wow Final 9.1 Sanctum of Domination DPS Log Rankings: Fury Rises, Windwalker and Balance Commentary

[Starym 3,800]

 

We've arrived at the very last 9.1 Sanctum of Domination DPS log rankings post, with patch 9.1.5 arriving tomorrow! As we take one last peek we've also asked some of our guide writers to take a look back at spec performance in 9.1 and a look ahead to what's coming as well.

Mythic DPS Rankings

We have one final surge from Fury here at the very end of 9.1 in the top percentiles, as it almost rises to the very top, grabbing No.2 instead in its 5 spot jump! Elemental is the biggest loser at the top this week, as it drops 2 into 5th, but on the up side Frost DK ties Fury's bug jump as it also rises 5, settling down in 8th, as the final 2 top 10 spots remain as yellow as last week.

95th percentile Mythic data by Warcraft Logs.

While Fury also rises quite a bit in the all percentiles chart, it's not quite as dramatic as it's still down near the middle of the pack, even with the 4 spot jump into 10th. And while Arms is still a lot higher, it actually went down one this week into 3rd. In the top 10 we only have Affliction and Survival offering any movement, as they switch places, and the rest remains the same, as expected in the more stable rankings:

All percentiles Mythic data by Warcraft Logs.
 

Class Guide Writer Commentary

Let's see what our class guide writers have to say about two of the the top specs, taking a look back at 9.1 and looking forward to the upcoming patch as well, starting with the No.1:

Windwalker Monk by Babylonius

Windwalker has done very well in Sanctum of Domination, similar to Castle Nathria. Another strong tier of AOE with exceptional AOE capabilities have helped to hide the fact that Windwalker's single target damage is exceedingly lackluster. Fights like Soulrender Dormazain, Fatescribe Roh-Kalo, and Kel'Thuzad highlighted Windwalker's top-of-the-charts power when it comes to burst AOE. Similarly, fights like Sylvanas Windrunner with the arrows and P2 adds, and Painsmith Raznal with the intermission adds also allowed Windwalkers to explode on the charts briefly throughout the fight, and with enough damage to still look nice on the charts at the end of the fights. It's only on fights like Guardian that Windwalker's disappointing single-target damage is highlighted. Thankfully, those situations were much fewer in Sanctum of Domination than in other raids, allowing the spec to really show off. And so Windwalkers were able to provide and get by on their top AOE damage, allowing others to focus on the single target or utility requirements of fights. Looking into 9.1.5, Windwalkers should maintain their control over the top of the AOE charts, even with many classes getting "uncapped" AOE. However, it wouldn't be surprising if Windwalker AOE gets tuned down somewhere down the line, either through nerfs to Calculated Strikes , Spinning Crane Kick, and/or Dance of Chi-Ji. Thankfully, Windwalkers have a TON of AOE damage to give up and still be toward the top of the charts. Hopefully, any tuning of our AOE damage is coupled with increasing our single target damage, where Windwalkers struggle. As it stands, if nothing else changes, Windwalkers will enjoy another long patch of strong performance in AOE raid bosses and Mythic+.

Balance Druid by Bora

Balance Druid was one of the best, if not the best caster DPS in Sanctum of Domination. Venthyr Druids in particular saw massive success in the ranking department placing among the top DPS classes in the raid. The new legendary, Sinful Hysteria, starts a slow burning damage window which culminates into the strongest burst in the game. This kind of DPS is great in a raid riddled with priority targets such as Kel'Thuzad's Phylactery, Mawsworn Overlords, and other dangerous add types. While cooldowns played a decisive role in Balance Druid's power, Starfall and the new Stellar Drift were two extraordinary abilities this raid. The change to Stellar Drift made Starfall's damage larger but added a cooldown to it which reduced mobility. The fights normally did not have sustained multi-target but more sporadic spawning add waves. All of these factors played a large role in the success the class had this raid tier, and with no changes slated for 9.1.5, they should remain strong. In Patch 9.2, it would not be unreasonable to speculate there may be some tuning for the Venthyr Covenant to come.

Heroic DPS Rankings

Heroic is seeing more changes for the second week in a row, after a long time nothing happening, and it's Balance continuing to crash the party. It's risen up into 2nd place, bursting the Rogues' bubble and separating them after what is probably months of the yellow 1-2. Shadow also takes advantage of this chaos and grabs itself the 4th spot, rising a pretty huge 3 spots in this normally very stable bracket.

All percentiles Heroic data by Warcraft Logs.

 

As always, if you want even more info on a spec, you can check out our class guides here, for a DPS tier list you can go here, or for even more data, head on over to Warcraft Logs.