Mythic+ DPS Rankings - Dragonflight Season 1 Tier List

Live Geposted 28.11.2022 um 15:59 von tettles

About The AuthorDisclaimers About This Tier ListsolelyKampfrauschDragonflight DPS Tier List for Mythic+ Season 3How We Ranked The Specs

S: These are specs that we expect to dominate the metagame, with groups using these specs massively outnumbering those that don’t.

A: These are great specs that bring fantastic damage profiles for Mythic+s while also providing a healthy combination of utility and survivability.

B+ (Underdog specs) : These are good specs that have a minor downside in either the damage, survivability, or utility department. We have separated out B+ and B- to denote a drop off from A that typically is more well rounded. Typically the spcs in B+ are comparable to those in A in many categories (Damage, Utility, Survivability) but have a few drawbacks and are unlikely to be seen in significant metagame compositions.

B-: These are good specs that have a significant downside in either the damage, survivability, or utility department. While we would classify B+ specializations as underrated, B- specs are very unlikely to see play at the high end due to their downsides. They are still decent options overall and have some pretty strong upsides.

C: These are specs that would be surprising to see a copy of in broader dungeon compositions. These specs normally have multiple of either survivability, utility, or damage holding them back making them difficult to excel with at a higher level.

D: These specs are the toughest to play effectively in dungeons, as even when played very well, they’ll struggle to compete with the top specs in damage. They either have fundamental mechanical problems that make their damage not work well in dungeons, or they suffer from low tuning on the abilities they use in Mythic+.

F: A spec with horrifying weaknesses that are in immediate need of developer attention and we’d be surprised to see played in many raid compositions at all. No DPS in this tier.

Patch 10.2.5 Dragonflight DPS Rankings and Explanations

Fire Mage (S Tier)

Augmentation Evoker(A Tier)

Shadow Priest (A Tier)

Outlaw Rogue (A Tier)

Balance Druid (A Tier)

Frost Mage (A Tier)

Demonology Warlock (A Tier)

Destruction Warlock (B+ Tier)

Enhancement Shaman (B+ Tier)

Beast Mastery Hunter (B+ Tier)

Havoc Demon Hunter (B+ Tier)

Assassination Rogue (B+ Tier)

Marksmanship Hunter (B+ Tier)

Fury Warrior (B+ Tier)

Demonology Warlock (B+ Tier)

Subtlety Rogue (B+ Tier)

Retribution Paladin (B+ Tier)

Unholy Death Knight (B+ Tier)

Feral Druid (B- Tier)

Elemental Shaman (B- Tier)

Windwalker Monk (B- Tier)

Devastation Evoker (B- Tier)

Survival Hunter (B- Tier)

Frost Death Knight (B- Tier)

Affliction Warlock (B- Tier)

Arcane Mage (B- Tier)

Arms Warrior (C Tier)

S Tier Specs for M+

Fire is a spec that is the only S-tier option. Their damage priority targets is some of the highest in the game, and a well played Fire Mage can do significant DPS in some dungeons. The changes in 10.1.5 have made Mages, and Fire in particular, INCREDIBLY potent, and they now have even more group utility in the form of Massenbarriere. Additionally, the abiltiy to flex between Fire and Frost depending on the dungeon is very valuable.

The upside of Fire Mage is fairly high, but it is pretty much the same as the other 2 mage specs in regards to defensiveness and utility. Eisbarriere, Große Unsichtbarkeit, Zeitverschiebung, Spiegelbild, and Eisblock just give mage buttons for every single situation. Kauterisieren is a strong addition that is exclusive to Fire Mages.

A Tier Specs for Mythic+

Augmentation Evoker is an incredibly polarizing "support" DPS specialization. Augmentation's damage contribution in logs is excellent on top of providing by far the most valuable M+ utilty in the game. It did recently receive a pretty hefty nerf in M+, focused primarily on damage contribution. With this being the case, we still think it is likely that the spec will occupy a pretty significant meta game position.

The utility provided by Augmentation is unmatched by one singular DPS specialization. On the mob control front, Emporstoßen, Schwanzfeger, and Flügelstoß are very good. The survivability provided by Augmentation is where a lot of the power comes from though. Gunst der Aspekte is incredibly broken with how much HP you gain from this on a really short CD. Zephyr is great versus AOE spells, Zwillingswächter gives quite good coverage to those who are lacking cds in a pinch, and Verändernde Sande passively grants versatility. Augmentation also allows incredible compositional flexibility with the presence of Zorn der Aspekte.

