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Table of Contents

WoW Forever Tier List for Classes and Specs

A week after launch, Fury Warrior, Demonology Warlock, Survival Hunter and Retribution Paladin lead our WoW Forever tier list for damage, Protection Warrior is still the safest raid tank with Protection Paladin as the dungeon favorite, and Holy Priest and Restoration Shaman share the top of the healer list. In PvP, Shadow Priest, Discipline Priest, Subtlety Rogue, Soul Link Warlocks and Survival Hunters sit in S tier. This page ranks every spec for level 60 PvE and PvP in one place, with a leveling grade next to each, so you can pick a main or an alt and see how the same class does in every role.

Below you will find one table that grades every spec for leveling, dungeons and raids, and PvP side by side, then four tier lists (DPS, tank, healer and PvP) with a short reason for every placement, a set of fun off-meta builds, the best classes for dungeon spam and for getting a raid spot, and the best class for leveling and for new players. The last sections show what each class spends on ammo, pet food and reagents, what the first week on live servers showed and every class change since launch.

Updated November 11 for the live game. Raids open on December 9, so the level 60 PvE grades are still a forecast built on simulations, talent analysis and the first week of play. Blizzard has said it plans no big tuning changes before the raids except for bugs and serious outliers, and the first Tuesday hotfixes on November 10 nerfed Enhancement Shaman, made Warlock demons sturdier, reworked Wrack and fixed Hunter pets. Since the October 21 version we moved Retribution Paladin and Restoration Shaman up to S tier, Destruction Warlock and Combat Rogue up to A, Assassination Rogue, Subtlety Rogue and Shadow Priest up to B, Balance Druid up to C and Holy Paladin down to B among healers; in PvP, Discipline Priest and Subtlety Rogue moved up to S tier.

How This WoW Forever Tier List Works

A tier list for a game whose raids have not opened yet needs clear rules. Each spec is placed by what it is expected to do at level 60 in dungeon and crafted gear, the gear most players will wear in the first weeks. For damage dealers, single-target raid damage counts first, then cleave and the buffs or utility a spec brings to a group. Tanks and healers are ranked by how well their toolkit covers raids and dungeons, since there are no reliable simulations for threat or healing yet.

The tiers mean the same thing in every list:

  • S tier: the specs that set the pace. Groups will look for them first.
  • A tier: strong picks with one clear limit, such as weaker cleave or a harder rotation.
  • B tier: fully playable, but you bring them for utility or because you like them.
  • C tier: behind on numbers and short on unique tools.
  • D tier: needs buffs to be competitive.

You may have seen lists that look very different, with every Hunter and Warlock spec at the top. Most of them are still level 30 rankings from the beta: a week after launch, the big guide sites have not published live rankings yet. At 30, pets and damage over time spells carry a character whatever the gear, so those classes dominate. At 60, weapon damage, critical strikes and talent capstones take over, and the order changes. Experimental hybrid builds that show up in simulations, such as Shockadin or Frostfire, are not placed in the main lists; you will find them in the fun specs section.

Every Spec Graded for Leveling, Dungeons and Raids, and PvP

The tier lists further down rank each spec for one job at level 60. Most players want to know something simpler first: will the spec that levels fastest still hold a spot in dungeons, raids and battlegrounds? This table puts the three jobs side by side for all 28 specs.

The Leveling grade covers the road from 1 to 60 as a solo player: kill speed, downtime between pulls and how safe the spec is when a pull goes wrong. The Dungeons & Raids grade is the spec's place in our PvE tier lists for damage, tanks and healers, and the PvP grade is its place in the PvP tier list.

These grades are our own assessment. They combine level 60 simulations, the first week on live servers (the race to 60, dungeon groups and battlegrounds), the November 10 hotfixes, the results of the Forever Open beta tournament and testing by content creators. The Leveling grade follows our WoW Forever best leveling class ranking, updated after the first week. No major guide site has graded level 60 yet, so read the PvE letters as a forecast for the raids.

