macfergusson/WoW_specs.txt

## WoW_specs.txt
My impressions, these should be taken with a grain of salt, and some of it may be outdated since I haven't played everything in the current patch.

For high end mythic raid comps, there is more space for ranged DPS than melee DPS due to the need for very specific roles to be filled, leaving a lot less flexibility in who they bring.
If you're not in the Race to World First happening right now, this doesn't really apply to you.
If you're focusing on normal or heroic, or maybe lightly approaching  mythic raiding, being good at any DPS spec is the real requirement.

ST: Single Target
AOE: Area of Effect/multi target/cleave.
HoT: Heal over Time
DoT: Damage over Time AKA bleed/disease/damage dealing debuff.

Death Knight: plate armor. edge lord. Consume runes to generate runic power, consume runic power. has a battle rez now, which is great.
Blood Death Knight
Self healing tank. Often a strong meta pick for one of the two raid tank slots, and Mythic+ due to self sustain.
Frost Death Knight
Melee DPS Burst AOE. Less ramp up time needed than unholy.
Unholy Death Knight
Melee DPS Plagueyboi. Often beats frost DK on sustained AOE given time to ramp on larger mob count pulls.

Demon Hunter: big mad demon hybrid. I hope you like jumpy laser beams and bat wings.
Havoc Demon Hunter
melee DPS. usually considered easy to learn DPS but has some nuance in the top end of play to keep it engaging.
Vengeance Demon Hunter
Leather tank, the most mobile of tanks. kinda squishy outside of cooldowns.
Druid: I hope you like shapeshifting. Excessively enthusiastic animal lovers stop here and never leave.
lots of group utility available to the class, not usually limited by the spec choice. The original in combat battle rez.
Balance Druid
Ranged caster DPS. Has a decent spread between DoT focus and direct damage in toolkit. Core mechanics re-vamped multiple times but recent design styles have been pretty good.
Feral Druid
melee dps, very bleed/DoT focused. You normally only find the most dedicated of feral players playing feral. It's a lot to manage, and the origin of the JOHN FUCKING MADDEN meme.
Guardian Druid
BEAR. leather tank, usually has lots and lots of HP, OK self healing, and did I mention BEAR?
Restoration Druid
king of HoT healers, allowing very strong multi target healing even if not stacked. often dominates mythic+ meta picks.

Evoker: Very interesting toolkit, combines all the aspects (colors) of the dragonflights for a very cool dragon magic theme. Brings a bloodlust to the party comp.
Uses new "empowered casting" mechanic which people either love or hate.
Preservation Evoker
The latest fad in healing. Multiple viable playstyles currently, very good at stacked group healing. Needs to be a little closer to heal effectively. ST healing strength remains to be seen.
Devastation Evoker
The latest fad in ranged DPS. Inhale deeply, exhale fire.

Hunter: unique niche of physical DPS from ranged. Often considered the training wheels DPS, but also quite strong when played well. Has pets. Shoots things. Feign Death can save your ass.
Beast Mastery Hunter
Focus on damage provided by your pet. Very mobile, which helps to deal with mechanics.
Marksmanship Hunter
Sniper class fantasy. Pew Pew.
Survival Hunter
Melee hunter was a meme for a long time, and then they made it a real thing. This is that. Sometimes it pumps, depending on current design.
Mage: Classical wizard caster damage dealer. Brings a bloodlust to the party comp.
Arcane Mage
Titan/order magic. Design usually revolves around draining your mana for heavy burn phase, then recovering mana. Resource management junkies.
Fire Mage
Pyromaniac. Opener is so complex it's silly. Feels better with more haste.
Frost Mage
Excellent control, favored DPS pvp spec for a long time, is now more competitive in raid/dungeons as well. Water elemental pet.

Brewmaster Monk
Leather tank, get drunk and feel no pain. That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, you just didn't feel it.
The king of mitigating the largest of single incoming physical damage events, but can struggle vs. magic mitigation or lots of small hits due to the "Stagger" mechanic.
Takes more damage overall than other tanks, but feels smoother to heal when played well. Can be harder to master/play well than other tanks.
Mistweaver Monk
Melee healer. Kick, punch, and stomp your way to damaging your enemies and healing your friends. Also can focus more on pumping single target heals as needed. Raid cooldowns can be a little weak except in specific cases.
Windwalker Monk
Melee DPS. Many punchings. effective play requires a lot of forethought. Having a channeled cast as a melee can feel weird. Tends to be insane on cleave but mid ST until touch of death/execute range kicks in.

Paladin: you know what this is.
Has a full immunity bubble, leading to "bubble hearth to escape danger" jokes.
Holy Paladin
Melee healer. Bringer of the light.
Protection Paladin
Plate and shield tank. Captain America shield toss interrupts enemies like crazy. Can be a very strong M+ pick, but usually is less favored for Meta-lovers. Incredible at covering for bad pug DPS that don't talent in to their interrupt.
Retribution Paladin
Melee DPS.  Bringer of the judgment. Traditionally a middle of the pack option that is generally good and stable for newer players but rarely a top performer at the cutting edge.
Discipline Priest
Caster healer that also does damage. Requires good planning and proactive play, not recommended for a new player/new healer.
Holy Priest
Traditional healer. many buttons, lots of cooldowns, easier to play reactively compared to disc. Guardian spirit is a VERY strong single target mitigation/healing cooldown.
Shadow Priest
Caster DPS. do you like the void and old gods? Fan of Cthulhu? Possibly killing yourself to inflict pain? This might be the one for you.

