The Best Specs in WoW Shadowlands Early Season 1 – Best Casters & Healers Tier List

Welcome to part two of The Best Specs in WoW Shadowlands Early Season 1 guide. We talked about the Best Melee Tier List last time. Today we will continue with the Best Casters & Healers Tier List. The video below is still from Skilled Capped WoW Guides. If you find this guide helpful, don't forget to subscribe his channel on YouTube. Now let’s begin!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV3hWpsvM1c

 

Caster

We will move on to the Caster DPS. There are 4 specs right now that stand out from the rest - Shadow Priest, Fire Mage, Balance Druid and Elemental Shaman. This definitely seems to be the Season of hybrid specs with hybrid classes currently representing many meta comps.

 

Shadow Priest

Representing the best Caster DPS in the current meta is Shadow Priest. They offer good consistent damage with multiple control options and one of the most unique abilities in the game. They're just incredibly well-rounded. They have two talents - Unfurling Darkness and Damnation, which allow them to quickly spread dots onto multiple targets in Arena. This allows them to have seamless swaps and setups and allows them to pair their damage over time with their single target damaging abilities like Shadow Crash. Power Infusion and Void Eruption are really powerful offensive cooldowns and pair effectively with the instant cast CC options that Priests have. If dots are rolling on multiple targets and if Power Fusion and Void Eruption are used, Shadow can deal a ton of pressure. Silence, Psychic Horror and Mind Bomb are all really powerful right now due to how high damage is. Usually a four-second instant-cast CC is enough to either force a cooldown or score a kill if damage is high enough. These options pair well with one of the most unique and powerful abilities in this expansion – Mindgames. It is a new spell added in Shadowlands that has helped elevate a class to dominance in multiple roles. This ability needs its own category to explain. It is one of the most dynamic abilities ever in Arena. It can be used against Healers to force dispel or risk killing their entire team. It can be used against Retribution Paladins and Enhancement Shamans to deny Word of Glory and healing surge. It can also be used against Balanced Druids to deny the self-healing of Renewal and Frenzied Regeneration and it can even be used as a defensive cd. If cast on an enemy player popping offensive damage, it can completely deny a setup by converting that damage into healing. This can be strong into setup based comps like RMP and Thug Cleave if not immediately dispelled. Even if dispel is available, Shadow Priests often pair Mindgames with Silence to ensure maximum value. Shadow Priest's defensive options are also really strong right now with Greater Fade being one of the only abilities that allows player to avoid spear basting covenant abilities from Arms Warriors.

Fire Mage

Representing the only pure DPS class for the best Casters in Shadowlands Season 1 is Fire Mage. It is the most well-rounded pure DPS Caster right now with high consistent damage, a powerful offensive cd and multiple spell schools to CC with. Having 3 spell schools is incredibly valuable in the current meta with the prevalence of Melee DPS. Because their damage spell school is different than their control spell schools. Fire Mages can seamlessly manage interrupts by always having a school to cast. If kicked on fire, they can polymorph. If kicked on polymorph, they can cast damage. If kicked on fire or arcane, they can cast Ring of Frost. Fire Mages become incredibly scary with combustion especially when paired with Ruin of Power. One of the biggest changes to Fire Mages in Shadowlands is a change to the crit modifier. Critical strikes are back to dealing 200% damage. This was a massive buff to Fire Mages who rely entirely on crits for their damage rotation. This increased crit multiplier makes Combustion unbelievably scary. Many Fire Mages are playing with the Rune of Power talent, which will instantly proc when Combustion is used. This gives them a massive spike in damage and doesn't rely on any hard casting. Mages also gain back Alter Time which can be used to manage the high burst damage of many comps especially combined with Cauterize. Mages are still Mages and fire is still the best. Their control and burst damage makes them one of the best specs so far in Shadowlands.

