The Ultimate Raid-Comp - Covering All Buffs & Debuffs

The other day I was thinking to myself - what classes do I have to bring to a raid to cover all the buffs and debuffs? Recent changes have made more classes provide more buffs, making it easier to cover them all, and also ensuring that no class should be indispensable (this is still not entirely true however, see further down). So by "ultimate raid comp" I here mean "one that would cover all buffs", and not necessarily "one that would easily down lk hc". Covering all the buffs is one of many steps towards such a goal, but you'll always have to take individual skill into consideration in the end, of course. But, if skill wasn't an issue and you had access to any class of any spec - what would you have to get to have all buffs covered? That is what I'll talk about here.

I've decided to go for a 10man raid, since covering all buffs in a 25man raid is fairly easy. After all, you'll be 2,5 times more people. But in a 10man raid you'll have to pick carefully if you want to have it all. Note that covering all buffs isn't always something you'd want to do, and it doesn't necessarily make the best raid, even when not counting individual skill. For some bosses you'd prefer a melee or caster heavy setup. This is not something I have taken into consideration - specific cases will have to be dealt with on their own. Generally, going with caster buffs is always a safe way to go since all caster buffs also buff the healers. Extra melee buffs would buff the tanks, but only for dps, which is of less importance. But again - this is a list of what you should bring if you want to cover all buffs in a 10man raid, and nothing else.

Since we now only can res one person per fight, that is one Rebirth, Ankh or Soulstone Resurrection, it has become less important to stack druids for Rebirth. Nonetheless - having a couple of resses still makes for more flexibility. I have therefore chosen to have two druids, Rebirths being one of the reasons. It is also clear that some classes are greatly overpowered when it comes to providing good buffs to the raid. Paladins and shamans are a necessity because of totems, blessings and auras. In some cases some of the shaman/paladin buffs can be provided by other classes. But shamans and paladins offer all these buffs in one single class. Also, shamans are still currently the only class with a skill like Bloodlust/Heroism, unless you want to bring a beast master hunter with the proper pet (Core Hound). At level 85 mages will also provide this buff, but until then it is strongly recommended to bring at least one shaman in any raid. Also by being hybrids shamans and paladins can fill several roles in a raid, making them flexible to need with dual specs. For these reasons I have brought two shamans and two paladins to my raid. The other classes are there to cover the remaining buffs. An alternative to the warrior could be a BM hunter, who with the right pet could bring the same buffs, but would also add Misdirect. The pet would have to switch depending on fight, since no one pet brings all the buffs a warrior does.

Dps

• Retribution Paladin - Blessings, Auras, Replenishment, + dmg to raid
• Elemental Shaman - Totems, BL, +crit to raid, best + spellpower buff, Ankh
• Fire Mage - Food, + Intellect, + spell crit, (portals as a bonus)
• Arms Warrior - Physical vulnerability debuff, Reduced Healing, various other buffs already covered (in case of deaths)
• Destruction Warlock - Healthstones, Soulstone (less necessary with rebirths and ankhs present, but still useful), Stamina, (summons as a bonus)
• Balance Druid - Spell Haste, Increased Spell Damage Taken (Earth and Moon), Rebirth

Healers

• Discipline Priest - Shields, Stamina buff
• Restoration Shaman - Totems, BL, Ankh, Physical Damage Reduction (Ancestral Healing)

Tanks

• Protection Paladin - Blessings, Auras, Physical Damage Reduction (Vindication), Attack Speed Slow (Judgement of the Just)
• Feral Druid - Bleed Damage, Physical Damage Reduction (Demoralizing Roar), Rebirth

Buffs covered
Bloodlust/Heroism - Shaman
Agi/Strength - Shaman, Warrior
Armor - Shaman, Paladin
Attack Power - Paladin
Crit Chance - Feral Druid, Elemental Shaman
+ Damage - Retri Paladin
+ Mana - Mage
Mana Regen - Paladin, Shaman
Melee Haste - Shaman
Reduced Physical Damage - Shaman, Warlock
Pushback Protection - Paladin, Shaman
Replenishment - Retribution Paladin, Destruction Warlock
Spell Haste - Balance Druid, Shaman
Spell Power - Elemental Shaman (Mage and Resto shaman provide lesser buffs)
Spell Resistance - Shaman, Paladin, (Priest provide shadow resistance specifically)
Stamina - Priest, Warrior, (Warlock Imp)
Stat Multiplier - Paladin, Druid

Debuffs covered
Armor Reduction - Druid, Warrior
Attack Speed Slow - Feral Druid, Warrior, Protection Paladin, Shaman
Bleed Damage - Feral Druid, Arms Warrior
Cast Speed Slow (not often used in raids) - Warlock
Reduced Healing - Arms Warrior
Physical Damage Reduction - Feral Druid, Protection Paladin, Warrior
Increased Physical Damage Taken - Arms Warrior
Spell Critical Strike Chance Against Target - Fire Mage, Destruction Warlock
Increased Spell Damage Taken - Warlock, Balance Druid