World of Warcraft: The War Within ultimate Hero Talent tier list

Hero Talents are one of the major new features in World of Warcraft: The War Within, allowing players to experiment with builds and lean further into class fantasy. There is a lot on offer, though, so we’ve broken down where each stands heading into the expansion’s release.

Hero Talents are separate trees tied to different specializations, with each able to be used by two specs within each class. Obviously, several specs have differing priorities, and Hero Talents can vary wildly in their efficacy between each.

As such, our ranking takes into account exactly how each Hero Talent tree performs as a whole. For example, if a Hero Talent set is an S-Tier for one spec but a B-Tier for another, then it will appear in the A-Tier as an overall offering.

With all of that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about each Hero Talent tree in The War Within.

WoW: The War Within Hero Talent tier list

Tier	Class/Spec
S	Diabolist, Sunfury, Frostfire, Chronowarden, Elune’s Chosen, Deathbringer
A	Herald of the Sun, Templar, Stormbringer, Hellcaller, Colossus, Conduit of the Celestials, Flameshaper, Scalecommander, Druid of the Claw, San’layn, Archon, Fel-Scarred
B	Farseer, Soul Harvester, Slayer, Voidweaver, Master of Harmony, Keeper of the Grove, Aldrachi Reaver, Oracle, Rider of the Apocalypse
C	Fatebound, Mountain Thane, Spellslinger, Shado-Pan, Dark Ranger, Wildstalker, Pack Leader, Totemic
D	Deathstalker, Lightsmith, Trickster, Sentinel

Our Tiers explained

The tiers included in our list should be used as a contextual guide when deciding which Hero Talent tree to pick. These levels can be defined as follows:

• S-Tier: The best of the best and very strong for either specialization
• A-Tier: Extremely effective at adding to their specs and a cohesive structure
• B-Tier: Good choices that may have some weaknesses
• C-Tier: Underperforming relative to other Hero Talent trees, though they do have redeeming qualities
• D-Tier: Unfinished, broken, or lacking direction, these trees should almost always be avoided entirely

S-Tier

Diabolist

Blizzard Entertainment/Dexerto

Of all the Hero Talent trees in the world, Diabolist might just be the best. Embodying all that it means to be a Warlock in WoW, it combines excellent design with genuinely impactful nodes, which impact the class greatly.

The demon summoning elements do make it noticeably more suited to Demonology locks, but it’s still the best option for Destruction players as well. It’s one of the few talent trees that has managed to near-perfectly execute the class fantasy that it’s designed within, and players who use it will be noticeably more potent in PvE content.

Sunfury

The first of two Mage Hero Talents to appear in the S-Tier, Sunfury is set to be a popular pick headed into The War Within. Thematically, it’s difficult to ask for more from Blizzard than what we get here, leaning into the heady days of The Burning Crusade and the rise of Kael’thas Sunstrider.

Mechanically, Sunfury is even better, bringing Clearcasting to the fore for Arcane Mages in a way that furthers the spec immensely. Despite some tiny issues relating to exactly how the tree stacks up, Sunfury is going to be one of the most powerful options available to any class in the first throes of this expansion. 

Frostfire

When it was first revealed by Blizzard earlier this year, it would be fair to say that Mage players were very excited by the prospect of Frostfire. For Frost Mages, the only drawbacks are a few potential rotational issues (which can be avoided), but those are easily offset by the potency of combining Fire and Frost Mastery.

Fire Mage has suffered immensely in The War Within’s beta and it’s not looking good for the full expansion either. A possible silver lining comes in the Frostfire tree, with the Empowerment and Infusion procs elevating an otherwise immensely poor spec. 

Chronowarden

Chronowarden might have been the least convincing of the Evoker Hero Talent trees when the details were first announced. Augmentation players will find that it allows the game’s only genuine support spec to execute that role more efficiently.

The Threads of Fate and Master of Destiny nodes are a heady combination that roll out buffs amazingly well, even if it can occasionally come into direct conflict with the spec’s ideal rotation. Preservation gets a noticeable increase in outgoing damage and healing as well, allowing the spec to bring a more well-rounded toolkit into dungeons and compete with the likes of Holy Paladin.

Elune’s Chosen

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Considering the immense differences between the specs, the Elune’s Chosen tree has done a remarkable job of providing tangible benefits to both Guardian and Balance Druid. For Balance, the main appeal is the crazy amount of Astral Power that it generates, alongside seamless coordination with the existing toolkit and an emphasis on core parts of the spec’s rotation.

