Good day! It’s Librarian Husky. With the release of “The War Within” in less than a couple of weeks, classes and all their designs are in their final stages of adjustments before launch day. What we see now is likely what we’ll get. Today, we’re going to bring you the top five best classes heading into World of Warcraft: The War Within. These rankings are based on each class’s performance in damage, tanking, and healing, their hero talent tree design, how fun and impactful their rotation is, and how good the class feels to play. We also consider the skill curve of each class, particularly if it’s relatively straightforward.

Death Knight Dominance in The War Within

I think everybody saw this one coming because the Death Knight and all three of its specs have been absolutely dominant throughout The War Within beta. Whether it’s spreading diseases and chunking enemies down with your AOE Vamper Strikes with Unholy Death Knight, dealing massive obliterates and Frost Strikes to deliver explosive Frost damage with Frost DK, or using crucial crowd control and defensive capabilities by gripping enemies in constantly with Blood Death Knight, all three specs are performing exceptionally well.

Unparalleled Performance and Utility

When it comes to performance, all three Death Knight specs are doing amazing. You have your battle res to revive allies in combat, your Anti-Magic Zone to keep allies alive in raids, and your fantastic crowd control abilities. I am loving Death Knight as a melee class heading into The War Within. The class offers super fun, high-damage capabilities along with very solid defenses.

The Appeal of Three Hero Talent Trees

In my opinion, one of the biggest factors that makes Death Knight so great is the fact that they have three hero talent trees that are all super fun, engaging, impactful, and greatly enhance your build variety. This is so rare in a class heading into The War Within. You have the Riders of the Apocalypse talent tree, which summons the Army of the Dead to help you in combat, where each of your Riders individually casts separate abilities to deal damage or bring more utility.

Exploring the Sand Lane Hero Talent Tree

The Sand Lane hero talent tree allows you to tap into your inner vampire, using vampiric strikes to greatly enhance your combat abilities with improved haste and impressive AOE damage during your cooldown windows. This tree offers a unique and powerful approach to combat, making it a strong choice for those who prefer sustained damage and self-enhancement.

The Deathbringer Hero Talent Tree

Finally, there’s the Deathbringer hero talent tree, which has been nerfed multiple times, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t effective in the right hands. When used properly, you can take out your giant scythe to slash enemies multiple times in a row, dealing massive damage. This might be the primary reason why it keeps getting nerfed repeatedly.

Balancing the Power of All Three Specs

To be honest, at this point, all three specs for DK are so close in power that they’re almost equal. Frost DK, whether through AOE obliterate and frost strike builds or the typical Breath of Sindragosa, deals consistent damage. Unholy DK continues to deliver high damage with both the Riders of the Apocalypse and Sand Lane hero talent trees. Lastly, Blood Death Knight remains a powerful option with its exceptional crowd control and defensive capabilities.

The Strength of Death Knight’s Self-Sustain and Crowd Control

The Death Knight class is incredibly strong, particularly with its self-sustain through Death Strike and various crowd control abilities like Gorin’s Grasp and Abomination Limb. These abilities allow you to group up a bunch of mobs together, making it easier for your DPS to take them down quickly. From top to bottom, Death Knight is performing exceptionally well, and I am thoroughly enjoying this class.

Thematic Appeal and Versatility of Death Knight

Thematically, the Death Knight class is very fun. The DPS for both Unholy and Frost specs is impressive, and all three hero talent trees are impactful, altering your gameplay and rotations slightly while being visually appealing. There’s really nothing not to like about Death Knights heading into the new expansion.

The Power and Versatility of Mage in The New Expansion

Moving on, we have the king of Arcane: the Mage . Right now, Mage is another surefire hit heading into the new expansion. Whether you’re bringing nuclear explosive damage with Living Bomb and Combustion with Fire, dealing oppressive arcanic damage non-stop with Arcane, or chilling enemies to their core with Comet Storms and Glacial Spikes with Frost, all three Mage specs are top-tier when it comes to DPS. They also bring extra utility, control, and grouping potential, making them an excellent choice for the new expansion.

