WoW Forever tier list: specs and racials by role

Protection Warrior

Battle Shout now covers the raid, and Blizzard says absorbs no longer reduce Warrior rage gain. No October 15 change weakens the tank kit.

• Buff: Battle Shout now reaches the whole raid.

Feral (Bear) Druid

Faerie Fire becomes a threat tool in Bear Form and Leader of the Pack covers the raid. A full level-60 tank cycle is still unverified.

• Buff: Faerie Fire now generates threat in Bear Form and Dire Bear Form.
• Buff: Leader of the Pack is raid-wide; it now raises melee and ranged crit only.
• Change: Furor keeps the Energy you had when you last left Cat Form.

Protection Paladin

Righteous Fury turns more Holy damage into threat, while Consecration and Shield Specialization lose value. Mixed for multi-target pulls.

• Buff: Righteous Fury raises Holy damage threat to 90% (was 60%).
• Nerf: Consecration spell power coefficient per tick: 0.042 (was 0.095).
• Nerf: Shield Specialization returns 4% Mana (was 6%).
• Change: Reckoning stores up to 4 charges again and releases them on your next swing.

Restoration Shaman

Raid-wide totems and a Water Shield that triggers on any spell crit add group value and Mana.

• Buff: Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue Totems now reach the whole raid.
• Buff: Water Shield now triggers on any critical spell (was critical heals only).
• Buff: Restorative Totems now scales the whole Healing Stream Totem.

Discipline Priest

Mental Strength now gives up to 10% Intellect from row 2, and Power in Light adds damage to Smite and Penance.

• Buff: Mental Strength moves to row 2 and raises Intellect by up to 10%.
• Buff: Power in Light raises Smite and Penance against targets with Holy Fire or Shadow Word: Pain.
• Change: Twin Disciplines now applies to Shadow Word: Death, Mind Flay, Starshards and Penance.

Holy Paladin

Salvation no longer takes a blessing slot. The healing kit itself did not change; downranking and throughput at 60 are untested.

• Buff: Salvation and Mass Salvation no longer compete with blessings; Revoke removes them.
• Change: Infusion of Light no longer adds 50% to Holy Shock damage (bug fix).

Holy Priest

No Holy talent changed on October 15. The Renew fix lets several Priests keep their Renew on one target.

• Change: High-rank Renew no longer blocks other Priests' Renew on the same target.

Restoration Druid

Rejuvenation from several Druids works on one target again. No Restoration talent changed.

• Change: High-rank Rejuvenation no longer blocks other Druids' Rejuvenation on the same target.

Fury Warrior

Raid-wide Battle Shout plus two talent fixes, with no nerf. Rage income at 60 is still unmeasured.

• Buff: Battle Shout now reaches the whole raid.
• Change: Lingering Rage no longer stops Health regeneration after combat.
• Change: Improved Berserker Rage now removes movement-impairing effects.

Arms Warrior

Raid-wide Battle Shout, and Slam can no longer be pushed back. Bleed immunity and target swaps still need testing.

• Buff: Battle Shout now reaches the whole raid.
• Buff: Slam is no longer subject to spell pushback.

Enhancement Shaman

Grace of Air now stacks with Windfury Totem, and four totems reach the whole raid. The Stormstrike debuff no longer drops on a miss.

• Buff: Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue Totems now reach the whole raid.
• Buff: Grace of Air Totem is no longer exclusive with Windfury or Flametongue Totem.
• Buff: The Stormstrike debuff is no longer consumed when your spell does not land.
• Change: Stormstrike costs 8% of base Mana (was a flat 125 Mana).

Combat Rogue

Only fixes for Rogues on October 15. Weapon choice and hit targets at 60 have no logs yet.

• Change: Poisons no longer trigger against targets that are attacking you.

Assassination Rogue

Cold Blood now works as intended with Mutilate. Poison pairings are carried over from Classic, not proven in Forever.

• Buff: Cold Blood is now consumed correctly when Mutilate crits.

Subtlety Rogue

No change, and its raid bleed cycle is extrapolated without level-60 testing.

Retribution Paladin

Blizzard halved Champion of the Light; the reported 70450 hotfix doubles it back. Seal of Righteousness also lost a bug that nearly doubled its spell damage bonus. Wait for launch values.

• Nerf: Champion of the Light: 10/20/30% of Intellect as spell damage (was 20/40/60%).
• Buff: Champion of the Light back to 60% of Intellect in the 70450 server hotfixes. Fansite report
• Nerf: Seal of Righteousness no longer gets almost twice its intended spell damage bonus.

Feral (Cat) Druid

The only level-60 Cat guide targets PvP. Raid-wide Leader of the Pack helps the group, not the Cat priority gap.

• Buff: Leader of the Pack is raid-wide; it now raises melee and ranged crit only.
• Change: Furor keeps your Energy when you shift from Bear back to Cat.

Survival Hunter

Blizzard describes melee tools while the level-60 guide plans for ranged. Until that is settled, no raid ranking holds.

