C O T U S
Legend
alright, i'm tired of seeing random noobs making horribly incorrect assertions about which classes are good and what capabilities they have at level 20. here is a list **FOR BATTLEGROUNDS ONLY** (bone already made a tier list for arena that i'm sure is still on this forum somewhere) compiled by a player who actually knows what he is talking about and has played every class (except priest) at level 20:
GOD-EMPEROR TIER:
Hunters - hunters are godmode at level 20, period. noobs will try to tell you that they can "1v1" hunters on some other twink they have, or that you can "counter" hunters using (insert random stupid idea here). no. hunters are literally unstoppable at level 20 in BGs. playing on a hunter will make you feel dirty, like you're cheating (you pretty much are). they do the most damage of any class from the furthest range, get the best items available to anyone, have the most defensive and peeling tools, and have the most HP. even hunters who are incredibly bad will still dominate.
TIER 1::
Holy Paladins - i've seen a lot of whining about resto shamans in this bracket. lots of noobs on aerie peak are always talking about how resto shamans are "overpowered" at level 20. that's one of the reasons why i made this list. i can't even imagine how someone could not understand how much better holy paladins are than any other healer. they have the most defensive tools, two instant heals (one of which can crit up to 50% of the time and functions as a second LoH), offensive capability with exorcism, and STILL turret heal more than resto shamans if they have to.
Arcane Mages - i'd say i hear someone say at least twice a day that frost mages are better than arcane mages at 20. that is because people in this bracket suck. arcane mages are the same thing as hunters only much squishier and with less initial burst (and no pet), but more mobility, more control, and most importantly - imp counterspell. people also seem to think that arcane mages are "faceroll" and easy to play. well, if that's the case, why don't i see any other good arcane mages other than mialu and sabelith?
TIER 2:
Ret Paladins - ret paladins have some of the highest burst in this bracket, can heal themselves/others, and like holy paladins, also have a variety of defensive tools. their only problem is that they have no snare. a ret paladin who rolls with a class that has a snare can be an extremely powerful weapon in BGs and will plow through people. it's also worth noting that ret pallies run faster than everyone else with the 8% talent, which helps make up for this lack of snare somewhat.
Feral Druids - ferals have pretty crazy damage, a snare (if you want it), mobility and speed, and the ability to heal themselves/others. they're squishier than rets, but also have stealth, so you can pick your battles. they're also good for things like ninjaing nodes in AB or running flags in WSG. pretty solid class if you don't suck and learn how to play them.
Resto Shaman - just because paladins are much better than them does not mean that resto shaman aren't good in their own right. earth shield is an incredibly good spell, allowing a shaman to effectively keep 2 people up at once. they can also interrupt people constantly, have ghost wolf, and are pretty hard to kill if geared correctly. water shield makes it very very hard to OOM them. if you're a "healer noob" and want to try out a healer, i'd suggest resto shaman because they're pretty straightforward and good.
TIER 3:
Rogues - rogues are a tricky class to figure out at this level. they have pretty subpar damage other than ambush, are easily neutralized by good players by hiding their back, but have incredibly OP tools for this level bracket in the form of shadowstep and lol-wtf-ridiculous-range-sap. specs other than subtlety give only marginal DPS increases, and losing speed in stealth and shadowstep are just too much to give up. but rogues can be very useful in WSG to return flags, and control midfield with saps, and very useful in AB to ninja cap and defend nodes. but in straight up fights, rogues leave something to be desired compared to other dps classes at this level.
Disc/Holy Priests - i put these two specs together because they're equally good. priests have great healing output (especially shield and pennance), a fear every 30 seconds, a disable if you go holy, and decent offensive DPS if left alone. their only problem is that they die incredibly fast when shield is down and are also very mana-intensive. they could easily be moved up a tier to tier 2, and i'm sure that if i had personal experience playing a priest, i'd probably end up putting them there. i just find priests much easier to deal with than any other healer, so they seem a little weaker.
