Mythic+ DPS Rankings: A Tier List for Dragonflight (Patch 10.1 / Season 2)
From the weakest to the strongest specialization, each provide unique character distinction and add value toward shaping the seasonal "meta" of Mythic+. The DPS specialization rankings provided for Dragonflight's second Season of Mythic+ are based on pure DPS strength and group-added-value such as utility, survivability, mobility, and self-sustain.
This list will be updated as new tuning and class changes come out over the course of leading up to the season's start and beyond.
About the Tier List
This tier list is NOT FINAL; it will change and will be updated as often as necessary prior and during Mythic+. There are often moments of tier set and class tuning, as well as talent changes and secondary stat scaling that will impact the placement of the specs.
I am Petko, a competitive Mythic+ player, known to be pushing the boundaries of High Mythic+ with several World first and Europe first rankings among past seasons on multiple classes. I have worked hard on preparing for Season 2 of Dragonflight, spending numerous hours per day examining each and every class and spec in a dungeon environment. This Tier list will continue to be updated as much as it requires over the course of Dragonflight and it will also focus on what the "meta" will look like as it stabilizes. Along the way, this Tier list will also be supported by various professional Mythic+ players with high credibility in the community, theorycrafters across all specializations, and my own empirical evidence.
To begin with, this Tier list will exclusively focus on the second Season of Mythic+ in Dragonflight. There will be no Warcraft Logs rankings added nor simulation data for the majority of the classes and specs. As a result, this Tier list will be solely based on empirical evidence of the current state of the classes' performance in Mythic+ from my own point of view and the point of view of the group of players testing those classes who are among the best representatives of the class in the community. Moreover, this Tier list will take into consideration every impactful class change and tier set tuning before and after the start of the season.
It is important to note that opinions might vary and that is completely okay, but remember to be respectful when providing feedback as the sole purpose of this tier-list is to help the WoW community with their choice of main or alt each season.
This tier list is entirely based on DPS viability examined in each dungeon of Dragonflight. To understand why exactly some rankings are the way they are, you need to understand the importance of the toolkit that some classes provide to Mythic+ groups.
- Damage is one of the major factors to rank the DPS classes; mass AoE, burst AoE, single-target, 3-target, and spread-cleave damage are the types of damage profiles, we examine.
- Classes with unique party-wide cooldowns will always be rewarded, an example
of such is
Bloodlust, which is provided by the Shaman class (but you can also have its effects with Mage, Hunter, or Evoker.) Such buffs can also be permanent, like Priest's
Power Word: Fortitude or Mage's
Arcane Intellect.
- Classes with very high survivability, self-sustain, or immunities have always added additional value to the rankings.
- Another feature worth mentioning is the importance of priority-target damage and funnel damage, which is often undervalued in Mythic+ and It speeds up the whole dungeon if done correctly. Specs can earn extra "points" by having such a damage profile.
- Finally, only two classes can provide unique Magical and Physical damage
increases to the entire party: Monk with
Mystic Touch and Demon Hunter with
Chaos Brand. This gives these classes priority, depending on the group composition.
When deciding what class you want to play for Dragonflight Mythic+ Season 1, it is important to understand how and why some classes are valued more than the others and what is important in the current dungeons.
- Dungeons like The Vortex Pinnacle favor classes with high single-target and good 3-4 target cleave, while dungeons like Freehold & Underrot require more AoE than single-target or priority-target damage, meaning some rankings of the classes will fluctuate.
- Remember that this tier list is based on keys between 15-20 (as highlighted);
some specializations gain significantly more value on the higher-end bracket compared to the
lower-end bracket because of their damage profile. Specs like Fire Mage
are known to perform a lot better on the higher-end keys compared to the lower-end,
simply because mobs can live longer for them to finish their rotation and
Mastery: Ignite to catch up.
- Remember that this tier list, unlike many others, is not constant, some class's placements will go up or down depending on key level, group composition, affix combinations or dungeon differences, but those changes will be minor enough not to be accounted for by the tier list. We will continue to update this tier list as hotfixes nerfs, and buffs are present; all the way up to Season 2's launch on May 9th and beyond.
A Final Warning
It is important to understand that this Tier list is NOT permanent , and it will be due to change with upcoming changes and tunings over the course of the season. I have always advocated the "bring the player, not the class" motto, meaning: value the player's skill more than the class itself. This Tier list should NOT discourage you from playing whatever you enjoy the most if having fun is your main drive when you play Mythic+. The list will be updated as much as it requires before and after the start of each season.
Important Note for Season 2 of Dragonflight
This tier list is based on the assumption that you have your 4-piece tier-set present at all times. Places can vary drastically if this measure is not taken into consideration, as our main purpose is to showcase which specializations will become the best months before the season hits its peak.
DPS Tier List for Season 2 of Mythic+ in Dragonflight
Below, you can find the full rankings for DPS slots in Season 2 of Dragonflight+. We encourage you to read further and understand why some classes are placed lower or higher than expected, with several factors taken into consideration, such as having a 4-piece tier-set active at all times.
- Devastation Evoker (S-Tier)
- Balance Druid (S-Tier)
- Shadow Priest (S-Tier)
- Destruction Warlock (A-Tier)
- Enhancement Shaman (A-Tier)
- Retribution Paladin (A-Tier)
- Havoc Demon Hunter (A-Tier)
- Subtlety Rogue (A-Tier)
- Fury Warrior (A-Tier)
- Fire Mage (A-Tier)
- Arms Warrior (B-Tier)
- Elemental Shaman (B-Tier)
- Beast Mastery Hunter (B-Tier)
- Windwalker Monk (B-Tier)
- Survival Hunter (B-Tier)
- Marksmanship Hunter (B-Tier)
- Feral Druid (B-Tier)
- Frost Mage (B-Tier)
- Outlaw Rogue (B-Tier)
- Assassination Rogue (B-Tier)
- Frost Death Knight (C-Tier)
- Demonology Warlock (C-Tier)
- Arcane Mage (C-Tier)
- Unholy Death Knight (C-Tier)
- Affliction Warlock (C-Tier)
Healer and Tank Class Rankings
If you are interested in our other rankings for Mythic+ in Dragonflight, please click the links below.
Full DPS Class and Specialization Rankings
S-tier
Below are displayed the DPS specs that have the highest potential to turn out to be a "meta" spec. Keep in mind, there are only 3 slots for a DPS in a group, so your choice will depend on your group needs, dungeon type and Mythic+ level.
Devastation Evoker
May 02, Patch 10.1 update:
Devastation Evoker received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will make Disintegrate and
Pyre to pierce
enemies with Obsidian Shards, dealing 12% of damage done as
Volcanic damage over 8 sec. In addition, the 4p set will enable
the empower spells to deal 8% increased damage and cause your
Obsidian Shards to blaze with power, dealing 200% more
damage for 5 sec. During
Dragonrage, shards always
blaze with power. Devastation Evoker is entering next season
as one of the most powerful burst-power houses in Mythic+. Not only that, but
their incredibly consistent damage profile will further strengthen their
placement. Paired with incredible party-wide utility, one of the highest
mobility Ranged spec in the game and improved survivability, we might be looking
at one of the potential contenders for the S-tier placement.
Utility: The Evoker class comes quite strong out of the gates,
with one of the best party-wide utilities in the game. They have access to
a combined Bleed,
Poison,
Curse, and
Disease
dispel with
Cauterizing Flame (this is an additional dispel outside of
their regular one), a mass-root effect with
Landslide, a knockback
racial ability
Wing Buffet, a knock-up racial ability with
Tail Swipe, party-wide area-of-effect damage reduction with
Zephyr,
and access to a mass stun effect in the form of the
Terror of the Skies talent.
They also have an ability to fly with an
ally, known as
Rescue (which is quite useful if your party member is out of position
and you can save them a few seconds of relocating), access to a brand-new utility
with
Oppressing Roar and an AoE
Enrage Dispel with
Overawe,
if talented. They also have
Fury of the Aspects, which is another form of
Bloodlust, party-buff with
Blessing of the Bronze, and a talent
choice to restore Mana to a 1 chosen ally with
Source of Magic.
They also have access to a hybrid-ranged interrupt. Evoker further has
the power to let you use your major movement ability without
causing it to go on cooldown (and it will let you use it if it is already on cooldown)
if talented into
Time Spiral, so this can help a lot of classes that have
limited mobility.
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Evoker has a unique passive,
Tempered Scales, which will make them mitigate more Physical damage, and
access to
Obsidian Scales, a 1.5-minute cooldown that provides 30%
reduced damage for 12 seconds, which you can further bolster if you talent
into
Obsidian Bulwark.
Mobility: To top everything off, the majority of their playstyle will
be based on instant spells with some exceptions, further complemented by
Hover if needed. Speaking about being mobile, they have their own version
of dash with
Verdant Embrace, which has a 30 yard range just in
case they are required to quickly reposition.
Balance Druid
May 07, Patch 10.1 update:
Balance Druid received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will increase the radius of Sunfire by 3 yds.
Sunfire,
Moonfire and
Shooting Stars will get a
20% damage buff. In addition, the 4p effect will allow
Shooting Stars
to have 20% chance to call a Crashing Star, dealing Astral damage to the target
and generating 5 Astral Power. Balance Druid's AoE damage has
always been praised to be one of the best, historically true, which I personally
believe it won't really deviate much from this season either. On top of good AoE,
we all know that Balance is the king of party-wide utility, from
Poison
dispel, to great off-healing options and the ability to help your tank kite.
Did we mention the
Rebirth? Still, remember that the higher the key goes,
the better this spec becomes, and the opposite is true for the lower-end keys where
they don't burst damage to compete against classes that do, so their rankings can
fluctuate depending on that. I believe that Balance Druid will be one of the best
if not the best DPS this season throug mid-high level keys.
Utility: Balance Druids are known to have one of the best
utilities in Mythic+, with a signature utility spell being Force of Nature.
They also have a raid-wide buff added in Dragonflight with
Mark of the Wild
(available to all Druid specs), which provides additional value to the
already strong utility toolkit. Some of their utilities
include
Hibernate,
Stampeding Roar,
Remove Corruption,
Soothe,
Mass Entanglement or
Ursol's Vortex (depending on the talent choice),
Renewal,
Cyclone,
Mighty Bash or
Incapacitating Roar
(depending on talent choice),
Typhoon,
Innervate (which can be
further enhanced by
Nature's Vigil), and much more.
