WoW The War Within: All Pre-Patch Classes, Ranked (2024)

World of Warcraft: The War Within promises to overhaul most classes with the launch of the expansion, and most of these changes are available to try out now with the release of TWW prepatch. In addition to Skyriding for virtually all mounts, a new introductory expansion questline, Warbands, and the new Radiant Echoes event, the 11.0 pre-patch also added TWW Talent and base class changes in preparation for the expansion (sans Hero Talents).

This The War Within class tier list is based on the performance of each spec as of the launch of the pre-patch for the next expansion. There are some definite winners, some classes and specs that could use some minor improvements, and one particular class that still feels a little neglected. But don't let this The War Within class tier list turn you off of any one class – when played to their fullest, every class and spec can succeed in even the most difficult endgame content.

S+ Tier

Death Knight, Druid

Death Knight: DPS/Tank

Blood Death Knights are going to be arguably the best Tanks in The War Within thanks to powerful, meaningful new Talent Tree options (and Hero Talents), and its two DPS specs Frost and Unholy are both in the upper half of the prepatch launch DPS rankings.

Blood DKs are hindered slightly by their lack of movement options, but new The War Within abilities promise to shore up this weakness. Their unparalleled self-sustain, and wide variety of single-target and AoE threat generation tools, make them the best Tanks in The War Within prepatch.

Druid: Healer/DPS/Tank

Druids are the only class that have four specs to choose from, and thanks to significant reworks for the prepatch and eventual launch of The War Within, Druids are looking to be great contenders for DPS, Healing, and Tank roles. The Guardian spec is going to be one of the best AoE Threat-generating Tanks, and its self-sustain is close to the Blood Death Knight's. Feral Druids are in the top half of DPS rankings for the first week of prepatch, though Balance Druids are falling behind a little in The War Within DPS rankings despite Hero Talents.

Restoration Druids are still going to be top-of-the-charts healers in The War Within, especially with a litany of major changes to the class' base abilities and its new Hero Talent options.

Druids have almost always had at least one spec that's doing great in each expansion, but in The War Within, three of their four specs appear extremely strong in their respective categories. Though Balance could use a bit more work, you can't go wrong choosing a Druid for TWW.

S Tier

Hunter, Paladin, and Warrior

Hunter: DPS

Hunters are looking to be among the best choices for DPS in The War Within, especially Beast Mastery Hunters, based on logs available in the Prepatch. Hunters are typically seen as a beginner-friendly, skill-not-required class – but there's actually a very high skill ceiling with this deceptively simple class, especially because of new updates in TWW and new Hero Talents.

Though Marskmanship and Survival got some necessary updates for the TWW pre patch, these two specs are sitting at about middle of the pack in terms of raw DPS output. But Beast Mastery Hunters are far and away the highest performing best DPS as of the first week of the TWW prepatch. This could be a sign of an incoming nerf, but for now, Beast Mastery Hunters sit comfortably above the rest as the best DPS WoW TWW prepatch offers.

Paladin: Healer/DPS/Tank

Paladins are in a really good place going into The War Within. The Retribution Paladin is looking to be a top contender for DPS with brand-new spec reworks, while Holy Paladins are shaping up to be among the best The War Within Healers. The only real downside with the Paladin class in The War Within is the Protection spec, which has long been hindered by its reliance on the Consecration ability.

That's not to say they were bad Tanks – but other Tanks were able to move around more freely as they didn't rely on a ground AoE ability like this. A reworked Sanctuary ability that allows the effects of Consecration to continue for four seconds after leaving the Consecration area will make the spec feel significantly better when The War Within launches, though, making all three specs extremely viable for the expansion.

Warrior: DPS/Tank

Warriors are a bit of a two-sided coin in The War Within pre patch. On one side, their two DPS specs – Fury and Arms – are ranking in the top five of the DPS rankings in the first week of TWW. On the other hand, Protection Warriors are not quite up to par, compared to other Tanks available in The War Within.

Protection Warriors gain access to the new Mountain Thane Hero Talents, which gives them incredible AoE threat generation with the use of Thunder Clap. But we will have to see how these Hero Talents actually help the class' Tank spec once the expansion launched. Fury and Arms are doing exceptionally well in terms of DPS, especially compared to other melee DPS classes, though Arms wins out by just a smidge for less APM combat rotations and the overhauled Rage system.

A Tier

Evoker, Priest, Mage, and Shaman

Evoker: Healer/DPS/Support

Evokers, introduced in Dragonflight, started out with two powerful specs for healing and DPS, and later in the expansion gained a third spec: Augmentation. Devastation (DPS) and Preservation (Healing) Evokers have stayed around the middle to top of their respective charts, but have been criticized for their simple rotations despite their effectiveness. But the Augmentation spec is one of the most unique in World of Warcraft and one you should definitely try in The War Within.

Not quite a healer, not quite a DPS, the Augmentation Evoker acts more as a hybrid Support that empowers their group members. It brings a litany of useful utility and buffs to the group, and has become somewhat required for endgame progression thanks to just how beneficial having one in your group can be.

In The War Within, Evokers are getting some great new Hero Talents and a few reworks to their abilities, and will feel better than before – make your main spec either the DPS or Healing spec for normal content, but make sure to have an Augmentation build ready to go once you start Raiding.

Priest: Healer/DPS

Priests have almost always been among the best healers in World of Warcraft, but in recent patches and expansions the Discipline spec has vastly overshadowed the Holy and Shadow specs in rankings. But in The War Within prepatch Shadow Priests and Holy Priests are getting some serious upgrades via Hero Talent choices and reworked abilities.

Priests will still always be a decent-to-good Support class in WoW, and in The War Within their weaknesses in the Holy spec are being rounded out to match the performance of Discipline. Shadow Priests have been doing OK for a few expansions, but The War Within promises more variety to its gameplay and playstyle.

