Now, just to be clear, this must be free of player skill, therefore personaly experience cant really come into play, this is more of a mathematical calculation of which class is CAPABLE of the most dps played "perfectly". Just so tehre's no confusion, i figured i'd mention that.

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would also depend on the fight, and spec as well

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Another few things to consider are: burst dps or sustained dps, character talents at X level, and gear that is worn by said character.

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People ask this question all the time, and there is no answer to it.

If you were just going to stand still and shoot at a brick with a billion HP for a set amount of time, a deep fire mage would probably come out on top.

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Depends on the fight and specs can change this as well but as a general rule:

Single target with limited PBAoE: Rogue by a huge margin.

Single target with a lot of PBAoE: Hunter with other ranged classes close behind.

Multiple targets with short fight duration: Mage pwns.

Multiple targets with extended fight duration: Warlock starts slow but passes everyone else.

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Well for starters lets knock out anyone that has a healing ability, so Enhance/Elemental shamans down the drain, Ret Paladins, Feral and Moonkin druids.

Alright, hmmm... Rogues.

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PVP battlegrounds pre-70: Hunters, on average, seem to have the highest damage over the course of WSG or AB battle. Mages and Warlocks are usually second.

PVP at 70: Warriors, followed by Mages, and then a toss-up between Warlocks and Hunters. I don't know what happens at 70, but a Hunter's gear relative to other classes appears to leave them at a disadvantage, and a well-geared Warrior, more often than not, will be on top, sometimes by huge (50,000+ damage) amounts.

Granted, this isn't a *true* measure of DPS on any single target, but rather, damage over an extended period of time against multiple opponents. Things like how well a healer keeps you alive can also mean fewer trips to the gy, and whether you play defense or offense can affect how much damage you can do. Truly, if you want to blow the doors off the damage charts in BG's, roll an arms/fury warrior, get them well geared and to level 70, and you'll be a killing machine.

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PvE Would definitely be a 41/0/20 warlock or a 21/0/40 warlock - they kickass with sustained damage while also providing powerful burst damage

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Although this depends on the boss fight, warlocks have a lot of raid utility meaning that they wont always be putting in damage like rogues

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Although this depends on the boss fight, warlocks have a lot of raid utility meaning that they wont always be putting in damage like rogues

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Although this depends on the boss fight, warlocks have a lot of raid utility meaning that they wont always be putting in damage like rogues

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I don't have a link to it, but I believe Blizzard has said in the past that they made certain nerfs/buffs with the intended design goal of having Rogues be kings of the DPS charts, even over mages. Whether their game design has achieved that or not, I can't say, but it's the outcome they're aiming for.

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Least DPS: paladin, in pretty much every kind of situtation you can imagine.

A shockadin with avenging wrath can put out some decent burst damage but as a rule of thumb AP pom pyroblast ftw.

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with normalized gear:
best PvE DPS: rogue
best PvP DPS: prolly mages
worst DPS (any:) paladin

but on a side note:
best PvE DPS utility-wise: shadow priest
most formidable in PvP: arms warrior

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What an idiotic question, fill a room with an unlimited number of star trek geeks. Now ask them to determine whether Kirk or Picard was a better captain. You wont get an answer - just a lot of useless twunts bickering in circles. Same thing applies here...useless

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As everyone else said, it depends on the situation and spec. Rogue and Mage are the most popular DPS-classes, but with the right spec, gear and the right situation other classes can out-dps them.

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This is indeed a very odd question. It's as if you are just begging for a flame war.

WOW forums that way -->>

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I knew the second I saw the title that Rogues would not get the credit they deserve. Yes, it is situational. But I have never come in second while spec'ed Combat Daggers (15/41/5) in any instance. I've seen mages, warlocks and hunters get close early on... but after an Ad Rush or two and the first boss, I'll have an insurmountable lead.

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Good comments above, I want to emphasize that it will vary tremendously by encounter and the mob's AC. For instance, Gruul has low armour but also requires careful spacing a lot of the time. This really favours hunters.

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Arcane Mage is the best..

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