For Guardian Druids, the tree might seem a little more vanilla than other options, but its general improvements are very noticeable once you hit the level cap. The Mastery buff is also great to have, and gameplay remains largely the same, so you shouldn’t have to adjust your playstyle much.

Deathbringer

Deathbringer is a really well-constructed tree that brings plenty to the existing pantheon of Death Knight abilities. The whole idea is to stack Reaper’s Mark which, although it is technically an active-use ability, will largely work passively as part of the standard rotation for both Blood and Frost DKs.

It also rewards players for playing their chosen spec well and with efficiency, rather than doing too much to alter the playstyle. The whole thing received a series of buffs throughout its iteration, and it’s so intelligently designed that an appearance in the S-Tier was a guarantee before long, and here it is.

A-Tier

Herald of the Sun

The first Paladin tree to appear on this list is Herald of the Sun. For Retribution Paladins, it becomes a fantastic tool for increasing AoE output, and buffing abilities like Wake of Ashes and Divine Storm.

Though Sun’s Avatar can be a little tricky to get right from a damage perspective logistically, it’s immensely fun and highly effective when it hits. For Holy, it advances the spec’s toolkit through intuitive buffs and leaves Lightsmith in the dust regarding direct healing. The RNG nature of Sunspot can be a little unpredictable, but not to the point where the specs start to suffer. 

Templar

The other Paladin tree to appear in the A-Tier is Templar, so regardless of which spec you intend to play in The War Within, there is an excellent option out there for everyone. The tree essentially amounts to calling down hammers of light for immense Holy and Physical damage.

For Prot Paladins, this revolves around Eye of Tyr, which allows players to cast Hammer of Light for 12 seconds and activates Empyrean Hammers on three additional targets. For Retribution, much of the tree revolves around rapidly escalating procs, and it can quickly become a hailstorm of hammer-based damage.

Stormbringer

Elemental Shaman has been one of the most iconic specs since WoW’s earliest days and Stormbringer is about to dial that up to 11. The tree revolves around producing as much Maelstrom as possible to turn your next Lightning Bolt into Tempest.

The latter deals highly impressive single-target and AoE damage, while the rest of the talent tree is very cohesive featuring intelligent consolidation of abilities. Though Enhancement might not be the intended audience for Stormbringer, the same positives apply, and Awakening Storms also provides another big damage proc to look out for.

Hellcaller

Though it has been difficult to tell precisely how well Warlock is doing, thanks to some notable bugs in the beta, Hellcaller is a powerful tree at this stage. Affliction Warlocks will be the happier of the two, with the Malevolence cooldown and Aura of Enfeeblement making a huge difference in rotation management and general quality-of-life.

Most Destruction players will likely go with Diabolist because of Hellcaller’s emphasis on DoT (and how unbelievably good Diabolist is). However, with the way Wither stacks work, there is still plenty to like here.

Colossus

Colossus is a bit of a tricky Hero Talent set to place on this list because it’s easy to be blinded by the fact that it’s reasonably uninteresting. Looking past that, it brings some major buffs and genuine improvements to the kit for both Protection and Arms Warriors.

The buff to Shockwave is significant, while the more nebulous player power bonuses are also noticeable. Demolish is also a nice addition for both specs, though Arms looks to be the main beneficiary of its offensive capabilities. 

Conduit of the Celestials

Blizzard Entertainment

Conduit of the Celestials is a tree that many could easily underestimate, largely thanks to the mess that is the Windwalker talent tree proper. Though it makes some slightly bizarre decisions in the abilities it chooses to emphasize.

For Mistweavers, there are some clear directions that the tree is trying to push you in, but it actually improves the gameplay loop if you acquiesce. The same is true for Windwalker, though the spec is suffering from wider issues that Conduit won’t solve on its own.

Flameshaper

Above all else, Flameshaper is a ton of fun to play. Prioritizing burst damage above all else, it plays very differently to both Chronowarden and Scalecommander. For Preservation Evokers, the emphasis has definitely been placed on quality of life and overall improvements to healing output.

Devastation will find that it quickly turns the spec into an explosive powerhouse, using Engulf as the vehicle for, excuse the pun, devastating damage.

Scalecommander

Scalecommander is one of the most cohesively put together trees in the entire pantheon. Not that Augmentation needs much in the way of improvement, but Scalecommander does a lot to make it more suited to a wider variety of settings.