Druids are also one of the few classes with access to a stealth ability
with
Prowl, allowing them to do skips without using an
Invisibility Potion. Moreover, they have access to
Rebirth, a
battle resurrection limited to only a few specializations in the game.
Balance Druids are also known to have great
on-demand off-healing, coming from the
Heart of the Wild talent, in a combination of
their built-in healing spells
Rejuvenation,
Regrowth, and talent
options such as
Swiftmend (for brilliant spot heals) or
Wild Growth
(for great AoE heals). They can also provide off-healing while damaging if they decide to
talent
Nature's Vigil. Finally, do not forget that they are one of the specs with a
mass-silence interrupt in
Solar Beam, with the only disadvantage being
a 60 sec cooldown (there is an option to make it shorter if you talent
Light of the Sun). Keep in mind that for some builds, you can opt to NOT talent an
interrupt for the price of extra damage.
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Outside of their great utility,
Balance Druid has quite strong defensives,
with Barkskin being only a 1-minute cooldown, followed by great passive
mitigation through 25% on-demand Stamina from
Bear Form, 6%
permanent damage-reduction from
Thick Hide (if talented in the general-talent tree)
and increased Armor from
Moonkin Form (which makes your Physical-damage intake less).
Mobility: Balance Druid's overall playstyle is quite mobile,
since they can freely move while doing AoE damage with Starfall,
and even if they have to change positions, there are tons of instant-cast abilities like
Moonfire,
Sunfire, and
Starsurge to never lose uptime.
Druids of any spec also have a talent to increase their movement speed
by 15% with
Feline Swiftness. They also have an additional
"disengage" ability (if talented) with
Wild Charge in case
they have to escape dangerous situations.
Shadow Priest
May 02, Patch 10.1 update:
Shadow Priest received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will increase the chance for Shadowy Insight to trigger
by 25% and when consuming
Shadowy Insight,
Mind Blast
deals 30% increased damage & generates 4 additional insanity.
In addition, the 4p bonus will increase their
Devouring Plague
damage by 15% and allow that every 4 casts of
Devouring Plague
to increase the damage of
Shadowy Apparitions conjured within the
next 10 sec bo 80%. Shadow Priest is entering Season 2
with a much better sustained AoE & single-target and having one of the best
priority-target damage / funnel damage profiles. You have the necessary tools to help
deal with the
Incorporeal &
Afflicted(
Dispel Magic,
Purify Disease,
Mass Dispel and
Shackle Undead) and
escape
Entangling with
Phantasm talent. One drawback is being
reliant on
Shadow Crash to apply the majority of your DoTs, so if you don't have
it ready at the start of each pack, it can definitely influence your initial opening
damage. Well, let's not forget that your class mobility is not the greatest, as you
are required to stay stationary for the majority part of your rotation in Mythic+.
Overall we are looking at one of the best options on behalf of all Ranged DPS
classes for Season 2 in Mythic+.
Utility: Shadow Priest is the only DPS specialization with
3 forms of dispel: Dispel Magic,
Purify Disease, and
Mass Dispel. Priest is the only class in the game that can
provide a party-wide 5% Stamina buff with
Power Word: Fortitude,
which makes them unique. All the Priest specializations
have access to an incredibly strong external cooldown with
Power Infusion,
which can be used offensively or defensively, depending on the situation. Since
the introduction of the new talents in Dragonflight, Priests
also have access to the
Twins of the Sun Priestess talent
(previously a Shadowlands legendary effect), which increases the overall damage
of the party. Speaking about introducing new spells, they have gained access to
the
Void Shift talent, which can prevent any of their team members from dying.
To add to Priest's utility, let us not forget their iconic
Leap of Faith spell, helping their teammates escape dangerous situations
or reposition without losing valuable uptime, and
Shackle Undead, which
has limited use depending on the mob type. Having
Mind Soothe can help
their team save an Invisibility Potion if they are planning to skip a pack.
Mind Control /
Dominate Mind are spells that can be useful
in Dragonflight dungeons; as we have previously seen, there is always
something you can "cheese" with those abilities. We cannot conclude the overall
utility of Priest without mentioning
Psychic Scream and
Psychic Horror (if talented), which will improve their mob control, and
the ability to offer off-heals while doing damage with
Vampiric Embrace.
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Shadow Priest's defensive
toolkit will improve going forward to Dragonflight. Outside
of their iconic defensive of Dispersion, the spec will have the option
to talent choices like
Protective Light and
Angelic Bulwark. To
add on top of this, do not forget
Desperate Prayer (which they can
further enhance with
Light's Inspiration) and
Translucent Image
having 10% damage-reduction every 20 seconds (if talented into
Improved Fade). Not to mention that it can also remove all snare effects
on yourself if you talent
Phantasm, which makes
Fade a strong,
short defensive cooldown. They have some of the best self-sustain/off-healing in
Mythic+, both passively from
Vampiric Touch and
Devouring Plague,
and also through talents like
Halo,
Vampiric Embrace,
and
Mental Fortitude.
Mobility: Shadow Priest's mobility is not the greatest, but
having plenty of their spells as an instant cast allows them to reposition
without sacrificing much of their damage. Talenting Body and Soul
(general tree) can also help them get on-demand movement-speed
for critical situations. Having the
Angelic Feather general talent
can also help not only yourself but your team as well if you need to travel
from point A to point B and mounts are not allowed.
A-Tier
Below are displayed the DPS specs that are considered strong but not "meta." unlike S-tier specs. In other words, you are perfectly fine bringing any of those specs, and all of them will perform almost equally well; each of them bring unique tools to cope with the dungeon timers, and some specs fit better than others, depending on your group setup.
Destruction Warlock
May 02, Patch 10.1 update:
Destruction Warlock received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will enable Channel Demonfire,
Immolate and
Incinerate to have a chance to fire an additional Demonfire
bolt. These bolts deal 50% increased damage to their main target.
In addition, the 4p tier-set will increase your fire damage by 1%
after each Demonfire bolt, for 13 sec stacking up 8 times.
Casting
Channel Demonfire resets this effect. Destruction Warlock
has a great single-target and one of the best sustained AoE damage profiles
in Mythic+. Depending on the key level, your rankings can vary heavily;
the higher the key goes, the better you become since the mobs live
longer. On behalf of utility, as always, you will provide value to your
group regardless of the new composition, with the only exception
being
Afflicted where you will not be able to help your
team unless you summon your Imp. You will also be punished once you
are required to reposition or avoid mechanics, so this is also an important
detail to consider. Overall, we believe this spec to be one of the best
Ranged options for the incoming Season 2, and we can't wait to see how it will
perform later in the season.
Utility: Warlock is the only class in the game that has access
to Curse effects which are great utility for any Mythic+ party. They have
Curse of Weakness and, if they chose to talent
Curses of Enfeeblement
(which they do at all cost), they will have access to
Curse of Tongues and
Curse of Exhaustion, which can be further bolstered by the
Amplify Curse
talent. Apart from this, Warlock has access to a single-target
crowd-control,
Fear, the option to choose between a single-target disruption
effect or mass Fear with
Mortal Coil/
Howl of Terror, a
Banish
effect, and an AoE stun with
Shadowfury. One of the reasons why
they might be the party-favorite is because they can provide an unlimited
supply of
Healthstone, a quite valuable healing tonic that
does NOT share the cooldown of the regular Health Potion.
Going forward to Dragonflight, they can gain access (if talented) to
Shadowflame, a powerful AoE slow effect. If you think that is
the end of their party-wide utility, hold on until you find out that
they also have a
Demonic Gateway which is incredibly useful
in Mythic+, allowing you to create some truly unique skips.
They are also one of the few specializations in the game that have a combat-resurrection
to save an ally with
Soulstone.
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Warlock has historically
been one of the most durable ranged classes with access to several abilities
to reduce their damage taken (on demand) like Unending Resolve,
which can be further improved by
Strength of Will or
Dark Accord
if talented, and
Dark Pact (if talented). There are also a few ways
to passively mitigate damage, such as with
Soul Leech, which can be bolstered
by the
Fel Armor,
Fel Synergy, and
Demon Skin talents,
Soul Link, which you can enhance with the
Profane Bargain talent,
and the
Abyss Walker talent choice. Their baseline health can also be
increased if they decide to talent
Demonic Fortitude,
making them a real raid boss in dungeons. In other words, they will not have
any issues surviving even the hardest encounters presented to them.
Mobility: Destruction Warlock's mobility has improved
in Dragonflight. Outside of Burning Rush and
Demonic Circle
they also have the talent option of
Soulburn, which gives
them access to a lot more utility, including an extra 50% movement
speed once they cast
Demonic Circle: Teleport.
Enhancement Shaman
May 02, Patch 10.1 update:
Enhancement Shaman received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will grant you 24% Mastery once you cast
Sundering. In addition, the 4p effect will make
Sundering
increase your Physical and Fire damage dealt by 20% for 15 sec
and your next 2
Chain Lightning casts deal 100% increased
damage and refund 50%
Maelstrom Weapon stacks consumed.
Enhancement Shaman is shaping up to be, once again, one of the stronger
melee specializations in Mythic+. Amazing single-target, great AoE damage
profile, and even better funnel / priority-target damage topped up with
an incredibly useful party-wide utility that fits the current Season 2
(with the new affixes like
Entangling,
Incorporeal and
Afflicted). The major flow of the spec remains the same; having only
one defensive cooldown (
Astral Shift) can really punish the spec; perhaps
a fix into that department can secure higher placement for the specializations.
Mass AoE (10 + mobs) is also another issue, but that is something you will rarely
see in pug groups. Overall we are happy with the current Enhancement Shaman
performance in the upcoming Mythic+ season; depending on the comp and affixes,
Enhancement Shaman can be placed between the top of A-tier and S-tier.
Utility: Enhancement Shaman's utility is quite similar to the
ones Elemental or Restoration offer but with the exception of having
Windfury Totem (if talented) and an extra disruption ability
if they talent
Sundering. They will have access to an
AoE stun with
Capacitor Totem, which can be further enhanced via the
Static Charge or
Guardian's Cudgel talents, followed by a
Curse
dispel with
Cleanse Spirit, a single-target crowd-control effect with
Hex, and a
Purge (or a
Greater Purge if needed). Of course,
one of their oldest abilities is
Tremor Totem (which also works on Charm effects),
along with the options to choose between
Earthgrab Totem and
Wind Rush Totem
alongside the usual
Thunderstorm ability (now available to Enhancement
as well).