Spec Leveling Dungeons & Raids PvP
Arms Warrior C A A
Fury Warrior C S B
Protection Warrior B S C
Holy Paladin B B A
Protection Paladin A A C
Retribution Paladin A S B
Beast Mastery Hunter S A A
Marksmanship Hunter A A A
Survival Hunter A S S
Assassination Rogue B B A
Combat Rogue B A A
Subtlety Rogue B B S
Discipline Priest C A S
Holy Priest C S A
Shadow Priest C B S
Elemental Shaman C D A
Enhancement Shaman B B B
Restoration Shaman B S B
Arcane Mage A B B
Fire Mage A A B
Frost Mage S B A
Affliction Warlock A B A
Demonology Warlock A S S
Destruction Warlock B A B
Balance Druid C C C
Feral (Cat) Druid B B B
Feral (Bear) Druid B A C
Restoration Druid B A A

Demonology Warlock and Survival Hunter are the only specs with an S or A grade in all three columns, which is why Hunter and Warlock are the safest first characters. Warrior and Priest are the slowest to level but have S grades waiting at 60: Fury and Protection Warrior in raids, Holy Priest as a healer and Shadow and Discipline Priest in PvP. Balance Druid is the one spec that stays at C everywhere, and raids still want one for Moonkin Form.

The first week on live servers points the same way for leveling. The first five players to reach 60, after about 52 hours, were three Mages, a Paladin and a Shaman grinding packs together, and the best solo player at that point was a level 54 Beast Mastery Hunter. Hunters also make up about a quarter of the 500 highest characters in a fan census, against 13% of all characters.

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WoW Forever PvE Tier List

The PvE lists cover raids and level 60 dungeons. At launch that means Onyxia's Lair, Hyjal Summit and Barrow Deeps, plus the dungeons that gear you for them. Pick your role in the tabs below to see its tier list.

PvE Tier Lists by Role

Level 60 forecast for raids and dungeons, updated after the first week

DPS Tier List

20 damage specs · Raid damage first, then cleave and utility

Twenty damage specs are ranked here. The gap between S and B is smaller than it looks: in current simulations most of A and B tier sit within about 20% of each other, so skill and gear will matter more than the letter.

S Tier DPS

These four specs lead for different reasons, and each of them scales well with gear.

  • Fury Warrior. The top melee spec outside Hunters in level 60 simulations. Critical strikes now generate double Rage, Bloodthirst scales with Attack Power, Whirlwind hits with both weapons, and Death Wish and Execute stack on top. No spec gains more from weapon upgrades.
  • Demonology Warlock. The highest caster in simulations. Demonic Sacrifice builds turn a demon into a permanent damage bonus while Shadow Bolt does the work, and builds that keep the pet use Demonic Brand to turn Searing Pain into extra pet damage. Every raid still wants a Warlock for Ritual of Summoning and utility.
  • Survival Hunter. The surprise of the beta and the top spec in current level 60 simulations: a hybrid that weaves melee and ranged attacks, built around Mongoose Bite and Raptor Strike up close and Arcane Shot from range, with Lone Wolf adding 20% damage when no pet is out. It is also the most debated placement, since the build depends on talents that may still change, and the October 28 hotfix cut the Ranged Attack Power from Aspect of the Hawk by about half. Survival leans on its melee attacks more than the other Hunter specs, so it keeps S tier.
  • Retribution Paladin. Holy Strike, Seal of Command and Vengeance give the spec a real rotation, it scales with both Strength and spell power, and it sits next to Fury Warrior in current level 60 simulations. It also brings Blessing of Kings and the rest of the Paladin toolkit, so it moves up from A tier.

A Tier DPS

A tier is where most raid spots will be filled. Every spec here is close to the top and brings something a group needs.

  • Arms Warrior. Normalized Rage favors slow two-handers, Mortal Strike hits hard, and Sweeping Strikes gives the best two-target cleave among melee specs.
  • Arcane Mage. Arcane Blast now gives you Spell Damage equal to 12% of your Intellect per stack for 18 sec, Arcane Wrath adds a nuke that scales with your maximum Mana, and Arcane Power lines up with both. The October 15 redesign has not been fully simulated yet, so it stays mid-table for now.
  • Fire Mage. Slow to start, then powered by critical strikes: Ignite and Combustion grow with every crit item you equip.
  • Marksmanship Hunter. Lone Wolf, Sniper Shot from 45 yards and Trueshot Aura for the whole raid make it the safest ranged pick on fights with melee mechanics. The October 28 hotfix lowered both Aspect of the Hawk and Trueshot Aura, which hits Marksmanship hardest, so it stays in A tier rather than climbing.
  • Beast Mastery Hunter. The best leveling spec in the game, and Bestial Wrath still feels great. The November 10 hotfixes fixed pets that had 150% of their health by mistake, now 115%, and raised the hawk's melee damage by about 80%, so pet damage is where Blizzard wants it.
  • Destruction Warlock. Solid burst and the full Warlock utility kit. Current level 60 simulations put it right behind Demonology, ahead of Affliction, so it moves up from B tier.
  • Combat Rogue. Steady, simple damage with Slice and Dice, Blade Flurry for a second target and Adrenaline Rush for burst. It depends on weapons more than any other Rogue spec, and the newest level 60 simulations put it in the middle of A tier, so it moves back up from B.

