Wowmeta

Shadowlands PvP DPS Tier List

Patch 9.2.7Shadowlands PvP Season 4

Last Updated

Every DPS class ranked by their performance in Rated PvP according to the latest statistics.

Unique players: 10535

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Class/Spec
Win Rate
Score
1.25
203
1.24
149
1.20
106
1.23
101
1.29
91
1.34
90
1.21
85
1.31
85
1.31
67
1.16
56
1.22
50
1.23
50
1.23
50
1.22
47
1.34
47
1.26
45
1.17
43
1.23
37
1.23
33
1.27
14
1.29
13
1.13
10
1.20
9
1.37
3
Sort by:
S
  • Fury Warrior
  • Outlaw Rogue
  • Subtlety Rogue
  • Havoc Demon Hunter
  • Feral Druid
A
  • Demonology Warlock
  • Survival Hunter
  • Windwalker Monk
  • Affliction Warlock
  • Fire Mage
B
  • Marksmanship Hunter
  • Assassination Rogue
  • Shadow Priest
  • Arms Warrior
  • Unholy Death Knight
  • Elemental Shaman
  • Retribution Paladin
C
  • Balance Druid
  • Beast Mastery Hunter
  • Destruction Warlock
  • Enhancement Shaman
D
  • Frost Mage
  • Frost Death Knight
  • Arcane Mage
  • Fury Warrior(S-Tier)
  • Outlaw Rogue(S-Tier)
  • Subtlety Rogue(S-Tier)
  • Havoc Demon Hunter(S-Tier)
  • Feral Druid(S-Tier)
  • Demonology Warlock(A-Tier)
  • Survival Hunter(A-Tier)
  • Windwalker Monk(A-Tier)
  • Affliction Warlock(A-Tier)
  • Fire Mage(A-Tier)
  • Marksmanship Hunter(B-Tier)
  • Assassination Rogue(B-Tier)
  • Shadow Priest(B-Tier)
  • Arms Warrior(B-Tier)
  • Unholy Death Knight(B-Tier)
  • Elemental Shaman(B-Tier)
  • Retribution Paladin(B-Tier)
  • Balance Druid(C-Tier)
  • Beast Mastery Hunter(C-Tier)
  • Destruction Warlock(C-Tier)
  • Enhancement Shaman(C-Tier)
  • Frost Mage(D-Tier)
  • Frost Death Knight(D-Tier)
  • Arcane Mage(D-Tier)

Warriors

Fury: One of the strongest melee DPS specs in the game currently. With the addition of Slaughterhouse to their PvP talents, it allows for the spec to keep up with its peer the Arms Warrior. Due to its high uptime and almost infinite movement ability it can consistently keep the stacks of slaughterhouse high, this allows for the pressure of its damage to overwhelm the enemy healer and finish games very fast. The small downside to this spec is that when its mobility is taxed it will struggle to keep up its stacks of Slaughterhouse which at that point will tend to fall behind in pressure and can struggle to get back into the game.

Arms: One of the more consistent melee DPS of Shadowlands, while it has lost some of its lethality it certainly packs a punch and can arguably be considered better than its counterpart Fury. One of the main benefits of having an arms Warrior on your team is the versatility and consistent pressure. It has the best healing reduction debuff in the game and can apply it to multiple enemies. While it does struggle with more mobile teams, this is a good choice to play in the arena.

Death Knights

Unholy: A strong contender in the melee DPS department. This spec with the Necrolord ability Abomination Limb has some very strong burst that can pressure teams into submission. Outside of their burst they also continue to have good damage that can take advantage of openings created from their strong burst. Its utility in the form of slows, grips, and Anti-Magic Zone allows for it to keep its partners relatively safe. Defense wise it is considered one of the best. The only weakness it struggles with is its mobility, but with the form of slows it can somewhat make up for it.

Frost: While strong it is not as strong as its counterpart. This specialization has many of the great strengths and weaknesses of unholy however they are more polarizing. Frost has an extremely good burst however it is only every 2 minutes and is quite obvious in its setup, outside of its burst it struggles with keeping up the same consistent pressure. Most Death Knight players opt to choose unholy just because the overall consistency is generally more well rewarded.

Paladins

Retribution: One of the powerhouses of bursts, Ret can win games through sheer damage only which many other specs can not. Through their Avenging Wrath, they deal immense burst for a much longer time relative to other burst cooldowns. While other classes with high damage burst tend to struggle outside of it, Ret does not because of one of their passives Reckoning which allows for them to gain wings for a short time. This overall smooths out their high burst profile with many more windows of opportunity. While it does have mobility it is not the strongest and is one of the few ways players tend to abuse when playing against Rets. However, their utility and defense tend to allow them to live long to overwhelm their opponents.

