Wrath of the Lich King Classic: Every Phase 2 Class Ranked Best to Worst

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Phase 2 of Wrath of the Lich King Classic is here. With it comes the much-anticipated Ulduar raid, a few new pieces of world content, and new power rankings for WoW‘s DPS, Healer, and Tank Classes.

These class rankings are primarily based on each class’ viability in the Uduar raid as that is the main piece of Phase 2 content. to be more specific, these rankings are based on how viable a class is throughout the Ulduar raid. In other words, the classes that remain a strong option throughout the raid are ranked higher than those who either perform better at the start or end of the raid.

Finally, be sure to remember that we’re talking about an update to what is essentially a 15-year-old game. Not only will most players be able to overcome Ulduar’s challenges with just about every combination of classes that they want, but the most important thing is to have fun along the way. If you’re able to, the best class to raid Ulduar with is still the one you enjoy most.

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic Phase 2 – Every DPS Class Ranked Best to Worst

1. Affliction Warlock
2. Assassination Rogue
3. Unholy Death Knight
4. Survival Hunter
5. Fire Mage
6. Demonology Warlock
7. Balance Druid
8. Frost Death Knight
9. Combat Rogue
10. Destruction Warlock
11. Shadow Priest
12. Arcane Mage
13. Enhancement Shaman
14. Marksmanship Hunter
15. Feral Druid
16. Elemental Shaman
17. Fury Warrior
18. Arms Warrior
19. Retribution Paladin
20. Frost Mage
21. Beast Mastery Hunter
22. Subtlety Rogue

For the most part, Affliction Warlocks, Assassination Rogues, and Unholy Death Knights remain the dominant DPS classes of this phase. They’re incredibly powerful, bring some necessary utility, and have the survivability needed during the early parts of a new raid. Unholy suffered a notable nerf in the last round of updates, but they’re still a top option throughout the phase.

Things get interesting from there. Fire Mage is certainly one of the biggest DPS movers. They’re generally more powerful than they were before, and they happen to have the perfect set of damage tools needed for some of Ulduar’s trickiest fights. The same goes for Survival Hunters. They’re just well-equipped to deal steady and safe damage during most fights.

Demonology Warlock, Frost Death Knight, and Combat Rogue are all very good, though they all suffer slightly from the fact that their classes offer generally better options. They are all going to be welcome in most raids, though, and may even be the preferred spec in some fights. Destruction Warlock is also very powerful in certain fights, while Subtlety Rouge is still best left in PvP arenas.

Balance Druid and Shadow Priest are in interesting spots. Both bring some incredible tools and amazing damage potential to a raid, but they both suffer from mana issues and slightly inconsistent performances. Balance Druids will be welcome in most raids for their buffs alone, though, while Shadow Priests remain a Warlock’s best friend. Shadow Priests also deal some more than respectable damage on their own and can swap to a healer spec in a pinch.

Arcane Mage is incredibly powerful during a lot of Ulduar fights, but their mana issues are most certainly going to be a problem during Ulduar’s earliest days. Arcane Mages get the job done in terms of pure damage, but raids will want to monitor their resource management abilities during certain fights.

Enhancement Shaman, Marksmanship Hunter, Feral Druid, and Elemental Shaman are all in that “fine” tier. Enhancement Shamans are actually incredibly powerful during single-target fights, but they’re a little dependent on the rest of the raid’s composition and do have some survivability issues. Marksmanship Hunters remain solid, though they struggle to outperform Survival Hunters in a lot of areas. Feral Druids and Elemental Shamans are certainly not your best melee and ranged DPS options, but the right players will be able to outperform competing classes with them.

I’m rating Fury Warriors above Arms Warriors at the moment, largely due to the fact that Fury Warriors will be looking pretty good by the time they get most of their Ulduar gear. Arms Warriors will certainly be the more welcome Warrior DPS spec in the early days of the raid due to their damage buffs, but since Fury Warrior will most certainly outclass them by the next phase, you may want to start preparing for the Fury shift now.

Finally, Retribution Paladin, Frost Mage, Beast Mastery Hunter, and Subtlety Rogue are all classes that will have a tough time finding a raid spot during the early days of Ulduar. Furthermore, none of those classes will be looking significantly better by the end of the raid. Retribution Paladins offer the brightest prospects so far as that goes, but the rest of those specs are really meant for other

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic Phase 2 – Every Healer Class Ranked Best to Worst

1. Holy Paladin
2. Discipline Priest
3. Restoration Druid
4. Restoration Shaman
5. Holy Priest

Holy Paladin is the best healer in Phase 2 by some distance. They bring every kind of healing and every piece of utility that you could ever want from the support position. You could (almost) get away with bringing a full support party of Holy Paladins to a raid. They’re just that good.

However, every raid will want at least one Discipline Priest in the party. Their buffs and utility abilities are some of the best in the game, and they excel at both raw healing output and raid-wide healing in AoE situations. Given how much AoE damage you’ll be dealing with in Ulduar, Discipline Priests are a near must.

Restoration Druid and Restoration Shaman are on roughly equal footing. If you have someone in your raid that excels at either spec, you’ll probably welcome their presence in Ulduar with few reservations. Sure, neither boasts the insane powers of Holy Paladins and Discipline Priests, but both offer fantastic raid-wide healing options that will keep your DPS alive during tough fights.

Holy Priest is the odd healer out. They just don’t really offer anything you can’t live without if the other healing options are available to your raid. There is a slight argument to be made for a Shadow/Holy Priest to come to the raid and swap between those specs as needed, but again, Discipline Priest is just a far better healing option.

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King Classic Phase 2 – Every Tank Class Ranked Best to Worst

1. Protection Paladin
2. Blood Death Knight
3. Protection Warrior
4. Bear Druid

Protection Paladins are probably the best overall tanking option in Phase 2, but the battle is closer than you think. At the end of the day, though, Protection Paladins offer the kind of raid-wide utility that the other tanking options just can’t quite match. They’re not necessarily the best “pure” tanks, but they will help keep raids alive.

I might be overrating Blood Death Knights slightly, but I love their combination of survivability and damage output. Blood DKs don’t need a lot of babysitting, and they can really help make up for DPS dips you may suffer during the early days of the Ulduar raid. You’ll want to have some available to you if at all possible.

Protection Warriors will suffer a bit during the early days of Ulduar when they’re a little more gear dependent, but they scale incredibly well with this raid. By the time that your raid has Ulduar mostly figured out, you’ll probably want a Protection Warrior leading your team.

I know that some fans are high on Bear Druids, but I just can’t bring myself to rank them above all the other options. Yes, their massive health pools and spec-shifting versatility make them viable for many fights, but I just don’t think they’re going to be very appealing until Ulduar is on farm and you’re not as worried about your tank performing slightly more traditional tanking duties.