B Tier DPS

B tier specs do their job, but each is either behind a stronger sibling in the same class or brought mainly for its utility.

  • Affliction Warlock. Damage over time spells can crit in Forever, and Pandemic doubles that crit bonus. The November 10 hotfixes reworked Wrack: it deals 30% less damage, and while you channel it your Corruption, Siphon Life and Bane of Agony tick twice as fast, so the spec now plays as a damage over time spec again. It is still the weakest Warlock spec on a single target.
  • Feral (Cat) Druid. Leader of the Pack, now raid-wide, makes it a welcome support pick, but bleeds lose value on targets that resist them.
  • Frost Mage. Control and survivability first, damage second. Many Frost players are expected to move to a Frostfire hybrid for raids.
  • Enhancement Shaman. Stormstrike, Windfury Weapon and Maelstrom Weapon, plus totems that now buff the whole raid. The November 10 hotfixes took back its beta buffs: Stormstrike deals 100% weapon damage on an 8-second cooldown, Mental Dexterity converts less Intellect into Attack Power and Maelstrom Weapon procs 6 to 10 times per minute, and weapon imbues now work together with Windfury Totem. Raids bring it mainly for Windfury Totem.
  • Assassination Rogue. Mutilate and stronger poisons hit hard until the target is immune to poison, which is common among elementals. Newer simulations put it in the middle of the pack, so it moves up from C tier.
  • Subtlety Rogue. Built around Hemorrhage and control, it is a PvP spec first, but its raid damage is closer to the other Rogue specs than first simulations showed, so it moves up from C tier.
  • Shadow Priest. Shadowform and Shadow Word: Death are in place, and Shadow Weaving still raises the damage of every Warlock and Shadow Priest in the group. Newer simulations put its damage in the middle of the pack, so it moves up from C tier, but most raids still need only one.

C Tier DPS

One spec is behind on numbers in every source we checked.

  • Balance Druid. Moonkin Form brings a raid-wide spell crit aura, so one Balance Druid is welcome in a raid. Eclipse is weak and Starfire costs too much Mana for its damage, but newer simulations no longer put it at the bottom, so it moves up from D tier.

D Tier DPS

One spec sits clearly below the rest.

  • Elemental Shaman. Shocks and Lightning Bolt lost base damage during the beta. The October 15 build moved Lava Burst up to row 5, brought back Elemental Mastery as the capstone and cut Chain Lightning Mana costs by about 35%, but it also nerfed Fire Nova. Simulations of the new tree still put it last of the twenty damage specs, at about half the damage of the top spec.

Tank Tier List

6 tanks · Ranked for raid bosses

Warrior, Paladin and Druid have full tanking trees in Forever, and Shaman, Warlock and Hunter can tank dungeons with community builds. This ranking is about raid bosses, where cooldowns, taunts and raid debuffs matter most.

Protection Warrior is the safest main tank, the Bear is the natural second tank, and Protection Paladin shines more in dungeons than in raids: in the first week it was the tank every dungeon list put first, and Righteous Fury is now trained at level 10. Separate leveling and dungeon rankings and a threat and survivability table are in our WoW Forever tank tier list.

Healer Tier List

5 healing specs · Ranked by group healing

All five healing specs are viable, and the difference is mostly about group healing. Forever adds raid-wide damage to many fights, so healers with strong multi-target tools move up.

Holy Priest and Restoration Shaman answer group damage best and share S tier; Discipline Priest and Restoration Druid each lead in a narrower job. Whatever you pick, healers are the scarcest role in Forever: in the first week, players waited 30 minutes to an hour for a healer after level 30.

