Top 10 WoW Shadowlands Best Arena Class Specs
The arena is where players come to test their merit. Not many other battles exist in World of Warcraft that show what a player is truly made of. These are the classes and specs that make up the best winning teams!
Number 1: Holy Paladin
Even Here, The Light Is With Me
Holy Pallies have always been a great choice in PvP. With their amazing single target healing and a range of defensive abilities to keep your party going strong. The ability to deal damage is a super strong plus as well.
Knowing when and where to use your defensive CDs is imperative. If you can master this class, you have got one of the best healing classes out there.
Getting in that Hammer of Justice on the enemy healer is one of the top priorities, aside from keeping your team alive. The 6 second stun is enough to end games. By either stunning for the full duration or stopping one heal the spell can turn the tide of any battle.
With Blessing of Freedom, you have the amazing ability to keep your main dps on their target. No movement impairing abilities keeping them away they are free to beat the enemy into submission.
Blessing of Protection is your “oh crap” ability for a party member being targeted by melee. For 10 seconds they are immune to physical damage and harmful effects.
Divine Shield is your personal “oh crap” ability. For 8 seconds you are shielded and are immune to harmful effects and damage. Popping the bubble will give you time to heal your team and prolong the lifespan of the game.
Holy Paladin Arena Advantages
- Potentially Best Healing Class With Mastery of Cooldowns
- Ability to Deal Damage in Arena.
- Amazing Defensive Toolkit
Number 2: Wind walker Monk
Save A Brew For Later
Coming in at number 2 is the Wind walker Monk! A defensive and melee TITAN the Wind walker Monk has the ability to kite other melee classes as well as survive many assaults through several defensive cooldowns. Mobility is a huge plus on Monks. The ability to put out massive damage in addition to this is the reason our second choice falls to the WW Monk.
With the Expel Harm ability healing for 120% of your spell power you have got a great deal of selfheal in ONE cooldown. To that end, this spell also deals 20% of the heal as damage to every enemy in 8 yards, this is both particularly defensive and offensive.
With Fortifying Brew you get 20% current and max HP as well as a damage reduction of 20% for 20 seconds. This ability stands to increase your lifespan as well as take some pressure off your healer. This ability stacks with things like Health Stones as well, giving your Lock Rock a bit more pep.
With two rolls, Transcendence, flying Serpent Kick, and Tiger’s Lust the Monk can easily roll circles around enemy teams, confounding them into another kill target.
With Transcendence preforming much like a Warlock’s Demonic Circle the Monk sets a predetermined position where they can teleport back to. Flying Serpent Kick allows a unique ability to fly forward for 1.5 seconds being able to then recast the spell dealing (8.7892% attack power) to all enemies in 8 yards as well as slowing them by 70% for 4 seconds.
Ring of Peace is an oddity in WoW. The only ability of its kind, RoP ejects any player that come within its area. The ability to use this cooldown both to keep players from reaching objective and as an interrupt is major. You can also ring areas to draw out healers from hiding.
Paralysis is the 6 second stun of doom for Wind walker Monks. This is the ability that opens and closes the burst dps window in most cases. Coming down to a 30 second cooldown from 45 this ability has been buffed big time.
During the above mentioned Paralysis, Serenity has been removed from the global cooldown. With a bonus of 20% increase of damage and healing, paired with all chi consumers being free AND them cooling down 100% faster this is your execution cooldown.
Another BIG change is the Weapons of Order covenant ability. This is the Kyrian covenant ability and make the damage dealt very, very consistent. The 30 second increase of mastery by 12.5% is amazing. Pair that increase with Rising Sun Kick reducing chi costs by 1 for 5 seconds and Blackout Kick causing affected abilities to cool down by an additional 1 second this becomes an insane cool down.
Reasons Wind walker Monk is Great in Arena
- Insanity in DPS
- Very Capable Survivability
- Super Mobile Class
- Ring of Peace
Number 3: Fire Mage
Do You Smell Something Burning?
From the days of AP,PoM,Pyro the Fire Mage has had many revisions. In current meta the Fire Mage has an insane amount of damage dealing capabilities. Not only this but the Fire Mage has more CC options than the other two specs.
Combustion: it is what makes the Fire Mage what it is. At a 2-minute cool down the ability grants 100% crit chance and 50% mastery equal to your crit chance. This ability is castable while casting other spells so you can easily use it without being tied to one spot. Firing this ability off with Hot Streak, which causes your next Pyro blast or Flame strike to be instant and deal double the normal Ignite damage when you get two crits in a row shoots damage through the roof.
