Which WoW Forever class to pick? My take on all 9

Article by Kami

You’re going to spend weeks, even months, leveling your character, and the worst outcome would be to regret your WoW Forever class once all that investment is done. A lot of you are asking me this right now, and I get the hesitation: the game stays close to the original WoW Classic experience, so a starting choice stays with you for a long time. Leveling (climbing to the level cap) isn’t something you redo in a weekend.

To help you decide, I made my video on the nine WoW Forever classes. I don’t say “play this class” in it. I show each one’s gameplay and the situations where it performs or doesn’t: leveling, PvP, endgame PvE. Then it’s up to you to pick the one that suits you.

You still have a little time before the November 4 release to think it over. This article follows the thread of the video with my opinions, my bets and my reservations, class by class.

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For pure performance: the MythicSim tier list

I’m not ranking every WoW Forever class by power here. I know a lot of you only want to know which one is the strongest, but I’d rather explain what I see in each one: what looks interesting to me, what the gameplay feels like, in which situations it performs or not. If pure PvE performance is what you’re after, go check out our tier list, in the site menu. It is fed by MythicSim, which updates its ranking regularly, and I stay in sync with it for the translation.

Screenshot of the MythicSim DPS tier list, which ranks every WoW Forever specialization, led by Survival Hunter followed by Fury Warrior, Marksmanship Hunter, Paladin and Demonology Warlock
MythicSim, October 21, 2026: Survival Hunter on top at 1,109 single-target DPS.

The ranking is theorycrafted (calculated on paper, with no real play), using current talents and gear from the datamine (extracted from the game files). MythicSim runs 10,000 simulations per specialization. In the October 21, 2026 snapshot, made with client 70425, Survival Hunter leads the way at 1,109 DPS. Fury Warrior follows with 955, then Marksmanship Hunter with 939, the experimental “Shockadin” Paladin with 928 and Demonology Warlock with 923. These numbers come from a beta simulation, not a raid test.

It’s very early, and it can change a lot. If you absolutely want statistics, they’re there. Our builds by specialization are, by the way, the builds used by the simulations.

For the spell breakdown of each specialization, I already made one video per class, listed in the video description. Some changes have landed since, but overall not much moves: mostly values tweaked over the patches, plus a few reworked or added spells. You’ll get a fairly precise idea of each class there.

Rogue: the king of world PvP, headed for the top in single target

We start with the rogue, the stealth class, and it’s one of the best in the game in PvP. It’s also one of my very first classes when I started on Vanilla. I played it up to TBC season 4 in arena, and it was really excellent, especially in world PvP.

With all its cooldowns, you have enough tools to win most fights. It all comes down to stealth and control.

Illustration of a purple-skinned night elf rogue appearing behind a helmeted guard, dagger in hand, at night on the rooftops

The Subtlety spec is the control spec par excellence. Between Coup bas, Kidney Shot, Suriner, Cécité and Sap, you have what it takes to run from your enemies or keep them under control until they die. If you like playing with daggers and landing Embuscades crits that hurt badly, the Subtlety Rogue build might suit you.

In endgame PvE, a priori, it won’t be the best-performing specialization. But Blizzard has said so: the rogue is supposed to become the biggest single-target DPS class (damage on a single target). If that isn’t the case at launch, balancing should push it up until it reaches that goal.

Playing Subtlety from the start of leveling is still possible. I did it back then as a speedrun, and it took me about 2 months. Hémorragie helps too: backstabbing a monster that faces you was awkward, but it was buffed to work better with daggers in this version.

Combat was the reference spec for endgame PvE, and it now opens up to axes. Before, builds mostly revolved around swords or fist weapons. You can now also take axes, even maces, which bring armor penetration. It’s an excellent choice for PvE and leveling, one of the most played, but much less effective in PvP. It keeps some arguments: Sprint removes slows and Coup de pied silences. Your survivability will still be limited. For the Combat Rogue build, I think it will be among the best in high-level PvE, it will all depend on how strong Assassination is.

Assassination got a solid talent buff, and it gains Estropier, a spell that arrived much later in the expansions and that we find again on Forever. It’s a build centered on poisons, their effects and damage over time. The question many rogues are asking: will there be monsters immune to bleeds or poisons? I don’t think Blizzard will stay stuck on how things were back then, with lots of immune monsters. As on many private servers, every build should be able to shine. So I’m betting that Assassination will work well in endgame PvE.