Ancestral Guidance, as per usual, can help with group-off-heals.
They have access to
Bloodlust, an AoE slow with
Earthbind Totem,
can talent into having a small auto-heal effect with
Nature's Guardian,
and the ability to self-resurrect with
Reincarnation. If that
was not enough, they will gain access to even more utility in Dragonflight through
Poison Cleansing Totem and
Stoneskin Totem, a
Poison cleanse
and 10% party-wide Physical damage reduction. To top things off, they have the
shortest cooldown interrupt in the game with
Wind Shear.
Defensives and Self-Sustain: We cannot go by without mentioning the
defensive part of the spec; outside of their usual Astral Shift, they
will be able to bolster it, depending on talent choice, with
Planes Traveler or
Astral Bulwark. They can opt to talent
Earth Elemental, which also
will increase their health by 15% and reinforce their party in case of danger.
In addition, they can use their
Maelstrom Weapon
stacks on instant
Healing Surges to top up their health in critical
situations. In addition, they can have the
Spirit Wolf aura if
they use the talent; just remember that it results in gaining 1 stack
each second.
Mobility: Enhancement Shaman's mobility has also improved, with the
newly-returned talent of Gust of Wind. They can also use their
Ghost Wolf if mounts are not allowed in the dungeon to move from point A
to point B much faster. Their versatile playstyle allows them to maintain a
high damage profile while moving and getting out of melee range, which
is not common for a full melee spec.
Retribution Paladin
May 02, Patch 10.1 update:
Retribution Paladin received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will directly buff Judgment and
Hammer of Wrath
to deal 10% increased damage and 15% increased critical strike
damage.
Hammer of Wrath applies
Judgment to enemies. In addition,
their 4p tier-set will enable
Judgment to increase the damage enemies
take from your Holy Power spenders by an additional 15%.
Hammer of Wrath now hits 4 nearby targets for 20% of its
damage. Since the complete rework of Retribution Paladin specialization,
they have been performing quite well in Mythic+, which will also be the case
going forward to Season 2. Their great consistent short-cooldown damage windows, paired with
one of the highest, if not the highest, utility DPS specs in the game, will make
it appealing to any group looking to bolster their powers. Let's not forget how
"tanky' the spec is; with multiple options such as a defensive cooldown and immunity,
it is nothing like it was prior to the complete rework. Overall we expect them to perform as one of the best
melee classes in Season 2, and we are looking forward to seeing them shine!
Utility: Retribution Paladin has one of the best
utility toolkits among all DPS specs in Mythic+. First, they have the option to
remove Disease and
Poison effects with
Cleanse Toxins,
which is quite rare to have for a DPS spec. They have access to
Blessing of Protection, which can be used both offensively
to prevent someone from taking the tank's threat, or defensively by offering immunity
to Physical damage, and
Blessing of Sacrifice as incredibly useful
party-wide utility available for all Paladin specs.
Blessing of Freedom is another utility spell that will improve their
quality of life in Mythic+, and Tanks will love them for it. To top it off,
they have an option between
Blinding Light (AoE disruption) or
Repentance (a strong crowd-control ability), depending on the talent
choice. Having access to a single-target stun with
Hammer of Justice and
Wake of Ashes/
Radiant Decree (which stuns Undead and Demons
for 5 seconds) will help them control any mobs they consider dangerous,
especially the casters in Mythic+. They can also opt to talent
Exorcism,
as it has the same stun effect as
Hammer of Justice,
but only on Undead and Demonic creatures.
Finally, they can choose to have
Turn Evil if their team needs an additional
crowd-control effect, and also the option to have
Lay on Hands, a quite powerful
single-target healing spell. Going into Dragonflight, all Paladin specs
will even have access to a baseline combat-resurrection ability with
Intercession, making their utility even better!
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Retribution Paladin has
2 defensive options, with one being Divine Protection
and the other one being
Eye for an Eye; both are optional talents, however.
In addition, Paladin is one of the few classes that have an immunity
with
Divine Shield, which is highly valuable in Mythic+. In case they
have none of the above, they can always opt to use their Holy Power
defensively, healing themselves with
Word of Glory.
Mobility: One of the major concerns for Paladins has always
been their limited mobility, being bound to Divine Steed. Luckily that
has been improved going forward to Dragonflight if you choose the
Cavalier talent in the general Paladin tree.
Havoc Demon Hunter
May 23, Patch 10.1 update:
Havoc Demon Hunter received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will reward them after spending 175 Fury, to gain
Seething Fury, increasing their agility by 8% for 6 sec.
In addition, the 4p tier-set effect will trigger each time you gain
Seething Fury, to gain 15 Fury and the damage of your next
Eye Beam to be increased by 15% stacking up 5
times. Havoc Demon Hunter, once again is looking to be in a prominent
position, especially paired with a full caster composition due to their
Chaos Brand debuff, further complimenting their playstyle. Yes,
their AoE will remain strong, and they will still have the ability to do
priority-target damage while doing AoE. Moreover,
with amazing party-wide utility, fantastic mobility & self-sustain, the spec
is one step away from entering higher rankings as soon as their see further
adjustments on behalf of their damage department.
Utility: Havoc Demon Hunter is known to have some of the best
party-wide utilities in the game, such as Chaos Nova (a mass AoE stun),
Fel Eruption (a single-target stun)
Darkness,
Consume Magic
(a Purge effect), and
Chaos Brand (a unique debuff that increases magical-damage taken
5%). Having
Spectral Sight as a baseline
utility will help them reveal any stealthed mobs in the dungeons
(believe me, this will be quite useful). Do not forget that Demon Hunter
has access to
Imprison, one of the few crowd-control abilities that
does not put you in combat if you walk over the mob (similar to Rogue's
Sap). Coming into Dragonflight, all DH specializations will
have an offensive general-talent choice with
The Hunt, which can be
enhanced with the
Unnatural Malice or
Relentless Pursuit
talent choices. In addition, they are getting access to a brand-new utility,
Sigil of Misery, which can be used both defensively
(to crowd-control mobs) and offensively with the
Misery in Defeat talent.
They are also one of the few melee classes that have a talent option to allow their
interrupt to have an extended range with
Improved Disrupt (15 yards).
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Havoc Demon Hunters are also the
DPS specialization with some of the highest self-sustain because of their
Leech effects coming from the Metamorphosis and
Soul Rending
talents. They have a talent option to get an immunity with
Netherwalk,
one of the shortest defensive cooldowns in the game with
Blur, and
built-in passive magical damage mitigation coming from
Demonic Wards.
Mobility: Havoc Demon Hunter is one of the most mobile melee
classes, being able to Double Jump, dash forward with
Fel Rush,
and vault backward, thanks to
Vengeful Retreat.
Subtlety Rogue
June 06, Patch 10.1 update:
Subtlety Rogue received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece tier-set will enable Shadow Dance to grant you
Symbols of Death for 6 sec and extends the duration of
Rupture by 4 sec. In addition, their 4p will allow
Symbols of Death to increase the critical strike damage of
Eviscerate and
Black Powder by 25%.
Going forward to Season 2, Subtlety Rogue will remain to have its
unique damage profile, allowing you to choose when to AoE, funnel-damage
and single-target. Yes, they might not have the highest damage profile
compared to the rest of the specializations, but their overall value is
bolstered by their party-wide strong utility and incredible defenses.
Their placement will vary depending on the key level and affixes, but it is
safe to say that Rogue will be in a dominant position to be one of the most
valuable melee damage dealers, yet again. The only way to see this spec
rise even further on our rankings is only by providing them more
damage than what they already have.
Utility: Rogue is one of the classes with the strongest form
of mob control you are ever going to get as a DPS player. Speaking about their
mob-control feature, we cannot go by without
mentioning their wide-arsenal of spells that can prevent the enemy from casting,
including Blind,
Cheap Shot,
Kidney Shot, and
Gouge
(if talented). They are among one of the two classes that have a non-combat
crowd-control effect with
Sap (Demon Hunter and its
Imprison
being the second), which will
help you skip mobs that otherwise require you to use an Invisibility Potion,
and if there are multiple mobs to skip, you can always use
Shroud of Concealment. They can also
Enrage Dispel with
Shiv,]
which is quite rare as limited classes hold such powers. There is also the ability
to transfer incoming threat to a chosen party member with
Tricks of the Trade
(Similar to a Hunter's
Misdirection), which solves a lot of threat
issues. To add to their already strong utility is
the option to have different poisons imbued on their weapons, such as
Crippling Poison (an AoE slow of 50%),
Instant Poison
(raw DPS),
Wound Poison (reducing healing done, which is mostly
irrelevant in dungeons),
Numbing Poison (reducing enemy attack
and casting speed by 15% and incredibly strong in Mythic+), and
Atrophic Poison. Rogue is also one of the few melee classes
that can have the ability to increase the range of their melee attacks by
3 yards, thanks to the
Acrobatic Strikes talent.
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Rogue has an amazing
defensive toolkit, which is arguably the best in Mythic+, with
Feint (works only against area-of-effect damage abilities),
Evasion (dodges all Physical damage),
Cloak of Shadows
(mitigates all magical damage) and if all of those fail, they have
Cheat Death. And remember, if they are in danger and every other
defensive is on cooldown; they can always use
Vanish and escape
danger (it is also useful against any targeted spells coming their way, as
the enemy will just cancel the cast and recast the ability on someone else). Finally,
Rogues have some self-sustain coming from
Crimson Vial, which can help
them in a critical situation, and if they decide to talent
Leeching Poison
they will gain 10% Leech (which helps them heal based on damage done)!
Mobility: Subtlety Rogue's mobility is excellent, not just the
baseline Sprint ability, but also the option to have
Shadowstep;
keep in mind that Subtlety has 2 charges of it, unlike the other Rogue
specializations.
Fury Warrior
May 02, Patch 10.1 update:
Fury Warrior received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will increase the damage and critical strike chance of
Rampage by 10%. In addition, the 4p bonus will enable
Rampage to cause your next
Bloodthirst to have a 10%
increased critical strike chance, deal 25% increased damage and generate
2 additional Rage. Stacking up to 10 times. As always, the
main benefit of having Fury Warrior in your group will be the
amazing damage profile they have to offer, with a tier-set much better
than the previous one. While being competitive damage profile is a major
factor of each class' placement, the utility toolkit is also an important
detail that you can't forget. Sadly Fury Warrior can't help much with
the 2 of the newly introduced affixes -
Afflicted
and
Incorporeal, providing limited help with them. Overall
any group looking to further utilize the use of
Battle Shout will
be happy to have you paired with your amazing damage!
