wowfu

Raid & dungeon planner

The group that gets the most out of an instance: simulated throughput, the buffs members bring each other, and answers to every boss's mechanics — plus where the group should change between bosses.

Lower Blackrock Spire· 5 players · level 58 · 1 tank, 1 healer, 3 damage

Members are valued with the level-60 presets (nearest to the instance level 58); abilities are those learned by level 58.

Tank · 1

  • Protection Paladin318 TPS100% of best
    Human / Undead
    Cure DiseaseCure PoisonShadow resistanceFrost resistanceFire resistanceAoE damageDispel Magic

Healer · 1

  • Holy Priest373 HPS100% of best
    Gnome / Undead
    Cure DiseaseDispel MagicPurge enemy buffsFear immunity / wardCrowd controlAoE damageShadow resistance

Damage · 3

  • Demonology Warlock374 DPS100% of best
    Gnome / Orc
    Battle resurrectionCrowd controlAoE damage
  • Destruction Warlock358 DPS96% of best
    Human / Orc
    Battle resurrectionCrowd controlAoE damage
  • Arcane Mage326 DPS87% of best
    High Order Skyborne / Orc
    Crowd controlAoE damageRemove CurseInterrupt

What the group brings each other

Buffs, totems, aurasPower Word: Fortitude· Holy PriestArcane Intellect· Arcane MageBlessing of Wisdom· Protection PaladinDevotion Aura· Protection Paladin
On the bossCurse of the Elements· Demonology WarlockCurse of Recklessness· Destruction Warlock

Each effect is valued by simulating every member with and without it (magnitudes from Forever spell data or tooltips). Totems, auras and Battle Shout reach the provider's party; a paladin gives one blessing, a warlock keeps one curse and a shaman one air totem.

Boss by boss

✗ Remove Frenzy/EnrageFrenzy enrages the boss (useful)
Knockback: Knockback — tank with a wall behind, keep away from ledges and packs.
✓ Remove CurseCurse of Blood is a curse effect · Arcane mage
✓ Dispel MagicHex is a magic effect · Protection paladin, Holy priest
✓ Shadow resistanceCurse of Blood deals shadow damage to the group · Protection paladin, Holy priest
✗ Nature resistanceHex deals nature damage to the group (useful)
Damage: shadow (group)nature (group)

Nothing a composition needs to answer.

Stun: Stuns — expect damage spikes the victim can’t react to.
Healing reduced: Healing reduction on the target — heavier healing on whoever has it.
✓ Dispel MagicCrystalize is a magic effect · Protection paladin, Holy priest
✓ Cure PoisonMother's Milk is a poison effect · Protection paladin
✓ AoE damageSummon Spire Spiderling brings adds · Protection paladin, Holy priest, Demonology warlock, Arcane mage, Destruction warlock
Frontal cone: Frontal cone — only the tank in front; everyone else at the sides or behind.
Stun: Stuns — expect damage spikes the victim can’t react to.
✓ Fear immunity / wardIntimidating Roar fears · Holy priest
Root: Roots/freezes — don’t stand in what follows.
✓ InterruptDrink Healing Potion heals · Arcane mage
✓ Fire resistanceStun Bomb deals fire damage to the group · Protection paladin
Damage: fire (group)
Root: Roots/freezes — don’t stand in what follows.
Stun: Stuns — expect damage spikes the victim can’t react to.

Nothing a composition needs to answer.

✓ Cure DiseaseInfected Bite is a disease effect · Protection paladin, Holy priest
✗ Nature resistanceInfected Bite deals nature damage (useful)
Damage: nature up to 4,736
✓ Crowd controlEmpower Will takes control of a player · Holy priest, Demonology warlock, Arcane mage, Destruction warlock
✗ Remove Frenzy/EnrageFrenzy enrages the boss (useful)
Frontal cone: Frontal cone — only the tank in front; everyone else at the sides or behind.
Knockback: Knockback — tank with a wall behind, keep away from ledges and packs.
Stun: Stuns — expect damage spikes the victim can’t react to.
Healing reduced: Healing reduction on the target — heavier healing on whoever has it.

How the planner decides

Group role split. The planner fills 5-player groups with 1 tank, 1 healer and 3 damage dealers; 10-player raids 2/3/5; 20-player raids 2/5/13; 40-player raids 3/10/27. Forever publishes no recommended raid make-up; these follow common practice and can be changed by locking members.

How the planner values a group. Each member counts as their simulated output relative to the best spec of the same role at the instance level (healers by HPS, tanks by the tier-list tank index), raised by the group buffs other members bring (each buff's gain is simulated per spec). Every boss mechanic the group can answer (dispel, interrupt, fear counter, resistance aura, crowd control…) adds a fixed bonus — 0.6 of a member for an important one and 0.15 for a useful one, scaled by raid size — so a missing answer outweighs a small throughput gap but not a large one. Mechanics come from Classic-era boss descriptions until Forever publishes encounter data.

Spec stacking limit. The planner takes at most one member of a spec per five players (one per spec in a dungeon, eight in a 40-player raid) and at most that many of a class (but always two in a dungeon). The simulator values every member against a single target in isolation, so without a limit it would stack the top spec; in game, duplicates compete for the same loot and share limited debuff and curse slots. Locked members are exempt.

Group buffs and boss debuffs. Magnitudes come from Forever spell data (auras, armor reductions, damage-taken) or, for totems and talent auras, the Forever tooltip. Rules the data doesn't state: Sunder Armor at 5 stacks and Expose Armor at 5 combo points (they don't stack with each other); Leader of the Pack and Moonkin Aura are exclusive (their tooltips say so); a party gets one air totem — Windfury for warriors, rogues and paladins, Grace of Air for hunters, shamans (own Windfury Weapon, per tooltip) and druids (forms don't use weapon imbues, 1.x rule); a raid has enough warlocks for both Curse of Recklessness and Curse of the Elements. Forever made Improved Scorch, Improved Shadow Bolt, Winter's Chill and Shadow Weaving personal, so they aren't group effects. No consumables or world buffs.

Boss ability lists are Classic-era (warcraft.wiki.gg boss pages); Forever has not published encounter journals. Where a boss spell exists in the Forever client, its school, dispel type and damage are read from it. New Forever bosses have no ability data yet, so only throughput and buffs decide those groups.