Quick answer: The quickest and most reliable leveling choices are Beast Mastery Hunter, Affliction Warlock, and Feral Druid. If you play another class, choose Arms Warrior, Retribution Paladin, Enhancement Shaman, Frost Mage, Combat Rogue, or Shadow Priest.
Best leveling spec for each class
These specs are our picks. Hunter, Warlock and Druid sit in S tier for leveling. Their pets, drains and shapeshifts keep them alive with very little downtime. The other six classes all have a good leveling spec, but each one comes with a clear trade-off.
| Class | Best leveling spec | Key talent | Every talent |
|---|---|---|---|
 Hunter | Beast Mastery | Bestial Wrath | Hunter talents |
 Warlock | Affliction | Wrack | Warlock talents |
 Druid | Feral Combat | Leader of the Pack | Druid talents |
 Warrior | Arms | Mortal Strike | Warrior talents |
 Paladin | Retribution | Unsealed Wrath | Paladin talents |
 Shaman | Enhancement | Rage of the Farseer | Shaman talents |
 Mage | Frost | Fingers of Frost | Mage talents |
 Rogue | Combat | Adrenaline Rush | Rogue talents |
 Priest | Shadow | Shadowform | Priest talents |
How talents work while leveling
Talent points become available at level 10; by level 60, you can earn 51 points for a complete build (plan one in the talent calculator). Opening each lower tier requires 5 additional points in that tree (see the talent trees for every class). Gold medal talents require 11, 16, 21, or 31 points, so the 31-point talents listed below are the final picks a leveling build aims for.
Nothing here locks you in. You can reset talents at a class trainer in a major city, and Dual Specialization opens at level 40. That lets you keep a questing spec and swap to a dungeon or raid spec later.
Hunter: Beast Mastery
For solo play and small parties, Beast Mastery lets your pet absorb incoming attacks. Better Hunter equipment also improves your pet’s scaling. Endurance Training gives the pet +15% Health and Armor, and Unleashed Fury increases its damage by 15%. Spirit Bond returns 1% Health to both you and your pet every 5 sec. The 31-point talent Bestial Wrath increases pet damage by 50% for 18 sec. Blizzard plans a 10 November hotfix so Hunter pets can tank about as effectively as in Classic Era.
| Talent | Ranks | Unlocks at | Effect at max rank |
|---|---|---|---|
 Endurance Training | 5 | Available from the first point | Increases the Health and Armor of your pets by 15%. |
 Focused Fire | 2 | 5 points in Beast Mastery | Increases all damage you and your pet deal by 2% while your pet is active. |
 Unleashed Fury | 5 | 10 points in Beast Mastery | Increases the damage done by your pets and hawks by 15%. |
 Ferocity | 5 | 15 points in Beast Mastery | Increases the critical strike chance of your pets and hawks by 10%. |
 Summon Hawk | 1 | 15 points in Beast Mastery | Deals instant damage and summons a Hawk to attack your current target for 18 sec. Up to 2 Hawks can be active at once. Shares a cooldown with Arcane Shot. |
 Spirit Bond | 2 | 20 points in Beast Mastery | While your pet is active, you and your pet will regenerate 1% of total health every 5 sec. |
 Frenzy | 5 | 25 points in Beast Mastery | Gives your pet a 100% chance to gain a 30% attack speed increase for 8 sec after dealing a critical strike. |
 Bestial Wrath | 1 | 30 points in Beast Mastery | Send your pet into a rage causing 50% additional damage for 18 sec. While enraged, the beast does not feel pity or remorse or fear and it cannot be stopped unless killed. |
Warlock: Affliction
Affliction stays healthy by draining enemies while a demon pet holds their attention. Improved Drains raises Drain Life and Drain Soul effectiveness by 20%. Fel Concentration gives incoming hits a 70% chance to leave your drain’s cast time uninterrupted. When Drain Soul kills an enemy, Soul Harvest doubles Mana regeneration for 10 sec. Siphon Life deals damage over time as you progress toward Wrack, the 31-point talent. In a 10 November hotfix, Blizzard plans to make Siphon Life, Corruption, and Bane of Agony worthwhile to cast along with Wrack, without altering Affliction’s overall damage.
