DPS Rankings / Tier List for Mists of Pandaria Classic
While DPS in Mists of Pandaria Classic have very different power levels which determine to which extent you want to stack them, all healers and tanks are welcomed in Raids and Dungeons, as they all have unique benefits that are worth learning about.
We will be ranking each DPS class available in Mists of Pandaria Classic below, alongside a short explanation on the reasoning behind its position. This list will be kept updated as Mists of Pandaria Classic progresses, in order to always reflect the current meta DPS ranks.
Mists of Pandaria DPS Rankings Summary
You can find below a quick summary of the current PvE DPS rankings:
- Survival Hunter (S-Tier)
- Destruction Warlock (S-Tier)
- Frost Mage (S-Tier)
- Arms Warrior (A-Tier)
- Subtlety Rogue (A-Tier)
- Unholy Death Knight (A-Tier)
- Affliction Warlock (A-Tier)
- Elemental Shaman (A-Tier)
- Windwalker Monk (B-Tier)
- Balance Druid (B-Tier)
- Demonology Warlock (B-Tier)
- Frost Death Knight (B-Tier)
- Feral Druid (B-Tier)
- Arcane Mage (B-Tier)
- Retribution Paladin (B-Tier)
- Enhancement Shaman (B-Tier)
- Assassination Rogue (C-Tier)
- Fire Mage (C-Tier)
- Beast Mastery Hunter (C-Tier)
- Marksmanship Hunter (C-Tier)
- Shadow Priest (C-Tier)
- Fury Warrior (C-Tier)
- Combat Rogue (C-Tier)
In order to further understand the reasoning behind these ranks, we would recommend you read the rest of the page, as that is explained in more detail in the next few sections.
Healer and Tank Class Rankings
If you are interested in other PvE role rankings for Mists of Pandaria Classic, check the following links:
DPS Rankings Explained
When sorting out the rankings for DPS in PvE, we are primarily concerned with two things:
- Damage Throughput — first and foremost, DPS are there to deal damage. The value brought by each class and spec to the raid is primarily determined by how much damage they provide. This is calculated both by each spec's personal DPS combined with the value of the buffs and debuffs that they may bring.
- Desirability — expanding on the last sentence above, there are stark differences in how "desirable" certain DPS classes are depending on the number that you bring to raid. A significant factor in tier list placement is determined by the number of each spec that you might want in a raid group. For instance, Balance Druids are incredibly important for raiding because they bring extremely important buffs that benefits the whole raid, but their personal damage is mediocre early on. The value of the first Balance Druid in the raid is huge, but the second Balance Druid has significantly less value. At the end of the day, the question we are trying to answer is how desirable your class and spec is to a raid.
One important change to emphasize is that in Mists of Pandaria Classic, almost every single spec in the game brings some sort of important raid buff or debuff. However, all raid buffs come 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 for our purposes, outside of a couple of niche cases, we will be ignoring raid buffs for the most part. You should always ensure that your raid has all of the possible buffs, but there are numerous places to get each one, meaning with a moderately diverse raid comp you should be fine in 25-man raids.
For 10 man raiding specifically, this also means that you are extremely unlikely to ever use more than one of a spec, because you'll inevitably be missing out on valuable buffs. Mists of Pandaria is well-balanced enough that bringing a worse DPS spec along with a missing raid buff will almost always be better than bringing a second S-tier DPS spec that you already have one of.
S-Tier Classes and Specializations
These are the best DPS specializations for the first tier of Mists of Pandaria classic. Specifically, these are the DPS specializations that you will commonly see stacked in 25-man heroic Raids for how strong they are. You should expect to see multiple of these in most raid groups.
Survival Hunter
Survival Hunter require very little gear to be effective
in Raids, but still scale extremely well with Agility as you get more
gear. Hunter in general has some
amazing utility tools like Misdirection
that make having at least 1-2 critically important in most raids, but even without the utility,
Survival is quite strong. Survival Hunters have the best on-demand AoE in the game, both for
burst and sustained AoE damage with the power of
Explosive Trap and
Serpent Spread. Survival is one of the most versatile, powerful ranged damage
dealers in the first tier.
Destruction Warlock
Destruction Warlock is one of the best possible ranged DPS in the first tier of Mists
for almost any situation. Warlock has an incredibly array of damage cooldowns to pull from,
but Destruction in particular utilizes a high base level of damage thanks to some reworked
abilities to deal incredible damage. Havoc is Destruction's signature spell
however, which causes them to deal the most two-target cleave damage in the game.
