Over years, have some specs always been doing good ?

[Strear]

No need for exactitude here, just an impression over time.

Paladin - overall - It has never been " overall " good except maybe for a few weeks where Ret shined too.
Paladin - Ret - I think we've always been average but never " enough " to RBG. I think the matter is that they always wanted us to bring utility, but that utility was never unique enough to make a difference and be taken in RBG in example.
Paladin - Holy - I think we've always been between average and good.

For the classes I don't practice, I always had the impression Restoration druids were always good, same goes for Frost mages, I mean I never had the impression they ever were " unwanted " in comps or rbgs.

[mmmmmmmBacon]

No need for exactitude here, just an impression over time.

Paladin - overall - It has never been " overall " good except maybe for a few weeks where Ret shined too.
Paladin - Ret - I think we've always been average but never " enough " to RBG. I think the matter is that they always wanted us to bring utility, but that utility was never unique enough to make a difference and be taken in RBG in example.
Paladin - Holy - I think we've always been between average and good.

For the classes I don't practice, I always had the impression Restoration druids were always good, same goes for Frost mages, I mean I never had the impression they ever were " unwanted " in comps or rbgs.

Resto druids were underutilized, if not weak, in the first season of every expansion. After the initial craziness, they generally settled into being one of the stronger healing specs.

Ret paladins up until a short stint in Season 5, and then Cata, were mostly seen as laughable at higher end pvp. There were a few exceptions to the rule, but few.

Holy paladins were kind of the opposite; they had a lot of utility and a get-out-of-jail free card that other healers didn't have with Divine Shield. They've almost always been a reliable healer, though pigeon-holed into a few specific comps at times.

Discipline priests performed much the same as Holy paladins.


The one spec that comes to mind with the overall consistency throughout the years would be Frost Mages, though. Even all the way back to Classic I remember them being monsters, only getting chopped down at the beginning of Mop Season 1 when Hunters were abusing Stampede. They were back on their thrones by the end of the season though after a few tuning passes.

[Noocta]

In PvP ? Affliction Warlocks have never been bad, literally.
Rogue + Mage combo has always a found a way to be competitive as well, given they changed the healer they play with fairly often depending on the expac.

Melee tends to come and go a bit more, warriors had troubled times but probably the most consistent one outside of rogue at being good.

Healer wise.. It's hard to say. Disc priest and druid probably shared the most time in the spotligjht over the last decade, but there have been time where shaman or paladin were really damn good. But also where they were really damn bad lol

[Ulfric Trumpcloak]

Affliction Warlocks, Sub rogues, frost mages.

[Deleted]

Frost Mage, Sub Rogue, Arms Warrior, Restoration Druid, Holy Paladin, Affliction Warlock

[Deleted]

Synergy is the key I guess. Certain class have this in abundance with others.

And ofcourse classes with a massive number of CC options.

[Raidosounds]

Frost Dks I think have always been good besides a couple of seasons, same with arms warriors. Resto Druids have always been good, rogues in general, locks(at least one spec), frost mage, and I think hunters. Hpal have been great from the start I think.

[Hellfury]

Dks were always good soloers and duelists, after that you get the specs like @Taftvalue said.

Aff locks were always good at spreading aids
Holy paladins were always good burst healers
Restro druids been always good at healing multiple ppl
Frost mage were always good controlers
Sub and arms were always good disrupters/damage dealers

[Snegovik]

mages,resto droods,rogues,arms,ua almost always has been good with an exception for maybe for 1 season (1st season of wrath for Rdroods, cuz Dks dispelled all their hots and last season of Cata for wars, just few exceptions from the top of my head) but other than that those classes were almost always doing great in rated PvP. Personally I would also add shadow to that group, but its more of a personal opinion and Boomies were very good in past couple xpacs.

[Will]

Well holy specs have been doing good, I'd say. 'Evil' specs like warlock have been doing bad.

[Beau]

I think frost mages, affliction locks and healers have always been pretty good. There's always been at least one strong rogue spec, but I don't know rogues well enough to know if it's been the same one or not.