The capstone Maneuverability talent offers directional control over Deep Breath and Breath of Eons, adding some really fun playability to an already enjoyable spec. For Devastation, Scalecommander is an absolute win, finally elevating the spec a little higher in the DPS rankings. 

Druid of the Claw

Though it doesn’t quite reach the heady heights of Elune’s Chosen, Druid of the Claw is an excellent tree that does a great job for both Guardian and Feral. For the latter, it’s easily the best tree available, despite its overemphasis on Ferocious Bite.

The new Ravage talent (formerly known as Massive Attack) acts as the keystone talent and by the time the tree has been fully built, it’s a hugely potent force. Though it’s a little proc-heavy, they are frequent and powerful enough to be worth speccing into. 

San’layn

Much of the San’layn tree revolves around the new Essence of the Blood Queen, a stacking Haste buff that can quickly rise to 7.5%. Changes to the tree throughout the beta have solved many of its broader issues, and it works better as a solution for Blood DKs than it did when first announced.

Gift of the San’layn also doubles the effectiveness of Essence of the Blood Queen, and it’s a mighty bonus to have without any rotational changes on the player’s part.

Archon

Archon is a powerful Hero Talent tree that should appeal to both Shadow and Holy Priests. For the former, it adds significant burst damage to an already potent spec, with the reemphasized Mind Spike actually feeling like quite a natural part of the rotation as it stands.

The effects for Holy Paladin are relatively understated, with passive buffs like Resonant Energy and Empowered Surges. There’s also some nice cooldown reduction via Energy Cycle and overall buffs like Word of Supremacy.

Fel-Scarred

Blizzard Entertainment

Fel-Scarred is one of only two Demon Hunter trees, and thematically, it’s an absolute hit. As a mechanical proposition, it couldn’t be much more straightforward. Featuring passive bonuses throughout, it leaves the door open for immense buildcrafting by not restricting the talent nodes into which both Vengeance and Havoc can spec.

The effect on Metamorphosis is the real highlight, particularly for Havoc, transforming it into a proper AoE ability, thanks to the Dreamsurge talent node. It also feels like a great fit for the class overall, with no clear advantage for either spec.

B-Tier

Farseer

Without wishing to sound too critical, Farseer is a downright boring Hero Talent tree. That said, it’s quite effective at what it does and operates mostly as a subtle boost to power and a provider of buffs. For Elemental, some players may be put off by the extra RNG, but the Ancestor summon after Primordial Wave is a nice Keystone while the Ancestral Swiftness Capstone buff is also very useful.

Resto Shamans might find the move towards a support toolkit slightly jarring, but it may well help them to work well in differing PvE situations.

Soul Harvester

Though many Demonology Warlocks will inevitably find Diabolist to be too tempting, there are some reasons to favor Soul Harvester. The additional AoE that it brings to the table via Shared Fate, whose prowess is furthered by Quietus allowing it to proc without a kill.

It’s a similar story for Affliction, with many of the talent nodes lining up perfectly with the significant overhaul the spec has been through during The War Within beta. 

Slayer

Slayer is proving to be a solid Hero Talent tree across the board, with equally useful applications for both Arms and Fury. Where Colossus offers significant damage increases to specific abilities (like Shockwave) Slayer improves both specs across the board, to the point where it doesn’t really matter which abilities you use, outside of picking the right rotation more generally.

The Execute and Bladestorm procs are also frequent enough that it doesn’t feel too RNG-ey, and with a bit of tuning, it could easily move up another tier. 

Voidweaver

Blizzard Entertainment

The first thing to say about Voidweaver is that it is thematically one of the coolest trees out there, perfectly playing into the class fantasy of Shadow Priest. The Keystone ability sees Void Torrent (or Mind Blast for Discipline Priest) summon an additional Shadow damage zone known as the Entropic Rift.

This is impressively effective and doesn’t make much of a difference to the existing rotation, all before it is further buffed by the Capstone talent Collapsing Void, increasing both its size and overall damage. 

Master of Harmony

Master of Harmony’s strong thematic throughput is arguably its greatest strength, lending itself well to Brewmaster and Mistweaver. For the latter, there are healing increases throughout the tree, with Aspect of Harmony and Coalescence doing much of the heavy lifting without troubling the player too much.

