PvP DPS Spec Rankings: A Tier List For Midnight (Patch 12.1) (Patch 12.0.7 / Midnight)

Subtlety Rogue ruled early Season 1, and ended up as one of the strongest melees by the end of it. This season does not seem to change any of that, and it is likely going to be as strong of a choice as Assassination is.

Arms Warrior ended as arguably the best melee in the game of Season 1, and Season 2 gives it that potential again. The PvP slow changes greatly affect Warrior, making it much easier to stick to targets and output damage. Expect many Arms Warriors to fill the ladder.

Affliction Warlock was justly saved with damage buffs last Season, ending it as one of the better casters, and this season does not appear to be changing that for Affliction. It will potentially be the best caster in Season 2, and if not, it is a solid top-end caster, that pairs well with some of the meta melees.

Retribution Paladin was a good pick in Season 1 and nothing seems to be different for Season 2. It is still a solid melee, and works great with Hunter who may be in for another season of dominance. In shuffle, Retribution easily jumps to S tier, as immunities like Blessing of Protection and Divine Shield gain a lot more value.

Enhancement Shaman is still a very niche specialization, but with Season 2 it has the damage numbers to back it up. Enhancement also got a small buff to its healing, which will likely not affect its overall viability all that much, but it helps keep it firmly rooted as a solid melee pick. Your choice of composition is very limited, however, but it can work together with a Warrior.

Havoc Demon Hunter ended Season 1 very well, sharing a spot as the best melee specialization in the game together with Arms Warrior. Nothing seems to be different for the coming season, leaving Havoc as a potential candidate for the best melee in the game, with crazy damage output, a broad toolkit, and it remains the statistically hardest-to-kill DPS in the game.

Unholy Death Knight ended Season 1 fairly strong, primarily running with a Hunter for one of the strongest compositions in the game. Hunter is still looking to be one of the strongest classes for the season, which will more than likely also cause Unholy to remain a top contender for Season 2. However, it might still fall victim to the high dampening and composition-variety in a shuffle environment.

Beast Mastery Hunter was already strong and is going to come into Season 2 even stronger. Odds are very high that we are looking at a Hunter dominated season, as both Beast Mastery and Marksmanship are doing very well.

Balance Druid has received a new dispel protection through Stellar Protection, along with a couple of buffs to its damage. The expectation so far is that once a Balance players gets their hands on their tier set, they might end up becoming one of the top casters of the season.

Outlaw Rogue is a bit of a unique melee in a unique situation. Historically it was not that great of a PvP specialization for the average player, as it does not do that much damage. However, in the hands of players at the top end, Outlaw can be turned into the strongest Rogue spec. This is only recommended if you really wish to push your skill to the max, alongside other like-minded players who are fine with your journey to get there.

Assassination Rogue ended up as a great choice in the traditional RMP composition, and that does not seem to change much in Season 2, even giving it the option to pair it with Affliction Warlock instead of the traditional Mage pick. It saw some nerfs to their burst damage, but compensation buffs to sustained damage, which leaves Assassination a little bit weaker than last season, but it is still a solid choice.

Feral Druid had good compositions at the end of Season 1 due to Frost Mage, Unholy Death Knight, and Hunter all pairing well with it. There are no real changes coming to Feral with this season, so we might see a repeat of a strong Feral performance. As per usual, Feral has a high skill ceiling and will excel in the hands of a great player, while struggling a bit in the hands those who have yet to master it.

Windwalker Monk was very powerful in Season 1, and with Season 2 it is getting a little shift away from burst towards sustained damage instead. This leaves Windwalker as a great melee for that particular type of pressure. Not the best, but a solid choice for the season.

Elemental Shaman got many changes for PvE, but sadly none of the important ones apply to PvP, on top of a nerf to Ascendance. This unfortunately leaves an already very mediocre specialization in about the same position, if not worse, as before.

Devourer Demon Hunter was one of the most powerful specializations of Season 1, having enough damage to even kill through defensive buttons if they were in Void Metamorphosis; the spec was only truly held back by its sub-par defensives. However, it so far shapes up to be a rough season for Devourer, being one of the weaker specializations on the Public Test Realm after many changes to the spec. It is worth keeping an eye on Devourer though, as it also started out Season 1 as arguably the weakest caster in the game, but ended up as the strongest once people improved at playing, and figured out the best builds for this still very new spec.

Destruction Warlock got some love coming into this PvP season, giving it great potential to be a solid caster. Destruction has mostly struggled with needing excessive amounts of casts to put out damage, which players may find a bit easier now that their cast times have been reduced a little.

In shuffle you may struggle more, as you lack that safety net of a proper composition, but Destruction is still an overall strong selection.

Frost Mage lost a charge of Ice Barrier, and the slow changes will affect Frost quite dramatically. It is still a great caster, but with Hunter and Warlock being on the rise, it could end up being a grim season for Mage in general.

Marksmanship Hunter has received some changes and had Double Tap removed. This does hurt the burst potential of the class, but several sustained damage buffs have been made to compensate for it. Marksmanship is volatile for now, but looks positive for the start of Season 2, based on the gameplay on the Public Test Realm.

Fury Warrior received a damage buff and is now doing crazy damage, especially in cleave situations. Mountain Thane is contending for the best cleave in the game right now, with almost unhealable damage and pressure. Fury sadly just lacks survivability, and when playing into compositions where it cannot cleave, it will fall behind a lot of other melee spec.

Survival Hunter is looking to do quite well in Season 2, but the spec is overshadowed by Marksmanship and Beast Mastery. Similar to Feral, this specialization is highly favoured by those who master it, but it can be hard to compete with the meta, even when playing at the top of the skill ceiling.

Frost Death Knight has the same issues as it does pretty much every season. It is a niche spec that brings a powerful 1-minute cooldown burst, and then does pretty much nothing outside of Pillar of Frost. The specialization is due for a rework, and until then, more often than not, Frost will struggle in arena, forcing us to put it in the B tier.

Arcane Mage is a very strange specialization as of present. It does not do high enough burst to compete with the other mage specializations, and it has had its utility distributed to them as well, so it hardly brings anything unique. That leaves it as a bit of a wild card for the beginning of Season 2.

Fire Mage received a nerf to Combustion and a buff to damage outside of it. For PvP, that is really just a straight-up nerf and puts Fire in an even worse spot than it already was in during Season 1.

Devastation Evoker is greatly affected by the slow changes in PvP, and Unburdened Flight no longer immunes slows, instead causing your speed to be unable to be lowered, which is a bit of saving grace. Beyond these changes, not much is happening for Devastation, and it may in fact be a little bit weaker than last Season, where it already struggled.

Shadow Priest got a bit of a buff to their damage, but as always it is hard to justify bringing a Shadow over an Affliction Warlock. As Affliction is shaping up to be one of the best casters this season, Shadow thankfully pairs great together with one, giving the spec some hope of being a part of the meta.

Demonology Warlock remains one of the weaker casters, needing love from Blizzard to really perform in PvP again. Warlock as a class has a good skill ceiling, so if you are a great player you can still see some good results with this specialization, but more often than not you may find yourself struggling when comparing it to the other Warlock specs, or other classes entirely.

Augmentation Evoker has been suffering in PvP since it entered the game. Its design as a support specialization is still not working too great in PvP, failing to deliver the pressure a second DPS would offer. It does, however, provide really strong burst damage, that unfortunately sit on too long of a cooldown to be competitively viable. Augmentation is niche, and a struggle to play, but deserves a spot as a C tier specialization - not unplayable, but never optimal in any composition.