 

Balance Druid

Another hybrid representing the best range DPS so far in Season 1 is Balance Druid. Their cooldown damage must be respected. When combined with their control options and team support, Balance is one of the best specs so far. Balance Druid's damage is both high with AoE dot damage and single target burst. They have multiple spell schools, which allows them to deal with many interrupts in 3v3. Their primary damage comes during Incarnation or Celestial Alignment when 90 Astral Power is stored to unleash 3 instant cast star surges. These surges increase in damage with both the Kyrian Covenant ability and the Legendary Timeworn Dreambinder. When a Druid pops with a full bar of Astral Power, a lot of damage is coming. A cheesier option but scary nonetheless is the Night Fae Convoke the Spirits, which casts 4 star surges on average during its 4 second duration. Druids also offer control outside of their offensive cds. Cyclone continues to be one of the best spells in the game and is now even better with the High Winds PvP talent. With damage being so high, a Cyclone plus a damage reduction is incredibly high in value.

 

Elemental Shaman

Rounding out the final spot for top range DPS is Elemental Shamans. It is another hybrid DPS class that is proved to be dominant in the current PvP meta. Elemental Shamans offer instant cast burst damage combined with a well-rounded utility toolkit to support their team. The primary damage setup of Elemental Shamans is relatively easy to execute and doesn't require any hard casting, which makes it suitable for dealing with the multitude of interrupts currently in Arena. Shamans deal most of their burst damage during Stormkeeper combined with Echoing Shock. This combination of spells allows Shamans to deal massive damage with their Lightning Bolts while requiring no hard casting. Most of their damage comes from instant cast spells, which allows them to utilize their utility options for their team in between their damage rotation. Grounding Totem, Lightning Lasso and Tremor Totem are all incredibly high value spells right now. It allows Shamans to shut down kill attempts from Rogue Mage by countering CC with Totems and disrupt setups with stuns and interrupts. This dynamic toolkit allows Elemental Shamans to work with a wide range of comps and keeps them well equipped for dealing with other meta dominant classes.

 

Healer

There are 3 Healers that stand out in the meta - Holy Paladin, Discipline Priest and Restoration Shaman. Each of these Healers brings a unique strength to Arena. Holy Paladins offer big burst healing with efficient cooldowns. Discipline Priests are offering incredible damage output and pressure and Restoration Shamans are one of the most mana efficient in the game. It's hard to say exactly which Healer is best due to how unique their strengths are, but each of these Healers pair well with other meta specs.

 

Holy Paladin

They offer the strongest burst healing and have incredibly high throughput during Avenging Wrath. Their healing output during Wings is so high that it is unlikely anyone can die on their team assuming the Paladin is not CC. Avenging Wrath can even randomly proc with the awakening talent which offers an RNG way to save their team in scary situations. The Kyrian ability Divine Toll also offers a lot of burst healing. It is possible to max out on holy power with a single Divine Toll cast and grant access to an instant Word of Glory. Paladins also continue to have some of the best and most consistent defensive cooldowns in the game. Blessing of Protection is high value because of the popularity of Melee. Blessing of Sacrifice is graded to 9 CC options from comps like Rogue Mage. If Ultimate Sacrifice is selected, Holy Paladins can completely deny damage onto their partners. It can be paired with Divine Shield or PvP trinkets to completely shut down kill attempts from Rogue Mage. Saved by the Light is also back and gives beacon targets and absorbed shield while at low health. It gives an increased chance at making a recovery. If targeted, Holy Paladins have some of the best defensive cooldowns with damage being so high. Divine Protection can be used during stuns and can deny kill attempts against Shadow Priests and Affliction Warlocks. Paladins offer Cleanse of the Weak and Divine Vision which grants reduced dot damage. Blessing of Freedom is also good in the Melee Cleaves and is great against Balanced Druids for denying rude Beam.

