Good day! It’s Librarian Husky. With the launch of the War Within less than a week away, our team has spent hundreds of hours on the beta, testing every spec in the game to bring you the final best specs you can main and losers to try and avoid. Remember, if the spec isn’t on this list, it is generally floating in the middle of the pack, which is not a bad thing. This list of specs is simply highlighting the best specs and some on the lower end that aren’t doing too well and need some work, whether it be numbers-wise or simply from a design standpoint.

Arcane Mage: A Fun and Powerful DPS Spec

Now, heading into the winners, first up we have the Arcane Mage, and wow, is the Arcane Mage loads of fun heading into the new expansion. Not only that, but they’re also still blasting numbers-wise, so it looks like Arcane easily could be one of the best DPS specs in the game overall. The developers took what was once a super bloated, complicated spec and condensed it into something truly incredible, fluid, and fun. Personally, it has my vote for being the most fun class in the game.

Arcane Mage Abilities and Gameplay

You are constantly spamming Arcane Barrages and Arcane Orbs due to passives like Orb Barrage, which literally shoots orbs passively. You have High Voltage, which causes Arcane Missiles to generate Arcane Charges, so things just feel so nice right now for the Arcane Mage. You quite literally see your damage go nuclear with your heavy offensive cooldowns like Touch of the Magi and Arcane Surge being paired together, creating some interesting rotational aspects.

Massive Explosions and Capstone Magi Spark

You have massive explosions from your Capstone Magi spark, which is one of the most satisfying things so far. Not only that, you have two sets of hero talents that are very, very fun; they’re designed nicely. Recently, the Sunfury Hero Talent Tree actually got buffed significantly, making it perform better than the Spell ER, which is a really big surprise.

Visual Appeal and Gameplay Intricacies

Not only that, it’s visually very, very nice—it’s amazing. You summon your Arcane Phoenix that deals some nice damage. It adds some intricacies into the gameplay, which is fun as well, and the damage is absolutely there. I can’t find one fault about the Arcane Mage as of right now because all across the board, it is winning.

Arcane Mage Performance and Expansion Outlook

It’s hitting really hard, one of the most fun specs in the game that’s designed very well and pretty damn straightforward. Arcane Mage is absolutely winning heading into the new expansion.

Enhancement Shaman’s Surprising Turnaround

Next up for winners, surprisingly, we have the Enhancement Shaman. Listen, I’m not going to lie—a little over a month ago, I was pretty damn worried about the Shaman class overall because a lot of players weren’t loving it in its current state on the beta. But that all changed when the class got its rework, and it has done a complete 180.

Enhancement Shaman’s Talent Rework and Damage Buff

Enhancement Shaman, in particular, is the biggest winner because not only have they readjusted some key talent nodes in the Enhancement Shaman tree to make your build variety much more flexible, they’ve also lowered the cooldowns on key abilities like Doom Winds. They gave you a nice raid-wide buff and amplified your damage pretty much to the moon, making Enhancement Shaman incredible.

Melee DPS and Class Rotation Challenges

When it comes to melee DPS right now, the only minor drawback I have to say, and this is pretty controversial, is that the class is a little bit bloated when it comes to buttons and rotation. But if you have some experience playing WoW, that should not be a problem.

Stormbringer Hero Talent Tree and Tempest Ability

They have their new and buffed Stormbringer Hero Talent Tree, which, you know, your Tempest ability in a Mythic plus environment is equaling out to like 20% to 25% of your total damage, which is insane. You also summon your ghost wolves with the tree, enhancing your lightning damage.

Visual Appeal and Totemic Hero Talent Tree

Not only that, the talent tree is visually very appealing and nice to look at. Damage numbers are still there as well, making it a total win from a Hero Talent Tree perspective. I do think the Totemic Hero Talent Tree still needs some minor adjustments because it is still behind Stormbringer in both single-target and AOE.

Enhancement Shaman Talent Tree Variety and Impact

Yet again, it is still a very fun Hero Talent Tree that gives you some nice variety of gameplay. It enhances some of your abilities and gives you a totem that deals some very nice consistent AOE damage, a lot more consistent than Tempest. Either way, though, I think both of Enhancement Shaman‘s talent trees are very, very fun and impactful.