  • Holy Priest. The most complete healer. Prayer of Healing covers a whole party from 40 yards, Prayer of Mending jumps between injured players, and Fear Ward and Divine Spirit are now available to every Priest.
  • Restoration Shaman. Chain Heal is as strong as ever, Riptide adds an instant heal that makes Chain Heal stronger on the same target, and Mana Tide Totem and the raid-wide totems keep the whole raid going. Level 60 healer rankings now put it level with Holy Priest, so it moves back up to S tier.
  • Discipline Priest. Penance and Power Word: Shield make it the most mana-efficient single-target healer, and Power Infusion boosts a damage dealer. Penance was reduced during the beta, which is why it sits just below Holy.
  • Restoration Druid. Wild Growth gives Druids a real group heal, Swiftmend covers emergencies, and Rebirth brings a player back in the middle of a fight. It has fewer big single heals than the others. Since November 10, Nature's Swiftness also makes Wild Growth instant, a second emergency group heal.
  • Holy Paladin. Holy Shock is on a 10-second cooldown, Light's Vigil turns the next Holy Shock into a party-wide heal, and it has the best tank healing in the game. But it is the weakest group healer of the five, and level 60 healer rankings put it at the bottom, so it drops to B tier.

Rotations, talents and builds for each class are covered in our class guides, starting with the WoW Forever class changes overview.

Every healer is compared for leveling, dungeons and raids, with mana tools and dispels side by side, in our WoW Forever healer tier list.

Best Classes for Dungeons and Raid Spots

A tier list ranks what a spec does on a boss. Two practical questions sit next to it: which classes clear dungeons fastest while you level and farm, and which ones get a raid spot most easily. The answers are not the same as the S tiers above.

Best Classes for Dungeon Spam

Dungeon spam rewards area damage, little downtime between pulls, crowd control and a tank who holds a whole pack. These picks come from beta play and the first week on live servers, so treat them as a guide for leveling and farming until the raids open:

  • Protection Paladin is the best dungeon tank. Consecration holds every mob in a pack at once, and in a group of casters its mana breaks cost nothing, because everyone drinks together anyway.
  • Mage is still the fastest area damage. Blizzard, Cone of Cold, Frost Nova and Polymorph clear and control packs, and food, water and Arcane Intellect help the whole group. Blizzard was toned down on the beta, so pulls are smaller than the mass pulls of Classic.
  • Hunter brings ranged damage with almost no downtime, Multi-Shot for three targets, traps for crowd control and a pet that can hold a mob if the tank dies.
  • Discipline or Holy Priest is the healer with the least downtime. Shooting a wand between heals adds damage without spending mana, and Power Word: Fortitude helps everyone.
  • Restoration Shaman heals packs with Chain Heal and makes a melee group much stronger with Windfury Totem.

Two group setups work best. A caster group of three Mages with a Protection Paladin and a Discipline Priest pulls big and drinks together. A melee group with a Warrior or bear Druid tank, a Shaman for Windfury and Warriors or Rogues as damage has the least downtime of all. Retribution Paladins and Balance Druids run out of mana in long runs, Rogues have no area damage until Blade Flurry, Holy Paladins have to stand in melee to add damage, and Warlock damage over time spells can be too slow when packs die in seconds.

Best Classes for Raid Spots

Getting a raid spot depends on what you bring that nobody else does and on how many other players rolled your class. The October 15 build made Battle Shout, Trueshot Aura, Leader of the Pack, Moonkin Form and four Shaman totems raid-wide. One of each now covers the whole raid, which makes the first one valuable and the second one much less so.

  • Priest healers are the safest pick. Every raid needs several, Power Word: Fortitude and both dispels are always wanted, and Priest is one of the least played classes, with under 10% of all characters in a fan census in the first week.
  • Shaman is welcome in any spec, because Windfury Totem boosts every melee player. With raid-wide totems a raid needs only about two Shamans, Restoration first. Shaman was one of the most played classes on the Horde side of the beta, so an Alliance Shaman will find a spot more easily.
  • Warlock is the safest damage spot. Demonology is among the top casters in level 60 simulations, raids want several Warlocks for curses, and casters avoid many melee mechanics.
  • Mage fills damage spots as Arcane or Fire. A raid needs only one Mage for Arcane Intellect, so every other Mage competes on damage alone.

