You may be wondering what the best DPS class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth is. We’ve taken the time to rank them for you to help you decide how you will choose to take part in the wars to come.
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Frost Death Knight – 22nd Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Now that it has had some time to be tested you may be wondering what the best DPS class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth currently is. And while there is no true “best” as the best ultimately is the class you enjoy the most, some are stacking up better than others in certain aspects overall.
Frost Death Knights are melee damage dealers with moderate damage spread between single and multi-target abilities. They have seen many changes to their core gameplay mechanics in Battle for Azeroth, most notably being a complete revamp of their talent tree.
Frost Death Knights are unique in that they provide reasonable damage in any type of encounter, though they do not excel in any specific area. While they are able to sustain a decent amount of cleave damage and make use of several key abilities that are able to provide short bursts of powerful AoE damage, they do not reach nearly the potential of other classes. Frost Death Knights also lack mobility and are considered one of the slowest specs for combat within the game.
Single Target Score: 2.5/5
Multi-Target Score: 2.5/5
Survivability Score: 2.5/5
Total Score: 7.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Unholy Death Knight – 21st Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Unholy Death Knights provide high amounts of damage when presented with single target encounters. This is due to their reliance on stacking Festering Wound on enemies over time within combat. This effect stacks up to six times and provides an excellent damage boost. This is a double-edged sword, however, as this makes switching between multiple enemies a hassle. Due to the need of stacking Festering Wound on enemies, achieving a higher damage output can take some time to get rolling.
To balance this, Unholy Death Knights are also capable of gaining strong AoE and cleave abilities that make them effective in multi-target encounters, though they perform best against two to three targets. They also feature several utility abilities that provide reasonable stuns and relief from movement impairing effects.
Single Target Score: 3.5/5
Multi-Target Score: 3/5
Survivability Score: 2/5
Total Score: 8.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Arms Warrior – 20th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Arms Warriors are fantastic burst damage dealers. They are a highly adaptable class making them incredibly useful in a vast number of situations you may find yourself in. They are particularly useful when facing multiple enemies. They are also extremely customizable due to having many viable talents that replace and modify existing abilities.
Arms Warriors fall a bit flat when it comes to single target damage compared to other classes. Due to their burst damage styled combat you may find that their rotations are a bit slow on average. They also do not have much in the way of in combat healing, making them a bit squishy at times.
Single Target Score: 3/5
Multi-Target Score: 4/5
Survivability Score: 2/5
Total Score: 9
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Fury Warrior – 19th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Fury Warriors are great for fast-paced, damage driven gameplay. They rely on haste making their attack speed very fast compared to other classes. Often times you may feel as if you are spamming your rotations, which is great for players looking for a more active class. While Arms Warriors feature stronger multi-target damage, Fury Warriors are not too far behind. They feature several strong burst AoE attacks which are also fairly effective on single targets. Another strong point is that their rotation is short and easy to learn making them a suitable class for new players and those looking for something new to try.
Because Fury Warriors rely so heavily on their passive haste buff Enrage you may find long periods of dealing little damage if it does not happen to trigger. It can be triggered by Rampage instantly, but this attack requires 85 rage to use. You may also dislike the lack of customization involved in this class as talents have little effect on the core rotation for this build.
Single Target Score: 4/5
Multi-Target Score: 3.5/5
Survivability Score: 2/5
Total Score: 9.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Shadow Priest – 18th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Shadow Priests are currently one of the strongest multi-target damage dealers in Battle for Azeroth. While their playstyle tends to be fairly fast-paced, it does involve a considerable amount of resource generation and management in order to fully optimize their damage output.
Single target damage for Shadow Priests is incredibly low and does not offer much of an edge when compared to other classes. Their multi-target damage, however, is incredibly robust depending on the talents a player decides to take. Shadow Priests rely heavily on damage-over-time effects and burst AoEs to provide a very high sustained damage output in multi-target encounters.
Shadow Priests also have some fairly useful utility abilities. Through the use of Vampiric Touch and Vampiric Embrace they are capable of providing a decent amount of supplemental healing during dungeons and raids.
Single Target Score: 1.5/5
Multi-Target Score: 4.5/5
Survivability Score: 3.5/5
Total Score: 9.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Elemental Shaman – 17th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Elemental Shamans have been changed fairly dramatically in Battle for Azeroth. Overall they have been made significantly weaker in almost every aspect. As a trade off they have gained several utility abilities that give them a bit of an edge, though they still tend to underperform compared to their previous incarnation.
While the playstyle has remained straightforward, Elemental Shamans must now choose between either high single or multi-target damage through their revamped talent tree. While it is possible to choose a blend of abilities in either direction due to their customizability, it is not recommended as this will not outperform specializing in one aspect.
