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3v3 Arena Composition Tier List / Guide for WotLK Classic

Last updated on Oct 03, 2023 at 13:00 by Seksixeny 1 comment

This guide will focus on rankings for the Arena, where 2v2, 3v3 and 5v5 matches occur. Doing well increases your team's rating, and the higher you go, the more points will be gained upon the weekly reset. These points can then be used to buy arena gear, which mirrors PvE gear in item level, but with some item budget allocated to Resilience and PvP-oriented set bonuses.

We will be listing and ranking some of the best arena compositions for the 3v3 arena bracket in this guide. These compositions rely on having a synergistic combination of abilities that can put pressure on opponents and deflect incoming aggression successfully, and we will be offering a brief explanation on each.

Feel free to also consult the 2v2 bracket and 5v5 bracket tier lists, as well as our PvP DPS and PvP Healer rankings in order to learn more about the advantages and disadvantages of each class and specialization when individually assessed.

TABLE OF CONTENTS OF THIS PAGE
1.

Introduction

In this guide, we will be presenting the compositions that form "the meta" of Wrath Arena in the 3v3 bracket.

The meta changes over time, but it will naturally change less and more slowly in a game as well understood as Wrath of the Lich King Classic. We will also be getting the final talent balance of Wrath right away, and thus most of the changes will come from having better gear for classes that scale well as we progress in tiers. To give a practical example, Physical damage dealers will start off with low Armor Penetration and thus have much lower damage potential than they will in the later phases of Wrath.

While most compositions have a favored healer, alternative healers can often be employed to some degree of success, especially as healers are significantly more versatile and capable with Wrath talents and spells. Also, note that within each tier the compositions are not listed in order of power.

2.

Wrath 3v3 Arena Tier List

3v3 is the most balanced Arena bracket, with more viable compositions and classes than the 2v2 bracket, while avoiding the craziness and one-shot meta of the 5v5 bracket.

2.1.

Best Wrath Arena Compositions for 3v3

The best 3v3 team compositions bring a lot of offensive and defensive abilities, as well as diverse crowd control (CC) on separate diminishing return (DR) categories or overwhelming damage. This allows them to set up prolonged crowd control chains or pressure the enemy team into making mistakes, often leading to a kill.

Retribution Paladins are particularly notable for bringing great burst damage, crowd control, defensive abilities, and off-healing in a single package, making them very strong with any other class, even when not explicitly listed below.

This list will be adjusted over time as teams match against each other in Wrath Classic.

