WOTLK Best PvE DPS Class Tier List - Wrath Classic

Note: This Tier List has been updated as of November 8th, 2022.

Players might be having trouble deciding which class to play in WoW Classic: Wrath of the Lich King. Tier lists can often be a helpful tool to decide which class and specialization to play. Ultimately, the decision of which class is the most fun to play is different for each player. One basic metric to use is the amount of damage that a particular class can output in any given scenario or their Damage Per Second (DPS).

Be sure to check out our other Tier Lists for WotLK:

The majority of classes are middle of the pack in terms of performance, however, there are some obvious winners and losers throughout the expansion. All classes have at least one specialization that performs well at some point in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, so players shouldn't worry too much about their class choice. Many players often choose to change specializations depending on the different phases of the expansion.

WotLK DPS Rankings Criteria

This tier list ranks all DPS specializations for their performance across the entire expansion. We compare each specialization based on a number of key factors such as Single-Target, Cleave, and Area of Effect (AoE) damage as well as any Utility in the form of Buffs and Debuffs that add value to the group. It's also important to factor in the relative difficulty to play each specialization to its fullest potential.

Some specializations also perform better depending on the type of content they find themselves in. The theoretical performance of a specialization in any given encounter varies depending on a multitude of factors such as shorter or longer duration fights, if the damage is largely single-target, cleave, or AoE, and if it favors ranged or melee classes more. It's also worth noting that some specializations have gear dependencies at various stages of the expansion. The most notable example of this is the lack of Armor Penetration in early stages of the expansion that hampers physical damage dealers. In addition to this, the composition of the group will also affect the maximum performance of any particular class.

This list takes all of the above factors into consideration and provides a brief description of where each class can have the opportunity to rise to the top of the throne or fall to the bottom of the pit.

WotLK Classic DPS Class Specialization Rankings

Click the name specialization in the table below to quickly jump to the section that explains the reasoning for their placement.

S Tier DPS Specializations in Wrath of the Lich King

Unholy Death Knight

S-Tier: Unholy Death Knight's (UH) damage is practically on par with the Frost Death Knight. They, too, benefit from magic-based damage where other classes struggle with lower armor penetration. Where Unholy shines is in longer duration AoE encounters where their diseases can provide incredible damage. In addition, Unholy Death Knights can make use of Shadowmourne once it becomes available, and at that point Unholy noticeably outpaces Frost. To get the most out of Unholy, just like with Frost, it also requires a more involved damage rotation.

• Utility:
  • Ebon Plaguebringer: increases magical damage taken debuff (shared with Balance Druids).

Assassination Rogue

S Tier: Assassination Rogues are a really strong class all throughout the expansion, however, Combat Rogues scale better with gear as the expansion progresses. They perform slightly better during earlier phases than Combat Rogues due to the nature of the shorter fights, but on longer fights and fights with cleave, Assassination Rogues fall a bit behind.

With the right slow dagger in the main hand such as a Titansteel Spellblade with Instant Poison on it, rogues also do insane AoE damage.

• Utility:
  • Master Poisoner: Increases crit chance debuff (shared with Retribution Paladins and Elemental Shamans).
  • All Rogues: Tricks of the Trade provides increases damage and threat redirection.

Combat Rogue

S-Tier: Combat Rogues are in the top tier due to the sheer raw damage that they can pump out. They do suffer early on due to a lack of armor penetration on gear, but once that is no longer a problem they absolutely dominate the damage charts. Most Combat Rogues will start out as Assassination as their damage isn’t hindered as much by Armor Penetration. They provide some specific group utility and like all rogues bring Tricks of the Trade.

• Utility:
  • Savage Combat: Increases physical damage taken debuff (shared with Arms Warriors).
  • All Rogues: Tricks of the Trade provides increases damage and threat redirection.

Fire Mage

S-Tier: Fire Mages start out fairly weak early on as they need a significant amount of crit to really excel. They have superb single-target and AoE damage, decent Cleave damage, and don’t suffer from mana issues in longer fights. Their rotation is fairly simple only involving a few abilities for most encounters. However, many Players will start as Arcane as they have a significant advantage with Hit Rating from Talents and then switch to Fire once more crit has been obtained.

• Utility:
  • Improved Scorch: Increases spell crit chance debuff (Shared with Warlocks and Frost Mages).

Affliction Warlock

S-Tier: Affliction Warlocks (Afflic) are a top-tier DPS throughout most of the expansion. While there may be some minor ups and downs with gear sets and short fights, they are strong in nearly every measure. They have excellent single-target damage with their vast array of damage-over-time skills. They also have great AoE and cleave potential with multi-dotting. And finally, the potential bonus damage in the execute phase with Drain Soul and Death’s Embrace. Not only are they great damage dealers, but they are also the best at providing the spell critical strike chance debuff.

• Utility:
  • Improved Shadow Bolt: Increases spell crit chance debuff (shared with Frost and Fire Mages).
  • Curse of the Elements: Reduced magic resistance and Increases magic damage taken debuff (shared with Unholy DK and Balance Druid).

A Tier DPS Specializations in Wrath of the Lich King