As for pally specifically, ret has been up and down, but holy has been good to great the whole time. Early on the hand of freedom used to make me rage so hard since horde didn't have anything similar. Same with BoP. Holy can be hard to play in PvP, but they have more options in PvP than they do in PvE and their ability to stack armor made them laugh at melee teams in the early days of arena.

[jtth]

Well holy specs have been doing good, I'd say. 'Evil' specs like warlock have been doing bad.

When in WoW's history has affliction ever been bad?

[Malstrum]

Frost mages have always been gods.

If you like 3v3 affliction locks are monsters. Sub rogues are usually good but often boring to play (in my opinion).

I can't think of a time when resto druids were ever bad, they fluctuate between OP and viable.

S5 was such an outlier that I wouldn't even consider it in my evaluation.

- - - Updated - - -

When in WoW's history has affliction ever been bad?

I think he was joking and being punny :P

[Deleted]

Pretty sure that in the entire history of this whole game Warriors, Resto Druids, Frost Mages and Rogues have NEVER been anything less than tier 1.

[Snegovik]

Pretty sure that in the entire history of this whole game Warriors, Resto Druids, Frost Mages and Rogues have NEVER been anything less than tier 1.

Last season of Cata Wars were really crap

1st season of Wrath when Dks were implemented, resto droods were not tier 1, since Dk's attacks would dispell all their hots.
But other than those 2 seasons i cant remb when those classes were not tier one

[Charge me Doctor]

Specs? No, classes? Yes
Mage, Druid, Warrior always were relevant trough WoW history

- - - Updated - - -

Last season of Cata Wars were really crap

1st season of Wrath when Dks were implemented, resto droods were not tier 1, since Dk's attacks would dispell all their hots.
But other than those 2 seasons i cant remb when those classes were not tier one

Taking into account "when Dks were implemented" is unfair, just like taking into account any prepatch in history. Maybe you want to remember TBC prepatch when hunter could ctrl+1 you and you died and couldn't do anything to stop his pet?

But to be fair, DKs were doing "good" (ugh, it's not too hard to tell the difference between doing good and doing well), if you rolled DK for PvP you could always find a team and get to decent rating

[Snegovik]

Specs? No, classes? Yes
Mage, Druid, Warrior always were relevant trough WoW history

- - - Updated - - -



Taking into account "when Dks were implemented" is unfair, just like taking into account any prepatch in history. Maybe you want to remember TBC prepatch when hunter could ctrl+1 you and you died and couldn't do anything to stop his pet?

But to be fair, DKs were doing "good" (ugh, it's not too hard to tell the difference between doing good and doing well), if you rolled DK for PvP you could always find a team and get to decent rating

I was taking into account 1 season that i can think of when Resto Droods were not in a Top Tier spot =), there are plenty seasons when an X class is OP, i just pointed out when Resto Droods were in a bit of a pickle =)

[Mustardisbad]

Frost mages have always been good, I've literally never heard of someone saying they have bad dps or were not needed in bgs or arenas. Also pretty much every DK spec has been atleast decent in some season.

[Kagthul]

Venue really matters here.

in Arenas? There are a few specs that have always been at least "pretty good" and never been bad.

in the PvP the vast majority of the rest of us do? Every class has had its ups and downs.

[Charge me Doctor]

I was taking into account 1 season that i can think of when Resto Droods were not in a Top Tier spot =), there are plenty seasons when an X class is OP, i just pointed out when Resto Droods were in a bit of a pickle =)

Resto druids were changed so often through WoW history, but they always were good in PvP. HoTing and jumping into a bear to be indestructible fortress that murders any rogue who was foolish enough to try to punch through Thorns from TBC is back (as one of playstyles for resto if you wish to spec into it) and it makes me very happy. In fact, legion PvP reminds me of TBC PvP, where imbalances were countered by other imbalances, instead of everything being mowed down to the same level of boredom and blandness.

Also i don't remember DKs dispelling all the hots from a target. I do remember necro strike that negated almost all healing (which is back by the way), but i don't remember DKs dispelling all the hots