A damage and duel simulator for World of Warcraft: Forever covering every class and every talent tree (28 builds), against cloth, leather, and plate players, a raid boss, or any one build in a 1v1 duel. Healer and tank trees show the damage they deal while doing their job. Every build also has a full character sheet (health, armor, avoidance, crit, hit, power, mana, resistances) built from real Forever gear. Talent, spell, and cooldown values come from the Forever beta (Blizzard's development notes through 15 October, build 1.60.1.70425, and client data through build 1.60.1.70450 of 16 October, checked 19 October 2026; gear stats are still from build 1.60.1.70124); anything the client doesn't publish is a labeled assumption (listed under How the damage ranking works, and under How the duels work, Full details of the model), not measured Forever data.
Theorycraft estimates. These numbers come from a computer model of a game that's still being tuned: Forever's beta values change, and the model fills gaps with Classic's rules. Use them to compare builds and gear, not as promises. Item and stat data come from the Forever beta client as shown on Wowhead's Forever pages and ForeverChanges, with Classic values where Forever hasn't published its own (details in the notes further down). Everything runs in your browser: nothing you paste is sent anywhere.
Your characterNot imported: everyone uses preset gear
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Combat logs
How the duels work
Quick read (duels)
Each line is one matchup: your win rate on the left, theirs on the right, draws in the middle. The small ± is how far luck could move your number (95% range); when the range is uneven both sides are shown, and at the edges it's one-sided: "100% −6" means the true rate is somewhere from 94% to 100%, "97% −8/+2" means 89% to 99%, and "62% −13/+11" means 49% to 73%.
These are a computer model's guesses (Speculative), built from Forever beta values that may change. Use them to compare, not as promises.
Players here are scripted: they use cooldowns, crowd control, and interrupts sensibly, but don't out-think each other. A real player's choices can beat any number here.
The PvP trinket, potions, gear gap, and starting distance can swing results a lot. The stress test in each line shows by how much.
Pick your build under "Or pick your build for 1v1 duels" (or a whole class: each opponent is then met by whichever of your specs beats it most, with every spec's win rate listed; that best spec is then rerun on a fresh set of duels, because the best of three noisy results is flattered by luck) and it fights every build in the selected classes 1v1, many times; the class filter and the Opponents setting pick who you face. A summary at the top gives your average against each class (each class counted once; with a single build your mirror match is left out, while with a whole class your best spec against each of your own specs counts) and your hardest spec in it. Each line shows you on the left and the opponent on the right with each side's win rate; the bar runs from your win rate (your class color) through draws (grey) to theirs (their class color, hatched when it's your class too). Both players attack, defend, heal, interrupt, and crowd-control each other, reacting to what the other is doing. Your win rate carries its 95% range; draws are duels still going at the time limit. An exact mirror (your own build, same settings on both sides) shows 50/50, because by symmetry that is its true value; the simulated split, which wanders a few points either way at 60 to 400 duels, is shown under it. Other specs of your own class are not mirrors: Fury against Arms can be far from 50/50. Each matchup has its own run of random numbers, and who acts first is drawn again every tenth of a second, so neither side has a built-in edge (tested over 8 independent runs of all 28 mirrors at 100 duels each, re-measured 22 October after cycle 6: 18,299 decided duels, 9,238 to 9,061, well within normal luck; the other 4,101 were draws). Numbers come from the same gear, character sheets, and damage values as the rest of the page. Open a line for how its duels went (control dealt and taken, interrupts and fake casts, absorbs, how close the duels were, what hurt it most) and a typical duel, with buttons to switch to a typical win, loss, or draw: the matchup's most common result at about its usual length, with a chart of both players' health and the distance between them over time (hover or tap for values) and the full log with the distance at each moment.
Full details of the model (long)
Ranking every build: under the class summary, "Rank every build against each other" duels every selected build against every other (40 duels per pairing, about a minute on a laptop and several minutes on a phone with every build selected; it plays in rounds and a partial or stopped table shows the last finished round with a Games column, so everyone in it has played as often (within one game when an odd number of builds means one rests each round; a build that has only rested so far shows a dash); the button turns into Stop while it runs, and a setting that changes the league (one that changes which builds are in it, either side's character, or the duel rules), leaving duels, or a run that stops with an error stops it too (a settings change keeps the last finished round, shown again if you change the setting back); while the results rerun and the ranking is still going, its Stop button stays usable) with both sides using your settings (your skill, gear, consumables; Engineering for both if it's on for anyone), and lists each build's average win rate against the rest, more draws first on equal wins (with every build selected, each average is good to about ±3 points and two builds within about 4.3 points of each other aren't clearly different, since both averages share their games against each other; with fewer builds the table header gives the range). Settings that only touch the opponent side don't apply here. "Copy these results as text" gives a plain list to paste into a message.
