After Wrath of the Lich King Classic phase 4 releases, which specs are going to be overperforming, and which specs are going to be underperforming? Check our Wotlk phase 4 DPS tier list, we rank the best DPS classes and specs.

Wotlk Classic Phase 4 Best DPS Class - Wotlk Phase 4 DPS Tier List

Since phase 3 has been available for a while, this WOTLK phase 4 DPS ranking is based on raid performance in the last few weeks. We also talk about 8 specs in Wrath, therefore, we can see which DPS specs are doing better than expected and which ones need a buff for Wotlk phase 4. Wrath is designed for everything to be viable and everybody brings something to the table. There really isn't a spec in the game so bad you couldn't even clear a raid with it even in Ice Crown. There are just some classes that are starting to scale better while others fall behind. There are also classes that stack really well together and others that feel almost strange to bring duplicates of. Let’s jump into the Wotlk Classic phase 4 DPS tier list.

8 DPS Specs Need A Buff In WOTLK Phase 4

1. Elemental Shaman

Elemental Shamans are great picks for PvE since they have a high-skill floor, they do competitive damage, and they breathe bloodlust. They're absolutely blasting, they're popping their big trinkets, they're fire elites and their huge lightning bolts. They're completely insane in PvP and bloodlust is so broken, it probably shouldn't even be allowed in Wrath Arenas. Just because the Elemental Shaman think they're doing great right now, doesn't mean that the titanium hole around them isn't buckling. 

A lot of the ICC fights are around 3-5 minutes long. That means you'll be losing a lot of fire elemental uptime and even the glyph won't save you. The second red flag is that Elemental Shamans aren't really being stacked in raids. Forget the DPS data, when's the last time you saw a raid with more than one of them? Then there's the part where Resto Shamans are completely insane in ICC. Raid leaders will definitely be spending the phase pushing Ellie Shamans to dual spec healer.

2. Marksmanship Hunter

The number 7 DPS class in WotLK Classic phase 4 that needs the buff is Marksmanship Hunter. Currently, in full bis phase 3, MM Hunter is a few hundred DPS behind a Survival. Then the prevailing wisdom is that with armor fan, MM is going to surpass Survival Hunter by a few hundred DPS at the end of ICC. That would put them comfortably in the middle of the pack. 

There are a lot of problems with Hunters in general because they don't really factor in movement or add very well. Another big issue is that the Marksmanship Hunter doesn't really account well for the mana issues that MM Hunters typically have. That's especially true if the raid is moving fast like a speed run. Mana will get better in ICC with better gear and there are ways to get Mana back like snowballs or innervate, but you try asking a Resto Druid for innervate on your Hunter and see how that goes. 

3. Blood Death Knight

The number six class that needs a buff for Wrath phase 4 is Blood Death Knight. Blood DK is top tier in phase 4. Blood DKs even deserve Shadowmourne to reach their full potential. Unless you have a raid without an Enhanced Shaman for some reason, does it really make sense to do a progression rating with a Blood DK until they finally have enough gear to start competing? It just makes way more sense to bring Unholy and Frost DK. Just gear them up instead. In order to get that high DPS, they'll be taking their Unholy Frenzy away from a Feral Druid and giving it to themselves. That's overall less DPS.

4. Boomkin

Boomkin is performing great right now and gets even better in ICC. All the Boomkin mains will tell you how great Boomkin is with their combat resurrection, innervate, and the gift of the wild. The data will tell you that Boomkins are just middle of the pack at best and some are even re-rolling to Feral or other classes entirely. One of the main reasons is that no matter how shiny the sims look, the more you have to move and actually use your utility, the worst they get. There just aren't that many fights that are patchwork style where you get to plan and cast uninterrupted for 3 minutes.

5. Enhancement Shaman

The phase 4 sims put Enhancement in the lower third of the pack DPS wise and ICC. They get continually outscaled by the big 3 of the Feral, the Fire Mage, and the Fury even into phase 5. One of the big Enhancement Shaman concerns in ICC is the amount of movement in fights. There's also the huge lack of survivability for Enhanced. Enhancement Shamans have around a 10000 lower health pool than Warriors or even Death Knights.

6. Arcane Mage

Mages are perhaps the most iconic class in Classic WoW, so it's a real shame that Fire Mage is the only viable PvE spec right now. Arcane is harder to play and less rewarding than Fire Mage even in phase 3. On top of severe scaling issues compared to Fire, there's also the skill floor. If you make mistakes during your rotation your Mana will be impacted and your performance can crater. It's worse than it looks too because sims don't really factor in that typical nightmare scenario where you pop your big CDs and then have to immediately move. Arcane also requires more support with things like innervate compared to Fire Mage which needs no Mana support. That just makes Arcane worse for progression by default.

7. Arms Warrior

This one is going to be a huge surprise to anybody but Arms Warriors is in dire need of a buff. They don't provide a whole lot to the raid since their buffs can be provided by other high-damage specs like Combat Rogue. Meanwhile, their counterpart Fury is scaling better and better and some sims even put Fury at the number one best Wotlk phase 4 DPS by the end of ICC. Compared to Arms, Fury is just an easier spec with a higher skill floor which makes them more desirable for raid leaders making rosters.

8. Beast Mastery Hunter

The idea behind Beast Mastery Hunter is fantastic. You go out and you tame exotic pets which happen to bring the exact debuff to your raid that you happen to be missing. The problem is the solid damage part never happened with BM Hunter and they're the laughingstock of the expansion. The Sims currently plays BM Hunter over 1500 damage lower than Survival right now which is just really hard to justify taking to a raid. Even great class design is pointless. If you won't be able to provide relevant DPS on gear and DPS checks like a Mubarak or Lord Marrowgar in Icecrown.

Wotlk Classic Phase 4 DPS Tier List

This WOTLK phase 4 DPS ranking is based on the data for 7 weeks of phase 3 TOGC raiding. We have some little changes so the tier list won’t be changed massively when phase 4 starts.

S Tier

• Unholy Death Knight

• Fire Mage

• Affliction Warlock

A Tier

• Frost Death Knight

• Feral Druid

• Elemental Shaman

• Arms Warrior

• Assassination Rogue

• Retribution Paladin

• Fury Warrior

B Tier

• Survival Hunter

• Balance Druid

• Enhancement Shaman

• Shadow Priest

• Demonology Warlock

• Arcane Mage

• Destruction Warlock

C Tier

• Blood Death Knight

• Marksmanship Hunter

• Subtlety Rogue

D Tier

• Beast Mastery Hunter

• Frost Mage