To sum up, the rogue is a safe WoW Forever class in PvP, whether in world PvP or in battlegrounds. In PvE, Blizzard should push it to the top of the table in single-target DPS.

Priest: the best healer, and an Alliance versus Horde imbalance

The priest takes a huge amount of legacy from Season of Discovery. If you played it in PvE or PvP on those versions, you won’t be lost. The Holy priest has shown little in the beta: I think it needs level 60 to shine, but I see it as fully viable in PvE and PvP, including with fairly offensive builds.

Its strength is area healing. Between Soins de lien, Nova sacrée, Prière de guérison and Rétablissement béni which makes it fairly tanky, it dominates this area. In battlegrounds, when there are lots of people to heal at the same time, it’s going to be furious. For me it’s one of the best area healers, along with the Restoration druid.

Illustration of a Holy priest casting a light spell, hands raised in a golden halo
The Holy priest, built for area healing

The Discipline priest plays on regeneration, single-target healing and burst (a big concentrated heal to bring a target back up fast). We saw it at the tournament: it can be very tanky and very offensive. It’s a good choice for many formats, in PvE and in PvP.

Shadow got a huge number of buffs, mostly in PvE. A talent appears, Inspiration sombre, which boosts your group’s spirit. With the healing from Étreinte vampirique, it fills the gap people held against Shadow priests in raid: a lack of support. This mana regeneration makes it a mana battery, as in several past expansions.

In PvP, Shadow struggled to shine. At level 30, it lacks key spells. At 60, with the changes to Fouet mental amélioré, I think it will hurt a lot in single target, while staying durable, able to heal itself and handle a variety of situations.

Racial spells lean toward the Alliance

What makes the priest special is the weight of its race: two dedicated spells, more or less powerful depending on the one you pick. I talked about it in the patch that reworked the races, and you’ll find the details on the racials page. Personally, I find it a bit much: the Alliance has four priest races against two for the Horde, and its ratios are very strong.

  • Night Elf: an offensive spell, Éclats stellaires,, to stack with an effect that increases critical strike chance for a few seconds. Ideal for a burst of healing or damage.
  • Dwarf: one of the weakest of the Alliance, with an instant heal of about 1500 health and a spell that roots the target while dealing a little damage.
  • Human: buffed, it has 2% base crit and 5% spirit. Grâce divine instantly heals an ally under 50% health, almost as much as the Dwarf, but not yourself. Feedback puts up a shield that hurts the enemy and drains their mana. One racial removes a stun (3 minutes), which gives a double PvP trinket, and perception is very strong against stealthed players. I find it incredibly strong: nothing to throw away.
  • Gnome: Eureka (2-minute cooldown) boosts all your spells for about 6 seconds: 10% more damage, 10% less mana cost. It adds 5% maximum mana. Escape Artist now gives you 3 seconds of immunity. Éclair déconcertant blinds the enemies around you for 3 seconds (0.5 second cast), and Emergency Plan puts up a shield of about 1000 absorption points under 35% health. Almost on par with the Human.

All priests get Fear Ward, until now reserved for dwarves, and Devouring Plague. On the Alliance side, the priest is therefore particularly strong.

  • Undead: Will of the Forsaken, Touch of Weakness (reduces an enemy’s melee attack, decent but nothing more) and Cannibalize, which now also restores mana, very nice in battlegrounds.
  • Troll: a regeneration that restores 50% of your health, but I find it unconvincing: it has a cast time and is easily interrupted. Since it’s a nature spell, it still works after a kick, because you can heal with your Holy spells. Berserking remains interesting. Hex of Weakness reduces the target’s attack and healing effectiveness by 20%, a small Mortal Strike. Shadowguard reflects damage, with a value that will depend on scaling.

My take: there’s an imbalance between Alliance and Horde, even though Blizzard often tweaks the ratios and it may change. The priest will probably be the WoW Forever class that heals best, in PvE and in PvP, and Shadow priests who master it will be very feared in battlegrounds.

