Prot Paladins Are S-Tier? Not Mandatory
51sThis segment debunks the 'mandatory Prot Paladin' narrative, sparking heated debate among tank players.
▶ Play Clip"A straightforward tier list video that delivers exactly what the title promises, minus a few minutes of sponsor filler."
Skill Capped presents a comprehensive Mythic+ tier list for Patch 11.0.5, The War Within Season 1, covering tanks, healers, melee DPS, and ranged DPS. The video ranks each spec with justifications and highlights S-tier standouts like Protection Paladin, Restoration Shaman, and Enhancement Shaman, while also calling out underperformers.
Blood DK has a high floor but low ceiling, susceptible to spiky damage. Recommended for pugging keys below level 12, but kept out of the highest keys due to lower ceiling and prevalence of Frost DKs.
Clear winner of recent updates with huge buffs. Divine Shield cooldown under 2 minutes combined with Final Stand makes it the most impactful tank, especially in very high keys. Group utility and spot healing shine, though not mandatory.
Remains the most sturdy tank, but limited self-healing makes them reliant on healers. Damage is lower than Paladin, but Battle Shout helps in melee DPS meta. Strong in pre-made groups with coordination.
Once again the least played healer in keystones despite high throughput. Terrible when pugging because of reliance on coordination, limited to off-meta pre-made groups.
Exploded in popularity due to absorb shields, damage reduction, and highest priority damage of any healer. Covers weaknesses with Prot Paladin synergy, but is a specific tool, not mandatory.
Recommended for players climbing the ladder as a healer. Brings great utility, above-average throughput, and avoids duplicate class issues. Remains viable in high keys and gets more appealing at lower key levels.
Exceptional burst AOE and priority damage, now less dependent on Breath of Sindragosa. Extremely durable with anti-magic defensives, high armor, and Death Strike. S tier but first to get benched in meta comps.
Comfortably the meta spec for Hunters, one of the highest DPS specs. Famous AOE specialist but also brings great single-target damage. Hunter utility and defense improved in The War Within.
Excellent overall damage with strong AOE and priority single-target. Brings durability and utility. Now a legitimately exciting S tier DPS after quality-of-life improvements.
The best DPS this season. Flawless damage profile, Tempest provides a way to escape target cap. Shaman utility is stronger than ever with new group buff. Nerfs will hurt but it remains on top.
Support spec that becomes mandatory at the highest key levels. Its defensive value is essential, but less useful and frustrating in lower keys. Only real S tier ranged spec this season.
Comfortably the best mage spec. Not as much overall damage as some options, but its damage profile, utility, and durability make it a no-brainer recommendation.
Skill Capped's Season 1 Mythic+ tier list highlights Protection Paladin, Restoration Shaman, and Enhancement Shaman as the standout specs, while underperformers like Blood DK, Preservation Evoker, and Subtlety Rogue are best avoided for pushing high keys.
Which tank is rated S tier by Skill Capped in Season 1?
Protection Paladin
04:28
Which healer is recommended for players climbing the ladder?
Restoration Shaman
10:59
Which DPS spec is called 'the best DPS this season'?
Enhancement Shaman
20:47
Which ranged spec is the only real S tier this season?
Augmentation Evoker
24:14
Which tank has a 'high floor but a low ceiling'?
Blood Death Knight
02:02
Which mage spec is called 'Comfortably the best mage spec'?
Frost Mage
27:49
Which Hunter spec is the meta spec after patch 11.0.5?
Survival Hunter
15:56
Which Rogue spec is S tier DPS this season?
Assassination Rogue
18:33
Which healer is the least played in keystones despite high throughput?
Preservation Evoker
07:03
Why is Discipline Priest successful in high keys?
Absorb shields, damage reduction, highest priority damage of any healer, and synergy with Prot Paladin.
09:14
Protection Paladin Dominance
The reworked Divine Shield with sub-2-minute cooldown and Final Stand makes Prot Paladin the standout tank, but it is not as mandatory as the community believes.
04:28Discipline Priest Success Factors
Disc's strength comes from absorb shields, damage reduction, and the highest priority damage among healers, yet it remains a specific tool for a specific job.
09:14Enhancement Shaman as Top DPS
Despite nerfs, Enhancement Shaman's flawless damage profile and utility keep it at the top of the DPS tier list.
