With Cataclysm Classic confirmed, many of us wishing to go forward will have those typical expansion questions, what class should I go with, how does what I play change, will my class be in demand? Read our Cataclysm class picking guide, we’ll break down the best class for PvE and PvP.
Cataclysm Classic Best PvE & PvP Class - Cataclysm Class & Spec Picking Guide
Cataclysm is quite a similar situation to Wrath, there are only a few specs that are unlikely to ever see play in PvE content. It will be changing however will be the classes and specializations people look to stack. Without further ado, let’s talk about Cataclysm Classic best classes that are most likely to be the ones that guilds will be after. Most classes are given more well-rounded kits to accommodate 10 player heroic raiding too.
Priest
Priest remains in a practically identical state to the Wrath of the Lich King. In that Discipline and Shadow are great conditions for pretty much any raid, and Holy tends to be overlooked once again.
Shadow Priest
Shadow notably should start climbing a little higher on DPS meters than we've seen in Wrath. It does especially well on multi-target fights and since it's a priest so the utility is good including vampiric embrace, 5% spell haste mass dispel, hymn of hope and divine hymn. Raids will be bringing Shadow Priest for sure.
Discipline Priest
Discipline is probably seeing the biggest change in play style from Wrath to Cataclysm. The biggest news is now you can stop wearing your power word shield key binds into dust as there'll be far more buttons to press to do good healing. Atonement is the big new talent and is a spec identity that has forever stuck with the Disc Priest from Cataclysm. Simply put some of the damage you deal is converted into healing for nearby allies so you'll be actively contributing both damage and healing.
Discipline also brings excellent utility. They have both the hymn, power infusion, pain suppression, and the new power word barrier as a much-needed raid cool down. Priest have leap of faith AKA a life grip that's the baseline for all of them. Disc Priest ability to absorb damage is also still very strong and no other healer is anywhere near as efficient in stopping damage from ever happening. Discipline will be a surefire way to find yourself a raid spot.
Holy Priest
However similar to Wrath, it will be one of the specs in your healer team. The reason why is still pretty much the weakened soul debuff from the power word shield. All the same, you can't go wrong with Disc which leaves Holy Priest. Unfortunately, it's a similar story to Wrath. It's not bad by any means, it's just Discipline on average tends to be able to do more. What Holy does is big healing through put which puts it in a space for its competing with Holy Paladin, Resto Druid, and even Resto Shaman in some fights. Holy also gains chakra which enables you to empower either your single target or AoE focus heals. As always, the Holy Priest can do a bit of everything maybe it is good enough to compete with the throughput monsters of Cataclysm. But going into the expansion, it is the healer spec that will see the last play.
Warlock
Warlock is the top damage dealer throughout the whole of Wrath. However, the spec you'll see the most will most certainly be changing and Warlocks are a lot less likely to be stacked than they currently are in Wrath.
Destruction Warlock
It's not bad but the class just has other options which are going to do more damage. It would have been the same as Wrath, it also doesn't bring any super special utility that would justify it over another pick either. As much as it's playable and will be better than a bunch of other DPS, it shouldn't be a spec you see tons of in PvE.
Affliction Warlock
Affliction overall won't be as good as it's been so far in Wrath and will go from a spot where you can quite easily stack a few Affliction Warlocks in Wrath. You'll consider whether you need to bring one and all in Cataclysm. In encounters with multi-target focus, Affliction will rise in value by a good amount and can perform very well but it's just not going to be a go-to DPS spec you can use on every fight anymore.
Demonology Warlock
Demonology is the big winner for Warlocks. However, the big news is demonic pact has changed to be 10% flat spell power instead of scaling with your total spell power. Also, you gain doom guard as a viable DPS cool down. When you pair this with your mastery and metamorphosis, Demo Warlocks can put out some ridiculous damage in their opener. Their AoE damage is also amazing during this time period. This moves Demo from a mandatory oneoff spec to something you can even consider stacking if you want to do it. Utility-wise, soulstone can now be used as a battle res.
