Marcelian&Flame's most fun classes in WoW Forever, checked against the client

2026-10-18 · ForeverDB

Marcelian&Flame rank every WoW Forever class by fun, not meta, with Enhancement Shaman as their top pick and Mage at the bottom. We checked the spells they name against the beta client: the big ones mostly hold up, including Shadowform's 50% Shadow mana cut and 100% crit bonus. Some highlights, like Shadowform, Sniper Shot and the Thousand Cuts rogue capstone, are level 40 talents still above the beta's level 30 cap.

This is a community video by Marcelian&Flame, not a Blizzard post. Everything in it is the creator's own opinion and findings, not Blizzard's word. We checked every class claim it makes against the WoW Forever beta client (build 1.60.1.70450); the names and numbers here come from the client. Beta data can change before launch.

Marcelian&Flame have played every class in the WoW Forever beta and ranked them by how much fun they are. It isn't a tier list by damage or meta: it's their own take on class fantasy and versatility. Druid and Paladin are their success stories, Shaman the surprise at the top, and Warlock slipped after a recent change. Below we check every ability and talent they name against the beta client.

The short version

• They rank the classes by fun, not by damage or the meta. Enhancement Shaman is their top pick, Mage their lowest, and they say "there are no bad classes to play in forever".
• Where they name a spell, the client mostly agrees. Shadowform Shadowform really does cut the mana cost of Shadow spells by 50% and add 100% crit bonus damage; Earth Shock Earth Shock and Searing Pain Searing Pain both read "Causes a high amount of threat"; Mutilate Mutilate hits 20% harder against Poisoned targets.
• Some of the highlights are above the beta's level 30 cap: Shadowform, Sniper Shot Sniper Shot and the Thousand Cuts Thousand Cuts rogue capstone are all level 40 talents, so no one can test them in beta yet.
• One miss: Thousand Cuts cuts the Energy cost of Hemorrhage or Backstab, not Sinister Strike, Ambush or Mutilate as the video guesses.
• Fun, damage balance and whether Elemental is weak aren't in the client, so we can't check those.

Claim by claim

Every number is from the Forever beta client, compared with Classic Era only as the before side.

Class by class

Druid

Druid ranks high for them because it can be a caster, melee, healer and tank, sometimes more than one in a fight. That versatility is a design point, not a single spell, so there's nothing to measure. The caster side rests on Wrath Wrath, learned at level 1. See the Druid changes for the full list.

Hunter

Hunter wins them over on pets, and they single out Marksmanship's sniper shot. The client confirms Sniper Shot Sniper Shot as a new Forever talent in the Marksmanship tree. It is a tier 7 talent at level 40, above the beta's level 30 cap, so you can't take it in beta yet. Its tooltip: ranged damage plus 160, and +10 yards of range on your next 3 Shots for 10 sec, 4 sec cast, 15 sec cooldown. Try the three builds in the Marksmanship Hunter simulator.

Mage

Mage ranks lowest for fun. They point to teleports, portals, Blizzard AoE farming and Pyroblast, and mention weaving Arcane Blast with Frostbolt and Fireball. The client confirms all of them: Blizzard Blizzard at level 20, Pyroblast Pyroblast (Fire tier 3, level 20), Presence of Mind Presence of Mind (Arcane tier 5, level 30) and Arcane Blast Arcane Blast (Arcane tier 3, level 20), and the trainer teaches the city teleports from level 20 and the portals from level 40. The "frost fireballs" they mention is Frostfire Bolt Frostfire Bolt, a level 40 ability, above the cap. Pyroblast does less damage in Forever than in Classic. Compare specs in the Fire Mage simulator and Arcane Mage simulator.

Paladin

Paladin is an S-tier pick for them and one of the biggest success stories of the class changes. They ask whether a ret ("red") paladin would have Righteous Fury "beefed up from the protection talent trees". The client's Righteous Fury Righteous Fury increases the threat from your Holy attacks by 90% (up from 60 in Classic), learned at level 16; it is a trainer ability, not a talent. They also describe a Holy and Retribution caster hybrid and protection auto-attack and tanking talents; those are build ideas with no single number to check. See the Paladin changes and the Retribution Paladin simulator.