Composition Strengths Weaknesses
Thundercleave: Alternative healer:
  • Low CC when compared to most compositions.
TSG: Alternative healer:
  • Very low CC when compared to most compositions;
  • Lack of ranged DPS allows enemies to kite, although this is a composition that works well to keep enemies within range as much as possible.
Shatterplay:
  • Excellent burst damage, especially during Bloodlust IconBloodlust and Deep Freeze IconDeep Freeze;
  • Multiple ranged interrupts and silences, as well as great CC from Hex IconHex, Psychic Horror IconPsychic Horror, and Polymorph IconPolymorph;
  • Double offensive dispel plus Spellsteal IconSpellsteal allows for very high pressure against compositions that rely on defensive buffs.
  • Hex IconHex and Polymorph IconPolymorph share diminishing return categories, limiting maximum CC chain length;
  • Line-of-sight usage by enemy team can severely impact damage done.
LSD: Alternative healer:
  • High skill requirement composition due to the low survivability of most members, especially the Warlock who needs constant peeling in order to cast;
  • Line-of-sight usage by enemy team can severely impact damage done.
Cupid Cleave Alternative healer:
  • Can be difficult to fend off high incoming damage, especially if Hunter can be disarmed, which prevents the use of Deterrence IconDeterrence.
WMS: Alternative healer:
  • Allows for multiple specs (Affliction / Destruction and Frost / Fire) to be viable with the playstyle mostly depending on the Warlock's spec, Affliction will put out pressure on multiple targets for swaps, Destruction will focus on CC into one shot Chaos Bolt IconChaos Bolt combos;
  • Huge amount of high-duration CC, allowing for infinite CC chains with Polymorph IconPolymorph, Fear IconFear, Seduction IconSeduction, Frost Nova IconFrost Nova, and so on.
  • Long casts are required for burst damage;
  • All members are weak when pressured.
Turbo: Alternative healers:
  • Gear-dependent composition;
  • Lack of ranged DPS allows enemies to kite.
RMP: Alternative healer:
  • Strong burst damage, especially with offensive cooldowns;
  • Wide array of CC, including stuns and interrupts;
  • Great swap potential, hard to predict burst target until the final moment.
  • Mana runs out quickly in a prolonged fight;
  • Mistakes are easily fatal due to the long cooldowns on critical abilities;
  • Requires the most coordination out of any team due to damage being setup-dependent.
Shadowplay:
  • Best spread and overall damage, plus Bloodlust IconBloodlust;
  • Multiple ranged interrupts and silences, as well as a great CC chain with Hex IconHex, Psychic Horror IconPsychic Horror, and Fear IconFear;
  • All members have offensive and defensive dispels, allowing for easy magic CC breaking.
  • Low mobility and damage often requires casting, allowing for enemy disruption;
  • Line-of-sight usage by enemy team can severely impact damage done;
  • Limited CC, mostly composed of fear effects.
Beastcleave
  • Loses pressure on the opener if Hunter is disarmed during Bestial Wrath IconBestial Wrath;
  • Can quickly run out of steam once cooldowns are all used, as BM Hunter and Enh Shaman both rely on their cooldowns for most of their damage.
Junglecleave
  • Hard to keep pressure high against strong offensive pressure as it forces the Druid into Dire Bear Form IconDire Bear Form where outgoing damage is limited;
  • Hunter and Priest are vulnerable to swaps due to having low defensive capabilities.
LDS:
  • Huge AoE damage with Starfall IconStarfall and Balance plus Warlock DoTs, as well as Bloodlust IconBloodlust;
  • Multiple ranged interrupts and silences, as well as a great CC chain with Hex IconHex, Fear IconFear, Cyclone IconCyclone, and Entangling Roots IconEntangling Roots.
  • Less impact on damage from line-of-sight usage relative to most caster cleaves due to most damage coming from DoTs;
  • Low survivability of both Warlock and Druid requires great peeling abilities in order to stay alive for a kill to happen;
  • Casting requirements on some of the harder hitting abilities allow for interrupt / silence disruption from enemy team.
3.

Other Wrath Arena Compositions for 3v3

While the teams listed above are, arguably, the best ones in the current meta, there are plenty of other strong options as well which we will list below. If your desired composition is not on this list, it is likely because it lags further behind the current state of the meta.

This list will be adjusted over time as teams match against each other in Wrath Classic.

Composition Strengths Weaknesses
Vanguards:
  • Low amount of CC;
  • No Mortal Strike IconMortal Strike effect allows enemy healing to quickly top people off if your burst does not overwhelm.
WLD: Alternative healer:
  • Warlock's low survivability makes it hard to survive against enemy damage, especially of the Physical kind;
  • Limited friendly dispel from Devour Magic IconDevour Magic, which makes Warrior mobility very weak against roots.
2-healer Warrior Alternative healers:
  • Strong, consistent damage supported by Mortal Strike IconMortal Strike, totems, and offensive dispel;
  • Huge healing potential, supported by defensive dispel.
2-healer Hunter
  • Mana Burn IconMana Burn and Viper Sting IconViper Sting enable no-DPS wins;
  • Huge healing potential which can just as quickly be diverted into Mana Burn IconMana Burning and CC'ing when healing is not required.
  • Very low damage potential;
  • Can be difficult to burn Druids and melee comps.
RLS: Alternative healer:
  • Well-rounded damage, with plenty of interrupts, CC and Bloodlust IconBloodlust;
  • Great target swap potential, with Warlock DoTs and Rogue stuns being able to be deployed quickly.
  • Weak against melee cleaves as all members all squishy against Physical damage;
  • Requires great CC coordination in order to survive, with mistakes being punished heavily.
4.

Conclusion

No matter what class or specialization you play, there is always a strong team composition you can utilize. Every team has a weakness and it is important to know them. Teams and their weaknesses can change frequently throughout a season. If there is a team comp that is missing, please let us know in the comments so we can add it to the list.

Feel free to check out our 2v2 and 5v5 arena tier list / comp guides as well if you are interested in those brackets:

2v2 Arena Tier List 5v5 Arena Tier List
5.

Changelog

  • 03 Oct. 2023: Updated for Phase 4.
  • 19 Jun. 2023: Reviewed prior to Phase 3 patch.
  • 21 May 2022: Page reviewed for Phase 3.
  • 21 Sep. 2022: Page added.
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