Warlock lock is a highly represented class in Wrath at the moment so there could be a fair bit of competition on getting a raid spot. They will still be wanted but in order of Demonology Affliction and Destro.
Mage
Arcane Mage
Arcane is a great starter class in Cataclysm. Mage brings an alternative version of heroism or bloodlust called Time Warp. On top of that, the basel line brings 6% spell power and increases mana and Arcane has 3% bonus damage and focus magic. For a pure DPS class, it's Arcane is the best Cataclysm Classic spec on the buff coverage front and that 3% bonus damage effect similar to how it is in Wrath can only be done by Rett, Arcane, or BM. But Arcane should see play early and then be outscaled by fire as we progress well on into raid gearing. Arcane has typically been good for longer than expected in expansions we've experienced so far.
It has changed to become a damage over time spec. Your mastery increases damage from your periodic fire effects. On top of this, combustion has been entirely reworked. Now it duplicates all the active fire damage overtime effects into a brand new debuff that ticks for their combined damage. This was a big skill point for the Cataclysm Fire Mage.
Frost Mage
Frost is a little bit more of a thing than it was in Wrath of the Lich King. Some extra slows and roots often don't go a miss when you're lacking gear heading into heroic dungeons. As it has been for the longest time now, it's still really your go-to PvP spec in WoW Cataclysm.
Fire Mage
Fire's AoE is also very powerful in cat with just a few talent points spent. They are just a good all-rounder and a solid addition to the raid.
Druid
Balance Druid
They are a good and valued addition to the raid but they're rarely going to be finding themselves at the top of the DPS meters. The big change for Boomies in Cata is that the eclipse mechanic has been totally reworked. It's a bar that moves towards one side depending on which spell you cast and when that bar fills up, you gain a bonus to that spell type until the bar has moved far enough in the other direction. This new version gives Druid a bit more control over the burst phase. Druid is still good at multi-target damage with Starfall, moonfire and wild mushrooms and should do well on single targets. Overall, Balance Druid should be a solid spec in Cataclysm.
Feral Druid
Feral Druid has got a pretty big buff midway through Wrath of the Lich King and ended up doing way better than expected by late ICC. In Cata, they're going to be moving down from that top spot for sure. Feral cat was very good at the start of Cata though owing largely to their mastery rather than increased bleed effects being way too good. Feral cat itself will be playable but we expect to see fewer pure DPS players and more expectation for your feral to fill both the role of DPS and an off tank because bears are back. They tended to be a bit less played overall in Wrath but in Cata we expect them to be the go-to off-tank. They bring amazing single targets, threats that have improved AoE threats, and just an overall straightforward play style. When you're not tanking, you can drop back into the cat and do better damage than any other tank will be capable of doing. As usual with feral tanks, they're going to be all about that big health pool and passive mitigation and will be a good pick for either raid size.
Restoration Druid
Restoration Druid in Cata starts to grow into its role. Healing in Cataclysm changed as a whole. Mana matters more, health bars are bigger and one singular heal isn't always going to instantly top someone off. Meaning on average this is great news for a spec that focuses on healing over time effects. Resto Druids are throughput machines and will heal in anticipation of large damage spikes coming their way. They do suffer in fights that need real focus on spot healing and other people will just do that better. Either way, Resto Druid should be a viable pick in either your 10 or 25 man comps.
Assassination Rogue
Assassination remains the simple to play spec that's great early in the expansion and performs super well specifically on single-target encounters. When multiple targets are present especially two targets cleave, combat becomes the go-to instead.
Combat Rogue
A big change for Combat is that blade flurry is no longer a 2-minute cooldown and is instead a toggled effect that reduces your energy regeneration while it's active. However often cleave comes up, Combat can position themselves to do very well. Combat was also often brought during Wrath of the Lich King for the 4% physical damage debuff.
