Updated November 3, 2026 for MoP Classic Phase 5. The tiers follow the current PvE rankings and change with each class tuning pass.
This MoP Classic DPS tier list covers Phase 5 and the Siege of Orgrimmar raid, ranking specs by damage output and raid utility for progression and reclearing. Affliction Warlock is the top pick, with the highest log figure and strong scaling with gear. Frost Mage, Frost Death Knight, Unholy Death Knight and Marksmanship Hunter rank lowest, though every DPS spec can clear Phase 5 content.
MoP Classic DPS Tier List: Phase 5 Siege of Orgrimmar Progression
The tier table below as a board. Icons: Blizzard.
| Tier | Specs |
| S | Affliction Warlock |
| A | Balance Druid, Feral Druid, Arcane Mage, Fire Mage, Windwalker Monk, Combat Rogue, Demonology Warlock, Fury Warrior |
| B | Beast Mastery Hunter, Survival Hunter, Retribution Paladin, Shadow Priest, Assassination Rogue, Subtlety Rogue, Elemental Shaman, Enhancement Shaman, Destruction Warlock, Arms Warrior |
| C | Frost Death Knight, Unholy Death Knight, Marksmanship Hunter, Frost Mage |
S Tier
Affliction Warlock
Affliction Warlock scales extremely well with gear and spreads damage across multiple targets through Soul Swap. Warcraft Tavern lists it as the leading DPS spec, at 629.5k DPS in Heroic Siege of Orgrimmar. It brings little utility, so a 25-man raid that already has three or four Warlocks is usually better off bringing another class.
A Tier
The specs in this tier are represented widely in raids, and several are the best at their particular job.
Demonology Warlock
Demonology has powerful burst and works well in fights that reward strong single-target damage with short bursts of cleave. It is now more of a niche pick because Affliction Warlock is stronger. It moved up one tier on August 17, 2026.
Windwalker Monk
Windwalker has very strong cleave through Rushing Jade Wind and Storm, Earth, and Fire clones. It offers less utility than other classes, which most raids do not find a problem at this stage of the phase. It moved up one tier on August 17, 2026.
Feral Druid
Feral can be a single-target throughput machine when a melee player keeps high uptime on the boss. It brings utility similar to Balance Druid but has little raid utility of its own. It moved up one tier on August 17, 2026.
Balance Druid
Balance has high output and can cleave without losing much damage on its main target. Its utility includes Stampeding Roar, Heart of the Wild, and Tranquility for raid healing. Its throughput stays high in Siege of Orgrimmar and scales well with gear.
Fire Mage
Fire Mage depends heavily on gear, and its throughput can swing with how its crits and cooldowns line up. It works well with Warriors' Skull Banner and gains from Sinister Primal Diamond. Sources expect it to perform very well as players approach Best-in-Slot gear. It moved up one tier on August 17, 2026.
Fury Warrior
Fury Warrior scales much better with gear than Arms, so it is the go-to Warrior spec. Warriors' main value is utility through Skull Banner, Rallying Cry, Demoralizing Banner, and Vigilance, and their personal damage is lower than their ranking suggests. Skull Banner's value drops off after the third back-to-back use inside a Bloodlust window.
Arcane Mage
Arcane Mage stands out for pure damage, especially as kill times get shorter and stat budgets rise. Although it has been adjusted by multiple buffs and nerfs over the course of Mists of Pandaria Classic, it is still a reliable choice in Siege of Orgrimmar for players with either low or high item-level gear. Its position within this tier was raised in a March 3, 2026 update.
Combat Rogue
Combat Rogue brings solid throughput, plus Smoke Bomb and Tricks of the Trade, and Feint helps it handle incoming raid damage. Rogues are prized in encounters like Siegecrafter, Paragons of the Klaxxi, and Garrosh. It moved up one tier on August 17, 2026.
B Tier
Specs in this tier are not bad choices, but they are not the first picks when building a roster, and several perform very well on certain encounters.
Beast Mastery Hunter
Beast Mastery has lower damage than the top specs, but it is strong in progression because it deals damage while handling mechanics. Misdirection has several powerful uses, and its passive cleave is strong in this raid. It moved down one tier on August 17, 2026.
