Mythic+ DPS Rankings: Beta Tier List for The War Within (Patch 11.0.2 / Season 1)

Our analysis provides an estimate of the current Mythic+ meta with weekly updates every Monday on the website and every Sunday live on stream, until Season 1 arrives. However, it is important to remember that there will be many more changes, and what you see is not the final product. Instead, it is a progression of how each specialization performs from the start of the beta to the actual season release.

If you are interested in the Healer and Tank versions of this 11.0 Beta Tier List, check the links below!

If you are interested in our current tier list for Season 4 Patch 10.2.7, you can find that below:

Please note that anything I say is purely subjective and represents my opinion. However, it is an educated guess based on numerous hours of Beta testing and extensive discussions with some of the best theory crafters from each of their specs. If you have a different opinion, that is perfectly fine. I will be happy to answer any questions in the comment section. After the Beta testing is completed, we will compile all the data and create the official Tierlist of Season 1. Thank you for reading, and enjoy!

This tier list was created based on the strength of each DPS specialization during Beta testing for the upcoming Season 1 [11.0] of Mythic+. The rankings are determined by the toolkit and raw damage each spec provides to Mythic+ groups. To fully understand the rankings, it is important to understand the difference between each damage profile and the significance/sync of each class's toolkit with other party members. Lastly, different dungeons require different sets of damage patterns; some require more single-target, while others require you to have much more focused AoE damage; all of this can bump some classes higher than others:

• Damage is the most important major factor to rank the DPS classes: mass AoE, burst AoE, sustain AoE, single-target, 2-target, 3-target, and spread-cleave damage are among the types of damage profiles we examine.
• Classes with unique party-wide buffs will always be rewarded. An example of such is Druid's Mark of the Wild.
• Classes with high survivability, self-sustain, or immunities will add additional value to the rankings.
• Another feature worth mentioning is the importance of priority-target damage and funnel damage, often undervalued in Mythic+, which speeds up the whole dungeon if executed correctly. Specs can earn extra "points" by having such a damage profile.

• It is incredibly important to emphasize that just because a DPS specialization is low in the tier list, it does not mean that you should ignore it completely.
• For the vast majority of cases, you should choose to bring the better player, not the better specialization. That does not mean you never need to think about your Mythic+ group composition or disregard the meta, just that most of the time, player skill will be more important than the difference between classes.
• Remember that this tier list is based on an average key levels; some specializations gain significantly more value on the higher-end bracket compared to the lower-end bracket because of their damage profile.
• This tier list, unlike many others, is not constant; some class's placements will go up or down depending on key level, group composition, affix combinations, or dungeon differences. We will continue to update this tier list every time there is a change; all the way up to Season 1's launch and beyond.

Please keep in mind that what you're about to read is a preliminary iteration of the 11.0.2 Season 1 tier list in The War Within expansion, and it WILL change before the season is released. Nothing written here is a guarantee or promise. All opinions are subjective and should be taken with a grain of salt. I update this tier list every Sunday at 14:00 CEST live on my stream, before being uploaded on the website. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Below, you can find the full rankings for DPS slots in Season 1 of Mythic+ in The War Within. We encourage you to read further and understand why some classes are placed lower or higher than expected, with several factors considered, such as having a 4-piece tier-set active at all times and the key levels.

BETA HAS CLOSED AND THE OFFICIAL RANKINGS FOR EACH SPEC/CLASS IN TWW ARE DOWN BELOW.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Augmentation Evoker received a fair share of changes leading to the The War Within expansion, along with two brand-new Hero Talents - Chronowarden / Scalecommander and a new tier-set. The 2-piece bonus will increase Upheaval damage by 30%, which further increases your next two Eruption casts by 30%. Additionally, the 4-piece bonus allows Ebon Might to increase your primary stats by an additional 0.4% of your own every 2 sec it remains active, up to 2%.

Augmentation Evoker is looking fantastic in the current Beta build, as it seems developers are sacrificing some of their "overpowered" support capabilities (buffing allies) to enhance personal damage. Yes, you will be just as useful to your allies, with great utility, good mob control, and further bolstering their DPS/defensive profiles, but this time, you will do more damage yourself. On top of this, they have gained a few more defensive options, depending on the choice of Hero Talents, and maintain excellent mobility. Overall, we are delighted with the spec's current performance and expect it to be one of the strongest DPS choices in the upcoming The War Within expansion.

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Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Blessing of the Bronze	-
Core	Ebon Might	-
Core	Chrono Ward	Extra Shielding effect triggered after Breath of Eons cast.
Core	Prescience	Can be further bolstered by the Fate Mirror talent.
Core	Tail Swipe	AoE disturb effect that knocks up enemies.
Core	Wing Buffet	AoE knockback effect.
Core	Expunge	Removing all Poison effects from an ally.
Core	Upheaval	Extra knock-up effect.
Optional	Timelessness	Reduces the threat to 1 friendly target.
Optional	Oppressing Roar	Increasing the duration of all crowd-control effects on the affected enemies by 50%. You can further talent into Overawe, removing 1 Enrage effect from each enemy (AoE Enrage Removal).
Optional	Terror of the Skies	After using Breath of Eons, you will stun all enemies by 3 sec affected by your breath.
Optional	Sleep Walk	Single-target crowd-control effect that forces the enemy to move towards you.
Optional	Bestow Weyrnstone	Enables one party/raid member to teleport to your location within 100 yards.
Optional	Blistering Scales	Increases the armor and gives damage to the selected member.
Optional	Spatial Paradox	It enables your Healer of choice to move freely while casting and increasing the range of most spells by 100% for 11 sec.
Optional	Source of Magic	Can be further bolstered by Potent Mana
Optional	Zephyr	Area-of-effect damage reduction (party only).
Optional	Cauterizing Flame	Bleed removal
Optional	Rescue	You can further bolster it with Twin Guardian talent for extra durability.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Frost Death Knight received significant attention at the start of Beta testing and, like every specialization so far, inherited 2 brand new Hero Talents - Deathbringer / Rider of the Apocalypse and a new tier set. The 2-piece enables all Runic Power spending abilities to deal 8% more damage, while the 4-piece triggers when consuming Runic Power, giving a chance to increase your Strength by 10% for 8 sec.

