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