The additional utility abilities, while useful, are clunky to use and can be difficult to find a place in your standard rotation. Despite all of the changes that have effectively made rolling an Elemental Shaman less viable, they remain very middle-of-the-pack and could be extremely useful in a variety of encounters.
Single Target Score: 3/5
Multi-Target Score: 3/5
Survivability Score: 3.5/5
Total Score: 9.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Windwalker Monk – 16th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Windwalker Monks make for a fairly flexible damage dealer with a focus on single target damage encounters. Their rotation is simple to learn, as well as full of easy to use cooldowns that can be employed in a variety of situations. On top of providing high sustain single target damage, Windwalker Monks provide adequate AoE abilities that come in handy throughout dungeon content.
Windwalker Monks do not have much in the way of defensive abilities. While some cooldowns exist, they do not bring enough to the table to make a huge difference when survival is priority. To counter this, they are very mobile within combat.
Single Target Score: 4/5
Multi-Target Score: 3/5
Survivability Score: 2.5/5
Total Score: 9.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Enhancement Shaman – 15th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Enhancement Shamans have seen few changes in Battle for Azeroth allowing them to remain as fairly effective, single target damage dealers. On top of this, they have a variety of AoE and cleave abilities that make their multi-target damage effective as well.
Elemental Shamans tend to exceed primarily in sustained single target damage, though they are also able to have extremely high burst damage when crits land effectively. Their AoE and cleave abilities are also able to be funneled into single targets making their rotation flexible enough to be used in a variety of encounters.
Elemental Shamans lack customization, however, as their talent tree does not have much diversity in potential options. They also do not have much in the way of defensive abilities and will not hold up well against a lot of damage.
Single Target Score: 4/5
Multi-Target Score: 3/5
Survivability Score: 3/5
Total Score: 10
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Assassination Rogue – 14th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Assassination Rogues are well balanced, single target damage dealers. They are one of the classes in Battle for Azeroth that have had very little changes that affect their build in any meaningful way. Many of the abilities lost at the end of Legion have returned to some extent through the updated talent tree.
Assassination Rogues make use of damage-over-time attacks to do the majority of their damage. This makes them incredibly strong single target damage dealers. On top of that, Assassination Rogues have many defensive abilities that allow them to survive a wide range of potential encounters as well as mechanics within raids and dungeons. Their weakest point is the lack of multi-target damage abilities. Their rotation is also very cooldown heavy and is only really effective at dealing with single target encounters.
Single Target Score: 4.5/5
Multi-Target Score: 2/5
Survivability Score: 4/5
Total Score: 10.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Destruction Warlock – 13th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Destructions Warlocks have also seen quite a few changes at the beginning of Battle for Azeroth. As they currently stand, they are a fairly safe pick for most types of encounters. While overall their damage output is average, their sustained damage abilities make them incredibly stable and adaptable in both single and multi-target encounters. They also have the lowest ramp up time of any Warlock spec, meaning they will be good to go from the start of a fight. They also feature highly customizable talent trees which produces a more flexible gameplay that can be shaped on a per-encounter basis.
As stated before, a Destruction Warlock damage output is extremely average. If you are the type of player who wants to be the top overall DPS, this may not be your first choice. If, however, you are looking for something that will produce consistent results but can also provide good burst damage when needed, Destruction Warlock may be your perfect class.
Single Target Score: 3.5/5
Multi-Target Score: 3.5/5
Survivability Score: 4/5
Total Score: 10.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Outlaw Rogue – 12th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Outlaw Rogues are the most versatile of the Rogue specs. Their build has not changed significantly from Legion though one of their primary abilities, Blade Flurry, can no longer be active throughout an entire encounter. This has little effect in most encounters, though in fights that will require extended AoE times, it will be a bit trickier to maintain damage output.
Overall Outlaw Rogues output a fairly average amount of single target damage. And, while they have the potential to cause great multi-target damage, there is an extremely high variance based on a number of factors, mostly due to how spread out some enemies may be and how reliant on cooldowns their abilities are. As with other Rogue specs, they do feature a number of defensive abilities, making them a fairly survivable class to play as.
Single Target Score: 2.5/5
Multi-Target Score: 3.5/5
Survivability Score: 4.5/5
Total Score: 10.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Beast Mastery/Marksmanship/Survival Hunter – 11th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
In Battle for Azeroth every spec for Hunter is very comparable overall. While they do feature variations between each other, they all have very similar damage outputs in most situations. The differences between each spec mostly come down to a player’s preferred playstyle.
Beast Mastery Hunters are mostly unchanged from their build in Legion. They tend to be the most versatile of the three specs due to the fact they are the only ranged spec in the game with a rotation that can entirely be used while moving. This makes them incredibly useful for playing raid mechanics without having to sacrifice damage output.
