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With so many specializations changing up the way each class plays with the new Rune system in WoW Classic: Season of Discovery, the meta as we know it shifts each phase of SOD. This SOD DPS Tier list will outline where each class lands in damage dealing for PvE scenarios. The information given is based on Phase 2 of WoW Classic: SOD, which involves a level cap of 40 and raiding Gnomeregan.
As the WoW Classic season continues to be discovered, these Hardcore Gamer tier lists will be updated and classes will often shift around, especially at the beginning of each phase as the level bracket slowly rises to 60. This list is built on current expectations of how each class will perform in a raid or dungeon scenario.
Why Trust Hardcore Gamer’s WoW Tier Lists?
With experience since the original Vanilla WoW days back in 2004 and 2005, private servers, and WoW Classic, the Hardcore Gamer team then attended Blizzcon 2023 to further experience what WoW Classic: SOD had to offer. Hands-on time with the demo on the Blizzcon floor allowed the team to test out several classes and specializations. Since then, we’ve put countless hours into the game until we reached the point where we were confident in our ability to objectively assess and rank each class against the others.
Updated by Jason Moth on June 29, 2025:This tier list has been updated to better reflect the current state of the meta at the start of Season of Discovery Phase 2. Some of these rankings may change again as we move closer to Phase 3 and beyond, so check back often for all the latest DPS tier list updates.
WoW: SOD DPS Tier List Ranking Criteria (PVE)
It is important to outline the main factors we took into consideration when building this Season of Discovery DPS tier list. The factors applied are based on each class’s ability in the Gnomeregan raid. Here are the main factors to keep in mind, from most to least important:
Season of Discovery DPS Tier List Overall Ranking
Melee Hunter
Melee Hunters are doing insane damage right now, to the point where they’re surpassing every other spec in the game in terms of raw DPS. Granted, it’s barely been a week since Phase 2 started and there’s not a ton of data to go on just yet. But based on the stats we’ve seen so far, it’s safe to say that Survival Hunters are absolutely crushing it in Gnomeregan at the moment.
Thanks to some of thenew Runesintroduced in Phase 2 of Season of Discovery, melee Hunters have a lot more options at their disposal.Melee Specialist,Dual Wield Specialization, andExpose Weaknessare all fine choices for Hunters who want to go for a melee build. Combine that with Phase 1 Runes likeFlanking StrikeandCarve, and it’s easy to see why melee Hunters are topping the DPS meters in Phase 2.
Hunter Best in Slot (BIS) Gear | Phase 3 WoW SoD
Hunter players can discover which gear works best for this particular class in WoW Classic Season of Discovery with this handy guide.
DPS Priest
Priests went from being one of the weakest DPS classes in Phase 1 to one of the strongest in Phase 2. Priests gained access to Shadowform, Power Infusion, and a few other key talents and spells in this phase, and are now finally a force to be reckoned with in PvE. As always, Shadow is the preferred DPS spec, but Discipline Priests can hold their own as well.
Most of thenew Priest Runesintroduced in Phase 2 of Season of Discovery are designed to increase the Priest’s healing and defensive capabilities, however, you do have one Rune that can help boost your DPS in the form ofMind Spike. Meanwhile,Dispersionwas added as a means of mitigating some of the mana issues Priests have been having during Phase 1. Dispersion doesn’t completely fix those problems, but it definitely helps.
Shadow Priest Best in Slot (BIS) Gear Guide | WoW Classic Season of Discovery
Discover where to get the best equipment for Shadow Priests
DPS Warlock
Warlocks were already pretty strong in Phase 1, but now they’re even better. The Destruction spec doesn’t bring a lot of new spells to the table aside from Hellfire and Conflagrate, but you do get access to some pretty powerful passives like Ruin and Emberstorm. Affliction is the more versatile spec in Phase 2 thanks to a couple of new Curses and the Drain Mana spell. Of course, you may mix and match things to get the best of both worlds.
Judging by theWarlock Runesintroduced during Phase 2 of Season of Discovery, it’s clear that the developers want to encourage players to experiment with both DPS specs. There are two new Runes that either deal or increase both Shadow and Fire damage, and they just so happen to be among the best DPS Runes at the moment. The Runes in question are the aptly namedShadowflameandShadow and Flame.
Warlock PvE DPS Guide | WoW Classic Season Of Discovery
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Fire Mages are doing better in Phase 2, although there’s always some room for improvement. The spec jumped a tier since the last time we looked at it thanks in no small part to Combustion. This talent single-handedly increases burst damage potential and synergizes well with a number of Fire spells. The mana issues Fire Mages had in Phase 1 are still there, but Master of Elements makes the spec a lot better at conserving resources now, especially once you also unlock Combustion.
The other main reason why Fire Mages went up a tier is Pyroblast. Although the spell was also available in Phase 1, it wasn’t worth using due to the high mana cost. But now Fire Mages have access to theHot Streak Rune, which gives them free Pyroblasts.Spell Poweris another Rune worth mentioning since it gives a massive critical strike bonus and Fire Mages are all about those big crits in Phase 2 of Season of Discovery.
