US 59 tier list?

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Hey everyone, I was just wondering if anyone could give me their "educated" opinions on what a decent tier list would be... I ask this not to play the form class, but just to know what is strong to know what to build to conter/play vs... I am leveling a shaman now to play resto as I normally only heal and I love playing my shaman at 29/39 and would like to try it in arenas at 59.

So if people could give me their opinions on a tier list, and feel free to discuss, I just want to know a general consensus...

Please format as: (or something of the sort just to make it easy to understand.

God tier:
(stomps in general, minimal effort)

Tier 1:
(if your good will Excell in competitive play)

Tier 2:
(if your really good and really geared, can do well competitively)

Tier 3:
(you have to be insane player to make this work, but has potential if supported)

Shit tier:
(the spec you try your best to make work but still only does shit DMG/support, and there's always that one guy that swears it works but does bottom of the leaderboard DMG and always dies instantly when going in)

Coming from 29 to 39, there was minimal changes but there were classes that were better/worse at 39 than 29. I ask because there has been more defensive/offensive abilities added as well as a new PvP talent.

Also, if people would want to justify why they think a certain class should be higher/lower tier, please discuss as like I said above, want to come to a general consensus!

Thanks in advance, and I hope this doesn't become a troll fest.

EDITED: added the descriptions to tiers
 
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This rubric is based on my personal experience & opinions. Biases have been left out. Some specs have inexistent data pools - said specs have automatically been filtered to "Shit tier". I will note, that placement has been subjected to how successful each spec is at a minimal skill level. For example, a good Restoration Druid whom can cyclone, dispel, LOS & pre-hot easily is a tier 1.

DPS

GT: Windwalker, Enhance, Fury, Arcane, Outlaw

T1: Elemental, Retribution, Balance, Arms, Shadow

T2: Marksmanship, Frost(Ma), Destruction, Assassination, Frost(Dk)

T3: Affliction, Fire, Subtlety, Survival, Unholy

ST: Demonology, Feral, BeastMastery


Healers
GT: Restoration(S), Discipline

T1: Holy(Pr), Mistweaver

T2: Holy(Pa)

T3: Restoration(Dr)

ST:​

Tanks
GT: Protection(Pa), Guardian

T1: Protection(Wa)

T2:

T3: Blood

ST: Brewmaster
 
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The really cool thing about 59's is that there seem to be very few specs that are outright trash. I think I agree with JWL's list. Resto druid is kind of awkward to tier because while it's not the best healer in terms output, it can almost global other twinks from cat.

It's pretty tough atm to be definitive because competitive play is still developing. I think much like 39's, specs such as fury warrior that seem unstoppable in pub BGs could be knocked out of the god-tier when it comes to organized play.
 
The really cool thing about 59's is that there seem to be very few specs that are outright trash.

There really aren't any specs that are "outright trash". I've listed Demo/BM as rat league, yet I've played both successfully in the bracket. My list is just a general rule of thumb as to where the average player would find the most (or least) success on each class.


Resto druid is kind of awkward to tier because while it's not the best healer in terms output, it can almost global other twinks from cat.

Restoration druid is IMO a tier-1 arena healer. Yes, it does not pull the highest numbers, but that's why it works so well with a CC comp such as RMP or wizard. Forcing trinkets early and being able to continue setting up chains is all you need to do to overwhelm their healer, and it'll open up more opportunities to cat DPS.

It's pretty tough atm to be definitive because competitive play is still developing. I think much like 39's, specs such as fury warrior that seem unstoppable in pub BGs could be knocked out of the god-tier when it comes to organized play.

That's true. Yeah Fury is strong, but its easily countered by many arena comps. Arms is 100% better in a competitive scenario for sharpened blades alone. Even a Death knight forcing an overextend / LOS with grip can result in more plays than a fury going mongo.
 
Awesome answers haha, exciting to see enhance/ele so high up also, I'll for sure be making a rdruid next just because I love playing high skill comp rmp, and it would be a newish challenge :p
 
in terms output, it can almost global other twinks from cat.

Had someone trying this against us in a BG the other day, and whether it worked or not they died right after.

And that's against levelers (mine too), not sure if the person was a twink or not but they were decently geared.
 
Had someone trying this against us in a BG the other day, and whether it worked or not they died right after.

And that's against levelers (mine too), not sure if the person was a twink or not but they were decently geared.

My restoration druid could do 3k critical bites (unbuffed) before the feral affinity buff. Not sure what it'd do now, but I'd imagine its noticeably stronger. If its a twink, you'd know it
 
Had someone trying this against us in a BG the other day, and whether it worked or not they died right after.

And that's against levelers (mine too), not sure if the person was a twink or not but they were decently geared.

Idk from what I've seen the damage is pretty insane. There's an ally resto druid named Aryaa (?) that I've seen a decent number of people raging about horde side.
 

DPS

GT: Windwalker, Enhance, Fury, Arcane, Outlaw


You put WW in GT. Is it because of 8.1 or do you get a crucial ability for 59? I'm not currently subbed and 49 was the highest I played. Wasnt many WW doing much of a splash.
 