Reading the results: win rates come from a limited number of duels, so each one shows a 95% range (Wilson interval). Builds are grouped into tiers: a new tier starts when a win rate is clearly below the first one of the tier above (a 95% test that adds one win and one loss to each side, so 100% against 93% at 60 duels isn't called a clear difference), so matchups in one tier aren't clearly different at that many duels; run more duels to separate them. Each matchup has its own random sequence (one shared sequence made every row's luck rise and fall together), so treat anything inside the ranges as a tie. The stress test reuses one matchup's sequence for every variant, so differences between its rows are a little less noisy than their ranges suggest. A matchup stops early once its win rate is known within ±5 points; at 60 duels that never happens, at 100 only for a perfect record after 80, at 200 for win rates above about 92% or below 8%, and at 400 for anything outside about 40–60% (against the same series run to its full count, it moves a win rate by under half a point on average, 0.05 points at 100 duels to 0.44 at 400, though a single matchup can move 2 to 3 points; claims_c3 stopeffect). Each range covers the true rate about 95% of the time (tested: series with a known win rate and this early stop, 4,000 for each of 13 rates from 2% to 98%, cover it 94–96% of the time at 60 to 400 duels, claims_c3 coverage), so in a list of 28 about one or two will miss. Two healers almost always draw: 19 of the 756 non-mirror pairings end in a draw 90% of the time or more at the default settings, every one between two healers or a Restoration Shaman and a Protection build (its free Water Shield recast, see that row); both sides reach the 3 minute limit with about 6–13% mana and 70–96% health left, each healing about as fast as the other deals damage (claims_c3 healdraws). A duel still going at the time limit is a draw; the leader on health (more than 10 points of health percentage ahead) is noted, and "ahead" draws break ties in the ranking. Rank by "Duel score" to count a draw as half a win. Open a build and tap "Stress-test this result" to rerun that matchup under other assumptions (skill, terrain, potions and trinket, countdown, talents, distance, Engineering, the opponent one gear tier up): a win rate that swings there depends on the assumption more than on the builds.
Start: the chosen distance (40 yards by default, or Mixed: a new distance from 10 to 40 yards every duel) when the 3-second countdown begins. During the countdown players may walk (setting, on by default): melee builds close in, Warriors hold between 8 and 25 yards to Charge, and Hunters and casters facing melee back off to 30 yards (Hunters to 30–35). Self-buffs are up (Battle Shout, Blessing of Might and Devotion Aura, Inner Fire and Power Word: Fortitude, Mark of the Wild, Arcane Intellect and Ice or Mage Armor, Demon Armor, Lightning or Water Shield, Aspect of the Hawk and Hunter's Mark, rogue poisons), Priests start with Power Word: Shield and Frost Mages with Ice Barrier, and Rogues and Feral Druids start in stealth. With countdown movement on, players also prepare: Restoration Druids put up Rejuvenation and Discipline and Holy Priests Renew, Shamans place their totems, Mages put up a Fire or Frost Ward against a Fire or Frost caster, Priests who can (Forever: Human, Night Elf, Troll, Undead, with racials on) cast Fear Ward against fear classes, and with PvP potions on players drink a Free Action Potion. Warriors don't Bloodrage early, since it would put them in combat and lose Charge. No raid buffs, world buffs, or enchants.
