WOW FOREVER · CLASS TIER LIST · WHO GOT BUFFED, WHO GOT LEFT ALONE
The Forever tier list.
Not a DPS ranking. Nobody has parsed a raid yet. This ranks the nine classes by how much they gained from the Forever rework against Classic 1.12: new talents, new 31-point capstones, spells made baseline, and what was cut. S is the biggest net upgrade. C is the class Blizzard looked at and mostly nodded.
New talents that did not exist in ClassicCaps new 31-point capstones out of threeCut Classic talents removed, minus ones that went baselineBase abilities added or made baseline
SRebuilt from the ground up
Shaman
Elemental Combat · Enhancement · Restoration
All three capstones new, the mana problem fixed five ways, and the faction lock gone.
New
12
Caps
3/3
Cut
4
Base
7
Biggest wins
Lava Burst, Rage of the Farseer, Riptide, Water Shield, Maelstrom Weapon, Mental Dexterity, Mental Quickness, Shamanistic Focus, Improved Stormstrike, Lightning Overload
Made baseline or added
Totemic Projection (move totems 30 yd), Call of the Elements (four totems in one cast), Totemic Recall, Fire Nova as a spell, Lightning Bolt and Chain Lightning 0.5 sec faster, Ghost Wolf 2 sec cast, Dwarf Shaman
The only class where every 31-point talent is new, on top of Intellect scaling for melee and spells. Nothing else went from "one viable raid job" to three in a single pass.
The most new talents of any class, a real tank seal, and a Retribution capstone worth the points.
New
20
Caps
2/3
Cut
6
Base
6
Biggest wins
Light's Vigil, Twist of Light, Templar's Bulwark, Swift Judgement, Infusion of Light, Reverence, Voice of Truth, Champion of the Light, Sacred Arbiter, Iron Creed
Made baseline or added
Holy Strike at level 6, Seal of Fury, with a taunt on its Judgement, Judgement no longer consumes your Seal, Consecration at level 20, Blessing of Kings, Undead Paladin
What it lost
Sanctity Aura, Improved Blessing of Might, Improved Blessing of Wisdom, Lasting Judgement, Improved Devotion Aura, Blessing of Sanctuary
Blizzard spent more stage time and more new talents here than anywhere. It shares S with Shaman rather than taking it alone because Blizzard kept the weaknesses on purpose: no interrupt, no slow, limited range.
Penance, Prayer of Mending and a Shadowform that halves mana costs. Every race gets Fear Ward.
New
13
Caps
1/3
Cut
5
Base
5
Biggest wins
Penance, Prayer of Mending, Divine Aegis, Binding Heal, Soul Warding, Litany of Light, Improved Mind Flay, Early Demise, Shadowform mana cost -50%
Made baseline or added
Shadow Word: Death, Devouring Plague for every race, Fear Ward for every race, Divine Spirit, Gnome Priest
What it lost
Lightwell, Force of Will, Improved Power Word: Fortitude, Unbreakable Will, Improved Prayer of Healing
Huge gains, but the Priest was already the best healer in Classic. It moves from the top to a bigger top. Shadow is the real winner, and Shadow alone is not the whole class.
Feral Combat is the biggest tree in the game now and Balance finally has crit and cast-time tools. It stays A because Moonkin Form is still the capstone and the Balance tree is a rework rather than a rebuild.
Nineteen new talents, three new capstones, and the most removals of any class.
New
19
Caps
3/3
Cut
8
Base
2
Biggest wins
Drain Hope, Demonic Pact, Incinerate, Pandemic, Malediction, Bane of Havoc, Shadow and Flame, Demonic Knowledge, Decimation
Made baseline or added
Bane of Agony and Bane of Doom named in tooltips, Troll Warlock
What it lost
Dark Pact, Improved Immolate, Devastation, Emberstorm, Grim Reach, Fel Intellect, Improved Drain Soul, Improved Drain Life
The most changed class in the game, which is not the same as the most buffed. Seventeen removed talents include real Classic damage talents, and Demonology now leans on pet mechanics nobody has raided with. A on ceiling, with the widest error bars on this list.
The class was already the easiest to level and did not need much, and the removals cut real damage: Killer Instinct was 3% crit and both Slaying talents were free damage in most raids. Survival got a new identity. Marksmanship and Beast Mastery got polish.
No new capstones and the fewest new talents outside Rogue and Mage. Protection is the clear winner. Fury and Arms keep their identity, which is fine, but "kept" is not "buffed" when every hybrid around them got a new toolkit.
Rogue was top melee in Classic and Forever largely left it there. Nine new talents is the second-lowest count, Deadliness was a straight attack power loss, and Combat's capstone is unchanged. Not nerfed. Just standing still while others move.
Six new talents, one removed, no new capstones. Blizzard decided the Mage was already fine.
New
6
Caps
0/3
Cut
1
Base
2
Biggest wins
Arcane Blast, Hot Streak, Ice Lance, Fingers of Frost, Missile Barrage, Arcane Geometry
Made baseline or added
Frostfire Bolt trained, Orc Mage
What it lost
Magic Attunement
The least changed class by every count. That is a compliment to the Classic Mage and a warning to anyone rolling one for novelty. Relative to a Shaman with three new capstones, six talents is a standstill.
Counts come from the 470 talents transcribed from the BlizzCon demo, the same data behind our talent calculator. New capstones are the 31-point talents that did not exist in Classic. Baseline gains come from Blizzard's Deep Dive panel and the demo spellbooks. The tiers are our call on top of those numbers: a class with many new talents that also lost real damage talents ranks below one with fewer, cleaner gains.
Where a class started from matters. Priest and Rogue were already at the top of Classic, so the same amount of change moves them less. Shaman and Paladin started with one viable raid role each, so their rework changes what the class is.
What would move a class
Warlock goes S if the beta shows Demonology pets holding up in a raid.
Warrior goes A if Improved Battle Shout and Demoralizing Shout turn out to be baseline.
Hunter goes A if traps in combat are confirmed and Killer Instinct's crit went somewhere baseline.
Shaman drops to A if Water Shield or Mental Dexterity are cut.
Data export dated 2026-09-14. We re-rank after the September 17 Q&A and the first beta week.
