WoW player creates chart to illustrate differences between class popularity and relative DPS

In World of Warcraft, the most popular specialization (spec) isn’t always the strongest. While some classes such as Hunter and Druid tend to have the largest class-wide player bases, it isn’t always that they dominate the DPS charts. 

One WoW player on the game’s official subreddit by the name of AttitudeAdjusterSE created a well-illustrated chart that plots each spec in WoW on a graph, comparing their popularity to relative strength by using the number of Mythic-level parses in the Vault of the Incarnates to their overall numbers on the DPS charts. 

The most popular DPS spec in Mythic raids this expansion has been Havoc Demon Hunter, which has 55,000 individual parses in the Vault of the Incarnates over the last two weeks, according to WoW stats site Warcraftlogs.

Right behind Havoc DH is Beast Mastery Hunter, which has 50,000 parses.

The next-highest class in terms of popularity would be Balance Druid, which doesn’t even come close to the highest two specs, as there’s a gap of 15,000 parses in-between BM Hunter and Balance. 

However, while those specs definitely have a solid amount of players, they aren’t necessarily the strongest. Havoc and BM players rank in the 20th and 21st DPS percentiles on average, respectively, but there are still eight specs that outrank Havoc in terms of average damage, according to Warcraftlogs.

The classes that currently dominate the DPS charts in Mythic raids are Arms Warrior, Shadow Priest, and Subtlety Rogue. None of those specs have an average score below 83 on Warcraftlogs, meaning players on those specs each tend to be at least in the 17th percentile of damage dealers. That being said, only one of the top three overall specs (Shadow Priest) is in the top ten when it comes to total popularity.

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AttitudeAdjusterSE’s chart also thoroughly displays the different “clusters” of specs in Mythic raiding, with certain underperforming specs being notably left behind by the player base, and other high-tier specs earning their fair share of popularity. These clusters of specs indicate that WoW is actually more balanced than players would lead you to believe and that DPS tier lists (at least in relation to class popularity) are still quite rigid. 

The worst-performing WoW spec out of all 25 options is Destruction Warlock, and the least popular (by far) is Survival Hunter.