Playing with this spec allows your survivability to increase by 1-2 key levels over another spec. In a season that is so heavily reliant on strong defensives, this spec helps cover a LOT of weaknesses. On top of this, the buffing of tanks and healer power makes dungeons feel a lot easier.

Shadow Priest on patch launch was not good damage wise, but over the course of 10.2 they received pretty significant damage buffs. Their AOE damage and ability to fit well into wizard comps makes Shadow a dominate force. The priority damage gained by Shadow as well is pretty unmatched all things considered.

The utility of Spriest has also taken a bit of a dive this patch. Massenbannung and Gedankenbesänftigung are both significantly less useful this tier. Mass Dispel and Seele der Macht are both much weaker than they were in 10.1. Even with that being the case, the strength of Machtwort: Seelenstärke in this season makes Shadow excellent.

Frost Mage’s overall damage is a little bit worse than Fire's but the advantages of Frost tend to be aimed towards their Single Target, and this continues to be true. Additionally, their damage on low target counts is a strength. Their utility of a consistent 60% slow on all the mobs via Eisige Winde is very strong, and allows tanks to kite freely. This is very important for dungeons like Everbloom and Throne of the Tides. Drachenodem is also a very strong AOE disorient to stop deadly casts. The way they deal damage to priority mobs is also very valuable in Mythic+. It does not make up for the fact that their overall damage is lower, but it is a pretty high redeeming quality of Frost Mage. A lot of high end mage players have a lot of good things to say about Frost in particular, but as it currently stands it is the second best mage spec.

The biggest upside of Frost (and mage in general) is the survivability. Massenbarriere, Eisbarriere, Große Unsichtbarkeit, Zeitverschiebung, Spiegelbild, and Eisblock just give mage buttons for every single situation.

Utility wise, Balance Druid is one of the best DPS specs in the game which consistently keeps it high tier due to bringing Taifun, Ursols Vortex, Erschütterndes Gebrüll, Sonnenstrahl, and Verderbnis entfernen. Balance Druid will continue to have strong sustained AOE damage while passable Single Target for M+ scenarios. Additionally, the spec is very tanky versus one shots with Bärengestalt. Mal der Wildnis is arguably the best Raid Buff in M+ as it gives 3% damage to all members + 1.5% DR. They fit very solidly into the current M+ meta, and occupy a great position as a 3rd dps option. A lot of these assumptions are based on high level keys, as the spec is significantly worse at low level keys. Additionally, some dungeons like Waycrest Manor and Atal'Dazar do not favor moonkin as much, but it is still playable.

The only real downside for Balance Druid is that they are susceptible to rot damage more so than many other specs. This allows them to die easier than other specs if piloted incorrectly.

Outlaw Rogue is well known for their utility from a time when Verhüllender Nebel was mandatory. Shroud is certainly less mandatory this season, but can get great value. Outlaw also was a massive winner with the most recent rogue rework. Throughout most of the 10.2 PTR this was the highest DPS in the game. It did receive a few nerfs, however we still expect this to be a very strong damage option for M+.

You could write novels on Outlaw’s utility, and combined with their defensiveness is what propels them into A-Tier. Finte has always been a ridiculous ability, especially when combined with Mantel der Schatten and Entrinnen. Atrophisches Gift / Lähmendes Gift is also an incredibly strong choice node. Overall, we would not be surprised to see an Outlaw Rogue occupy 3rd dps slots in many Mythic+ groups.

In regards to raw DPS output, Demonology is a solid option and the best of the Warlock specs. The big thing in favor of Demonology is obviously their survivability. Seele entziehen, Erbarmungslose Entschlossenheit, Dämonenhaut, Dunkler Pakt are incredible survival tools. That coupled with the belief that many groups will be playing with a Disc Priest healer thus Seele der Macht pushes Demonology to the point where both their damage will be good with strong survivability.

The utility that Demonology provides is okay, but not top tier. They have access to things like Gesundheitsstein, Schattenfuror, Dämonisches Tor, and Seelenstein as their primary sources of M+ utility. The upside of this utility is that it is mostly passive things gained and require no playing around, but the downside is that most of it is low impact or not super useful in many situations. Ultimately though we believe the DPS from Demonology is good enough to warrant and A-Tier position and fill a 3rd DPS slot.

B+ Tier Specs for Mythic+

Beast Mastery in 10.2 can do VERY high damage if piloted well. This is especially true on Verstärkt in dungeons like Blackrook Hold or The Everbloom. They now have a real cooldown with Ruf der Wildnis + Blutige Raserei which does some real damage in M+. If damage alone was the only thing we were ranking on, BM Hunter would likely be an A-Tier specialization.