Paladin: the big winner of WoW Forever

Is the Retribution paladin one of the big winners of WoW Forever? I think so. We saw it at the first level 30 tournament, the Forever Open : it dominated heavily in PvP. It didn’t win the tournament, but it was over-represented and had the best win rate in most duels.

It’s an easy class to pick up, and very strong in leveling. I watched a few paladins level their character: it’s miles away from what the warrior or druid do early on, it just rolls on its own. AoE farming (hitting a pack of monsters at once) is effortless. And on the Horde side, you get it as an Undead, which looks great.

Illustration of a human paladin in white and pink armor wielding a hammer of light under a stormy sky pierced by rays

In PvE, it’s just as valuable. Tank or DPS, it brings the blessings and becomes essential in raid.

For the Retribution spec, expect monstrous burst (big damage concentrated over a short time) and very good survivability. Hybrid builds open up quite a few possibilities: a “Shockadin” spec, half Holy half Retribution, a pure Retribution spec, or even Protection/Retribution, which should work too. There’s a lot of theorycrafting (searching for combinations by calculation) to do for endgame, in PvE and in PvP. My Retribution Paladin build gives you a starting point. To see how the tournament settled it, we also looked at the qualifiers class by class.

The Forever Open is a 1v1 tournament at level 30 of the beta: qualifiers on October 17, finals on the 18th, with a $100,000 prize pool.

Raider.IO page for the Forever Open finals: 1v1 tournament banner and start of the final bracket
Raider.IO, Forever Open finals, October 18, 2026.

The Protection paladin, for its part, was incredibly strong in the beta, and it has already taken a few nerfs, which seems normal to me. I think it will stay extremely strong in the final version. In AoE grind (farming by chaining big packs of monsters), it’s excellent for making gold. It’s also one of the best dungeon tanks, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it ranks among the best classes for aggro in raid, with hybrid Protection/Retribution builds to maximize threat. It will all depend on threat issues: Blizzard seems to want difficulty on that side, we’ll see. If tanking appeals to you, my Protection Paladin build is made for that.

It keeps all its tools, starting with the blessings. Blessing of Salvation is no longer a blessing, it was buffed, and I think it will become essential in raid.

Holy follows the direction we knew in classic, only better: much simpler to play. With nearly infinite mana, it’s a huge single-target healer, probably the biggest in the game. New spells let it heal a bit better in area, which was its weakness back then. On the tank, it stays essential, especially when fights drag on.

In PvP, I expect big surprises from the Shockadin. It was present at the tournament, and the theoretical calculations put it at the top of PvE DPS right now. I doubt it stays that way. Even as a healer, you can cause carnage: I think a paladin can carry (bring their team through) in battlegrounds, and it’s a pure delight for those it heals. It has Bénédiction de liberté, the bubble with Bouclier divin when you’re focused, Imposition des mains moved to a 20-minute cooldown, the stun from Marteau de la justice and Horion sacré to assist the DPS.

In short, the class is incredible. And if you want my opinion, it’s extremely fun to play.

Mage: Arcane is going to wreak havoc

The mage scared a lot of people early in the beta. Blizzard had announced big changes, notably to downranking (casting a lower-rank spell, so faster and cheaper) and to Éclair de givre rank 1, which was no longer supposed to trigger talent effects at level 60.

To understand what’s at stake, you have to remember what this spell did in PvP on WoW Classic. It cast extremely fast and benefited from most talents: Frostbite, slow, Fingers of Frost procs (effect triggers). It was used to intercept someone riding past you on a mount, to stop them from leaving combat, to catch a runner. It had a thousand uses.

Illustration of a mage casting purple arcane magic, arms stretched out in front of him
The Arcane mage and its new spell, Arcane Wrath, at the center of every beta discussion

Blizzard backed off, and I think that’s a good thing: given how much other classes have improved, the mage would have become a bit too fragile. Downranking stays nerfed, but a new spell replaces it. It casts in 1.5 seconds, like a small version of the old spell, and it benefits from talents. Gameplay-wise, it doesn’t change much, you get roughly the same feel.

The Frost mage in PvP, which I saw in the tournament, will in my opinion be fairly representative of what the spec will look like at high level. You get a double Bloc de glace, lots of control and a huge amount of burst (damage concentrated over a few seconds) with the ice lances. Above all, Cône de froid was improved: Winter’s Chill was replaced by a version that boosts Cone of Cold on the target, up to +40%. With the 100% critical damage and the extra 50% crit chance on frozen targets, the burst combos are going to be monstrous.