Rogue: all dual wield melee dps. stealth, stealth, and more stealth. Vanish can save your ass, but also may be a DPS cooldown depending on talents, so you might have already used it when you need it to survive.
Outlaw Rogue
Swashbuckler pirate fantasy. Tends to have more weapon flexibility than the other two specs.
Assassination Rogue
Subtlety Rogue
Line is blurred between these two, both tend to favor more use of stealth mechanic, poisoned daggers, etc. Haven't looked in to it enough recently to have much to say.

Shaman: totems and elementals and the original bloodlust oh my
Elemental Shaman
Caster dps. Tends to be good at multi target but ramp up can take a while, and also suffers from targets being spread out.
Enhancement Shaman
Melee dps. feels very proc heavy/reactive to RNG. if you like responding to flashing lights in melee this might be for you.
Restoration Shaman
Strong healer for grouped up healing. A great choice to slot in to a raid heal team, has some of the best raid cooldown kit for mitigation and healing.
Not everything scales down to M+ as well, but still works.

Warlock: oops all caster DPS. Group utility is nice with a battle rez, player summoning, and healthstones.
Affliction Warlock
Very DoT focused. Makes them very good at maintaining damage while mobile, but long ramp time and maintenance to keep track of all the DoTs.
Demonology Warlock
DO YOU WANT AN ARMY OF EXPLODING DEMONS? NO? THEN WALK AWAY.
Destruction Warlock
More classic style Caster DPS. Strong choice for two target cleave.

Warrior: RAGE. OG plate badass, but not super great on group utility.
Arms Warrior
Precise strikes with a two handed weapon. Cracker of absorbs, provider of mortal strike.
Fury Warrior
Wildly attacking with dual two handed weapons for a very strong cleave with zero ramp time, but somewhat weaker on single target. Strongest when lining up cooldowns with waves of AoE mobs.
Protection Warrior
The original tank. this plate armor shield wearer throws down serious damage for a tank, as well as mitigating like a champ. Considered a top pick currently.
	My impressions, these should be taken with a grain of salt, and some of it may be outdated since I haven't played everything in the current patch.

	For high end mythic raid comps, there is more space for ranged DPS than melee DPS due to the need for very specific roles to be filled, leaving a lot less flexibility in who they bring.
	If you're not in the Race to World First happening right now, this doesn't really apply to you.
	If you're focusing on normal or heroic, or maybe lightly approaching mythic raiding, being good at any DPS spec is the real requirement.

	ST: Single Target
	AOE: Area of Effect/multi target/cleave.
	HoT: Heal over Time
	DoT: Damage over Time AKA bleed/disease/damage dealing debuff.

	Death Knight: plate armor. edge lord. Consume runes to generate runic power, consume runic power. has a battle rez now, which is great.
	Blood Death Knight
	Self healing tank. Often a strong meta pick for one of the two raid tank slots, and Mythic+ due to self sustain.
	Frost Death Knight
	Melee DPS Burst AOE. Less ramp up time needed than unholy.
	Unholy Death Knight
	Melee DPS Plagueyboi. Often beats frost DK on sustained AOE given time to ramp on larger mob count pulls.

	Demon Hunter: big mad demon hybrid. I hope you like jumpy laser beams and bat wings.
	Havoc Demon Hunter
	melee DPS. usually considered easy to learn DPS but has some nuance in the top end of play to keep it engaging.
	Vengeance Demon Hunter
	Leather tank, the most mobile of tanks. kinda squishy outside of cooldowns.
	Druid: I hope you like shapeshifting. Excessively enthusiastic animal lovers stop here and never leave.
	lots of group utility available to the class, not usually limited by the spec choice. The original in combat battle rez.
	Balance Druid
	Ranged caster DPS. Has a decent spread between DoT focus and direct damage in toolkit. Core mechanics re-vamped multiple times but recent design styles have been pretty good.
	Feral Druid
	melee dps, very bleed/DoT focused. You normally only find the most dedicated of feral players playing feral. It's a lot to manage, and the origin of the JOHN FUCKING MADDEN meme.
	Guardian Druid
	BEAR. leather tank, usually has lots and lots of HP, OK self healing, and did I mention BEAR?
	Restoration Druid
	king of HoT healers, allowing very strong multi target healing even if not stacked. often dominates mythic+ meta picks.

	Evoker: Very interesting toolkit, combines all the aspects (colors) of the dragonflights for a very cool dragon magic theme. Brings a bloodlust to the party comp.
	Uses new "empowered casting" mechanic which people either love or hate.
	Preservation Evoker
	The latest fad in healing. Multiple viable playstyles currently, very good at stacked group healing. Needs to be a little closer to heal effectively. ST healing strength remains to be seen.
	Devastation Evoker
	The latest fad in ranged DPS. Inhale deeply, exhale fire.