HOWEVER, the utility Hunter provides is either redundant or the worst version of other options. We believe that Beast Mastery (and Hunter in general) severely lacks the utility suite to help elevate the spec. The survivability of the spec is a bit deceptive as they have a lot of HP from Ausdauertraining + Verjüngender Wind. This allows them to live higher level keys, but fundamentally they do not make doing a dungeon easier outside of raw DPS.

Enhancement Shaman is a spec that has a high amount of upsides. For one, it is one of the best DPS specs that brings Kampfrausch. Enhancement’s Single Target and funnel damage is the strongest in the game and makes them a compelling option generally. The Amirdrassil tier set is an insane damage gain. It buffs the AOE, funnel, and burst damage profiles of the Enhance Shaman and really makes their damage super competitive. When coupled with Führung der Ahnen, the shortest kick in Windstoß, Totem der Energiespeicherung, and Donnerschock knockup, it's a B+-Tier choice.

Enhancement’s big drawback is survivability. Astralverschiebung is a very strong cooldown, but on fights that have one shot capabilities whenever Shift would be on CD, then Enhance is very vulnerable. You do have access to Geisterwolf, but going Wolf before a big hit feels awful. Überquellende Lebenskraft is also good HP wise. Overall though, if you pull around an Enhancement Shaman's priority damage they can do some nasty things.

Destruction has been better in both Season 1 and Season 2, and we expect this to be a bit worse than Demonology in most dungeons. A lot of specs this season get pretty massive damage gains out of their tier set, and Destro's tier set is mostly Single Target focused. There are some dungeons that Destro excels at, but it is not a universally popular option.

Free, Non-DR, stuns from Blasphemie and Höllenbestie beschwören in conjunction with utility from things like Fluch der Sprachen, Schattenfuror, Furcht for incorporeal, Imp Dispel, and Purge, are all pretty redeeming qualities from Destro. On top of that, the spec is unkillable with Erbarmungslose Entschlossenheit + Dunkler Pakt.

With the recent Demon Hunter rework, Havoc is a massive winner. Prior to nerfs, the damage provided to Havoc Demon Hunter is pretty unmatched in 5 man content. With the pretty consecutive nerfs, havoc stocks fell a bit. This in conjunction with Vengenace occupying a dominate spot over the tank role, this makes havoc's value a bit worse than it otherwise could be. The damage is still awesome, but it has slid to 3rd dps option.

Combining Verschwimmen, the passive damage reductions that DH have from Verbissenheit der Illidari, Paradetanz, Wissen der Illidari, their self healing via Seelenreißer, and Dunkelheit make Havoc virtually unkillable if played well. The amount of utility they possess is the only real drawback, but it is hardly a drawback. They have 2 AOE disrupts with Chaosnova and Zeichen des Elends, so you cannot be too upset to be playing with one.

Assasination is probably one of the hardest specs to place on this tier list for us. It is definitely better than it was in 10.0 and 10.1, but we currently do not believe it is the best of the Rogue specs. This is ultimately what lands it in B+ tier. Willkürliches Gemetzel and applying Erdrosseln to many targets is always very potent and especially so in a dungeon like Throne of the Tides! Additionally, if you are playing with a Disc Priest access to Seele der Macht can elevate their damage by a lot.

Sin ultimately falls behind a bit on higher target count amounts / cleave situations where specs like Outlaw and Sub do not. Sin does have better AOE scaling this season due to Blutroter Sturm, but we don't think it is going to be in a spot where Sin is the premiere Rogue spec.

Fury Warrior’s AOE damage and self healing is incredibly powerful. On top of this, they have some of the stronger AOE burst cooldowns in the game. This could be seen as a curse, as they are also likely to take threat and die. In addition to that, their survivability and self healing from things like Kalter Stahl, heißes Blut, Bevorstehender Sieg, and Wütende Regeneration is top notch, in addition to a suite of abilities such as Anspornender Schrei, Verteidigungshaltung, and Zauberreflexion. They also are one of the best specs in the game at killing totem style mobs which is a common trend this season.

The downside of Fury is the cooldown reliance and a lack of real dungeon utility. Warrior is a class that has very few answers to any of the recently added affixes as well, which is something that certainly sucks. On top of that, Fury has very few AOE stops outside of Drohruf. We think Fury is quite good and warrants a B+ ranking.

