Balancing in an MMORPG is never perfect – WoW is no exception. Some of the most experienced theorycrafters have now published a tier list of the DpS classes in WoW Classic and also explain why which playing styles are extremely strong and others are absolutely exotic.
Although the balancing of the various classes is still loudly criticized in Battle for Azeroth, it has improved significantly compared to previous expansions. Especially in WoW (buy now)Classic there were serious differences. It’s not uncommon in Classic for one style of play to deal twice as much damage as another. Hybrid classes in particular have a hard time. They suffered from the developers’ point of view at the time that pure damage classes should do the job of damage splitter better than classes that can also heal a little on the side. And so magicians, warriors and villains took off their virtual trousers for all other DpS ways of playing back then. In return, many of the hybrids such as paladins, shamans or druids brought strong buffs to the raid, which sometimes increased the damage of the “pure” DpS classes considerably. So it was never the case that you didn’t want to have multiple classes in the raid at all. Only some were just seen as healers or supporters.
WoW Classic: There are no useless classes/playstyles
Not only do we keep emphasizing it, but theorycrafters don’t miss an opportunity to mention that there are no useless classes or playstyles in Classic either. Of course there are things that one class can do better than the other, and in WoW Classic it’s often the same classes that can excel. Nevertheless, all classes have their right to exist. And with the right preparation, the right consumables and well played, there is no content in WoW Classic that you can’t compete with weaker class combinations – it’s just a little more difficult.
WoW Classic: The best DpS classes in the raid
The theorycrafters have divided the classes into several tiers (categories), as is now customary. S(upper) is the top category, followed by A, B, C, and D. Also, and actually much more important than the pure list, they give reasons as to why some classes are high or low. And it’s not always just about pure DpS.
Bull
magician
They are the kings of raids. In the first few raids, they still suffer a little from the fact that there isn’t that much spell damage on the armor, but this changes drastically later on. Nevertheless, they are also the strongest damage dealers right from the start, since magic classes have enormously powerful consumables that are far superior to those of melee fighters. Since they also have a rich arsenal of spells against single targets and for area damage, they are without question the strongest DpS class in WoW Classic.
A tier
Sorcerer
The sorcerers also benefit from the magic damage of the consumables and the later strong armor. In theory, they’re almost on par with mages, except that their area damage is slightly weaker and they also need melee range to do so. In practice, however, they slide down a notch below magicians. This is due to Warlock threat generation. This is a lot higher than that of the magicians, which means that the dark magicians often cannot pull through unhindered. As a result, her damage drops a bit depending on the fight. Still, they are excellent damage dealers.
warrior
The archetypes of each MMORPG are also among the strongest fighters in WoW Classic. They are undoubtedly the most powerful melee fighters in the game. This is mainly due to their high base damage, thanks to which they can already generate enormous DpS numbers in the level phase. As melee fighters, however, they are very dependent on their weapon and cannot compensate for a weaker weapon with strong consumables. As such, they are A-Tier before and during the first raid, and gradually move up to S-Tier in later raids if they have the right weapons.
rogue
The villains are similar to the warriors. Thanks to the weaker consumables, they are massively behind the magic classes at the start of the raids. With increasing equipment and good daggers, however, they gradually become one of the best DpS classes for single-target damage.
B tier
Hunter
They are the weakest of the pure DpS classes. Both before and after the first raids, they cannot keep up with the top damage dealers. However, their Tier 1 set is extremely strong, which is why they are very strong at the end of Molten Core. Thanks to useful abilities like removing anger effects or the aura for more attack power, he is a welcome guest in every raid.
Feral Combat Druid
The cats can only keep up with the other DpS classes if they use the powershift play style, in which they constantly switch between forms. But they need a very specific helm (which Leatherworkers can craft) and lots of mana to do so. However, since the fights in the raid last for a very long time, the DpS of the cats drops rapidly at some point. Thanks to strong buffs, such as the 5 additional percent critical hit rating, you can still find wild combat druids in the raid from time to time.
C tier
Shadow Priest
Even the shadowy priests are only occasionally seen in a raid. Unfortunately, the damage dealt is already very low, but in the raid there is also the limitation of the debuffs on the opponent. These 16 slots usually go to other classes, so priests have to play with the handbrake on in addition to their own weaknesses. However, they make their target more vulnerable to shadow damage, which provides increased damage from the warlocks in the raid
Retribution Paladins
Even rarer than Shadow Priests are Retribution Paladins. They increase the holy damage of the other players, but this does not affect any other class apart from them. In general, their damage simply cannot keep up with the other classes. Although they bring strong buffs to the raid, they can also be distributed by the strong holy paladins. Only at the very beginning of the first raid, when the consumables still have a relatively high impact, does the paladin not look so bad. Because he benefits from both buffs for melee combat and those that increase spell power. Nevertheless, the retaliator always remains one of the weakest damage dealers during WoW Classic.
D tier
balance druid
The owls bring a small bonus to their party members’ spell damage, but that’s not enough to compensate for the low damage and, above all, the massive mana problems. They also cannot use DoTs in the raid due to the debuff limitation. The other attacks cost a lot of blue juice and do very little damage. All the other helpful abilities of the druid can also work the healer, which is why owls are hardly used in raids.
shamans
Both the elemental and enhancer shamans suffer from the same things as the owls. The general damage is significantly lower than with other classes and all useful things of the class bring the healing shaman just as well. There are also massive mana problems here as soon as the fights last a little longer. Shamans as damage dealers are therefore not only unpopular, but also very weak.
As a final note, just because one class/playstyle is better than another doesn’t mean you absolutely need it. If you don’t want to box Ragnaros back into the fire with 35 players, no consumables and bad equipment, you can get by with almost any combination. This also applies to tanks and healers, by the way. With 20 shadow priests in the raid, it might take a little longer than if there were 20 magicians – but the bosses will still fall over if you play properly.
What is WoW Classic?
World of Warcraft Classic is a true recreation of the original WoW as you know it from 2006. All parts of the game – from combat mechanics and talent trees to character models and zones – have been recreated, contributing to the authentic experience.
Getting Started
All players with an active World of Warcraft subscription or game time on their accounts have access toWoW Classic at no additional cost.
- Open the Blizzard Battle.net Desktop App and select World of Warcraft from the menu.
- Select World of Warcraft Classic from the Version menu. If you have more than one World of Warcraft account, you’ll see a second Account drop-down list. In this column, select the active account you want to play with.
- Click the Install button. The progress bar will tell you when your game is ready to play.
- Click the Play button when the installation is complete.
You will need to select the realm you want to play on from several different realm types. Make sure you choose the same realm as your friends – in World of Warcraft Classic, you can only group with characters that are on the same realm as you!
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