	Hunter: unique niche of physical DPS from ranged. Often considered the training wheels DPS, but also quite strong when played well. Has pets. Shoots things. Feign Death can save your ass.
	Beast Mastery Hunter
	Focus on damage provided by your pet. Very mobile, which helps to deal with mechanics.
	Marksmanship Hunter
	Sniper class fantasy. Pew Pew.
	Survival Hunter
	Melee hunter was a meme for a long time, and then they made it a real thing. This is that. Sometimes it pumps, depending on current design.
	Mage: Classical wizard caster damage dealer. Brings a bloodlust to the party comp.
	Arcane Mage
	Titan/order magic. Design usually revolves around draining your mana for heavy burn phase, then recovering mana. Resource management junkies.
	Fire Mage
	Pyromaniac. Opener is so complex it's silly. Feels better with more haste.
	Frost Mage
	Excellent control, favored DPS pvp spec for a long time, is now more competitive in raid/dungeons as well. Water elemental pet.

	Brewmaster Monk
	Leather tank, get drunk and feel no pain. That doesn't mean it doesn't hurt, you just didn't feel it.
	The king of mitigating the largest of single incoming physical damage events, but can struggle vs. magic mitigation or lots of small hits due to the "Stagger" mechanic.
	Takes more damage overall than other tanks, but feels smoother to heal when played well. Can be harder to master/play well than other tanks.
	Mistweaver Monk
	Melee healer. Kick, punch, and stomp your way to damaging your enemies and healing your friends. Also can focus more on pumping single target heals as needed. Raid cooldowns can be a little weak except in specific cases.
	Windwalker Monk
	Melee DPS. Many punchings. effective play requires a lot of forethought. Having a channeled cast as a melee can feel weird. Tends to be insane on cleave but mid ST until touch of death/execute range kicks in.

	Paladin: you know what this is.
	Has a full immunity bubble, leading to "bubble hearth to escape danger" jokes.
	Holy Paladin
	Melee healer. Bringer of the light.
	Protection Paladin
	Plate and shield tank. Captain America shield toss interrupts enemies like crazy. Can be a very strong M+ pick, but usually is less favored for Meta-lovers. Incredible at covering for bad pug DPS that don't talent in to their interrupt.
	Retribution Paladin
	Melee DPS. Bringer of the judgment. Traditionally a middle of the pack option that is generally good and stable for newer players but rarely a top performer at the cutting edge.
	Discipline Priest
	Caster healer that also does damage. Requires good planning and proactive play, not recommended for a new player/new healer.
	Holy Priest
	Traditional healer. many buttons, lots of cooldowns, easier to play reactively compared to disc. Guardian spirit is a VERY strong single target mitigation/healing cooldown.
	Shadow Priest
	Caster DPS. do you like the void and old gods? Fan of Cthulhu? Possibly killing yourself to inflict pain? This might be the one for you.

	Rogue: all dual wield melee dps. stealth, stealth, and more stealth. Vanish can save your ass, but also may be a DPS cooldown depending on talents, so you might have already used it when you need it to survive.
	Outlaw Rogue
	Swashbuckler pirate fantasy. Tends to have more weapon flexibility than the other two specs.
	Assassination Rogue
	Subtlety Rogue
	Line is blurred between these two, both tend to favor more use of stealth mechanic, poisoned daggers, etc. Haven't looked in to it enough recently to have much to say.

	Shaman: totems and elementals and the original bloodlust oh my
	Elemental Shaman
	Caster dps. Tends to be good at multi target but ramp up can take a while, and also suffers from targets being spread out.
	Enhancement Shaman
	Melee dps. feels very proc heavy/reactive to RNG. if you like responding to flashing lights in melee this might be for you.
	Restoration Shaman
	Strong healer for grouped up healing. A great choice to slot in to a raid heal team, has some of the best raid cooldown kit for mitigation and healing.
	Not everything scales down to M+ as well, but still works.

	Warlock: oops all caster DPS. Group utility is nice with a battle rez, player summoning, and healthstones.
	Affliction Warlock
	Very DoT focused. Makes them very good at maintaining damage while mobile, but long ramp time and maintenance to keep track of all the DoTs.
	Demonology Warlock
	DO YOU WANT AN ARMY OF EXPLODING DEMONS? NO? THEN WALK AWAY.
	Destruction Warlock
	More classic style Caster DPS. Strong choice for two target cleave.

	Warrior: RAGE. OG plate badass, but not super great on group utility.
	Arms Warrior
	Precise strikes with a two handed weapon. Cracker of absorbs, provider of mortal strike.
	Fury Warrior
	Wildly attacking with dual two handed weapons for a very strong cleave with zero ramp time, but somewhat weaker on single target. Strongest when lining up cooldowns with waves of AoE mobs.
	Protection Warrior
	The original tank. this plate armor shield wearer throws down serious damage for a tank, as well as mitigating like a champ. Considered a top pick currently.