Subtlety remains a great choice for Mythic plus in Season 3! Overall damage and priority damage are both good, and the Rogue utility suite is powerful. At the end of the day they are still a Rogue, so Verhüllender Nebel, Solarplexus, Blenden, Schurkenhandel, and infinite survivability are all positive qualities that they bring.

Downside of Subtlety is the fact that it generally is worse than Outlaw in a lot of spots. There are some dungeons where we think that Sub will seriously shine in like Atal'Dazar and Blackrook Hold. This is largely due to the fact that Sub starts to pull away on burst AOE and large target counts, but these are typically situations that are not the most common.

TLDR: Great spec, slightly worse than Outlaw.

Ret has some incredibly strong burst on a 1:00 cooldown. This is one of the most highly coveted damage profiles in M+, and their single target is not too bad. With access to defensive options from passive nodes such as Geweihte Platten and Schwindendes Licht, Ret Pally is one of the tankiest DPS in the game. Ret is another underrated spec that we expect to be good, but not utilized super frequently. The utility is very good, but the overall damage sometimes falls a bit behind other options. On top of this they only have the ability to blast Single Target OR AoE and do not get real options to do priority damage. It's a good spec that can occupy a 3rd dps slot if you have a strong Ret player.

The utility that Ret provides is fairly solid with things like Hammer der Gerechtigkeit, Segen der Aufopferung, Handauflegung, and Segen des Schutzes being mainstays. The ability to have multiple externals on a DPS like Segen der Aufopferung and Handauflegung is strong and feels great to play with when piloted well.

Unholy Death Knight's position was one that has teetered on above average to very good the whole expansion. Historically, it does a large amount of damage on super big pulls, which looks great in an aggressively played Black Rook hold or the MDI. This season though they have a more cleave focused tier bonus, which is what we think is going to elevate the Unholy Death Knight position a bit. The tier impacts Magus der Toten and allows it to do some pretty serious cleave damage. While we do not believe this will be a heavily utilized top-tier specilization, we think if piloted well Unholy DK can shine heavily.

The utility and survivability of Unholy certainly helps elevate the unholy kit as a whole. Todesgriff, Monströse Gliedmaße, Heimtückische Unterkühlung, and Antimagisches Feld are all pretty decent. Their survivability from Todesstoß, Antimagische Hülle, Eisige Gegenwehr, and Veteran des Dritten Krieges makes them very sturdy.

Marksmanship Hunter was looking really weak for most of the PTR, but late into the PTR cycle they got a change to their tier bonus to make their M+ damage quite potent. The spec can absolutely erase trash packs whenever their cooldowns are up. It also seems like the spec has some of the highest burst in the game, which on lower level keys is even crazier.

The spec is likely held back because it does not scale as well as other options into high level keys and the utility of the specialization is rather low. There are a lot of things that factor into making a meta specialization, and if DPS was the only metric Marksmanship would fare much better.

B- Tier Specs for Mythic+

Feral Druid’s damage is really good on AoE. They do not require any catering to when setting up pulls and they are not cooldown reliant. They do consistent, high damage on AoE, but are slightly worse than some of the B+ tier options options. On top of that Mal der Wildnis and Wache der Natur are very strong. They also received a tier bonus which focuses on Wilde Raserei. This is going to help elevate their Single Target damage a little bit in M+ as well, which was lacking a bit this expansion in dungeons.

The defensiveness and just lack of high overall damage is what is holding feral back a bit. In most expansions, you would expect Überlebensinstinkte, Baumrinde, and Schnelligkeit des Raubtiers healing to be enough for 1 spec to have “good survivability.” However, with this expansion the power creep on survivability and the amount of damage some mobs do is very high.

This spec is a walking tank with the buttons it has access to. Karmaberührung, Stärkendes Gebräu, Schaden dämpfen, and Magiediffusion are all phenomenal defensive buttons and some that Windwalker has access to easily. Many specs are happy to have 2 of these, yet Windwalker has 4. Their utility is also incredible with things like Fußfeger and Ring des Friedens being the main winners.

The reason this spec is in B-Tier is largely due to damage. Windwalker is one of the worst Single Target DPS specs in the game by a large margin. This is similar to what we saw in 10.1 even where Windwalker AOE and Burst AOE damage is more passable than anything, but their Single Target really holds them back. While their AOE is typically "fine" we still think it is going to hold them back and push them into the B- tier with the other specs we expect to see less consistent play.

