October 27, 2022

BEST RANGED DPS IN DRAGONFLIGHT: TIER LIST AND PREDICTIONS

We looked at World of Warcraft melee DPS specializations in our previous article. Now we’ll discuss the best ranged DPS in Dragonflight. Some classes that prefer to attack from a distance have received many changes. Those changes may impact the balance of power among different specs. Today we want to create a tier list and make some predictions for ranged DPS meta.

DRAGONFLIGHT RANGED DPS TIER LIST

There are 12 ranged DPS specializations in WoW since Evokers have appeared in the game. You can see in the picture above that tiers seem a little class-bound. Every Warlock specialization has made it to S-tier. Both Hunter ranged specs are in the lowest tier. Survival hunter was low on our melee DPS list, as well.

This likely means that those classes have powerful traits in their class talent trees. Warlocks have occupied S-tier, and they may be the strongest among Dragonflight’s best ranged DPS. Let’s not rush, however, and analyze different specs thoroughly.

S TIER

S-rated specs include Fire Mage and all Warlock specializations. Warlock has many powerful abilities and talents for survivability and mobility in the upcoming expansion. You can now use Grimoire of Synergy, an exceptionally powerful talent, while playing any Warlock spec. The class appears to be astonishingly effective in both single-target and AoE.

Affliction Warlock. It has clear ways to effective performance in different battle situations. Affliction Warlocks’ AoE potential has highly increased since Vile Taint now applies Agony to its targets.
Demonology Warlock. This spec has been very strong in AoE in recent patches because of many imps and their Implosion. The situation will probably not change in Dragonflight, as per our ranged DPS predictions. This spec’s single-target potential has been buffed by various talents improving Call of Dreadstalkers. Demonology Warlocks can now control more Dreadstalkers at a time and even have the ability to summon a Pit Lord.
Destruction Warlock. It may not have been as powerful in AoE as Demonology, but that may change in the new expansion. That’s because of many new ways to empower Havoc, including opportunities to apply it passively and increase its duration. Destruction Warlocks also seem super-strong in single-target due to Ritual of Ruin and Avatar of Destruction.
Fire Mage. The only ‘not-warlock’ in this tier of our ranged DPS rankings. It remains a stable and reliable spec with many various tools to inflict a lot of damage. The ability to spread Ignite to multiple targets with Fire Blast is back, contributing to Fire Mages’ AoE. Hyperthermia also seems incredibly powerful for both AoE and single-target purposes.

Some players may feel a little sad or disappointed by the fact that only cloth-wearing classes have got into S-tier. You have no reason to worry, however. The differences between specs are not so significant as to force you to play a class you don’t like. Just follow your heart!

A TIER

A-tier specs have flexible skills and talents and can inflict solid damage in different settings. They may have minor issues that do not allow them to be considered a part of S-tier. Still, even those issues create only an insignificant difference.

Arcane Mage. Arcane opens this tier of our ranged DPS tier list. The spec may seem a little difficult for some players. It’s primarily due to the necessity to control and monitor Arcane Mage’s mana pool. The most significant change of this spec is the appearance of Radiant Spark (former Kyrian Covenant ability). Some Runecarving Powers, such as Harmonic Echo and Siphon Storm have transferred to Arcane Mage’s talent tree.
Elemental Shaman. This spec remains one of the best for dealing AoE damage. It won’t likely be among the best PvP ranged DPS due to lack of crowd control. Still, the spec’s talent tree received many powerful Azerite traits and Runecarving Powers of former expansions. An example is Echoes of Great Sundering, a talent that can tremendously burst your Earthquake damage. There are, however, too many talents in the lowest tier of Elemental’s talent tree. This will probably make you sacrifice some powerful abilities to get other ones.
Frost Mage. Frost is still one of the most variable specs in terms of builds available for playing. The cores of those builds are now among Dragonflight ranged talents. You can choose to play either Glacial Spike build, Frozen Orb build, or even Frostbolt build. A large variety of playstyles makes this spec flexible for different situations, which is why it takes its position in A-tier.
Balance Druid. The spec has received some adjustments and new skills. Balance Druids in Dragonflight will probably be dropping Full Moons left and right, inflicting tons of damage. Convoke the Spirits, a super-powerful Night Fae covenant ability is now also available in the talent tree.
Devastation Evoker. Probably the most interesting spec of the expansion closes our A-tier of top ranged DPS. It’s very different from other ranged specs as it has a 25 yd cast range, which will significantly affect positioning in raids and other places. Some spells like Deep Breath also make Evokers change their location. Still, the spec appears highly mobile due to various moving options such as Hover.

This tier on our WoW Dragonflight ranged DPS tier list is pretty variable and interesting. A-tier specs demonstrate stability since most of them have preserved their power from previous expansions. Except for Devastation, of course, since Evokers are a totally new class.

B TIER

Marksmanship and Beast Master Hunters have ended up in B-tier because of a similar problem. Both specs present a challenge related to getting to the bottom of your talent tree. There are many traits and talents you don’t want to ignore and skip. The reason for that is probably the hunter mechanics making some spells enable the others. It will be difficult for hunters to be on top of the Dragonflight ranged DPS meta.

As for Shadow Priest, it might be the spec that has undergone the most alterations in World of Warcraft’s history. It still doesn’t seem that Shadow can get to higher tiers in Dragonflight because of some issues. They mostly refer to how spells work and how the processes of generating and spending Insanity work. Some Insanity-generating abilities are better in terms of damage, others generate the resource faster. Many of those spells are “choose-one” type in the talent tree, and you will likely have to sacrifice either Insanity itself or your overall damage.