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Elemental Shaman
Elemental Shamans are another spec that jumped up a tier since Phase 1. They’re not quite as strong as Fire Mages in terms of raw DPS, but they’ve seen a lot of noticeable improvements. Chain Lightning and Magma Totem are the two new spells you’ll want to pay attention to the most during Phase 2. The first one is particularly useful as it greatly increases the Elemental Shaman’s AoE damage potential. As far as talents are concerned, Elemental Mastery is obviously the big one here.
Thenew Shaman Runesare a bit of a mixed bag. Most of them won’t help you get more out of your Elemental spells, but luckily there are a couple of exceptions. Namely,Malestrom WeaponandPower Surge. The usefulness of Malestrom Weapon is somewhat questionable since it requires you to do melee damage, however, the same cannot be said about the other Rune. Power Surge is a fantastic addition to the Elemental Shaman’s arsenal that resets spell cooldowns, makes certain spells insta-cast, and provides fast mana regen. What more could you want?
Elemental Shaman Best in Slot (BIS) Gear | Phase 3 WoW SoD
Here are the best in slot items to make your Shaman the strongest they can be.
Arcane Mage
Arcane Mages are one of the biggest surprises of Season of Discovery Phase 2 so far. Considering that this is the only Mage spec that can heal, it’s no surprise that many DPS players avoided it during Phase 1 in favor of Fire. If you were one of those players, it’s time to give Arcane another shot because it’s much better now. Talents like Presence of Mind, Arcane Instability, and Arcane Power are all game-changers for DPS. Meanwhile, Mage Armor takes care of most of your mana issues while also making you more resilient at the same time.
The only new Rune worth mentioning here isMissile Barrage. Just as its name indicates, the Rune improves Arcane Missiles by making the spell faster to cast. Not just that, but it also reduces the mana cost to nothing, allowing you to spam them every time the passive effect procs.Spell Poweris the other new Rune you’ll want as an Arcane Mage. This one isn’t tailored specifically for the spec since it works just as well for Fire Mages, but there are no other options unless you want to off-spec as a healer.
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Rogues are currently performing worse compared to Phase 1 when they were absolutely smashing the DPS meters. The class is by no means weak, but it didn’t scale quite as well as some of the other ones. Kidney Shot and a couple of talents like Cold Blood, Hemorrhage, and Dual-Wield Specialization are some of the new toys you can play around with in Phase 2. Of course, you won’t be able to use all of them with the same build. That’s sort of the problem. Rogues have three viable DPS specs in Phase 2, but none of them is particularly amazing.
A lot of thenew Rogue Runesintroduced in Phase 2 seem to be tailored more toward PvP than PvE. Or, at the very least, they won’t do much to increase your DPS versus bosses, the area where Rogues have traditionally excelled at.Poisoned KnifeandMaster of Subtletyare the only exceptions. These two Runes can make a difference during certain boss fights, but they’re not exactly game-changers.
Rogue Best in Slot (BIS) Gear | Phase 3 WoW SoD
Rogue players can discover which gear works best for this particular class in WoW Classic Season of Discovery with this handy guide.
Balance Druid
Balance Druids seem to be getting better and better in WoW Classic: Season of Discovery. They were already quite a bit better in Phase 1 compared to the vanilla version and they only got stronger in Phase 2. Balance Druids get access to Moonkin Form, Hurricane, and Moonfury, all of which contribute to the spec’s overall DPS increase. Having said all that, Balance Druids still have a long road ahead of them before they can compete with DPS powerhouses like Warlocks and Mages. They’re definitely on the right track, though.
Balance Druids can use a couple of interestingnew Runes in Phase 2.Eclipseis particularly noteworthy as it affects both Wrath and Starfire, two of your core spells. You’ve also gotDreamstate, a Rune that synergizes well with Eclipse and grants you some much-needed mana regen while casting. In addition, the Rune also temporarily increases Nature damage. A new active ability would have been nice to have, but it’s hard to complain about passive effects when they’re this good.
Balance Druid Best in Slot (BIS) Gear | Phase 3 WoW SoD
Druid players can discover which gear works best for this particular class in WoW Classic Season of Discovery with this handy guide.
DPS Warrior
Warriors used to reign supreme during Phase 1 of Season of Discovery, but they’ve since gone down a couple of tiers. It’s not that they got worse over time, it’s just that some of the other classes got better and surpassed them in terms of DPS. Granted, Warriors are very gear dependent and we’re still in the early days of Phase 2. As Warriors get access tobetter gear throughout Phase 2, they’ll undoubtedly start pumping out more damage again. Warriors now have access to things like Mortal Strike, Sweeping Strike, Bloodthirst, Whirlwind, and other powerful abilities. All they need is the gear.