Destruction will be one of the best casters for the first phase of Mists of Pandaria thanks entirely
to their damage output.
Frost Mage
Like Destruction Warlock, Frost Mage is one of the strongest casters in the first phase of Mists thanks to their raw damage output. Mages have an incredibly deep defensive and offensive toolkit, meaning if you are a strong player, Mages offer you a lot of options in any situation. Frost Mages were reworked heavily coming into Mists of Pandaria and are no longer strictly a PvP-based class. Frost has an incredible number of instant cast procs that give then a stream of high, on-demand burst spells to cast at will. Their built-in ability to guarantee crits is what gives them so much power early on in Mists, which will eventually fade as other specs scale more.
A-Tier Classes and Specializations
These are the strong DPS specializations that you will always see at least one of, maybe two. They are still relatively powerful, have their own unique niche, but outside of raid buffs are still going to be worse than S-tier options.
Arms Warrior
Arms Warrior was absolutely dominant all the way through Cataclysm
and continues to be a top contender in the beginning of Mists of Pandaria. Thanks to
Colossus Smash, Arms Warriors have incredible sustained
single-target damage along with low cooldown burst windows inside their smash. Arms
still has some of the best 2-target cleave in the game thanks to
Sweeping Strikes,
providing them a niche where they're ahead of even the S-tier classes. Arms will remain
strong throughout the expansion, but will eventually be out-scaled by Fury. For now, they remain
one of the strongest melee DPS.
One important addition however, Warriors bring Skull Banner, which
is the strongest, stack-able raid DPS cooldown. This gives Warriors a slight edge, all other things being
equal, when compared to other DPS.
Subtlety Rogue
Like Frost Mages, Subtlety Rogue is redesigned significantly
going into Mists of Pandaria. Subtlety is no longer a purely PVP specialization and does incredible
single target damage in raids. Subtlety has a relatively complex rotation requiring lots of planning
to upkeep several buffs such as Recuperate and
Slice and Dice.
If you can pull it off successfully, Subtlety Rogues deal the most single target damage in the game
on pure sustained single target. However, Rogues also lack almost any good AOE or cleave options,
which is what keeps them in A-tier. Rogues additionally bring
Smoke Bomb,
which is one of the best defensive raid cooldowns in the game that DPS bring.
Unholy Death Knight
Thanks to their powerful spec cooldowns, Unholy has some of the highest burst
damage in the game, specifically due to the power of Summon Gargoyle.
Death Knights in general
are incredibly strong all expansion, and fully live up to the title of hero class.
Perhaps one of the biggest weaknesses of Unholy is that while it may be one of the strongest
DPS at the start, Blood DK is so absurdly strong as a tank that every raid is almost guaranteed
to already have a DK in a tank spot already.
Unholy DK offers incredibly defense, burst damage, and the powerful combination of sustained
single target and large scale AoE that allows them to excel in any encounter.
Death Grip is also unique utility that is impossible to replicate
with other specs.
Affliction Warlock
Affliction Warlock offers the strongest multi-target spread damage in the game thanks to their powerful DoTs, which allows them to both funnel more damage into a main target and do strong add damage at the same time. However, even with exceptional multi-dotting and spread cleave potential, their single target is still a bit lacking compared to that of Destruction. Spread cleave and multi-dotting is quite storng in general however, making Affliction a solid choice overall and even one of the best choices on select fights. Affliction has the highest scaling potential out of any DPS in the game, and will eventually be the top spec towards the end of the expansion.
Elemental Shaman
Elemental Shaman previously had some severe scaling issues,
but in Mists of Pandaria, this is gone completely. Shamans bring a high number of
important raid buffs, making them a great choice to round out your caster groups in any raid.
While Elemental lacks the single target burst damage of the other S-tier classes, their AoE with Chain Lightning
and
Fire Nova is exceptional. The combination of sustained single-target damage
through their new and improved rotation along with on-demand AoE that also cleaves for single
target damage is quite powerful and a solid choice in the new expansion. It's also worth noting that Shamans
bring
Stormlash Totem, which is a minor raid DPS cooldown
that can be useful in some burst scenarios.
B-Tier Classes and Specializations
These are the middle of the pack DPS specializations. You would expect to see exactly one of these in a raid, usually for the explicit purpose of a raid buff, or possibly for some required utility on a specific fight.