20:47Augmentation Evoker's Mandatory Status
At very high key levels, Augmentation Evoker is the only real S tier ranged spec, providing defensive value that no pure DPS can match.
24:14Frost Mage as Best Mage Spec
Frost Mage combines a strong damage profile with utility and durability, making it the best mage spec in Season 1.
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[01:47] the skill cap add-on package today available now for download using the back to the video Let's Kick things off with our tank tier list first up we have blood death Knights which we see as a tank with a high floor but a low ceiling
[02:02] blood death Knights remain susceptible to spiky damage it can be outplayed a you eventually this has kept blood out of the very highest Keys however below durable enough and in lower Keys
[02:15] self-sufficient tank of the lot tanks love agency and blood is a spec that provides the player with a ton of agency especially in lower Keys death grip is several enemies in this dungeon set being difficult to reposition and
[02:29] although gor's grasp is not an insta lock it's at least become accessible and Community perception we'd have no issue recommending blood for tanks who are primarily pugging Keys below level 12 however due to its lower ceiling and the
[02:43] prevalence of frost dks we're going to put blood in the sea tier now to talk Hunter we had to yab about vengeance non-stop in the last two seasons and what made them so good was their unprecedented control and durability
[02:56] heavily nerfed it's now merely the best overall kit as opposed to in a league of its own likewise Vengeance isn't as sturdy as it was last expansion but when played correctly there's no limit to what it can do but vengeance is prone to
[03:09] flopping over dead if you're careless this is especially true in the first few likely getting everything rolling for that reason it's not the first tank we'd it's impossible to overlook the Spec's upsides we're putting it in the a tier
[03:23] Guardian Druids remain a middle of the road pick in season one of the war within as a tank Guardian is what you see is what you get their control isn't spectacular but Druid utility is really nice this season Mark of the wild and D
[03:35] curse in particular Guardians durability isn't the strongest on offer which has historically been their strength but you shouldn't hear healers complain which is our Consultants wanted you to know that alon's chosen has made Guardian a lot
[03:49] interesting the spec has ever played which isn't saying much but hey Guardian Druid goes in the B tier now let's move on to brew master monks we really love brew and brew master Monk are pretty cool too so it sucks that brew master
[04:02] nothing has meaningfully changed since dragonflight Brew Masters are glass cannons bringing high damage that they are too fragile to take full advantage to keep you alive or they have to lean on kiting which will upset your DPS
[04:16] find that brew master is kind of splitting hairs while the two specs are quite different they both belong in the C tier at the moment now it's time to talk about protection paladins who are
[04:28] the obvious winner of of the most recent updates they have taken over High keys but what does that really mean prot paladins have seen huge Buffs to their highest of any tank the recent rework is headlined by Divine shield with its
[04:41] cooldown now well under 2 minutes when combined with final stand it has become but it's their group utility that has made the most impact the new Challenger Peril has put the spotlight on individual deaths and Paladin can do a
[04:54] defensives and spot healing but that means that protection paladins appeal only really comes in to play in very high Keys prop Paladin damage is also currently outperforming other tanks but this week's Nerfs ought to help Pull It
[05:06] in line so while sure prop paladins are obviously s tier please don't buy into the narratives that they are mandatory they aren't as impactful as Vengeance outlier really we expect to see prop Warriors keep hanging around while
[05:19] there's no doubt that paladins have eaten their lunch a prop Warrior remains a very strong option in our view prop Warriors Remain the most sturdy tank on offer however their limited self-healing does make them reliant on the Healer
[05:31] certain kinds of damage specifically damage that can't be blocked prop Warriors damage comes out lower than Paladin but in this melee DPS meta battle shout can help offset a lot of that protection Warriors control is not
[05:43] great with the meta build being unable to run disrupting shout or rumbling Earth all this translates to a tank that is at its most powerful in pre-made be accounted for with a bit of coordination there is literally nothing
[05:55] a prop Warrior can't do we're putting it in the a tier leaving our final tank screen now next up let's delve into healers starting off we have Resto Druid and oh how the mighty have fallen okay that's a bit much but the situation with
[06:10] Resto Druid is interesting druid's design based around preh hotting and anticipation of damage is fundamentally powerful even if the numbers say they're balance Druids can just do things that other healers can't the drawback has
[06:22] been their lack of immediate throughput which made them struggle if they were tried to nudge rest of Druids close closer to resembling other healers with more immediate throughput and atonement like effects however players have yet to