Frost Death Knight is already much stronger compared to its Dragonflight version. Not only do they have a much stronger burst, but their sustained damage also appears to be in better shape. In addition, their Hero Talents further bolster their already strong defensive profile, while the most recent rework of the Death Knight class talent tree allows them to add even more unique party-wide utility (e.g., Vestigial Shell). Overall, we are quite happy with the performance of Frost Death Knight, and we consider them to be one of the current best melee choices.

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Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Anti-Magic Zone	Provides extra durability against heavy magical damage.
Core	Death Grip	Repositions an enemy of your choice.
Core	Raise Ally	Combat-resurrection.
Optional	Abomination Limb	Every 1 sec, an enemy is pulled close to you.
Optional	Blinding Sleet	AoE disturb effect.
Optional	Insidious Chill	Reduces the auto-attack speed of your target by 5% stacking up 4 times.
Optional	Control Undead	Mind-control an undead enemy to fight on your side.
Optional	Asphyxiate	5 sec single-target stun.
Optional	Vestigial Shell	Adding Anti-Magic Shell on 2 nearby allies.

Patch 11.0.2: Assassination Rogue received a healthy amount of changes leading up to the The War Within expansion, along with two brand-new but disappointing Hero Talents - Deathstalker / Fatebound and a new tier-set. Their 2-piece bonus will trigger once their bleeds deal damage, granting a chance to gain Vile Tincture for 8 sec, increasing poison damage by 1% per stack (up to 10 stacks). Additionally, the 4-piece bonus will trigger once they have 5 or more stacks of Vile Tincture, causing Garrote, Rupture, and Crimson Tempest to deal 10% increased damage.

Assassination Rogue currently has one of the strongest damage profiles across all DPS specs. Their priority/single-target damage will continue to be great going into the The War Within expansion. Their utility remains excellent, and they will have an even stronger defensive profile. Overall, we believe Assassination Rogue will perform better in higher-level keys, where mobs live longer, but still not to be underestimated in lower-level keys, where they will do better than before. To conclude, one of the highest damage profiles in the game, combined with great utility and durability.

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Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Iron Wire	Enables Garrote to silence for 6 sec when used from Stealth and enemies that are silenced by Garrote deal 15% reduced damage for 8 sec.
Core	Weapon Poisons	Numbing Poison, Atrophic Poison, Crippling Poison, Wound Poison, Instant Poison, Amplifying Poison and Deadly Poison
Core	Gouge / Airborne Irritant	You have the choice between AoE stop or powerful short cooldown single-target stop.
Core	Blind	Disturb effect, useful for crowd-control.
Core	Kidney Shot	Single-target stun effect.
Core	Sap	Non-combat crowd-control.
Core	Cheap Shot	Single-target stun effect.
Core	Shiv	Enrage-effect dispel.
Core	Shroud of Concealment	Mass-invisibility effect.
Core	Tricks of the Trade	Redirects all threat you cause to a selected party member lasting 6 sec.
Core	Distract	When used, it stops any creatures from moving. Incredible useful when stopping patrol targets from repositioning.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Elemental Shaman received a much-needed rework, new raid utility, two new Hero Talents choices - Farseer and Stormsurge, as well as a new tier set. The 2-piece bonus increases Elemental Blast and Earthquake damage by 25%, while the 4-piece bonus rewards you with a chance of 5% increased critical strike chance and 10% increased critical damage every time you spend maelstrom.

The complete rework of Elemental Shaman combined with the introduction of the brand new Hero Talent choices in The War Within and unique raid utility - Skyfury, transformed the specialization sadly one of the best DPS specs on Beta. Your damage profile holds an immensely strong AoE damage profile, frankly one of the best. The ability to have major cooldowns in each pack due to cooldown reduction in your toolkit, helps you solidify the top spot for now. While their single target is not their strongest asset, the spec received better defensiveness - Stone Bulwark Totem, Seasoned Winds and brand new utility which fits perfectly for Mythic+ content - Elemental Resistance and Jet Stream. Overall, we believe that Elemental Shaman is one of the best Ranged option leading to the first season of Mythic+.

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Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Skyfury	-
Core	Bloodlust	-
Core	Earth Elemental	A powerful elemental summon that helps you survive. It can also tank non-boss-enemies.
Core	Earthquake	Has a chance for a knockdown effect.
Optional	Wind Rush Totem	On-demand extra movement speed, which can be further bolstered by Jet Stream - removing all snares on all targets interaction with Wind Rush Totem (it is like a massive Blessing of Freedom).
Earthgrab Totem	AoE root effect. It replaces Earthbind Totem.
Optional	Ancestral Guidance	Provides extra off-healing to your party.
Optional	Capacitor Totem	3 sec AoE stun.
Optional	Hex	Single-target crowd-control ability.
Optional	Cleanse Spirit	Removes all Curse effects from a friendly target.
Optional	Purge	Removing 1 beneficial Magic effect from an enemy.
Optional	Thunderstorm	AoE disturb effect that can either knock away or knock up ( Thundershock).
Optional	Poison Cleansing Totem	Removes all poison effects on a nearby party member each 1.5 sec for 6 sec.
Optional	Elemental Resistance	Small group-wide school of magic damage reduction.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Arcane Mage received a massive amount of changes, 2 brand new Hero Talents - Spellslinger and Sunfury, as well as a new tier-set. The 2-piece increases the damage of Arcane Blast and Arcane Barrage by 6%, while the 4-piece enables Arcane Blast or Arcane Barrage to have a 5% chance to make your next Arcane Barrage deal 20% increased damage and generate 4 Arcane Charges.

Arcane Mage received a lot of changes throughout Beta, luckily leaving them in a much better state compared to how they were in Dragonflight (even easier than before!). Their burst and sustained single target is amazing, as well as retaining their unique damage on demand AoE profile. Just like any Mage spec, they have some of the best party-wide utility and mob control, and on top of this, they are one of the most durable specs in the game. The rankings of Arcane can fluctuate depending on the key level, as well as being one of the key features of creating the "god-comp" together with Augmentation Evoker.

