WoW Classic Classes Overview

Within World of Warcraft Classic, there are several different character types you can choose from. These are known as classes, and each class comes with unique abilities, attacks, and spells they can use on their adventures. Some classes can fulfill the same role within the game, but each class will offer a unique and different game play experience. Whether you want to cast fireballs from afar or silently dispatch your foes from the shadows, there’s a choice for you!

View our list of WoW Classic class guides!

Class Roles

Each class is designed with a specific purpose. Some classes are capable of fulfilling multiple roles, but generally tend to excel at only one of them.

The main roles a class can fulfill are:

• Damage (DPS) – Damage dealers are responsible for using abilities and attacks to eliminate an enemy’s health points. Depending on which class is played, they can either attack enemies up close in melee range, or from a distance with spells or ranged attacks.
• Tank – Tanks are beefy meat shields with large health pools and strong defense or avoidance. They protect their allies by forcing enemies to attack them and absorbing hits from enemies. Tanks are excellent at staying alive and are defensive experts.
• Healer – Healers are responsible for supporting a group and ensuring they stay alive. They use spells to restore the health of allies, but are often quite vulnerable themselves. Healers work best in a group setting, allowing others to deal damage while they keep them alive.

Training and Spell Ranks

Each time you level up is a time for celebration, but it’s also an indicator that you can learn new spells and gain more power. In World of Warcraft Classic, you’ll gain the ability to train with a class trainer every 2 levels that you gain, beginning at level 2.

Many spells and abilities in the game have multiple ranks associated with them. As you increase in level, you can train in higher ranks of spells you already have, which will allow them to do more damage. This often comes with an increased mana cost, which means it may be more efficient overall to use a lower rank in certain scenarios.

Each class has a specific set of trainers that they must visit in order to learn new abilities. Druids can only train with druid trainers, mages can only train with mage trainers, and so on. Trainers are often found within major cities for each faction, and also offer the ability to reset a character’s talents for a fee.

Talents

Once a character reaches level 10, they will unlock a set of abilities known as talents. Talents are special bonuses that offer either new spells, benefits to existing abilities, or straight stat increases.

Talents allow for a lot of flexibility and customization for your character. Depending upon which talents you choose, the role your character fulfills can change. Certain talent choices are definitely more beneficial for particular roles, so carefully read the options you have available! You can test these in advance using our WoW Classic talent calculator.

You’ll gain a new talent point for every level you earn, meaning you’ll finish with 51 at max level. Each talent tree requires 31 points to reach the final talent, which is often the most useful and powerful of them all. This allows for an additional 20 to dip into another tree or add even further talents in one specialization.

In the even you decide you want to try another setup, you can always reset your talents at your class trainer. It starts at just a 1g fee, but steeply increases as you continue to reset them.

Class Choices

Druid

Druids are shapeshifters that are closely in tune with nature. They use the power of nature magic to heal allies and purge poisons. They have the special ability of resurrecting allies while still in the middle of combat, making them desirable classes in groups. They use their shapeshifting powers to either become a bear, cat, or aquatic lion, offering them the ability to tank, deal damage, or heal.

• Available Races: Night Elf, Tauren
• Resources Used: Health, Mana, Rage (Bear Form), Energy (Cat Form)
• Armor Type: Leather or Cloth
• Weapons Used: Staff, 1H & 2H Mace, Dagger, Fist Weapon
• Type/Good For: Jack of all trades! Can tank with bear form, deal melee damage with cat form, or heal with restoration specialization. This makes them great for adventuring alone or excellent at supporting allies in a group.

Browse our list of WoW Classic Druid Guides!

Hunter

Hunters are experts of the bow and speakers of the wild. They have a close bond with animals, allowing them to earn their loyalty and fight alongside you as a pet. They also have an array of traps at their disposal to stop their enemies right in their tracks. Hunters are ultimate trackers, with the ability to detect nearly any type of creature from far away.

• Available Races: Night Elf, Dwarf, Orc, Tauren, Troll
• Resources Used: Health, Mana
• Armor Type: Mail (Level 40+), Leather, Cloth
• Weapons Used: Bow, Crossbow, Gun, 1H & 2H Axe, 1H & 2H Sword, Staff, Polearm, Dagger, Thrown Weapons
• Type/Good For: Good at dealing damage with a ranged weapon from a distance. They can call and summon a pet to absorb damage for them, making them a great class for soloing.

Browse our list of WoW Classic Hunter Guides!

Mage

Mages are disciples of the elements, using their studies to cast powerful elemental magics. They can choose between arcane, fire, and frost magics to bombard their enemies with. On top of powerful spells, mages are also skilled at conjuring food and transporting allies to major cities.