The riskier picks are specs a raid needs only one of. A single Balance Druid, Shadow Priest or Retribution Paladin covers the raid buff, so a second one has to win the spot on damage. Rogues bring no raid-wide buff, and Expose Armor does the same job as a Warrior's Sunder Armor. Hunter damage is very strong in simulations, but Hunter is also the most played class on live servers, with about 13% of all characters, so competition for Hunter spots will be the heaviest. Tank spots are few in any raid, whatever the class.

Raid sizes, locations and the Onyxia attunement are covered in our WoW Forever raids overview.

WoW Forever PvP Tier List

PvP in Forever has no resilience and no arenas, so matches are decided by burst, control and how hard a spec is to kill. This list combines battlegrounds, world PvP and duels into one ranking; the notes after it show where each spec is strongest.

The S tier specs share one trait: they deal damage and stay alive at the same time.

  • Shadow Priest. Devouring Plague is available to every Priest, Shadow Word: Death is an instant nuke, and Silence and Psychic Scream shut opponents down while Power Word: Shield and self-healing keep you standing.
  • Survival Hunter. New pet abilities still matter after the October 15 nerfs: Dismember cuts healing on the target by 25%, and Sonic Blast slows spellcasting by 30%. Traps work in combat, Entrapment roots whoever triggers them, and Viper Sting drains healers.
  • Demonology Warlock. The Soul Link build is the hardest target in the game. Drain Life heals through pressure, damage over time spells crit, and Fear, Death Coil and a Felhunter with Spell Lock control any caster.
  • Discipline Priest. Power Word: Shield, Penance and Pain Suppression make it the hardest healer to kill, and Dispel Magic and Mana Burn answer any caster. It is the S tier healer on most PvP lists after the first week.
  • Subtlety Rogue. Cheap Shot, Kidney Shot, Blind and Vanish decide who fights and when, and Hemorrhage keeps the pressure up. Every PvP list we checked puts Rogues at or near the top, and Subtlety is the world PvP pick.

A tier holds the specs that win with the right setup. Marksmanship Hunter keeps its range, traps and Viper Sting but lost some Ranged Attack Power in the October 28 hotfix. Assassination and Combat Rogue bring the same control as Subtlety with more damage and less escape. Frost Mage has Polymorph, Counterspell, Frost Nova and an Ice Lance that hits frozen targets for 300% more damage on an 8 sec cooldown. Arms Warrior and its Mortal Strike rise to S tier with a healer behind them and drop when left alone. Holy Paladin, Holy Priest and Restoration Druid are the healers premades are built around next to Discipline, and Elemental Shaman brings Purge, an Earth Shock interrupt and burst.

B and C tier specs can still win games, but they either lack control or give up too much to play their PvE role. Enhancement Shaman burst hard in the first week, up to 90% of a player's health in one swing, but the November 10 hotfixes cut Stormstrike and Maelstrom Weapon, so it stays in B tier. Arcane Mage moves up from C: Arcane Power and Arcane Wrath hit hard, but the spec runs out of Mana in long fights.

Best Specs for Battlegrounds, World PvP and Duels

The overall ranking hides some sharp differences between modes:

  • Battlegrounds. Hunters are the standout in organized groups, with Holy Priest and Restoration Druid as the core healers; Druids also make the best flag carriers. The same holds on the new Darkspear Islands battleground.
  • World PvP. Hunter and Druid lead thanks to tracking, mobility and the ability to reset a fight. Rogue and Mage follow. Warlocks are strong but slow to recover after a death.
  • Duels. Soul Link Warlock and Subtlety Rogue are the favorites, with Priests close behind. Warriors and Retribution Paladins struggle without a healer, which matters if you plan to enter the Forever Open duel tournament.

Ranks, Honor and rewards are explained in our WoW Forever PvP overview.

For a ranking built only for the open world, with escape tools and hotspots by level, see our WoW Forever world PvP tier list.

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Fun Specs Worth Trying in WoW Forever

Forever rebuilt the talent trees so that hybrids and old meme builds actually work. None of these are ranked above, because they sit between roles or have not been tested enough, but each of them is a real way to play.