This spec goes to the Top-Tier once you play with a "God-Comp."

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Arcane Intellect	5% extra Intellect to the whole raid/party.
Core	Time Warp	Alternative of Bloodlust.
Core	Polymorph	Single-target crowd-control effect.
Optional	Mass Barrier / Mass Invisibility	Gives a shield that absorbs damage or mass invisibility to the entire party.
Optional	Spellsteal	Steals a beneficial magic effect from the target.
Optional	Remove Curse	Removes all Curses from a friendly target.
Optional	Ring of Frost	AoE disturb effect.
Optional	Ice Nova	AoE Immobilize effect. This can be cast separately from Frost Nova.
Optional	Blast Wave	AoE knockback.
Optional	Dragon's Breath	AoE disturb effect.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Frost Mage enjoyed several rounds of changes, paired with 2 brand new Hero Talent choices - Frostfire / Spellslinger and a new tier set. The 2-piece increases Ice Lance damage by 8%, while the 4-piece enables the damage dealt by Fingers of Frost's enhanced Ice Lances to invoke a Frigid Pulse, dealing Frost damage to nearby targets (reduced damage beyond 8 targets).

Frost Mage is currently in a sweet spot between "fun-to-play" and overall decent shape, as the balance between all powers seems equal. Not only are you one of the most durable DPS specializations in the current Beta servers, but you also have one of the best Mythic+ utilities from a DPS. Depending on the key levels and group composition, your rankings will fluctuate but will be well high in the rankings. Overall, we like how this spec plays, and if casters are back on the "menu" to be part of the meta club, then most definitely a Mage's Arcane Intellect will be a MUST.

If you pair this with a "god-comp" (Augmentation Evoker/X/X), they will climb the rankings all the way to the top-tier.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Arcane Intellect	5% extra Intellect to the whole raid/party.
Core	Time Warp	Alternative of Bloodlust.
Core	Polymorph	Single-target crowd-control effect.
Core	Permanent slow effects.	-
Optional	Mass Barrier / Mass Invisibility	Gives a shield that absorbs damage or mass invisibility to the entire party.
Optional	Spellsteal	Steals a beneficial magic effect from the target.
Optional	Remove Curse	Removes all Curses from a friendly target.
Optional	Ring of Frost	AoE disturb effect.
Optional	Ice Nova	AoE Immobilize effect. This can be cast separately from Frost Nova.
Optional	Blast Wave	AoE knockback.
Optional	Dragon's Breath	AoE disturb effect.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Shadow Priest received barely any changes since the start of the Beta testing and, like every specialization so far, inherited two brand-new Hero Talents - Archon / Voidweaver and a new tier-set. The 2-piece will increase the duration of Devouring Plague by 1 sec, while the 4-piece enables Devouring Plague to increase your damage done by 2% for 10 sec (multiple applications may overlap).

For the majority of Dragonflight, Shadow Priest has been considered one of the most dominant DPS specializations, primarily for their incredible damage profile, which excels in both AoE and single-target/priority-target damage. This will continue to be the case, although not to the same extreme performance they had in the last few seasons. Their utility and defensiveness remain strong, which is positive for the spec as both factors are considered valuable. Overall, we expect their performance to only improve the higher the key goes, as the the "ramp-up" playstyle of voidform requires the non-boss-enemies to live longer than a few short seconds.

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Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Power Infusion	You must always have Twins of the Sun Priestess talented.
Core	Power Word: Fortitude	A raid-wide 5% Stamina buff.
Core	Psychic Scream	AoE disturb effect.
Core	Mind Soothe	It reduces the range at which the target/s will attack you. Incredibly useful for trash mob skips. It can be used on multiple enemies.
Core	Mass Dispel	Incredible useful where Mass Dispelling is needed.
Optional	Vampiric Embrace	Extra off-healing.
Optional	Leap of Faith	Helps with repositioning.
Optional	Dominate Mind	Mindcontrols an enemy, allowing you to simultaneously execute your rotation while having full control over them and their abilities.
Optional	Shackle Undead	Crowd-controls a undead target for 50 sec.
Optional	Purify Disease	On top of Dispel Magic you will be able to further bolster it by allowing the spell to remove 1 Disease on a friendly target.
Optional	Psychic Horror	A single-target 4 sec stun effect.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Affliction Warlock received a complete rework, paired with 2 brand new Hero Talent choices in Hellcaller/ Soul Harvester, and a new tier-set. The 2-piece will increase the damage of Malefic Rapture by 5% and its critical strike chance by 10%, while the 4-piece enables Malefic Rapture to have a chance to increase the damage dealt by your Agony, Corruption and Unstable Affliction by 15% for 8 sec.

The complete overhaul of Affliction Warlock has made them a menace in the current beta iteration, great single-target, fantastic burst, and sustained AoE damage. Previously one of the weakest specs, they are now in a much better shape, with much more flexibility in builds — a strong single-target build, amazing hybrid options, and heavy AoE if needed. Additionally, they are now more durable and have better utility (especially if you choose Hellcaller's Curse of the Satyr 2-in-1 Curse) and overall have a new rotation that replaces the boring Seed of Corruption spam. Overall, we believe Affliction Warlock to be one of the best casters this season.

Vile Taint windows are not covering the full duration of Agony, making it harder to maintain all DoTs on the targets. You have to manually extend them or drop the stacks of Agony and wait for Vile Taint cooldown to return.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Create Healthstone	Helps your team to survive deadly pulls.
Core	Soulstone	Combat Resurrection.
Core	Demonic Gateway
Core	Curse of Tongues	Useful against caster targets. It can be further bolstered by Amplify Curse talent.
Core	Curse of Weakness	Useful against physical damage dealers. It can be further bolstered by Amplify Curse talent.
Core	Demon Summoning	Summon Imp can help you with Singe Magic dispel while Summon Felhunter can be useful with an extra interrupt - Spell Lock.
Optional	Banish	Useful on some boss encounters for an extra crowd-control effect.
Optional	Shadowfury	AoE Stun.
Optional	Mortal Coil	Sinel-Target disturb effect.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Havoc Demon Hunter received minor changes paired with 2 brand new Hero Talent choices - Aldrachi Reaver / Fel-Scarred and a new tier set. The 2-piece will increase the damage of Blade Dance by 20%, while the 4-piece enables Chaos Strike to deal 20% increased damage and to have 25% chance to reset the cooldown of Blade Dance.