Rogues

Subtlety: The most common spec of Rogue in the arena, it has a good toolkit to put out damage and survive however its main strengths are its CC.  It allows for it to be very oppressive in the game. However, it is a double-edged sword, while being a complete nightmare in the hands of a skilled player many players often prefer to play against one when played by a less skilled opponent. This spec has very few weaknesses only in that if played poorly it can be punished very hard.

Outlaw: This spec has many of the same strengths as subtlety only that they are tweaked. Subtlety has many stuns while outlaw only has a general longer one. It also has CC in form of gouge which can be very potent when done correctly. Outlaw is generally viewed at a competitive level as being superior due to better defenses but its CC can arguably be harder to master. Once again this spec doesn't have weaknesses only that to perform well one does have to master Outlaw.

Assassination: The third of the Rogue specs, this spec generally tries to out-pressure teams in the form of consistent damage. The damage they put out is generally designed so that during their kidney windows they maximize damage output so that the other team is generally forced to respond. Unfortunately due to the consistent damage they sometimes struggle in the faster meta’s which has been what Shadowlands follows.

Monks

Windwalker: This is the class that if you like to do a lot of damage in a small amount of time you should play. Arguably the highest burst in the game, this spec excels at killing you with cooldowns. They also have very good mobility to kite and make sure the damage connects. The downside to this spec is that its defenses are a bit lackluster at the moment, most other specs do tend to go through. Many Monks opt to use their mobility as a form of defense since their traditional ones are on the weaker side.

Demon Hunters

Havoc: A strong mobile class, this spec uses its high consistent pressure to win the games. Due to its mobility, it is not able to be kited very easily, and similar to Monks it can continue to connect its damage. The spec also has excellent defenses, the issue is that it can't use them in stuns and can struggle to survive inside those moments. However, its many strengths lead to people overlooking the weakness and can generally always succeed with this spec.

Druids

Feral: A hard-to-pin down consistent damage dealer. Feral can apply their damage through the form of hard-hitting damage over time effects that can apply consistent damage throughout the game. Due to being able to shapeshift it negates some form of CC and has good defenses so it is hard to kill this spec. Can struggle to apply lethal pressure however due to all of its damage being over time effects. Any class that can remove bleeds also excels vs this spec.

Balance: An overall balanced spec that can do a very good burst and has good defenses to back it up. Can also provide good forms of CC through their clones and roots. Has some of the better mobility of the specs as well. The downside with this class is due to doing all its main damage in caster form if it is kiting or sitting in bear form it will struggle to do damage. Also has a 3-minute cooldown which is to offset its heavy burst when used.

Shamans

Enhance: Has a strong tool kit that deals solid upfront damage. This class also has excellent self-sustain through their healing, can sometimes solo heal through heavy damage if they hold their maelstrom. Defensive wise can be strong if used properly. Unfortunately lacks a good healing reduction ability and strong forms of CC but excels everywhere else especially in its utility through its totems and healing.

Elemental: One of the highest DPS specs out there that can kill another opponent with random procs. This build utilizes a random damage setup that can sometimes do decent damage and kill someone from 100-0 in a second. This spec also has good utility with their totems but overall struggles a little in the defensive department due to not having instant heals like its melee counterpart.

Hunters

Survival: A sort of melee/ranged hybrid, this spec excels at getting consistent CC every 30 seconds through their harpoon/trap combo. They deal with overwhelming pressure with the CC which can run over opponents very easily. Since almost all of its abilities are range capable it can excel at playing long range and up close. It, however, struggles in the defensive category only relying on immunities or a DoT removal and since it doesn't have a good damage reduction like most other classes it requires good positioning and mobility to stay alive.

Marksman: This spec has very good burst and good consistent pressure, what some would call more a glass cannon. It also utilizes good roots and knockbacks to help overcome the issue of lacking strong defenses. Unfortunately, it also struggles with getting CC since it does not have a stun or a harpoon to confirm the trap.

Beast Mastery: Consistent pressure all game is what this spec excels at, with the pets constantly chasing people around and going around pillars it excels at keeping the pressure high. With a stun, it can easily confirm traps every minute and use them to overwhelm the opponent. However, using pets as a main source of damage requires keeping them alive which some opponents opt to abuse. And like the other two specs of this class, it struggles in the defensive department.