 

Discipline Priest

Discipline Priests continue to be the best offensive Healer in Shadowlands. They have a great toolkit for supporting their team with kills. Power Infusion, Dark Archangel, Thoughtsteal and Mindgames open up kill options for their team. Power Infusion is great when used on Mages, but it's also good when used on Melee DPS like Retribution Paladins. Thoughtsteal is a new addition in Shadowlands. While it isn't selected for every matchup, it is quite powerful in Druids and Mages. Priests also have the option to have one of the best AoE heals in the game with the Ultimate Radiance talent. Power Word Radiance with Ultimate Radiance and the Shining Radiance conduit allows Discipline Priests to have powerful AoE healing. It should be noted that this heal is really mana intensive. Some Priests are now transitioning back to Atonement based healing to conserve mana. Purge of the Wicked, Schism and Mind Blast allow Priests to deal damage while AoE healing their team, which is just always going to be powerful. Even though it was covered in the Shadow Priests section, Discipline Priests also have access to Mindgames through the Venthyr Covenant. Once again it is one of the most dynamic abilities ever in Arena. It can be used against Healers to force dispel or risk to kill their entire team. It can be used against Retribution Paladins and Enhancement Shamans to deny Word of Glory and Healing Surge. It can be used against Balanced Druids to deny self-healing and even be used as a defensive cooldown. If used on an enemy player popping offensive damage, it can completely deny a setup by converting that damage into healing. Door of Shadows is a great tool for Discipline Priests in setup based compositions like Rogue Mage as well. It allows the Priest to quickly reposition for an AoE fear during kill attempts. Overall the offensive toolkit of Disciplined Priests in this high damage meta makes them one of the best Healers in Shadowlands.

 

Restoration Shaman

Finally Restoration Shamans represent the efficient Healer of this strong Healer Trinity. Shamans are incredibly mana efficient and have multiple instant cast seals. Their damage is surprisingly high and they have multiple tools to disrupt enemy casters. Shamans have two charges of riptide with Echo of the Elements, Earth Shield and the new Necrolord Primordial Wave. These 3 spells give them multiple instant cast healing options. These spells are also incredibly mana efficient. Their instant cast healing allows them to keep their team topped without worrying about getting interrupted by the other meta dominant classes. Restoration Shamans continue to have great control options against enemy casters and are especially good into Shadow Priests with Tremor Totem and Grounding Totem to avoid CC. Surprisingly Restoration Shamans also deal a lot of damage with Lava Burst which is a guaranteed crit with Flame Shock and can be instant cast with procs. The increase to the multiplier makes their Lava Burst damage actually pretty scary.

 

That is all for today. In addition, if you don't have much time on the game, to buy WoW Gold directly from MmoGah is a good option. We will provide you with professional and thorough service. If you want to learn more Shadowlands guide, stay tuned to us. I will see you next time!

The Best Specs in WoW Shadowlands Early Season 1 – Best Melee Tier List

 

World of Warcraft Shadowlands launched on November 23, but the real game doesn't begin until December 8, which is the beginning of Season 1. And today we will talk about the best specs in Shadowlands early Season 1. The video below is from Skilled Capped WoW Guides. If you find this guide helpful, don’t forget to subscribe his channel on YouTube. Now let’s begin!

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MV3hWpsvM1c

 

Into

Before going into the best specs so far in Shadowlands Season 1, we should first ask ourselves a question: What makes a spec good in Arena?

 

There are two main things that affect how good a spec is during any point in the expansion - throughput and options. Throughput is simple - Does the class do a lot of damage or healing? If the answer is yes, it might be good in Arena. The second criteria is probably more important - How many options does a spec have? Options refer to the abilities a player has to adapt to changing Arena environments. This can be in the form of defensive options and the different defensive cooldowns a player has. This can also be offensive options and how many offensive cooldowns a player has. Options also refer to how many CC abilities are available and how well they can shut down enemy cds.

 

Generally speaking, a spec is good if it has high throughput and a variety of offensive and defensive options for dealing with other classes and specs. If a class has a lot of tools that counter other popular specs and if it can also deal a lot of damage or healing, it is probably one of the best specs in Arena.

MELEE

We will start by the strongest Melee DPS in early Season 1.