Enhancement Shaman’s Performance Heading into the New Expansion

They both visually look very appealing, thematically they’re great. I was quite worried about Enhancement Shaman heading into the new expansion, and things weren’t really looking too good. But with some talent adjustments, buffs, two new Hero Talent Trees, and a brand new raid buff, they’re looking very, very good, and Enhancement is absolutely winning right now.

Affliction Warlock’s Performance in the Beta

Now, moving on to our next ranged DPS, we actually have Affliction Warlock. I’m going to be honest; this spec was not performing really great throughout Dragonflight. But I’ve got to break it to you, Affliction Warlock has been easily manhandling Destruction and Demonology throughout the entire beta so far.

Affliction Warlock as a Damage Over Time Class

I’ve got to say, as a damage over time-based class, Affliction Warlock is showing some significant promise in its current state.

Affliction Warlock Gameplay Overview

I really, really like Affliction Warlock. I think it’s very easy to be able to get all your damage-over-time effects out there. You spread them on all your enemies using Seed of Corruption to spread Corruption, and then you have Vile Taint to spread your Curse of Agony. From there, you’re just spamming Malefic Rapture, going about your rot, nuking enemies down, and things feel really, really good from a gameplay perspective.

Hero Talent Trees and Effectiveness

My favorite part has to be that both of their Hero Talent Trees are really good and effective. You have your new and improved Corruption with Wither on the Hellcaller Hero Talent Tree that deals some very juicy damage over time. It also gives you a nice one-minute cooldown activatable ability to greatly increase your haste while amplifying your damage-over-time effects to hit way harder.

Mythic Plus vs. Single Target Builds

So it’s very simple, visually appealing, and easy to jump into. For Mythic Plus, people are playing Hellcaller, but for single-target, like raiding environments, they’re ditching that and going to Soul Harvester. I personally don’t mind that you have one talent tree meant for Mythic Plus and one talent tree meant for single-target and raid. I think it’s very cool for a class to use both of your Hero Talent Trees effectively.

Soul Harvester Talent Tree Benefits

Soul Harvester is really, really nice with all their passives amplifying your damage on your abilities like Shadow Bolt and Drain Soul, depending on what option you choose. It greatly enhances your Nightfall damage and proc chance while enhancing Soul Shards to occasionally summon a demon that will deal some nice damage for you as well.

Overall Affliction Warlock Performance

Overall, when it comes to Affliction Warlock as a caster DPS, it’s a strong and versatile choice. The class benefits from well-designed talent trees that cater to different scenarios, ensuring that you can adapt to various content with ease and effectiveness.

Affliction Warlock Gameplay Simplicity and Talent Tree Impact

I really, really love how straightforward the gameplay is, how both your Hero Talent Trees actually have a place and are impactful. They incentivize gameplay variety, and it will make this spec very fun for a long time if you only have one or two classes to play. I’m loving the changes to the talent tree—the spec is straightforward, with nice, consistent damage and two sets of Hero Talent Trees that are fantastic and impactful. I love the Affliction Warlock so far.

Unholy Death Knight: A Unique and Powerful Melee DPS

Now, our next big melee DPS winner—you guessed it, we have the Unholy Death Knight. Listen, I’m going to be honest, Unholy Death Knight has been getting nerfed constantly, and the reason why this spec is on this list is not only because the damage is super high but it’s easily one of the most fun and unique melee classes in the entire game.

Unholy Death Knight’s Thematic Appeal and Rotation

It’s amazing thematically, while also bringing two of the most fun Hero Talent Trees in the game. With the rotation, you get your festering wounds stacked up on a target, spread all those wounds around to enemies nearby with Vile Contagion and Defile, and then you literally just spam-pop all your wounds while spamming Outbreak as well.

Satisfaction in Unholy Death Knight Gameplay

The class is just so satisfying as you’re seeing what feels like a bunch of numbers pop up on your screen, almost breaking your eyes at some point, while destroying enemies. The gameplay is visually rewarding and highly effective, making Unholy Death Knight a top choice for players seeking both power and enjoyment in their melee DPS role.