Mage Hero Talents: A Closer Look

One of the most exciting aspects of the Mage class is its hero talents. Almost every class in this list features three sets of exceptional hero talents, and the Mage is no different. The Sunfury talent tree, while technically the weakest in terms of numbers, is visually stunning. You summon your Arcane Phoenix to assist in battle, shooting out non-stop Pyroblasts and Arcane magic, and even calling down meteors to deal explosive damage, making combat incredibly fun.

The Frostfire Hero Talent Tree

The Frostfire hero talent tree combines the best of both frost and fire magic to deliver explosive damage. You can unleash Comet Storms, meteors, and Living Bombs, with occasional procs allowing you to shoot out instant Frostfire Bolts that deal significant AOE damage. It’s incredibly satisfying to see this combination of elements wreak havoc on your enemies.

Spell Slinger Hero Talent Tree

Finally, there’s the Spell Slinger hero talent tree, which is almost entirely passive. Throughout your rotation, you’re constantly shooting out Arcane splinters that deal damage to enemies. This talent tree not only looks visually appealing but also seamlessly integrates into your rotation without impeding it, making it a powerful and smooth choice for any Mage .

Strengths of All Three Mage Specs

When it comes to all three Mage specs, each is incredibly strong in its own way. Personally, I love Fire Mage in Mythic Plus, where dealing explosive Frostfire Bolts and watching Living Bombs explode is just so much fun. Arcane Mage is widely regarded as the best overall ranged DPS spec in the game right now, thanks to its ability to toss out Arcane Barrages and Arcane Orbs almost every other GCD. The spec and talent tree overhaul have made the class feel incredibly smooth and satisfying to play compared to how it used to be.

The Power of Frost Mage

Then there’s Frost Mage , which excels at tossing out those really chunky Glacial Spikes that deal heavy AOE damage, along with non-stop Ice Lances and devastating Comet Storms. The spec is very well-performing, delivering significant AOE split damage. It’s impressive how much Blizzard seems to favor this class over others that desperately need help, like Druid. Nearly every patch brings major buffs or updates to the Mage class.

Diversity in Gameplay and Visual Appeal

All three Mage specs vary drastically in gameplay, each with its unique themes and visuals. You have three very well-performing hero talent trees that not only are impactful but also look great, adding to the overall appeal of the class. This diversity in gameplay and visual design makes Mage an incredibly enjoyable class to play.

Mage: The Ultimate Ranged DPS Choice

If you prefer ranged DPS and want to play a caster, there’s no reason Mage shouldn’t be number one or at least two on your list for a main heading into the new expansion. Mage offers exceptional performance across all specs, making it an ideal choice for those who enjoy a diverse and powerful playstyle in a caster role.

Warrior: A Brute of a Class

Moving on to our next powerhouse of a class, we have the Warrior. This class is perfect for players looking for straightforward melee DPS or tanking. Warrioris simple, with few responsibilities, but excels in whatever it’s tasked with. Protection Warrior is currently one of the tankiest classes in the game, consistently absorbing damage without causing spikes that could trouble your healers.

Arms and Fury Warrior Strengths

Arms Warrior boasts one of the simplest rotations in the game while still delivering massive AOE damage. On the other hand, Fury Warrior offers a fast-paced playstyle with some of the highest burst windows of damage seen throughout The War Within beta, reaching up to 2, 3, or even 4 million DPS. Warrior feels like an unstoppable force, with an army of offensive cooldowns at your disposal to macro together into one insane burst window. The class also has fantastic tanking capabilities and so much more when it comes to its hero talents.

Arms Warrior: The Power of the Colossus Hero Talent Tree

I really love the Colossus hero talent tree for Arms Warrior as it fits the class perfectly. Adding a powerful ability like Demolish to pair with your offensive cooldowns and chunky Cleaves amplifies your overall power, creating a satisfying one-two punch. This talent tree truly enhances the class, making Arms Warrior feel even more overpowered.

