PvE DPS Rankings for WotLK

Arms

Arms Warriors are excellent for bleed damage and bleed utility, as well as having decent cleave options. You should play an Arms Warrior if you enjoy damage over time builds and have a Rogue or Feral Druid in your group, or if you want to excel in fights against a single to a few targets. You should avoid playing an Arms Warrior in PvE if you enjoy a class with good defensive options, or if you want a class that isn’t dependent on having good gear.

Fury

Fury Warriors are one of the strongest cleave damage dealers in WotLK as well as having an easy learning curve. You should play a Fury Warrior if you enjoy being the top DPS in fights against 1-4 targets, or if you want to spend less time learning how to play your class. You should avoid playing a Fury Warrior if you want a strong area of effect ability or if you dislike classes dependent on their gear.

Retribution

Retribution Paladin is one of the best utility specs in the game, as well as having excellent burst damage. You should play a ret Paladin if you enjoy emitting auras to buff your allies, or if you love being able to periodically output a lot of damage by effectively using your seals in conjunction with your other abilities. You should avoid playing a ret Paladin if you don’t want to spend a long time learning your class, it may take a while to learn how to most efficiently use all of your utility spells.

Beast Mastery

Beast Masteryy Hunter is one of the best burst damage specs in the game, as well as having a very useful pet. You should play a Beast Mastery Hunter if you enjoy racking up lots of damage by combining your abilities with your pet’s abilities. You should avoid playing Beast Mastery Hunter if you enjoy having a strong area of effect damage option or if you don’t want to deal with managing both your character and your pet.

Marksmanship

Marksmanship Hunters have an amazing single target and burst damage. You should play a Marksmanship Hunter if you enjoy quickly gunning down strong enemies. You should avoid playing Marksmanship Hunter if you don’t like being dependent on your gear, or if you enjoy moving. The Marksmanship spec requires you to have a good weapon and to stay still to dish out the large numbers you can.

Survival

Survival Hunters are one of the easiest and most efficient classes in the game. You should play a Survival Hunter if you enjoy having a fun and easy rotation that will allow you to fight for a longer time than other classes before needing to recover mana. You should avoid Survival Hunter if you want to be one of the top damage dealers in the group

Assassination

Assassination Rogues have some of the best single target damage in the game, with an easy rotation to boot. You should play Assassination Rogue if you enjoy dealing lots of damage to one target with stackable damage over time effects and not spend a lot of time mastering your class. Assassination Rogues lack strong areas of effect damage, and they also lack decent mobility.

Combat

Combat Rogues have some of the best single target damage in the game, while also having a decent area of effect damage. You should play a Combat Rogue if you enjoy dealing lots of damage against both bosses and mobs of enemies. You should avoid Combat Rogue if you like to have good utility to provide to your group or if you dislike your damage being largely dependent on your gear.

Subtlety

Subtlety Rogues are the most mobile and useful of the Rogue specializations. You should play Subtlety Rogue if you enjoy sneaking around Combat unhindered or if you enjoy providing helpful buffs to increase your group’s damage. You should avoid Subtlety Rogue if you enjoy dealing large amounts of damage or if you dislike classes with a high-skill floor.

Shadow

Shadow Priests have good utility and decent cleave options. You should play a Shadow Priest if you enjoy providing useful survivability buffs to the group and excelling in fights against a few targets. You should avoid Shadow Priest if you dislike a lack of burst damage, or if you enjoy having a strong area of effect options.

Elemental

Elemental Shamans are known for the incredible amount of utility they can bring with their totems, as well as having strong burst damage with the ability to turn a lot of their core damaging spells into instant casts. You should play an Elemental Shaman if you enjoy helping your group as well as being able to put out big damage numbers. Elemental Shamans have defensive options, but they’re lacking compared to other specializations. A lot of Elemental Shaman spells consume a lot of mana too, so they perform worse the longer the Combat lasts.

Enhancement

Enhancement Shamans are also known for the utility they can bring to a group, but they also have excellent damage. You should play an Enhancement Shaman if you enjoy supporting your group with different totems, or if you enjoy dealing decent magical melee damage. You should avoid Enhancement Shaman if you want to spend less time learning how to play your class, or if you want to play a Shaman with decent ranged capabilities.