 

Arms Warrior

It is one of the most consistent specs in Arena right now for having amazing damage and a wide set of defensive options available for any composition. Warriors offer a Mortal Strike effect with their primary damaging ability, which is especially strong right now, given how high damage is across the board.  The PVP talent Storm of Destruction causes Bladestorm to apply Mortal Strike, allowing Warriors to spread healing reduction to multiple targets. Arms is also incredibly durable in Arena - having access to Defensive Stance and Ignore Pain. One of the problems with Warriors in last expansion was the 3 minute cooldown on Die by the Sword. In Shadowlands, Die by the Sword is now a two-minute cooldown, which allows it to line up better with many offensive cooldowns. Rallying Cry is also a one-minute cooldown when used with a PVP talent - Master and Commander, which gives the Warrior a temporary AoE heal for their entire team. The primary strength of a Warrior's defensive Tool kit is how many options they have for their team. Intervene is back in Shadowlands and allows Warriors to intercept Melee attacks on their partner for 6 seconds. When paired with Disarm and Hamstring, Warriors give their team multiple ways to deal with other Melee DPS. With the new PVP talent called Overwatch, Warriors can spell reflect a spell cast on their party member when they are affected with Intervene. Against setup based compositions like Rogue Mage, the Warriors defensive Toolkit gives them the ability to shut down kill attempts with ease. War Banner can be used preemptively to deny Polymorph, Blind, Sap and Psychic Scream. If the War Banner is not killed immediately, the kill attempt will almost certainly fail. As far as control is concerned, Warriors have one of the strongest CC abilities in the game with Storm Bolt. This is an instant cast ranged CC which cannot be dodged or parried and is only avoidable with Shadowmeld or physical immunities. This ability can be used defensively to shut down the enemy kill attempts or offensively to train down an enemy target or CC an enemy healer. Intimidating Shout is also incredibly strong. Being an undispellable AoE fear, it's really good both offensively and defensively once again. Another addition to Warriors and Shadowlands is Shattering Throat. This is a high value ability right now, given how popular Holy Paladins are. It is even good against really any team with a damage absorption effect as it deals 500% increased damage to targets with shields.

 

All in all, Warriors are definitely the strongest Melee DPS in Arena right now. They have incredibly consistent damage throughput while having many defensive options for their team. The spec works well in a wide range of comps and will probably be one of the best Melee for this entire Season if they're not nerfed.

 

Windwalker Monk

Trailing behind Arms Warriors is Windwalker Monk. Monks have similar strengths to Warriors by having both consistent damage and good control options. They also have some of the best mobility of any Melee class, which allows them to chase down enemy targets or quickly escape death. The biggest strength of Windwalker right now is just how consistent its damage is. Their standard damage rotation deals a lot of damage with Rising Sun Kick and Fists of Fury dealing high baseline damage. When this high baseline is increased with offensive cds, Monks deal a ton of damage to enemy players. Monks also have really good control options for dealing with the current meta. Grapple Weapon is extremely valuable right now with how popular Melee Cleaves are on the latter. It is also really good into Rogue Mage and can deny kill attempts during Shadow Dance. Leg Sweep is another high value spell right now into Melee Cleaves because it is on a low cooldown AoE stun that can instantly deny Melee cds. Ring of Peace continues to be very strong and is really powerful into Discipline Priests. Finally Monks have some of the best mobility of any Melee spec. One of the best ways to deal with enemy cooldowns is to simply avoid them. Transcendence allows Monks to instantly avoid enemy damage when cooldowns are popped and is a great reset button for getting a favorable defensive position with their Healer. Tiger's Lust is also high value right now with the popularity of Balanced Druids. It also continues to be strong into Mage teams for helping Healers avoid Frost Nova into Ring of Frost.

 

Overall Monks offer their team really high consistent damage as well as multiple control options for shutting down many meta comps.

