DPS Rankings / Tier List for Phase 4 of Wrath of the Lich King Classic (2024)

You can find below a quick summary of the current PvE DPSrankings:

1. Fury Warrior (S-Tier)
2. Fire Mage (S-Tier)
3. Feral DPS Druid (S-Tier)
4. Survival Hunter (A-Tier)
5. Affliction Warlock (A-Tier)
6. Unholy Death Knight (A-Tier)
7. Retribution Paladin (A-Tier)
8. Combat Rogue (B-Tier)
9. Balance Druid (B-Tier)
10. Shadow Priest (B-Tier)
11. Assassination Rogue (B-Tier)
12. Demonology Warlock (B-Tier)
13. Enhancement Shaman (B-Tier)
14. Arcane Mage (C-Tier)
15. Elemental Shaman (C-Tier)
16. Frost Death Knight (C-Tier)
17. Destruction Warlock (C-Tier)
18. Marksmanship Hunter (D-Tier)
19. Beast Mastery Hunter (D-Tier)
20. Arms Warrior (D-Tier)
21. Frost Mage (D-Tier)
22. Subtlety Rogue (D-Tier)

In order to further understand the reasoning behind these ranks, we wouldrecommend you read the rest of the page, as that is explained in more detailin the next few sections.

If you are interested in other PvE role rankings for Wrath Classic, check thefollowing links:

When sorting out the rankings for DPS in PvE, we are primarily concernedwith two things:

1. Damage Throughput — first and foremost, DPS are there to dealdamage. The value brought by each class and spec to the raid is primarily determined byhow much damage they provide. This is calculated both by each spec'spersonal DPS combined with the value of the buffs and debuffs that they maybring.
2. Desirability — expanding on the last sentence above, there arestark differences in how "desirable" certain DPS classes are depending on thenumber that you bring to raid. A significant factor in tier list placement isdetermined by the number of each spec that you might want in a raid group. Forinstance, Balance Druids are incredibly important for raiding because theybring an extremely important debuff that benefits the whole raid, but theirpersonal damage is quite mediocre. The value of the first Balance Druid in theraid is huge, but the second Balance Druid has significantly less value. At theend of the day, the question we are trying to answer is how desirable yourclass and spec is to a raid.

One important change to emphasize is that in Wrath Classic, almost every singlespec in the game brings some sort of important raid buff. However, all raid buffs nowcome from multiple sources, so a single buff could be brought by 3 or 4 different specs.These buffs do not stack from different sources if it is the same buff. This means that forour purposes, outside of a couple of niche cases, we will be ignoring raid buffs for the mostpart. You should always ensure that your raid has all of the possible buffs, but thereare numerous places to get each one, meaning with a moderately diverse raid compyou should be fine.

We recommend consulting our guide to recommended raid compositions to seemore of this principle in action.

These are the best DPS specializations for the final tier tier of Wrath Classic.Specifically, these are the DPS specializations that you will commonly seestacked in Raids for how strong they are. You should expect to see multiple ofthese in most raid groups.

Fury Warriors scale exceptionally well, but needs a ton of crit andArP to really pop off. We are finally at a point where Fury can get the gear it needs toreally begin to shine. With a massive amount of crit, armor penetration, and one of the mostpowerful legendary weapons in the history of WoW, Fury warriors are simply the strongest DPSin the game when fully geared. Fury's strongest niche ison low-target cleave, specifically at 3-4 targets where they can use Cleaveand Whirlwind to the fullest extent. However, with the appropriate gear, Furyreigns deaths in both single target and in execute as well.

While Fire Mages have finally scaled, now dealing massiveamounts of damage thanks to copious amounts of haste and crit available on gear.Fire Mages needed tons of crit to reallystart pumping out huge damage numbers, but now that they have it they are one ofthe best DPS classes in the game, especially when it comes to single target. Their burstAoE on clumped packs is also quite incredible, but their single target output is whatsolidly puts them into the S-tier, and they only get strongertowards the end of the expansion.

Feral DPS Druids have oneof the most complex rotations in the game, but when played properly offer some of thebest sustained single-target damage. This is especially true after some recent changesto Feral, which have actually given it the highest simmed single target damage in thegame eventually towards the end of Wrath.Ferals lack single-target burst and sustained AoE,but their burst AoE when combining Berserk and Swipe (Cat)is exceptional, possibly even the highest in the game. However, outside of sustainedsingle-target and burst AoE, Ferals do suffer since they require a significant time investmentto get their damage and DoTs rolling on new targets. Ferals do offer 5% Physical Crit Chanceas a raid buff, which only comes from either Ferals or Fury Warriors. Muchlike Warriors, Ferals scale exceptionally well and are dominating the meters at the end of theexpansion.

These are the strong DPS specializations for the end of Wrath Classic.These are the DPS specializations that you will always see at least one of, butshould expect to see multiple of given their strength.