• Change: Resourcefulness now triggers only on melee and ranged ability crits.
• Change: Strider Kick works while disarmed or without a main-hand weapon.
• Nerf: Auto Shot now needs you to stand still for 0.5 seconds.

Shadow Priest

Five buffs against one nerf: faster Devouring Plague, a ramping Mind Flay and party Spirit from Dark Inspiration.

• Buff: Devouring Plague cooldown: 24 seconds (was 1 minute).
• Buff: Improved Mind Flay: each tick deals up to 20% more than the one before.
• Buff: Devouring Contagion now spreads to 2 targets.
• Buff: Vampiric Embrace: 30-second cooldown (was 1 minute) and can no longer be resisted.
• Buff: New talent Dark Inspiration raises your party's Spirit by up to 15% for 10 seconds.
• Nerf: Shadow Word: Death cooldown: 18 seconds (was 12).

Fire Mage

Critical Mass and the new Fire Power raise sustained Fire damage, and Heating Up is easier to charge.

• Buff: Critical Mass now takes 5 points for 10% crit.
• Buff: Fire Power: 3% more Fire damage per Fire effect of yours on the target, up to 12%.
• Buff: Fire Blast always adds a Heating Up charge; Presence of Mind no longer consumes it.
• Change: Wake of Fire reverts to Improved Fire Blast and adds up to 15 yards of range.

Affliction Warlock

Shadow Mastery doubles to 10% Shadow damage. The reported hotfix also restores Amplify Curse on Curse of Exhaustion.

• Buff: Shadow Mastery: up to 10% Shadow damage (was 5%).
• Change: Malediction is replaced by Grim Reach: +20% range for Affliction spells.
• Buff: Amplify Curse gives its 20% on Curse of Exhaustion again in the 70450 server hotfixes. Fansite report

Arcane Mage

Two reworks at once. Arcane Wrath and an easier Missile Barrage are gains, but Arcane Blast lost 40% of its base damage for a stacking buff.

• Change: Arcane Blast: 1.5-second cast, 40% less damage; each cast adds 15% of Intellect as Spell Damage for 15 seconds, up to 4 stacks.
• Buff: New 16-point talent Arcane Wrath: Fireball-like damage plus 5% of maximum Mana as Spell Power.
• Buff: Missile Barrage moves to row 1 as a 2-point talent and can trigger from Arcane Missiles.
• Buff: Frost Blast can trigger Missile Barrage in the 70450 server hotfixes. Fansite report

Elemental Shaman

Elemental Mastery returns as a burst cooldown and Chain Lightning gets cheaper. The reshuffled tree needs a fresh talent plan.

• Buff: Elemental Mastery returns as the 31-point talent: Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst 0.5 seconds faster, no Chain Lightning cooldown for 15 seconds.
• Buff: Chain Lightning costs about 35% less Mana.
• Buff: Call of Flame also extends Flame Shock by up to 9 seconds.
• Nerf: Fire Nova: lower base damage, coefficient 0.143 (was 0.214).
• Buff: Grace of Air, Strength of Earth, Windfury and Flametongue Totems now reach the whole raid.

Destruction Warlock

Only Destructive Reach changed, to a range talent. Fire or Shadow focus still depends on the encounter.

• Change: Destructive Reach now adds up to 20% range to Destruction spells.

Marksmanship Hunter

Raid-wide Trueshot Aura adds group value; the stand-still rule for Auto Shot costs damage on moving fights.

• Buff: Trueshot Aura now reaches the whole raid.
• Change: Sniper Shot now benefits from a few Marksmanship talents it missed.
• Nerf: Auto Shot now needs you to stand still for 0.5 seconds.

Beast Mastery Hunter

Pets gain Expertise and inherit your higher crit chance, which helps pet damage. The Auto Shot rule applies here too.

• Buff: Pets now benefit from Expertise.
• Buff: Pets inherit the higher of your melee or ranged crit chance.
• Nerf: Dismember, Sonic Blast and Mine! have weaker effects and longer cooldowns.
• Nerf: Auto Shot now needs you to stand still for 0.5 seconds.

Frost Mage

Ice Lance loses part of its frozen-target bonus and Winter's Chill stops adding crit. The gains are mostly for Cone of Cold pulls.

• Nerf: Ice Lance against frozen targets: +200% damage (was +300%).
• Change: Winter's Chill no longer adds crit; it now raises the damage of your next Cone of Cold.
• Buff: Cone of Cold slows its first 4 targets 10% more and 3 seconds longer.
• Buff: Frostbite and Fingers of Frost trigger from Frost Armor and Ice Armor again.

Demonology Warlock

Only a Soul Link fix. Keeping a sacrifice buff needs Demonic Pact and a second demon, so pet survival still drives the plan.

• Change: Soul Link can be cast on your pet again.

Balance Druid

Moonkin Aura now covers the raid but only for spell crit. The older guide relies on Balance of Nature, which the current tree lacks.

• Buff: Moonkin Aura is raid-wide; it now raises spell crit only.
• Change: Several Insect Swarms no longer stack their hit reduction.