Prot Paladins - hooooooooooooooly shit, that shield is obnoxious. same tools as ret but weaker, same tools as holy but weaker. still a pretty damn good class in BGs just because of the motherfucking shield.
Enhance Shaman - decent dps, a snare, an interrupt, and purge. they can heal themselves and are tough to oom. but they just fall short of the other DPS classes at this level. i think that this class requires a player to really know what they're doing and also be very geared in order to be successful.
TIER 4:
Fury Warriors - warriors have crazy damage output at this level, but are retardedly easy to kite and have no interrupt. they also don't have any of their defensive CDs at this level and no intercept. if it wasn't for hunters completely dominating this bracket, i'm sure they'd be up higher.
Frost Mages - these guys can do significant burst.....if you let them sit there and cast. unfortunately, that is never going to happen in this bracket, so they just get raped in 2 GCDs and contribute nothing. it's worth noting that the pet can be pretty useful for the ranged nova on demand, though.
Resto Druid - decent healing output, but like damage over time spells, healing over time spells in this bracket suck. good mobility, but still die incredibly fast. resto druids aren't good for much other than stalling, because if they're being focused, they can't really keep another player up.
GARBAGE TIER:
Warlocks - warlocks are good for fear, and.....that's it. you can't even damage people during fear anymore because activision is retarded. they can do decent burst once a minute....if they haven't already used soulburn to desperately try to keep themself alive. this class sucks.
Balance Druids - the dots hurt....if you can't heal yourself....and there's no one else nearby who can cast a 1.5 second heal and instantly heal 30 seconds of the dot dps (reminds you of locks). like frost mages, can do pretty good burst if you let them sit there and cast. but nobody is ever going to do that. their heals suck, and they oom super fast if focused.
Fire Mages, Shadow Priests, Elemental Shamans - garbage, the other specs are just 100x better, like it or not
you are welcome to contribute your own opinions, but please give actual reasons for why you think something. i'm tired of seeing random noob #9871391321 claim that "xxxx is good" and then have nothing to back it up. also, if you're just clueless, please don't say anything. i'd especially like to hear what people think about disc/holy priests.
GOD-EMPEROR TIER:
Hunters - hunters are godmode at level 20, period. noobs will try to tell you that they can "1v1" hunters on some other twink they have, or that you can "counter" hunters using (insert random stupid idea here). no. hunters are literally unstoppable at level 20 in BGs. playing on a hunter will make you feel dirty, like you're cheating (you pretty much are). they do the most damage of any class from the furthest range, get the best items available to anyone, have the most defensive and peeling tools, and have the most HP. even hunters who are incredibly bad will still dominate.
TIER 1::
Holy Paladins - i've seen a lot of whining about resto shamans in this bracket. lots of noobs on aerie peak are always talking about how resto shamans are "overpowered" at level 20. that's one of the reasons why i made this list. i can't even imagine how someone could not understand how much better holy paladins are than any other healer. they have the most defensive tools, two instant heals (one of which can crit up to 50% of the time and functions as a second LoH), offensive capability with exorcism, and STILL turret heal more than resto shamans if they have to.
Arcane Mages - i'd say i hear someone say at least twice a day that frost mages are better than arcane mages at 20. that is because people in this bracket suck. arcane mages are the same thing as hunters only much squishier and with less initial burst (and no pet), but more mobility, more control, and most importantly - imp counterspell. people also seem to think that arcane mages are "faceroll" and easy to play. well, if that's the case, why don't i see any other good arcane mages other than mialu and sabelith?
TIER 2:
Ret Paladins - ret paladins have some of the highest burst in this bracket, can heal themselves/others, and like holy paladins, also have a variety of defensive tools. their only problem is that they have no snare. a ret paladin who rolls with a class that has a snare can be an extremely powerful weapon in BGs and will plow through people. it's also worth noting that ret pallies run faster than everyone else with the 8% talent, which helps make up for this lack of snare somewhat.