Players' skill (setting, Speculative): each side is Expert, Good (default), or Average. Skill sets how long a player takes to answer an enemy cast (about 0.35, 0.6, or 0.9 sec, varying ±30% cast to cast), whether it notices the cast at all (100%, 90%, 75%), the average pause after each global cooldown before its next decision (0, 0.15, 0.35 sec), how well it gets behind a melee opponent or keeps its front to one, how long it reacts before breaking crowd control with a trinket or racial, how much running speed an attack costs while kiting (turning around: 0, 0.1, 0.25 sec standing, then backpedaling for the rest of 0.25, 0.5, 1 sec per attack; experts jump-turn), how often it fakes an important cast (a heal, Polymorph, or Mana Burn) to bait an interrupt (50%, 30%, never, at most once every 4 sec, when the enemy's interrupt is ready), how often it wastes an interrupt on a fake cast (25%, 50%, 70%), its chance every half second to spot a stealthed player within 8 yards (20%, 12%, 6%), and how often it misjudges an enemy's diminishing returns and throws crowd control into immunity or a shortened duration (never, 10%, 30% of the times that enemy's DR changes; one "immune" sets it straight). A baited Kick, Pummel, Counterspell, or Earth Shock is spent for nothing; a baited stun or silence still lands. Decisions still follow the same priority lists; skill changes timing and attention, not strategy.
Distance and facing: one line between the two players: melee reach 5 yards, a Hunter dead zone from 5 to 8 yards, spells 30 yards (shocks, Fire Blast, and Mind Flay 20, Fire Blast 30 with Improved Fire Blast (its 35 yards are cut to the model's 30-yard spell range), Scatter Shot 15, Hammer of Justice and Frost Nova 10, Psychic Scream 8), run speed 7 yards per second. Snares (the strongest one counts), roots, stuns, Sprint, Dash, Charge, Intercept, and Blink change it. Casting needs standing still; instant spells and shots work on the move, except Auto Shot and wands, which need 0.5 sec of standing still before they shoot (Blizzard, 15 October, build 1.60.1.70425, "matching early versions"; Auto Shot still fires while casting Aimed Shot or Sniper Shot): Auto Shot's wind-up starts again after any break (moving, range, sight, crowd control), so a Hunter on the move never fires it, and a wand shot started within 0.5 sec of moving takes the rest of that half second longer; but an attack needs the player to face the target, so a player running away with its back to the target turns around to attack (standing a moment, by skill), backpedals at 4.5 yards per second, then turns back to run at 7. One that stopped with its back turned owes what is left of that turn before its next attack (it turns while it waits; a cast or channel takes that much longer), and one standing in melee with its back turned turns before it swings; crowd control ends a backpedal and freezes a turn still owed (a fleeing fear turns the back; cowering in place doesn't); one that sets off while facing the target turns round first; and nobody swings a melee weapon with its back turned. Casters and Hunters walk away from a melee player who is feared, rooted, stunned, or slowed (Hunters and Shamans start at 22 yards and keep going to 26, Druids 24 to 28), and hold their damage spells while still within the melee player's reach plus 2 yards (only its 5-yard reach while it is rooted), judging whether they can outrun it (a spotted stealthed player at the speed it will run once it drops stealth) on their average speed while still attacking (the model assumes an attack every 3.5 sec for Hunters, 4 for Mages, 6 for Warlocks, 8 for Shamans, 12 for Druids and Paladins, and 20 for Priests, set from an earlier measurement; running from melee builds in the current model Hunters attack about every 4.6 sec, Mages 3.8, Warlocks 6.3, Shamans 14, Priests 5.0, and Druids 2.5 (claims_c3 kite), so the Hunter, Shaman, Druid and Priest values are assumed), not their full running speed; inside its 8-yard dead zone a Hunter has no shot to turn for, so it judges on its running speed until 3 yards past the edge, which leaves room for a shot instead of stopping and starting at the edge. Melee reach grows by 2.66 yards while both players are moving (Classic leeway), so a chaser can still hit a runner it keeps pace with, and melee players keep running after a target that runs instead of stopping at 5 yards. A melee player who is rooted, or held at range by a faster kiting Hunter or Warlock with its pet on him, stops and hits the pet (Warriors and bears gain rage from it). Melee players circle for the back (Speculative): once a second they have a chance to be behind for that second, about 50% against a player standing still to cast, 30% against a caster or Hunter, 15% against another melee player, plus 10 points for Rogues and cats, and ±10 points for each side's skill. Stunned, incapacitated, and feared players count as facing away. Stealthed players can't be seen until they attack or are spotted (Speculative): within 8 yards an opponent has a chance every half second by skill, a Hunter's Flare reveals stealth within 10 yards for 30 sec (Classic: 20 sec cooldown), and two stealthed players in melee range spot each other. A spotted player can be targeted, Frost Nova'd, feared, or hit; a spotted Rogue or Feral Druid out of melee range drops stealth and closes at full speed (with Sprint or Dash if the target is running away), but keeps stealth and its opener when it is rooted, when the target is coming toward it or behind a pillar, or when the target stands within about a second's creep (1.2 sec, so a Flare's 10 yards still counts). Faerie Fire pulls a player out of stealth and stops a Rogue from Vanishing.