So the mage should be very strong, but more technical to play than back in the day. Many classes gain mobility, the feral druid is coming into the meta and will be a pain for it, and damage is rising everywhere. No built-in resilience has been announced, unlike Season of Discovery. Depending on the burst on the other side, it will be more or less powerful, but if it doesn’t get killed in one hit, it will remain a very strong class.

In PvE, I don’t think Frost is the spec of the moment. Like the Subtlety rogue, it will be more of a PvP spec. There may be surprises, probably in dungeons, but once you see what Fire and Arcane are worth, I doubt Frost will stand out anywhere else. You’ll find the details of the Frost Mage build on the site.

Fire promises something very heavy. The gameplay will be close to what you knew on WoW Classic, with a slightly different rotation: we get Réchauffement, which greatly reduces the cast time of Pyroblast after critical hits. It won’t be instant like in more recent versions of the game. So you’ll need to watch your crits, stay attentive to your buffs and maintain the burn on the target. The critical burst still relies on Combustion, the iconic Vanilla spell.

Arcane is the spec that’s going to be all the rage on WoW Forever, in PvP and in PvE. In my opinion, it holds huge surprises, and it wouldn’t surprise me if it gets nerfed later. The new spell Courroux des arcanes deals a huge amount of damage, with big crits in both game modes. We’ve already seen it exceed 1000 damage at level 30, and very few spells reach that number at that level.

Projectiles des arcanes can proc on this spell, and Déflagration des arcanes casts faster, whether in PvE or PvP. I think the spec is going to cause enormous carnage. In PvP, however, it will be fragile: no Ice Block in Arcane. You can look at the Arcane Mage build, and find every spell in the Spellbook.

My verdict: the mage will be a very powerful WoW Forever class, a bit more fragile in PvP than usual and more technical to play. Its offensive power, though, doesn’t drop at all.

Warrior: don’t judge it on the tournament

In my opinion, the warrior will be an excellent WoW Forever class, in PvE and in PvP. At the level 30 tournament, warriors got run over, and that’s normal: this class starts slowly, as always. It was improved a lot on rage and low-level spells, so it’s more enjoyable than back then. The first levels remain hard, especially in PvP.

Illustration of an orc warrior specialized in Protection, sheltered behind his big shield
The Protection warrior, the specialization I see as the most solid in the game in PvE

These results aren’t representative. As soon as you have a bit of gear, especially in a group with a healer, the warrior becomes an absolute war machine. To play solo all the time, I think the gnome will be extremely strong: it makes up for the mobility the class lacks.

In PvE, the official podcast of WoW Forever confirmed it: Blizzard announced it as the best class for cleave (hitting several targets stuck close together). If you like damage going in every direction, the warrior should dominate. Our episode 2 recap covers everything Blizzard says about the classes there.

On the tanking side, I think the Protection specialization is going to be incredible. I looked at the talent points trying to project myself into endgame, and I don’t see in what world the warrior isn’t strong. Take Mur protecteur : with talents, its cooldown drops to 4 minutes. The damage reduction goes from 70% to 60%, but the duration rises from 10 to 12 seconds, and no other class will have that. On a burst phase or a hard passage, this can let you kill bosses that other guilds won’t take down.

There’s more. Blocking and threat generation are improved, and Coup de tonnerre reduces enemy attack speed by up to 20%, the same effect as Thunderfury. Dernier rempart is still there. Tank warriors are going to be incredible in dungeons. Find the details in our Protection Warrior build.

Even leveling in Protection goes through without trouble. With the new Legacy talents and the new enchantments, you get passive healing, so you can chain packs in AoE grind (farming groups of enemies back to back) without ever regenerating. I think it’s one of the best specializations in the game for farming, dungeons and raids. In PvP, it can also be quite annoying.

The Fury warrior should dominate multi-target. Tourbillon hits with both hands and got quite a few buffs, Bloodthirst was boosted, and Souhait mortel stays in place. It keeps its fundamentals and should remain very strong in PvE.