Arcane

Arcane Mages bring very useful spell power utility to their group, as well as offering excellent burst damage potential. You should play an Arcane Mage if you enjoy helping your fellow casters with helpful spell power buffs, or if you enjoy dealing sudden large bursts of damage with powered-up spells. You should avoid Arcane Mage if you dislike the glass cannon playstyle, or if you enjoy having consistent damage as the fight continues. The Arcane Mage has poor mana efficiency.

Fire

Fire Mages are an excellent Mage specialization that provides powerful single target damage with flashy spells and stays very mobile with instant spell casts. You should play a Fire Mage if you enjoy quickly bursting down your enemies and dislike the usual caster playstyle of sitting still. You should avoid Fire Mage if you enjoy having strong defensive options or if you dislike having long cast times.

Frost Mage

Frost Mages bring a lot of utility to the group, as well as bringing an excellent ranged magic damage pet. You should play a Frost Mage if you enjoy supporting your group, or if you enjoy having a pet deal consistent ranged magic damage. You should avoid Frost Mage if you dislike managing a pet, or if you enjoy doing a lot of damage.

Affliction

Affliction Warlocks always deal lots of damage, especially at the end of a fight when their targets are in low health. You should play Affliction Warlock if you like sitting back and letting your damage over time spells drain your enemy's health. You should avoid Affliction Warlock if you dislike having a long ramp-up time to your damage, or if you want to have strong burst damage options.

Demonology

Demonology Warlocks bring excellent caster utility to the group, as well as providing excellent burst damage. You should play Demonology Warlock if you enjoy helping your fellow casters or if you enjoy having strong burst damage potential. You should avoid Demonology Warlock if you dislike being dependent on your pet, or if you dislike focusing more on supporting your fellow casters instead of dealing damage.

Destruction

Destruction Warlock brings a lot of utility spells to the table as well as having excellent burst damage. You should play Destruction Warlock if you enjoy supporting your fellow spellcasters or if you enjoy dealing large amounts of damage with big flashy spells. You should avoid Destruction Warlock if you like having strong single target damage (compared to the other Warlock specs) or if you want a spec that can scale well with the gear they have.

Balance

Balance Druids bring lots of utility to the group, as well as being one of the best areas of effect damage dealers in the game. You should play Balance Druid if you enjoy supporting your fellow casters or if you enjoy quickly taking down large groups of ads. You should avoid Balance Druid if you enjoy having strong single target damage, or if you dislike a steep learning curve.

Feral

Feral Druids have some of the highest single target damage in the game with their bleed effects and their ability to remove the energy cost of any of their attacks. Feral Druid also has incredible mobility with their movement speed is increased by 30% just by being in cat form. You should play a Feral Druid if you enjoy dealing lots of damage to bosses, or if you enjoy playing a class that can quickly move around. You should avoid Feral Druid if you dislike spending a long time learning how to play your class, the Feral Druid rotation is difficult and full of variables. Feral Druid also loses overall damage potential as a fight continues, so prepare for your damage to suffer if a fight drags on

Frost Death Knight

Frost Death Knights have some of the best single target damage in the game with their damage over time effects and with their obliterate ability. Frost Death Knights also have excellent burst area of effect damage with their ability to spread their damage over time effects to nearby targets. You should play Frost Death Knight if you enjoy dealing consistent high damage to a single target and quickly bursting down large groups of enemies. Learning how to most effectively use your runes can be daunting, Death Knights also lack decent mobility options.

Unholy

Unholy Death Knights are very nice to have as a supporting damage dealer with their ability to provide strong spell damage vulnerability debuffs on the enemy. Unholy Death Knights can dish out some of the strongest areas of effect damage in the game by spreading damage over time effects to multiple enemies like Frost Death Knights. You should play an Unholy Death Knight if you enjoy supporting your fellow spellcasters in the back while playing up front or if you enjoy quickly destroying large groups of enemies. You should avoid Unholy Death Knight if you dislike the steep learning curve that comes from learning how to play a Death Knight, or if you want a character with strong mobility options.