You put WW in GT. Is it because of 8.1 or do you get a crucial ability for 59? I'm not currently subbed and 49 was the highest I played. Wasnt many WW doing much of a splash.

Windwalker was a tier 1 before the recent patch. Its always been very powerful. But as if the recent patch, it grew even stronger
 
I appreciate taking the time to make this list, however, I have a different experience on many of the specs categorization than shown here. For example resto druid as the worst healer? it is arguable the most OP spec of all atm @59. And I feel holy paladin is lacking way behind. Also it is hard for me to convince myself that WW monk is God tier, even before or after patch, it was really just countering their karma and it was GG. (Also MW does more dmg (+heal) than ww monk (see way of the crane). I would even put your T3 surv hunter over WW monk. They have insane dmg and toolkit. Also so far on my own lock affliction seems pretty meh, no dmg, no survival, compared to demo that doesn't have dmg either but feels way more tanky with 20% less dmg taken. And I could go on. I am not going to make a tier list myself as it is very complex to compare as some specs shine better situational and depends on experience too and skill level. But some difference are there still of course.
 
I appreciate taking the time to make this list, however, I have a different experience on many of the specs categorization than shown here. For example resto druid as the worst healer? it is arguable the most OP spec of all atm @59. And I feel holy paladin is lacking way behind. Also it is hard for me to convince myself that WW monk is God tier, even before or after patch, it was really just countering their karma and it was GG. (Also MW does more dmg (+heal) than ww monk (see way of the crane). I would even put your T3 surv hunter over WW monk. They have insane dmg and toolkit. Also so far on my own lock affliction seems pretty meh, no dmg, no survival, compared to demo that doesn't have dmg either but feels way more tanky with 20% less dmg taken. And I could go on. I am not going to make a tier list myself as it is very complex to compare as some specs shine better situational and depends on experience too and skill level. But some difference are there still of course.

I made this tier list, not to define which classes are the strongest, but to show sail which can be the most successful with minimum skill level. I figured that would be more informative than just showing him a list of specs ordered strongest - weakest.

As I said, I believe restoration druid is a tier 1 pick. I play restoration druid in every bracket, and have a bias with them. I put them in a lower tier because as far as competitive play, restoration druid is not suited for the average player. The skill cap is much higher than say a disc or mistweaver. Same applies with holy priest: I think they are much* better than disc, but requires a brain to play.

I 100% find windwalker tier 1. Not sure if there are any decent ones over there on EU, but I've seen 2k RSK on US servers. Lots of my guildies run WW for premades, and they are always successfully playing it. Its absolutely stronger than survival hunter.

I could make a different tier list that reads classes strongest - weakest. I tried to abide by what OP requested.

God tier:
(stomps in general, minimal effort)


Tier 1:
(if your good will Excell in competitive play)


Tier 2:
(if your really good and really geared, can do well competitively)


Tier 3:
(you have to be insane player to make this work, but has potential if supported)


Shit tier:
(the spec you try your best to make work but still only does shit DMG/support, and there's always that one guy that swears it works but does bottom of the leaderboard DMG and always dies instantly when going in)

To me, it seemed like he was interested in which specs are viable based off of skill level. Not so much what has the most potential / what actually is the strongest. I would have a completely different list for that
 
Might actually resub to make a ww monk, vers stacking w/ wraith scythe sounds disgusting.

What races do yall recommend? Also what's the Q time disparity between horde and alliance? I know it's huge in other brackets so I can only assume the same goes for this bracket.
 
ww monk, vers stacking w/ wraith scythe sounds disgusting.

They really don't seem to proc often, but they do hit really hard for WW and ENH. Maybe ENH procs more with windfury and the spells, I didn't get past ele on mine yet.
 
I apologize, I would rather like a list based on highest skill level play...

I know this is super scewed due to lack of competitive play ATM... Like I know fury in top level plays isnt near as effective...

I should've revised to be... (All in organized/twink v twink play)

God tier:
Has immense potential to carry at top skill and very hard to outplay

Tier 1:
Able to sustain easily and keep up with God tier with little loss to actual results (DMG/healing/control/objective play)

Tier 2:
Able to keep up in at least one aspect of competitive play with tier one, but lacks in other crucial aspects

Tier 3:
Maximum effort still produces minimal product, can't keep up with T1 DMG/healing and doesn't provide enough of anything else

Shit tier:
Completely useless and regarded as trolling

What would everyone think about a list of this compared to low skill requirement?
 
I'd just like to hear what can solo a geared disc... I failed on my decent-ish WW monk. :oops:

Took like 3 minutes before he finally ran to teammates, so close many times. Lacked the finish and timely RNG.
 
I'd just like to hear what can solo a geared disc... I failed on my decent-ish WW monk. :oops:

Took like 3 minutes before he finally ran to teammates, so close many times. Lacked the finish and timely RNG.

Nothing should solo kill a healer in this expansion, other than some really lucky RNG or Rammstein's. The current health pools (even with the 8.1 nerf) and damage reduction make it a 2-person job.
 
Nothing should solo kill a healer in this expansion, other than some really lucky RNG or Rammstein's. The current health pools (even with the 8.1 nerf) and damage reduction make it a 2-person job.

My elemental shaman can solo almost every healer without rams
 

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