  • Shockadin. A Holy Paladin that deals damage with Holy Shock on a 10-second cooldown and heals with the same button. It tops experimental simulations and is a serious threat in PvP.
  • Smite Priest. Smite, Holy Fire and Penance as a damage rotation, with full healing available the moment a group needs it.
  • Shaman tank. Rockbiter Weapon, Spirit Weapons and Fire Nova generate heavy threat, though Fire Nova hits much softer since the October 15 build, and Earth Shock adds high threat and an interrupt, but it is not a taunt. It handles dungeons well and lacks the cooldowns for raid bosses.
  • Frostfire Mage. Frostfire Bolt with deep Fire talents and Winter's Chill from Frost. In simulations it lands next to Arcane, and it keeps Frost control.
  • Melee Hunter. The Survival build from the top of the DPS list is also the most unusual way to play a Hunter: two weapons, Mongoose Bite, and a bow as backup.
  • Fury tank. A Warrior that tanks with Fury talents and a shield only when needed. It trades safety for damage and suits dungeons with a confident healer.

You can plan any of these builds in our WoW Forever talent calculator.

Best Class for Leveling and New Players

Raid rankings say little about the road to 60. After the first week, Hunter is the safest leveler and Mage the fastest in a group that pulls big packs, Warlock and Paladin follow, and Warrior and Priest are the slowest to reach 60 but have strong endgame roles waiting for them. If this is your first character, a Hunter or Warlock forgives the most mistakes, because the pet takes the hits.

Every class is rated for speed, downtime and safety in our WoW Forever leveling tier list, and pairs for two players are ranked in the WoW Forever duo leveling tier list. If you are still choosing between classes for how they feel to play, our WoW Forever class guides compare all nine.

This tier list ranks power, not comfort. Which class is the most fun and easiest in WoW Forever, and which fits short sessions, is covered in its own guide.

Each class has its own leveling guide with talents, rotation and route:

If you would rather start at the level cap, our WoW Forever leveling service can take any class to 60.

Class Running Costs for Ammo, Pet Food and Reagents

Gold is scarce in Forever, and some classes pay to play while others do not. Hunters burn arrows with every Auto Shot and keep buying food for the pet. Casters and hybrids buy reagents for group buffs, teleports and resurrections, Warlocks need a steady supply of soul shards, and Warriors have no class reagents at all. If you have little time to play, a Mage is the cheapest class to run: it needs no arrows, no pet food and no shards, and it conjures its own food and water.

The Legacy perk Reagent Economy removes part of this bill. It costs one Legacy point at the end of the Resourcefulness tree, and its tooltip says that your class abilities no longer require reagents you can buy from vendors; it also makes the Tier 1 camping features free to craft. The key word is vendors. The perk covers vendor reagents only. It does not cover Soul Shards, which no vendor sells (Blizzard fixed a bug on October 15 that let the perk summon an Incubus without a shard), and it does not cover arrows, bullets, pet food or Blinding Powder, which Rogues craft.

We explain how to earn and spend Legacy points in our WoW Forever Legacy points guide.

Hunter Ammo and Pet Food Costs

Ammo is consumed in Forever: Blizzard fixed the bows and guns that were not using it early in the beta. A vendor sells arrows and bullets in stacks of 200, and each step adds damage to your ranged weapon. The prices below are base vendor prices from the beta data; reputation discounts take a little off.

Arrow Bullet Required level Vendor price Added damage per second
Rough Arrow Light Shot 1 10c per 200 1.5
Sharp Arrow Heavy Shot 10 50c per 200 3.5
Razor Arrow Solid Shot 25 3s per 200 7.5
Jagged Arrow Accurate Slugs 40 10s per 200 13

Arrows sit in a Small Quiver or Medium Quiver and bullets in a Small Ammo Pouch. Each one adds ranged attack speed, but it also takes one of your bag slots. Always carry a spare stack before a dungeon: a Hunter who runs out of arrows halfway through has to finish the run in melee.

Pet happiness still drops over time, so you need to Feed Pet regularly. Meat is the safest choice, since most tameable beasts eat it. Fruit, bread and fish follow the same price steps at the same levels, and the table shows the meat ladder.