In PvP, it won’t be bad either, even if it will be weaker than Arms, without Mortal Strike. Rage berserker améliorée was changed: it now gives a 100% chance to cancel movement-affecting effects while it is active. Add Interception améliorée, which reduces the cooldown by 10 seconds, and mobility becomes exceptional. Don’t underestimate a well-geared Fury on a battleground, it can cause carnage there.

Arms will remain the PvP spec par excellence, even if some will have fun playing it in PvE. Frappe mortelle reduces healing by 50%, ideal for obliterating healers or stopping them from healing a target. Add good rage management, improved critical strikes and very big two-handed numbers: if you like showing off huge damage, this is your specialization. Our Arms PvP Warrior build prepares you for it.

Druid: my class on Forever, in Feral

Am I going to be objective about the druid? Probably not. Spoiler: it’s the WoW Forever class I’m going to play as my main, in the Feral specialization (the druid who fights in melee, as a cat or a bear). I find it exceptional on Forever.

It was underrepresented at the last tournament, even though we saw druids get almost to the finals. In my opinion, the class is counter-intuitive: shapeshifting puts off quite a few players and makes it more technical than others. But if you’ve never played druid, this is a good version of the game to get started.

Illustration of a tauren druid with flaming claws, in the middle of a jungle lit by the full moon
The tauren druid in Feral, the specialization I’m going to play.

The healer druid, in Restoration, will be exceptional, in single target and multi-target. It’s a real raid support: combat resurrection, debuffs (negative effects placed on the enemy) and what it takes to bring whole groups back up with Croissance sauvage. Prompte guérison was also added.

In PvP, it’s very mobile and very tanky (it soaks up a ton), since it can shift into a bear. If you want to push that idea all the way, there’s even a tank druid. And look at the tournament: those who went the furthest were playing healer.

On the Feral side, what hooked me is the feel. At first, the return of Mangle was announced. I thought it would arrive as is, but it was reworked. It is now called Morsure primordiale, an instant attack in bear form. The old Mangle applied a debuff that increased bleeds, plus a disease that slowed the target. To avoid confusion, this new spell took another name. The gameplay closely resembles WotLK feral, in bear and cat form.

Above all, there’s a major novelty: feral scales with weapon DPS. In cat form, one of your attacks plays the role of the old Mangle and therefore benefits from weapon damage. I’m not even sure a version of the game has ever allowed that. And that’s not all: you also benefit from procs (effects that trigger at random), enchantments and oils applied to your weapons.

At the tournament we saw ferals play Huile glaciale, which casts a frostbolt and slows the target. If you were afraid of not being able to slow in PvP, here’s your solution. It helps you get behind to land your Lambeau.

As an ultimate, Feral gets Berserk, slightly modified. It’s not the version that reduces energy costs: here, it’s a +100% crit bonus. In my opinion, you’ll be able to reach 80 to 90% critical strike chance on your generator attacks. We’ll see if it can be cast in stealth for nearly all-crit Shreds, that would be interesting.

Above all, Berserk makes you immune to fear. In PvP, that’s exactly what feral was missing against priests, warlocks and hunters, who are going to spam their fears as usual. Especially since we have no interrupt in cat form, that’s the sore point. In bear form, yes, but not in cat form. Feral was the class I played the most back then, and it really made me want to get back into it.

Feral also keeps the 3% crit aura, which affects the whole raid. It also benefits from the Totem Furie-des-vents, while we’re at it.

The Balance druid, for its part, is absolutely not to be underestimated in PvP. Well played, it can be hell for the enemy team. You can place Sarments (which root) on three targets, with increased resistance, and hit them without them being able to do anything. I think it will be very strong in battlegrounds, with support, healing and damage spikes thanks to Feu stellaire.

In PvE, it doesn’t look extremely crazy for now. It will remain essential for its spell crit aura. And if its DPS is too low, Blizzard will buff it, as for the Elemental shaman, which got a huge boost last week.

If I had to sum up the druid, its big strength is the dual specialization of WoW Forever. Bored as a healer? You switch to melee, or you become a caster. You change roles without leveling another character.

Warlock: burst, fears and the Forever Open title

The Destruction warlock is going to be one of the masters of burst and control, with Seduction and Fear. In my opinion, it will be one of the most impressive specs of WoW Forever in burst damage: you’ll be able to one shot targets before they have time to touch you. You’ll stay fragile against ferals and rogues, but that was already the case back then.

