[Top 5] WoW Shadowlands Best Burst DPS With Explosive Damage

Top 5, World of Warcraft, Shadowlands, Best burst DPS, Explosive Damage, Burst

Updated:

15 Feb 2022

Remember the days when it was all about that big burst of damage? Those explosive unexpected chunks of HP melting abilities that every raid or dungeon group wanted. Well, with the release of Shadowlands, we are back to it again.

Some classes and specs have gotten some pretty nice changes and with that came the competition of who can demolish the target faster. This is especially important for mythic+ tyrannical weeks where adds have almost limitless hp.

We are going to talk about the top 5 burst Dps specs and what can they do in less than 30 seconds.

A quick reminder before we start, not all bursts are the same and they don't all fit into the 30-second rule. Some of them can burst just for 12 to 15 seconds while others can keep up 'till 30.

5. Balance Druid

This is one of the classes that people expected to do great once Shadowlands started and Balance druid did not disappoint at all. Not the top 3 but still amazing. Balance is a spec that has great AoE dmg and even better single target damage because of the Convoke the spirits.

Now the only reason his burst is not in number one is that it's pretty RNG. In that, it's very random and players do not have much control over it. Either you melt the target or you don't, which is not the most admired playstyle.

The single target burst is basically casting all your single target spells during your celestial alignments, such as wrath and starsurge. Refresh your dots every once in a while and then keep spamming one or two buttons until the target is no more.

What is great About Balance

Great single target damage
Good AoE damage
With Convoke the Spirits his burst goes up to 60 thousand dps for a few seconds
Great mobility
If the RNG gods bless you, you can pretty much nuke any target within seconds

Cons of this spec are very obvious

The player doesn't have the full control over its own burst
The DPS drops drastically after the Convoke the spirits which means other classes can catch up very quickly and win the DPS race easily.
Rotation is too simple and the RNG makes it boring because it requires no skill. You are just hoping to get full moon dooring the convoke the spirits.

If you are looking to play Balance druid and you love the starsurge spam machine so much. Here is the armory of the top BD players where you can look up his items, covenant, conduits, traits, and talents. https://raider.io/characters/us/azralon/Ilunne#season=season-sl-2

4. Windwalker monk

Now, here we have a spec that is getting more popular by the day. Reaching almost 14k DPS during the full burst, Windwalker monk is becoming the new flavor of the month and his rise in play is ever so present.

The reason for the increase of this specific spec is because a lot of the bugs that it had got fixed. One of the most important bugs was the torment and fire problem where trinkets and other abilities didn't improve the damage of the clones but rather reduce it.

Now with that being said, WW Monk has such a fun and unique playstyle and when you put great burst on top of that, it's worthy of a spot number 4.

Their damage comes from a variety of spells which is very rare and many will agree, fun. One of its main spells is a whirling dragon punch that spikes up their DPS drastically.

What is great about Windwalker Monk

Fun to play
Requires actual skill and timing to produce high damage
Burst is far more consistant than previously mentioned Balance druid
His explosive burst is good for both single target and AoE

Cons of ww monk:

Might still have some bugs regarding the previously mentioned spells
Some players might find it difficult to properly manage all his spells into the rotation

For all of you looking for a new class to master and don't really know what are the best possible builds for it. Here's the link to the top WW monk on retail. https://raider.io/characters/eu/twisting-nether/Childintime#season=season-sl-2-post-915

3. Marksmanship Hunter

Spot number 3 goes to Marksmanship Hunter but in reality, Affliction warlock and MM hunter share the number 2 spot. The only reason why the hunter is number 3 is because of its weird burst that goes up and down like a rollercoaster.

Don't get me wrong, the mm hunter is doing amazingly well and his damage and burst are insane. Most of its damage comes from Aim Shot ability that spikes its burst every 2 to 3 seconds. Mashed up together with their covenant ability Wild Spirits and you got yourself a good 15 to 20 seconds of the explosive burst.

This is the spec that can also reach 14k DPS and stay there during the burst which will keep the hunter on top for those 30 seconds mentioned in the beginning.

