In this guide, we will explore the top 10 ICC DPS rankings for WoW Classic Phase 4. Discover the most formidable damage dealers and learn about their strengths and weaknesses in the Icecrown Citadel raid. Get ready to optimize your DPS and enhance your raid performance!

WotLK Classic Phase 4 DPS Ranking for ICC Raid

WoW Classic WotLK Phase 4 is upon us and with it comes the Ice Crown Citadel - arguably the most iconic and challenging raid in Classic WoW history, the stakes really couldn't be higher. So if you're looking to secure your red spot and you don't want to be relegated to the dreaded bench, keep listening. Phase 4 changes everything for damage dealers, it's the stage where many of you are considering re-rolling or fine-tuning your specs to optimize for the fights that await in the Frozen Halls of the Lich King's Lair, get it right and you'll be a raiding Legend, get it wrong though and you'll be watching your Guild's heroic efforts via Discord streams on munching on some very salty popcorn. So how we made this tier list was simple, by combining the two main sources of information, their simulated DPS data, and the real-world data from raids. Combining the current DPS rankings and ToC with the phase 4 PTR experience, and the newest Sim data gives us the best picture of which specs will perform in the face.

We could have just used the phase 4 final Sim data and made a list based on that, but that really doesn't in fact factor in the gearing and progression stages of ICC, those are where picking the ultimate damage dealer will be the most important to actually kill the Lich King and ensure success in the raid. So let's dive into the specs that'll make you the MVP of your raid group in phase 4.

No.10 - Combat Rogue

Combat Rogues are currently dominating and they're the 6 highest damage dealers and travel the Crusader. Even though they dropped a 14th on the Sims in Phase 4, it's worth noting that class-to-class comparison isn't always fully accurate with Sims. In reality, combat rogue should remain competitive in Phase 4. The main key to Combat Rogue is that they're very gear dependent and they need to vacuum up pieces early to remain competitive on the meters. We do expect combat to perform very well on single Target bosses and large AOE packs as well especially if they'd get their gear early.

No.9 - Frost Death Knight

Frost DK brings very consistent single-target damage and AOE burst to the table as well in phase 4, and they're just really versatile. In phase 3, they're currently ranked as the fourth highest damage dealer and you'd likely assume with all their new armor penetration, they'd be rock-getting even further at the meters but unfortunately on WoWSim, they are only ranked as the 10th highest damage dealer in phase 4. Still, that's an increase of over 4 000 DPS but it's just not enough compared to the other specs ahead of them. Another sort of meta issue is that, even with their current high damage, Frost DKs don't really get brought to raids much. That lack of popularity coupled with early ICC dominance of Unholy, means we just won't be seeing that many Frost DKs throughout the phase. Also, they really don't take Shadowmourne which makes Frost the most depressing plate wearer in phase 4 by far.

No.8 - Marksmanship Hunter

MM Hunter was already on track to surpass survival with full armor pen gear in phase 4, in fact, the current Sims put full Biz MM Hunter as the third-highest damage dealer at 16, 500 per second on a single Target. Of course, Sims 4 hunters expect perfect game plan movement which is really unrealistic, the gap between Sims and real-world data is the biggest of any classes on this list. But we will be getting a significant new quality of life buff in the form of the new Trap Launcher ability. Blizzard stated they were unsatisfied with Hunter's damage varying from fight to fight because of Boss positioning and trap hitboxes. Already Hunters are performing better in the PTR than previously expected. But before you go and re-roll MM Hunter, remember that they're extremely gear dependent, this really isn't going to be a spec to bring more than one or two up to your ICC raids.

No. 7 - Shadow Priest

Shadow priest is only the 16th DPS in Trial of the Crusader but that's all about to change. In ICC, Shadow Priest does insanely well on short fights simming third for 120-second fights, they also do really well on longer fights as well placing above all the specs but 3 for fights that are five minutes long. Part of that reason is that their phase 4 best set nearly doubles their haste from 685 to over 1200. Also, their new tier 10 force makes mind flight completely insane, it's even one of the best four sets in the entire game.

No.6 - Unholy Death Knight

Unholy DKs will be stacked by many guilds for ICC progression and for good reason. They're very stackable and they currently rank as the number one damage back in the game for phase 3. Also their tier 9 gear set is arguably the best armor set to bring into the next phase. The bad note is that Unholy DK does fall off big time by the end of the phase though unless you end up going for Shadowmourne.

No.5 - Retribution Paladin

Retribution Paladin currently is performing as the ninth-highest damage back in Phase 3, but that's all about to change. They have a ludicrously good tier 10 set that makes them an absolute cleave machine. Ret is even projected to jump into the top 4 for a lot of fights, they also have very good utility and they're even high prior already for Shadowmourne next to the Fury Warriors.

No.4 -  Feral Druid

Ferals currently ranked as the number seventh highest damage back in Trial the Crusader, the Sims though love Feral Druid more than any other spec in phase 4, whatever the fight length, Feral Druid at or near the top. With armor penetration maxed out a new weapon and a solid tier 10 set bonus, they just scale insanely well. We also can't forget the extremely great utility they bring to the table with battle resin Innervate. Even though the best guilds are only bringing one feral, it does make a lot of sense to bring multiple if you're doing a pug or a g2kp.

No.3 - Fury Warrior

Fury Warrior gets to jump from 10th DPS in TLC to top 6 in ICC. Their tier 10 set bonus is fine, but it's really the stat scaling that makes a difference. Fury Warrior armor penetration doubles and of course, the huge damage increase from Shadowmourne won't hurt either. We also can't talk about Fury without mentioning cleave, Fury just destroys trash packs which will put them near the top of the overall meters throughout the raid, this is also finally the time to consider running more than one Fury. That being said, they are quite as stackable as specs like Fire Mage so we're not going to be reliving Classic WoW.

No.2 - Affliction Warlock

Affliction is top two in ToC and while they don't jump up to number one, they're still comfortably top four throughout phase 4. We had always expected specs like Fury and Ret to surpass Affliction, their gear just scales insanely well. Affliction gets over 500 haste as well as a really strong tier 10 4-set bonus.

No.1 - Fire Mage

We are sure you won't be surprised to see Fire Mage is the number one on this list, they have a current third DPS ranking in ToC,as well as the top four parses on Warcraft Logs. Moving into phase 4, Fire Mages send the highest on short fights and second highest on both three and five minute fights as well. Their tier 10 set bonus is just insane and they have extremely high single Target damage as well as AOE damage too. Best of all they're very stackable which means you could fit several into your raid without many issues.