Utility: Talking about exclusivity and utility, we cannot go by without
mentioning Battle Shout, the most desirable buff for any Physical damage
DPS. The Warrior class has great overall utility for Mythic+, as they
have access to a party-wide external-defensive cooldown with
Rallying Cry
(which can be further improved if they talent
Inspiring Presence), an AoE
fear in
Intimidating Shout (which they can improve if they talent
Cacophonous Roar /
Menace), and
Intervene. They have a
single-target stun through
Storm Bolt (which is great for mob control)
and an AoE stun with
Shockwave, previously exclusive
only to Protection Warriors in Shadowlands. Let us not
forget
Spell Reflection, which can be used not only as a
20% magical damage reduction, but also to reflect back any direct
casts on them, and
Berserker Rage (which can be improved by
talented into
Berserker Shout if their group lacks
Tremor Totem).
They have an AoE slow in
Piercing Howl (if talented) and a single-target
slow with
Hamstring. To conclude, on behalf of the utility part, they
also have an optional talent for all Warrior specializations with
Avatar, not just doing 20% more damage, but also
removing all roots and snares on them, and
Spear of Bastion
(which can be further bolstered by
Piercing Verdict /
Elysian Might).
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Fury Warrior has access to an
exclusive defensive cooldown with Enraged Regeneration, and strong
passive mitigation with
Warpaint. Do not forget that they can have
Defensive Stance, which can add on-demand damage reduction of up to
20% in case of a critical situation.
Mobility: Warrior is quite a mobile class, having access to
Charge,
Intervene, and
Heroic Leap, which can help them
get to or get away from any enemy of their choice. Coming to Dragonflight, they
will have a slight improvement in their baseline defensives with the
Bitter Immunity
class talent.
Fire Mage
May 02, Patch 10.1 update:
Fire Mage received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will enable Phoenix Flames to apply Charring Embers
to all enemies it damages, increasing their damage taken from you by 5%
for 12 sec. In addition, your 4p effect will trigger once you hit an enemy
with a direct damage spell, affected by Charring Embers, 20
times, the damage of your next 2
Phoenix Flames is increased by
200% and they refund a charge on use. Fire Mage's core strength
will continue to be great priority-target damage and doing max AoE simultaneously,
a unique damage profile that is further rewarded by their tier-set. Outside of
that, we all know the high mobility-like playstyle, paired with several sets of
defensive cooldowns, cheat death (
Cauterize), and an immunity. If that
wasn't enough, their party-wide utility is top-notch, which will be very
helpful through facing the newly introduced Mythic+ affixes. However, the
spec is a lot better on the higher-end keys compared to the lower ones, hence why
its ranking will fluctuate depending on key level and group composition.
Utility: Mage's party-wide utility is among the best in Mythic+:
First, they are one of the few classes that have a " Bloodlust buff" with
Time Warp. They also provide group-wide Intellect with
Arcane Intellect,
making it incredibly valuable if your group runs multiple casters. They have
access to a root effect with
Frost Nova — yes, it breaks if you
deal damage, but at least for a second, they can give breathing room — which
can help your tank to "kite" away mobs if needed, or to further help tank
they can also offer
Cone of Cold, one of the highest slows in the game
(80%). The Mage specs also have the option to have
Ring of Frost (great AoE CC). They further have access to
Dragon's Breath, previously only available to Fire Mages and now
a talent option for all Mage specializations,
which improves the mob control in their group. In the general tree, they can
also find
Blast Wave, which can be used not only to slow the enemies
but also to also add a minor knockback effect that will stop their
ongoing casts. Their on-demand crowd-control,
Polymorph, has no cooldown,
essentially allowing them to "spam-CC" if needed (although only one enemy can
be CC'd at a time unless they run the
Mass Polymorph talent). There is also
access to
Invisibility (or
Greater Invisibility if talented),
allowing them to never worry if their Invisibility Potion is on cooldown for any
unplanned skip in Mythic+. They are one of the few DPS classes that
have access to a
Curse dispel with
Remove Curse. To top off their
utility, they are the only class that can "dispel" an enemy beneficial effect by stealing
it for themselves through
Spellsteal, and also access to
Slow Fall
(which can be used for some Mythic+ skips).
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Fire Mage is quite a durable spec,
with several options to mitigate incoming damage. First, they have
Mirror Image, which not only gives them a 20% damage
reduction but also prevents them from dying if they end up beating
their tank's threat. Second, they have access to
Blazing Barrier and also the unique ability of
Alter Time,
which can be used offensively to change positions or defensively
after any unavoidable critical damage. Finally, they have an immunity with
Ice Block, which is a valuable asset in any dungeon, and an optional
"cheat-death" of
Cauterize, if talented.
Mobility: Fire Mage has some of the best mobility for a
Ranged class due to Blink (or
Shimmer), which is off the Global Cooldown
and can be cast during any other spell. Not only that,
but a major part of their gameplay consists of instant-cast spells such as
Phoenix Flames,
Fire Blast, and
Scorch, plus once they
have
Hot Streak they can cast either
Pyroblast or
Flamestrike instantly; all of this means they can reposition at any
time without sacrificing valuable DPS.
B-Tier
Specializations placed under B-Tier are a viable choice for any group looking to excel with any of the specializations here. The main reason why these specializations are placed on B-Tier is not that they are bad, but rather other specs having higher damage profiles or better "package."
Arms Warrior
June 06, Patch 10.1 update:
Arms Warrior received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will increase Deep Wounds chance to critical strike
and its critical strike damage by 5%. In addition, the 4p effect will
enable
Deep Wounds's critical strike to have a chance to increase
the damage of your next
Mortal Strike by 10% and cause it to deal
Physical damage to enemies in front of you, stacking up 3 times
(damage reduced above 5 targets). Arms Warrior will
enter Season 2 with a brand new tier-set, helping you strengthen your
priority-target damage and boss damage. Playing around your tier set will be
of significant importance as good management will guarantee better
interactions with your tier set and, therefore, better damage output.
Just like Fury Warrior, Arms Warriors lack meaningful party-wide utility
to help with the newly introduced weekly affixes. Overall, your damage
profile is great, but considering the whole package, not good enough to be
placed anywhere higher.
Utility: Talking about exclusivity and utility, we cannot go by without
mentioning Battle Shout, the most desirable buff for any Physical damage
DPS. The Warrior class has great overall utility for Mythic+, as they
have access to a party-wide external-defensive cooldown with
Rallying Cry
(which can be further improved if they talent
Inspiring Presence), an AoE
fear in
Intimidating Shout (which they can improve if they talent
Cacophonous Roar/
Menace), and
Intervene. They have a
single-target stun through
Storm Bolt (which is great for mob control)
and an AoE stun with
Shockwave, previously exclusive
only to Protection Warriors in Shadowlands. Let us not
forget
Spell Reflection, which can be used not only as a
20% magical damage reduction, but also to reflect back any direct
casts on them, and
Berserker Rage (which can be improved by
talented into
Berserker Shout if their group lacks
Tremor Totem).
They have an AoE slow in
Piercing Howl (if talented) and a single-target
slow with
Hamstring. To conclude, on behalf of the utility part, they
also have an optional talent for all Warrior specializations with
Avatar, not just doing 20% more damage, but also
removing all roots and snares on them, and
Spear of Bastion
(which can be further bolstered by
Piercing Verdict /
Elysian Might).
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Arms Warrior has access to
an exclusive defensive cooldown with Die by the Sword (which can also be
used as an immunity to certain Physical spells), with the ability to further
enhance it by talenting either
Fueled by Violence or
Storm Wall.
Do not forget that they can have
Defensive Stance, which can add on-demand
damage-reduction of up to 20% in case of a critical situation.
Coming into Dragonflight, they will have a slight improvement in their
baseline defensives in their general talents like
Bitter Immunity.
Mobility: Warrior is quite a mobile class, having access to
Charge,
Intervene, and
Heroic Leap, which can help them
get to or get away to any enemy of their choice.
Elemental Shaman
May 02, Patch 10.1 update:
Elemental Shaman received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus grants a stack of Stormkeeper every 50 sec.
In addition, the 4p effects grants you 50% more maelstrom generation
after you have consumed
Stormkeeper on your
Lightning Bolt,
Lava Burst,
Icefury and
Frost Shock and your
Chain Lightning /
Lava Beam and
Earthquake deal
20% increased critical damage. Elemental Shaman will be one
of the most versatile DPS specializations in Mythic+, having several builds
going from a strong ST spec, hybrid specs (mixed AoE & ST) and pure
AoE specs, which you will be changing according to the key difficulty,
affixes and group composition. You are currently one of the better Ranged
specs out there, with both much better single-target than before and
similar-like bursty AoE openers. The major flow of the spec remains the same; having only
one defensive cooldown (
Astral Shift) can really punish the spec; fixing that will open a lot more doors for Elemental for Mythic+. Overall we are
happy with their performance, and we are looking forward to seeing them perform
in Season 2.
Utility: Elemental Shamans have great utility. They will have access to an
AoE stun with Capacitor Totem, which can be further enhanced via the
Static Charge or
Guardian's Cudgel talents, followed by a
Curse
dispel with
Cleanse Spirit, a single-target crowd-control effect with
Hex, and a
Purge (or a
Greater Purge if needed). Of course,
one of their oldest abilities is
Tremor Totem (which also works on Charm effects),
along with the options to choose between
Earthgrab Totem and
Wind Rush Totem
alongside the usual
Thunderstorm ability.
Ancestral Guidance can help the group
with off-heals if there is a high-danger situation.
They have access to
Bloodlust, an AoE slow with
Earthbind Totem,
and
Earth Elemental (which also serves as an extra defensive since it
gives an extra 15% health). They will have the option to restore extra
Mana to your party members if needed with
Mana Spring Totem, a small
auto-heal effect with
Nature's Guardian,
and the ability to self-resurrect with
Reincarnation. If that
was not enough, they will gain access to even more utility in Dragonflight through
Poison Cleansing Totem and
Stoneskin Totem, a
Poison cleanse
and 10% party-wide Physical damage reduction. To top things off, they have the
shortest cooldown interrupt in the game with
Wind Shear.