• Available Races: Human, Gnome, Undead, Troll
• Resources Used: Health, Mana
• Armor Type: Cloth
• Weapons Used: Dagger, Staff, 1H Sword, Wand
• Type/Good For: Great for dealing direct damage with spells. They can’t take much damage though, and work best when other are available to soak up hits for them. They offer a ton of utility, with the ability to make food and portals to other locations.

Browse our list of WoW Classic Mage Guides!

Paladin (Alliance Only)

Paladins are holy templars of the Alliance, using their magic to smite foes and heal allies. They wear heavy plate armor, allowing them to soak damage with a shield, or use the powers of retribution to deal damage. They can also stay back and use their holy powers to keep allies alive, making them a great class for any role.

• Available Races: Human, Dwarf
• Resources Used: Health, Mana
• Armor Type: Plate (Level 40+), Mail, Leather, Cloth, Shield
• Weapons Used: 1H & 2H Mace, 1H & 2H Axe, 1H & 2H Sword
• Type/Good For: Paladins are also a flexible class, offering the ability to deal damage, serve as a tank, or heal allies. Their use of heavy armor also makes them a great choice to completing quests on their own.

Browse our list of WoW Classic Paladin Guides!

Priest

Priests are the ultimate healing class, using their spells to restore health and shield allies, or bring them back to life in case of disaster. While they make the best healer, they can also forsake their holy powers to harness strong shadow magic to slowly wither away at their foes.

• Available Races: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf, Undead, Troll
• Resources Used: Health, Mana
• Armor Type: Cloth
• Weapons Used: 1H Mace, Dagger, Staff, Wand
• Type/Good For: Priests are the classic healing class of World of Warcraft. They’re great at keeping allies alive and keeping evil spirits at bay. They wear cloth armor though, making them susceptible to attack. They’re the ultimate group member, and will have an easy time finding allies to play with.

Browse our list of WoW Classic Priest Guides!

Rogue

Rogues are masters of stealth and poisons, using subtle tactics to eliminate their foes. They wear light armor, making them silent and undetectable to enemies. In addition to their assassination prowess, they can also unlock doors, chests, and traps a player might encounter.

• Available Races: Dwarf, Gnome, Human, Night Elf, Orc, Undead, Troll
• Resources Used: Health, Energy
• Armor Type: Leather or Cloth
• Weapons Used: 1H Sword, 1H Mace, Dagger, Fist Weapon
• Type/Good For: Great at dealing melee damage up close! They make great use of stealth, making it easy to avoid and pick out enemies. Rogues struggle to take damage though, making soloing quests a challenge.

Browse our list of WoW Classic Rogue Guides!

Shaman (Horde Only)

Shaman are masters of the voodoo, using the spirits to help them in battle. They use these spirits to summon the elements in the form of spells and totems. They’re great at supporting their allies from afar with powerful healing magic, or donning stronger armors to battle enemies up close.

• Available Races: Orc, Tauren, Troll
• Resources Used: Health, Mana
• Armor Type: Mail (Level 40+), Leather, Cloth, Shield
• Weapons Used: 1H & 2H Axe (With Talents), 1H & 2H Mace (With Talents), Dagger, Staff, Fist Weapon
• Type/Good For: Good for healing enemies or dealing damage. Shamans are quite flexible, but tend to work best as a support class.

Browse our list of WoW Classic Shaman Guides!

Warlock

Warlocks are master manipulators of demons and shadow magic. They’re excellent at casting spells that slowly drain the health of their enemies. They also are adept at enslaving demons, forcing them to fight for them and protect them. They’re quite desirable in groups for their ability to summon other players from any location.

• Available Races: Gnome, Human, Orc, Undead
• Resources Used: Health, Mana
• Armor Type: Cloth
• Weapons Used: 1H Sword, Dagger, Wand, Staff
• Type/Good For: Warlocks are great at dealing ranged damage and defeating monsters by themselves. They can soak up plenty of damage with a demon, making them an excellent choice for first time players.

Browse our list of WoW Classic Warlock Guides!

Warrior

Warriors are the definitive tank class, capable of wearing a shield and heavy armor to soak large hits from enemies. As they take more damage, warriors increase with rage, allowing them to cast more abilities and kill enemies faster. They can also take a purely offensive route, opting to dual wield weapons and slash foes apart.

• Available Races: Any
• Resources Used: Health, Rage
• Armor Type: Plate (Level 40+), Mail, Leather, Cloth, Shield
• Weapons Used: All (Except Wand)
• Type/Good For: Warriors are the excellent tank class and make for great meat shields. They can soak up more hits than other classes, but can also forsake that in the name of dealing damage. They can even wield two weapons at once, making them a great flexible melee class.

Browse our list of WoW Classic Warrior Guides!