Havoc Demon Hunter has awaited their time to receive the much-needed damage buffs, as their early Beta performance was dreadful. With that in mind, their damage output will improve (for both single-target and AoE) and so will their rankings. The spec will retain its great utility and a good defensive profile, which fits better with a caster-orientated group composition due to Chaos Brand debuff, but would also be fantastic as a standalone spec. Overall, we believe that Havoc Demon Hunter has come a long way since the first iterations of beta and continuously improved within the rankings following the release of the first Season of Mythic+ in The War Within.

The playstyle of Havoc Demon Hunter is still one of the most unenjoyable ones eventhough their current performance is great.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Chaos Brand	5% extra Magical damage
Core	Darkness	% chance to avoid all damage from an attack.
Core	Fel Eruption	Single-target stun.
Optional	Chaos Nova	AoE stun effect.
Optional	Imprison	Single-target out of combat crowd-control.
Optional	Consume Magic	Remove 1 beneficial Magic effect.
Optional	Sigil of Misery	AoE disturb effect.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Enhancement Shaman received a minor amount of changes, two new Hero Talent choices - Totemic and Stormsurge and a brand new tier-set leading to the Season 1 of Mythic+ in The War Within. The 2-piece bonus will increase the damage of Stormstrike, Lava Lash, Ice Strike and Crash Lightning by 15%. In addition, the 4-piece trigger once you activate Feral Spirits, summoning one extra Feral Spirit. At last, the old Windfury Totem will be retired for a brand new raid-wide utility - Skyfury.

Enhancement Shaman has finally received the changes they were hoping for, with 3 extra spec-specific talents and much-needed quality-of-life changes brought to them. Their damage profile is now in a much better state but with a much better AoE damage package (especially against more targets) thanks to their Stormbringer Hero Talents - Tempest. Their single-target is also in great shape, as previously addressed. In addition, a previous weakness of theirs - durability - has been further bolstered following the new expansion as they have several new ways to tackle dangerous encounters in any scenario: Seasoned Winds, Stone Bulwark Totem and Elemental Resistance.

More raw output is needed to place the spec anywhere higher.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Skyfury	-
Core	Bloodlust	-
Core	Sundering	Additional AoE stop.
Core	Earth Elemental	A powerful elemental summon that helps you survive. It can also tank non-boss-enemies.
Optional	Wind Rush Totem	On-demand extra movement speed, which can be further bolstered by Jet Stream - removing all snares on all targets interaction with Wind Rush Totem (it is like a massive Blessing of Freedom).
Earthgrab Totem	AoE root effect. It replaces Earthbind Totem.
Optional	Ancestral Guidance	Provides extra off-healing to your party.
Optional	Capacitor Totem	3 sec AoE stun.
Optional	Hex	Single-target crowd-control ability.
Optional	Cleanse Spirit	Removes all Curse effects from a friendly target.
Optional	Purge	Removing 1 beneficial Magic effect from an enemy.
Optional	Thunderstorm	AoE disturb effect that can either knock away or knock up ( Thundershock).
Optional	Poison Cleansing Totem	Removes all poison effects on a nearby party member each 1.5 sec for 6 sec.
Optional	Elemental Resistance	Small group-wide school of magic damage reduction.

Patch 11.0.2 update:. Demonology Warlock received a healthy amount of changes, paired with 2 brand new Hero Talent choices - Diabolist / Soul Harvester and a new tier set. The 2-piece bonus increases the primary demon's damage by 5% and your Shadow Bolt damage by 50%. The 4-piece bonus enables Shadow Bolt to have a chance to enrage your primary Felguard, increasing the damage of their next Legion Strike by 300%.

Demonology Warlock received a good amount of changes through the Alpha and Beta cycles, making its current performance great. Their damage profile did get a big hit and is now more in-line with the rest of the specialization. They will retain their good sustain single-target/AoE damage but will no longer be in the category of "overpowered". In terms of utility, they will keep their unique Mythic+ package while being one of the most durable Ranged DPS.

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Utility package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Create Healthstone	Helps your team to survive deadly pulls.
Core	Soulstone	Combat Resurrection.
Core	Demonic Gateway
Core	Axe Toss	Your baseline interrupt also stuns the target for 4 sec.
Core	Curse of Tongues	Useful against caster targets. It can be further bolstered by Amplify Curse talent.
Core	Curse of Weakness	Useful against physical damage dealers. It can be further bolstered by Amplify Curse talent.
Core	Demon Summoning	Summon Imp can help you with Singe Magic dispel while Summon Felhunter can be useful with an extra interrupt - Spell Lock.
Optional	Banish	Useful on some boss encounters for an extra crowd-control effect.
Optional	Shadowfury	AoE Stun.
Optional	Mortal Coil	Single-Target disturb effect.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Fury Warrior received a ton of positive changes, a brand new Hero Talents - Slayer and Mountain Thane and a new tier set. The 2-piece bonus will enable Bloodthirst to increase the damage of your next Rampage by 10%. In addition, the 4-piece bonus will trigger once Raging Blow resets its cooldown to buff the damage of the next Bloodthirst by 10%, stacking up to 2 times.

Fury Warrior is looking fantastic leading to the first season of The War Within. Not only do they have one of the strongest bursts among all melee specs, but they also have a great sustained damage profile. With several sets of offensive cooldowns, they allow for amazing frontload bursts across all key levels. Sadly, their Mythic+ toolkit remains mostly the same, with Shockwave now being easier to talent, which can help with further mob control. Overall, we are happy with the performance of Fury Warrior, from having short offensive cooldowns, to amazing frontload burst, and at the same time being one of the easier specs to learn, it is a great pickup for the upcoming TWW expansion.

Outside of their strong Battle Shout buff, their Mythic+ toolkit is one of the weakest compared to the rest of the DPS specializations.