With the potency conduit Infernal Cascade your Fire Blast increases fire damage done for 5 seconds. This ability stacks up to 2 times.
The CC that Fire Mages have specific to their spec is Dragon’s Breath. Not only does this ability disorient targets for 4 seconds it also deals (58.25% spell power) fire damage in a cone in front of the Mage.
The CC that is trademark Mage is of course Polymorph. For 1 whole minute the target wanders around as an animal of the Mage’s glyph. Unable to use any regular abilities they also regenerate health rapidly. Any damage taken will break the spell, however, it is usually broken early by a defensive cooldown on the user. But there’s not limit on the number of Polymorphs, just a diminishing return.
Frost Nova is another Mage CC option. Freezing all enemies in a 12-yard radius while doing (4.4775% spell power) as frost damage while also freezing them in place for 8 seconds. Any damage that you deal will break this effect, but the time it takes to cast your cool downs and then your main attack there’s not much hope as your teammates are no doubt closing in too.
Counter spell is an immensely powerful CC option. It cancels the targets currently casting spell and silences them from that school of magic for 6 seconds. This ability used on a healer breaks the game unless the team has some beefy self-reliant members.
Fire Mage Advantages in Arenas:
- Through the Roof Damage
- More CC Options Than Frost or Arcane
- Great Ability to Garner Game Winning Abilities
Number 4: Frost Death Knight
She's As Cold As Ice
Frost DK’s are extremely powerful in arenas in the form of some crazy burst cleave DPS. Their sustained damage isn’t anything to sneeze at either. Their ability Chill Streak is one of the best AOE spells in WoW, so they’re packing a toolbox full of wrenches to throw into the enemy team. All this paired with the ability to prevent so many CC effects cast on themselves they make themselves hard to keep off. They can use all their time to smash into the opponent.
Death Gripping an enemy is something every Death Knight is used to doing. Death Grip pulls a target to the DK from up to 30 yards away. This paired with Chill Streak can lead to mass amounts of enemies damaged and stunned. The BANG of Chill Streak is that it bounces between 9 close targets dealing its damage. This is an insane ability that sometimes takes a little set up, but ultimately worth it.
Remorseless Winter dealing a percentage of attack power to all enemies within 8 yards each second provides another form of AOE pressure as it also slows them by 20%. While using the talent Gathering Storm each rune spent will increase damage by 10% and duration by 0.5 seconds.
Howling Blast, which does a percentage of attack power plus giving the debuff of Frost Fever adds in on the already staggering AOE damage. When you Cast Howling Blast with the Rime Proc it has an additional 150% damage and costs no rune!
Empowered Rune Weapon is the spell that makes the transition to both AOE and sustained damage. Both using the spell which give a 15% bonus to haste and 1 rune, plus 5 runic power every 5 seconds for 20 seconds. With only a 1-minute cooldown on Pillar of Frost you get a 10% bonus to Strength for 12 seconds. While active every rune you spend increases the strength bonus by 1%. A level 50 talent Ice Cap allow Frost Strike and Obliterate critical hits to reduce the cooldown of Pillar of Frost by 4 seconds.
With abilities like Anti-Magic Shell, Icebound Fortitude, and Lichborne the Frost DK has a large amount of CC prevention.
Anti-Magic Shell gives you a 5 second shield of a percentage of your HP during which it absorbs magic damage and prevents the application of harmful effects. No polys, no fears, no hammers not a single problem!
Icebound Fortitude is a biggie. For 8 seconds you are immune to stun and take 30% less damage. You can also use this ability while stunned! Popping out of the stun that your enemy thought would take you down is always a fun moment to create.
With Lichborne you become an undead. In addition to the zombie perk you also gain 10% Leech and are immune to Charm, Fear and Sleep for 10 seconds. Mainly the Fear being stopped by enemy Locks, but also a few other tricks to be stopped by this ability it is not to be taken lightly!
Frost Death Knight Arena Presence:
- Crazy Burst AOE Cleave
- Epic Sustained Damage
- CC Abilities to Aid the Team.
- CC Stopping Abilities for Personal Use.
5: Restoration Druid
Earth Mother Grows More Than Flowers
Most prevalent among the Druid specs in arenas is Restoration. The ability to use HoTs and the immensely powerful spell Cyclone paired with the ability to spec into a DPS hybrid makes the resto druid an especially interesting and fun build. The abilities in the Restoration Druid’s arsenal makes it one of the most versatile classes in the meta.