Survival Hunters require very little gear to be effectivein Raids, but still scale extremely well with Agility as you get moregear, specifically with trap weaving. Hunters in general have someamazing utility tools like Misdirectionthat make having at least 1-2 critically important in most raids, but even without the utilitySurvival is quite strong. Survival shines brightest on AoE thanks to the scaled strengthof Explosive Trap, but still brings decent single-target damage as well.Their burst AoE is some of the strongest in the game however, and is incredibly valuableon some encounters. The addition of trap launcher has made Survival far and away the bestHunter spec for the end of the expansion now.

Affliction Warlockshave received some massive buffs since TBC, and now incorporate a full array of DoTsinto their damage rotation. Affliction offers the strongest multi-target spread damagein the game thanks to their powerful DoTs, which allows them to both funnel moredamage into a main target and do strong add damage at the same time.Affliction has the absolute best execute in the game thanks to Drain Soulhitting for insane numbers on low-health targets. However, Affliction ultimately does notscale with crit and other stats quite as well as Fire Mages. ICC has possible the most scalingout of any tier in WoW's history, and classes that can fully utilize the utterly absurd levelsof crit, haste, and armor penetration are the ones that shine towards then end. Afflictionis still quite strong, but just lacks some of the scaling as the S-tier classes.

Thanks to their powerful spec cooldowns, Unholy has some of the highest burstdamage in the game, and is particularly strong for the beginning of phase 4 of Wrath Classic.Death Knights in generalare incredibly strong all expansion, and fully live up to the title of hero class.Unholy has previously scaled well, but while it is exceptionally strong at the beginningof Phase 4, it will fall off hard after a few weeks of gearing. Other specs that scale withArmor Penetration will surpass Unholy with better gear. That being said, Death Knightsbring amazing damage overall withoutreally needing to change their builds, which makes them great additions to the raid inany situation. Death Grip is also unique utility that is impossible to replicatewith other specs. Again though, Unholy will fall off quite hard towards the end of the phaseas everyone gets their full BiS, eventually getting out-scaled by several other specs.

Retribution Paladinshave every benefit of being a Paladin, but unfortunately do not bring quite the same powerlevel that Holy and Protection bring. Now in Icecrown CitadelRetribution steps up and hits some insane power levels thanks to specific tierbonuses, but require tier and full BiS to really hit insane scaling. Retributiondoes have some strong damage cooldowns however, giving them decent burst damageespecially for cleave. Retribution shines on cleave encounters, and will excel on a coupleof fights in phase 4 with burst cleave due to add waves. With full BiS gear and a legendary weapon,Retribution might not be quite as strong as a Warrior, but it is still incredibly powerful.

These are the above-average DPS specializations for the end of Wrath. Most raidswill want one of these, but seeing 2 is not uncommon for some of these specs.

Combat Rogues requirea bit of gear and scaling unlike Assassination, but once they have some solid raid gear,they can output some incredible numbers. This will become especially apparent in thefinal phase of Wrath once they reach the Armor Penetration cap, so for now they stilllack some of the sustained cleave options that classes like Fury Warriors bring.Combat's strength is still its cleave, but overall it just does less damage on single targetthan Assassination, and then less damage in AoE/cleave than other classes above in thelist. It still is a strong spec however, and especially is worth bringing as the source of the4% physical damage raid buff.

Balance Druids have someincredible utility, specifically with Typhoon and Innervate.These are both highly sought after, and invaluable to certain other classes. Boomkins dodecent single-target damage, but have some of the better AoE in the game thanks toStarfall and Hurricane. That being said, their damage overallis still a bit weaker than the classes in the tiers above. Most raids will have a single Boomkin,usually because they bring so many important buffs as just a single spec.

Shadow Priests offersome strong utility options when brought to the raid, and Priests specifically are evenrequired on a couple of encounters for their utility. Shadow as a damage specializationis decent, offering mid-tier damage in most situations, but getting far outshinedby specs like Affliction in any niche they might be good at. Multi-dotting is still certainlya strong niche, and is actually quite useful in phase 4. Overall,their single-target damage and utility is strong enough to make them a A-tier specialization though,mostly due to their exceptional utility and buffs.

Assassination Roguesare one of the higher sustained single-target damage dealers in the game, and have possiblythe simplest rotation as well. Thanks to some incredible AP scaling with their poisons,the Rogue rotation boils down to generating some Combo Points and only using Envenomas their finisher. Even though their rotation is quite simple, it does not take away fromthe exceptional single-target damage they can deal. Fan of Knives is alsoinsane on AoE with the right build, but ultimately Rogues are brought for theirstrong single-target potential.

