PvP DPS Spec Rankings: A Tier List For Midnight (Patch 12.0.1) (Patch 12.0.1 / Midnight)

Windwalker Monk has received a bit of a mini rework, and is looking to be very powerful in season 1. It has great damage, high burst, good utility and great mobility. In addition, its best compositions are also looking to be very strong, and it is therefore an S tier pick.

Unholy Death Knight is potentially the best melee in the game right now, dealing ridiculous amounts of damage, with great range and one of the best ranged slows in the game. Unholy is very overtuned, the only thing really holding it back is its options of compositions, but in the ones it can play it will shine bright. It is an S tier pick this season.

Subtlety Rogue is looking to be the most dominant melee. Incredible burst damage, the best crowd control in the game, decent defensives and a wide variety of compositions with the current meta prediction, Subtlety is the apex predator for season 1, putting it highest in the S tier.

Arcane Mage is very powerful this season, bringing strong damage and control, with a very strong burst window. Arcane is a very good counter pick to melees, and offers unique utility through easy instant slows and Improved Mass Invisibility. Overall, arcane is shaping up to be an S tier pick, but does require some skill to pull off, in comparison to Fire Mage.

Fire Mage is potentially the best caster coming into Midnight, relatively easy to execute damage and a powerful burst tool through Combustion. Fire is simply big on numbers at present, it does not bring anything unique compared to the other mage specializations, except easy access to large amounts of damage, which is enough to make it competitively viable. It lands in the S tier for season 1.

Shadow Priest does ridiculous damage and is incredibly durable. It is a caster that fits in a lot of compositions, able to spec with melees like Warrior and Rogue, or a caster like Warlock. Shadow brings a lot of pressure, and decent crowd control for healers, making it an easy S tier placement.

Assassination Rogue has been saved by some last minute buffs, bringing it up to the A+ tier, as it has potential to form some powerful compositions with the meta casters of the season. With great damage, some hefty anti-caster crowd control and good peels, Assassination is really strong in a caster oriented or rot focused meta.

Devastation Evoker has since its inception, been a very easy to play high damage dealing caster, and this season is no different. Devastation is very powerful and almost untouchable into melees, but can find itself struggling a bit into casters. Devastation is an S tier specialization right now, but falls down to A+ tier because Mage and Warlock are shaping up to be very strong as well.

Balance Druid is arguably among the strongest caster right now. The damage output is crazy, as Incarnation: Chosen of Elune is one of the strongest burst buttons in the game. Balance brings good utility, decent defensives and fits well with the other predicted meta specializations. If you plan to play dps druid, Balance lands a solid A+ tier, with the potential to jump to S tier with a few meta shifts.

Destruction Warlock is shaping to be a very powerful caster, with Chaos Bolt still being one of the most threatening abilities in the game. Destruction carries a lot of crowd control, and strong passive defensives, but struggles into melee cleaves without a proper composition to help it. There is potential for Destruction to have the best composition in the game through Shadowplay and/or MLX, giving it a safe A+ tier.

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

Demonology Warlock is all around a great generalist pick, with strong damage output, incredible instant cast crowd control and performs very well into other casters. Demonology with its current tunning, is shaping up to be one of the stronger casters in the A+ tier, able to fit in with other casters as it brings Mortal Wounds to a composition through Legion Strike.

Frost Mage has strong potential, being not quite as strong as the other two Mage specializations, but also not far behind at all. Its main weakness is its reliance on casting its burst damage, but can be easily offset by a skilled player and a good composition. It lands in the A+ tier, with the potential to go up to S tier with the other Mage specializations.

Survival Hunter received a bit of a mini-rework coming into Midnight, and overall does a lot of damage. Hunter in general brings a lot of utility, with survival having a slight edge over the other hunter specializations, due to the ease of landing Freezing Trap with Harpoon. It stands as a solid A tier pick, able to fit in with a decent amount of compositions and bringing a bunch of tools to each.

Retribution Paladin is strong, still bringing arguable the best utility in the game, with easy to execute damage, and good range on abilities. The specialization is also very easy to play for most, with its skill ceiling lying in the utility. You will see decent performance on this specialization, giving it a firm A tier at its current tunning. In shuffle, Retribution easily jumps to S tier, as immunities like Blessing of Protection and Divine Shield gain a lot more value.