Defensives and Self-Sustain: We cannot go by without mentioning the
defensive part of the spec; outside of their usual Astral Shift, they
will be able to bolster it, depending on talent choice, with
Planes Traveler or
Astral Bulwark. They can opt to talent
Earth Elemental, which also
will increase their health by 15% and reinforce their party in case of danger.
In addition, they can have the
Spirit Wolf aura if
they use the talent; just remember that it results in gaining 1 stack
each second.
Mobility: Elemental Shaman's mobility has also improved, with the
newly-returned talent of Gust of Wind. They can also use their
Ghost Wolf if mounts are not allowed in the dungeon to move from point A
to point B much faster. Outside of
Spiritwalker's Grace (which allows them
to cast while moving), a healthy portion of their rotation will consist of
instant-cast spells, hence why they will be quite mobile.
Beast Mastery Hunter
June 06, Patch 10.1 update:
Beast Mastery Hunter received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will increase the damage of Cobra Shot and
Kill Command by 15%. In addition, their 4p
will enable
Cobra Shot
Kill Command and
Multi-Shot to reduce the cooldown of
Bestial Wrath by
1 sec. Beast Mastery Hunter has amazing
consistent damage, unlimited mobility, better defensives, and fantastic
utility. They have great AoE, good single-target, and
the option to focus on priority-target damage while doing AoE. There are no drawbacks
to BM, except that they do have limited burst damage, which can be
extremely punishing on low to mid-level keys since the mobs die much faster.
Overall, further damage adjustments are needed to place the class
anywhere higher on the tier list, but keep in mind the spec
gets much better once you start playing it on the higher-end keys, where
mobs live much longer. It is simply one of the best beginner specs,
and with the right number of adjustments, Beast Mastery Hunter can "fly".
Utility: Hunter brings immense value to any party choosing to
have one, beginning with how all hunter specs can tame a pet that brings different
utility based on the "breed" of the pet. Ferocity provides Predator's Thirst
and
Primal Rage, Tenacity gives access to
Endurance Training
and
Fortitude of the Bear, and Cunning allows for
Pathfinding
and
Master's Call. They can also transfer their outgoing threat to any
target of their choice with
Misdirection, making the tank's threat-generation
much less of a problem. They also have a
Tranquilizing Shot, which
removes 1
Enrage and 1
Magic effect from the target
simultaneously, and
Intimidation as a powerful single-target stun for
5 seconds. They also have an option to decide between
Scatter Shot
(more mob control if you lack such in your party) or
Binding Shot
(an AoE stun for 3 seconds). They can add
Scare Beast into the mix
, too, if there is any Beast that needs
to be urgently crowd-controlled, or
Freezing Trap
to crowd-control any mob of their choice (disregarding if they are Humanoid,
Elemental, Beast, etc.) They also have the ability to stealth
through mobs with
Camouflage, making it incredibly
useful if you are ever going to skip mobs in Mythic+.
To add to their already strong arsenal of utility, Hunters are one of
few classes that can reveal stealthed enemies with
Flare. Hold on; we are
not done yet! In Dragonflight, they also gained access to 2 brand new
utility spells with the
Entrapment talent enhancing
Tar Trap
to provide a mass-root ability and
Sentinel Owl
(which can be further enhanced by
Sentinel's Protection). Finally,
Beast Mastery Hunter gains access to the
Wailing Arrow talent
choice, a powerful mass-silence effect.
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Hunters have access to
Exhilaration, which works similar to a
Healthstone's healing
and can be further enhanced by
Rejuvenating Wind (if talented), improving
their survivability. One of their fundamental weaknesses has been a strong
defensive cooldown, which has been improved going into Dragonflight; now
their original
Survival of the Fittest defensive cooldown can get
enhanced by either choosing
Lone Survivor or
Nature's Endurance
depending on the chosen dungeon. They also have an immunity with
Aspect of the Turtle,
which is great against any lethal damage. Finally, it is important
to note that they can drop combat with
Feign Death, which can be useful
if you are in trouble or you are skipping a pack of mobs.
Mobility: Beast Mastery Hunter has the best mobility in the
game among all ranged specializations, allowing them to maintain their rotation
while moving without losing a single point of DPS. They do not have any offensive
ability that has a cast time (unless they talent into Wailing Arrow),
hence why they do not mind any ground animations that require dodging. In addition,
they have several spells that support their mobility, such as
Disengage
(paired with
Posthaste) and
Aspect of the Cheetah.
Windwalker Monk
May 02, Patch 10.1 update:
Windwalker Monk received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will enable Rising Sun Kick to deal 10%
increased damage and to go "Nova", dealing 1044 Shadowflame damage to all enemies
within 8 yds. In addition, the 4p effect will allow
Fists of Fury
to deal 30% increased damage to the primary target and to increase
Shadowflame Nova damage you deal to all targets hit by 50% for
15 sec. The days for Windwalker Monk are not looking bright
in Season 2 as their single-target remains a problematic area,
stat scaling is one of the worst and their niche AoE damage profile that
heavily relies on
Touch of Death interactions is shaky. All that being said,
we can't deny the overall utility coming from the class as they can easily
manuver through the new affixes, help your team with
Poison /
Disease
dispel and on top of that help "peel" for the tank to enable them to kite
the non-boss-enemies. Further buffs are the only way to save the spec, first
with much higher single-target, followed by additional AoE adjustments to bring
it more up to par with the rest of the DPS specializations.
Utility: First, we will begin by pointing out that this is the only
class that can provide Mystic Touch (though any of the 3 Monk
specs can do it), which can be extremely valuable if you are running a
Physical damage-oriented composition. They have access to an AoE stun with
Leg Sweep and the unique
Ring of Peace ability, providing them
with enough crowd-control to help their tank with kiting if needed. They can
dispel
Poison and
Disease effects with
Detox and also
have the ability to remove all roots and snares (sort of like Paladin's
Blessing of Freedom but also giving 70% movement speed) with
Tiger's Lust. They have a single-target crowd-control ability in
Paralysis, which can be used on any mob-type. They also provide a
group-wide buff called
Windwalking (if talented), which can help when
mounts cannot be used. Speaking about group-wide buffs, they also have the
talent options of
Close to Heart and
Generous Pour
(available to all Monk specs) which are additional party-wide auras.
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Windwalker Monk is one of the
most durable DPS specializations in the game with several defensive-cooldowns.
They have access to the Dampen Harm,
Diffuse Magic,
Fortifying Brew,
Touch of Karma, and
Bounce Back talents.
They will gain additional passive durability from
Calming Presence
in the class talents, and the fact that they love the Versatility stat
as one of their main secondaries!
Mobility: Windwalker Monk also has
great mobility; not only they have Transcendence, but also access to
Roll, making it easier to move from point A to point B. Let us not
forget the
Flying Serpent Kick talent which can strengthen their
already-strong mobility.
Survival Hunter
May 02, Patch 10.1 update:
Survival Hunter received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will increase the damage of Wildfire Bomb by
10% and throwing the bomb increases the damage of your next
Kill Command by 40%. In addition, the 4p set will reduce
the cooldown of
Wildfire Bomb by 1 sec for every 30
focus spent and the target of your latest
Kill Command takes 40%
increased damage from
Wildfire Bomb for 8 sec.
Survival Hunter is entering Season 2 with not only great single-target
but quite a competitive AoE damage too. The tier-set will also allow you to have
great priority-target damage while doing AoE, which is something that is highly
desired in Mythic+. The improved version of this spec will land him a position on
the upper half of the tier list, with the only way shifting further up is going
to be more buffs on behalf of their damage.
Utility: Hunter brings immense value to any party choosing to
have one, beginning with how all hunter specs can tame a pet that brings different
utility based on the "breed" of the pet. Ferocity provides Predator's Thirst
and
Primal Rage, Tenacity gives access to
Endurance Training
and
Fortitude of the Bear, and Cunning allows for
Pathfinding
and
Master's Call. They can also transfer their outgoing threat to any
target of their choice with
Misdirection, making the tank's threat-generation
much less of a problem. They also have a
Tranquilizing Shot, which
removes 1
Enrage and 1
Magic effect from the target
simultaneously, and
Intimidation as a powerful single-target stun for
5 seconds. They also have an option to decide between
Scatter Shot
(more mob control if you lack such in your party) or
Binding Shot
(an AoE stun for 3 seconds). They can add
Scare Beast into the mix
, too, if there is any Beast that needs
to be urgently crowd-controlled, or
Freezing Trap
to crowd-control any mob of their choice (disregarding if they are Humanoid,
Elemental, Beast, etc.). They also have the ability to stealth
through mobs with
Camouflage, making it incredibly
useful if you are ever going to skip mobs in Mythic+.
To add to their already strong arsenal of utility, Hunters are one of
few classes that can reveal stealthed enemies with
Flare. Hold on; we are
not done yet! In Dragonflight, they also gained access to 2 brand new
utility spells with the
Entrapment talent enhancing
Tar Trap
to provide a mass-root ability and
Sentinel Owl
(which can be further enhanced by
Sentinel's Protection).
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Hunters have access to
Exhilaration, which works similar to a
Healthstone's healing
and can be further enhanced by
Rejuvenating Wind (if talented), improving
their survivability. One of their fundamental weaknesses has been a strong
defensive cooldown, which has been improved going into Dragonflight; now
their original
Survival of the Fittest defensive cooldown can get
enhanced by either choosing
Lone Survivor or
Nature's Endurance
depending on the chosen dungeon. They also have an immunity with
Aspect of the Turtle,
which is great against any lethal damage. Finally, it is important
to note that they can drop combat with
Feign Death, which can be useful
if you are in trouble or you are skipping a pack of mobs.
Mobility: Survival Hunter has great mobility, not only playstyle-wise
(as their rotation is a mix between ranged and melee spells), but also built-in
with Disengage (paired with
Posthaste),
Aspect of the Cheetah, and the dash coming from
Coordinated Assault (once you press the ability).
Marksmanship Hunter
May 02, Patch 10.1 update:
Marksmanship Hunter received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will enable Arcane Shot &
Multi-Shot to deal
10% increased damage and have 8% chance to grant the
Deathblow
effect. In addition, the 4p will increase the damage of
Kill Shot by
15% and reduces the cooldown of
Aimed Shot and
Rapid Fire
by 1.5 sec. Marksmanship Hunter excels greatly between low to mid keys
because of its good burst damage. Your sustained damage is decent; a massive factor
in that is your AoE is partly capped due to
Trick Shots (
Explosive Shot,
Volley
and
Wailing Arrow are uncapped!). That being said, the numbers are not quite there
yet to justify a higher placement for the spec for now.