| Talent | Ranks | Unlocks at | Effect at max rank |
|---|---|---|---|
 Improved Corruption | 5 | Available from the first point | Reduces the casting time of your Corruption spell by 2 sec and increases the damage it deals by 10%. |
 Soul Harvest | 2 | 5 points in Affliction | Killing a non-trivial target afflicted by your Drain Soul increases your Mana regeneration by 100% for 10 sec and allows 100% of normal Mana regeneration to continue while casting. |
 Improved Drains | 3 | 5 points in Affliction | Increases Health drained, damage done, or Mana drained by your Drain Life, Drain Soul, and Drain Mana spells by 20%. |
 Fel Concentration | 3 | 10 points in Affliction | Gives your Drain Life, Drain Mana, Drain Soul, and Wrack spells a 70% chance to not lose casting time when you take damage. |
 Nightfall | 2 | 15 points in Affliction | Gives your Corruption, Drain Soul, Drain Life, and Wrack spells a 4% chance to cause you to enter a Shadow Trance after damaging the opponent. The Shadow Trance reduces the casting time of your next Shadow Bolt spell by 100%. |
 Siphon Life | 1 | 20 points in Affliction | Transfers 11 health from the target to the caster every 3 sec. Lasts 30 sec. |
 Soul Siphon | 3 | 20 points in Affliction | Increases the damage done or health drained by your Drain Life, Drain Soul, and Wrack spells by 12% per each of your other Affliction effects active on the target, up to a maximum increase of 36%. |
 Shadow Mastery | 5 | 25 points in Affliction | Increases the damage dealt or life drained by your Shadow spells by 10%. |
 Wrack | 1 | 30 points in Affliction | Tears the target apart from within, inflicting 36 Shadow damage every 1 sec and increasing the damage they take from your other Shadow damage over time effects by 10% for 6 sec. |
Druid: Feral Combat
Use Cat Form while questing, then switch to Bear Form if a pull turns dangerous. With enough Rage, Frenzied Regeneration restores 100% of max health in Bear Form. You can use potions, most consumables, doors, and objects while shapeshifted, and Revive is usable out of combat. Cat Form gains 30% movement speed from Feral Swiftness; Predatory Strikes boosts Attack Power in forms; Blood Frenzy grants extra Combo Points on crits; and Leader of the Pack gives the party 3% crit in forms.
| Talent | Ranks | Unlocks at | Effect at max rank |
|---|---|---|---|
 Ferocity | 5 | Available from the first point | Reduces the cost of your Maul, Primal Bite, Swipe, Claw, and Rake abilities by 5 Rage or Energy. |
 Furor | 5 | Available from the first point | Gives you a 100% chance to gain 10 Rage when shapeshifting into Bear Form or Dire Bear Form. Shapeshifting into Cat Form restores 100% of the Energy you had when last in Cat Form, plus 10 Energy per second spent outside Bear Form or Dire Bear Form, up to 100 Energy. |
 Feral Swiftness | 2 | 5 points in Feral Combat | Increases your movement speed while in Cat Form by 30%, and increases your chance to Dodge by 4%. |
 Shredding Attacks | 3 | 10 points in Feral Combat | Reduces the Energy cost of your Shred ability by 18 and reduces the Rage cost of your Lacerate ability by 3. |
 Savage Fury | 2 | 10 points in Feral Combat | Increases the damage caused by your Claw, Rake, Shred, Maul, and Swipe abilities by 10%. |
 Sharpened Claws | 2 | 10 points in Feral Combat | Increases your critical strike chance while in Bear Form, Dire Bear Form, or Cat Form by 6%. |
 Predatory Strikes | 3 | 15 points in Feral Combat | Increases your melee Attack Power in Cat Form, Bear Form, and Dire Bear Form by 150% of your level. |
 Blood Frenzy | 2 | 15 points in Feral Combat | Gives you a 100% chance to gain an additional 5 Rage any time you get a critical strike while in Bear Form or Dire Bear Form. In addition, your non-periodic critical strikes from Cat Form abilities that generate Combo Points have a 100% chance to add an additional Combo Point. |
 Leader of the Pack | 1 | 20 points in Feral Combat | While in Cat Form, Bear Form, or Dire Bear Form, the Leader of the Pack increases the Critical Strike chance of all party or raid members within 45 yards by 3%. |
Warrior: Arms
Arms keeps Rage flowing between pulls. Tactical Mastery is baseline, and Anger Management plus Improved Tactical Mastery build on it, while Victory Rush heals 10% of max health after you kill a non-trivial enemy. Deep Wounds makes crits bleed, Two-Handed Weapon Specialization adds 6% damage, and Improved Slam stops Slam from delaying your swing. Mortal Strike, the 31-point talent, cuts the target’s healing by 50%. The weakness is recovery, because Arms has few ways back once it has taken too much damage.
