The time has come and the Citadel gates are opening. Millions of players are sprinting through the gates, ready to do battle with the Lich King.
But most of these players are making a huge mistake. They haven’t planned the optimal raid comp to crush the heroic bosses. So, instead of slaying the Lich King and taking his Frostmaw’s Mane, they’ll be blaming each other for wipes and disbanding their guilds.
Luckily, I’ve got all the PTR data and 80 hours of personal ICC experience in heroic clears. Here, I will talk about the best raid comps for ICC 10 and 25 Man. Of course, if you have enough WOTLK Classic Gold, the classes you choose will be equipped with better equipment. This will make it easier for you to participate in raids.
Methodology
First, let’s talk methodology.
To make this tier list, I’ve taken data from around 5,000 heroic ICC Logs. With help from my friend and data Wizard Forge, I’ve been able to piece together an optimal lineup for both 10-man and 25-man raids. I’m also factoring in my extensive ICC experience and clears of every heroic boss and Lich King normal.
But we don’t talk about that. There’s a problem: when you’re building the perfect raid comp for Icecrown Citadel, there’s something everybody tends to overlook. This is a retail style raid where every boss has drastically different mechanics and strategies. That means the optimal raid comp for Saurfang is very different from the optimal raid comp for Sindragosa.
Some fights are better with one tank, while some are better with three. Some fights are better with ranged DPS stacks while some are better with melee stacks. Some fights are better with three healers, while some fights are even better with seven or eight.
And since most players don’t want to be sitting on the bench for half the raid, we have to compromise. Instead of a perfect raid comp for individual fights, we need a flexible raid comp that can get the job done on every fight. There are two keys to make a perfect ICC raid comp.
Balanced Team
First, we need our team to be balanced to deal with a variety of fight styles in Icecrown Citadel.
That means far less class stacking than in previous raids like ToC. The side benefit is that we’ll be covering all the relevant class buffs at the same time.
Dual Spec Options
The second thing is that we need our team to have a lot of Dual Spec options.
Having your Feral will be able to swap to be a third tank in a fight like council is really big. Also, having your Holy Priest or your Restoration Shaman able to switch to damage on a fight like Saurfang is huge.
When there’s a DPS check, you need to be able to cut Healers and when there’s a heal check, you need to be able to add Healers very easily.
Hybrids can definitely play a role as well. For example, off healing on Boomkin can be a good middle ground to meet DPS checks without losing too much healing.
Best 10-Man Raid Comp
Since we know the keys to a successful ICC raid comp, let’s get into the optimal 10-man raid comp.
The optimal 10 Man starts with the optimal two healers. Holy Paladin and a Disc Priest are the bread and butter of any heroic 10-man team. Resto Shaman is definitely a viable alternative as well.
Remember, you can get Runescrolls of Fortitude or Drums of Forgotten Kings if you’re missing a key buff.
Unfortunately, for Restoration though, this is where the imbalances of the 10-man really start to show you just don’t have the raw tank healing to get through fights, like Lich King.
Moving on to the tanks, we see an overwhelming majority of successful logs in 10 Man, featuring a Prot Paladin tank. A lot of fights do require two tanks and almost every second tank is a Blood Death Knight that dual specs to damage when not needed. This is definitely where some creativity comes in.
You can see a few logs here and there where Prot Warriors and Ferals are brought as well. It’s just not as set in stone as healers.
As for damage dealers, we can’t really get a perfect comp since we’ll always be missing some key buff and we can’t really class stack like in old raids. We can’t use data, however, to look at the most successful comps and tweak things based on our available roster of players.
From the PTR data, Demo Locks are a must have 10-man class with their buffs and their high damage. The data says that 80% of 10-man groups brought at least one to the PTR.
We definitely also want a Boomkin. Boomkin was even brought to the most 10 Man PTRs according to the logs. The main reason for that is that they can easily dual spec or just hybrid heal on more intensive fights like Sindragosa.
Of course, a 10-man raid without a battle resurrection is also pretty miserable.
Next, we have Survival Hunters and they’re just really hot in 10 mans. You really need replenishment anyway and you definitely want a hunter for Lich King. Plus, they just got buffed.
We also definitely have to bring a Shaman for Bloodlust, whether it’s Enhance or Elemental is up to you and what your comp’s focused on. Rounding out the comp, though, we have to decide between Ret Paladin or Mage with their intellect and mage food.
Ret Paladin was the most popular melee class by far for 10 man PTR and their utility is just too good to pass up in my opinion.
For the last slot, we can get more creative with a Combat Rogue or a Fury or an Unholy DK or even a Feral for more utility.
Just make sure to bring the correct tanks and heals and prioritize lust and replenishment before filling out any other slots.
Also Read: The Ultimate Gearing Guide For WOTLK Classic Phase 4 ICC Raid
Best 25-Man Raid Comp
Now, let’s get into the 25-man raid comp, which is a far more creative endeavor.
Once again, we start with the healer core and once again Paladin’s rule. Two Holy Paladins are an absolute must, and these are the backbone of your raid.
Next up, pretty much every successful heroic 25 kill featured one Disc Priest, and they’re just too good to pass up.
Then, we have Resto Shamans, which are also brought as part of the early progression healing core. Having a second Blooslust for pets is great and Mana Tide Totem helps a lot with the long slow progression fights.
For our fifth healer, we have to choose between Resto Druid and Holy Priest. The PTR logs show far more Resto Druids, but Holy Priests have been less popular, so that makes sense. I do consider these healers to be pretty much interchangeable, though I prefer battle res and Innervate during progression.
As for six and seven heel fights, you just dual spec your Elemental Shaman or your Boomkin as necessary.
Moving into tanks, it’s pretty much the exact same story as 10 Man. I would take a Prot Paladin all day alongside a Blood DK. Getting into damage as a wise man once said, “if it looks like a rainbow, you’re probably doing it right.”
You really want to bring every possible buff and then stack the best ranged DPS to make fights like Lich King a lot easier. This isn’t going to be a Trial of the Crusader with eight Unholy Death Knights, even though there were successful logs with 6 DKs.
Since we’re bringing a little of everything, the question becomes what to bring duplicates of. The most logical class to duplicate early on is the Affliction Warlock with their really high-ranged DPS.
Later on, in the phase, it’ll make more sense to duplicate Fire Mages instead, but they just aren’t there yet DPS wise.
We also have to decide between one or two Hunters. They just got buffed and they’re amazing on Lich King.
If you want to replicate that classic feeling and stack melee like Warriors, that’s still on the table as well. The melee stack of your dreams will just have to wait a few months until you get full BIS gear.
If you want to start working towards that BIS gear, though, you’ll actually have to be allowed in the ICC raid.