Feral Druids - ferals have pretty crazy damage, a snare (if you want it), mobility and speed, and the ability to heal themselves/others. they're squishier than rets, but also have stealth, so you can pick your battles. they're also good for things like ninjaing nodes in AB or running flags in WSG. pretty solid class if you don't suck and learn how to play them.
Resto Shaman - just because paladins are much better than them does not mean that resto shaman aren't good in their own right. earth shield is an incredibly good spell, allowing a shaman to effectively keep 2 people up at once. they can also interrupt people constantly, have ghost wolf, and are pretty hard to kill if geared correctly. water shield makes it very very hard to OOM them. if you're a "healer noob" and want to try out a healer, i'd suggest resto shaman because they're pretty straightforward and good.
TIER 3:
Rogues - rogues are a tricky class to figure out at this level. they have pretty subpar damage other than ambush, are easily neutralized by good players by hiding their back, but have incredibly OP tools for this level bracket in the form of shadowstep and lol-wtf-ridiculous-range-sap. specs other than subtlety give only marginal DPS increases, and losing speed in stealth and shadowstep are just too much to give up. but rogues can be very useful in WSG to return flags, and control midfield with saps, and very useful in AB to ninja cap and defend nodes. but in straight up fights, rogues leave something to be desired compared to other dps classes at this level.
Disc/Holy Priests - i put these two specs together because they're equally good. priests have great healing output (especially shield and pennance), a fear every 30 seconds, a disable if you go holy, and decent offensive DPS if left alone. their only problem is that they die incredibly fast when shield is down and are also very mana-intensive. they could easily be moved up a tier to tier 2, and i'm sure that if i had personal experience playing a priest, i'd probably end up putting them there. i just find priests much easier to deal with than any other healer, so they seem a little weaker.
Prot Paladins - hooooooooooooooly shit, that shield is obnoxious. same tools as ret but weaker, same tools as holy but weaker. still a pretty damn good class in BGs just because of the motherfucking shield.
Enhance Shaman - decent dps, a snare, an interrupt, and purge. they can heal themselves and are tough to oom. but they just fall short of the other DPS classes at this level. i think that this class requires a player to really know what they're doing and also be very geared in order to be successful.
TIER 4:
Fury Warriors - warriors have crazy damage output at this level, but are retardedly easy to kite and have no interrupt. they also don't have any of their defensive CDs at this level and no intercept. if it wasn't for hunters completely dominating this bracket, i'm sure they'd be up higher.
Frost Mages - these guys can do significant burst.....if you let them sit there and cast. unfortunately, that is never going to happen in this bracket, so they just get raped in 2 GCDs and contribute nothing. it's worth noting that the pet can be pretty useful for the ranged nova on demand, though.
Resto Druid - decent healing output, but like damage over time spells, healing over time spells in this bracket suck. good mobility, but still die incredibly fast. resto druids aren't good for much other than stalling, because if they're being focused, they can't really keep another player up.
GARBAGE TIER:
Warlocks - warlocks are good for fear, and.....that's it. you can't even damage people during fear anymore because activision is retarded. they can do decent burst once a minute....if they haven't already used soulburn to desperately try to keep themself alive. this class sucks.
Balance Druids - the dots hurt....if you can't heal yourself....and there's no one else nearby who can cast a 1.5 second heal and instantly heal 30 seconds of the dot dps (reminds you of locks). like frost mages, can do pretty good burst if you let them sit there and cast. but nobody is ever going to do that. their heals suck, and they oom super fast if focused.
Fire Mages, Shadow Priests, Elemental Shamans - garbage, the other specs are just 100x better, like it or not
you are welcome to contribute your own opinions, but please give actual reasons for why you think something. i'm tired of seeing random noob #9871391321 claim that "xxxx is good" and then have nothing to back it up. also, if you're just clueless, please don't say anything. i'd especially like to hear what people think about disc/holy priests.