Summoning the Army of the Dead

It’s really, really cool. Not only are you summoning your Army of the Dead with Apocalypse, but you also have your giant Abomination coming out, fighting for you, and spreading your diseases. To make it even crazier, you even have the Riders of the Apocalypse join the battle as well.

Riders of the Apocalypse and Hero Talent Tree Impact

This Hero Talent Tree is one of my favorites in the game. You’re literally seeing Riders of the Apocalypse come out and aid you in battle, dealing heavy damage and amplifying your combat abilities. You can even summon all four of them at once, instantly, when you bring out your Abomination to fight, which happens every minute and a half or so. It’s very, very satisfying to watch all your minions just annihilate enemies for you.

The Sand Lane Hero Talent Tree and Vampiric Power

Shockingly, they even have a second Hero Talent Tree that is another one of my favorites in the game, which is the Sand Lane Hero Talent Tree. This tree really brings out that bloody vampire theme, allowing you to drain stats from enemies, enhancing your power, and uber-charging you in combat. Occasionally, you have a chance to proc your Scourge to become Vampiric Strike, which greatly deals more damage while also granting you increased haste.

Vampiric Strike and Combat Enhancement

This makes your entire rotation feel much better. Not only that, but when you summon your Abomination, you literally get the buff throughout the entire duration, allowing you to spam Vampiric Strike over and over again to deal massive AOE damage. With an awesome sound effect that increases your haste twofold, it is so awesome.

Unholy Death Knight Gameplay Overview

I love the gameplay of Unholy Death Knight, easily by far one of my favorite class specs in the entire game. Not only is it incredible thematically, but it also has very, very high DPS for both single-target and AOE. With two Hero Talent Trees that are fun and a wide variety of builds to test out and play, Unholy Death Knight is easily one of the biggest winners heading into the new expansion, by far in my opinion.

Honorable Mention: Havoc Demon Hunter

Lastly, with our DPS, we have an honorable mention with the Havoc Demon Hunter. Originally, this class spec wasn’t going to make this list as of a couple of weeks ago, but I’m not going to lie—this class is looking pretty damn good right now. To make this short and sweet, the class is easily one of the flashiest in the game. You’re flying around in combat constantly, with some incredible visuals and procs to transform you into demon state, which is visually very nice and enhances the gameplay as well.

Single-Target and AOE Performance of Havoc Demon Hunter

As of right now, Fard is still behind Aldrachi Reaver when it comes to single-target, but it’s very similar in Mythic Plus and AOE, which, in my opinion, is a big win and could incentivize some great build variety. I think it’s very cool if a class Hero Talent Tree has one dedicated to raid and another for Mythic Plus, so I think that’s a big win.

The Rise of the Mover Build in War Within Beta

Throughout the entire War Within beta, the so-called Mover build paired with Aldrachi Reaver, which is all about maintaining those micro buffs to enhance your damage in short windows, has been performing the best. But things are slowly changing, and players are now experimenting with a new build that’s performing very well.

Demon Hunter’s Metamorphosis and Single-Target Damage

You know just as well, if not better, that it’s all about keeping you in Metamorphosis form as long as possible with talents like Shattered Destiny and Cycle of Hatred, which keep you in there to make your single-target damage skyrocket. It will be interesting to see how this build actually performs in the new expansion over the next few weeks. Overall, I love Demon Hunter thematically, and I think the class is doing very well DPS-wise right now after all the buffs over the last month.

Concerns About the Mover Build and Class Complexity

I just really hope they continue to move away from that Mover build, as it’s just way too complicated—it’s too micro-burst oriented, and honestly, it’s just nothing but a headache. I do think they have two great Hero Talent Trees and a variety of builds that are doing solid damage. The Demon Hunter deserves at least an honorable mention.

Transition to Tanking: The Return of the King

And now, moving on to the tanks—the king of Dragonflight Season 3 and Season 4 is back, and some would say with a vengeance. All jokes aside, even though their crowd control was cut in half—because let’s be honest, it was overpowered before—this class still brings great control for your group in Mythic Plus as a tank.

Tank Mobility and Ease of Play

Not only that, you’re easily one of the most mobile tanks in the game. You have a very low skill floor, so the class is pretty easy to learn and pick up. If you’re a newer player, it could be great for you. You have damage intake that is pretty smooth as well, with very high parry and dodge chances, allowing you to pretty much ignore damage completely at some points.