Fury Warrior: The Slayer Hero Talent Tree

The Slayer hero talent tree for Fury Warrior, although almost entirely passive, dramatically amplifies your damage—nearly doubling it. It improves your Bloodthirst ability, Bladestorm, and Execute, making your hits incredibly hard when you combine all your cooldowns together. The result is an immensely satisfying playstyle that feels powerful and rewarding.

Protection Warrior: The Mountain F Hero Talent Tree

When it comes to Protection Warrior, the Mountain F hero talent tree brings consistent AOE damage with the new and improved Thunderclap ability, along with crucial Avatar cooldown reduction. This allows you to remain in the Avatar state more frequently, which is vital for survivability and extra damage. All three hero talent trees are perfectly tailored for each spec and are super fun and engaging, making Warrior a truly enjoyable class to play.

Warrior Spec Viability and Consistency

I think all three Warrior specs are about neck and neck in terms of viability. Protection Warrior, after the recent tank changes, has stayed relatively the same, focusing on high damage mitigation rather than self-healing. Overall, Protection Warriors are performing very well right now compared to other classes like Protection Paladin and Brewmaster Monk. Both Arms and Fury Warrior are also close in terms of damage, especially in Mythic Plus and raiding, with two sets of hero talent trees that are very enjoyable to use.

The Satisfying Burst of Warrior’s Offensive Cooldowns

My favorite part about Warrior is how satisfying it is to pop all your offensive cooldowns at once. With three or four of them active, you can watch your damage numbers skyrocket to the top of the meters, making it one of the most gratifying experiences in The War Within so far. However, one drawback of the Warrior class is the lack of build variety.

Limited Build Variety in Warrior Specs

Warrior currently has one of the lowest build variety options in the game. For Fury, the Slayer hero talent tree feels significantly better than others, leaving you with only one or two viable specs for both Fury and Arms. This lack of flexibility means what you see is what you get with Warrior, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does depend on personal preference. I’ve never mained a Warrior or even had it as one of my alts, but I think that’s going to change this time around.

Fury Warrior: A Build Full of Nuclear Damage

I am loving the Fury Warrior build right now. It’s incredibly fun, with tons of nuclear damage and a wealth of offensive cooldowns. Each spec has three hero talent trees that are enjoyable in their own right, making Fury Warrior a super fun class to play. Whether as a chunky bruiser melee DPS or tank, Warrior is excelling in its roles.

Warlock: The Master of Darkness

Next up, we have the Master of Darkness: the Warlock. This class has seen some major improvements heading into the new expansion. As a DPS class, Warlock offers three very fun specs that each provide drastically different build varieties, visual themes, and hero talent trees. From a design and DPS standpoint, Warlock is doing great right now, making it a safe class to play in the new expansion.

Versatility and Power Across Warlock Specs

Warlock delivers chunky burst damage with Destruction Warlock’s Chaos Bolts and Fel Portals, non-stop skin-melting damage-over-time effects with Affliction Warlock, and the minion-master gameplay of Demonology Warlock, where you summon an army of demons to do your bidding. Players are raving about how much they love the changes to Warlock and how well the class is performing so far in the new expansion.

The Diabolist Hero Talent Tree

One standout is the Diabolist hero talent tree, where you summon minions from the Legion based on how many Soul Shards you spend. Not only do these minions add variety to your gameplay, but they also change the effects of some of your abilities, offering a fresh mix-up in your rotation and keeping the gameplay engaging.

The Uniqueness of Warlock’s Hero Talents

Warlock’s hero talents are incredibly unique. The Soul Harvester hero talent tree, for example, affects your Soul Shards so that when you spend them, you summon a soul-harvesting demon to assist in battle, dealing additional damage while significantly boosting your key abilities. This adds a layer of depth and strategy to your gameplay.

The Hell Caller Hero Talent Tree

The Hell Caller hero talent tree is another standout, transforming your Immolate or Corruption ability into a new, improved damage-over-time effect called Wither, which deals significantly more damage. Additionally, you gain a brand-new one-minute offensive cooldown that greatly increases your haste, making everything feel smoother and more powerful in combat.