Healing as a Druid has been fun from incredibly early in the game. The ability to throw HoTs on your team and have them tick and heal ALL your team is amazing. With the mastery of a Druid there’s a percentage gain in healing done as well. If left unchecked the Restoration Druid’s heals will be a game winning set up.
Cyclone is iconic for all Druids, so no surprise that Resto Druids utilize it to their advantage too. Using a Cyclone ona healer or any member of the opposing team that is the main contender will cripple them allowing your team to take control and win.
Being able to spec into a damage dealing class with the Feral Affinity talent allows you to throw HoTs up and then commence to helping your team take down the enemies. The mastery of being able to balance heals and shape shifting has a learning curve but mastering it is getting a crazy utility under your belt that will serve you greatly.
With the ability to change forms the druid has another seldom thought of counter. This is the ability to counter a Mage’s Polymorph. Shifting forms will allow a small break in the CC, giving you time to retaliate.
Restoration Druid Advantages in the Arena:
- Healing Over Time AOE Spread
- Cyclone CC
- DPS Hybrid Through Talents
- One of the Most Versatile Healing Classes
Number 6: Subtlety Rogue
It Takes A Subtle Touch
The Sub Rogue has the CC toolkit of CC toolkits. With Stuns, Blinds, and a host of other abilities the class can either take care of one character or bait out defensive cool downs like no other. With the utility belt that rivals Batman the Sub Rogue is also very capable of pushing kills or staying alive.
Among the myriad of CC spells two stand out due to their ability to take care of more than one target. Cheap Shot and Kidney Shot.
With Cheap Shot you get a 4 second stun. Not impressive on the surface but with being able to stun more than one opponent the ability gains speed quickly.
Kidney Shot’s effectiveness increases with the Combo Points you spend to use it. With 5 points you get a 6 second stun. This ability is one of many reasons Subtlety Roges are so powerful.
The stun lock is a real threat. Many have known the lock. It starts with a Sap. The ability stuns a target for one minute unless damaged. Then the Rogue continues to stun, damage, stun, stun etc.
Another ability worth noting is Blind. This ability works the same as Sap. Therefore, adding yet another stun to the Rogue’s kit of CCs.
Evasion, Cloak of Shadows, Vanish and many others make the Sub Rogue a hard class to nail down. With Evasion’s 100% dodge increase for 10 seconds you have a huge advantage over all melee classes. This single CD can turn the tide against Warriors and other Rogues.
Cloak of Shadows is a crazy CD. Removing all harmful magic effects, it also stays on you for 5 seconds making you immune to harmful magic effects. This ability will keep you alive in a pinch against mages and especially Warlocks. Using this CD correctly can keep you alive and take some pressure away from your healer.
Vanish allows you to stealth in combat. While also preventing stealth to be broken by harmful effects and damage taken for 3 seconds after use. This spell even breaks movement impairing effects! The ability to just vanish from being whaled on is a counter measure made famous by rogues. What you cannot see you can’t kill.
Subtlety Rogue Arena Perks:
- Best CC Kit in the Game
- Utilities Galore
- Can Push for Kills
Number 7: Arms Warrior
Have Axe Will Travel
The Arms Warrior is a PvP POWERHOUSE. They are able to output massive aoe cleave as well as great sustained damage. Their damaging power is almost equally matched by their amazing set of supporting skills.
With Mortal Strike and Overpower being at the core of the DPS capabilities of an Arms Warrior there are certain things to be considered. Using Mortal Strike the debuff of Mortal Wounds needs to be applied at 100% uptime. This is due to the Warrior’s mastery skill Mastery: Deep Wounds which applies a bleed effect that deals 60% attack power as damage over 12 seconds. The bigger output, however, is the 8.8% damage bonus that you do in addition to the bleed!
Die by the Sword is the biggest defensive cooldown in your arsenal. Giving you a 100% bonus to parry and (30+25%) % damage reduction, this ability will keep you alive so that your healer can focus on another party member.
Using Defensive Stance in many matches will secure a good lead in the match. The 20% static damage reduction can usually be offset by the damage that an Arms Warrior can do. When hit with any kinds of stuns this ability can save you from a rogue or feral druid until your healer can pop your health back to max!
And Ignore Pain defiantly must be mentioned. This ability Ignores 50% of damage taken (up to 700% of Attack Power)! The rather large tax on your rage meter used by this technique is a drawback so using it on CD isn’t a particularly good thing.
Why Arms Warriors Are Great in Arenas
- INSANE Damaging Capabilities
- Almost Equally Broken Defensive Cool Downs
Number 8: Retribution Paladin
Here.... Hold This Hammer
The Ret Pally has a huge roll in the arena as a damage dealing powerhouse as single target and AOE. On the flip side of the coin there are a plethora of tricks that they can spring into an arena to help another teammate survive!