What is great about mm hunters

A high explosive burst of damage
Great at single target and AoE
Not too complicated to play but at the same time not so simple
One of the best mobility classes.
pet collection
Wild spirits so overpowered

Cons or rather just two

Inconsistent burst or rather burst of regular intervals - during the burst hunters damage is spiking up and down drastically so depending on the fight it can mean that you can lose some DPS
His burst is not really 30 seconds, it's more like 15 to 20 seconds which means that after that it drops measurably.

For all of you that are into collecting beautiful pets and love to stay at the safest distance from the fight and just destroy the targets. Here's the link to the top hunter at the moment and his build. https://raider.io/characters/eu/drakthul/Sparklen#season=season-sl-2

2. Affliction Warlock

So here we have a spec that has it all. Great consistent DPS. Awesome single target and AoE with an insane burst of damage. Nice mobility with the teleport. Good defense. Reaches the 14k DPS with ease although a bit slower than mm hunter.

So why are they tied for the 2nd place? Well firstly, both of these specs have almost the same peak when it comes to max DPS. They both shine in single target and AoE damage. Both have pets and both of them have very few cons.

Now the only reason why I put Affliction in the 2nd place is that its way of dealing damage is DoT - Damage over Time. That means you put your DoTs on the target and you are good to go. Whereas hunters need to keep using abilities to produce the same damage.

Yes, Affliction needs to cast as well but it loses less damage when dodging the mechanics of the boss during the fight. On the other hand, hunters can move and use abilities but once they get cc'd (crowd controlled), they cannot continue casting. Meanwhile, Affliction DoTs are just ticking.

What is great About Affliction? Well, what isn't?

So much fun to play
Great single target dps
Awesome AoE
Even if the targets are not stuck together you can just spread your DoTs
Amazing burst with malefic rupture being cast 'till you're out of soul shards

Cons for this spec are not really cons, more like side effects of greatness

The Burst time is even smaller than the mm hunter. It's compared to fire mage's where you have 5 to 10 seconds to produce a massive burst of damage.
The prep time. What I mean by that is that it takes a lot of time for you to actually cast everything and for those spells to ramp up and start ticking.
Not an easy spec to play

If you love spreading your DoTs on every single ad alive and watching them melt while the numbers keep pumping and you want to check some of the best Affliction warlocks out there. Here's a link to one of them that can show you what talents, conduits, traits, and covenants to take. https://raider.io/characters/eu/soulflayer/Фрозенира#season=season-sl-2

1. Unholy Death Knight

Ah.. so finally the Kings of the kings. The spec that needs no introduction. If you have played Shadowlands or WoW in general, you know that Unholy Death Knights were always at the top of the food chain.

Reaching more than 15.5k DPS sometimes even peaking at 16 to 17k DPS. This beast of a class has no match. The thing that makes this spec worthy of being number one is his consistency. He is so freaking consistent with his DPS that during those 30 seconds of burst that we measured for all classes, Its DPS never went down.

There are no peaks and mountains on the charts like we have with the mm hunters where the damage just goes up and down. This spec is a well-programmed machine for pumping the numbers.
Two main reasons for that are the Army of the dead and their main ghoul. Army of the dead lasts very long and their ghoul is permanent. That's why their damage is so stable.

What is great About Unholy DK

Consistently high DPS
Great burst that lasts long
Most of its damage comes from passive spells so the DK doesn't lose DPS while cc'd or moving.
Awesome defense
Fun to play if you are into melee DPS
Top of the DPS charts
Not as complicated as an affliction but still lots of fun

Cons of the Unholy Dk

Most of the damage comes from passive abilities and pets so for some people it might be boring not to be in control of the damage.

Unholy Death Knight is the best and strongest DPS spec for now and if you wanna see your name on the number one spot on the charts you can check some of the top Unholy Dk's out there on this http://link https://raider.io/characters/eu/silvermoon/Ceri#season=season-sl-2

In the end, I would advise you to play what you enjoy the most. Since Shadowlands, all the classes are somewhat equally balanced. Yes, there are top DPS's and it is fun to be in the top 5 but that's not the main part of the game. So find the class and spec you enjoy the most and show the world what you're made of!