Affliction Warlock: The Best Performing Spec

To be honest, all three Warlock specs are fairly close in performance, with only about a 5-10% difference between them. However, if one has to be the technical best, it’s Affliction Warlock. Affliction has two hero talent trees that are very close in terms of numbers, both of which are impactful and performing exceptionally well.

Demonology and Destruction Warlock

Demonology Warlock requires a lot of skill, but it’s performing well enough to be a viable choice if you have the patience and time to learn it. Lastly, Destruction Warlock is slightly lagging behind the other specs, but it’s still a great choice and will continue to perform well throughout the expansion. Overall, as a caster DPS, Warlock offers fantastic design with impactful hero talent trees, super fun gameplay, and a wide variety of builds to choose from.

The Strength and Utility of Warlock’s Hero Talent Trees

It’s incredibly rare for a class to have three vastly different hero talent trees that are all strong, yet Warlock achieves this. Not only are all three specs performing exceptionally well, but Warlock also offers fantastic utility with demonic gateways, Soul Stones, and Hellstones. This puts Warlock in a fantastic position, making it easily one of the best classes heading into the new expansion.

The Impact of the Evoker Class

When discussing the best classes in The War Within, we can’t overlook the Evoker. This class not only boasts one of the best healers in the game with Preservation, but it also features the best DPS support class with Augmentation. Augmentation can easily find a group in any form of content because it’s hands down the most impactful class in the game. It buffs allies for more damage, enhances tank survivability, and aids healers with mana regeneration.

The Power of Devastation Evoker

While Preservation and Augmentation are well-known, don’t underestimate Devastation Evoker. This spec has some of the highest burst damage in the game, utilizing abilities like Tip the Scales, Dragonrage, Fire Breath, and Eternity Surge. The deep breath combo delivers incredible damage, though it could benefit from more consistency. Nonetheless, the hero talent tree for Devastation Evoker is surprisingly strong and impactful.

Evoker: Mastery of Healing and DPS

When a class has arguably the best healer with Preservation and the best overall DPS with Augmentation, it’s clear they also boast some of the best hero talent tree designs in the game. This is certainly true for the Evoker. The Scale Commander hero talent tree greatly increases your AOE damage after using an Empower spell, triggers bombardments on enemies from allies, and reduces the cooldown on your Deep Breath ability, allowing you to constantly deal heavy AOE damage while buffing yourself and your allies.

Flame Shaper Hero Talent Tree

The Flame Shaper hero talent tree focuses more on red and fire damage-based abilities, enhancing AOE DPS and increasing your damage-over-time effects with the new hero talent ability, Engulf. This ability deals a significant amount of AOE damage, while the new passive, Enkindle, further boosts your fire damage output. This tree is all about maximizing your AOE potential.

Chrono Ward Hero Talent Tree

For Preservation, the Chrono Ward hero talent tree is a game-changer. It enhances your Living Flame ability, transforming it into Chrono Flame, which is much stronger. Additionally, you gain a massive buff to your haste and cooldown recovery rate. When you use Tip the Scales, you summon Threads of Fate to buff your allies. All three of these hero talent trees are solid and well-designed, offering a remarkable amount of build variety between all three specs—a rarity in the game.

Evoker: The Spotlight on Preservation and Augmentation

I’m not going to lie—Preservation and Augmentation are definitely stealing the show when it comes to Evoker. However, that doesn’t mean Devastation is bad by any means. Devastation Evoker is a straightforward ranged caster DPS that’s fun to play with a nice variety of builds. You just have to acknowledge that Preservation as a healer is dominating with three or four different builds that are incredibly solid for that class.

Augmentation: The Ultimate Buffing Class

Augmentation is recognized as the best class in the game for buffing your allies to incredible levels, making it a mandatory pick for any group. Naturally, Devastation tends to get overlooked and put on the back burner compared to the other two specs. But this doesn’t diminish its value; Devastation still has its niche, dealing some of the highest burst damage in the game on select targets at specific times.