Utility package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Rallying Cry	Temporary increasing the health of your raid/party.
Core	Battle Shout	Extra 5% Attack Power.
Optional	Spell Reflection	Usable in niche situations.
Optional	Intimidating Shout	AoE disturb effect capped at 5 targets.
Optional	Storm Bolt	4 sec single-target stun.
Optional	Shockwave	AoE Stun

Patch 11.0.2 update: Feral Druid received a good amount of changes throughout the Beta cycles, paired with 2 brand new Hero Talent choices - Druid of the Claw / Wildstalker and a new tier set. The 2-piece will enable Tiger's Fury to increase your chance to critically strike for 10 sec, starting at 6% and increasing by 1% every 2 sec. In addition, the 4-piece will trigger once you critically strike with your combo point-generating abilities to increase the direct damage of your next Ferocious Bite, Rampant Ferocity, or Primal Wrath by 15%, stacking up to 3 times.

Feral Druid is entering the The War Within expansion with a fresh overhaul of the general Druid talents, as well as spec-specific ones, leaving them with a better flow of rotation (less spammy/flooded in AoE compared to the previous expansion). They will have better defensive options and retain their great party-wide utility. Recently, they have also received huge buffs to their damage output for both single-target and AoE. This leads us to believe that Feral Druid will be in a great spot for the first season of The War Within.

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Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Mark of the Wild	Increasing the Versatility of your raid/party by 3%.
Core	Entangling Roots	Single-target root effect.
Optional	Nature's Vigil	Extra off-healing.
Optional	Innervate	Allowing 1 friendly healer to cast spells without spending mana for 8 sec.
Optional	Stampeding Roar	Increasing the movement speed to all raid members by 60% for 8 sec.
Optional	Remove Corruption	Removes all Curse and Poison effects from a friendly target.
Optional	Soothe	Dispelling all Enrage Effects from an enemy target.
Optional	Hibernate	Single-target crowd-control effects against beasts and dragonkins.
Optional	Incapacitating Roar / Mighty Bash	You have the choice between AoE disturb effect or a single-target stun.
Optional	Typhoon	Aoe knockback.
Optional	Mass Entanglement / Ursol's Vortex	You have the choice between AoE root effect or AoE wind-of-vortex, pulling all the mobs to one location.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Unholy Death Knight received massive changes since the start of the Alpha/Beta testing, alongside brand new Hero Talents - Rider of the Apocalypse / San'layn, and a new tier set. The 2-piece will passively increase the damage of your minions by 8%, while the 4-piece will trigger once you summon a minion, further increasing your Haste by 2% up to 8% for 8 sec.

After many rounds of changes, both buffs and nerfs, Unholy Death Knight is still in good shape, with great single-target damage, retaining its signature strong AoE burst and a good sustained damage profile off-cooldowns. Although for a short while they were considered one of the most "overpowered specs" in Beta, after a few rounds of nerfs, they have now dropped a tier on our rankings. Still, they will benefit from the general Death Knight tree rework, adding brand new utility under their belt ( Vestigial Shell) and further increasing their strong defensive profile. Overall, we are happy with the performance of Unholy Death Knight and we will monitor for further changes.

The biggest drawback of this specialization is that you can only fully unleash its maximum potential by perfectly managing your big cooldowns, which is only possible when playing with a pre-made group. The ramp-up for the exceptionally strong AoE profile must be planned to get the most out of the specialization.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Anti-Magic Zone	Provides extra durability against heavy magical damage.
Core	Death Grip	Repositions an enemy of your choice.
Core	Raise Ally	Combat-resurrection.
Core	Gnaw	Having an extra stun effect for 1 sec from your Ghoul pet.
Optional	Abomination Limb	Every 1 sec, an enemy is pulled close to you.
Optional	Blinding Sleet	AoE disturb effect.
Optional	Insidious Chill	Reduces the auto-attack speed of your target by 5% stacking up 4 times.
Optional	Asphyxiate	5 sec single-target stun.
Optional	Vestigial Shell	Adding Anti-Magic Shell on 2 nearby allies.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Windwalker Monk received a complete overhaul leading to the The War Within expansion, followed by 2 brand-new Hero Talents - Conduit of the Celestials / Shado-Pan and a new tier set. The 2-piece will enable Tiger Palm to increase the damage of your next melee ability by 5%. In addition, the 4-piece allows any other melee ability to increase the damage of your next Tiger Palm by 25%, stacking up to 6 times. 15% of Tiger Palm's damage is dealt to nearby enemies, reduced beyond 5 targets.

The complete overhaul of Windwalker Monk specific talents for The War Within, left them in a much better spot than they were in the previous expansion. They will retain their powerful burst damage (both single-target and AoE), which has been a key feature of the specialization since its inception. It is important to note that the utility package of this specialization is among the best in Mythic+, and it has one of the highest survivability rates. In addition, Haste scaling was added, which should dramatically help Windwalker Monk scale as gear improves, something the spec has always struggled with later in the expansion. Overall, the spec is versatile enough with high-burst capabilities, good single-target damage, and most importantly one of the best party-wide utility (both offensive and defensive) to tackle any Mythic+ situation.

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Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Mystic Touch	5% extra Physical damage for your raid.
Core	Leg Sweep	3 sec stun effect.
Optional	Tiger's Lust	Removes all roots and snares.
Optional	Ring of Peace	It can be used to help your tank kite and as a AoE disturb effect.
Optional	Detox	Removes all Poison and Disease effects from the target.
Optional	Paralysis	Single-target disturb effect.

Patch 11.0.2: Subtlety Rogue received minor changes leading to the The War Within expansion, followed by two brand-new but disappointing Hero Talents - Deathstalker / Trickster and a new tier-set. The 2-piece allows Symbols of Death to increase the damage of the next Secret Technique by 20%, while the 4-piece enables Secret Technique to increase the damage of any other finishing move by 16% for 7 sec.

Aside from the impressive Rogue's utility package, Subtlety Rogue also delivers consistent damage with great on-demand bursts. Sadly, the rotation has not changed much as the newly introduced Hero Talents are quite disappointing. After the most recent buffs, Subtlety Rogue damage performance has increased significantly. Do not sleep on Subtlety Rogue; if they tune their Hero Talents or spec-specific talents correctly, they would be in phenomenal shape.