[06:35] fundamentally the same as past expansions several Aura Buffs have done nothing to improve the situation and while Resto Druids have shown up in the MDI they remain a very rare site in Keys above a 12 it's something we're curious
[06:49] to watch as the expansion goes on but for now Resto Druids down in the SE tier now preservation and it's happening again we just saw preservation dominate the race to world first like no healing spec has in modern rating pre was so
[07:03] overpowered and blizzard refusal to Nerf them was one of the major narratives of the tier and it just doesn't matter once again preservation is the least played healer in keystones and to make matters worse it's a story we've seen for the
[07:16] last four seasons pre has among the highest throughput of any healer when evoker will immediately start to struggle that is a terrifying Prospect in pug runs and something you'd be smart to avoid then an Aug of evoker turns up
[07:30] preservation is limited to off-meta pre-made groups in that specific Niche pre is totally fine if not great but at that point we're building a composition around the pre okre which isn't how this
[07:42] is supposed to work we're putting pre down in the sea tier next mistweaver the pack this season despite nothing really changing for them mistweaver that's well suited for keystones their damage is up there with the highest of
[07:57] mistweaver is most comfortable dealing with periodic bursts of AOE damage they chunk damage but this is where synergizing with Pro Paladin can be really useful on the whole we can nitpick but there is nothing truly wrong
[08:11] with mist Weaver right now the spec is just being outshone by some slightly more powerful Alternatives we're putting mistweaver in the a tier with the war significant rework which has been fairly well received as far as these things go
[08:24] it is one of the most versatile healers both in terms of its play style and its possible healing profiles Holy Paladin is average right now but we mean average in the complimentary Way It Is Dead Center perfectly balanced no unique
[08:36] strengths no unique weaknesses just like Mist Weaver holy paladins have been able effective at dealing with the Cadence of AOE damage in this dungeon set there is no concern about holy Paladin's ability to keep a group alive Holly's damage is
[08:50] perfectly average its control is average you can maybe argue that Holy Paladin suffer from Pro Paladin success but in practice that isn't a problem we're putting holy in the the middle of the pack in the B tier now let's leap of
[09:02] faith over to priest sorry about that one discipline has exploded in popularity recently and this has led to a very Sudden Change in the community's perception of disc quite a few players have taken the view that disc is now
[09:14] mandatory while yes disc is very good right now we want to push back on the start by discussing why disc is successful firstly priest utility underperforming we look to the Healer slot to pick up that utility secondly
[09:29] disc's design emphasizes absorb Shields and damage reduction effects you add ability to max out a player's effective Health in order to deal with the extreme incoming damage in higher Keys thirdly the recent Buffs to prot paladins have
[09:43] allowed them to be brought in and cover the disc's weaknesses and finally discipline is the highest priority damage of any healer when required to heal in practice that allows them to out DPS other healers in high Keys all of
[09:55] this makes disc extremely appealing for pushing keys but these strengths come with drawbacks we've alluded to a few of them but let's not forget their lack of gotten much much easier to play over the years it still has the reputation of
[10:08] being a healing spec for masacus so while discipline is absolutely an S tier healer it is not necessarily overpowered it is a specific tool for a specific job and may not be the right choice for you or your key but disciplined success has
[10:21] left holy priest out in the cold this is pretty standard when discipline is good hly starts to look pretty boring this week's Buffs to Hol through throughput overlooked due to its throughput while
[10:33] holy priests were well represented across all keys they slowly disappear as hard to give holy priests a fair assessment people just aren't trying to push the spec to its limits however while holy is undeniably off meta at the
[10:46] in the majority of content and we are never going to turn down power infusion we're going to put holy in the CER but we have no beef with it and to close out we have Resto Shaman who we've been rooting for recently in season one of
[10:59] brought it all together the spec is fantastic and it's our recommendation for players looking to climb the ladder as a Healer Resto Shaman brings all that continues to grow with each expansion
[11:12] healer and their throughput is above average at the moment and Shaman utility is so good that they avoid the duplicate class problem it's not an issue to have both aesto and enhanced Shaman as we've covered disciplin priest has shown that
[11:25] it has a higher ceiling and it will likely continue to eat away at the seasonal titles but we don't expect Resto Shaman to go away they're viable in high keys and they only get more appealing as the key level dips we're