Overview of Hero Talents

Once again, a quick TL;DR of their hero talents, which we kind of just broke down, shows that they offer solid options for both offensive and defensive capabilities, making this class a strong contender in the tanking role.

Aldrachi vs. Felsguard in Havoc Demon Hunter Builds

Havoc Demon Hunters find that Aldrachi is better for single-target, while Felsguard is better for enhancing your major cooldown windows in an AOE scenario, also increasing your survivability. Not only that, but you also bring your Chaos Brand, which amplifies your caster’s damage by 5%, which is always great for grouping.

Vengeance Demon Hunter Versatility and Potential

Vengeance Demon Hunter offers multiple Hero Talent Trees that can be used, a 5% debuff toward your enemies, a skill floor that’s very low, and a ceiling that’s very high. This is the reason why I think they are one of the bigger winners compared to some of the other specs out there. This class has a lot of potential, once again, in all forms of content.

Blood Death Knight: The Ultimate Tank

Moving on lastly to our biggest winner for tanks—believe it or not, the Blood Death Knight. Right now, Blood DK is doing fantastic. Blood Death Knight, right off the bat, is probably the best tank in the game when it comes to having options with buttons to press whenever you’re in danger.

Survivability and Ease of Play for Blood Death Knights

I mean, you have a ton of cooldowns you can press to increase your survivability: Dancing Rune Weapon, Rune Tap, Consumption, Icy Blood Drinker, Bonestorm (if you’re spec’d into it), Icebound Fortitude, Vampiric Blood, Anti-Magic Shell—there are a ton of buttons you can press to save your life. I think Blood Death Knight is one of the easier specs to play in the game. You take some damage, pop a couple of cooldowns, and spam Death Strike whenever that 5-second window is activated, and you’re pretty much good to go.

Skill Floor and Ceiling for Blood Death Knights

I think the skill floor for them is pretty low, but once again, like Vengeance, Blood Death Knights offer a high ceiling for those who master the intricacies of their abilities, making them incredibly effective in any situation.

High Skill Ceiling and Cooldown Management for Blood Death Knights

I think the skill ceiling is very high, and proper cooldown management is going to play an important role once again. I really love Death Knight’s utility in a Mythic Plus environment. You have abilities like Gorefiend’s Grasp and Abomination Limb to group enemies together, making it like shooting fish in a barrel for your DPS to nuke them all down.

Self-Reliance and Solo Tanking Capabilities

I do think Blood Death Knight is one of the best solo tanking and carrying classes in the game, meaning they aren’t as reliant on a healer as some of the other tanks out there. They have very nice self-healing and cooldowns, allowing them to carry a Mythic Plus if you know what you’re doing. That’s a big benefit as well.

Hero Talents and Consistent Damage Mitigation

I think both of their hero talents are great, with Deathbringer bringing you some very high damage with Exterminate, as well as consistent damage mitigation with Rune Carve Plates, which is a passive that reduces all the damage you take by 10% pretty much permanently.

Overall Impressions of Blood Death Knight

Listen, overall, I love the Blood Death Knight. If you’re a player that likes to play solo and can really hone in, focus on what’s going on, and pretty much take over the entire Mythic Plus on your own, this class is definitely for you. It’s not a consistent intake damage class, so you’re going to have to be on the ball, but if you are, I think the class is doing fantastic right now.

Holy Paladin in Dragonflight

Paladin, and boy oh boy, am I loving Holy Paladin right now. Everybody can agree that in Dragonflight, they did not feel too great, but with the shift away from Glimmer and Daybreak and a focus on improving Holy Shock, Holy Spenders, and pruning the spec, things feel really good right now. Not only that, you have two great options for Hero Talent Trees that give you a wide variety of gameplay.

Herald of the Light Talent Tree

The first talent tree option is Herald of the Light, where after using Holy Prism or Barrier of Faith, your next two Holy Powers get a nice, chunky heal-over-time effect attached to them, which feels really good in a raiding environment. This talent setup is shooting them up to near the top in terms of healing per second. Additionally, you have your Internal Flame, which is the new and improved Word of Glory, another massive heal-over-time effect.

