In the current patch 9.1, World of Warcraft gets a new raid, the “Sanctum of Domination”. Starting Wednesday, July 7, you can fight the new bosses, but there is already a first assessment of the strength of the 24 DPS specializations of each class. Where do Rogues, Warriors, Mages, and the other classes stand in the current damage ranking of WoW?
Here are the class strengths: Simulationcraft has published a new DPS ranking for World of Warcraft. The calculated performances for all classes in the new raid Sanctum of Domination can be seen there, which appears with patch 9.1 Chains of Domination.
The list includes all DPS specializations, some in variations such as specific covenants or chosen talents. We only list the strongest variant here. You can find the complete list on the official website (via Simulationcraft.org).
The ranking is:
- Outlaw Rogue: 11,723 DPS
- Fury Warrior: 11,225 DPS
- Frost Mage: 11,144 DPS
- Balance Druid: 11,122 DPS
- Assassination Rogue: 11,050 DPS
- Retribution Paladin: 10,994 DPS
- Shadow Priest (Nekrolords): 10,948 DPS
- Arcane Mage: 10,935 DPS
- Subtlety Rogue: 10,833 DPS
- Guardian Druid (with ‘Owlweaving’*): 10,705 DPS
- Arms Warrior: 10,428 DPS
- Enhancement Shaman: 10,267 DPS
- Frost Death Knight: 10,193 DPS
- Destruction Demon Hunter: 9,998 DPS
- Unholy Death Knight: 9,994 DPS
- Demonology Warlock: 9,976 DPS
- Windwalker Monk: 9,848 DPS
- Survival Hunter: 9,674 DPS
- Fire Mage: 9,525 DPS
- Elemental Shaman: 9,371 DPS
- Affliction Warlock: 9,366 DPS
- Destro Warlock: 9,344 DPS
- Marksmanship Hunter: 9,157 DPS
- Beast Mastery Hunter: 8,711 DPS
*’Owlweaving’ refers to a playstyle of the Guardian Druid, where he uses Convoke the Spirits (Covenant ability of the Night Fae) in Moonkin form with Balance affinity. This triggers different spells than in Cat form.
Where do the data come from? The ranking listed here comes from Simulationcraft, a well-known site for simulations related to World of Warcraft. The program behind it has calculated how strong the respective classes can be when played perfectly.
Simulationcraft has been popular among players for many years to have a benchmark to orient themselves. With the tool, especially progression-oriented raiders calculate how much more they can get out of their class with better play.
Simulationcraft along with Raidbots is one of two tools with which you can improve your DPS.
Simulations are not “real numbers”
What you need to be aware of: The numbers do not show “real values,” but purely calculated results. These are not necessarily realistic, as many factors are not considered:
- Players are humans, thus prone to errors – these are ignored here
- Some classes can take on special tasks, making them more valuable than their calculated DPS value indicates
- The simulation accounts for the best available gear, which a large part of the players will not have
- Simulationcraft does not take boss mechanics into account, it focuses on pure “patchwork” fights without movement, in which players deal damage constantly
Therefore, do not use the list as a final result and do not be frustrated if your performance lags behind the numbers. Deviating performance can have many reasons and does not necessarily reflect on you.
When will we see the first logs? On Wednesday, July 7, the Sanctum of Domination will open its gates for normal and heroic mode, a week later also for mythic. Many guilds and players will then upload their runs in so-called “logs”.
Logs reflect the actual performance of the players and do not rely on simulations like the list above. We will update our DPS list for World of Warcraft accordingly in the coming days as soon as reliable numbers are available.
Until then, you can already use the simulations to roughly estimate where your class will settle if you can fully “unleash” damage uninterruptedly. If you want to prepare for the raid, you should definitely check if your Legendaries are still the best and if they are in the optimal slot:
Which Legendary should I craft in WoW Shadowlands? Overview for all classes
