WoW WotLK Classic: The most important buffs and debuffs / optimal raid setup

WoW: Wrath of the Lich King will be released on September 27, 2022, and the clever minds of numerous guilds and raids are already pondering which composition of classes and specializations they will use to meet the new, old raid challenges in Naxxramas, in the Obsidian Sanctum and in the Eye of the want to tackle eternity.

Thanks to previous beta testing, we know that Phase 1 of WotLK Classic won’t be too difficult, but many players aren’t really concerned with Kel’Thuzad, Malygos, and Sartharion when poring over the best raid setups. Rather, they already have Ulduar in mind, because there the level of difficulty will increase noticeably compared to the first phase. If you then have a well-rehearsed, optimally equipped squad, you will have advantages.

How important is the optimum?

When it comes to building a strong raid setup for WotLK Classic, several factors are important:

• Do you want to play the 10 or 25 player version of a raid?
• What setup gives you access to all or at least as many buffs/debuffs as possible?
• How does each class compare to other classes in their respective roles?

Class balance in WotLK Classic

We are on the latter point in our special “WotLK Classic – who rocks, who sucks? Private server lessons“already received a bit. However, TBC Classic already made it clear that Blizzard’s live servers are not to be equated with private servers (keywords: furor warriors in the endgame). In addition, Blizzard introduced class balancing and design at the time with the launch from WotLK and beyond the expansion compared to TBC (apart from the death knight, which was far too strong for a long time).

In other words: With Patch 3.3.5 you can expect a WoW version in which, for example, many hybrid ways of playing such as reinforcement, ferocity, shadow or revenge, which were/are present in TBC Classic mainly because of their buffs, in certain situations or can even achieve really good damage values ​​in general. Plus: Thanks to dual talent distribution, it is much easier to react to special requirements such as the number of tanks or healers without having to replace a player or live with a disadvantage.

Offer of buffs and debuffs

In view of the new 10 standard size for raid instances and the provision of more flexibility, the Blizzard developers have also distributed many buffs and debuffs across multiple specializations. If the shadow priest was/is THE mana battery par excellence for his group in the TBC era, four other specializations can grant the same buff in WotLK.

Also cool: Many effects such as the totems or bloodlust / heroism of the shamans no longer only work for the group, but for the entire raid.

So how important is the optimum?

Because of the new flexibility, it’s a lot easier for the 25er raids from WotLK Classic than it was in TBC Classic to build a setup that gives you all the important buffs and debuffs, and then you usually still have a few slots left, which you can distribute according to your own taste (because many specializations are so close together in terms of their damage potential that it depends more on the player behind the class).

However, it is not possible in the 10 range to really get access to all buffs and debuffs. But the requirements for the raid are not as high as in the 25 range. In some boss fights, it’s more important that you pack the right, read: reliable players who know their class. You just can’t afford to make as many mistakes as you can in the 25 range.