Standard abilities aside, Warrior DPS players also have severalnew Runesat their disposal in Phase 2.Blood Surge,Focused Rage,Precise Timing, andEnraged Regenerationare all fantastic new additions, though you’ll likely end up using some of them more than others. Unfortunately, three of those four Runes go in the same slot, so you may need to swap them around a bit until you find the one that works best with your build.
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Feral Druid
While Balance Druids went up a tier since Phase 1, Feral Druids went down hard and are now sitting firmly in C Tier. Feral Druids still bring a lot to the table thanks to Leader of the Pack and Wild Strikes, especially if you’re on the Alliance side, but their DPS leaves a lot to be desired compared to a lot of the other specs. New spells and talents like Ferocious Bite, Savage Fury, Ravage, and Predatory Strikes do little to help with that.
Feral Druids don’t get a ton of new options when it comes to Runes, at least as far as DPS is concerned.BerserkandSurvival Instinctsmake abilities cheaper to cast, thus allowing you to use them more frequently. However, this won’t automatically result in more DPS since you also need to take Combo Points into consideration.King of the Jungleis a pretty good addition that significantly buffs Tiger’s Fury, however, the caveat is that it also gives it a 30-second cooldown.
Feral Druid DPS Best in Slot (BIS) Gear | Phase 3 WoW SoD
Get your best in slot gear for Phase 3 with your Feral Druid!
Ranged Hunter
Marksmanship Hunters are the spec that dropped the hardest since the beginning of Season of Discovery. The spec used to sit comfortably in S Tier until fairly recently, but that’s no longer the case. In fact, ranged Hunters have been performing a lot worse than their melee counterparts in PvE so far. That may end up changing as more players reach the Phase 2 endgame and start unlocking better gear, but for now, we recommend sticking to melee if you want to raid as a Hunter in Season of Discovery.
Expose WeaknessandSteady Shotare the only new Runes that buff DPS and they both happen to use the same slot. In other words, you’ll need to pick between one or the other, which is a bit of a shame. A lot of Marksmanship Hunters will probably end up usingTrap Launcherto fill the other Rune slot, but traps won’t be particularly efficient without the appropriate talents from the Survival tree.
Hunter PvE DPS Guide | WoW Classic Season Of Discovery
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DPS Paladin
Retribution Paladins had a pretty good run during Phase 1 of SoD, to the point where they were no longer being considered the meme spec we all knew and loved from back in the days of vanilla. Unfortunately, they’re back to being the butt of a lot of jokes in Phase 2. Paladins don’t have a lot to work with at this stage as they don’t unlock any game-changing spells or talents during this phase. Their buffs and auras still make them invaluable in raid groups, but don’t expect them to do much heavy lifting when it comes to DPS.
Thenew Paladin Runesare a bit of a mixed bag. Some of them are quite good at making Paladins more valuable as tanks and healers, but there’s not much to write home about for damage dealers.The Art of WarandSheathe of Lightwill be your go-to Phase 2 Runes in most situations and, while they’re not bad, they won’t have a massive impact on your DPS. The good news is that Sheathe of Light will gradually start contributing more damage as players unlock better gear. It’s doubtful that will be enough to keep Paladins out of the C Tier, though.
Retribution Paladin DPS Best in Slot (BIS) Gear | Phase 3 WoW SoD
Discover the best equipment for Ret Pallies in SoD!
Enhancement Shaman
Enhancement Shamans can’t seem to catch a break in Season of Discovery. They were already performing pretty poorly during Phase 1, but they somehow managed to get even worse in the meantime. Considering how good Elemental Shamans are at the moment, there’s very little reason to play Enhancement instead. This is a pretty nice spec for leveling thanks to totems and utility spells, but we wouldn’t recommend it for endgame PvE content.
The new Phase 2 Runes for Enhancement Shamans are very underwhelming, to say the least.Decoy Totemisn’t bad for leveling or mitigating a bit of damage here and there, but it obviously doesn’t do anything to increase your DPS.Fire Novais a bit better, but it’s still situational and won’t exactly turn an Enhancement Shaman into a DPS powerhouse either.
Enhancement Shaman Best in Slot (BIS) Gear | Phase 3 WoW SoD
Here are the best in slot items to make your Enhancement Shaman the strongest they can be.
Frost Mage
Unsurprisingly, Frost Mages find themselves at the very bottom of this list, and for good reason. While they’re unquestionably a good leveling spec and very strong in PvP, especially now that they have access to Ice Block and Ice Barrier, their PvE damage output in endgame content has been laughable thus far. Unfortunately, they’re unlikely to get better over time. If you want to play a Frost Mage in Season of Discovery Phase 2, stick to PvP.
The newSpellfrost BoltandFrostfire BoltRunes are good additions that can potentially give Frost Mages some more versatility. Unfortunately, they both use the same slot, so you’ll have to pick between one or the other. Regardless of which one you pick, make sure to fill your second new slot withBrain Freezeas it synergizes well with both Spellfrost Bolt and Frostfire Bolt.
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