Utility: Hunter brings immense value to any party choosing to
have one, beginning with how all hunter specs can tame a pet that brings different
utility based on the "breed" of the pet. Ferocity provides Predator's Thirst
and
Primal Rage, Tenacity gives access to
Endurance Training
and
Fortitude of the Bear, and Cunning allows for
Pathfinding
and
Master's Call. They can also transfer their outgoing threat to any
target of their choice with
Misdirection, making the tank's threat-generation
much less of a problem. They also have a
Tranquilizing Shot, which
removes 1
Enrage and 1
Magic effect from the target
simultaneously, and
Intimidation as a powerful single-target stun for
5 seconds. They also have an option to decide between
Scatter Shot
(more mob control if you lack such in your party) or
Binding Shot
(an AoE stun for 3 seconds). They can add
Scare Beast into the mix
, too, if there is any Beast that needs
to be urgently crowd-controlled, or
Freezing Trap
to crowd-control any mob of their choice (disregarding if they are Humanoid,
Elemental, Beast, etc.). They also have the ability to stealth
through mobs with
Camouflage, making it incredibly
useful if you are ever going to skip mobs in Mythic+.
To add to their already strong arsenal of utility, Hunters are one of
few classes that can reveal stealthed enemies with
Flare. Hold on; we are
not done yet! In Dragonflight, they also gained access to 2 brand new
utility spells with the
Entrapment talent enhancing
Tar Trap
to provide a mass-root ability and
Sentinel Owl
(which can be further enhanced by
Sentinel's Protection). Finally,
Beast Mastery Hunter gains access to the
Wailing Arrow talent
choice, a powerful mass-silence effect, and
Bursting Shot as a
powerful knockback that can be used as a disruption ability.
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Hunters have access to
Exhilaration, which works similar to a
Healthstone's healing
and can be further enhanced by
Rejuvenating Wind (if talented), improving
their survivability. One of their fundamental weaknesses has been a strong
defensive cooldown, which has been improved going into Dragonflight; now
their original
Survival of the Fittest defensive cooldown can get
enhanced by either choosing
Lone Survivor or
Nature's Endurance
depending on the chosen dungeon. They also have an immunity with
Aspect of the Turtle,
which is great against any lethal damage. Finally, it is important
to note that they can drop combat with
Feign Death, which can be useful
if you are in trouble or you are skipping a pack of mobs.
Mobility: Marksmanship Hunter has great mobility, as the
majority of their spells are instant cast, except for Aimed Shot and
Wailing Arrow (if talented). The mobile playstyle is further supported by
Disengage (paired with
Posthaste) and
Aspect of the Cheetah.
Feral Druid
May 02, Patch 10.1 update: Feral Druid received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2. Their 2-piece bonus will enable your auto-attacks to have 25% chance to grant Shadow of the Predator, increasing your agility by 1%. Each application past 5 has an increasing chance to reset to 2 stacks. In addition, the 4p effect will trigger once your Shadow of the Predator application resets stacks, you will gain 5% increased Agility and generate 1 combo points every 2 secs for 8 secs. Feral Druid is shaping to look great in the next season of Mythic+, not only their utility but also their damage. The flexibility of the spec is an ongoing issue, as there aren't really any strong hybrid options that will allow you to have amazing AoE and decent single-target at the same time, so between dungeons, you are likely to have to choose what you want to go for. Funnel damage is an aspect, regardless of the build you play, that will benefit you massively if done correctly. At last, it is only fair to share how durable they are as a class, as you are unlikely to die due to several defensive cooldowns at your disposal. Overall, great M+ pick up for any group composition, versatile enough to adjust their build based on your current needs!
Utility: Feral Druids have a raid-wide buff added in
Dragonflight with Mark of the Wild
(available to all Druid specs), which provides additional value to the
already-strong utility toolkit. Some of their utilities
include
Hibernate,
Stampeding Roar,
Remove Corruption,
Soothe,
Mass Entanglement or
Ursol's Vortex (depending on the talent choice),
Renewal,
Cyclone,
Mighty Bash, or
Incapacitating Roar
(depending on talent choice),
Typhoon,
Innervate (which can be
further enhanced by
Nature's Vigil), and much more.
Although each spec has the option to talent
Maim (a single-target stun), it is
mostly used by Ferals since they spend the majority of their time in
Cat Form.
Feral Druid is one of the few DPS specializations that can also offer
off-healing to its group if needed. Their first option is to talent
Nature's Vigil (which syncs really well with their DoTs),
and the second option is the
Heart of the Wild talent, as some encounters or situations
do not require them to stay strictly in
Cat Form (because of downtime),
so that time can be spent healing. Druids are also one of the few
classes that have access to a stealth ability with
Prowl, allowing them
to do any skips without using an Invisibility Potion. Moreover, they have
access to
Rebirth, a battle-resurrection that is limited to only a
few specializations in the game.
Defensives: Feral Druid has quite a strong defensive, with Barkskin
being only a 60-second cooldown,
Survival Instincts existing
as an extra on-use defensive, followed by great passive
mitigation like 25% on-demand Stamina from
Bear Form and 6%
permanent damage-reduction from
Thick Hide (if talented in the general-talent tree).
Mobility: Feral Druid's overall playstyle is quite mobile.
Since a healthy portion of their playstyle is damage-over-time based, they can
freely run out of melee and still maintain high damage. Their base mobility is
amazing due to Cat Form having 30% extra baseline movement speed.
Druids of any spec also have a talent to increase their movement speed
by 15% with
Feline Swiftness. In addition, they can choose to
talent
Tiger Dash or
Wild Charge to gain extra mobility if they
are in combat and need to move as quickly as possible.
Frost Mage
May 02, Patch 10.1 update:
Frost Mage received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-p bonus will increase the damage of Flurry and
Ice Lance
by 20%.
Flurry will also cause an explosion on impact, dealing
35% of its damage to nearby enemies, damage reduced beyond 5
targets. In addition, their 4p tier-set will trigger once you cast
Ice Lance
on a frozen target, it will have a 10% chance to trigger
Brain Freeze.
We all are familiar with the great priority-target and funnel damage of Frost Mage; luckily for you, this season will not be different. On top of this, you will have
good single-target, great utility, and, most important, one of the most
durable Ranged specs. The only area where you can see improvement is the
AoE department, where other specs currently perform better than you. Depending on
the number of adjustments there, the sky is the limit for you, as your toolkit
is incredibly good for Mythic+, and especially Season 2.
Utility: Mage's party-wide utility is among the best in Mythic+:
First, they are one of the few classes that have a " Bloodlust buff" with
Time Warp. They also provide group-wide Intellect with
Arcane Intellect,
making it incredibly valuable if your group runs multiple casters. They have
access to a root effect with
Frost Nova — yes, it breaks if you
deal damage, but at least for a second, they can give breathing room — which
can help your tank to "kite" away mobs if needed, or to further help tank
they can also offer
Cone of Cold, one of the highest slows in the game
(80%). The Mage specs also have the option to have
Ring of Frost (great AoE CC). They further have access to
Dragon's Breath, previously only available to Fire Mages and now
a talent option for all Mage specializations,
which improves the mob control in their group. In the general tree, they can
also find
Blast Wave, which can be used not only to slow the enemies
but also to also add a minor knockback effect that will stop their
ongoing casts. Their on-demand crowd-control,
Polymorph, has no cooldown,
essentially allowing them to "spam-CC" if needed (although only one enemy can
be CC'd at a time unless they run the
Mass Polymorph talent). There is also
access to
Invisibility (or
Greater Invisibility if talented),
allowing them to never worry if their Invisibility Potion is on cooldown for any
unplanned skip in Mythic+. They are one of the few DPS classes that
have access to a
Curse dispel with
Remove Curse. To top off their
utility, they are the only class that can "dispel" an enemy beneficial effect by stealing
it for themselves through
Spellsteal, and also access to
Slow Fall
(which can be used for some Mythic+ skips).
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Fire Mage is quite a durable spec,
with several options to mitigate incoming damage. First, they have
Mirror Image, which not only gives them a 20% damage
reduction but also prevents them from dying if they end up beating
their tank's threat. Second, they have access to
Blazing Barrier and also the unique ability of
Alter Time,
which can be used offensively to change positions or defensively
after any unavoidable critical damage. Finally, they have an immunity with
Ice Block that can be cast twice due to
Cold Snap, making them
one of few specs with 2 immunities!
Mobility: Frost Mage has some of the best mobility for a
Ranged class due to Blink (or
Shimmer), which is off the
Global Cooldown and can be cast during any other spell. Not only that,
but a major part of their gameplay consists of instant-cast spells (except for
Frostbolt), regardless of the mob count, which is always a positive trait
for any DPS spec.
Outlaw Rogue
June 06, Patch 10.1 update:
Outlaw Rogue received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece will enable all the damage you do to apply Soul Rip,
dealing 5% of all damage you deal as physical damage over 8 sec.
In addition, the 4p bonus will trigger once you cast
Between the Eyes,
unleashing all
Soul Rips, dealing 200% of all remaining
damage and granting 5% agility for 15 sec. Outlaw Rogue
has historically almost never been down the drain on the rankings; they have
always performed either good or extraordinary. This time around however, they are in
a dire need of help, more specifically, further damage buffs or uncapping
their signature AoE ability -
Blade Flurry. At last, you might not be able to
help with
Afflicted, but
Incorporeal will never be
an issue with you in the group!
Utility: Outlaw Rogues are known to have one of the longest
melee-range attacks, not only due to the general Rogue Acrobatic Strikes
talent but also from the Outlaw-only talent
Deft Maneuvers, which will
improve their mob control if they need to leave melee. They also have a feature
no other Rogue spec has, and that is
Restless Blades, which
will give cooldown reduction to their offensive and defensive toolkit. Speaking about their
mob-control feature, we cannot go by without
mentioning their wide-arsenal of spells that can prevent the enemy from casting,
including
Blind,
Cheap Shot,
Kidney Shot, and
Gouge
(if talented). They are among one of the two classes that have a non-combat
crowd-control effect with
Sap (Demon Hunter and its
Imprison
being the second), which will
help you skip mobs that otherwise require you to use an Invisibility Potion,
and if there are multiple mobs to skip, you can always use
Shroud of Concealment. They can also
Enrage Dispel with
Shiv,]
which is quite rare as limited classes hold such powers. There is also the ability
to transfer incoming threat to a chosen party member with
Tricks of the Trade
(Similar to a Hunter's
Misdirection), which solves a lot of threat
issues. To add to their already strong utility is
the option to have different poisons imbued on their weapons, such as
Crippling Poison (an AoE slow of 50%),
Instant Poison
(raw DPS),
Wound Poison (reducing healing done, which is mostly
irrelevant in dungeons),
Numbing Poison (reducing enemy attack
and casting speed by 15% and incredibly strong in Mythic+), and
Atrophic Poison.
