World of Warcraft classes explained: Which one is the best for you?

World of Warcraft’s classes are ever-changing, but they do tend to stick to one power fantasy, no matter what happens. For example, Warlocks are always going to be amazing demon-summoning, chaos-blasting machines. However, depending on what version of the game you’re playing, they can also tank, like in Season of Discovery. We’re focused on the Retail version of the game today, though.

It can be really hard to pick a class to play in World of Warcraft — I’ve been playing for 20 years, and I still occasionally can’t decide when rolling an alt to play with friends, or to help someone out in the game. With new content coming to the game all the time, there’s never been a better time to join in. But which class should you play?

All classes in World of Warcraft, and why they might be right for you

You can choose from the following classes:

Warrior
Hunter
Mage
Rogue
Priest
Warlock
Paladin
Druid
Shaman
Monk
Demon Hunter
Death Knight
Evoker

There's no shortage of great classes and specs in World of Warcraft (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Ultimately, it’s up to you whichever class you consider the best — they play the same way on both Alliance and Horde factions. The game has never been more approachable, though some classes are certainly more flexible than others. All classes in WoW are more or less strong in their own ways.

1) Warrior

Warriors walk the fine line between protection and destruction (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Warriors are often known as a tank class, but they’re so much more than that in World of Warcraft. Sure, when I think back to the WoW Classic days, tanks were more often than not Warriors. They had access to incredible cooldowns to keep themselves alive, had a few AoE tools to gather aggro, and were dependable.

They use Rage as a resource to use their various abilities, whether they’re tanking or being melee dps. They have three options: Protection (Tank), Fury (Dual-wielding two-handed weapons), and Arms (Two-Handed weapon master). If you want to be a blood-thirsty master of big weapons in melee combat, there’s no better class for you than the Warrior in World of Warcraft.

2) Hunter

Hunters are masters of ranged combat, and taming the wildest beasts (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

There are two primary pet classes in World of Warcraft: Hunters and Warlocks. Hunters tame animals, both exotic and otherwise in the wild, while Warlocks summon demons. Hunters are for players who want to play a hybrid of ranged/melee combat. Two of their specs (Beast Mastery and Marksmanship) are for ranged players. However, if you want to get up-close and personal, there’s Survival.

Hunters have always used pets, but in recent days, the Marksman Hunter has to spec into it (Tier 4 of the Marksman tree, Unbreakable Bond) to summon their tamed pets again. Hunters are masters of using clever traps, powerful ranged attacks, and of course, incredibly cool pets to deal with threats in World of Warcraft.

3) Mage

Mages are masters of both the arcane arts, and convenient travel (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Fun Fact, Mage was my very first Level 60 in World of Warcraft, out of all the base classes. I may have played Priest first, but my first level-capped character was the Mage. There’s so much to love about Mage — though I didn’t care for the Season of Discovery healing mage very much.

Mages are masters of arcane magic and have access to a wide array of crowd-control effects — polymorph, frost nova, and other ways — to stop enemies from getting to you. You either become a master of Fire Magic (Big Time Crits), Ice Magic (Slow and shatter enemies with frost), and Arcane (Overwhelming arcane magic power).

If you want to be able to teleport yourself/portal allies places faster, always have free food/drink, and like dealing big magical numbers from afar, Mage is the best class for that in World of Warcraft.

4) Rogue

Across 20 years and dozens of alts, I have just two Rogues (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

In the early days of World of Warcraft, it really felt like Rogue’s only purpose among the classes was to be a PVP God. That’s…more or less still true. However, they actually have useful combat abilities these days. A Rogue is exactly what you think it might be. Stealthy, stealing things, cracking open lockboxes, and stabbing people in the back.

You’re more likely to find Rogues in a raid group these days I think — or at least more than one per group anyway. They have access to three trees of sneaky damage: Assassination (poison use and dagger attacks), Outlaw (agility-based sneak with more weapons and useful combat skills) and Subtlety (ambush enemies from the shadows). I still think Rogues, frankly, need some love, but if you’re into that kind of ambush-style gameplay, they’re the pick.