Warlocks

Affliction: The best damage in the game with this spec, the amount of damage that comes from the DoTs is what puts this spec in the lead. While it is consistent pressure it doesn't struggle to kill because of how much damage it does with it. It also has good mobility and a good heal with drain life. The one downside is the defenses are a bit weak but it makes up for that with more damage.

Destruction: A spec with very good direct damage that can take major chunks of the player's health. It mainly utilizes Chaos Bolt in stun windows to apply the damage but is not needed if the player can utilize the other schools of magic that this spec has gone with it. Also has good mobility but somewhat struggles because it lacks any sort of real mitigation outside of its unending resolve.

Demonology: A more well-rounded damage profile than the other two, what makes this class good is the burst and the consistent damage. Also, this class has good CC. However, with the pets, this class has extra damage mitigation so it is inherently tankier than the other two specs while also having the same mobility. This class is good for consistently out-pressuring teams with burst and consistent damage that comes from the pets.

Priests

Shadow: A DoT-centric spec that has good pressure through their DoTs and is moderately tanky with their defenses. Since this class has good utility and good defenses it can opt for more damage or more defensive builds. It uses DoTs for consistent pressure and during its burst windows uses a more direct damage profile. Shadow however lacks any form of mobility so it can struggle to kite or chase after other players.

Mages

Frost: A spec that is oriented around slows and roots, this class does ok damage but its main strength is keeping the enemy at bay with its strong frost abilities. It opts for a more bursty build currently with Frostbolts and Necrolord that can be used to force the other team away so that they can continue to get more pressure. Struggles with confirming kills due to not having any stuns but is very mobile and has a good kit of defensives.

Fire: A high burst damage spec that pairs well with stun-based classes. This spec excels at getting CC consistently to then use their main cooldown to kill their opponent quickly. It also has very good defenses and mobility through its usage of blink which applies shields and has a short cooldown. It does struggle with applying consistent pressure outside its burst and can be easily punished if the positioning is poor with this spec.

Arcane: Has very good survivability with both Alter Time and Temporal Shield, and better mobility with multiple Blinks. Has a good direct burst with cooldowns but unfortunately struggles outside of burst quite a lot and their damage is overall lower than most other specs. This spec however is quite unkillable with the number of defensives and mobility it has.

Melee

Warriors

Fury: Great DPS, Great mobility, medium CC, good defense

Arms: Good DPS, medium mobility, medium CC, great defense

Death Knights

Unholy: Good DPS, low mobility, good CC, great defense

Frost: Medium DPS, low mobility, good CC, good defense

Rogues

Subtlety: good DPS, good mobility, great CC, good defense

Outlaw: good DPS, medium mobility, great CC, great defense

Assassination: medium DPS, medium mobility, good CC, medium defense

Monks

Windwalker: Great DPS, great mobility, medium CC, low defense

Demon Hunters

Havoc: Great DPS, great mobility, medium CC, good defense

Druids

Feral: Medium DPS, good mobility, good CC, great defense

Shamans

Enhance: Medium DPS, medium mobility, low CC, good defense

Paladins

Retribution: Great DPS, medium mobility, medium CC, good defense

Hunters

Survival: Medium DPS, good mobility, good CC, low defense

Ranged

Warlocks

Affliction: Best DPS, good mobility, good CC, medium defense

Destruction: Good DPS, good mobility, good CC, low defense

Demonology: Good DPS, good mobility, great CC, good defense

Priest

Shadow: Good DPS, low mobility, good CC, good defense

Mage

Frost: Medium DPS, high mobility, good CC, medium defense

Fire: Medium DPS, high mobility, great CC, great defense

Arcane: Low DPS, great mobility, medium CC, good defense

Druid

Balance: Good DPS, good mobility, good CC, good defense

Shaman

Elemental: Great DPS, low mobility, medium CC, medium tanky

Hunter

Marksman: Great DPS, high mobility, medium CC, low defense

Beastmaster: Good DPS, good mobility, medium CC, low defense

Frequently Asked Questions

Where does the data come from?

Our rankings are based on statistics. We use algorithms to process thousands of Top Rated PvP Players (from Blizzard API) every day. By analyzing this Big Data we are able to assess PvP performance of every class and compare them.

How to use these rankings?

If you are looking for the best performing PvP DPS class, the safest option is to pick the ones from S-Tier – they have been ranked as the most popular among World's Highest Rated PvP Players as of now and thus considered to be the current PvP Meta in WoW.