Windwalker Monk
Windwalker Monk is the new DPS in Mists of Pandaria, starting
the expansion with quite a decent showing. While Windwalker is not quite S-tier in terms
of pure single target output, it has incredible burst damage that allows for exceptional
AoE burst with the right setup utilizing Storm, Earth, and Fire. Windwalker also
has incredibly mobility and defensive cooldowns, giving you plenty of ways to deal with
every raid encounter. This will be a specialization that heavily rewards skillful play; when
played well, great Windwalkers can be competitive with any DPS.
Balance Druid
Balance Druid has some
incredible utility, specifically with Typhoon and
Innervate.
These are both highly sought after, and invaluable to certain other classes. Boomkins do
decent single-target damage, but have some of the better AoE in the game thanks to
Starfall and their powerful multi-dotting. Boomkins also have incredible
funnel damage potential thanks to a unique mechanic where DoTs can reset their
Starsurge
cooldown, allowing them a powerful, constant stream of priority target damage. That being said, their damage overall
is still a bit weaker than the classes in the tiers above with low scaling early on. Most raids will have a single Boomkin,
usually because they bring so many important buffs as just a single spec.
Demonology Warlock
Demonology Warlock utilize their Metamorphosis form
to deal incredible burst damage, primarily for AoE cleave. Warlocks
are a staple of the S-tier meta, but Mists of Pandaria will be mostly focused on Destruction
and Affliction. Demonology is still quite competitive and a solid choice throughout the expansion,
but the pressence of the other more powerful Warlock specs will overshadow it. Demonology's primary
strength will be its burst AoE however, where certain encounters will make it quite desirable.
Frost Death Knight
Frost Death Knight has many of the same strengths as Unholy, but are different in a couple of key ways. While Unholy is based around pets and DoTs, Frost focuses instead on hard hitting strikes along with powerful short burst cooldowns and procs. They have similar relative strengths as both do exceptional damage, top-tier single target, and amazing on-demand AoE. Unholy does more damage overall however, and has a more powerful burst window. Additionally, Frost loses out on more single-target damage during its AoE. This is all to say, that while Frost is still exceptionally strong, Unholy is the more played specialization due to just being stronger. Frost is still required on some fights however, specifically due to the kiting potential they offer with their massive built-in slows.
Feral Druid
Feral Druid has one
of the most complex rotations in the game, but when played properly offer
exceptional single-target damage. Feral lacks single-target burst and sustained AoE,
but their burst AoE when combining Berserk and
Swipe
is quite strong. Outside of sustained
single-target and burst AoE, Feral does suffer since they require a significant time investment
to get their damage and DoTs rolling on new targets. Feral scales exceptionally well,
and will become one of the best single target damage dealers later on in the expansion.
Arcane Mage
Arcane Mage has great burst and decent single target,
but require a fair amount of gear to really start to scale. Arcane can
have some strong power early on, specifically when combined with other external buffs such
as Power Infusion. Arcane also lacks the same AoE power that Frost and Fire bring
however, and is only really competitive in single target. Arcane has received multiple rounds
of buffs however, making it more and more promising to see niche use in the first tier.
Retribution Paladin
Retribution Paladin has every benefit of being a Paladin, but unfortunately do not bring quite the same power level that Holy and Protection bring. Retribution offers some strong damage cooldowns giving them decent burst damage for single target, but lacks the AOE and cleave that Arms Warriors and Unholy DKs bring. While still a solid melee choice, the other melee DPS above offer just a bit more in the way of both throughput and utility. Retribution still shines when it comes to burst damage thanks to great cooldowns, but their sustained single target and AoE is where they fall behind.
Enhancement Shaman
Enhancement Shaman
is possibly one of the most difficult specs to play well, but have a high
ceiling when played properly. Enhancement has a huge arsenal of competing cooldowns
which can make their rotation hard to perform well, especially in a tier where swapping between
AoE and single target is critical. Enhancement has great damage potential, but is still a bit lacking
compared to the S-tier melee, and there are generally better options for the raid buffs that they
bring. Shamans also do bring Stormlash Totem, which is a minor raid
DPS cooldown that can be useful in some burst scenarios.
C-Tier Classes and Specializations
These are the below average specs specs in Mists of Pandaria Classic. These are strictly worse than the tiers above and, while viable, are going to be extremely uncommon and generally will not see play in competitive groups. The notable exception would be in a situation where the spec was your group's only way to get an otherwise missing raid buff.