Subtlety Rogue
The big change to this expansion with Rogue is that Subtlety is actually playable in PvE for the first time ever. It has a lot to balance between different combo point spenders at the same time. It's not going to be a super beginner-friendly spec and better players will see better results.s By the time we're in Dragon Soul, there are a pair of legendary daggers that solve any rotational problems you may have had as Sub, whilst also boosting your damage by a huge amount. This quest line is something you do want to experience as a Rogue if you have the chance to do so. Rogue can fit well enough into any raid sizes in any of their specs, making this a very versatile spec for the Cataclysm Classic.
Shaman
Enhancement Shaman
Enhancement is in a spot where it's good on a single target, great at sustained cleave, and can bring many different valuable buffs to your party. At the same time, there won't be a clash you're looking to fill the raid spot with as soon as possible. Perhaps the biggest bonus in Wrath of the Lich King aside from heroism or blood lust was the 10% attack power buff. Now also Paladins can do this with the blessing of might all of sudden, Enhancement is expected to be towards the middle of the DPS. Not bottom, not top.
Elemental Shaman
Elemental Shaman gets a huge shift from Wrath of the Lich King which was pretty good. Element has done better than expected in Wrath because it can now glyph lightning bolt to be usable on the move, can use the formation talent to spend lightning shield charges for big burst damage and lava burst is just a fun button to press. As per usual, Elemental has good buff coverage and it should be a very solid pick for 10 or 25 maybe you could even bring more than one of them on 25. Earthquake is Elemental’s new capstone talent that is considered more of a utility pick in Cata. If you're an elemental enjoyer, this is probably the version of well we've seen in Classic so far where they perform overall the best in PvE.
Restoration Shaman
Restoration shamans get more tools so they can offer a lot more than just chain heal. They even have a talent called telluric currents that really want you to be casting lightning bolt to regain mana. Healing rain gives Resto Shaman a persistent ground effect to pop down that will benefit your raid and it's in Cata when they get spirit link totem. This cool down is super powerful uncertain fights and makes a lot of sense with the Resto Shaman's tool kit which ideally wants you to be stacked up. Resto Shaman is more playable in 25 over 10 mainly because of spirit link totem and just scaling up with more players.
Hunter
Marksmanship Hunter
Marksmanship Hunter is the first unviable spec for Cataclysm. It took until late ICC for it to start appearing on the DPS meters in Wrath and now it's gone. It doesn't offer any special utility other specs in your raid or just other Hunters can't bring. It just doesn't do damage which puts Marksmanship in a place where it's really difficult to justify bringing it along.
Beast Mastery Hunter
Beast Mastery is playable but it is lacking on AoE. The single Target is fine. What BM really does is that it's a Gnomish Army Knife of buffs. You can go train a pet that has practically any buff in the game that the raid needs, you can even get heroism from your BM Hunter if you want it.
Survival Hunter
The vast majority of the time in Cata just like Wrath, when you see a Hunter, they're going to be Survival. They are consistent damage dealers over the whole expansion and have decent buff coverage as well. Misdirection continues to be one of the best utility spells in the game and having more than one of them is not a bad thing. On top of that in Cata, Hunters get trap launcher as a baseline ability which means they can fire any trap from range. You can never go wrong with adding a Survival Hunter to your raid.
Paladin
Protection Paladin
Protection is no longer the king of tanks that every raid will always have as their main tank. Maybe even early in Cataclysm not their off tank either, they do remain a pick that will work for 10 or 25 players and bring good single-target threat and amazing AoE threat. But the other tanks have caught them up on survivability. Protection Paladin can string together several cooldowns and withstand a serious amount of damage but after that, the passive mitigation will often lead to higher damage taken than some other choices. They do scale well however and by later in the expansion will be a very competitive pick.