Priest

Priest is their main. They highlight the new shadow form and a Discipline absorb-shield build. The client confirms Shadowform Shadowform reduces the mana cost of all Shadow spells by 50% and increases the crit strike damage bonus of Shadow spells by 100% (it also adds 10% Shadow damage and cuts physical damage taken by 15%). It is a Shadow tier 7 talent at level 40, above the beta cap, so they are right that it's untested. The Discipline build rests on Power Word: Shield Power Word: Shield (level 6); the weakened soul they describe is the line "Once shielded, the target cannot be shielded again for 15 sec". Try it in the Shadow Priest simulator or build it in the Priest talent calculator.

Rogue

Rogue sits at the top of A tier for them. They praise poison synergy on Assassination and bleeds on Subtlety. The client backs both: Mutilate Mutilate (Assassination tier 5, level 30) does 20% more damage against Poisoned targets, and Hemorrhage Hemorrhage (Subtlety tier 5, level 30) makes the target take 15% increased Rupture Rupture damage. They try to recall the Subtlety capstone "a thousand cuts": the client's Thousand Cuts Thousand Cuts (Subtlety tier 7, level 40, above the cap) says that when Rupture deals periodic damage, the Energy cost of your next Hemorrhage or Backstab within 10 sec is reduced by 3, stacking up to 5 times. So it's Hemorrhage or Backstab, not Sinister Strike, Ambush or Mutilate as guessed. They also mention a talent that makes Ambush Ambush usable outside stealth; the client's Ambush still requires Stealth, and the data we have doesn't show a talent that removes that, so we can't confirm it. Compare builds in the Assassination Rogue simulator and Subtlety Rogue simulator, or the Rogue talent calculator.

Shaman

Shaman is their most fun class, mostly Enhancement, including off-tanking when a group has no tank. The client backs the threat tools: Earth Shock Earth Shock (level 4) reads "Causes a high amount of threat", and Fire Nova Fire Nova (level 12) hits enemies within 10 yards of your active Fire totem. Fire Nova is new to Forever as a class ability (it was a Season of Discovery rune). How much threat or damage Enhancement actually does, and whether Elemental is weak, is balance the client doesn't carry, so we can't check those yet. Try the Enhancement Shaman simulator and Elemental Shaman simulator.

Warlock

Warlock dropped from S to A for them after a change to Demonic Brand Demonic Brand (Demonology tier 4, level 25). They say Searing Pain Searing Pain used to make "your next four or six auto attacks from your demon generate a lot more threat", and it was changed to "the next shadow damage that your pet does generates extra threat". The client confirms the current behaviour: Demonic Brand brands the target so your pet's next 2, 4 or 6 attacks by rank deal Fire or Shadow damage, and "If Shadow damage is dealt, it has high threat". Searing Pain itself also generates 17%, 33% or 50% less threat by rank. We can't see the earlier version in the client, only what it does now. Build it in the Demonology Warlock simulator; full list on the Warlock changes.

Warrior

Warrior ranks low for them despite good changes. They relay a dev line that Warrior will be the "master of cleave", best at fighting two targets. The client's Cleave Cleave (level 20) hits "the target and a second nearby enemy"; being the master of cleave is a balance intent we can't measure. They also note that Shaman has no taunt while Warrior does: the client's Taunt Taunt is learned at level 10 and has an 8 sec cooldown (down from Classic's 10). Fury crit scaling at end game and overall Warrior balance are things the client doesn't carry. See the Warrior changes.

Where the video and the client differ

• The video guesses the Subtlety capstone cuts the cost of Sinister Strike, Hemorrhage, and maybe Ambush or Mutilate. The client's Thousand Cuts Thousand Cuts cuts the Energy cost of Hemorrhage or Backstab only, by 3, stacking up to 5 times.
• The video recalls a talent that makes Ambush usable outside stealth. The client's Ambush Ambush still requires Stealth, and we can't find a talent that removes that in the data we have, so treat it as unconfirmed.

More on our pages

• Hunter changes in the client and the Hunter talent calculator
• Rogue changes in the client and the Rogue talent calculator
• Priest changes in the client and the Priest talent calculator
• Shaman changes in the client and the Shaman talent calculator
• Mage changes in the client and the Mage talent calculator

Sources

• MOST FUN Classes in WoW Forever! (So Far) (Marcelian&Flame, YouTube)
• Priest: changes from Classic Era (ForeverDB, from the client)
• Rogue: changes from Classic Era (ForeverDB, from the client)
• Shaman: changes from Classic Era (ForeverDB, from the client)
• Warlock: changes from Classic Era (ForeverDB, from the client)