[11:37] putting Resto Shaman in the S tier it might be basic but it's right and with completed healer tier list for the war within season 1 do you agree if not what would you change let us know in the comments next up though let's dive into
[11:51] undoubtedly seen the biggest shake up this season and we happen to start with remarkably well in season one of the war within Frost has always been dependent on breath of synr Goa which was very frustrating to use in dungeons the war
[12:06] within has made Frost less dependent on breath which has counterintuitively made the breath build better Frost now brings exceptional burst AOE and PRI damage outside of those windows is at least tolerable now this week's Frost tuning
[12:20] ought to have the same effect Frost burst will take a hit but its overall performance will remain about the same death Knights also bring a lot of particularly useful against certain mobs this season and AMZ is always nice to
[12:33] have but Frost's core appeal is how personally durable it is it's arguably the tankiest DPS right now between DK's heavy Suite of anti-magic defensives its high armor and health pool and the potency of Death Strike Frost is really
[12:46] good in this defensive meta so Frost death Knights are both really good and they are non-essential when you look at people flexing the metac comp right now Frosty K is the first one to get benched we're putting them in the s but don't
[12:59] take that to mean that Frost is mandatory far from it now let's talk about Unholy DK which is unpopular right now like we can't remember a time when it was less popular but as always this Exodus isn't un holy's fault it's people
[13:13] specs are in really good positions but they both thrive in different situations Frost talent tree provides everything the spec needs to cover both its single Target and AOE needs whereas Unholy has specialized builds for both Unholy can
[13:26] either do Stellar AOE or top shelf single Target but not both however Frost is more dependent on routing to set up its damage you want those big AOE pulls every 2 minutes to maximize Frost strengths by comparison Unholy 45 second
[13:40] burst profile is far more flexible so Unholy has the edge on Frost at the extreme ends of the Spectrum in low Keys routed by a cowardly tank you'd rather be on Unholy with a single Target build and in the MDI with outrageous pulls
[13:53] you'd rather be on an Unholy with its AOE build Unholy Mains might argue that Frost is overhyped and Unholy is just as good we wouldn't go that far but Unholy has definitely been unfairly deserted we're putting it in the a tier Havoc is
[14:06] its usual standards they're putting up mm Hunter and frost Mage numbers right now which is very weird but the reason is not weird Havoc just isn't very good right now that's not to say it's useless
[14:18] but its damage profile isn't very appealing right now Havoc has always been dependent on its cooldowns to put out damage but demon surge has put even more emphasis on meta Havoc can put out unbel aable burst on that opening pull
[14:30] unbel aable burst on that opening pull but after that it's a bit H but defense is where Havoc really falls short while other classes have benefited a lot from defensive creep in recent years Havoc has remained pretty much unchanged
[14:42] havoc's defense is built around passive leech and mitigation which will rarely be as powerful as active defensive buttons lacking those tools Havoc needs more support from the team to survive in practice Havoc ends up being a more
[14:54] squishy Frost Decay with more lopsided damage profile between its low representation its obvious flaws and obvious Alternatives we can't go higher than a c tier for Havoc moving on feral Druid is a spec that is hard to make
[15:06] sense of at the moment it is extremely Niche but feral Druid Mains have proven that the spec can hang out in high keys and because no Druid spec really has a much easier to justify bringing a feral Druid in to access all that Druid
[15:19] utility feral Druids bring their very respectable overall damage but their priority single Target is the Highlight this week's feral tuning is going to provide them with a meaningful bump and DPS but probably won't move the needle
[15:31] you factor in the option to shift into bare form it takes it to another level the knock on feral as always is that it's hard to play well it's a spec with a high floor and a high ceiling really you can make an argument for putting
[15:44] feral in the a tier or the C tier so we decided to split the difference and put it in the B tier now let's jump over to survival which is suddenly doing really really well it's now comfortably the metas speec for hunters and now is a
[15:56] ever interested you in a Mythic plus setting survival is one of the highest DPS going around survival is famously an AOE specialist but the spec currently damage as well there's nothing to complain about while survival has been
[16:11] specifically targeting the Spec's performance in the raid in Keys survival will take a small hit but should still feel great Hunter's utility and defense been improved in the war within while
[16:25] survival may not be the most durable DPS it's far from the most fragile survival of the month specs in the next few weeks so we recommend you get in quick if you haven't already we're putting it in the a tier next up wind walker monk which is