| Talent | Ranks | Unlocks at | Effect at max rank |
|---|---|---|---|
 Improved Rend | 3 | Available from the first point | Increases the Bleed damage done by your Rend ability by 35%. |
 Improved Tactical Mastery | 3 | 5 points in Arms | Tactical Mastery lets you retain up to an additional 15 Rage when you change stances. |
 Anger Management | 1 | 10 points in Arms | Generates 1 Rage every 3 sec while in combat, and reduces Rage loss while out of combat by 30%. |
 Deep Wounds | 3 | 10 points in Arms | Your critical strikes cause your opponent to Bleed, dealing 60% of your melee weapon's average damage over 12 sec. |
 Two-Handed Weapon Specialization | 3 | 15 points in Arms | Increases the damage you deal with two-handed melee weapons by 6%. |
 Impale | 2 | 15 points in Arms | Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your abilities by 20%. |
 Sweeping Strikes | 1 | 20 points in Arms | Your next 5 melee attacks strike an additional nearby opponent. |
 Weaponmaster | 5 | 20 points in Arms | Gives your melee weapon attacks a benefit depending on the weapon. Axe/Polearm: Increases your critical strike chance by 5%. Mace/Staff: Your attacks ignore 15% of your target's armor. Sword: Your successful melee attacks have a 5% chance to trigger an extra attack on the target. |
 Improved Slam | 2 | 25 points in Arms | Reduces the cooldown of your Slam ability by 5 sec, the cast time and global cooldown by 0.5 sec, and Slam no longer interrupts or delays your melee swing. |
 Mortal Strike | 1 | 30 points in Arms | A vicious strike that deals weapon damage plus 85 and wounds the target, reducing the effectiveness of any healing by 50% for 10 sec. |
Paladin: Retribution
Retribution starts early with Holy Strike and Seal of Fury, which deals Holy damage on every swing and absorbs half of it. Lay on Hands is on a 20-minute cooldown. Pursuit of Justice adds 15% movement speed, mounted too, and Sacred Arbiter, a 16-point gold medal, makes Holy Strike refresh all Judgements and deal 20% more damage. Sanctified Judgement returns 60% of a judged Seal’s Mana, and Vengeance stacks damage after crits on the way to Unsealed Wrath at 31 points. The trade-off is that Retribution has no interrupt and no slow.
| Talent | Ranks | Unlocks at | Effect at max rank |
|---|---|---|---|
 Benediction | 5 | Available from the first point | Reduces the Mana cost of all instant cast spells and abilities by 10%. |
 Improved Judgement | 2 | 5 points in Retribution | Decreases the cooldown of your Judgement ability by 2 sec. |
 Conviction | 3 | 5 points in Retribution | Improves your chance to get a critical strike with all spells and attacks by 6%. |
 Sanctified Judgement | 3 | 5 points in Retribution | Gives your Judgement ability a 100% chance to return 60% of the Mana cost of the judged seal. |
 Pursuit of Justice | 2 | 10 points in Retribution | Increases movement speed and mounted movement speed by 15%. This does not stack with other movement speed increasing effects. |
 Sacred Arbiter | 1 | 15 points in Retribution | Increases the damage of your Holy Strike ability by 20% and causes it to refresh all Judgement effects on the target. |
 Two-Handed Weapon Specialization | 3 | 15 points in Retribution | Increases the Physical and Holy damage you deal by 6%, and reduces all threat you generate by 20% while a two-handed melee weapon is equipped. |
 Vengeance | 3 | 20 points in Retribution | Increases your Physical and Holy damage dealt by 3% for 30 sec after landing a non-periodic critical strike. Stacks up to 5 times. |
 Champion of the Light | 5 | 25 points in Retribution | Increases your spell damage by up to 60% of your Intellect, and reduces the cast time of your Hammer of Wrath by 1 sec. |
 Unsealed Wrath | 1 | 30 points in Retribution | Your melee attacks store a copy of your active Seal for 15 sec, stacking up to 3 times. Landing an attack with a different Seal consumes all stacks, giving the stored Seal its normal chance to activate once per stack. |
Shaman: Enhancement
With Mail and a Shield, Enhancement is among the sturdiest classes for questing. Weapon imbues last 60 minutes, and Improved Ghost Wolf works indoors. Flurry adds 30% attack speed after crits, Stormstrike, a 16-point gold medal, hits for 150% weapon damage, and Maelstrom Weapon cuts Lightning Bolt’s cast time and Mana cost by 20% per stack up to 5. Rage of the Farseer, the 31-point talent, adds 30% attack speed for 25 sec. Blizzard’s 10 November hotfix makes Strength Enhancement’s strongest stat, so keep Strength and Attack Power gear with some Intellect or Spell Power instead of caster cloth.