Impactful Gameplay Integration

There’s also a nice gameplay integration in that talent tree where your heal-over-time effects have a chance to increase your next Holy Shock by 200% of effectiveness, making it very impactful and juicy to use. Lastly, with your Capstone, you have laser beams coming out whenever you pop your Avenging Wrath, which is visually very nice, increasing your healing and even some damage with Herald of the Sun. I really love this spec; it’s very nice overall.

Lightsmith Utility Talents

You also have the Lightsmith, which is better for some more utility and brings some nice buffing toward your allies. If you need more utility rather than raw healing, you can toss out your Holy Beacon, which increases your allies’ damage or gives them a nice, chunky shield to increase their survivability.

Holy Paladin Rework and Potential Synergies

I will say I don’t think the numbers on this are tuned very well, and I don’t think they’re great. They’re either super broken and overpowered or underwhelming, so I think they need to find that middle ground. But overall, I think you could pair something like this with an augmentation of Okre and just supercharge your allies tenfold. I think it’d be really, really cool to pair together.

Thematic Strength and Build Variety for Holy Paladin

Overall, I’m loving the rework for Holy Paladin. Thematically, they’re great, with two fantastic Hero Talent Trees that could bring some nice build variety, which is always great. I love the spec heading into the new expansion.

Biggest Winner Among Healers: Restoration Shaman

Next up for our biggest winner when it comes to healers, we have the Restoration Shaman. If you’ve been involved in the healing community at all over the last few months, people are raving about this spec right now. Recently, Resto Shaman got a nice big update while also giving them their raid-wide buff, Skyfury, which makes them very, very valuable.

Class Tree Redesign and Versatility for Shaman

The class tree has been redesigned in a way that’s way more streamlined, making it very good for all three of the Shaman specs. You have access to talents like Ancestral Recall, Ancestral Guidance, Totemic Recall, and brand new defensives like the Stone Bulwark Totem that just got buffed. So just from a class talent tree perspective, Shaman is very, very good now.

Restoration Shaman Talent Focus and Flexibility

I do think their base class talent tree with Restoration focuses a bit too much on Riptide because both their Hero Talent Trees really incentivize you to use Chain Heal, which is a bit odd. But overall, I love that they condensed a lot of the two-pointers down to one-point nodes for some nice flexibility when it comes to hero talents.

Totemic Hero Talent Tree for Restoration Shaman

I really like Totemic a lot more than Fars here. It greatly enhances the capabilities of your totems like Healing Stream Totem and Spirit Link. Not only that, you get Surging Totem, which keeps up your enhanced healing linked to that totem. You can flexibly move it around with Totemic Projection, which feels really nice.

Improved Interactivity and Fluidity

Not only that, you can have your Chain Heals connect to your totems, making it spread to nearby allies a lot easier. Things just feel a lot more interactive and fluid. Normally with Resto Shaman, you kind of have some delayed gratification with your totems, but with this Hero Talent Tree, it greatly enhances them. The second you drop them down, you feel something happening, and it feels impactful, which is really, really nice as a healer.

Visuals and Mobility of Restoration Shaman

I’m loving the visuals of Restoration Shaman right now. I’m loving how fluid the spec feels and how mobile your Healing Rain is now, which is so much better when tied to your Totemic Projection and Surging Totem. You have big, chunky AOE heals and AOE cooldowns to keep your party alive, and things feel really, really good. I love the Resto Shaman right now.

Specs to Avoid in the Current Meta

Okay, now moving on to the class specs that I would avoid. I’m not necessarily saying that these classes are bad or awful; I just think that they need some work. They have some issues that need to be addressed, and some design and tuning needs to come in for these specs because it’s not looking great right now.

Problems with Balance Druid

I’m going to say it up front: the Restoration Shaman has a lot of problems. Their class-specific talent tree is very outdated and just really bad. They are probably the squishiest DPS class in the entire game. The Restoration Shaman talent design itself is also full of a bunch of two-point nodes, and it’s a very strict talent tree. Honestly, it leaves very little room for creativity and other build designs because you’re constantly choke-holded into very specific builds.