 

Subtlety Rogues

In spite of recent nerfs, Subtlety Rogues are still one of the best Melee DPS in Arena. The strength of Subtlety Rogues is in its ability to elevate other classes. The spec fills a lot of gaps that other classes have, like stuns for Mages in RMP and for Hunters in Thug Cleave. Subtlety Rogues are the bread and butter to so many setup based comps and have a strong offensive Toolkit despite the nerfs. The most obvious strength of Subtlety Rogues is its front loaded burst damage. It gives Rogues massive single target damage and almost always forces one or more cooldowns when paired with damage from a Mage or Hunter. Right now Rogues are using one of two Legendaries - Mark of the Master Assassin and Invigorating Shadowdust. Mark of the Master Assassin can be used to maximize damage in openers and after vanishes and gives Rogues big upfront damage. Invigorating ShadowDust is another popular option, which allows their banish to reset important cds and can throw off cooldown tracking by resetting cooldowns on kick blind and Kidney Shot. With how high damage is overall, Subtlety Rogues are really good at punishing mistakes. If an enemy team does not react quickly to Rogue setups, they will almost always be forced to use cooldowns or die if offensive cooldowns are used. The front loaded burst is made even better when combined with the multiple control options that Subtlety Rogues bring. Cheap Shot and Kidney Shot are used during every burst setup and can be followed with Smoke Bomb or Shadowy Duel for increased pressure.

 

Overall the nerfed Subtlety Rogues is still a huge threat in 3v3 and will continue to be powerful due to its ability to synergize with other specs well. If Frost Mage, Arcane Mage lock or Hunters are buffed in the near future, Subtlety Rogues will passively remain as one of the best Melee DPS in Shadowlands.

 

Retribution Paladins

Rounding out the best Melee DPS specs in the game, there are 2 hybrids - Retribution Paladins and Enhancement Shamans. These hybrid specs practically share the same primary strengths, which are their powerful offensive cds, team utility and amazing healing. Retribution Paladins are an excellent support spec due to their strong healing potential. Word of Glory healing is incredibly high right now, which is really valuable in the current meta where damage is also really high. This ability combined with the Healing Hands talent allows Retribution Paladins to top their team off even if their healer is CC. Blessing of Freedom and Blessing of Protection are also really good in the current meta. Freedom can be used defensively to kite Melee DPS and on Healers to avoid Root Beam from balanced Druids and Ring of Frost from Mages. Blessing of Protection is really high value right now, given the popularity of Melee Cleaves. And it is really good into Rogue Mage for removing Kidney Shot or blind to deny kill attempts. Aside from their utility, Retribution Paladins offer massive burst damage during offensive cds. Avenging Wrath damage is really high, especially paired with Divine Toll. This Covenant ability paired with a Ringing Clarity conduit allows Retribution Paladins to get multiple judgment casts off in a short period of time, potentially allowing 4 judgment casts over 2 global cooldowns.

 

Enhancement Shamans

Enhancement Shamans offer similar strengths to Retribution Paladins. Their burst damage is incredibly high during cooldowns and they offer tons of team utility with their totems and off healing. The Doom Winds Legendary combined with Ascendance and Bloodlust give Shamans a super scary set of offensive cooldowns. These cooldowns can also be paired with the Venthyr ability called Chain Harvest, which deals AoE damage and healing. The spell can be made instant cast with Maelstrom procs and can instantly heal the entire team. Enhancement Shaman off healing is also strong right now with Maelstrom procs giving them instant cast heels similar to Word of Glory. Shamans also remain incredibly disruptive against caster DPS and spells like Grounding Totem and Tremor Totem are really good into any team with Shadow Priests, which are the best Caster DPS right now.

 

To conclude the section on Melee DPS, Arms Warriors are definitely the best DPS due to their amazing consistency and flexibility in the current meta. But playing with any of these specs will give you a high chance of success in Arena.

 

In consideration of the length of the video, we will only talk about Melee today. Casters and Healers will be in the next article. If you are interested, stay tuned to MmoGah. We are also a website where you can buy cheap WoW Gold and WoW Power Leveling service. I will see you next time!