Survival Hunter
Survival Hunter sits low on damage but is placed here for Siege of Orgrimmar because of its strength in progression. Like Beast Mastery, it deals damage while handling mechanics, and its passive cleave is strong in this raid. It moved down one tier on August 17, 2026.
Retribution Paladin
Retribution Paladin provides defensive utility, with double Hand of Sacrifice and Hand of Protection, plus Clemency and Devotion Aura for magic damage reduction. It is one of the best single-target burst dealers in the game but lacks good cleave. Aura Mastery and Hand of Sacrifice are valuable during Siege of Orgrimmar progression.
Shadow Priest
Shadow Priest offers Mass Dispel, a spell that is needed only in certain situations, plus Vampiric Embrace and Divine Star. Its damage is quite low, but it can compete with most classes when played well, and Dispersion lets it soak mechanics. It moved down one tier on August 17, 2026.
Assassination Rogue
Assassination Rogue has solid throughput, plus Smoke Bomb, Tricks of the Trade, and Feint for raid damage. Rogues sit lower on the list, yet they stay valuable in boss fights like Siegecrafter, Paragons of the Klaxxi, and Garrosh.
Subtlety Rogue
Subtlety Rogue has the same solid throughput and Rogue utility as the other Rogue specs, including Smoke Bomb, Tricks of the Trade, and Feint. It moved down one tier on June 2, 2026.
Elemental Shaman
Elemental Shaman is a strong utility pick because of Stormlash Totem, and Ancestral Guidance adds defensive utility. It can swap into Restoration when needed and brings burst AOE for mechanics such as Crawler Mine on Siegecrafter Blackfuse. It does not have the strongest single-target throughput, so a raid should not stack many of them. It moved down one tier on August 17, 2026.
Enhancement Shaman
Enhancement Shaman offers offensive raid utility through Stormlash Totem and defensive utility through Ancestral Guidance. Its throughput is slightly lower than other specs in this group, but the utility makes up for it. It moved down one tier on August 17, 2026.
Destruction Warlock
Destruction Warlock has long been the primary single-target specialization for Warlocks, capable of dealing extremely high single-target damage, and it uses Rain of Fire against add waves. It gains the least value from Sinister Primal Diamond, so it trails the other Warlock specs. It is still a potent spec at the highest levels.
Arms Warrior
Arms Warrior provides offensive utility, the counterpart to Retribution Paladin's defensive role. Fury Warrior scales much better with gear, which is one reason Arms was moved down. It moved down one tier on August 17, 2026.
C Tier
Specs here are the weakest performers, but the gap between this group and the others is small compared with past expansions.
Frost Death Knight
Frost Death Knight scales poorly with gear and has fallen behind since Phase 1. It has niche uses where heavy cleave is valued. It moved down one tier on June 2, 2026.
Unholy Death Knight
Unholy Death Knight gets a lot of its damage without relying on gear scaling, and Soul Reaper supports it during encounters that involve a lot of execute-phase damage. Anti-Magic Zone finds more use in Siege of Orgrimmar, particularly on Garrosh Hellscream. It moved down one tier on August 17, 2026.
Marksmanship Hunter
Marksmanship Hunter's offensive throughput is similar to the other Hunter specs. It is punished by movement and needs more effort to use its full kit, which drops it behind during progression. It moved down one tier on August 17, 2026.
Frost Mage
Frost Mage has lower throughput than the other Mage specs and brings no unique utility. Recent buffs of about 10% make it more attractive in lower gear levels, but it falls off when approaching Best-in-Slot gear. It moved down one tier on June 2, 2026.
Biggest Changes in Phase 5
Phase 5 released on June 2, 2026 on regional resets, and Siege of Orgrimmar released globally on June 4. Siege of Orgrimmar has 14 bosses. On August 17, 2026, Demonology Warlock, Windwalker Monk, Feral Druid, Fire Mage, and Combat Rogue moved up one tier. The same update moved Beast Mastery Hunter, Survival Hunter, Elemental Shaman, Enhancement Shaman, Arms Warrior, and Shadow Priest down one tier, and dropped Unholy Death Knight and Marksmanship Hunter down one tier. Use this MoP Classic DPS tier list as a starting point, then adjust your pick to your raid's buff and debuff slots.
See also: Heart of Fear in MoP Classic