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Rogue has an amazing
defensive toolkit, which is arguably the best in Mythic+, with
Feint (works only against area-of-effect damage abilities),
Evasion (dodges all Physical damage),
Cloak of Shadows
(mitigates all magical damage) and if all of those fail, they have
Cheat Death. And remember, if they are in danger and every other
defensive is on cooldown; they can always use
Vanish and escape
danger (it is also useful against any targeted spells coming their way, as
the enemy will just cancel the cast and recast the ability on someone else).
In addition, Outlaw Rogues can choose to talent
Combat Stamina
to become more durable. Finally, Rogues have some self-sustain coming
from
Crimson Vial, which can help them in a critical situation and if they
decide to talent
Leeching Poison they will gain 10% Leech
(which helps them heal based on damage done)!
Mobility: Outlaw Rogue's mobility is amazing, not just
from the baseline Sprint ability, but also the option to have
Shadowstep,
a talent available to any Rogue specializations.
They also get access to the
Hit and Run and
Grappling Hook talents, which
will further bolster their mobility.
Assassination Rogue
June 06, Patch 10.1 update:
Assassination Rogue received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece tier-set will enable Rupture to deal an additional 40%
damage as Nature.
Crimson Tempest deals an additional 20% damage
as Nature. In addition, the 4p bonus effect will trigger once
Deathmark
expires, Nature damage you deal is increased by 40% for 30 sec.
Assassination's main weakness will be the lack of damage output in mostly all
scenarios, which is a massive drawback when you rank each spec individual
performance. As per usual, rogue utility is way too valuable not to be considered
in Mythic+, and that will always have an influence. Not only this but their
defensive is considered one of the strongest across all classes in the dungeon
environment. And once again, just as we predicted, Assassination Rogue
received 5% damage increase on all of their offensive abilities, which will
positively reflect on their tier-list placement.
Utility: Assassination Rogue has the unique ability to silence their enemies
for 6 sec with Garrote and let them deal 15% reduced
damage for 8 sec duration, if they talent
Iron Wire. This is
one of the strongest forms of mob control you are ever going to get as a
DPS player. Speaking about their mob-control feature, we cannot go by without
mentioning their wide-arsenal of spells that can prevent the enemy from casting,
including
Blind,
Cheap Shot,
Kidney Shot, and
Gouge
(if talented). They are among one of the two classes that have a non-combat
crowd-control effect with
Sap (Demon Hunter and its
Imprison
being the second), which will
help you skip mobs that otherwise require you to use an Invisibility Potion,
and if there are multiple mobs to skip, you can always use
Shroud of Concealment. They can also
Enrage Dispel with
Shiv,]
which is quite rare as limited classes hold such powers. There is also the ability
to transfer incoming threats to a chosen party member with
Tricks of the Trade
(Similar to a Hunter's
Misdirection), which solves a lot of threat
issues. To add to their already strong utility is
the option to have different poisons imbued on their weapons, such as
Crippling Poison (an AoE slow of 50%),
Instant Poison
(raw DPS),
Wound Poison (reducing healing done, which is mostly
irrelevant in dungeons),
Numbing Poison (reducing enemy attack
and casting speed by 15% and incredibly strong in Mythic+), and
Atrophic Poison. Rogue is also one of the few melee classes
that can have the ability to increase the range of their melee attacks by
3 yards, thanks to the
Acrobatic Strikes talent.
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Rogue has an amazing
defensive toolkit, which is arguably the best in Mythic+, with
Feint (works only against area-of-effect damage abilities),
Evasion (dodges all Physical damage),
Cloak of Shadows
(mitigates all magical damage) and if all of those fail, they have
Cheat Death. And remember, if they are in danger and every other
defensive is on cooldown; they can always use
Vanish and escape
danger (it is also useful against any targeted spells coming their way, as
the enemy will just cancel the cast and recast the ability on someone else). Finally,
Rogues have some self-sustain coming from
Crimson Vial, which can help
them in a critical situation, and if they decide to talent
Leeching Poison
they will gain 10% Leech (which helps them heal based on damage done)!
Mobility: Assassination Rogue's mobility is amazing, not just
from the baseline Sprint ability, but also the option to have
Shadowstep,
a talent available to any Rogue specializations.
C-Tier
Frost Death Knight
June 06, Patch 10.1 update:
Frost Death Knight received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will increase the damage of Howling Blast by
20%. Consuming Rime increases the damage to your next
Frostwyrm's Fury by 5%, stacking up 10 times.
Pillar of Frost calls a
Frostwyrm's Fury at 30% effectiveness
that cannot Freeze enemies. In addition, the 4p tier-set bonus effect will
cause enemies to take 20% increased damage from your critical strikes
for 12 sec after being hit by
Frostwyrm's Fury. Bring days
are on the horizon for Frost Death Knight as he enters Season 2
much better than the previous season, with a higher damage profile.
All things considered, Frost DK will be moving several spots up, but still, a long
way to go in order to be labelled "competitive" Mythic+ specialization.
Utility: Frost Death Knight has great utility, with their
signature spells being Death Grip and
Anti-Magic Zone
(great party-utility). Death Knights have amazing
mob-control in Mythic+ due to the
Blinding Sleet and
Asphyxiate talents.
They are one of the few melee classes that have access to a "ranged" interrupt with
Mind Freeze being a 15-yard interrupt rather than regular melee range.
Frost Death Knight can also talent
Control Undead which will be
useful in some of the dungeons to have a pet fighting alongside them since they do
not rely on
Raise Dead to do damage, unlike Unholy. They can further
talent
Sacrificial Pact to get that extra kick of defensiveness.
Insidious Chill (located in the general talent tree) will also help their
tank survive better on boss fights. In addition, having the ability to combat res an ally
is quite valuable in any group composition with
Raise Ally. Coming to Dragonflight,
Death Knights will get additional offensive cooldowns as talent options
like
Empower Rune Weapon,
Abomination Limb, and
Soul Reaper.
Defensives: Frost Death Knight has strong defensive cooldowns
in the form of Icebound Fortitude,
Anti-Magic Shell, and
Lichborne
available to all of their specs, and can get an extra defensive if they chose
the
Death Pact talent. Their passive durability is also amazing;
Veteran of the Third War,
Will of the Necropolis (if talented),
and
Gloom Ward (if talented) are only part of what Death Knights have.
In case they have none of the abilities above available, they can still choose to spam
Death Strike and heal themselves!
Mobility: Frost Death Knight now has improved mobility. With
Wraith Walk (but remember, they cannot cast any abilities during it) and
Death's Advance (which can have 2 charges if they talent
Death's Echo),
they can escape dangerous situations that otherwise will kill. Do not forget to
hold at least 1 of the
Death's Advance charges for utility
(immunity to knockback effects).
Demonology Warlock
June 06, Patch 10.1 update:.
Demonology Warlock received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece set will increase the damage of Demonbolt by 15%.
Consuming a
Demonic Core reduces the cooldown of
Grimoire: Felguard
by 1 sec. In addition, their 4p bonus effect will increase the damage of
Grimoire: Felguard by 20%. While
Grimoire: Felguard is active,
all of your demons deal 20% additional damage. Demonology Warlock
will see a massive damage spike once you acquire your 4-piece tier-set. Your
burst single-target is among the highest in Mythic+, and sustained and burst AoE
damage is amazing, paired with an incredibly strong defensive profile. Utility on
behalf of Warlock specs is fantastic in 5-man content, providing "peel" for your
tank and support for your party members via
Healthstones. The only
detail holding you back here is your overall damage contribtuion, a slight
adjustment in that department will go a long way!
Utility: Demonology Warlock has access to a unique pet-interrupt
with Axe Toss, which also stuns the target for 4 seconds. They and
other Warlocks, are the only specializations in the game that
have access to curse effects which are great utility for any Mythic+ party.
They have
Curse of Weakness and, if they chose to talent
Curses of Enfeeblement
(which they do at all cost), they will have access to
Curse of Tongues and
Curse of Exhaustion, which can be further bolstered by the
Amplify Curse
talent. Apart from this, Warlock has access to a single-target
crowd-control,
Fear, the option to choose between a single-target disruption
effect or mass Fear with
Mortal Coil/
Howl of Terror, a
Banish
effect, and an AoE stun with
Shadowfury. One of the reasons why
they might be the party-favorite is because they can provide an unlimited
supply of
Healthstone, a quite valuable healing tonic that
does NOT share the cooldown of the regular Health Potion.
Going forward to Dragonflight, they can gain access (if talented) to
Shadowflame, a powerful AoE slow effect. If you think that is
the end of their party-wide utility, hold on until you find out that
they also have a
Demonic Gateway which is incredibly useful
in Mythic+, allowing you to create some truly unique skips.
They are also one of the few specializations in the game that have a combat-resurrection
to save an ally with
Soulstone.
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Warlock has historically
been one of the most durable ranged classes with access to several abilities
to reduce their damage taken (on demand) like Unending Resolve,
which can be further improved by
Strength of Will or
Dark Accord
if talented, and
Dark Pact (if talented). There are also a few ways
to passively mitigate damage, such as with
Soul Leech, which can be bolstered
by the
Fel Armor,
Fel Synergy, and
Demon Skin talents,
Soul Link, which you can enhance with the
Profane Bargain talent,
and the
Abyss Walker talent choice. Their baseline health can also be
increased if they decide to talent
Demonic Fortitude,
making them a real raid boss in dungeons. In other words, they will not have
any issues surviving even the hardest encounters presented to them.
Mobility: Demonology Warlock's overall playstyle has a healthy
mix of instant casts and casts that require them to stay still. If they do time
their globals precisely, they will not lose much damage while moving. Their
mobility has nonetheless improved in Dragonflight. Outside of
Burning Rush and
Demonic Circle they also have the talent option of
Soulburn, which gives them access to a lot more utility, including an extra
50% movement speed once they cast
Demonic Circle: Teleport.