This has the potential to spiral significantly, with any outgoing healing amplified when the target is already undergoing HoT. The same is true for Brewmaster, though switched to emphasize damage instead, with both proving effective enough at the time of writing.

Rider of the Apocalypse

Rider of the Apocalypse was the Death Knight tree that generated the most buzz when it was announced, but its awkward nature leaves it still needing some minor adjustments now The War Within is here. From the outset, Rider feels infinitely more suited to Unholy than it does Frost. The RNG involved is actually fine overall, with most of it centered on the keystone talent, but the lack of ability to control which Horseman appears could reduce some encounters to the flip of a coin.

Unholy players may find that the tree directly contradicts how they would like to play, particularly in relation to spending Runic Power, but most of the nodes are pretty well suited to the spec, and with some small tweaks and buffs it could easily end up in the tier above.

Keeper of the Grove

Big buffs to Keeper of the Grove back in July did a ton to elevate it above what would otherwise likely have been a bottom-tier tree. The main reason it currently appears in the B-Tier and not higher is the immense concern from Balance players over the idea of leaning into the Treant playstyle.

Additionally, the buffs provided by Cenarius’ Might et. Al also locks players into a rotation that was previously inadvisable. Despite that, if it is used as intended, it works well and deals significant damage (or healing in the case of Restoration Druid).

Aldrachi Reaver

The first of the two Demon Hunter Hero Talent trees has proved to be divisive during The War Within beta for similar reasons to Keeper of the Grove. The tree makes heavy use of glaives, but it turns out that this isn’t exactly what some DH players were looking for.

In better news, it’s still good at what it does, centering on consuming Soul Fragments to cast Reaver’s Glaive, which is much more potent than the standard Throw Glaive. Though it feels slightly less applicable to Vengeance, it doesn’t become worse in any way, it just feels more awkward to incorporate it into general play.

Oracle

Oracle has been through several redesigns throughout the alpha and beta of The War Within and it’s finally managed to find its place. In the first instance, the buffs it provides are now strong enough to warrant picking, and with some additional tuning, it could easily be brought up even further.

It still feels overly complicated when trying to keep buffs up, making both Discipline and Holy feel needlessly convoluted without enough of a payoff to make all of the practicing needed to master the tree worthwhile. Both specs have other solid options in the current landscape but it’s easy to see this get at least some usage in its current form.

Sentinel

Sentinel is an impressively consistent choice for Hunters that should have plenty in the tank to elevate Marksmanship, at the very least. Though it doesn’t do anything particularly groundbreaking for that spec, it offers a consistent damage buff that rarely, if ever, goes down as part of the natural rotation.

Survival has been the biggest winner of the Hunter specs during The War Within beta and it has some nice HT options to rise even further. The lunar damage caused by the Sentinel node is also highly potent and easy to incorporate as part of a standard rotation.

C-Tier

Fatebound

Blizzard Entertainment

Rogues seem to be in a tough spot heading into The War Within, and the Fatebound Hero Talent tree will do little to change that. Despite the interesting overall theme and direction of the tree, it currently doesn’t output enough to warrant inclusion anywhere higher on the list.

The biggest current issue with the tree is the overreliance on RNG and the lack of reliable damage that it’s capable of. Outlaw is definitely benefitting more and could possibly go up one level on its own, but Assassination is lagging behind with the current design of nodes like Inevitability. 

Mountain Thane

The Hero Talent tree that dominated the headlines for all of the right reasons when it was announced, Mountain Thane is disappointing in its current application. For both Protection and Fury, players have been delighted with the class fantasy this tree delivers, but the reappearance of overt RNG has put some off.

Add to that the fact that Fury Warriors generally won’t use Thunder Clap too much and some nodes quickly become relatively useless. Prot is a little better, but the lack of emphasis on defensive improvements for Tanking is noticeable in this new landscape.

Spellslinger

Comfortably the weakest Hero Talent tree available to Mages, Spellslinger feels so distinctly average when compared to the bombastic, game-changing nature of Sunfury and Frostfire. In terms of performance, it’s definitely better suited to the way that Frost Mage functions, offering a pure alternative to the elemental blend of Frostfire.

Though there are a lot of low-maintenance passives that are easy to use as an Arcane Mage, the AoE is unreliable and it feels, above all else, a bit boring, in stark contrast to many of its immediate peers.