Though we'll have to see how they perform once The War Within launches, Priests seem to be in a pretty good spot heading into the expansion.

Mage: DPS

Mages are only able to play the DPS role, and for the most part, their three specs have had their time in the spotlight several times over the years. In The War Within, it's Frost's time to shine, while Arcane and particularly Fire Mages take a bit of a backseat. Frost Mages' Talent Tree updates are what make it particularly stand out because, though the TWW Frost Mage updates were relatively minor, they change a lot about how the class ends up playing and performing.

Unfortunately, though, Fire and Arcane Mages aren't quite living up to their icy sister spec. Fire Mages have had issues since before the pre patch even launched, and new Hero Talents don't seem to do much to change its performance. Arcane Mages are faring a little better with some major overhauls and smoothing of Mana requirements, but a simple rotation and lacking DPS output make it less of a viable choice.

Shaman: Healer/DPS

Shamans have had their ups and downs over the years, and The War Within could be another high point for two of the Shaman's three specs. Elemental Shaman in particular are doing exceptionally well, placing amongst the top five in the first week of TWW pre patch Raid logs. Restoration looks to be one of the better healer options in The War Within thanks to a massive amount of class changes.

However, the Enhancement Shaman spec is falling behind, and doesn't quite compare to Elemental. New Hero Talents and reworked abilities in The War Within pre patch will shore up some of the weaknesses of the Enhancement spec, though we won't fully know how much the basic spec changes and new abilities like Skyfury will affect its placement until the launch of the expansion.

B Tier

Demon Hunter, Monk, and Warlock

Monk: Healer/DPS/Tank

Of the Monk class' three specs – Brewmaster (Tank), Mistweaver (Healer), and Windwalker (DPS) – Mistweaver and Brewmaster are in a great spot in terms of the pre patch The War Within rankings. Mistweaver is a middle-of-the-road Healer with potential to be extremely good in The War Within thanks to the ability Teachings of the Monastery being made into a passive and other massive Talent overhauls.

Brewmaster is arguably the top-performing Tank right now, too – Mistweaver is what's lagging the class back from a higher placement, though.

Monks and Rogues have one similar core problem, though: their rotations can be intense, complex, and difficult for players to adjust to coming from other classes. Monks are slightly less involved than Rogues, though both the Brewmaster and Windwalker specs can feel exceptionally high APM (actions per minute). However, because the Brewmaster spec is one of the best Tank options in The War Within despite a relatively hard rotation, Monks fall closer to a B+ than a straight B in TWW pre-patch.

Demon Hunter: DPS/Tank

Demon Hunters' two specs Havoc (DPS) and Vengeance (Tank) have performed anywhere from exceptionally well to bottom-of-the-ranks since they were introduced in Legion, but things aren't looking amazing going into The War Within. Havoc Demon Hunters are arguably the most mobile DPS in all of World of Warcraft, but they can feel very bursty and can have difficulty performing at a very high Mythic Plus level. Vengeance Demon Hunters are reliant on the Soul Fragment system, which can be tricky to master.

Havoc and Vengeance can perform perfectly well in just about all forms of content, and will be sought after for Raiding in the Tank role due to how well they can hold aggro when played effectively. But The War Within did not change enough about how this class is played to make it interesting again, not even with Hero Talents, and though it's quite beginner-friendly, the skill (and performance) ceiling isn't as high as it is for other DPS and Tank classes.

Warlock: DPS

Like Mages, Warlocks have had their ups and downs over the years, though Warlocks have more consistently been the more utility and support-oriented class, and thus more coveted for endgame content. However, in The War Within, all three of the Warlock's specs are underperforming, some much worse than others – and the class' Hero Talents don't do enough to bring them up to the power of other DPS.

Affliction is all the way at the bottom of the charts, as it has an incredibly hard time pulling competent damage without the help of major buffs, party synergy, and an Augmentation Evoker at your side. Demonology is having a hard time, too, while Destruction is doing better but doesn't quite break the 50% mark for the first week of DPS rankings in TWW prepatch.

Even with lots of new class changes, Hero Talents, and Talent tweaks that promise to shake things up, Warlocks need a fair bit more attention. That isn't to say they're the worst DPS in the game, especially not when played well with proper preparation. But because it's so reliant on others for performance, Warlocks are currently a class many bring to Raid for their utility rather than their damage.

Needs Improvement: Rogue Tier

Rogues have had a hard time in recent years. The Outlaw spec in particular has long been a pretty versatile damage-dealer and beginner-friendly spec since it was introduced in Legion (replacing the Combat Talent tree). Its simplified rotations, compared to the spammy Assassination and Subtlety builds, made it a fan-favorite and a go-to for many Rogue enjoyers.

Unfortunately, Outlaw is placing near dead last, at the bottom of the DPS charts, in TWW pre-patch.

Assassination and Subtlety are doing decently in terms of DPS output, sure, and Assassination consistently shows up in the upper half of DPS rankings. But they barely got any significant changes in The War Within – and will likely play essentially the same way in the next expansion as they played in Dragonflight, including its generally high APM.

A lack of changes means a lack of innovation, and it may struggle to compete for Mythic Plus and Raid spots when compared to other overhauled DPS classes that will bring a lot more to the group. It would not be surprising to see a major overhaul to Rogue gameplay before TWW launches, or at least before the first Season of endgame content begins.

But as things currently stand, Rogues are technically doing fine, but it would be nice to see more meaningful changes to a class that has felt overlooked for a few expansions now.

World of Warcraft: The War Within

Franchise

Warcraft

Base Game

World of Warcraft

Platform(s)

PC

Released

August 26, 2024

Publisher(s)

Blizzard

Genre

MMORPG