Pet food Required level Vendor price per 5 Price per piece
Haunch of Meat 5 1s 25c 25c
Mutton Chop 15 5s 1s
Wild Hog Shank 25 10s 2s
Cured Ham Steak 35 20s 4s
Roasted Quail 45 40s 8s

Reagent Costs for Every Other Class

Most reagents are only needed for group buffs, resurrections and travel, so solo leveling costs little. The bill grows at level 60, when you rebuff a raid after every wipe. One Priest on the beta forums put it at 27 silver per death just to recast the three group prayers. The last column shows whether Reagent Economy removes the cost.

Class Reagent Used for Vendor price Removed by Reagent Economy
Priest Holy Candle Prayer of Fortitude (rank 1) 7s each Yes
Priest Sacred Candle Prayer of Spirit, Prayer of Shadow Protection and higher ranks of Prayer of Fortitude 10s each Yes
Priest and Mage Light Feather Levitate and Slow Fall No vendor listed in the beta data Unclear, only vendor reagents are covered
Mage Arcane Powder Arcane Brilliance 10s each Yes
Mage Rune of Teleportation Teleport spells such as Teleport: Stormwind 10s each Yes
Mage Rune of Portals Portal spells such as Portal: Stormwind 20s each Yes
Warlock Soul Shard Ritual of Summoning, Create Healthstone, Create Soulstone and demon summons such as Summon Voidwalker Not sold, you collect them with Drain Soul No
Warlock Infernal Stone Inferno 50s each Yes
Warlock Demonic Figurine Ritual of Doom 1g each Yes
Rogue Flash Powder Vanish 25c each Not on the perk's list of spells
Rogue Blinding Powder Blind Not sold, crafted by Rogues No
Rogue Empty Vial, Leaded Vial and Crystal Vial Poisons 4c, 40c and 5s each Listed, but beta testers reported it not working
Paladin Symbol of Kings Greater Blessings such as Greater Blessing of Kings and Greater Blessing of Might 30s per 20 Yes
Paladin Symbol of Divinity Divine Intervention 20s each Yes
Shaman Ankh Reincarnation 20s each Yes
Druid Wild Berries and Wild Thornroot Gift of the Wild ranks 1 and 2 7s and 10s each Yes
Druid Maple Seed up to Ironwood Seed Rebirth, one seed type per rank 2s to 20s each Yes

Warlocks have no candles. Candles are a Priest reagent, and what costs a Warlock is the Soul Shard: shards do not stack, every summon, Healthstone, Soulstone and Ritual of Summoning uses one, and a soul bag takes up a bag slot. Plan a few casts of Drain Soul on dying mobs before every dungeon or raid.

If you are saving up for your first mount on top of these costs, our WoW Forever gold making guide shows how to reach 100 gold by level 40.

What the First Week on Live Servers Showed

Raids are a month away, so the first week tested leveling, dungeons and battlegrounds. Four things stand out for the rankings:

  • Mages won the race to 60. A group of three Mages, a Paladin and a Shaman reached 60 together after about 52 hours, grinding packs from level 35. The best solo player at that point was a level 54 Beast Mastery Hunter.
  • Hunters lead solo leveling. Hunter is the most played class with about 13% of all characters and a quarter of the 500 highest characters in a fan census.
  • Healers are scarce. Groups after level 30 waited 30 minutes to an hour for a healer, while tanks were easier to find. Blizzard raised the experience from dungeon kills by 50% on November 9 to make leveling as a tank or healer worth it, and dual specialization costs 50 gold from level 40.
  • Protection Paladin is the default dungeon tank. Every dungeon ranking we checked puts it first or tied for first, ahead of Protection Warrior and the Bear.

No major guide site has published a live tier list yet: the big lists either still show beta rankings or say it is too early, and Blizzard plans a large tuning pass once enough players are past level 30 and the raids are open.

Class Changes Since Launch

Blizzard changes class balance on Tuesdays when it needs to. These are the changes since November 4 that matter for the rankings; every hotfix is in our WoW Forever patch notes.