Terrain (setting, Speculative): on open ground there is nothing to hide behind. With pillars, a player losing at range (a melee player kept at range by a caster or Hunter, a low-health player facing one, or a player about to be hit by a long cast) heads for a pillar 1–2 sec away and breaks line of sight for up to 4 sec, at most every 8 sec. While sight is broken nothing that needs it works (spells, shots, ranged crowd control, interrupts at range, seeing the enemy's casts), casts in progress fail, damage-over-time keeps ticking, pets keep fighting, the ranged player holds its ground, and a melee player keeps closing in; sight comes back when they reach melee range.
Hit tables for players: 5% melee miss (24% for dual-wield auto attacks), 3% spell miss (Forever, beta report; Classic was 4%), minus hit; dodge, and from the front parry and block (with a shield); no glancing blows; defense past 300 adds miss and removes crit; attacks from behind can't be parried or blocked (so Backstab, Shred, and Ambush work). Crits deal 200% (melee) and 150% (spells, heals). Resistances partly resist damage spells in 25% steps with the same average as Classic's formula (0.75 × resistance ÷ 300); spells with an extra effect (Frostbolt, Mind Flay, shocks, Death Coil, Mana Burn, and the like) take the average reduction instead. Armor reduces physical damage (armor ÷ (armor + 5,500)); bleeds ignore armor. On-hit effects (poisons, sword extra attacks, Windfury and Maelstrom Weapon, Flurry, seals and Reckoning's swings, Omen of Clarity, Expose Prey, Deadly Aspects, Unbridled Wrath, Weaponmaster, Gore Drinker, Bloodthrill) proc from a hit that strikes the target, absorbed or not, white swing or ability; a miss, dodge, parry, fully blocked hit, or hit into immunity procs none, and what scales with the damage counts only what gets past absorbs (rage from damage dealt, Blade Flurry's copy).
Crowd control: Classic 1.12 diminishing returns (full, half, quarter, then immune, reset 15–20 sec after the last one ends, since the server checks every 5 sec), tracked apart for controlled stuns, Kidney Shot, random stuns, fears (Seduction and Scare Beast included), incapacitates (Polymorph, Gouge, Sap, Repentance, Hibernate), Blind, Scatter Shot (its own track), roots, random roots, and Disarm. Freezing Trap, silences (Counterspell, Silence, Spell Lock), and Death Coil have no diminishing returns in Classic 1.12 as far as sources show, so they are never shortened. Thorium Grenade and the Net-o-Matic each get a track of their own (assumed). 15-second cap on player crowd control. The reset clock starts when an effect really ends, so a Polymorph broken after 1 sec starts it then, not at its planned end. Intimidating Shout's main target cowers in place (no running), and Entangling Roots' own damage ticks don't break it. Disarm (10 sec) stops auto attacks and parrying and every ability whose Classic tooltip says "Requires Melee Weapon" or needs a dagger (Wowhead Classic): Heroic Strike, Mortal Strike, Whirlwind, Slam, Overpower, Rend, Hamstring, Execute, Revenge, Concussion Blow; Sinister Strike, Backstab, Ambush, Hemorrhage, Gouge, Eviscerate, Kidney Shot, Cheap Shot, Rupture; Raptor Strike and Wing Clip. Bloodthirst, Shield Slam, Pummel, Shield Bash, Kick, Stormstrike, and Mongoose Bite list no weapon and still work. Mutilate, Holy Strike, and Hammer of the Righteous (Forever abilities) are treated as needing a weapon (assumed). A disarmed Rogue pools energy. Polymorph, Gouge, Sap, Blind, Freezing Trap, Repentance, Scatter Shot, Seduction, Hibernate, and the Thorium Grenade's stun end on any damage (damage-over-time included). Fears, Scare Beast, and roots may end on each hit, with a chance equal to the hit's damage ÷ 15% of the target's maximum health (assumed: Classic only says damage "may" break them), so one big hit usually frees the target and small ticks rarely do. Players don't break their own Polymorph, Blind, Repentance, Hibernate, or Seduction with a direct attack, and pets are called off; a caster times its next cast to land as it ends. Hunters are the exception: they break their own Freezing Trap on purpose once they have backed off to 30 yards, and their own Serpent Sting can end a Scatter Shot early (holding the sting for it lost more than it gained). Hibernate and Scare Beast work only on beasts (Druids in Cat or Bear Form, Hunter pets); Repentance and Sap don't work on them. Immunities: Divine Shield and Ice Block (everything), Blessing of Protection (physical), Berserker Rage (fears and every incapacitate except Polymorph: Sap, Freezing Trap, Scatter Shot, Repentance, Hibernate), Death Wish and Recklessness (fear), Blessing of Freedom and Escape Artist (roots and snares), Free Action Potion (stuns, roots, and snares; players stop trying them), Fear Ward (the next Fear, Howl of Terror, Psychic Scream, or Intimidating Shout), Stoneform (poisons, bleeds, Blind), Tremor Totem (ends fears at its next 4-second pulse), Grounding Totem (eats one harmful spell and is destroyed, Forever 15 October; a new one after its 15 sec cooldown).