The tournament title, for its part, went to this WoW Forever class. Warlockguy won the Forever Open on October 18, 2026 by beating another warlock, Neepzen, 3-1 in the final (Warcraft Tavern). The details are in our article on the Forever Open final.

Illustration of a warlock casting a soul fire with green and orange flames

For Destruction, it all comes down to the sequence: Feu de l’âme, Conflagration, then the execute on a target already well worn down. Add a Peur at the right time to gain a few seconds, and you have a burst few classes can take. The talent details are in our Destruction Warlock build.

The Demonology warlock, I see it as extremely durable. Lien spirituel moves 30% of the damage taken onto your demon, healing is plentiful, and so is damage. And the key talents arrive, like Sacrifice démoniaque: it gives permanent bonuses while still leaving you a pet. That’s the spec’s big change, and it seems consistent with its theme. You have less burst than Destruction and probably less area damage than Affliction. In battlegrounds, however, it’s an unkillable and unbearable monster, with fears everywhere. Don’t underestimate it. Find the spec in our Demonology Warlock build.

Affliction got a lot of very strong changes. The fundamental one: DoTs (damage over time) and HoTs (healing over time) can now crit, throughout WoW Forever. That applies to the feral druid’s DoTs as well as the priest’s HoTs, and the warlock additionally has crit bonuses directly in its specialization. In battlegrounds as in multi-target PvE, I see it as monstrous. I also think it’s very solid: a hybrid Demonology/Affliction build with Soul Link takes full advantage of the damage reduction, and adds Drain de vie and Siphon de vie all over the place. In PvP and in battlegrounds, this warlock is going to be a nightmare.

In PvE, I’m not a warlock expert. I’d still put a small bet on Destruction, and also on Demonology/Destruction, which should be very strong given all the damage increases between Sacrifice and the first Destruction talents, notably Trait de l’ombre amélioré.

Hunter: the safe bet to start with

The hunter is the “GOAT” (the best of all) of WoW Forever, at least for now. Nerfs will probably land one day. I don’t wish them on you, hunters, especially since I’ll be playing hunter too: it will probably be my main (my primary character).

Number-wise, the Survival specialization comes out of the datamine (the data extracted from the game) as the most powerful in PvE DPS, and it tops the simulations. In my opinion, that’s not normal: it will come down a bit and settle. The hunter remains a pure DPS class, like the warrior or the rogue, and Blizzard wants that kind of very violent class in PvE. If you’re looking for a safe bet in PvE and in PvP, easy to play in both, you’re not taking much of a risk. It also goes very well in leveling: it’s the ideal WoW Forever class to start with.

Illustration of a hunter drawing his bow, arrow nocked, ready to shoot a distant target
The signature shot of the Marksmanship specialization: range is its main asset

The Survival specialization was deeply reworked. It’s the Season of Discovery version coming back: melee, for now not very strong in PvP in my view. In PvE, however, I think it’s going to hurt a lot, with a crazy attack speed. Tir rapide was adapted to work in melee too, and a new aspect gives you Bloodlust (a massive attack speed boost) in melee. I don’t think I’m wrong in saying it will be the highest single-target attack speed in the game in PvE. A melee Survival hunter will be excellent and, I think, very fun to play.

The Marksmanship specialization is incredible too, in PvE and in PvP: it’s going to take everything down. Its new ultimate talent is ridiculous, it’s so strong. Tir de précision replaces Visée, which was a talent to take on the side of the tree. It becomes a base spell: it hits less hard, but you have it by default. It has a base range of 45 m, and 51 m with Œil de faucon (+6 m). When you cast it, your next three abilities gain +10 m of range, for example Multi-Shot or Arcane Shot. Imagine the distance you can put between your opponents and yourself in PvP. In PvE, the specialization also ranks fairly high in DPS.

Pets hit hard and scale with your gear. A new type appears: the fox. Traps can now be placed in combat, which adds even more to the arsenal. In mass PvP, the hunter is favored, since it deals all its damage at maximum range: ideal for big battles. Even with nerfs, the class would remain very strong, because the fundamentals are there.