Lack of interesting Hero Talents that change the rotation/gameplay and introduce a breath of freshness. There are still quite a few bugs surrounding the spec, making it hard to have an accurate picture of its true performance.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Weapon Poisons	Numbing Poison, Atrophic Poison, Crippling Poison, Wound Poison or Instant Poison
Core	Gouge / Airborne Irritant	You have the choice between AoE stop or powerful short cooldown single-target stop.
Core	Blind	Disturb effect, useful for crowd-control.
Core	Kidney Shot	Single-target stun effect.
Core	Sap	Non-combat crowd-control.
Core	Cheap Shot	Single-target stun effect.
Core	Shiv	Enrage-effect dispel.
Core	Shroud of Concealment	Mass-invisibility effect.
Core	Tricks of the Trade	Redirects all threat you cause to a selected party member lasting 6 sec.
Core	Distract	When used, it stops any creatures from moving. Incredible useful when stopping patrol targets from repositioning.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Arms Warrior received a healthy amount of changes through the Alpha and Beta cycles, brand-new Hero Talents - Slayer / Colossus, and a new tier set. The 2-piece will enable Mortal Strike and Cleave to increase the damage of your next Overpower by 10%. The 4-piece will trigger once Overpower has its cooldown reset by Tactician, the next Mortal Strike or Cleave has its damage increased by 10% and critical strike chance increased by 10%, stacking up to 2 times.

The Rage changes combined with the Arms Warrior specific talent adjustments have put the spec in a much better position compared to the previous expansion. Their damage profile is their strongest asset as they currently have great single-target, 2-target, low-count, and mass-AoE damage. Although their utility will remain mostly the same, we believe that if this spec can be paired with melee physical damage-oriented classes, it can climb the ladder even further. Overall, we are happy with how Arms plays so far and we are looking forward to see them develop through the Season 1.

Outside of their strong Battle Shout buff, their Mythic+ toolkit is one of the weakest compared to the rest of the DPS specializations.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Rallying Cry	Temporary increasing the health of your raid/party.
Core	Battle Shout	Extra 5% Attack Power.
Optional	Spell Reflection	Usable in niche situations.
Optional	Intimidating Shout	AoE disturb effect capped at 5 targets.
Optional	Storm Bolt	4 sec single-target stun.
Optional	Shockwave	AoE Stun

Patch 11.0.2 update: Survival Hunter received a massive number of changes, a brand new Hero Talent options - Pack Leader / Sentinel and a new tier-set. The 2-piece increases your Wildfire Bomb's damage by 5%, while the 4-piece boosts the damage of Raptor Strike by 10% if targets are affected by Wildfire Bomb.

Survival Hunter is currently a great choice for DPS spec in Mythic+, with an impressive DPS profile for both single-target and AoE. On top of this, the most recent Hunter survivability buffs will help them against the heaviest incoming damage. As always, damage is one of the major factors to consider for specs, so look no further; this class will not disappoint with both sustained damage and burst damage. Explosive Shot's uncapped damage capabilities are exceptional while maintaining amazing single-target output. All in all, one of the most rounded specs in the current Beta iteration, and we are hopeful they will retain their strength throughout the Season 1 of Mythic+ in The War Within.

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Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Primal Rage	Although not unique, it can help in some rare cases.
Core	Hunter's Mark	Increases all damage dealt to targets above 80% health by 5%.
Core	Tar Trap	AoE Slow.
Core	Tranquilizing Shot	Removes 1 Enrage and Magic effect from an enemy target.
Core	Freezing Trap	A powerful single-target crowd-control effect.
Optional	Binding Shot	AoE root effect.
Optional	Scatter Shot	Single-target disturb effect.
Optional	Intimidation	Stun effect.
Optional	Implosive Trap	AoE disturb effect.
Optional	Misdirection	Helpful in cases where there are spread non-boss-enemies and your tanks need help with collecting the aggro.

Patch 11.0.2: Outlaw Rogue received their fair share of changes leading to the The War Within expansion, with two brand-new, yet disappointing Hero Talents - Fatebound / Trickster and a new tier set. The 2-piece bonus will enable Sinister Strike, Pistol Shot, and Ambush to have a 20% chance to trigger Ethereal Rampage, dealing 15% increased damage as Shadow. In addition, the 4-piece bonus, Ethereal Rampage, additionally increases the damage of your next Between the Eyes by 6%, stacking up to 3 times.

The current Outlaw Rogue has improved following the weeks leading to the Season 1 of Mythic+ in The War Within. While they will retain their great consistent damage, unfortunately, they are still one of the few specs that are target-capped. Their single-target will remain competitive, as well as their priority-target damage while doing AoE. The lack of burst is also another issue the spec is suffering from, as that can be quite offsetting on the lower level keys where burst is important to capitalize on the lower health mobs. Their defensive profile will remain unchanged, and so will their amazing group-wide utility and mob control.

Outlaw Rogue will still struggle in heavy AoE scenarios due to its damage target cap being present. In addition, the lack of a strong burst profile can hurt them on the low/to mid-level keys while being much better on the high-end keys.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Weapon Poisons	Numbing Poison, Atrophic Poison, Crippling Poison, Wound Poison or Instant Poison
Core	Gouge / Airborne Irritant	You have the choice between AoE stop or powerful short cooldown single-target stop.
Core	Blind	Disturb effect, useful for crowd-control.
Core	Kidney Shot	Single-target stun effect.
Core	Sap	Non-combat crowd-control.
Core	Cheap Shot	Single-target stun effect.
Core	Shiv	Enrage-effect dispel.
Core	Shroud of Concealment	Mass-invisibility effect.
Core	Tricks of the Trade	Redirects all threat you cause to a selected party member lasting 6 sec.
Core	Distract	When used, it stops any creatures from moving. Incredible useful when stopping patrol targets from repositioning.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Retribution Paladin received a dozen notable changes leading to the The War Within expansion, including brand-new Hero Talents - Templar / Herald of the Sun, and a new tier-set. The 2-piece will increase the damage of Blade of Justice by 15% and the damage of Wake of Ashes by 10%. In addition, the 4-piece grants you 8 sec of 10% increased damage once you use Wake of Ashes.