[16:38] evaluate after this week's tuning before this week wind Walkers were incredibly situation to Havoc being a cooldown dependent melee that is serviceable but undesirable this week's Buffs are headlined by a flat 20% buff to Fist of
[16:52] Fury which is regularly wind Walker's highest damaging ability Buffs don't get biggest strength is undoubtedly its defensive kit with three major defensive cooldowns they're fairly durable monk utility is acceptable but again there's
[17:06] nothing we can really hype up we reluctantly saw wind walker as a c tier spec last week but with these changes we're confident in calling them a b tier spec moving on we've got retribution paladins who remain a very solid
[17:19] generalist option across all keys retribution is the most popular DPS right now and it's easy to see why retribution's damage profile has gotten more and more flexible as time has gone on they're now comfortable doing pretty
[17:31] much anything at any moment retribution may be a jack of all trades and master of none but it at least has a diploma in all trades which makes it an ideal DPS going to feel griefed by the root like certain other specs leaving you plenty
[17:45] of time to get griefed on the boss Instead at least we know this wasn't a skill cap subscriber as if they were they would have seen our brand new dungeon guides over at skill cap.com where we not only cover in-depth
[17:57] strategies for every boss but also walk you through all of the important packs providing some mustn skips along the way transforming your dungeon runs and most importantly giving you the confidence to tackle any dungeon at any key level
[18:09] anyway the only criticism with Rett really is that as the key level gets higher the overlap with Pro paladins becomes more prominent so if it weren't for Pro paladins making your Bop feel less special we'd probably let ret creep
[18:21] into s tier but we've settled on a very solid a tier now let's sneak over to the Rogue specs and we start with assassination a spec that we've said some very unkind things about in the past but you know what we aren't sorry
[18:33] because the squeaky wheel gets the oil and assassination got some great quality our complaints we're now able to sit strengths that assassination offers the Spec's overall damage is terrific right
[18:46] particularly strong assass can pump out excellent AOE damage while eviscerating strength that only gets more desirable as the key level increases the spec is let down a little by its pure single Target but it's not the worst you'll see
[19:00] Rogues also bring that durability that is so important right now and Rogue utility while not as sexy as something like Shaman or Paladin can be very assassination really exciting right now we've got to give credit where it's due
[19:13] assass is an S TI DPS this season moving on Outlaw Outlaw Rogues engaged in some criminal activity recently exploiting a bug to basically double their DPS it's always the ones you least expect right now that the exploit has been fixed
[19:27] Outlaw is fine they have that very flat and balanced damage profile that makes it good but not great in every situation and like we discussed with retribution downside with Outlaw is that it is a hard spec to play well if you enjoy it
[19:41] and can make it work there's nothing to hate on but Outlaw can be overwhelming for newcomers so we're going to put Outlaw in the B tier and then we have subtlety once again it is another season where sub has turned completely
[19:53] invisible depending on your key level you're about four times more likely to encounter a feral druid than you are a sub Rogue at the moment it's crazy at this point this isn't about Aura Buffs the aura is the problem there's
[20:05] something wrong with Subs Vibe the spec is playable here's Kush from Ekko timing a plus 16 key on sub if he can do that there's no reason you can't time level 12 keys with it however being so cool down Reliant sub is hard to optimize and
[20:19] just looks and feels bad most of the time the only time sub really shines is introduce funnel and passive cleave into the mix sub's output quickly Falls behind well everyone else so keeping in mind that sub does have a decent ceiling
[20:33] to it this has to be the bottom of the list moving on last expansion we were Shaman and they were in the comments smacking right back but there's no bad blood they had a really rough DLS expansion enhancement had everything you
[20:47] could possibly want in a DPS but was held back by a lack of defensives and a thrilled to say that both of these issues have been fixed and it has catapulted enhancement into the S tier it's not just a good melee it is the
[21:00] best DPS this season Tempest provides enhance with a way to escape that Target cap and now enhance may as well have a Flawless damage profile no matter the situation enhance is going to do well blizzard hit enhan with a significant
[21:12] Nerf to its overall damage this week and to be clear it's going to hurt but the outlier that we still expect them to be among the top DPS Shaman utility is stronger than ever plus they bring all the control we know and love and even a
[21:25] new group buff and if all this isn't enough enhancement is is just a ton of fun to play it's a fun main it's a fun alt just do it enhance has been the best at everything so far this season this week's Nerfs May mean they are no longer
