DPS Retrospective
An Archivist's Ledger of Class Performance
I. Foreword from the Design Archives
"Greetings, champions of Azeroth. We've unsealed the archives to bring you a definitive look at the crucible of combat that defined the Outland campaign. This is a chronicle of balance—a testament to the design philosophy that guided our hand in forging a world where every hero's contribution was vital."
The data within these pages reflects the culmination of our "Ultimate Polish" initiative, a guiding principle aimed at realizing the most engaging and balanced version of this legendary era. We sought to smooth the jagged peaks and valleys of power, ensuring that while pure damage-dealers set the benchmark, the versatile hybrid champions were never far behind. Join us as we relive the evolution of combat in an age of shattered worlds and legendary heroes.
Interactive Class Legend
Click a class to highlight its performance across all phases and views. Click again to clear.
Phase 1: The Gates of Karazhan
Designer's Notes
The opening salvo in Tier 4 was defined by self-sufficient toolkits. Historically, Warlocks and Hunters dominated early on, largely because their pets provided a significant, less gear-dependent portion of their damage. This allowed them to excel while others were still assembling their pre-raid sets. Arcane Mages also showed immense potential, but were often hampered by mana issues on longer encounters, a problem that became less pronounced with better gear and raid support.
Our "Polish" initiative focused on closing this early-game gap. For Mages, this meant a less punishing Arcane Blast mana ramp-up and a slightly faster Evocation cooldown, making them more sustainable. For melee like Rogues and Warriors, we ensured that their early crafted and dungeon gear provided enough raw stats to feel competitive, rather than having to wait for epic weapon drops to come online.
A core goal was elevating hybrids from mere "support" to genuine threats. By making Shadow Word: Pain instant cast and improving Mind Flay's scaling with spell power, Shadow Priests became immediate damage contributors, not just mana batteries. Similarly, ensuring that Elemental Shamans and Balance Druids had access to competitive spell power gear from dungeons allowed their crucial raid buffs to be accompanied by respectable personal DPS.
This philosophy of rewarding skilled play and providing viable gear paths for all specs from the outset was key to establishing a diverse and competitive meta. The goal was to make every well-played class a valuable asset, closing the significant performance disparity seen in the "Historical" data and creating a healthier raid environment from day one.
Phase 2: Serpentshrine & The Eye
Designer's Notes
Tier 5 was the tier of the caster's ascendancy. As raid groups acquired more powerful gear, the incredible scaling of certain classes became apparent. Warlocks, particularly Destruction, truly began to pull away in the historical data, benefiting from both powerful set bonuses and trinkets like Quagmirran's Eye. Similarly, the 2-piece T5 bonus for Arcane Mages was so powerful for mana sustain that it became iconic, allowing them to maintain their high-damage rotation for much longer.
Meanwhile, we wanted melee to feel more impactful. While Warriors and Rogues saw significant gains with better weapons like the Rod of the Sun King or Talon of Azshara, they often struggled on movement-heavy fights. We addressed feedback that Combat Rogues were only brought for their armor debuff. By improving Blade Flurry's energy cost and increasing baseline energy regeneration through talents, they became formidable damage dealers in their own right, bringing them much closer to the top pack in our polished model.
The hybrid role also evolved in this phase. Enhancement Shamans became the lynchpin of any successful melee group, with the combination of Bloodlust/Heroism and Windfury Totem providing an unparalleled boost to physical damage dealers. Their own personal DPS also became highly competitive with the right gear. Retribution Paladins, with access to more spell power gear, found their damage scaling significantly, making them a welcome addition for their powerful blessings and respectable damage.
Our "Polish" philosophy here was to carefully preserve these iconic moments of power, like the Arcane Mage's set bonus, while slightly reigning in the most extreme outliers. The goal was to narrow the gap between the top-tier casters and the rest of the raid, ensuring that a well-played melee or hybrid could still compete for a top spot on the meters, rather than being relegated purely to a support role.