Date Class Change Effect on the rankings
November 6 Warlock Voidwalker base health raised; Soul Siphon no longer lets Wrack increase its own damage Small help for leveling Warlocks
November 9 All Experience from dungeon kills raised by 50% Leveling as a tank or healer is closer to questing
November 9 Mage, Paladin, Shaman Arcane Concentration chance split between cast and bolts; Consecration damage bug fixed; Lightning Overload damage fixed Bug fixes, no grade moved
November 10 Enhancement Shaman Stormstrike 100% weapon damage on an 8 sec cooldown (was 150%, 6 sec); Mental Dexterity 33/66/100% (was 50/100/150%); Maelstrom Weapon 20% per stack at every rank, 6 to 10 procs per minute; imbues and weapon totems work together Less burst in PvP and dungeons, more value from Windfury; stays B in PvE and PvP
November 10 Warlock Imp, Voidwalker, Succubus and Incubus about 15% more health; Wrack 30% less damage and speeds up damage over time spells instead; Soul Siphon counts only Corruption, Siphon Life and Bane of Agony Affliction plays as a damage over time spec again; stays B
November 10 Hunter Pets had 150% health by mistake, now 115%; Arcane Shot and Summon Hawk cost 11% of base Mana; hawk melee damage up about 80% Pet tanking a little weaker, Beast Mastery damage a little higher
November 10 Restoration Druid Nature's Swiftness also makes Wild Growth instant Better emergency group healing; stays A
November 10 Arms Warrior Sweeping Strikes keeps its charges when no second target is hit Quality of life, no grade moved

Before launch, the final beta build of October 15 made Battle Shout, Trueshot Aura, Leader of the Pack, Moonkin Form and four Shaman totems raid-wide, the racial pass of October 26 and 27 reworked racial traits, and an October 28 hotfix cut the Ranged Attack Power from Aspect of the Hawk and Trueshot Aura by about half. Every racial change is ranked by role in our WoW Forever race tier list.

What Can Still Change Before the Raids

Several open questions can move specs up or down before December 9:

  • Tuesday hotfixes. Blizzard plans balance changes on Tuesdays if needed and a larger tuning pass once players reach 60.
  • Whether Enhancement Shaman, Warlock demons and Hunter pets land where Blizzard wants them after the November 10 changes.
  • How threat and healing work in level 60 raids, which nobody has tested yet.
  • Raid gear, tier set bonuses and trinkets, none of which are in the simulations yet.
  • Encounter design: more group damage favors Holy Priest and Restoration Shaman, more movement favors Affliction Warlock and Hunters.

WoW Forever Profession Boosts
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4.9

More WoW Forever Class Guides

These guides go deeper into the systems behind the rankings: the best class for leveling after the first week, every class change in Forever, the talent calculator, the raids and the PvP system.

WoW Forever Tier List FAQ

These are the questions players ask most often when they compare classes in WoW Forever.

What is the best class in WoW Forever?

There is no single best class: six of the nine classes have an S tier spec in at least one list. Hunter and Warlock are the only ones near the top of PvE damage, PvP and leveling at the same time.

What is the best DPS spec in WoW Forever?

Survival Hunter, Fury Warrior, Demonology Warlock and Retribution Paladin lead current level 60 simulations. Raids open on December 9, so these grades are still a forecast.

What is the best tank in WoW Forever?

Protection Warrior for raid bosses and Protection Paladin for dungeons, where it was the favorite in the first week. Feral Druid is close behind both. Every tank, including the Shaman, Warlock and Hunter builds, is ranked in our WoW Forever tank tier list.

What is the best healer in WoW Forever?

Holy Priest and Restoration Shaman share the top: Holy Priest for Prayer of Healing and Prayer of Mending, Restoration Shaman for Chain Heal and raid-wide totems. Any healer finds a group fast, because healers are the scarcest role.

What is the best PvP class in WoW Forever?

Shadow Priest, Discipline Priest, Subtlety Rogue, Soul Link Warlock and Survival Hunter are the strongest picks across battlegrounds, world PvP and duels.

What is the best class for leveling in WoW Forever?

Hunter is the safest solo leveler and Mage the fastest in a group: the first players to reach 60 were three Mages, a Paladin and a Shaman. Warrior and Priest are the slowest.

Will this tier list change?

Yes. Blizzard changes classes on Tuesdays when needed and plans a larger tuning pass before the raids open on December 9. We update the lists after each round of class changes and again once the raids are cleared.

Update history 3
  1. Added a link to the duo leveling tier list.
  2. Added links to related guides.
  3. Release

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