Retribution Paladin has seen a fair share of changes throughout the Beta cycles, with one of the most notable changes being a rework of how their Mastery works. Their current AoE burst damage profile is great, just like the last couple of seasons in Dragonflight; they retain their signature group-wide utilities for a DPS (though no more Retribution Aura), which is an invaluable asset for anyone who wants to play this spec. The issue comes from the lack of a competitive single target, which leads to a diminishing in their performance in Mythic+. Although they posses excellent defensive options in case of danger, the only way for Retribution Paladin to climb the rankings is to add more raw damage, specifically targeting their single target.

Further buffs on behalf of their single-target while playing hybrid Mythic+ builds.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Devotion Aura	Permanent 3% group/raid-wide damage reduction aura.
Core	Hammer of Justice	A powerful single-target 6 sec stun effect.
Core	Lay on Hands	Heals a member of your party/raid to full health.
Core	Intercession	Combat-resurrection
Optional	Blessing of Sacrifice	Helps a single member of your raid in a critical situation. This can be further improved by talenting Sacrifice of the Just.
Optional	Blessing of Protection	Physical immunity, which can help you with some boss encounters.
Optional	Blessing of Freedom	Immunity to movement impairing effects.
Optional	Repentance / Blinding Light	You have the option between single-target crowd-control effect or a powerful mass AoE stop.
Optional	Cleanse Toxins	Removes all Poison and Disease effects from the target.
Optional	Turn Evil	Be able to fear any Undead, Aberration or Demon, which is an additional form of crowd control.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Marksmanship Hunter has gotten its fair share of changes, two brand new Hero Talents - Sentinel / Dark Ranger and a brand new tier-set. The 2-piece will increase the damage of Arcane Shot and Multi-Shot by 20%, while the 4-piece triggers once you consume Precise Shot, further increasing the damage of your next Aimed Shot by 10%, stacking up 2 times.

Although your rotation will remain mostly the same, Marksmanship Hunter already feels much better compared to its previous version in Dragonflight mainly due to how durable Hunter as a spec has become following the most recent class-tree revamp. They will now have 2 charges of Survival of the Fittest and a self-disease/poison dispel which can help in critical situations. Although their AoE damage is great, you lack the single target to compete with the specs placed above you. Overall, the spec will retain its signature mark, which is burst/on-demand damage for both AoE and single-target while still maintaining a presentable damage package even off cooldowns.

Lack of strong single-target damage; perhaps further tuning focusing on it will bring the spec a lot closer to the top of the bracket.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Primal Rage	Although not unique, it can help in some rare cases.
Core	Hunter's Mark	Increases all damage dealt to targets above 80% health by 5%.
Core	Tar Trap	AoE Slow.
Core	Tranquilizing Shot	Removes 1 Enrage and Magic effect from an enemy target.
Core	Freezing Trap	A powerful single-target crowd-control effect.
Optional	Binding Shot	AoE root effect.
Optional	Scatter Shot	Single-target disturb effect.
Optional	Intimidation + Territorial Instincts	Stun effect.
Optional	Wailing Arrow	AoE interrupt/silence for 3 sec.
Optional	Implosive Trap	AoE disturb effect.
Optional	Misdirection	Helpful in cases where there are spread non-boss-enemies and your tanks need help with collecting the aggro.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Balance Druid received a massive amount of changes through the Beta cycles, paired with 2 brand new Hero Talent choices - Elune's Chosen / Keeper of the Grove and a new tier set. The 2-piece will increase the damage of Starsurge by 10% and Starfall by 14%. In addition, the 4-piece will grant Eclipse (Lunar) / Eclipse (Solar) to increase the Astral Power that Wrath generates by 2 and Starfire by 5.

Balance Druid is one of the specs that has seen the most changes throughout Alpha/Beta. Although this spec may not appear impressive in lower-end keys, it becomes increasingly formidable as the key level increases. If you use your cooldowns effectively in Mythic+, you can achieve exceptional damage, primarily in AoE scenarios. In addition, you will have better survivability in the The War Within expansion while retaining your valuable utility. Overall, we do expect more tuning on behalf of Balance Druids, as we believe the current single-target damage profile is a lackluster.

It takes some time for the spec to ramp up before it can cause significant damage. This means that the performance of the Balance Druid will improve as the mobs live longer. In addition, their single-target is among the lowest compared to the rest of the DPS specs, hence why we believe further damage adjustments in that department are needed.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Mark of the Wild	Increasing the Versatility of your raid/party by 3%.
Core	Solar Beam	8 sec AoE silence.
Core	Entangling Roots	Single-target root effect.
Optional	Nature's Vigil	Extra off-healing.
Optional	Innervate	Allowing 1 friendly healer to cast spells without spending mana for 8 sec.
Optional	Stampeding Roar	Increasing the movement speed to all raid members by 60% for 8 sec.
Optional	Remove Corruption	Removes all Curse and Poison effects from a friendly target.
Optional	Soothe	Dispelling all Enrage Effects from an enemy target.
Optional	Hibernate	Single-target crowd-control effects against beasts and dragonkins.
Optional	Incapacitating Roar / Mighty Bash	You have the choice between AoE disturb effect or a single-target stun.
Optional	Typhoon	Aoe knockback.
Optional	Mass Entanglement / Ursol's Vortex	You have the choice between AoE root effect or AoE wind-of-vortex, pulling all the mobs to one location.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Destruction Warlock received a complete rework, paired with 2 brand new Hero Talent choices - Hellcaller / Diabolist and a new tier set. The 2-piece will focus on Incinerate, increasing its critical strike chance by 20%, as well as increasing Conflagrate critical strike chance by 25%. In addition, the 4-piece will offer Conflagrate critical strikes to trigger 5% increased Fire damage for 6 sec.

After Destruction Warlock was one of the best performing DPS specs last week, they received a rather large nerf to their damage output, both in single-target and AoE. This will leave their current performance more on par with the rest of the specialization and will no longer be considered "OP". In addition, every Warlock spec is quite durable and has a great party-wide utility, which fits perfectly for Mythic+.

