The nine classes and their roles
Roles match what you know from Classic. The right-hand column lists changes from beta build 1.60.1.70425 (retrieved Oct 17, 2026).
| Class | Raid roles | Notable in the beta |
|---|---|---|
| Warrior | Tank, melee | Battle Shout is raid-wide. New: Furious Precision, Gore Drinker, Lingering Rage. Removed talents include Precision and Toughness. |
| Paladin | Healer, tank, melee | Blessing of Salvation and Greater Blessing of Salvation are gone; new are the abilities Salvation, Mass Salvation and Revoke. Now also available to the Horde (Undead). |
| Hunter | Ranged | Now available to Humans. |
| Rogue | Melee | No new talents compared with the Sep 23 build. |
| Priest | Healer, ranged (Shadow) | Devouring Plague has a 24 s cooldown, Shadow Word: Death 18 s. New: Dark Inspiration. Now available to Gnomes. |
| Shaman | Healer, ranged (Elemental), melee (Enhancement) | New: Elemental Mastery as a 31-point talent, and Trial by Fire. Now also available to the Alliance (Dwarves). |
| Mage | Ranged | New: Arcane Wrath, Improved Fire Blast and Heating Up (replaces Hot Streak), plus the ability Frost Blast. Now available to Orcs. |
| Warlock | Ranged | New: Grim Reach and Soul Harvest. Now available to Trolls. |
| Druid | Healer, tank, melee, ranged | Mangle is gone. New: Primal Bite, Blood Frenzy, Shifting Power, Natural Instinct. |
Since the Sep 23 build, 112 talents have changed position, ranks, requirements or text, and 82 abilities have new values. All talents and abilities are in the talent planner and the ability list.
Which class is best in Forever?
That cannot be answered seriously before launch. The new raids are not in the beta, the item stats of the new raids are hidden, and talents still change from build to build. Tier lists that already name a best class are based on assumptions.
A better question is which role you want to play and what your group needs. In Classic guilds, tanks and healers were usually scarcer than damage dealers. Whether that holds in Forever also depends on the new raid sizes: a 10-player raid needs a different role mix than a 40-player raid.
Paladins and Shamans on both sides
In Classic, Paladins were Alliance-only and Shamans Horde-only. In Forever, Undead can be Paladins and Dwarves can be Shamans. For guilds this means blessings, totems and the matching healers are available to both factions.
Plan further
Which races can play which classes is listed under Races and racials. Builds can be drafted in the talent planner and shared by link.