Shado-Pan

Returning, once again, to Windwalker’s overtly messy toolkit we have Shado-Pan, a Hero Talent tree that could, and arguably should, have been so much more. Changes to the spec during the beta have definitely alleviated the most egregious issues, but Shado-Pan doesn’t do enough to warrant much use for the DPS spec, or its tanking cousin in Brewmaster.

Again, it’s very passive, and that will appeal to those who already feel at breaking point with rotational complexity (particularly for Monk players), but it leaves you wanting more, and it isn’t easy to see how it will deliver without a fair amount of tuning.

Dark Ranger

Blizzard Entertainment

Dark Ranger absolutely has one of the most immersive overall themes of any Hero Talent tree and, although it appears quite far down this list, some small changes could see a significant improvement to its output. For Marksmanship, it’s all about generating extra Aimed Shots, which is perfectly fine, but it doesn’t currently allow enough contingency for those to be used effectively.

Beast Mastery is more reliant on the central Black Arrow Keystone talent, but the chance to refresh Barbed Shot doesn’t really feel like enough to elevate the tree as a whole, and the entire thing could do with a push toward that true Dark Ranger fantasy.

Wildstalker

Again split by its effectiveness for each associated spec, Wildstalker is a B-Tier Hero Talent tree for Resto Druids, but falls to a D-Tier for Feral. Though the name might suggest that it’s chiefly intended for the latter, the nodes within the tree don’t really lend themselves to the intended theme.

Resto Druids will find the additional HoT to be a useful, if uninspiring, buff when in raids and Mythic+, while Wildstalker overall feels like a Jack of all trades and master of none. Feral should also enjoy the DoT proc when using Rake and Rip, but the whole thing needs tuning to make it more potent and rewarding to use.

Pack Leader

There is a bit of a divide between specs when it comes to the Pack Leader tree, with Survival Hunter currently proving to be more effective than Beast Mastery. Despite the lower usage for Kill Command, it acts as a significant resource generator and the cooldown is shorter, meaning Survival isn’t locked out of using the tree for as long.

Unfortunately, it really doesn’t pack much of a punch and Beast Mastery will find the lack of opportunity to use its strengths frustrating.

Totemic

Totemic has some cool individual nodes and it’s emphasis on using totems isn’t a bad choice, per se. Unfortunately, it feels like a scattered attempt at Hero Talents without anything like the cohesion needed to make it really potent. Resto Shaman is easily the bigger beneficiary here, with with Totemic playstyle lending itself perfectly to consistent healing.

If that was its sole purpose then it would definitely appear much higher up, but Enhancement feels like an afterthought in this whole equation. Stormbringer works so well thematically for Enhancement but it’s essentially competing in a field of one at the moment.

D-Tier

Lightsmith

Blizzard Entertainment

Lightsmith is such a frustrating Hero Talent tree because it seemingly has everything going for it and then it falls at the final hurdle. Holy Paladins may struggle with the inordinate amount of bloat that it creates, with the changes much more stark than we see in other trees. Prot Paladins will benefit from Holy Armaments in some sense, despite early concerns about its inclusion, but the way it currently functions is needlessly convoluted.

Additionally, the whole tree needs to be more effective to compete with the other Paladin trees. The way to do this would be to lean into the excellent theme even more, but it’s unlikely that near-future changes will be drastic enough to make it competitive.

Trickster

Just to pile on the misery for Rogue players, we have the first of two Hero Talent trees in the D-Tier. Most of the tree’s attacking benefits come via Feint, which Subtlety Rogues may find particularly jarring, and the use of Fazed just isn’t aggressive enough in the current format of the tree.

The lack of benefits to using Stealth is also still fairly baffling, especially considering the two specializations that this Hero Talent set associates with. It also needs a stronger theme that delivers on the expectations that the title generates, and there isn’t currently enough to recommend using it overall.

Deathstalker

Deathstalker, while having one of the coolest names of any Hero Talent tree, is also one of the most baffling. For Assassination Rogues, it isn’t easy to work out exactly how it is supposed to be used. The whole thing revolves around Deathstalker’s Marks, which can only be applied by the spec using Shadowstrike and Ambush from stealth.

The only way to refresh those marks is to enter stealth, meaning they all need to be consumed, or Deathstalker becomes pointless. Things are a little clearer for Subtlety, though it’s difficult to see how the spec is supposed to utilize the tree properly.

That’s the complete tier list! We also have complete overall rankings for DPS, Healer, and Tank specs, as well as a full breakdown of everything you can expect in The War Within.