Choosing your class
Nine classes, one honest line each: what it does, how it levels, who should play it, the race and the profession pair. Then the spec guides, builds and leveling routes for the one you pick.
| Class | Roles | In one line | Race pick | Professions | Go deeper |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warrior | Tank or melee DPS | Hard to level, best end-game tank, top melee DPS with Fury. | Orc or Human | Mining + Blacksmithing | specs · leveling · talents · race |
| Paladin | Tank, healer or melee DPS (Alliance only) | Easy to level, every role works in Forever after the Oct 30 rebuild. | Human | Mining + Blacksmithing or Herbalism + Alchemy | specs · leveling · talents · race |
| Hunter | Ranged DPS with a pet | The easiest leveling class and the strongest it has ever been after the Nov 2 buffs. | Troll or Dwarf | Skinning + Leatherworking | specs · leveling · talents · race |
| Rogue | Melee DPS from stealth | Rebuilt trees (Shank, Poised); great in PvP, strong raid DPS with Combat. | Orc or Human | Skinning + Leatherworking or Mining + Engineering | specs · leveling · talents · race |
| Priest | Healer or Shadow DPS | Holy is the raid healer, Shadow is a real DPS spec in Forever's smaller raids. | Undead, Human or Dwarf | Tailoring + Enchanting | specs · leveling · talents · race |
| Shaman | Healer or DPS (Horde only) | Windfury totems for the melee group, Chain Heal for the raid; Skyborne Windshapers are new. | Orc, Troll or Skyborne | Skinning + Leatherworking or Herbalism + Alchemy | specs · leveling · talents · race |
| Mage | Ranged DPS and control | Fire for raids, Frost for leveling and PvP; food, water and portals pay the bills. | Gnome, Undead or Skyborne | Tailoring + Enchanting | specs · leveling · talents · race |
| Warlock | Ranged DPS with demons | The smoothest solo leveling after Hunter; Destruction for raids, Affliction for PvP. | Undead or Gnome | Tailoring + Enchanting | specs · leveling · talents · race |
| Druid | Tank, healer or DPS | One class for every role, slow early, excellent in 10-player raids and PvP. | Tauren or Night Elf | Herbalism + Alchemy | specs · leveling · talents · race |
Rankings by role: tier lists. Icy Veins' Choosing Your Main is the long read.
Editorial, 2026-11-04; sources linked in the text. Wowhead and Icy Veins guides are referenced, not copied. Data from talentsforever.com (CC BY 4.0), read from the WoW Forever beta client, build 1.60.1.70753. Updated 2026-11-04. World of Warcraft is a trademark of Blizzard Entertainment; this is a fan site.