Marksmanship Hunter has potential to land in a decent spot this season, due to the strength of Mage and Warlock, giving it good matchups. The damage, however, leaves something to be desired, and the loss of Scatter Shot is going to impact your survivability a lot. It remains in the B tier, but will likely see development as the season begins and gear levels go up.

Beast Mastery Hunter landing firmly in the B tier, the saving grace for Beast Mastery is the current predicted meta looking to be very caster oriented. The loss of Scatter Shot is going to impact your survivability a lot, and the damage you deal is not all that great. It remains an easy to pick up specialization, decent for 2v2 and good for learning the class initially.

Havoc Demon Hunter is a mediocre melee, which suffered a lot from the pruning. A lot of defensive value was lost, and some CC was taken out as well, leaving Havoc a bit bare with its toolkit. A skilled player can still make this specialization work good, relying on Glimpse for your primary defense, and still having access to really good compositions through Hero Cleave and DH+WW. This puts it in B-tier, with potential to move up as the season unfolds.

Fury Warrior is shaping up to be a middle of the pack melee. The damage is not the best, not nearly as powerful as the S tiers, but still brings decent pressure and defensives to the team. Warrior may struggle as its counters are looking to be performing at a high rate.

Feral Druid is kind of similar to Restoration Druid, in that it gains a lot of value with skill. Feral fits well with a lot of the meta casters, but is a lot harder to gain value out of compared to a similar playstyle like Assassination Rogue. Tunning wise, Feral is underperforming a little, but hits a solid B tier, with potential to climb to A tier.

However, other than bringing Wicked Claws, it is hard to justify bringing Feral over Balance right now.

Devourer Demon Hunter is the new specialization added to the game, which leaves it as a bit of a wild card. It has yet to be mastered, and the compositions that fit with this specialization are being discovered actively. Currently, from beta testing and the general agreement in the high ranked community, Devourer is a B tier specialization, being mediocre at the present skill level and meta, with the potential to coin-flip its way up or down the tiers.

Arms Warrior is not looking too hot for Midnight. The class kit itself is very powerful, and the defensives are good, but the tunning for damage output is very weak for Arms Warrior. It does not help that the meta is shaping up to include a lot of counters. At present, it is a C tier spec, with a couple of very likely damage buffs incoming, it can easily jump up multiple tiers.

Outlaw Rogue is a bit of a unique melee in a unique situation. Historically, it is 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 even be the strongest Rogue specialization. This is only recommended, if you really wish to push your skill to the max, with other like-minded players. For the average player, this specialization rests very comfortably in the C tier.

Enhancement Shaman struggles with having a proper identity in PvP. It has some of the strongest burst in the game as Stormbringer with Ascendance, but it is easily shut down. Enhancement has decent utility against casters, but often gets crushed into other melees. This specialization is placed in the C tier, as it does not have a lot of unique strengths, other than its incredible burst, but low offensive crowd control and extremely limited compositions.

Affliction Warlock is simply undertuned, not doing enough damage to justify bringing a rot playstyle. It relies too much on casting a single spell school, without the instant casts other casters have to get their damage out. Affliction is also prone to being targeted, so not a lot of composition help can be utilized outside of bringing a Rogue. Currently, it is an C tier pick, and falls very behind Shadow Priest in performance as a rot caster.

Elemental Shaman has the past couple of expansions been a very strong meta caster, able to do a bunch of damage, powerful burst with Ascendance and great utility. This season, however, the damage tunning seems to be on the low side for elemental. It is placed in C tier purely for the damage output, with damage buffs it will easily jump a tier or two up.

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, putting it in the D tier.

Augmentation Evoker has been suffering since mid-Dragonflight, its design as a support specialization not working too great in PvP, as it fails to deliver pressure. It does, however, offer really strong burst damage, that unfortunately sit on too long of a cooldown to be competitively viable. Augmentation is niche, and a struggle, but deserves a spot as a D tier specialization, not unplayable, but never optimal in any composition.