| Talent | Ranks | Unlocks at | Effect at max rank |
|---|---|---|---|
 Thundering Strikes | 5 | Available from the first point | Improves your chance to get a critical strike with all spells and attacks by 5%. |
 Elemental Weapons | 3 | 10 points in Enhancement | Increases the melee attack power bonus of your Rockbiter Weapon by 20%, your Windfury Weapon effect by 40% and increases the damage caused by your Flametongue Weapon and Frostbrand Weapon by 15%. |
 Shamanistic Focus | 1 | 10 points in Enhancement | Reduces the mana cost of your Shock and Lightning Shield spells by 45%. |
 Flurry | 5 | 15 points in Enhancement | Increases your attack speed by 30% for your next 3 swings after dealing a melee critical strike. |
 Stormstrike | 1 | 15 points in Enhancement | Instantly strike for 150% weapon damage and increase the damage you deal to the target with your next Lightning Bolt, Chain Lightning, or Earth Shock spell by 20% for 12 sec. |
 Toughness | 5 | 15 points in Enhancement | Increases your Stamina by 10%. |
 Improved Ghost Wolf | 2 | 15 points in Enhancement | Reduces the cast time of your Ghost Wolf spell by 3 sec, and Ghost Wolf may be used indoors. |
 Maelstrom Weapon | 5 | 25 points in Enhancement | When you deal damage with a melee attack, you have a chance to reduce the cast time and Mana cost of your next Lightning Bolt spell by 20%. Stacks up to 5 times. Lasts 30 sec. |
 Rage of the Farseer | 1 | 30 points in Enhancement | Increases your attack speed by 30% for 25 sec. |
Mage: Frost
Mages are fragile, and Frost uses chills and freezes to hold enemies at a distance. Shatter and Fingers of Frost make frozen targets vulnerable to critical hits, while Ice Lance gains 300% damage against them. Improved Frostbolt shortens Frostbolt’s cast by 0.5 sec, and Frost Channeling cuts Frost Mana costs by 15%. The 16-point gold medal, Ice Block, can get you out of a bad pull. To limit mass kiting, Cone of Cold and Improved Blizzard now apply a 40% slow rather than 65%, so avoid pulling too many enemies.
| Talent | Ranks | Unlocks at | Effect at max rank |
|---|---|---|---|
 Improved Frostbolt | 5 | Available from the first point | Reduces the casting time of your Frostbolt spell by 0.5 sec. |
 Ice Shards | 5 | 5 points in Frost | Increases the critical strike damage bonus of your Frost spells by 100%. |
 Frostbite | 3 | 5 points in Frost | Gives your Chill effects a 15% chance to Freeze the target for 5 sec. |
 Permafrost | 3 | 5 points in Frost | Increases the duration of your Chill effects by 33% and reduces the target's speed by an additional 10%. |
 Frost Channeling | 3 | 10 points in Frost | Reduces the mana cost of your Frost spells by 15% and reduces the threat caused by your Frost spells by 30%. |
 Ice Lance | 1 | 10 points in Frost | Deals 26 to 30 Frost damage to an enemy target. Deals 300% increased damage to Frozen targets. |
 Shatter | 3 | 15 points in Frost | Increases the critical strike chance of all your spells against Frozen targets by 50%. |
 Ice Block | 1 | 15 points in Frost | You become encased in a block of ice, protecting you from all physical attacks and spells for 10 sec, but during that time you cannot attack, move, or cast spells. |
 Fingers of Frost | 2 | 20 points in Frost | Gives your Chill effects a 15% chance to grant you the Fingers of Frost effect, which treats your next 2 spells cast as if the target were Frozen. Lasts 15 sec. |
Rogue: Combat
Combat deals steady damage with Sinister Strike and Eviscerate, and it makes finishers cheaper. Aggression adds 15% to both attacks, and Flawless Execution makes Eviscerate cost 15 less Energy. Blade Flurry hits an extra nearby enemy and adds 20% attack speed for 15 sec, Adrenaline Rush at 31 points doubles Energy regeneration for 15 sec, and Endurance shortens the Sprint and Evasion cooldowns by 60%. Sap no longer breaks Stealth, but Combat is melee only with no self-heals, so eat between pulls.