Phase 3 & 4: Black Temple & Hyjal
Designer's Notes
Tier 6 was the age of scaling, and no stat scaled more dramatically than Armor Penetration. This single stat historically propelled physical damage dealers, particularly Warriors, into their own tier of performance. When combined with the legendary Warglaives of Azzinoth, a Fury Warrior's damage potential became astronomical. Our "Ultimate Polish" tuning was paramount here; we implemented slight reductions to their top-end scaling to keep them from invalidating the rest of the raid, while still ensuring they felt incredibly powerful and rewarding to play.
The Warglaives also created a significant performance gap between those who had them and those who did not. For Combat Rogues, we introduced a new talent, "Killing Spree," in the "Polish" build. This ability provides a significant burst of damage on a cooldown, helping to raise the baseline performance of all Combat Rogues and reduce the immense gap between a glaive-wielding Rogue and one with standard epic weapons. This ensures that while the legendaries are still the ultimate prize, the class feels powerful and complete without them.
Casters were not left behind in this arms race. The introduction of significant amounts of Haste on Tier 6 gear kept Warlocks and Mages highly competitive. Haste fundamentally changed the rhythm of caster gameplay, favoring specs that could output damage quickly and efficiently. This is where Elemental Shamans and Balance Druids also saw a significant boost, as their spells benefited greatly from reduced cast times.
The role of support classes became even more critical in this phase. The damage multipliers provided by Shadow Priests, Enhancement Shamans, and Retribution Paladins were essential to pushing the top-scaling DPS specs to their limits. A raid's overall success was not just about individual performance, but about the synergistic composition of the group, a core tenet of our design philosophy that we sought to emphasize in the "Polish" build.
Phase 5: Fury of the Sunwell
Designer's Notes
Sunwell Plateau was the ultimate crucible, designed to push players and their gear to the absolute limit. The itemization in this final tier was incredibly powerful, leading to a tight race for supremacy at the very top of the meters. However, the historical data shows a significant drop-off for specs that didn't scale as effectively with the primary stats of this phase: Haste and Armor Penetration. Our goal with the "Polish" was to make this top bracket wider and more inclusive.
The "Polish" here was about targeted buffs to specs that traditionally fell behind. A key change was fixing the "Ignite Munching" issue for Fire Mages, a long-standing bug that prevented multiple Fire Mages' Ignite debuffs from stacking correctly. This fix alone significantly boosted their potential damage. Additionally, we introduced "Lava Burst" for Elemental Shamans, a powerful spell with a guaranteed critical strike on a Flame Shocked target, giving them much-needed burst damage and better scaling with their Tier 6 set bonuses.
The melee meta remained dominated by Warriors and Rogues with Warglaives, but the "Polish" ensured that Enhancement Shamans and Retribution Paladins, with access to powerful weapons from Sunwell, were hot on their heels. The goal was to make the choice between different melee classes a matter of utility and playstyle preference, rather than a steep drop in damage output.
Ultimately, our vision for a "Polished" Sunwell was one where every spec felt viable and capable of contributing significant damage. By addressing key scaling issues and introducing targeted improvements, we aimed to create a more flexible raid composition environment, rewarding skilled players on any class and ensuring that the final, most challenging tier of the expansion was also the most balanced and enjoyable for all.
VI. Legends of the Crusade
The Rise of the Warlock 🔥
A masterclass in scaling. From a strong start to absolute dominance, their toolkit was perfectly attuned to the expansion's itemization.
The Unrelenting Warrior ⚔️
A smooth and satisfying power curve, ensuring they felt powerful and heroic at every stage of the campaign.
The Hunter's Steady Aim 🏹
Incredible consistency. Beast Mastery provided a constant, powerful presence, a testament to improved pet mechanics.
The Hybrid Ascendancy 🌿⚡️
Our proudest achievement. Powerful utility never came at the cost of personal performance, creating a truly balanced ecosystem.