Mists of Pandaria is an expansion with absolutely ridiculous scaling throughout the expansion. Another important factor of C-tier specs early on; most of them scale exceptionally well. Generally when classes scale well, they are forced to be weak early on to make up for how strong they become later with better gear.
Assassination Rogue
Assassination Rogue offers decent sustained single-target damage
and are extremely consistent. The meta for Rogue specs largely comes down to tuning and scaling.
For the first tier of Mists of Pandaria, Subtlety is the far superior specialization. It does more damage
than Assassination, making it the better choice, especially when both specs share the same niche
of only being good in single target scenarios. Rogues still all bring Smoke Bomb,
which is a compelling defensive choice however.
Fire Mage
Thanks to the power of Combustion, Fire Mage in
Mists of Pandaria has one of the highest DPS ceilings out of any class in the game, but only towards the end
expansion. The spec is a bit RNG-heavy and does require some luck for good setup, but
Fire has the potential to set up some absolutely monstrous burst damage through proper
ignite stacking that can then be spread to all targets in range for AoE that no other spec
could ever even hope to come close to. It's not a reach to say that Fire Mages has one of the single
most powerful cooldown ever introduced in WoW, but only when luck goes your way.
Fire Mage early on is quite weak unfortunately and needs a significant amount of crit and haste
to really scale to its full potential.
Beast Mastery Hunter
Beast Mastery Hunter is a weak option just like in Cataclysm, at least
early on. Survival heavily outclasses Beast Mastery, as your pet is significantly less important to your overall
damage. This is mainly true because the other two Hunter specs offer meaningful
DPS talents to increase their damage done, specifically giving powerful build-defining
shots that their rotations are based around. Ultimately there isn't much to say besides just that
Beast Mastery does not do adequate damage without the necessary scaling to make your
pet powerful. Beast Mastery does have the best damage cooldowns out of any Hunter spec
however, giving them one clear niche. Beast Mastery also now has Beast Cleave,
giving them a great way to deal cleave damage now.
Marksmanship Hunter
Marksmanship Hunter suffers from the same issues as several other specializations above, in that they require some gear to really scale. However, Marksmanship ultimately scales worse than Beast Mastery, but is weaker than Survival early on, putting them in a weird middle ground throughout the expansion. Marksmanship has proven to be noticeably weaker than most other specs in terms of raw output. It may be popular in PvP, but that success just does not translate into PvE at the moment. Marksmanship notably has the worst AOE options out of any Hunter spec as well, with no significant way to cleave.
Shadow Priest
Shadow Priest offers some strong utility options when brought to the raid, and Priest in general is even required on a couple of encounters for their utility. Shadow as a damage specialization is strong, offering decent damage in most situations, but getting far outmatched by specs like Survival Hunter and Destruction Warlock in AoE and burst damage. Multi-dotting is still certainly a strong niche, and is actually quite useful in several encounters, but Shadow Priests are the weakest option early on for spread cleave. The primary weakness will be Shadow's single target damage, where they are exceptionally weak.
Fury Warrior
Fury Warrior continues to be quite weak after suffering for most of Cataclysm. Just like in Wrath, Fury is set up to fail early on as it requires a significant amount of haste and crit to really scale well. However, unlike previously, Fury will eventually outscale Arm. Arms Warriors will be one of the best DPS specs in the game early on, but Fury will surpass it in the final tier. Fury has decent low target cleave damage, but doesn't bring the same single target damage that Arms does. Fury suffers from a lack of Rage early on, making it feel slow and bulky.
Combat Rogue
Combat Rogue requires
a bit of gear and scaling, but once they have some solid raid gear,
they can output some incredible numbers.
Combat's strength is still its cleave thanks to Blade Flurry, but overall it just does less damage on single target
than Subtlety. On fights where you can utilize Blade Flurry however, Combat deals incredible
cleave damage. Unfortunately there are not many fights in the first tier where this is critically
useful, but Combat will eventually scale into a powerhouse at around the time fights
will allow you to make far better use of your built-in cleave.
Changelog
- 29 Jun. 2025: Rankings added.
This guide has been written by Impakt, an Officer in BDGG, the #2 North American guild on retail. In addition to live WoW, he has also been a classic theorycrafter and enthusiast for many years. You can watch him stream on Twitch, or follow him on Twitter.