Welcome to Skill Capped’s Overview of the Best Classes to Main for PvP in Dragonflight
As we send Shadowlands to the afterlife, we enter a new chapter of World of Warcraft PvP, and with it – come a number of changes that may affect your choice of main class or spec for the expansion. There are a lot of changes coming to PvP that deserve their own articles, and we will go over them in due time. For now we will focus on the most important changes and the classes that came out on top in Dragonflight. While there is still some tuning happening, here are the best classes to main for PvP in Dragonflight based on months of beta testing by some of the best players in the world.
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Table of Contents
Meta
Before we get to figuring out which classes are the best and most worthy of becoming your main for Dragonflight, we have to go over what’s actually changing for PvP. While there weren’t a lot of big PvP-specific changes, there were a couple that might alter arena balance in a huge way.
The first reason is a shift from burst to sustained damage profile. About a month before release, Blizzard buffed everyone’s Stamina by an astounding 40%. This essentially means two things: burst damage has been passively nerfed as it now doesn’t chunk the health bar as much, and healers would have to do a lot of work to keep their teammates with high HP.
We also saw changes to how Dampening works in arena. Now healing reduction will come in faster in every bracket.
This in combination with the introduction of Solo Shuffle creates an interesting situation. Whether you like it or not, Solo Shuffle is an important part of Dragonflight and will impact balance decisions. While the specifics may change, we can already see that Solo Shuffle clearly favors sustained pressure over burst damage.
Melee
Havoc Demon Hunter
DH’s damage profile is consistently high all game and they pair well with most classes allowing them to excel in any bracket. Demon Hunters also do well into Warlocks which are dominating the Season 2 meta.
Some might point out the fragility of DH into stuns. This is a valid concern, but with the reduction of stun duration in 10.1 this is less of a concern. They also keep most of their anti-caster passives with Illidari Knowledge and Demonic Wards, reducing magic damage taken by 20%.
Enhancement Shaman
When it comes to damage, Enhancement has some of the highest single target damage alongside strong off-healing. With recent changes to Lava Lash, the Stormstrike build has taken over and it has proven to be one of the strongest classes.
Subtlety Rogue
Overall, Rogue is the quintessential setup-based class, and this is especially true for Subtlety. Subtlety is in a great spot even after the CC nerfs that came with the introduction of season 2. Having the ability to win games with powerful 100-0 burst with any class or spec makes Subtlety Rogue on the best specs to main going into Season 2 of Dragonflight.
Ranged
Demonology Warlock
Warlocks are in an interesting position where all three specs are performing at a high level but the real outlier is Demo. Demo has high consistent damage, strong burst, and with the CC reduction that came with Season 2, Fear has become one of the strongest CCs in the game.
With all three specs looking strong, Warlocks seem to be a strong choice going into Dragonflight Season 2.
Balance Druid
Moonkins are one of the strongest casters and seeing play in all brackets. Not only do they have strong CC through the use of Root Beam, Cyclone, and Bash but they have strong consistent damage paired with massive burst through the use of Incarn. Balance Druid is finding itself in a position where it can pair with nearly any caster or melee and perform exceptionally well making it a solid pick going into Dragonflight Season 2.
Elemental Shaman
When it comes to damage, Ele should be able to navigate the meta no matter how it develops. Flame Shock will remain core to the spec. It is improved with Searing Flames and Flames of the Cauldron to generate enough Maelstrom to spend on instant damage with Earth Shock or Elemental Blast. This gives them a few different ways of dealing damage even while on the move. Overall, Ele should be able to find a place in a wide variety of comps.
Healers
Mistweaver Monk
To sum up the state of Mistweaver Monk in Dragonflight, imagine all the problems that Monks complained about in Shadowlands being magically resolved. Monks have two unique playstyles with caster and fistweaver as well as the ability to port while stunned with use of Eminence, and strong defensive cooldowns such as Restoral and Life Cocoon. With the high degree of utility, strong healing, and powerful defensives Mistweaver is a great pick going into Dragonflight Season 2.
Discipline Priest
Disc has seen several quality of life improvements including two charges of Pain Suppression and the addition of Void Shift giving you yet another cooldown to rotate. Overall, as a Priest, you have an answer to nearly every situation and having multiple schools makes it less punishing to get kicked compared to other healers. Power Word: Radiance was recently changed to be Radiant school making it impossible for Disc to ever truly be locked. This makes Disc a solid pick going into Dragonflight Season 2.
Restoration Shaman
One of the main things that makes Shamans stand out from other healers is that they have strong instant cast healing, multiple cooldowns that can be rotated through such as Spirit Link Totem and Earthen Wall Totem, and utility to assist their team with kills using abilities like Lightning Lasso. The combination of damage, healing, and utility makes Restoration Shaman one of the best healers to main in Dragonflight Season 2.
Final Thoughts
It should be noted that if you don’t see your spec on this list, it doesn’t necessarily mean it will be bad. Additionally, the third melee and healer spots are a bit up in the air due to how close some other specs are. And the biggest factor is that we could still see a lot of tuning and changes that will completely shift our view on the meta. With that in mind, we can still notice some trends in the changes that have already been made, which allows us to make some conclusions with relative certainty.