We expect Elemental Shaman to be "fine" in most 5-Man content. What this means more or less is their damage is okay, but not great, and does not push them over the top into some higher tiers. They can do decent in low target count situations, but at a certain point you would rather just double up on another high tier option. Single Target for Elemental is not too bad either, but we think Ele will start to fall short in overall dps metrics, which most players care about the most.

The survivability is not bad with things such as Wächter der Natur, Astralverschiebung, and Erdelementar, but it isn’t top tier like some of the other higher tier specs. The utility that Elemental Shaman brings is Kampfrausch, Donnerschock knock ups, Erdbeben knock downs, and Führung der Ahnen healing. This utility is solid suite, but not top tier either for Mythic+. Overall it doesn't get points deducted for these things, but it doesn't get points added either.

Frost Death Knight has been slowly ramping over the course of the expansion. Being able to play a Auslöschung focused build over a Sindragosas Hauch centric build is paramount for the success in M+. Ultimately though, their damage is not as impressive as some of the other S or A-Tier choices, but can be an okay 3rd DPS option. We do have this in B- mostly due to the fact that we believe that Unholy will outperform Frost by a little bit. Their damage is pretty solid and getting better at the 3-5 target range, but falls off a bit on larger target counts.

Survivability wise, Frost DK is really good, and the spec has long term potential to be pretty good in Mythic+ if it received damage buffs. As it currently stands, it is slightly behind Unholy in Mythic+ but has a decent amount of upsides. These upsides are Todesgriff, Monströse Gliedmaße, Blendender Eisregen, Heimtückische Unterkühlung, and Antimagisches Feld are all pretty solid. Their survivability from Todesstoß, Antimagische Hülle, Eisige Gegenwehr, and Veteran des Dritten Krieges makes them very sturdy.

Survival has been looking a lot better in 10.2 than it did in 10.1 or 10.0. Ultimately we do not think it will occupy a position in the meta-game, but we think it is an okay option for a 3rd DPS. The Lauffeuerbombe focused tier set of Hunter Survival 10.2 Class Set 4pc allows for a much more potent AOE profile. The overall damage of Survival is not too bad, but we think there are better options.

They also have the “Hunter'' problem where their utility is non-existent in M+. Survival is MAYBE the best of the hunter specs, but this is a spec that needs real M+ utility to be valuable. They have a non-impactful raid buff for M+, the worst AoE stun in the game, an okay ST stun, Bloodlust, and the worst knockback in the game. This is like a kit that needs 1 or 2 more major tools to help them have a stable position in the future of M+.

Affliction is a mid range spec that has some pretty defined strengths. The overall damage is not too high, but with a Verdammnisblüte + Seed of Corruption build it can do some of the strongest burst AoE in the game. The spec faulters a bit on mid range target counts which are very promanent in dungeons like DOTI.

The utility and survivability of Affliction (and warlock in general) is normally valuable enough to be brought. Fluch verstärken and curses in general are criminally underrated utility. Seele entziehen, Erbarmungslose Entschlossenheit, Dämonenhaut, and Dunkler Pakt are incredible survival tools.

Damage wise we expect Arcane to be just as powerful as both Frost and Fire. Defensively, Arcane also is quite powerful with similar defensive qualities as Frost Mage and Fire - Prismatische Barriere, Große Unsichtbarkeit, Zeitverschiebung, Spiegelbild, and Eisblock are all super strong.

The big downside of Arcane Mage is the way it does damage. Arcane is very cooldown reliant and forced to hard cast many abilities which makes them struggle heavily in the many dungeons that require intense movement. These downsides generally make the Arcane Mage the least desirable Mage specialization for M+ at this current moment. It's difficult to rank because while we think it could be good, it is unlikely to see as much play as the other 2 specs.

C Tier Specs for Mythic+

Arms, similar to fury this season is a pretty heavy burst focused spec. It has some of the highest burst in the game now, but ultimiately it falls off pretty hard on sustained AOE situations. The situations in which Arms typically excels is on 2 target cleave keeping up talents like Verwunden through Weitreichende Stöße. Ultimately it is ranked in C because we do not expect the damage to be strong enough to see a lot of consistent meta game play, be a bit on the lower end of DPS specs, and play second fiddle to Fury in M+ content.

The decision making on a Klingensturm focused build or a Dampfwalze and Hinrichten build does Arms no favors in regards to their AOE vs ST builds that they need to play in dungeons, when many specs do not lose as much. Ultimately, I do think this is a solid C-Tier option and can compete in overall DPS with the best if put into a comp that favors them.