The War Within Beta Best Class & Spec To Play | WoW TWW Tier List

What classic should you play in The War Within Beta? This class tier list breaks down the most meta classes and specs (DPS, Healer, Tank) based on the leaked info about the upcoming WoW expansion!

WoW The War Within Class Tier List: Best DPS, Healer, Tank Ranking for War Within Beta

WoW The War Within beta has brought numerous class and spec changes that could shake up the meta. Certain specs have undergone major overhauls that promise to significantly change gameplay, including major buffs to Death Knight damage for Unholy and Blood specs, improvements to Restoration Druid and other healer cooldowns for small group content, shuffling and reworking of talents for Mages to smooth rotations, slight nerfs to mobility and self-healing for Arms Warriors, and various talent adjustments, tuning changes, and mechanical tweaks across many classes like Windwalker Monks and Holy Paladins. The overall goals seem to be improving balance across specs, lowering complexity where possible, and increasing viability for certain roles like tanking. The changes suggest an effort to improve the flow of combat rotations and abilities, prune unnecessary mechanics, and address systemic issues affecting some classes more than others.

For those considering which class to try out in the new beta, here is an overview of the main specs to check out based on the extent and impact of their updates. We will create a WoW The War Within tier list based on the qualitative information about the class updates and their perceived impact on gameplay.

Related Read:

The War Within Hero Talent Tier List - Best DPS, Healer, Tank Class Talents Ranking

The War Within Tier Set Tier List - All Class Set Bonus Ranking

S-Tier

• Unholy Death Knight (Riders of the Apocalypse)

With the ability to remain permanently mounted in combat and summon The Four Horsemen, this spec has gained significant mobility and crowd control capabilities, setting it apart in both PvE and PvP scenarios. The Unholy Death Knight "Riders of the Apocalypse" build sounds extremely powerful with abilities like permanent mounted combat, summoning the Four Horsemen, Army of the Dead, and immunity to crowd control effects. This seems like it will be a top tier PvP spec. The "SandLane" Death Knight build focuses more on survivability and self-healing, which could make it a strong choice for PvE tanking and solo content. But it lacks the mobility and utility of the Unholy build.

A-Tier

• Fire Mage

Major reworks suggest a potential rise in power, especially with new dynamics in play, though the actual impact will need further real-world testing to evaluate fully. The "Sunfury" Fire Mage build fulfills the fantasy of mimicking Kel'thuzad with abilities like Phoenix summons and Pyroblast barrages. This seems very strong for damage and visual appeal. The "Frostfire" build lets you synergize Fire and Frost spells in creative ways. The empowerments and instant cast abilities make this build also look very powerful.

• Arcane Mage

Arcane is seeing major changes to talents and core abilities. Talents like Arcane Delimitation allow stackable damage buffs on targets. Combined with new interactions between Clearcasting, Arcane Missiles, Arcane Blast, and Arcane Barrage, Arcane can create devastating burst windows. The spec also gains more mobility through Clearcasting procs. Arcane looks to become a dominant burst spec.

• Balance Druid (Orbital Strike)

Balance sees many talent and rotation changes to boost damage and flexibility. With improved resource generation and damage buffs, Balance Druids could claim a top DPS spot if the changes work as intended. More build diversity also gives them flexibility. And the introduction of "Orbital Strike" with a significant cooldown reduction could make this spec a compelling option, offering powerful burst phases more frequently.

• Windwalker Monk

Windwalker is seeing a massive overhaul with 16 new talents added, many of which empower Blackout Kick and provide passive damage increases. Haste scaling is improved, tools are added, and there are many talent redesigns. With so many changes focused on dealing more damage, Windwalker seems primed to become a dominant DPS spec if the changes come together in a positive way.

• Frost Death Knight

With increased damage output and redesigned talent trees, Frost DKs are more potent and versatile, making them a strong choice for various content.

B-Tier

• Feral Druid

While mainly seeing stability and minor tweaks rather than overhauls, the preservation of core mechanics with some enhancements keeps Feral Druids competitive.

• Arms Warrior

For Arms, several rage cost reductions, cleave buffs, and new interactions with Overpower could result in very high damage output. With rage costs lowered, Arms may see its damage scale exceptionally well with gear and progression in the alpha.

• Havoc and Vengeance Demon Hunter

A major change is Demon Hunters starting at level 10 rather than 58, allowing them to power level and progress through early expansion content far quicker than other classes. Their mobility and damage from the outset could make them highly potent.

C-Tier

• Rogue (General)

Significant changes suggest a steep learning curve and potential initial weaknesses as players adjust to new mechanics. The effectiveness of these changes remains to be seen and could either significantly hinder or enhance the Rogue's standing depending on player adaptation.

This tier list is speculative and based on the expected impact of the described changes in the beta phase. Actual gameplay, further balancing updates, and community feedback during the beta could shift these rankings significantly. Each player's personal preference, play style, and the specific demands of different types of content (solo play, raids, PvP, etc.) will also influence the practical effectiveness of each class and spec.