5) Priest

Priests have two great healing options, and a solid dps choice (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Out of all the classes that can heal in World of Warcraft, Priest is arguably the most iconic. It has two healing specs, each with a different theme and goal. However, they can also deal ranged magical damage in all specs, though one is definitely more suited to that than the others.

Holy Priest is about those big AoE numbers. They’re the healing specialization I think of first whenever I’m considering playing a healer anywhere in World of Warcraft. They can even temporarily heal their allies after dying. Discipline is all about Shields and Bubbles to prevent incoming damage. Then you have Shadow Priests, which channel shadows and the power of the Void to obliterate their foes.

6) Warlock

All three flavors of Warlock destroy their foes - it's just a matter of what flavor you prefer! (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Warlocks, in some ways, at the start of World of Warcraft were just inverse Mages. They both only had one function: hurting things with magical damage. Instead of teleporting to locations, they can summon allies to them directly. However, I think Warlock specs are more varied and interesting than Mages.

No matter what, you can have a demon ally as a Warlock — and there are several to choose from as you level up — but Demonology takes it to the next level with swarms of imps and demonic hounds to shred enemies.

Destruction Warlocks just cast horrifying waves of fire and shadow, more like a Mage might. Then you have Affliction Warlocks, which focus on DOTs (Damage over time), and delayed explosions of damage.

7) Paladin

Paladins can really do it all, and do it well (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

One of the three most flexible classes in World of Warcraft, the Paladin is a jack-of-all trades. They can tank, heal, and do amazing physical DPS, though that wasn’t always the case. Paladins used to be rejected from raid content in the earliest days of WoW, because they just weren’t up to snuff in certain aspects.

If you want to wear plate mail, but want more flexibility and are a fan of big splashes of holy damage, go Paladin instead of Warrior. This is the class I play most frequently, these days in World of Warcraft.

You can be an amazing AoE Tank (Protection), a dependable tank healer (Holy), or to pick up a massive two-handed weapon and smash the forces of evil into bits with powerful holy magic attacks (Retribution).

8) Druid

Druid is the only class I play less than Rogues, but they're a solid, flexible choice for newcomers, that's for sure (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Druids are for players who want to be versatile like a Paladin, but are more attuned with nature. Instead of wearing bulky armor, they wear leather, and can shapeshift into a variety of forms to fulfill whatever need they have at the time:

Bear (Tank)
Cat (DPS)
Moonkin (Magical DPS)
Tree (Healing)

They’re also the only class in the game that has four specs! You have Balance (Magical DPS), Feral (Melee DPS), Guardian (Tanking), and Restoration (Healing through DOTs and AoEs). They’re very much a jack-of-all-trades too, and can arguably do more than a Paladin. I just prefer the structure over having four specs to swap between.

9) Shaman

World of Warcraft's Shaman is a class I wish I played more - they're always a blast (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Shamans also focus on Nature Magic like the Druid, but they can also channel the forces of the elements, like a Mage in World of Warcraft. The difference for them, is that they focus on whirlwinds, lightning, and bursts of magma, instead of arcane elements. Shamans are also one of the healing classes, and arguably, one of the better ones.

I love Shamans, but I seldom find myself playing the class. I love their melee Enhancement tree, Restoration is incredibly powerful as a healer, with its great chain heal spells, and then you have the burst damage of Elemental Shamans. They’re great — I just don’t play it as often. If you don’t know if you want to heal or damage, and like being able to self-resurrect, go with a Shaman.

10) Monk

Monks offer a flexible, satisfying martial arts fantasy (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Introduced in Mists of Pandaria, the Monk is the third “flexible” class. Capable of tanking/healing/dealing damage, they use the power of the Four August Celestials to bring salvation or destruction, as they see fit. They also have one of the more unique tank builds in Brewmaster.