Pets: a Hunter's pet (about 3,000 health and 3,000 armor, assumed) and a Warlock's Felhunter (about 2,200 health, assumed) stand on the enemy they attack, so that enemy's area effects reach them: Psychic Scream, Howl of Terror, and Intimidating Shout send the pet running, Frost Nova roots it, and Consecration, Whirlwind, Blade Flurry, and Frost Nova damage it. Priests, Warlocks, and Mages use those on a pet that is chewing on them; Hunters Scare Beast and Druids Hibernate an enemy Hunter's pet. During Bestial Wrath a Hunter's pet can't be controlled (Forever). Pets run in from their owner at the start (7 yards per second, so a pet sent from 30 yards joins after about 4 sec). A controlled pet takes about 1.5 sec to run back; a dead pet stays dead (no revive or Mend Pet mid-duel). No Felhunter means no Spell Lock or Devour Magic, and no pet means no Intimidation.
Casting: the first two hits on a caster push the cast back 0.5 sec each (a channel loses a quarter of its length); Power Word: Shield, Ice Barrier, and Barkskin stop pushback; Fel Concentration (Affliction: Drain Life, Drain Mana, Drain Soul, and Wrack, 70%, assumed) and Improved Channeling (Arcane: Arcane Blast and Arcane Wrath 70%, Arcane Missiles 100%) give each hit a chance to cost no time (Oct 15–16 hotfix; on a failed roll the usual pushback, assumed); Forever's Eye of the Storm (Elemental, 2/3: 47%), Healing Focus (Restoration Shaman heals, 3/3: 70%), and Nature's Focus (Restoration Druid heals, 70% assumed) give a chance for a hit to cost no cast time (hotfix on build 70425). Interrupts lock the school: Kick 5 sec, Pummel 4, Shield Bash 6, Counterspell 10 (Arcane with PvP picks: plus a 4-sec silence), Earth Shock 2, Spell Lock 8 (plus a 3-sec silence), Silence 5 sec silence plus a 3-sec lockout. When a player notices a cast depends on its skill.
Resources and cooldowns: mana and energy arrive on the 2-second server tick (20 energy per tick; mana regeneration banked between ticks), as in Classic, so a Rogue waits for the next tick rather than refilling smoothly. Rogues keep 25 energy for Kick against casters and healers until the enemy is below 25%. Offensive cooldowns (Death Wish, Recklessness, Blade Flurry, Rapid Fire, Bestial Wrath, Berserk, Rage of the Farseer, casters' burst, and offensive racials) wait until the enemy is visible, in sight, not immune, and not in the player's own breakable crowd control.
Settings that apply to duels: gear level, racials and races, classes, PvP crits, the Arms and Combat weapon types, Hunter pet family and quiver, the stealth opener (only with the per-opponent opener off), Recklessness, and the duel settings (your build or class, opponents' specs and consumables, the per-opponent opener, time limit, starting distance, terrain, the opponent's gear level, countdown movement, skill for each side, PvP talent picks, consumables, PvP potions, PvP trinket, Engineering, duels per build). Raid buffs and seal twisting don't apply (duelists self-buff, and Retribution keeps Seal of Command).
