DPS Rankings / Tier List for WoW Classic Season of Discovery

April 14th update:S-tier has been slightly updated to reflect how powerful Melee Hunters and Rogues are looking with the new raid meta.

Below is a quick summary of the full rankings that we have detailed on this page. While this gives a good outline of the standings of specializations in comparison to one another, we recommend reading the full rankings to understand why certain specializations are ranked as they are.

1. Enhancement Shaman (S-Tier)
2. Melee Hunter (S-Tier)
3. Warrior (S-Tier)
4. Rogue (S-Tier)
5. Mage (A-Tier)
6. Elemental Shaman (A-Tier)
7. Hunter (A-Tier)
8. Warlock (A-Tier)
9. Retribution Paladin (B-Tier)
10. Feral Druid (B-Tier)
11. Balance Druid (C-Tier)
12. Retribution Paladin (C-Tier)

If you are interested in our other rankings for WoW Classic's Season of Discovery, please click the links below.

Enhancement Shamans have scaled exceptionally well, more so than any other DPS in Season of Discovery. The combination of some incredibly powerful new runes and the ability to scale both Attack Power and Spell Power for damage has propelled them to the top of the meters towards the end of phase 2. Looking forward at phase 3 we expect them to remain highly sought after, proving a slew of buffs to party members while also doing some of the most damage in the game for both single target and AoE. With another tier of raid gear, we expect them to scale even further beyond.

In Season of Discovery, thanks to extremely powerful runes not found in any other version of WoW, Hunters now have the ability to play as melee. While melee hunters were off to a bumpy start, the addition of some of the most synergistic and strongest runes in the game has propelled them into the S-tier. In short, it's a bit over-tuned. Hunters are one of the best melee DPS in the game at the moment, competitive with the other top-tier melee entirely thanks to the power of their runes. Season 3 continues this trend of providing exceptionally powerful new melee-only runes, but the effectiveness should be toned down slightly compared to the peak of season 2.

With how absurdly powerful the lower level raid gear is, Warriors are scaling much better than we thought. Both for tanking and as DPS, Warriors are topping meters thanks to the exceptional combination of high-damage weapons, raid buffs, and powerful runes that give them the rage necessary to dish out death to their enemies. For both cleave and single target, Warriors are topping meters across the charts. With an even better set of raid gear and new runes in season 3, we expect Warriors to once again be leading the pack for melee, especially for short encounters where they shine with their powerful cooldowns.

Rogues are one of the strongest melee in the game, only just below Warriors. Like Warriors, Rogues are scaling far better with raid gear early on than expected. The addition of new poisons and rotational abilities from runes has made them exceptional on single target, up as one of the best options in the game for boss damage. Rogues are still exceptional at the moment, and even in this melee-dominated meta, Rogues are in the S-tier as one of the premier damage dealers.

Mages scale extremely well with spell power, and they have a naturally strong toolkit due to high base damage on most of their spells, specifically for AoE. Mages are far and away the best class in the game for large-scale AoE, but do not have quite the same single-target output that Warlocks bring. As in WoW Classic, Mages will still be a dominant force both in and out of raids. Their mana is quite limited before 60 and they do not have the single target power of the other classes in S and A tier, but their AoE is still the best in the game without question. No other class even comes close to the AoE power of a Mage, which is why Mage still holds a spot in the A-tier.

Elemental Shamans have several incredible new rotational abilities in Season of Discovery, giving them some of the strongest rotational buffs out of any class. Their burst damage with cooldowns and Chain Lightning is also quite strong on both single target and AoE. The consistent damage combined with totem raid buffs makes them compelling when offering a raid spot. They can consistently occupy a spot in caster groups for the buffs alone, but the addition of super-charged damage scaling thanks to AP and SP conversion has made Shamans do exceptional damage overall.

Hunters are at their strongest relative to other classes early in the game, as they deal exceptional base damage with very little gear. Because they are a ranged DPS that does not rely as heavily on Mana, they are decently strong during the pre-60 phases when resource generation will be the limiting factor for most classes. With the addition of actual pet damage scaling now in Season of Discovery, pets in particular have been quite strong since launch, dealing nearly half of Hunter's damage on most encounters. Marksmanship in particular is set to be incredibly strong in phase 3 thanks to the high value that Trueshot Aura brings to groups in its new buffed state.

Casters in general have struggled in Season of Discovery as they do not have the same scaling potential early on that melee do. However, with the addition of incredible new spells in season 2 and stellar new gearing options, Warlocks scaled quite well. The incredible combination of spell power, buff scaling, and the new rune options allows Warlocks some of the highest burst damage in the game along with strong single target damage. The continuation of powerful new rotational spells, runes, cooldowns, and raid utility available at 50 should make Warlocks still quite strong in the raiding meta. Ultaimtely, they will still lack the damage that other classed above provide however, and their utility is really limited past the first Warlock.

Retribution Paladins had some promise early on with exciting new runes that gave them an actual rotation, but ultimately the starting point was just so much lower than for other classes. Rogues, Warriors, and Hunters have ultimately scaled far better than Paladins at this level. Even with their new rotational ability, it just does not stack up to the fleshed out rotations that other melee bring. While not weak, Retribution Paladins are just not as strong comparatively.

While Feral Druids may normally be an off-meta spec, they have some incredible strengths in Season of Discovery. The most notable strength that Ferals give is the ability to bring the windfury totem buff to raids on the Alliance, making them a must-have in any melee Alliance group. However, outside of the buff, they unfortunately just do not scale as well as Rogues, Warriors, and Hunters at this level. Their single target is still quite strong, but that's where Feral's strengths end. Ferals lack the same AoE and cleave that other classes bring, making running through raids rather rough for Druids.

Balance Druids primarily use Starfire in raids for damage, which is a very Mana-intensive spell. However, in Season of Discovery Balance Druids have access to the new Wrath rune, which allows it to be cast for free. They will always have a way to do damage regardless of mana, but ultimately their damage will still be quite low compared to every other caster. They also are severely lacking in terms of AoE, which is another reason they are in C-tier.

While Shadow Priests eventually were able to get all of the spells needed to be a full casters with an actual rotation, they just do not have the scaling and raw damage needed to compete with Warlocks and other casters in the higher tiers. Shadow Priests just do not do very good damage. They have solid utility, several rune options, and can be incredibly fun to play in both PvP and PvE, but ultimately their damage is just not there even at level 50.