Midnight (Patch 12.1.5)

Every DPS spec in World of Warcraft, ranked in 6 fight scenarios from SimulationCraft sims of each spec’s top talent builds for the fight.

Single Target

Best-case single-target raid boss damage.

  1. 1.Devourer Demon Hunter295,186
  2. 2.Feral Druid266,455
  3. 3.Subtlety Rogue263,805
View full rankings

Cleave

Best-case damage on two raid bosses.

  1. 1.Frost Mage428,446
  2. 2.Demonology Warlock417,839
  3. 3.Devourer Demon Hunter407,299
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Assisted Highlight

Single-target raid boss damage using the Assisted Highlight feature and cooldowns.

  1. 1.Frost Death Knight255,230
  2. 2.Beast Mastery Hunter253,267
  3. 3.Survival Hunter242,309
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One Button

Single-target raid boss damage with Single-Button Assistant.

  1. 1.Elemental Shaman229,292
  2. 2.Assassination Rogue227,361
  3. 3.Beast Mastery Hunter224,512
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AoE

Best-case AoE damage on a raid boss with four adds.

  1. 1.Fury Warrior836,454
  2. 2.Elemental Shaman831,867
  3. 3.Windwalker Monk806,042
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Solo

Single-target damage with no raid buffs or Bloodlust.

  1. 1.Devourer Demon Hunter250,705
  2. 2.Subtlety Rogue216,947
  3. 3.Affliction Warlock214,481
View full rankings

About these rankings

Every list on this page comes from the same set of SimC sims, re-run whenever a patch, a hotfix or a SimC update changes class performance.

Published
Nov 7, 2026
Specs ranked
26
Item levels
288, 338
Game data
12.1.5.70783
SimC build
simc@d38855b
Release
121-508

Common questions

All rankings questionsCompare specssimulationcraft.org

What is the best DPS spec in Patch 12.1.5?

It depends on the fight. In Single Target, Devourer Demon Hunter ranks first; in Cleave, Frost Mage; in Assisted Highlight, Frost Death Knight; in One Button, Elemental Shaman; in AoE, Fury Warrior; in Solo, Devourer Demon Hunter.

How are the DPS rankings made?

Every spec runs the same SimC fight thousands of times on a set talent build and rotation, and its DPS is the average. Since the fight is identical for everyone, you can compare specs with each other, and a spec with itself from one patch to the next.

Why is a spec’s profile out of date, or not using a certain item or build?

The rankings sim SimC’s own profiles, so the gear is whatever SimC’s maintainers and theorycrafters have in the repo for that spec. A spec stays on its old profile, sometimes last tier’s, until SimC publishes a new one and the rankings next run on that SimC build. If a spec has no working SimC profile, it runs a stand-in until it does.

Talents depend on the list. Most lists run the talent build that did the most damage in that fight. Tanks run the top build from the guides and SimC. One Button and Assisted Highlight lists run SimC’s own talents. Right after a patch, a spec runs its guide build until the new builds are simmed.

SimC is open source, and its GitHub is the place to follow profile updates.

SimC on GitHub

Which hero tree does a spec rank on?

Whichever one did the most DPS. Every hero tree gets simmed, and each list shows a spec’s highest result for that fight and item level, so the hero tree can change from one list to the next. Open a spec from a ranking and its sim report names the profile in Run details.

Why don’t the rankings match raid logs?

A ranking is the average of thousands of identical fights, so every spec gets the same conditions. A raid log is the best pull players have managed on a real boss, so it also depends on how many people play the spec, how well it fits that encounter and raid comp, and any exploits.

Sims have limits too. They’re weaker at modeling a specific boss, and only as good as the theorycrafting behind them.

What do the fight scenarios mean?

  • Single Target. Best-case single-target raid boss damage.
  • Cleave. Best-case damage on two raid bosses.
  • Assisted Highlight. Single-target raid boss damage using the Assisted Highlight feature and cooldowns.
  • One Button. Single-target raid boss damage with Single-Button Assistant.
  • AoE. Best-case AoE damage on a raid boss with four adds.
  • Solo. Single-target damage with no raid buffs or Bloodlust.

What happened to Raid Boss (Max) and Raid Boss (Real)?

Raid Boss (Max) was renamed Single Target.

Raid Boss (Real) is retired, and links to it open Single Target. It added movement and player mistakes to the fight, and SimC’s support for those varies too much by spec and patch to rank specs fairly. Single Target runs every spec through the same stand-still fight, which SimC supports for all of them.

Other fight scenarios were renamed or retired as well.

  • Chain Pulls. Retired. Links to it open Cleave.
  • Pure AoE. Retired. Links to it open AoE.
  • Solo Delves. Solo replaces it and drops the movement, stuns and extra enemies.
  • One Button Assist. Renamed One Button.
  • Burst Phase, High Latency and Imperfect Play. Retired. Links to them open Single Target.