[21:37] the deao number one damage at all times but they are still undeniably an S tier DPS and to wrap up we have the two Warrior specs arms has had it rough so far this expansion like havoc and Unholy we can't find a time when arms was less
[21:50] popular arms was the victim of some very questionable Nerfs that dragged its received significant Buffs that has brought arms back into the light but the players haven't returned yet arms brings impressive AOE damage and even with a
[22:02] pure AOE build it still puts out respectable single Target damage like always DPS Warriors have a strong defensive kit and even their control is improved shock wave being a staple and arms Warrior build so arms is a solid
[22:16] control there's no reason you shouldn't play one we suspect the reason players haven't returned to arms yet is simply because arms isn't quite good enough to make players notice so we're going to put arms in the B tier and finally we
[22:29] have Fury Warriors we have to be careful here because if we say Fury is good reflexively Nerf them again in our view there isn't much difference in how Fury and arms are performing right now Fury does appear to be slightly better with a
[22:42] to criticize Fury which we must to protect them from Blizzard's gaze we'd point out that they are very cooldown dependent their damage is built around these 902 bursts which you really want your route to accommodate so while Fury
[22:55] definitely has a higher ceiling arms is more versatile and better equipped to deal with the chaos of lfg so to wrap up we're going to put Fury in the B tier completed melee tier list looking like what you see on screen now fun fact if
[23:08] actually looks more or less identical to last expansion anyway next up let's get into range DPS starting off we have balance Druids balance Druids are in a on Twitter enough to get some major damage Buffs which have made them one of
[23:23] the highest DPS in dungeons you can now find quite a few moonkins pushing the very highest level moonkins are criticized for their damage profile which in the past we've described as useless unethical padding which is to
[23:35] say they lack priority damage during AOE pulls but the recent addition of whirling Stars has helped smooth out their damage between pulls which makes allow them to be more ethical with their damage balance Druid has to become one
[23:48] of the most fragile DPS going around blizzard wants bare form to be a core defensive tool for Druids and moonin push back against this these are flaws a lot of support from your team but lacking that moonkins will really
[24:01] competent balance Druid that uses bare form and gets the occasional external we're happy to put them in the a tier but your mileage may vary so let's Glide over to augmentation which for our purposes hasn't changed a damn bit in
[24:14] the last year Aug is a support spec that earns its keep from the defensive value will typically be less than what you'd get from a pure DPS but as you climb up appealing and Beyond a certain point they become mandatory but the lower the
[24:30] key the less useful and more frustrating augmentation becomes in a strange way very little you can do to elevate your team if your teammates stink you can't through the key augmentation is the only real s tier spec this season but there's
[24:45] a reason why there are so few people playing them so what about Devastation well augmentation shadow looms large over Dev like every season Dev evokers all keys but basically vanish above plus 12 dev's overall damage is average their
[25:00] nothing that really impacts their place in The Meta Dev brings basically all of including spatial Paradox which is a big win we've also seen quite a few love with Dev as their first Caster the spec is just a lot of fun and very
[25:16] accessible so Devastation performance is fine it's fun to play and easy to pick up that makes it a c tier spec but one with a lot of upsides now let's move on to the two ranged Hunter specs which are both under Siege by survival which we
[25:29] discussed in our melee tier list with the new expansion Hunters have seen improvements to both their defense and control all three specs also saw some love in the most recent patch so Hunters ought to be feeling pretty good right
[25:41] now since the patch both BM and mm are actually pretty solid the problem is hunters and most people who are returning are going right to survival there's nothing complex about Beast Mastery strength it is a damage bot that
[25:54] now does pretty good damage its single Target is the core appeal and its AOE is the deal simple as that and we're willing to put that in the B tier meanwhile Marksmanship is quite a bit more popular than Beast Mastery again
[26:08] since the changes there isn't much difference between the two when compared brings stronger AOE damage which gives it the edge over BM on the overall damage meter we see the two as about equal so we're going to put mm in the B
[26:21] been kind enough to not completely smother The Meta this expansion first up Arcane Arcane Mages are defined by their bursty damage profiles that often need to be routed around that typically gives them a low floor and a high ceiling the
[26:34] bursts currently don't do enough to get the job done you can see that in this clip formal does his Full Burst puts on a great light show and eventually loses to the elemental shaman who seemingly