Holy Paladin
Holy Paladin keeps the spot as a fantastic healer for either raid size and should very well be stackable on 25. They have however changed quite a bit in terms of play style. Holy radiance and the light of dawn give them two good options to fulfill a raid healer now. While they don't have that mastery that increases healing, the closer they are to the target, they will often want to be in melee range both for mana regen from judgments as well as building holy power with crusader strike. This new resource is built up through certain abilities and spent on some of your most powerful ones. Holy has certainly undergone a bunch of changes but won't be for everyone. The one thing that hasn't changed about Holy is that it's going to do well the whole expansion and you'll love to see one in your raid.
Retribution Paladin
Retribution also changes a ton with holy power coming into the game. They also have a maintenance buff called inquisition which is like a holy combo point spender. It's a big change from your priority-based rotation that you have in Wrath. Retribution is well worth bringing to raids in either 10 or 25. Their utility and buff coverage are excellent and they will also bring that 3% damage buff, your Mages will be dropping once they start to go fire. Ret's damage should remain consistent and good over the whole expansion. All of this being said though, they're still going to remain one of the WoW Cataclysm Classic best spec in most raids.
Death Knight
Unholy Death Knight
In Wrath of the Lich King, it turned out through snapshotting and became the best DPS in the game, it even ended up getting nerfed before Alduar was. Despite this, it's come back to be in a great spot in ICC once again. Unholy still has the best way to spread the magic damage taken debuff across multiple targets thanks to the talent ebon plaguebringer and pestilence. They also provide booster diseases which your Shadow Priests will appreciate. Anti-magic zone is a good cooldown to block some damage on your raid and they have that great burst heavy opener with the gargoyle.
Frost Death Knight
Frost DK should also see the play. Interestingly in Cataclysm, they have talents to both support dual wield as well as the two-handed play style. Throughout Wrath, Unholy DK which was supposed to be a two-handed spec has been dual-wielding the entire expansion. Frost DKs deal consistent single-target damage as well as provide good AoE bursts with howling blasts and various procs. Frost also brings some good utility as well which is absolutely valuable in certain encounters with ads that need to be controlled. Chilblains add a slow to frost fever and a root to chains of ice and they have a hungering cold which is a 10-second hard CC with only a one-minute cooldown on it.
Blood Death Knight
Blood DK somehow gets even better than it already is in Wrath. Throughout Wrath, you've probably been running a Blood DK as your off tank. In Cata, they get a promotion to the main tank spot. Death Strike changes so it heals more when used after damage has been taken and their mastery scales with this to allow them to create some big absorb shields. Blood DKs also have so many cooldowns to go through. It feels like they always have something available.
DKs can very much take care of themselves and actively mitigate to a greater degree than any other tank. They also do great versus magical or physical damage and their single target threat is amazing and their AoE threat has been improved. If you play Protection Paladin in Wrath, you want to be taking a serious look at Blood DK in Cataclysm Classic.
Warrior
Warrior has always been that class that scales super hard, typically though they start his Arms and end up playing Fury towards the later part of expansions, that however is not going to be the case in Cataclysm.
Fury Warrior
Despite being single-minded, Fury gives more options for dual-wielding Warriors, this spec just doesn't put up the numbers that Arms does during this expansion. It also doesn't provide any unique buff which guarantees it a raid spot. Fury is not going to be viable.
Arms Warrior
Arms Warrior is the big melee carry of Cataclysm. From the start of the expansion to the very end, you'll be happy to see an Arms Warrior in your raid. There is also quite a change in play style. With an Arms Warrior, you can lock in your raid spot for the entire expansion. It is great in 10 man, less stackable in 25 purely because it's a melee class but a solid arms Warrior will be something you'll see in every raid.
Protection Warrior
Protection Warrior falls short when compared with other options, whilst they still maintain a good set of cooldowns and great utility. They're just going to be taking more damage than other tanks until stat scaling kicks in later on. They can be considered as an off tank and they're most playable in that role since they can be rotated in when they have cooldowns up.
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