcane Mages have shed their previously weak DPS values and gained a ton more power. Now, not only do they have a variety of defensive tools like Ice Block, but they can also output some serious damage, especially for Mythic+ content.
Augmentation Evoker
Still remaining as a powerful support DPS option, Augmentation Evoker’s have the valuable utility of boosting the party’s defensive and damage values. They still have some of the best raid utilities in the game and, even now, many raid groups look for Augmentation Evokers in LFGs.
Enhancement Shaman
While Shamans had a glaring weakness of being especially squishy, this no longer remains the case. The War Within brought a couple of mitigation spells for Shamans to use, allowing them more survivability and sustain in dangerous situations. On top of that, they excel at both AoE and single-target damage, which boosts their position in the DPS charts.
Assassination Rogue
This spec has received some much needed updates to its kit, with the Deathstalker and Fatebound talents making it far more fun to play. These changes turned the Assassination Rogue spec into a potent DoT powerhouse with its boost to bleed and poison damage.
Frost Death Knight
The Frost Death Knight class is currently considered one of the best melee DPS options for The War Within, making it even stronger than its Dragonflight incarnation. Their burst and sustained damage options are extremely strong, while also keeping its myriad of defensive skill that makes them tanky in Mythic+ difficulty.
Feral Druid
The Feral Druid damage rotation for the full release of The War Within is now more intuitive and flows better compared to its Dragonflight version. It can output some serious AoE and single-target damage while keeping its signature raid buff skills that makes them a good generalist DPS class. Its Hero talents has given it some new heights of power that makes it great for clearing Mythic dungeons consistently.
Survival Hunter
Survival Hunters are one of The War Within’s most balanced classes in the game, with access to both damage profiles that make them well-suited for any dungeon and raid encounter. Even with other DPS classes competing with them, Survival Hunters stand well enough on their own, especially when factoring in the Pack Leader and Sentinel Hero talents that enhance its gameplay.
A-Tier
Arms Warrior/Fury Warrior
The War Within changed the way Warrior’s Rage resource worked, and for the better too. Arms and Fury Warrior has a great selection of AoE and single-target damage skills that can be used on demand and can even utilize their buffed Execute skill for some potent boss DPS numbers. While Warriors still suffer from the old issue of gearing, their changes have given them new powerspikes that make them a viable Mythic+ class.
Beast Mastery Hunter
The biggest issue with Ranged DPS is that they need to stay motionless to do any DPS rotation. However, the Beast Mastery Hunter spec does away with this. In most raiding encounters, this utility makes them especially important for meeting DPS requirements while being mobile enough to avoid mechanics. They have also received a handful of mitigation skills that allow them to live longer. Their only current weakness is their lack of AoE cleaving skills, but that can always be done by other party members.
Windwalker Monk
The Windwalker spec for Monk has some great on-demand burst damage skills that can help meet certain DPS checks. As a pure melee DPS spec, Windwalker Monks are fairly strong in this regard but slightly lack in raid utilities that other DPS classes have access to.
Affliction Warlock
After the rework Warlock received in the The War Within, their gameplay has greatly improved. The Affliction spec is now more flexible with its options for raids, since they have access to a variety of AoE, boss damage and even mixed options for players who want to build an all-rounder ranged class. Affliction Warlocks are currently a highly valuable option in Mythic+ content.
Elemental Shaman
Elemental Shamans have received a nice raid buff that slightly elevates them from its lower ranking back in Dragonflight. This class still has solid boss DPS, but took a hit to its AoE damage numbers, which evens out the extra utility they gained from the talent changes.
Havoc Demon Hunter
This spec for Demon Hunter is a nice generalist class that has a good mix of single-target and AoE skills, along with a raid-wide skill that makes them a decent choice for raid groups. It doesn’t excel at either regard, but its versatility makes the Havoc spec a balanced class in The War Within.
Frost Mage
Frost Mages in The War Within still have access to their signature crowd-control spells that make them a solid support DPS class, especially when attempting to clear Mythic+ dungeons. They also have a few defensive spells to help survive certain mechanics and overall, it hasn’t changed much in its gameplay, except for whatever Hero talents are chosen.
Shadow Priest
This spec is actually quite dominant in the DPS charts for The War Within, excelling at both types of damage that makes them valuable in endgame raiding. However, that damage potential needs some setup, since it requires escalation with the Voidform effect. This makes the class rather clunky to play. If mastered, it can be one of the best ranged DPS classes in Retail.
B-Tier
Unholy Death Knight
The Unholy Death Knight spec remains a solid DPS class with good single-target damage options while maintaining its signature cleave skills. While it can be unwieldy in pub groups due to their big cooldowns requiring team coordination, the Unholy spec is still fairly balanced, even gaining some buffs to its general talent tree that gives it some extra utility.
Outlaw Rogue
As a purely single-target DPS class, they remain undefeated in this regard. This comes at the cost of their AoE damage, since Outlaw Rogues have a target cap that prevents them from cleaving down mobs. Still, they have kept much of their raid utility skills and crowd-control abilities, keeping this class in a balanced state.
Marksmanship Hunter
While its damage rotation hasn’t changed all that much since Dragonflight, this class did get a few defensive and new utility skills for crowd control. Marksmanship Hunters still retain their good burst AoE damaged options while sacrificing single-target DPS. In the current meta, they are a great consistent DPS that can still perform well in the charts even without their cooldowns active.
Demonology Warlock
The Demonology spec used to be extremely powerful back in Dragonflight, overperforming in the DPS rankings. Now, their damage profile has been curbed, but still remains a good choice for Mythic+ groups due to its reliable DPS rotation and its durability with its iconic lifesteal abilities.
Subtlety Rogue
The Hero talents for Subtlety Rogue do not do it justice, but the buffs it received when The War Within launched drastically increased its damage output. Its DPS rotation didn’t get any changes, but it still has its consistent burst damage skills that makes this class relevant in Mythic+ content.
Devastation Evoker
The Devastation spec for Evoker is a little different compared to its companion spec, Augmentation. While the Devastation spec does deal good consistent DPS, its outshined by the latter for its more versatile toolkit that’s more valuable in Mythic tier content. It shares the same short-ranged limitation that Evokers naturally have, but people would rather have Augmentation since they have better raid buffs. As a DPS, Devastation is a solid choice, but there are better options.
Destruction Warlock
Destruction Warlock used to be the weakest DPS spec in Daragonflight, but The War Within has given it some much-needed updates to its kit. Currently, they perform well in AoE scenarios but only have decent single-target DPS. Other than the utility spells that the general Warlock class has access to, the Destruction spec is a fairly midtier DPS option.
C-Tier
Balance Druid
Balance Druids have received a variety of changes to its spec, and is a considerably solid DPS class with enough sustain to last in harder content. Much like the Shadow Priest, it needs to ramp up in damage before it can be considered competitive, but even at its best performance, it can’t reach the same heights as other DPS specs that can pull with easier rotations.
Retribution Paladin
The Retribution spec is a fantastic support class in any expansion, especially with their Auras giving the entire team some much-needed buffs. Sadly, as a DPS, its single-target damage is lacking and can be clunky to play in Mythic content. Compared to the other DPS classes, it doesn’t have that raw damage output that classes like Frost Death Knight and Arcane Mage have. This class is best played if players want to focus a little less on their rotation.
D-Tier
Fire Mage
This spec is currently the most underperforming DPS class for The War Within, as its damage output is severely lacking for both single-target and AoE scenarios, almost to the level of support tank classes in DPS. The only saving grace for this spec are the utilities that Mages inherently have, but the Fire spec in particular is in dire need of damage buffs.
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