[26:46] never pressed his own cooldowns so Arcane doesn't have the juice right now but even an underperforming Mage spec is better than most DPS plus Mage utility and defensives remain strong enough to justify bringing one AR kan's Mass
[26:58] barrier is arguably the strongest group-wide defensive in the game so we're giving Arcane a b it's not bad but it's probably not worth the effort so let's move on to fire which as always has to make things complicated as we've
[27:11] talked about time and time again Fire's toolkit is fundamentally overpowered in keystones something has to be seriously wrong for them to be overlooked and so far this expansion that has simply been damage tuning but fire is always one
[27:24] change away from taking over The Meta and this week they're getting changed on paper the changes appear minor but we are afraid we're going to put fire in the a tier this may seem like an overreaction but you got to understand
[27:36] this is not a prediction it's a prophetic warning the fire Mages are coming and you need to be ready but Frost Mages meanwhile are doing great Frost may not put out as much overall damage as some other options but its
[27:49] damage profile more than makes up for it it's pure single Target is pretty good swapping are some of the best around when you combine that profile with utility and durability yeah it's going to be good it is Comfortably the best
[28:02] mage spec and one that we have no trouble recommending a tier moving on Shadow priest has all the tools that make it the ultimate DPS and keystones its utility damage profile and defensive kit are unrivaled right now simple
[28:14] damage tuning is the only thing holding Shadow back from being a meta DPS but link one more time and Shadow will be perfect for real this time so while Shadow is underperforming in the scheme of things players are still doing well
[28:28] priest they can only be so bad we're putting shadow in the B tier moving on Shaman's two other specs Elemental is awesome right now Elemental Achilles heal has been its durability but Shaman have received some much appreciated
[28:44] defensive Buffs that solved that issue Ellie's damage is excellent with PRI damage being a particular strength right now like enhance it does well in practically any scenario it really is a testament to Elemental that it is so
[28:56] popular despite enhance being the meta DPS enhance clearly has a higher ceiling than Elemental but really they don't feel that far apart so we're putting Elemental in the a tier it is the best Caster DPS this season after
[29:08] augmentation it's great and finally we have the Warlock specs all of whom are not having their best season warlock utility is serviceable but they pay their rent as damage Bots if they don't have the damage they have no appeal even
[29:20] warlock's famous tankiness isn't what it once was Defensive power creep over the last two expansions has seen many DPS outpace warlock survivability Soul leech and dark packed are good against big hits but warlocks aren't Immortal
[29:33] anymore Affliction hasn't really been taken seriously this season again Buffs recently which has given it some signs of life you can now find the odd warlock runs that's damning with faint praise but it's a silver lining we're
[29:47] putting it in the C tier demonology is another spec that has always sold itself on its DPS and Demo's damage is just lagging behind right now with the recent Buffs we consider Affliction to be the more appealing spec there's quite a bit
[30:00] current design but ultimately its issues can be addressed with a simple Aura buff it's a c-tier DPS that just leaves us with destruction as warlock's Last Hope for the season and thankfully Destro is performing a bit better we glazed Destro
[30:14] pretty hard in season 4 because it was an AOE specialist with a very dumb gimmick watching rain of fire feed back into itself was fun but it was bad for reworked the spec in the war within shifting its damage away from rain of
[30:27] Fire this has made Destro far more versatile but has caused it to lose its trades without an obvious strength which leaves it at the mercy of tuning and in serviceable but not strong enough to get people to take notice we think Destro is
[30:41] siblings so we're going to put it in the B tier but the spec could definitely benefit from an aura buff and while our completed range tier list is on screen is every single player at the top of the M plus ladder have in common the answer
[30:56] time time to perfectly tweak and set up their UI and add-ons time to practice learn the ins and outs of every pull and most importantly time to actually play get comfortable and experience Keys
[31:09] on fast-tracking your learning as much as possible be through perfectly optimizing your UI with just one click with the skillcapped add-on package top players in our exclusive ASAP Pro Channel or condensing hours of knowledge
[31:23] into our custom designed easyto digest dungeon guides providing you not only with with more time to play but all the resources needed to improve don't waste your time visit skillcap dcom now and claim your exclusive discount using the
[31:35] link below but that's going to wrap up everything for our season 1 the war all so much for watching we'll see you in the next one
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