With that in mind, they also tend to be on the lower to mid-range damage output of the three in all types of combat encounters. They feature short cooldowns and a wide range of utility effects from their pets. That said, they heavily rely on pet AI which is not always up to par.
Marksmanship Hunters on the other hand have been completely reworked from their previous incarnation. Their focus regenerates passively considerably slower. For single target damage, a Marksmanship Hunter will now want to have their pet active, while in multi-target encounters you will want to have Lone Wolf active to gain a 10% damage bonus. This means that despite the increased damage output, you will have to lose your pets and the utility bonus effects that come with them. They are burdened by long cast times, making them less mobile in combat than the other two specs.
In terms of damage output, Marksmanship comes in middle of the road when compared to the other specs, but also has the potential to do the most burst damage in both single target and multi-target encounters.
Survival Hunters are incredibly different than the other specs in that it is a primarily melee based DPS build. While ranged attack are featured, they are in no way competitive with the damage output that you will see from melee. Survival Hunter pets provide a tonne of utility effects in this spec. Though not as mobile as Beast Mastery Hunters, they are far more mobile than many other melee classes.
When looking at damage output potential, Survival Hunters take the top tier in all situations except for burst single target damage. While their sustained single target damage is strong, their true stopping power comes from their sustained AoE damage overall.
Single Target Score: 3/5
Multi-Target Score: 3/5
Survivability Score: 4.5/5
Total Score: 10.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Feral Druid – 10th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Feral Druids provide a strong melee spec to Druids in Battle for Azeroth. They have seen very few changes from Legion that have had an effect on their core gameplay. They remain a strong single target damage dealer, while providing damage-over-time effects on lower priority targets. As with their Balance counterpart, Feral Druids are highly mobile and flexible for use in many different encounters. Their talent tree is very customizable as well, with different options depending on the type of encounter you will be facing.
Feral Druids are also exceedingly difficult to master when compared to other classes. They must manage multiple resource types in order to balance their attacks and abilities. They also lack much in the way of strong burst abilities and can require ramp up time to become effective.
Single Target Score: 4/5
Multi-Target Score: 3.5/5
Survivability Score: 3/5
Total Score: 10.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Demonology Warlock – 9th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Demonology Warlocks have had a number of changes going in to Battle for Azeroth. In sum, these changes have done a lot to make players feel like they are controlling an actually powerful demonic horde compared to previous iterations. They deal high single target damage, while providing adequate cleaves in multi-target encounters as well.
Demonology Warlocks are not nearly as mobile as their Affliction counterparts and do not feature many instant cast spells. On top of this, in order to deal any substantial damage in an encounter quite a bit of ramp up time is required.
Single Target Score: 4/5
Multi-Target Score: 3.5/5
Survivability Score: 3.5/5
Total Score: 11
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Frost Mage – 8th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Frost Mages are fairly strong single target damage dealers with a wide array of utility functions that make themselves useful for a variety of encounters, and boost their survivability. If the appropriate talent has been selected, they also gain a decent cleave effect allowing higher multi-target damage to be dealt. Overall, their damage is consistent, and they are capable of downing weaker enemies quickly. As with all Mages, they are also extremely mobile and efficient at kiting targets.
Frost Mages lack any reasonably strong burst attacks that would be effective against single targets. While their spell rotation is quick, this can be a major detractor in many encounters. Again, cleave attacks are only available through a talent, meaning less customization is likely to be possible if you are attempting to maximize the effectiveness of your build.
Single Target Score: 4/5
Multi-Target Score: 3.5/5
Survivability Score: 3.5/5
Total Score: 11
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Balance Druid – 7th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Balance Druids provide a well balanced, high sustain, single and multi-target damage output in Battle for Azeroth. While their rotation can be more challenging than other classes, if it is mastered it provides a very fun and active combat experience. Much of their damage output relies heavily on damage-over-time effects that can be stacked with each other. On top of this, many of their instant cast abilities can be used while moving, making them one of the more mobile classes in the game. Balance Druids are extremely adaptable to most encounters and can take a lot of punishment before being in any sort of danger.
Balance Druids, while able to perform decently in multi-target encounters, require a good amount of ramp up time to make their AoE and cleave effects worthwhile. Most of their cleave effects are also limited to an 8-yard radius.
Single Target Score: 4.5/5
Multi-Target Score: 3/5
Survivability Score: 4/5
Total Score: 11.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Havoc Demon Hunter – 6th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Havoc Demon Hunters have seen little in the way of changes as they enter their sophomore expansion in Battle for Azeroth. They have maintained their position as one of the strongest single and multi-target damage dealers in the game. They make use of several rapidly occurring cooldowns that provide extremely high single target bursts that can also be used as a cleave or AoE. Demon Hunters as a whole remain one of the most mobile classes in the game both in and out of combat.