Using their Holy Power, the resource pool much like mana or rage, the Ret Pally has many options to spend. Templar’s Verdict is their main single target ability. At the cost of 3 Holy Power this spell does 194% of attack power as holy damage. This paired with their Avenging Wrath spell, which gives an additional 20% damage and crit chance is amazing.
Not only is the Avenging Wrath spell used for DPS, but also healing. The effects of the buff increase healing as well.
The defensive tool kit for a Ret Pally is loaded with blessings. Blessing of Freedom, Protection, and Sanctuary to be precise! All three of these spells have an ability to save a party member, or the Pally itself, from being taken out of the arena.
Blessing of Freedom is a powerful CC remover. It gives the target movement impairing effect immunity for 8 seconds! Keeping your healer in range or being close yourself can make or break a game.
Blessing of Protection is the team bubble. When you cast this spell on your target, they gain Forbearance for 30 seconds as well as immunity to physical damage and harmful effects for 10 seconds. The Bubble will save a teammate from being focused on for long enough that the team can come to the rescue!
Blessing of Sanctuary removes all stun, silence, fear, and horror effects from the target. Not only that, but it also shortens these effects by 60% for 5 seconds after the buff! Being able to keep your healer from the fate of fear bomb wins games.
Why Retribution Paladins Are Amazing in Arenas:
- Super Strong Single Target DPS
- Great AOE Cleave
- Great Team Saving abilities
- Ability to Heal in a Pinch
Number 9: Discipline Priest
Seven Days A Week We Pray
With their dispel effects, defensive abilities for physical DPS teams and Anti-CC options the Disc Priest is an amazing arena choice. Also, the healing output is also damage thanks to Atonement!
Dispel Magic and Mass Dispel shake the ground in an arena against mages and warlocks. Dispel Magic removes one beneficial spell from an OPPONENT! Taking the buffs they’ve set up pre-gate opening is one hit you can get to them early in the game.
Mass Dispel removes ALL harmful magical abilities from 5 nearby friendly targets within a 15-yard radius. But this spell also removes 1 beneficial from 5 enemy targets in the same vicinity! Good-bye dots and buffs hello victory!
The defensive abilities are plentiful with any priest so there’s no lack for a Discipline! With Power Word: Shield being a micro-bubble and Power Word: Barrier being another CD to further reduce damage even while CC’d you’re putting down massive mitigation.
With the Atonement skill not only are you healing but you’re doing so through damaging the other players. Power Word: Shield, Shadow Mend and Power Word: Radiance all apply Atonement to the target. The Atonement skill transfers 50% of all damage you deal into healing for each target with the buff. You are now not just a healer, but a battle hardened one at that!
Discipline Priests Arena Advantages:
- Super Beneficial Purge Effects
- Anti CC Damage Mitigation
- Healing Through Damage with Atonement
Number 10: Affliction Warlock
More DoTs!!!!
The Affliction Warlock is a master of spread AOE damage. When focused by melee they’re very squishy but have some mobility advantages. With their legendary passive Sacrolash’s Dark Strike they gain a 50% snare, which can change the course of any game. The ability to ALWAYS have a health potion for the entire team through Health Stones is amazing. Moreover, locks have a myriad of interrupts!
No surprise to talk about DOTs on an affliction lock. The ability to spread their damage over the entire enemy team is amazing. Given a few moments to cast all their spells the Affliction based class can put a ton of pressure on the enemy team. This left alone has the ability to take down the team easily!
Being squishy they of course need some mobility help. On top of Health Stones, the Warlock has the portal ability of Demonic Gateway. Being able to spring from one side of the arena to the other is a big advantage. This ability is useable by all members; however, the lock has a personal portal through demonic circle.
The main damage reduction spell for Locks is Unending Resolve. For 8 seconds you gain 20% damage reduction as well as immunity to interruptus and silence effects. This ability can alleviate some of the healing burden of your team’s healer as well.
Curse of Weakness and Tongues have similar effects. While Weakness makes physical attacks 20% slower, Tongues slow spell casts by 30%. Using these two spells can break an enemy team’s strategy and effectiveness. Coupled with the most iconic interrupt: Fear the disruptive toolkit is loaded.
Arena Advantages of Affliction Warlock:
- High Pressure AOE Spread Damage
- High Mobility
- Amazing Legendary Ability
- Tons of Interrupts.
