Arena Talent Builds

Moonkin druid… protection paladin…destruction warlock…fun? Yes, viable for arena, not a chance in hell. World of Warcraft arena is quite linear to a degree, especially when talking about talent specializations. Each class has anywhere from 1-3 truly viable talent spec’s for arena. If you plan on having any success at high level arena you’ll be pigeon holed into one of these spec’s whether you like it or not.

Class / Spec / Reasoning
Warrior / 35/23/3 / Mortal strike is quite simply too overpowered. Obviously you aren’t going to take your PvE prot spec into arena, and fury, regardless of 2h or dual wield, isn’t a viable option either. Embrace the arms tree, it’s the only option for arena.

Paladin / 41/20/0 / The paladin is probably the most linear class out there, though even though the paladin is only truly good at one thing in the game he’s the best in the game at it. The stand up healing power of the paladin is next to none and is the centerpiece for most traditional 5v5 teams.

Rogue / 41/20/0, 20/41/0 /, or 20/0/41 Unlike many other classes rogues have quite a bit of flexibility as all 3 of their main trees are quite good now.

Mage / 17/0/44 or 0/5/56 / The biggest difference between the two specs is quite simply, do you want a full frost build or not? The points in the fire tree are more or less filler for the 0/5/56, but by the same token the points down to improved counter spell are weak also. If you feel you can survive well enough to pick up imp. CS, go for it, else try the full frost spec for greater survivability.

Hunter / 0/43/18 / What can I say here, silencing shot is just too good. Beast mastery spec provides a bit of extra burst early on, but without the cool down you simply get destroyed. The full marksmanship specialization allows you to fill a variety of roles on your arena teams.

Warlock / 6/44/11 or 43/7/11 or 27/34/0 / The first, fel guard demonology provides great utility with the pet if you are skilled enough to use it correctly. The second, full affliction, is a bit lacking as far as survivability goes, though the extra damage you put out, in addition to the utility provided by unstable affliction, may make it an option for your team (especially if there is a shadow priest on it). The final spec, soul link + drain, offers a three DoT setup with great survivability and exceptional drains. It’s best for 2v2 and 3v3, though it can function equally as well on a 5v5 team if used properly.

Shaman / 40/0/21, 0/5/56 /, 0/9/52 Elemental or restoration, take your pick, though it’ll likely be swayed a good deal by 1) what your team needs and 2) what your gear allows for. To function as either well in PvP requires a full set of either +damage or +healing resilience gear, so simply changing specs over night isn’t an option.

Priest / 18/0/43, 28/33/0 /, 41/20/0, Much like the shaman, do you want to do damage or heal, in essence shadow vs. holy / disc.. Also like the shamans dilemma, you cannot simply change spec’s over night, it requires a great deal of time to get the proper gear needed to be successful in arena. Both are the preferred spec’s for top rated arena players around on the world and will serve you well.

Druid / 8/11/42 / My apologies to all those feral or mookin fans out there, but you won’t find any love here. A restoration druid can put his entire team on his back and carry them to the top of the ladder, assuming he’s skilled and geared enough to do so, a moonkin or feral cannot. The ability to simply abuse cyclone while HoT’ing and kiting is simply too powerful and a great centerpiece of any team, be it 2v2, 3v3, or 5v5.

Arena Talent Specs - Conclusions
Any spec will have several limiting factors, 1) your gear, 2) your ability to play it, 3) the need for it on your team, etc. These should all be considered when deciding on the correct spec for you and your team. The specs I have listed above are the tried and true preferred talent break downs for the world’s best players, trust me, these are what you want to be doing.