Overall Strength of the Evoker Class

Overall, I love the Evoker as a class. You have three sets of hero talent trees that are fun and engaging. Two out of three of their specs are among the best in the game, if not the best. Devastation has a unique design that shines in its specific niche, but it’s important to recognize that Preservation and Augmentation are the current highlights. Despite this, the Evoker boasts incredible build variety and utility, making it by far one of the best classes in the game—and it’s not even close.

Shaman: A Rising Star in The War Within

Although I mentioned the top five best classes, we have an honorable mention: the Shaman. Over the last month, Shaman has emerged as a top contender, receiving non-stop buffs, class reworks, adjustments, redesigns, and tuning, making it very appealing to many players. Shaman offers incredible utility with its totems and the brand-new Skyfury buff. Additionally, it provides a wide variety of DPS options, including melee Enhancement and ranged Elemental. The Restoration Shaman, with all its recent redesigns, is one of the most fun and fluid healers in the game.

The Strength of Shaman’s Hero Talent Trees

Truth be told, Shaman is thriving, and it’s rare for a class to have hero talent trees that are both well-designed and effective across such a wide variety of gameplay. The Totemic talent tree is performing exceptionally well for Restoration, as it ties your healing to your new totem and enhances all your other totemic abilities, which is a big deal for Restoration Shaman. Healing Stream Totem, Spirit Link Totem—all fantastic tools for healing.

Buffs and Enhancements for Elemental and Enhancement Shaman

We’ve also seen major buffs to the Stormbringer hero talent tree recently, which has significantly elevated the gameplay for Elemental and Enhancement Shaman. This tree hones in on the “Master of Lightning” theme for Shaman, making it a powerful choice. Lastly, the Farer talent tree has been dominant for Elemental Shaman, especially with the Lava Burst builds that constantly summon ancestors to assist in battle, dealing extra damage. Shaman is in an excellent spot heading into the new expansion.

Thematic Appeal of Shaman’s Hero Talent Trees

I love the designs of all three hero talent trees for Shaman—they’re very cool thematically. However, they might not be the best ever in the game or fantastic for every single spec, but they are at least usable and playable. The builds available offer options and some variety, making them a solid choice when it comes to hero talents. As a whole, I really appreciate all three of them.

Performance of Shaman Specs

Right now, all three Shaman specs are performing exceptionally well. As a ranged DPS, Elemental Shaman has shot up to near the top in terms of damage, paired with massive utility. While the Enhancement Shaman rotation is complex and full of buttons, the damage output is effective. Both of their hero talent trees, Totemic and Stormbringer, are performing nearly neck-and-neck.

Restoration Shaman: A Strong Healer

Lastly, there’s Restoration Shaman, which continues to be a strong and reliable healer in the game. The recent redesigns and improvements have made it one of the most fun and fluid healing specs, making it a standout choice for those who enjoy healing gameplay.

Shaman: A Versatile and Powerful Class

Restoration Shaman might be slightly lagging behind the other two specs, but that’s only because Enhancement and Elemental are performing so well right now. This slight difference could simply be due to number tuning. Nevertheless, Shaman is easily one of the best classes in the game. It offers three specs full of variety: a ranged spellcaster with Elemental, a melee bruiser with Enhancement, and a backline healer with Restoration. Each spec has two viable hero talent trees, providing a wide variety of builds, making Shaman super versatile and fun to play in any role.

The Strength of Shaman in The New Expansion

I am loving Shaman right now, especially with their massive amount of utility combined with their performance and versatility. This makes them one of the best classes in the game, and I believe they are a surefire hit heading into the new expansion. With three distinct specs, each offering unique gameplay and strengths, Shaman is poised to be a top choice for many players.

Final Thoughts on The War Within

With The War Within less than two weeks away, we wanted to highlight the best classes overall as we head into the final push. Shaman stands out for its versatility, utility, and overall performance across all three specs. Whether you prefer ranged DPS, melee combat, or healing, Shaman offers something for everyone, making it an excellent choice for the upcoming expansion.

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