Damage Issues and Talent Limitations

Not only that, the Restoration Shaman’s damage—no matter what Hero Talent Tree you build or go—isn’t as high as some of the other classes out there. The biggest benefit of the Alar’s Grace Hero Talent Tree is the cooldown reduction on your Fury of Elune and the damage increase to your Starfire, which doesn’t even feel good considering Starfire is a builder. It makes your spenders feel just so unimpactful.

Need for Redesign and Rotation Issues

I really would want them to maybe reduce the number of spenders you’re able to pump out but increase their damage by like 300% to make them feel more impactful because right now, they feel bad to use. They’re down a Hero Talent Tree because Keeper of the Grove is one of the worst Hero Talent Trees in the game—it’s almost useless. Alar’s Grace is pretty much your only option. They are in desperate need of a redesign; the rotation is outdated and pretty damn boring.

Positive Aspects: Animations and Sound Design

The only great thing going for this spec is the animations and sound design because they actually have some of the best in the game—I love them. Other than that, though, Restoration Shaman is in desperate need of some love, so hopefully, they get it soon.

Feral Druid: One of the Biggest Losers

I have Feral Druid as one of the biggest losers, and it’s very simple. This class recently got updates and buffs, like two or three patches straight, and still, the damage numbers and gameplay just feel not too good. The animations feel unimpactful, the rotation is boring and outdated, and the talent tree is full of nonsense and isn’t well-designed or pathable. It just feels bad.

Incarnation Windows: The Only Bright Spot

The only moments where this class actually feels great are during your Incarnation windows, where you’re spamming combo point finishers over and over again. Your generators feel impactful, the energy cost is very low, and your rotation is fast-paced and impactful—it feels good. Other than that, this spec does not feel great. It’s very stiff and not fluid.

Need for an Overhaul and Comparison to Other Classes

I think the class is in desperate need of an overhaul or update. I don’t think we can actually consider this a complete DPS spec when you have classes that feel so good, like Arcane Mage, Enhancement Shaman, Unholy DK, Retribution Paladin, Fury Warrior—I can go on and on about all the classes that feel so much better and more impactful than this spec, and it’s kind of sad.

Hero Talents and Poor Design

When it comes to hero talents, you have Wild Stalker, which amplifies your healing way too much, which is just odd. There’s just too much nonsense going on without increasing your damage, and it’s just very poorly designed. Your damage-over-time effects pretty much have a chance to proc a Bloodseeker vine on the target that deals nice damage over time, but even when it procs, it just doesn’t feel as impactful as some of the other hero talents.

Forced Talent Choices and Lack of Impact

You’re pretty much forced to use Druid of the Claw, which is supposed to be all about getting massive Ferocious Bites off, which are now changed to Ravage on a bleed proc. But even with these changes, the spec still feels lackluster and uninspired.

Feral Druid: A Disappointing State

I will admit, Ravage feels good to use—it does some pretty heavy AOE damage. Other than that, getting a proc every so often, the class just doesn’t deal enough damage outside of Incarnation. The rotation is boring, Hero Talent Trees are poorly designed and need a rework, and the animations and sound design don’t feel good. Overall, I’m just disappointed with Feral Druid because this is a class I was really considering maining heading into the War Within, and seeing it in this state is honestly really sad. Hopefully, Feral Druids get some love soon because I really, really miss this spec and love it overall.

Outlaw Rogue: Near the Bottom of the List

Next up, near the bottom of the list, we have the Outlaw Rogue. Now listen, just about the only thing Outlaw has going for it is its performance inside Mythic Plus and dealing very consistent damage pretty much non-stop in an AOE scenario. But still, once again, they can’t perform as well as they want to because they’re heavily target-capped with Blade Flurry, which is like 90% of their damage.

RNG Issues and Talent Tree Design Flaws

Also, Outlaw still suffers from constantly having to be lucky and RNG being involved with Roll the Bones. And believe it or not, they even doubled down on this with the new Fatebound Hero Talent Tree, where you literally flip a coin to receive a buff or deal damage. For it to actually be effective, you need to flip that same coin on heads or tails at the same time over and over again to receive a buff that doesn’t feel too impactful. It’s crazy to me that they doubled down on the RNG factor here—it doesn’t make much of an impact.

