Season 3 Starts With a Surprise New S-Tier Spec

Update: We have some more class tuning coming since the article was published and the tier lists updated. You can find the changes here and they might just change the top specs, as both Frosts get nerfed, and 7 other specs get changes.

Original Post

Season 3 is almost here! We have the final data as to where the specs will be starting out, courtesy of the final class tuning pass, and now it’s time to see what it all means! We have two mages in S tier, both DKs, and two Rogues in the first two tiers, two Warlocks in the second, with the rest being single entries for the classes.

The DPS Changes

We see changes at the top already as we now have two Frosts to contend with in the S-tier! The Death Knight joins the Mage and makes a triumphant return after being away a few PTR cycles and the patch launch. We now have four S-tier specs, with Assassination still leading the way and two Mages present.

The “Best-Candidates” list shrinks by one with the DK moving up, but they’re still all just as likely to go S-tier once we get some live dungeon data. We have another Death Knight on the rise here, as Unholy also bursts up, taking the top spot and 5th overall from Subtlety. The final move from the launch week standings in the top tiers is Elemental, which takes down Destruction for 7th place overall.

The Top Tiers

Now let’s take a look at the full top tiers and the many DPS specs populating them. These are curated and made by our guide writer Petko.

You can check out the full tier list with all the categories, as well as commentary for each spec and all the utility they bring to groups in our guide here.

And here’s Petko himself explaining it all in detail:

That’s what the specs will be starting the Season 3 dungeons as, and we’ll see just how much more tuning is in store by the end of the week. Mages, DKs, Rogues, and Warlocks are certainly doing very well in the DPS department, so let’s see how long they can hold on to their power!