| Talent | Ranks | Unlocks at | Effect at max rank |
|---|---|---|---|
 Efficient Strikes | 2 | Available from the first point | Reduces the Energy cost of your Sinister Strike and Hemorrhage abilities by 5. |
 Precision | 3 | 5 points in Combat | Improves your chance to hit by 3%. |
 Endurance | 2 | 10 points in Combat | Reduces the cooldown of your Sprint and Evasion abilities by 60%. |
 Aggression | 3 | 15 points in Combat | Increases the damage of your Sinister Strike and Eviscerate abilities by 15%. |
 Flawless Execution | 1 | 15 points in Combat | Reduces the Energy cost of your Eviscerate ability by 15. |
 Dual Wield Specialization | 2 | 20 points in Combat | Increases the damage done by your off-hand weapon by 50%. |
 Blade Flurry | 1 | 20 points in Combat | Increases your melee attack speed by 20% and your melee attacks strike an additional nearby opponent. Lasts 15 sec. |
 Hack and Slash | 5 | 20 points in Combat | Gives your melee weapon attacks a benefit depending on the weapon. Axe/Sword: Your successful melee attacks have a 5% chance to trigger an extra attack on the target. Dagger/Fist: Increases your critical strike chance by 5%. Mace: Your attacks ignore 15% of your target's armor. |
 Adrenaline Rush | 1 | 30 points in Combat | Increases your Energy regeneration rate by 100% for 15 sec. |
Priest: Shadow
Spirit Tap helps Shadow manage Mana by doubling Spirit after kills. Improved Mind Blast reduces Mind Blast’s cooldown by 2.5 sec, and Mind Flay slows targets by 50%. Vampiric Embrace heals you as you deal damage. The 31-point talent Shadowform reduces Shadow spell Mana costs by 50% and lowers Physical damage taken by 15%. Cloth armor and limited escape tools make Priests vulnerable, so keep pulls small.
| Talent | Ranks | Unlocks at | Effect at max rank |
|---|---|---|---|
 Spirit Tap | 5 | Available from the first point | Gives you a 100% chance to increase your Spirit by 100% for 15 sec after killing a non-trivial target or when an enemy afflicted by your Vampiric Embrace dies. For the duration, 50% of your Mana regeneration will continue while casting. |
 Improved Mind Blast | 5 | 5 points in Shadow | Reduces the cooldown of your Mind Blast spell by 2.5 sec. |
 Improved Shadow Word: Pain | 2 | 5 points in Shadow | Increases the duration of your Shadow Word: Pain spell by 6 sec. |
 Mind Flay | 1 | 10 points in Shadow | Assault the target's mind with Shadow energy, causing 63 Shadow damage over 3 sec and slowing their movement speed by 50%. |
 Improved Mind Flay | 2 | 10 points in Shadow | Each instance of damage of Mind Flay deals 20% more damage than its previous instance of damage. |
 Vampiric Embrace | 1 | 15 points in Shadow | Afflicts your target with Shadow energy that causes all party members to be healed for 20% of any Shadow spell damage you deal for 30 sec. |
 Shadow Weaving | 3 | 15 points in Shadow | Your Shadow damage spells have a 100% chance to increase the Shadow damage the target takes from you by 2% for 15 sec, stacking up to 5 times. |
 Darkness | 5 | 25 points in Shadow | Increases your Shadow damage done by 10%. |
 Shadowform | 1 | 30 points in Shadow | Assume Shadowform, increasing your Shadow damage by 10%, reducing the Mana cost of all Shadow spells by 50%, increasing the critical strike damage bonus of your Shadow spells by 100%, and reducing Physical damage taken by you by 15%. However, you may not cast healing spells while in this form. |
FAQ
What is the fastest class to level in WoW Forever?
For solo leveling, the top picks are Beast Mastery Hunter, Affliction Warlock, and Feral Druid.
When do talents unlock?
Your first talent points arrive at level 10, and reaching level 60 gives you 51 points for a full build.
Can I change spec after leveling?
Yes. You can reset talents at a class trainer in a major city, or use Dual Specialization from level 40.
Should Enhancement Shamans use Intellect gear?
No, not after the 10 November hotfix, which makes Strength the strongest stat for Enhancement.
What is the best leveling spec for Rogue?
Choose Combat to level a Rogue.