The Beast Mastery specialization was one of the most represented at the tournament. I saw incredible things in melee: Attaque du raptor combined with white hits (auto attacks) did monstrous damage. The pet hits like a brute. Pets inherit the hunter’s crit, stamina and stats, so they progress very fast. They tank much better than back then, when it was already easy with your pet. Food and mood issues also recede: you need to feed it less, it’s simpler to manage.

Shaman: the best mobility in the game from level 20

The shaman performed rather well at the tournament: an orc shaman, Cdewx, finished 3rd at the Forever Open. In my eyes, it’s a WoW Forever class that offers a lot of possibilities with a lot of comfort. The instant Ghost Wolf gives you the best mobility in the game from level 20, and for leveling, it’s very pleasant.

In Restoration, it should be essential, whether in PvE or PvP. The totems are fantastic. Totem de Glèbe was nerfed (it now only absorbs one spell), but it remains essential. Expiation, the offensive purge, is just incredible. With a shield and mail, you’re very tanky. If you liked the shaman back in TBC or WotLK, you should find those sensations again on this Forever version, a bit like with the feral druid.

Elemental, for its part, got off to a very bad start on Forever. It almost passed for a joke spec. Then it was hugely buffed in the last patch, with talent changes. Blizzard changes talents, moves them, and modifies a lot of things from one week to the next, as the development notes of October 15 show, which we detail in our article on this patch. I wouldn’t worry too much: I think the shaman is going to be very strong.

Message from Kaivax, Community Manager, on the official Blizzard forum: WoW Forever beta development notes updated October 15, 2026
Blizzard forum, beta development notes of October 15, 2026.

You have the totem that roots everyone around you, and the Loup fantôme instantané, instant and fairly easy to access on the Enhancement side, so good mobility. In my opinion, the burst is huge. You also get Explosion de lave, which isn’t 100% crit but still deals very good damage. For fans of big crits, especially in PvP, it should be a very good specialization. In PvE, I think it will still need a few buffs before it’s really interesting, but it will be viable in any case. Our Elemental Shaman build shows you which talents to take.

To finish, Enhancement: it’s one of my favorite specs on the shaman. It was well reworked on Forever, with a new class quest that gives a monstrous weapon at level 30. I find it very pleasant to play, with always big procs of Arme Furie-des-vents, in leveling as well as in PvP with very good gear. The instant Ghost Wolf will surprise cloth wearers. In endgame, with good gear, expect huge one-shots (killing in a single hit). You’ll find the spec in our Enhancement Shaman build.

Prepare your WoW Forever class before November 4

Respecs (changing how you spend your talent points) are going to cost a lot, so I advise you not to improvise your tree. Better to arrive at launch with your choices already made. Here are the kami-labs.fr tools that serve this preparation, from talent allocation to choosing your guild.

  • The talent calculator lets you record, save and prepare your builds in advance. After a game update, an old build becomes obsolete: you’ll have to redo it or delete it.
  • The Spellbook gathers the new spells added to each class.
  • The macros exist for all classes: you copy them, paste them into the game interface, and you’re done.
  • The profession guides cover levels 1 to 300, with a shopping list to check off. You can copy and paste items directly into the auction house search. Your progress is tied to your account: you find it again when you log back in.
  • The patch notes are in French and English, sorted by class. At a glance, you see whether yours was buffed or nerfed.
  • The Legacy tree can be simulated: you place your talents to see how it looks.
  • The dungeons and raids section gives the map, the bosses, their loot, the quests and the location of those who give them. Handy if you’re starting out and don’t know a dungeon.
  • The sets list the datamined equipment sets (extracted from the game files). I keep updating them, because some details should still move.
  • The guilds page brings together French and English guilds, with a search by specialization to spot those recruiting for your role.
  • The BiS List (the best piece of gear per slot) already exists for pre-raid, with where each item drops, for example in Scholomance.
  • The tier list will be redone as soon as Warcraft Logs (the site that records raid fights) is available: I’ll then base it only on the real performance of each class.
  • The raid composition tool is for raid leaders: you pick the classes, you see which buffs are present or missing and which classes bring them, then you save and share.

My guild has closed recruitment for now. It will reopen in a few days, mostly for motivated PvP players. I’ll announce it in a video.