Fastest leveling class in WoW Forever (pre-launch)

Leveling speed is mostly about downtime: how often you stop to eat, drink or run back from the graveyard. Damage matters less than people think. That's why our leveling tier list puts two pet classes on top.

The top two: Hunter and Warlock

A Hunter's pet holds the enemy while you shoot. In Forever, pets scale with your gear, traps work in combat, and Aimed Shot is baseline at level 20. A Warlock sends the Voidwalker in, lets damage over time tick and refills with Life Tap and Drain Life. Neither stops much.

Close behind

• Druid: cat for damage, bear when it gets dangerous, heals between pulls. Potions now work in form.
• Paladin: Holy Strike and Consecration give the class real damage while leveling for the first time.
• Shaman: hour-long weapon imbues and saved totem sets remove most of the old setup.
• Mage: kills fast and conjures its own water, but punishes mistakes.

Why Warriors sit lower

Warriors still lean on gear and healers more than anyone. Victory Rush at 20 helps a lot: kill something and you heal for 10% of your health. If you have a friend who heals, a Warrior is one of the fastest levelers in the game.

Our caveat

This is v1, written before launch from Blizzard's published changes. We'll publish v2 after launch week with what we see on live realms.