How is Naxxramas Shaping Up? Overpowered Classes and Raid Comps

Each raid released in Classic WoW has mostly followed the same story. Avid fans of the original game think back to their raiding experiences back in 2005. The raids were tough, they’d say! Bosses would one-shot you before you could say health flask. It could take months to clear a raid for the first time, and you were lucky if you managed it before your guild imploded and disbanded. This was all true, of course, but it was missing something vital: context. Back then, the raids seemed insanely difficult because we sucked. Rogues would wander around in cloth-intellect gear because we didn’t have a good grasp on how primary stats work. We’d enter raids still decked out in Greens. And for most players, it was their first-ever experience with raiding – they were clueless.

Players went into Classic WoW remembering how hard those raids were in Vanilla and expected it to be a challenging experience. Easier than back then, maybe, but still hard. Well, it didn’t play out that way. Raids like Molten Core, Onyxia’s Lair, and Blackwing Lair were being cleared 30 minutes to an hour after launch. Even average guilds didn’t have to think much about consumables or world buffs unless they were parsing. Players expected that the Temple of Ahn’Qiraj would be where it really ramped up in difficulty – and it did a little, but not a whole lot. So this sentiment switched to Naxxramas – surely that would be the beast of a raid we struggle to defeat?

Naxxrammas has now gone live, and it’s proving to be more challenging than most players expected. Sure, the top guilds cleared it in a few hours, but everyone else is struggling. With this in mind, let’s look at what classes are shining in Naxxramas and how the successful guilds are approaching clears. If you want to head in right to the game, you can buy cheap WoW Classic accounts from online marketplaces.

Is Naxxramas Actually Harder?

Yes. On the day that Blackwing Lair launched, 528 guilds managed to clear all the raid bosses. For Naxxramas, only 66 guilds around the world managed to clear all 15 bosses.

Who is Winning Naxx Clears Right Now?

Naxxramas has been live for over a week now, so we have some stats on how the two factions shape up. The Alliance is the clear winner here, with 554/788 clears coming from the good-guy faction. It’s not that Alliance guilds are better than Horde guilds. Instead, it’s probably to do with how insanely powerful Paladins are in Naxx due to abilities like Blessing of Kings and Lay on Hands.

Which Classes are Doing Well?

DPS

DPS Warriors are currently topping the charts, with Rogues and Fire Mages following closely behind. The weakest performing DPS classes are Shadow Priests, Retribution Paladins, and, coming in last (and shocking to no one) is Balance Druids.

While Fire Mages are dominating right now, Frost Mages are much less powerful, only slightly higher than the Enhancement Shamans. So, if you’re still running a Frost Mage, now is the time to switch.

Healers

Healers are proving to be massively crucial in Naxxramas, with some guilds dedicating half the composition to healers. It’s not unusual to see guilds going into raid fights with 12 to 16 healers. In terms of the best healing classes right now, Restoration Shamans are in the lead. Next comes Priests, then Restoration Druids, and lastly, Paladins. While Paladins might not be topping the charts for raw healing power, they bring massive utility to the raid. If you’re struggling to get the materials you need for consumables in Naxxramas, you can buy Classic WoW gold online from other players.

Tanks

It should come as no surprise that Warriors lead tanks, with most guilds focusing on Warriors as main tanks. Classic WoW is really the version of the game where the Warriors are in their prime. There doesn’t seem to be many guilds choosing Protection Paladins, but some guilds are using Bear Druid tanks on Patchwork to significant effect.

The Roster

In terms of composition, things are looking very different and generally more diverse than in previous raids. Many guilds are bringing in 10 ranged DPS classes to fights, compared with the typical 7 of earlier raids. We’ve already covered the increased number of healers, now typically 12+ compared with the 9 or 10 in previous raids.

Plenty of classes bring utility to the fight, even if they don’t have the strongest numbers in terms of damage output. For example, Warlocks are a popular choice due to their Shadow damage, and DPS Priests can help boost that Shadow damage, so they’re getting brought along too. While not being the most potent healers, Restoration Druid can remove curses, which makes them invaluable.