Demonology Warlocksare quite strong in their own way, but are still weaker than Affliction Warlocks. Mostraids will bring a single Demonology Warlock specifically for their scaling Spell Power buffthrough their talents. This is a unique buff that allows them to give the entire raida portion of their Spell Power, which scales quite well. Even apart from this, Demonologyespecially excels in AoE, where they can combine their Immolation Aura alongwith the traditional Warlock AoE to do some incredible burst AoE. Their single-targetis still solid, but unfortunately suffers from being just worse than Affliction, meaningoutside of the single Demonology Warlock for the buff, you probably will not see many.

Enhancement Shamansare possibly one of the most difficult classes to play properly, but have an incredibly highceiling when played properly. The non-intuitive Spell Power + Attack Power gearingstrategies throw some people off, but when set up properly and played to the fullest theyoffer incredible single-target, and some of the strongest passive AoE + cleave in the game.Fire Nova specifically is incredibly powerful, and has incredible effective damagepotential on certain fights where single-target is what matters, but the AoE is still valuable.

These are the mediocre specs for the end of Wrath Classic. These are unlikely tosee play in raids, but can still occasionally be brought given the right player or groupneed. These are still viable specs, there are generally just better options.

Arcane Mage have exceptional burst and strong single target,but ultimately get out-scaled by Fire Mages.Very few specs in the game can come close to Arcane Mages when it comesto single-target burst damage, but only when they get funneled external buffs such asPower Infusion and Innervate. Arcane Mages are ableto burn through their Mana pool quickly to do amazing burst damage, which enablesthem to top meters on shorter encounters. This is not very useful in ICC however, andthey still get massively out-scaled by Fire in every circ*mstance.

Elemental Shamansare one of the stronger classes immediately upon hitting Level 80 thanks to some excellentbase damage, but generally do not scale well in Wrath. However, thanks to some solidupgrades and tier bonuses in phase 3, Elemental actually does competitive single targetdamage and solid burst AoE thanks to their Fire Nova Totem. While there are stillstronger casters, having an Elemental Shaman in the raid is certainly not a bad thing,especially considering all the different buffs and utility spells that they may bring.

Frost Death Knightshave many of the same strengths as Unholy, but are different in a couple of key ways.First, Frost is possibly the strongest spec in the game as a fresh Level 80 with no gear.They have incredible base damage, making them ideal early on, but are far outscaledby Unholy once you get current gear. Frost's major strength comes from cleave, whereFrost excels at sustained AoE and stacked cleave more so than many other classes.However, Frost still suffers the issue that Unholy is just stronger in almost everysituation.

Like all Warlock specs, Destruction Warlocks scale quite welland do exceptional damage, both single target and AoE.Overall Warlock just scales quite well as a class, and Destructionis no exception. The burst single-target + AoE possible with Destruction can be quite strong,but is still unfortunately overshadowed by Affliction in most situations. Destruction'sbiggest weakness is that Affliction is just so much more powerful in almost everysituation.

These are the weakest DPS specializations for the end of Wrath Classic. For eachof theses, they are both themselves quite weak, and are outclassed by other specsof the same class that are far better choices.

Marksmanship Huntersuffers from the same issues as several other specializations above, in that they requiresome gear to really scale. Marksmanship relies heavily on crit and ArP for a good portionof its damage, but with the new addition of trap launcher they no longer will ever bethe dominant Hunter spec. Marksmanship will always be worse than Survival in every situation.For damage, MM offers decent single-target and AoE, but theirmain strength is burst damage thanks to Readiness, which resets all of theircooldowns, allowing them to effectively burst twice.

Beast Mastery Huntersare nowhere near as powerful as they were in TBC. Survival and Marksmanship nowheavily outclass Beast Mastery, as your pet is significantly less important to your overalldamage. This is mainly true because the other two Hunter specs now offer meaningfulDPS talents to increase their damage done, specifically giving powerful build-definingshots that their rotations are based around. Beast Mastery's reliance on pets isunfortunately weak in a time where pets do not benefit from any of your damage statsother than AP. Beast Mastery's one benefit is that they have decent damage cooldowns,and do alright for single-target burst damage. However, even that is mediocre at best.

Arms Warriors are the betterof the Warrior specs early on, offering some solid base damage that makes them strongerin the early game. However, once you get raid gear, Arms Warriors are pretty lacklusterwhen it comes to single-target. Their one noticeable strength is 2-target cleave thanksto Sweeping Strikes, and then Bladestorm givesthem decent burst AoE. Outside of those two scenarios however, Arms Warriors arejust lacking, especially when it comes to single target damage.

Frost Mage is a specializationthat is designed around PvP. It is easily one of the strongest specializationsin Arena, but unfortunately is not well-designed for PvE. Arcane and Fire bothdo more damage while Frost brings nothing unique to the table. Without any sortof niche to excel in, it is hard to justify a raid spot as a Frost Mage.

Subtlety Rogues arequite similar to Frost Mages, in that the spec is mostly designed with PvP in mind.Especially with how strong the other two Rogue specializations are, Subtlety offersno meaningful strengths in PvE, and is just the worst choice.