Arcane Mage Takes Top DPS Spot in Current Rankings for TBC Classic
Furious • Updated May 23, 2025
After more than 2 months of TBC Classic being live and ongoing updates to the TBC DPS rankings as new strategies are developed for each class we’ve seem some ongoing shifts for the top classes that perform in Phase 1.
While previously BM Hunters and Destruction Warlocks were at the top of the list, our recent update shows that Arcane Mages have taken the top spot.
Our DPS rankings are based upon information from Warcraft Logs, where we look at the 90th percentile over a two week range for Karazhan, Gruul’s Lair, and Magtheridon’s Lair and then average them for holistic Phase 1 performance.
Previous Phase 1 Rankings
| Class | Spec | DPS |
| Hunter | Beast Mastery | 1,242.02 |
| Warlock | Destruction | 1,155.02 |
| Mage | Arcane | 1,153.70 |
| Warlock | Demonology | 1,099.88 |
| Hunter | Survival | 1,094.52 |
| Mage | Fire | 1,072.13 |
| Warrior | Fury | 1,036.35 |
| Shaman | Elemental | 1,031.33 |
| Priest | Shadow | 992.74 |
| Warlock | Affliction | 986.40 |
| Shaman | Enhancement | 970.13 |
| Mage | Frost | 945.93 |
| Hunter | Marksmanship | 935.63 |
| Paladin | Retribution | 931.74 |
| Rogue | Combat | 923.08 |
| Warrior | Arms | 904.68 |
| Druid | Balance | 883.10 |
| Rogue | Assassination | 803.38 |
| Druid | Feral | 752.89 |
| Rogue | Subtlety | 717.53 |
Current Phase 1 Rankings
| Class | Spec | DPS |
| Mage | Arcane | 1488.225 |
| Hunter | Beast Mastery | 1391.52 |
| Warlock | Destruction | 1370.35 |
| Hunter | Survival | 1305.22 |
| Warlock | Demonology | 1300.225 |
| Warrior | Fury | 1284.45 |
| Mage | Fire | 1268.055 |
| Shaman | Elemental | 1237.575 |
| Warlock | Affliction | 1182.09 |
| Priest | Shadow | 1148.61 |
| Warrior | Arms | 1138.655 |
| Shaman | Enhancement | 1134.54 |
| Paladin | Retribution | 1111.87 |
| Rogue | Combat | 1092.765 |
| Druid | Balance | 1061.73 |
| Druid | Feral | 1056.6 |
| Hunter | Marksmanship | 1056.125 |
| Mage | Frost | 1052.91 |
| Rogue | Assassination | 891.21 |
| Rogue | Subtlety | 800.64 |
Below you can see the changes for the individual raid encounters (Kara and Gruul/Magtheridon).
Karazhan Changes
| Class | Spec | Previous | Current | %Change |
| Druid | Feral | 766.9 | 1,043.86 | 36.11% |
| Mage | Arcane | 1,207.62 | 1,600.04 | 32.50% |
| Warrior | Fury | 1,060.01 | 1,328.16 | 25.30% |
| Warrior | Arms | 931.67 | 1,125.65 | 20.82% |
| Mage | Fire | 1,095.85 | 1,321.84 | 20.62% |
| Druid | Balance | 875.2 | 1,053.86 | 20.41% |
| Paladin | Retribution | 906.62 | 1,089.87 | 20.21% |
| Warlock | Destruction | 1,135.54 | 1,363.09 | 20.04% |
| Warlock | Affliction | 997.97 | 1,196.08 | 19.85% |
| Shaman | Elemental | 1,062.81 | 1,266.65 | 19.18% |
| Rogue | Combat | 916.06 | 1,086.00 | 18.55% |
| Warlock | Demonology | 1,103.02 | 1,301.03 | 17.95% |
| Shaman | Enhancement | 965.94 | 1,134.23 | 17.42% |
| Hunter | Survival | 1,025.42 | 1,193.18 | 16.36% |
| Priest | Shadow | 946.49 | 1,095.95 | 15.79% |
| Hunter | Marksmanship | 921.04 | 1,048.92 | 13.88% |
| Mage | Frost | 983.36 | 1,104.62 | 12.33% |
| Rogue | Subtlety | 720.41 | 805.62 | 11.83% |
| Rogue | Assassination | 780.35 | 868.83 | 11.34% |
| Hunter | Beast Mastery | 1,213.15 | 1,344.48 | 10.83% |
Gruul’s Lair / Magtheridon’s Lair Changes
| Class | Spec | Previous | Current | %Change |
| Druid | Feral | 738.87 | 1069.34 | 44.73% |
| Warrior | Arms | 877.69 | 1151.66 | 31.21% |
| Mage | Arcane | 1,099.78 | 1376.41 | 25.15% |
| Warrior | Fury | 1,012.68 | 1240.74 | 22.52% |
| Hunter | Survival | 1,163.62 | 1417.26 | 21.80% |
| Shaman | Elemental | 999.85 | 1208.5 | 20.87% |
| Druid | Balance | 891.00 | 1069.6 | 20.04% |
| Warlock | Affliction | 974.83 | 1168.1 | 19.83% |
| Paladin | Retribution | 956.86 | 1133.87 | 18.50% |
| Warlock | Demonology | 1,096.73 | 1299.42 | 18.48% |
| Rogue | Combat | 930.10 | 1099.53 | 18.22% |
| Warlock | Destruction | 1,174.49 | 1377.61 | 17.29% |
| Shaman | Enhancement | 974.31 | 1134.85 | 16.48% |
| Mage | Fire | 1,048.41 | 1214.27 | 15.82% |
| Priest | Shadow | 1,038.99 | 1201.27 | 15.62% |
| Hunter | Beast Mastery | 1,270.88 | 1438.56 | 13.19% |
| Hunter | Marksmanship | 950.22 | 1063.33 | 11.90% |
| Rogue | Subtlety | 714.64 | 795.66 | 11.34% |
| Rogue | Assassination | 826.41 | 913.59 | 10.55% |
| Mage | Frost | 908.49 | 1001.2 | 10.20% |
Merging 10m and 25m statistics produces misleading results
10 man fights that die in 1.30 or less and the maulgar fight where ranking ends on Maulgar death rather then combat end. Not really representative rankings.
Ima little f boy i just pout, here is my handle because i cannot shout. when i get all steamed up i just sprout. Ima little fairie all covered in gout.
They definitely need a lot of support to maintain this dps, even then on long fights they’re still going to lose to hunters or warlocks…
No less than spell strike, spell fire, a magus blade, probably two ele shammies, a boomkin, a shadow priest and probably innervates and PI.
Don’t act like Warlocks don’t need support with their mana tap and receiving heals (Innervate) think their DPS will be anywhere without it?
Finally its my time to shine!