While their burst damage is impressive, Havoc Demon Hunters come up short when it comes to sustained damage. All of their AoE effects are tied to cooldowns, making their damage window short if not managed well. Resource generation is also tied to RNG and can lead lead to some variability in damage output.
Single Target Score: 4.5/5
Multi-Target Score: 4/5
Survivability Score: 3/5
Total Score: 11.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Retribution Paladin – 5th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Retribution Paladins are currently very strong single target damage dealers when compared to other classes. They are overall well-rounded, featuring strong sustained damage, self-healing, and high defensive stats and abilities. They feature decent single target burst damage as well. On top of this they have several utility spells that will come in handy in raids and dungeons, providing others with healing, defense, and mobility buffs.
Some issues with Retribution Paladins includes their lack of mobility in combat and their lackluster AoE damage. They are most effective when fighting bosses and elites, but fall a bit short when dealing with multiple enemies.
Single Target Score: 5/5
Multi-Target Score: 2.5/5
Survivability Score: 4/5
Total Score: 11.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Fire Mage – 4th Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Fire Mages have seen a number of changes going into Battle for Azeroth but remain highly effective damage dealers despite them. They offer excellent single target damage, while also allowing for proficiency in multi-target encounters. As with the other Mage specs, Fire Mages remain very mobile and damage is not reduced very much in encounters that require movement.
Fire Mages are well rounded and offer both high burst damage and sustained damage throughout a fight. They have also seen some changes to their defensive abilities which makes them more viable in a wider variety of fights. One major change has made the Blazing Soul talent activate a Blazing Barrier shield around you after blinking, making this a more streamlined escape technique.
One potential downside for using Fire Mages in dungeons and raids is the fact that cleaving multiple enemies is automatic. If targets are stacked within the radius of your attacks it will be difficult to stop damaging enemies that need to be preserved to play to the fights mechanics.
Single Target Score: 4/5
Multi-Target Score: 3.5/5
Survivability Score: 4/5
Total Score: 11.5
Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Arcane Mage – 3rd Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Arcane Mages are currently among the best damage dealers in Battle for Azeroth with both exceptional output in single and multi-target encounters. Mechanically they have seen a number of changes to how they play within the game. These changes have made them much more mobile than previously and allow players more customization within the talent tree.
Arcane Mages core gameplay involves two differing rotations over the course of three minutes that relies on their Evocation ability. This cooldown increases a player’s mana regeneration by 750% over six seconds. At the beginning of a fight an Arcane Mage is able to deal a large amount of burst AoE damage until their mana runs dry. At this point they will activate Evocation and begin to focus on abilities that use much less mana, but provide effective sustained damage until Evocation resets.
Arcane Mages also offer relatively high single target damage, but these abilities are nearly entirely reliant on cooldowns and are not as effective as the standard AoE rotation in most encounters.
Single Target Score: 3/5
Multi-Target Score: 4.5/5
Survivability Score: 4/5
Total Score: 11.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Subtlety Rogue – 2nd Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Along with the two other Rogue specs, Subtlety Rogues have seen few changes in Battle for Azeroth that have affected their core gameplay mechanics. They continue to have strong single-target damage output, but now showcase a decent amount of multi-target damage overall as well. Due to the specs reliance on stealth to trigger certain abilities, they are difficult to learn for less experienced players.
Subtlety Rogues tend to focus on extremely high single target damage output that relies on combo points and energy. If you are unable to manage these two aspects you may find yourself dealing significantly less damage than the class is capable of causing. This aspect makes the difficult to learn class even more difficult to master throughout end game content. They also tend to have some of the greatest defensive abilities of any damage dealing class.
Subtlety Rogues are also very customizable. Their talent trees allow them to specialize into several distinct roles that may be more viable in different encounters. One of the most integral talents to ensuring they are able to deal stronger multi-target and AoE damage is Secret Technique. Without this a Subtlety Rogue will not be able to perform well in multi-target encounters.
Single Target Score: 4/5
Multi-Target Score: 3/5
Survivability Score: 4.5/5
Total Score: 11.5
Best DPS Class in WoW: Battle for Azeroth
Affliction Warlock – The Best DPS Class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth
Affliction Warlocks are exceedingly powerful when it comes to both sustained damage in single and multi-target encounters. Their strength is primarily based in damage-over-time abilities. These abilities can also be used while moving, making Affliction Warlocks exceptionally mobile without impacting their damage output. As with all Warlocks, they tout some of the most valuable utility abilities such as Demonic Gateway.
While Affliction Warlocks are well suited for high sustained damage, burst damage will require a waiting period in order to maximize mana and cooldowns. This can lead to some damage variance throughout encounters. Overall, they are the safest bet for maximizing damage output in the current build of the game making them the best DPS class in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth.
Single Target Score: 4.5/5
Multi-Target Score: 4/5
Survivability Score: 3.5/5
Total Score: 12
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