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Utility package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Create Healthstone	Helps your team to survive deadly pulls.
Core	Soulstone	Combat Resurrection.
Core	Demonic Gateway
Core	Curse of Tongues	Useful against caster targets. It can be further bolstered by Amplify Curse talent.
Core	Curse of Weakness	Useful against physical damage dealers. It can be further bolstered by Amplify Curse talent.
Core	Demon Summoning	Summon Imp can help you with Singe Magic dispel while Summon Felhunter can be useful with an extra interrupt - Spell Lock.
Optional	Banish	Useful on some boss encounters for an extra crowd-control effect.
Optional	Shadowfury	AoE Stun.
Optional	Mortal Coil	Sinel-Target disturb effect.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Devastation Evoker received a decent amount of changes leading to the The War Within expansion, followed by 2 brand-new Hero Talents - Flameshaper / Scalecommander and a new tier-set. The 2-piece will increase the damage of Disintegrate and Pyre by 10%, while the 4-p will reduce the Eternity Surge's cooldown by 5 sec, further allowing it to grant an Essence Burst.

The performance of Devastation Evoker has been consistent throughout the last Beta cycles, with quite a few rotational differences compared to how it was in Dragonflight (depending on which Hero Talents you are going for + during Dragonrage window). They have retained their unique Evoker utility, strengthening their defensiveness thanks to the brand-new Hero Talents. Their damage profile will retain its burst-orientated window, which will help your performance across different key levels. At the same time, also, unfortunately, keeping its main disadvantage present - having 25 yards ability range as an offensive caster can be quite punishable. Overall, we believe that its sibling spec will take the majority of the attention, and we will hardly see much playtime, but if anyone chooses to opt for them, they will still perform great as its damage can be competitive to the majority of the DPS specs.

Having 25 yards as an offensive DPS is quite punishable. Further damage buffs are needed to strengthen their sustained damage profile.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Blessing of the Bronze	-
Core	Tail Swipe	AoE disturb effect that knocks up enemies.
Core	Wing Buffet	AoE knockback effect.
Core	Expunge	Removing all Poison effects from an ally.
Optional	Sleep Walk	Single-target crowd-control effect that forces the enemy to move towards you.
Optional	Source of Magic	Can be further bolstered by Potent Mana
Optional	Oppressing Roar	Increasing the duration of all crowd-control effects on the affected enemies by 50%. You can further talent into Overawe, removing 1 Enrage effect from each enemy (AoE Enrage Removal).
Optional	Terror of the Skies	After using Breath of Eons, you will stun all enemies by 3 sec affected by your breath.
Optional	Spatial Paradox	It enables your Healer of choice to move freely while casting and increasing the range of most spells by 100% for 11 sec.
Optional	Zephyr	Area-of-effect damage reduction (party only).
Optional	Cauterizing Flame	Bleed removal
Optional	Rescue	You can further bolster it with Twin Guardian talent for extra durability.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Beast Mastery Hunter received a ton of changes leading to the The War Within expansion, including brand new Hero Talents - Dark Ranger / Pack Leader, and a new tier-set. The 2-piece bonus will allow Barbed Shot to further increase your pet's attack speed by 5%, while the 4-piece bonus will enable your pet's attacks to have a 10% chance to increase all pet damage you deal by 10% for 10 sec.

The current Beta iteration of Beast Mastery Hunter plays similarly to previous iterations, which will disappoint some and delight others. They now have much better survivability, thanks to the general Hunter's tree redesign. While their single-target damage is decent, their sustained damage, especially AoE, is lackluster. We are hopeful that those issues will be addressed in the coming weeks.

Lack of raw consistent AoE damage. Pet interaction is still an issue, given the fact that almost all of your damage comes from pet attacks; it is something that should be permanently fixed.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Primal Rage	Although not unique, it can help in some rare cases.
Core	Hunter's Mark	Increases all damage dealt to targets above 80% health by 5%.
Core	Tar Trap	AoE Slow.
Core	Tranquilizing Shot	Removes 1 Enrage and Magic effect from an enemy target.
Core	Freezing Trap	A powerful single-target crowd-control effect.
Optional	Binding Shot	AoE root effect.
Optional	Scatter Shot	Single-target disturb effect.
Optional	Implosive Trap	AoE disturb effect.
Optional	Intimidation	Stun effect.
Optional	Misdirection	Helpful in cases where there are spread non-boss-enemies and your tanks need help with collecting the aggro.

Patch 11.0.2 update: Fire Mage received a massive amount of changes, 2 brand new Hero Talents - Frostfire and Sunfury, as well as a new tier-set. The 2-piece increases the damage of your Phoenix Flames by 10%, which increases to 25% on its primary target. In addition, your 4-piece bonus triggers after dealing damage, giving Phoenix Flames a 10% chance to return to you, refunding 1% of the cooldown on Phoenix Flames and granting you 6% increased spell damage for 10 sec.

Fire Mage is one of the specs that has received a lot of attention leading up to the first season of The War Within and ended up being historically in the worst state (damage output) wise they have ever been. Your single target is among the lowest, and your AoE damage is now competing with the tanks. Although, just like every Mage spec so far, has one of the best group-wide Mythic+ utilities, numbers need to be tuned up for us to consider you anywhere higher on our rankings.

Further buffs are needed as the spec is in one of its worst position ever.

Utility Package

Functionality	Spells	Notes
Core	Arcane Intellect	5% extra Intellect to the whole raid/party.
Core	Time Warp	Alternative of Bloodlust.
Core	Polymorph	Single-target crowd-control effect.
Optional	Mass Barrier / Mass Invisibility	Gives a shield that absorbs damage or mass invisibility to the entire party.
Optional	Spellsteal	Steals a beneficial magic effect from the target.
Optional	Remove Curse	Removes all Curses from a friendly target.
Optional	Ring of Frost	AoE disturb effect.
Optional	Ice Nova	AoE Immobilize effect. This can be cast separately from Frost Nova.
Optional	Blast Wave	AoE knockback.
Optional	Dragon's Breath	AoE disturb effect.