Thematic Appeal vs. Practicality of Outlaw Rogue

I love the idea of trying to leave it up to fate thematically as a pirate, but holy crap, it’s not actually possible in a game where you’re competing to deal damage. It just does not work well. Even when the Outlaw rotation is at its peak and you’re popping off like five or six Between the Eyes in one Vanish window, you know, getting a bunch of Dispatches off for free still just doesn’t feel as good as some of the other specs out there.

Challenges with Outlaw Rogue’s Rotation

The whole concept of keeping up all these buffs, spamming Crack Shots after a Vanish window, and leaving it to RNG just doesn’t feel good. It’s kind of frustrating. You need to have a bunch of weak auras to even keep track of what the hell is going on. I’m not liking where the spec is heading—it’s buggy, clunky, and too much to micromanage. I’m not in love with Outlaw Rogue, even though Rogue is my favorite class in the game.

Protection Paladin: A Struggling Tank

Moving on now to tanking, with a really heavy heart, we sadly have to say that Protection Paladin is one of, if not the weakest tank in the game. It’s really crazy because throughout the War Within beta, they really weren’t doing bad up until the recent tank overhaul, which really hit this class a lot harder than some of the other tanks.

Current State of Protection Paladin

I’m not saying the class is unplayable; I’m simply saying that it needs some updates. The biggest problem with Protection right now is that most tanks in the game, when it comes to retail WoW, are very self-sufficient. A lot of them heal themselves based on the amount of damage they deal or other mechanics, but Protection Paladin is currently struggling in this area.

Protection Paladin’s Self-Sustain Issues

They’re missing the ability to heal based on the amount of damage they take or simply a flat percentage of their max HP, like Death Knights. Protection Paladins, however, don’t do this. They heal themselves based on the amount of attack power they have. So, all of a sudden, your Word of Glory, your shields, your Bulwark of the Order—which gives you shields based on your Divine Shield ability—lose a lot of value because many of these abilities are based on the amount of damage you’re dealing.

Challenges with Health and Damage Scaling

Now you’re caught in a situation where your health is being increased, but your damage isn’t increasing with it, so your self-sustain is pretty much cut in half. I think Protection Paladin is in desperate need of adjustments. I will say, I love the Protection Paladin Hero Talent Trees, and the class is very straightforward to use. However, I just don’t think Protection Paladin is game-changing or among the best in the game in any way.

Positives: Lightsmith Hero Talent and Utility

Even though I personally love the Lightsmith hero talent because it’s all about buffing and bringing more utility and damage reduction for all your allies to enhance your group, I also think they made some nice improvements towards your Consecration. After you leave its area of effect, you still gain all the benefits from the spell for 4 seconds. However, I think the class is in desperate need of some adjustments defensively and in terms of self-sustain, which could really help the class.

Discipline Priest: A Spec to Avoid

And for our final class spec that you might want to avoid, we have the Discipline Priest. The sad thing is, I really love the gameplay and design of Discipline. The whole concept of dealing damage to then heal your allies is very interactive and engaging. However, it struggles in several key areas that make it less effective compared to other healing specs.

Discipline Priest’s Gimmick and Performance Issues

I think it’s fun, but just to be brutally honest, Mistweaver is doing that whole gimmick about ten times better. I do think the Void Weaver talent tree amplifies this whole concept a lot better. It gives you a nice new theme to play with your spec that dips a little bit into Shadow, which it’s tied to. I also really like the way it changes the way your Smite works in terms of Void Blast, and the animations are fantastic, and the sound effects are great as well.

Void Weaver Talent Tree and Healing Challenges

The idea is that occasionally, whenever you use your Mind Blast ability, it tears open an Entropic Rift that goes toward enemies, damages them, and then changes your Smite ability into an enhanced version that feels really good to cast. Because of that, all your healing is greatly amplified as well. The problem is, outside of this window, your healing is just simply way below average. Things do not feel good, and there are countless issues throughout the talent tree.

Current State of Discipline Priest

Discipline Priest has been near the bottom and one of the worst-performing healer specs throughout the beta. I would say that, at this very moment in time, Disc Priest isn’t doing that well, and I was really hoping this was going to change as we head into the release, but it doesn’t look like that’s happening as of right now.

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