Arcane Mage
May 02, Patch 10.1 update:
Arcane Mage received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will enable Arcane Surge to increase Spell Damage
by an additional 10% and its duration is increased by 3 sec.
In addition, the 4p effect will reward you for every 24,000 Mana
spent on and during
Arcane Surge, your spell damage is increased
by 1% for 18 sec after
Arcane Surge fades, stacking up
to 25 times. Mana regeneration is increased by 50% for this
time. We all know Arcane Mage is capable of absolutely incredible
bursts, both in AoE and ST, while this might not be really the case in
Season 2, where our tier-set does add a big spike at the end of the burst,
rather than a frontload bump. The issue with this spec is high ramp-up time
which will make it extremely hard to pull off your rotation on low / mid-key
levels where mobs don't live that long. On top of this, the spec might be one
of the hardest to play, meaning you don't get to see its full value in a pug
environment or in the hands of the average player. I have my doubts seeing
Arcane being played at all, given how good Fire mage is, but if you want to
go that road, remember that: Your utility is great, as every mage spec,
your single-target will be good too, and so is your priority-target damage, but
a large part of your AoE will be capped at 4 targets and your gameplay
will be relatively hard to adapt!
Utility: Mage's party-wide utility is among the best in Mythic+:
First, they are one of the few classes that have a " Bloodlust buff" with
Time Warp. They also provide group-wide Intellect with
Arcane Intellect,
making it incredibly valuable if your group runs multiple casters. They have
access to a root effect with
Frost Nova — yes, it breaks if you
deal damage, but at least for a second, they can give breathing room — which
can help your tank to "kite" away mobs if needed, or to further help tank
they can also offer
Cone of Cold, one of the highest slows in the game
(80%). The Mage specs also have the option to have
Ring of Frost (great AoE CC). They further have access to
Dragon's Breath, previously only available to Fire Mages and now
a talent option for all Mage specializations,
which improves the mob control in their group. In the general tree, they can
also find
Blast Wave, which can be used not only to slow the enemies
but also to also add a minor knockback effect that will stop their
ongoing casts. Their on-demand crowd-control,
Polymorph, has no cooldown,
essentially allowing them to "spam-CC" if needed (although only one enemy can
be CC'd at a time unless they run the
Mass Polymorph talent). There is also
access to
Invisibility (or
Greater Invisibility if talented),
allowing them to never worry if their Invisibility Potion is on cooldown for any
unplanned skip in Mythic+. They are one of the few DPS classes that
have access to a
Curse dispel with
Remove Curse. To top off their
utility, they are the only class that can "dispel" an enemy beneficial effect by stealing
it for themselves through
Spellsteal, and also access to
Slow Fall
(which can be used for some Mythic+ skips).
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Arcane Mage is quite a durable spec,
with several options to mitigate incoming damage. First, they have
Mirror Image, which not only gives them a 20% damage
reduction, but also prevents them from dying if they end up beating
their tank's threat, followed by a 60% damage reduction for 3 sec
if they choose to spec
Greater Invisibility. Second, they have access to
Prismatic Barrier and also the unique ability of
Alter Time,
which can be used offensively to change positions or defensively
after any unavoidable critical damage. Finally, they have an immunity with
Ice Block, which is a valuable asset in any dungeon.
Mobility: Although Arcane Mage can quickly swap positions
because of Blink (or
Shimmer), which is off the Global Cooldown
and can be cast during any other spell, their rotation will
not allow them to freely move; therefore, the playstyle will feel more "grounded."
Unholy Death Knight
May 02, Patch 10.1 update:
Unholy Death Knight received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece set will increase the Death Coil and
Epidemic
damage by 10%. Casting
Death Coil or
Epidemic grants a stack
of
Master of Death, up to 20.
Dark Transformation consumes
Master of Death and grants 1% Mastery for each stack for 25 sec.
In addition, the 4p bonus will enable
Army of the Dead to grant 20
stacks of
Master of Death. When
Death Coil or
Epidemic consumes
Sudden Doom, gain 1 extra stack of
Master of Death and 10%
Mastery foy 6 sec. The consistent damage coming from Unholy DK will
definitely be a great asset among any Mythic+ group. Your defensive cooldowns
are quite strong compared to the rest of the classes, all together paired with
incredibly strong burst damage. Unholy is one of the specs where it really benefits
playing within a premade group that can allocate rather large pulls within your
cooldown windows. If that is not met, sadly the spec is at most mediocre in the
damage department. I expect it to perform great across higher key levels or
professional Mythic+, but within your average key level, further damage adjustments
are needed to justify a higher placement.
Utility: Unholy Death Knight has great utility, with their
signature spells being Death Grip and
Anti-Magic Zone
(great party-utility). Death Knights have amazing
mob-control in Mythic+ due to the
Blinding Sleet and
Asphyxiate talents.
They are one of the few melee classes that have access to a "ranged" interrupt with
Mind Freeze being a 15-yard interrupt rather than regular melee range.
Insidious Chill (located in the general talent tree) will also help their
tank survive better on boss fights. In addition, having the ability to combat res an ally
is quite valuable in any group composition with
Raise Ally. Coming to Dragonflight,
Death Knights will get additional offensive cooldowns as talent options
like
Empower Rune Weapon,
Abomination Limb, and
Soul Reaper.
Defensives: Unholy Death Knight has strong defensive cooldowns
in the form of Icebound Fortitude,
Anti-Magic Shell, and
Lichborne
available to all of their specs, and can get an extra defensive if they chose
the
Death Pact talent. Their passive durability is also amazing;
Veteran of the Third War,
Will of the Necropolis (if talented),
and
Gloom Ward (if talented) are only part of what Death Knights have.
In case they have none of the abilities above available, they can still choose to spam
Death Strike and heal themselves!
Mobility: Unholy Death Knight now has improved mobility. With
Wraith Walk (but remember, they cannot cast any abilities during it) and
Death's Advance (which can have 2 charges if they talent
Death's Echo),
they can escape dangerous situations that otherwise will kill. Do not forget to
hold at least 1 of the
Death's Advance charges for utility
(immunity to knockback effects).
Affliction Warlock
May 23, Patch 10.1 update:
Affliction Warlocks received a brand new tier set leading towards Season 2.
Their 2-piece bonus will reduce the cooldown of Vile Taint by 5 sec
and
Phantom Singularity by 12 sec, while increasing both of their
damage by 60%. In addition, their 4p tier-set bonus will add a follow-up
effect, after using
Phantom Singularity, called Infirmity until
the duration is over. The same effect will also be present after
Vile Taint cast, but
for 10 sec. Infirmity increases damage taken by 10%.
Affliction Warlock will yet remain on the mediocre side of the rankings, as
the specializations do not really have a lot of flexibility in Mythic+.
The lack of strong hybrid builds providing great single-target and
AOE damage profile diminishes your rankings the most, let alone your
viability compared to Demonology / Destruction. Warlock utility
and survivability have never been an issue in Mythic+; as Season 2 is
on the way, that will remain the case. With an attractive damage-over-time
mixed with direct-spells playstyle, a slight change in numbers could really
shift the DPS meta, but as of now, you will remain in the lower bottom
half of the rankings.
Utility: Warlock is the only class in the game that has access
to Curse effects which are great utility for any Mythic+ party. They have
Curse of Weakness and, if they chose to talent
Curses of Enfeeblement
(which they do at all cost), they will have access to
Curse of Tongues and
Curse of Exhaustion, which can be further bolstered by the
Amplify Curse
talent. Apart from this, Warlock has access to a single-target
crowd-control,
Fear, the option to choose between a single-target disruption
effect or mass Fear with
Mortal Coil/
Howl of Terror, a
Banish
effect, and an AoE stun with
Shadowfury. One of the reasons why
they might be the party-favorite is because they can provide an unlimited
supply of
Healthstone, a quite valuable healing tonic that
does NOT share the cooldown of the regular Health Potion.
Going forward to Dragonflight, they can gain access (if talented) to
Shadowflame, a powerful AoE slow effect. If you think that is
the end of their party-wide utility, hold on until you find out that
they also have a
Demonic Gateway which is incredibly useful
in Mythic+, allowing you to create some truly unique skips.
They are also one of the few specializations in the game that have a combat-resurrection
to save an ally with
Soulstone.
Defensives and Self-Sustain: Warlock has historically
been one of the most durable ranged classes with access to several abilities
to reduce their damage taken (on demand) like Unending Resolve,
which can be further improved by
Strength of Will or
Dark Accord
if talented, and
Dark Pact (if talented). There are also a few ways
to passively mitigate damage, such as with
Soul Leech, which can be bolstered
by the
Fel Armor,
Fel Synergy, and
Demon Skin talents,
Soul Link, which you can enhance with the
Profane Bargain talent,
and the
Abyss Walker talent choice. Their baseline health can also be
increased if they decide to talent
Demonic Fortitude,
making them a real raid boss in dungeons. In other words, they will not have
any issues surviving even the hardest encounters presented to them.
Mobility: Affliction Warlock's mobility has improved
in Dragonflight. Outside of Burning Rush and
Demonic Circle
they also have the talent option of
Soulburn, which gives
them access to a lot more utility, including an extra 50% movement
speed once they cast
Demonic Circle: Teleport.
Changelog
- 06 Jun. 2023: Further Adjustments based on the most recent hotfixes.
- 23 May 2023: Further Adjustments based on the most recent hotfixes.
- 07 May 2023: Further Adjustments based on the most recent hotfixes.
- 01 May 2023: Fully Updated for Season 2 of Dragonflight.
- 21 Mar. 2023: Further Adjustments based on the upcoming 10.0.7 Patch.
- 04 Mar. 2023: Further Adjustments based on the most recent round of changes.
- 14 Feb. 2023: Further Adjustments based on the most recent Patch.
- 25 Jan. 2023: Further Adjustments based on the upcoming 10.0.5 Patch.
- 04 Jan. 2022: Minor update based on the further testing.
- 21 Dec. 2022: Further Adjustments based on the latest class changes.
- 30 Nov. 2022: Adjusted Frost Mage's position.
- 18 Nov. 2022: Updated with the initial iteration for Season 1 of Dragonflight.
This guide has been written by Petko, one of the top M+ players of all time. He has accomplished several Europe and World #1 Team and Solo Seasonal rankings with multiple specialization and classes throughout the seasons. Moreover, he competes in MDI and streams his runs live on Twitch and and share his personal opinion on YouTube and Twitter.
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