They use mystical brews to protect themselves and others, and have wild, unpredictable movements. You also have the Mistweaver, an incredible healer that can weave and manipulate life energy from thanks to the Jade Serpent. If you want a more classic, martial-arts style monk, go with the Windwalker.

They pummel all their foes into submission with deadly punches and kicks. Monk is another class I simply don’t play a lot of, but I enjoy it when I do. They’re in a much better place than they were in previous expansions.

11) Demon Hunter

Demon Hunters are probably the flashiest, coolest class in World of Warcraft (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

Demon Hunter is a World of Warcraft class introduced in the Legion expansion, and can only be played by Elves. Unlike most classes, Demon Hunters only have two specs, and unlike Evokers, they were never teased with a third spec. They also wield the amazing, flashy Warglaive as a primary weapon.

Havoc Demon Hunters are melee DPS, and combine fast-paced blows with powerful Fel Magic to eradicate all their foes. Vengeance Demon Hunters embrace the inner demon to protect their allies, and force back anyone who'd harm them.

12) Death Knight

Death Knights are tanky, mighty destroyers - easily one of my favorite classes (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

The first Hero Class of World of Warcraft, Death Knight appeared in Wrath of the Lich King. Once a servant of the Lich King, these Death Knight players break free, alongside a cadre of other notable Death Knights, to serve the Horde or Alliance instead, and fight against the plague the Lich King offers the world.

Death Knights are easily one of the best tanks in all of World of Warcraft. Blood spec DKs have so much tankiness built-in, alongside sustainability. Then you have Frost and Unholy Death Knights, which are both different flavors of DPS. Frost Death Knights deliver punishing melee blows and frosty doom, while Unholy offers undead minions to help them deliver destruction to their opponents.

13) Evoker

Evokers are the newest class in the game, and they offer a pretty unique gameplay experience (Image via Blizzard Entertainment)

The newest class, added in Dragonflight, the Evoker is still only playable by one character race: The Dracthyr. This could change in the future, but as of The War Within, it’s still exclusive. Originally they launched with two builds — a healer and a DPS. However, a buff/damage spec came later, the Augmentation Evoker.

Augmentation uses the power of Black Dragons and Bronze Dragons to buff their allies, and bend time/fate to always be in their favor. It’s one of the more unique builds in World of Warcraft. Then there’s Preservation, who use the power of the Emerald Dream and Bronze Dragons to prevent damage from occurring.

Finally, there’s Devastation, who use the Red and Blue Dragons’ might to, as their spec implies, devastate enemies. No matter what spec you play, their primary stat remains the same: Intelligence. Though Dracthyr can play Warriors and other melee-based builds, Evokers are very much spellcasters.

Check out our other World of Warcraft guides and features

About the author

Jason is an Esports and Gaming journalist at Sportskeeda holding an amazing 11 years of experience under his belt. Having put out 4000-plus articles and amassing over 12 million reads for Sportskeeda, he is among the company’s most experienced writers. Jason holds a Bachelor's degree in English from UNC Pembroke and was inspired to become a gaming journalist very early on in life after reading Nintendo Power.

Jason is a jack of all trades when it comes to gaming journalism. He’s a key writer in Sportskeeda's MMO department, but he also likes to help out in other categories, like streamers, RPG, card games, and whatever else is needed. A solo gamer at heart, Jason's favorite titles include Earthbound and Dragon Warrior.

Jason places high value on accuracy and relevance in his write-ups. He achieves this with thorough research to sift facts from rumors. One of the biggest highlights of his career is his interview with Canadian pro wrestler Kenny Omega about his inclusion in the Like a Dragon game series. He is also good friends with journalist Kazumo Hashimoto, who he admires for the kind of stories he works on and his deep ethics.

A true cinephile, one of Jason’s primary hobbies involves enjoying cinematic experiences. He also loves reading, be it fiction or manga, when not working. Additionally, he streams on Twitch and posts his gaming insights on YouTube.

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Edited by Angad Sharma