Heals and absorbs: Forever beta values at level 60 (Flash of Light 299–333, Holy Light 1,524–1,694, Holy Shock 307–333, Flash Heal 778–914, Greater Heal 1,893–2,108, Renew 830, Power Word: Shield 950 with Weakened Soul, Penance 3 × 425 (was 673), Healing Touch 2,175–2,562, Regrowth 999–1,111 plus 994 over 21 sec, Rejuvenation 776, Swiftmend, Healing Wave 1,535–1,750, Lesser Healing Wave 796–886, Riptide 799–883 plus 805, Drain Life, Death Coil, Siphon Life, Devouring Plague and Vampiric Embrace (20% of Shadow damage), Frenzied Regeneration (up to 10 rage a second into 20 health each; Classic rank 3, Forever's new rank isn't published), Ice Barrier 835, Mana Shield 570 physical, Shadow Ward 920, Templar's Bulwark (absorbs 100% of health, Forbearance), Lay on Hands (20 min)). Healing power = +healing gear plus spell damage that also heals. Mortal Strike halves healing; Wound Poison removes 165 per heal per stack. Healer specs get their tree's healing talents (about +10%, faster Healing Touch and Healing Wave; assumed). Mana Burn (Forever: drains 749–791 mana and deals half that as Shadow damage; 3 sec cast, 270 mana) drains a healer, but long healer duels mostly end in draws at the time limit: Discipline and Holy Priests land about 4 to 9 Mana Burns a duel against the other healers (2,200–4,500 mana) and win at most 1 of 100 (claims_c3 healdraws). Casters with a wand use it whenever nothing else can be cast (out of mana, cooldowns, a locked school; a silence stops it, a school lockout doesn't, Speculative), and any other action, potion, or step cancels the shot.
Consumables (setting): one Major Healing or Mana Potion per 2 min, a 1,440 Healthstone for Warlocks, and a Heavy Runecloth Bandage (2,000 over 8 sec, broken by damage, 1 min Recently Bandaged) when the enemy is crowd-controlled and nothing is ticking. PvP potions (setting, off by default): a Free Action Potion (Forever: immune to stun and movement-impairing effects for 30 sec, doesn't remove effects already on you) drunk in the countdown against Rogues, Warriors, Hunters, Paladins, Feral Druids, and Frost Mages, and a Limited Invulnerability Potion (immune to physical attacks for 6 sec) instead of a healing potion when a physical attacker has a player below 40%; all potions share the 2-min cooldown. PvP trinket (setting): breaks stuns, fears, incapacitates, horrors, roots, snares, and silences every 5 min; used on long crowd control when hurting or when the enemy is healing, and by melee players to break a root or a strong snare that keeps them at range from a caster or Hunter.
Racials (when Racials is on): the damage racials from the rest of the page plus Will to Survive (Human: breaks stuns, 3 min), Stoneform (Dwarf: removes poisons and bleeds, -10% physical damage, 3 min), Escape Artist (Gnome: roots and snares, 2 min), War Stomp (Tauren: 2 sec stun, 90 sec since 15 October), Will of the Forsaken (Undead: breaks fears and Seduction, 2 min; not usable under Scatter Shot since 15 October), Shatter Curse (Orc: dispels curses and banes, then -5% magic damage taken for 8 sec, 3 min; 15 October: a dispel instead of immunity, and 5% instead of 15%), Rapid Regeneration (Troll: 50% health over 6 sec, only while nothing hits), Orc Hardiness (stuns 20% shorter), Tauren Plainsrunning (about +10% run speed on average, assumed) and Night Elf Quickness (+2% speed, added to other speed increases, which Forever made it do on 15 October), Earth Fury and Endurance on heals as well as damage (+2% on crits), Eureka! on Power Word: Shield (+10% absorb, -10% mana), and each race's base stats. War Stomp's 0.5 sec cast is treated as instant. Not modeled: Skyborne Walk on Air, Read Ley Line, and Skysight, the 15 October Plainsrunning change (+3% mounted speed and a minimum distance moved), and Troll Regeneration (+20% health regeneration, which only counts out of combat or from gear regeneration here).
Casting and timing: nobody drinks a potion, uses a racial, or presses an off-global-cooldown ability (Rapid Fire, Bestial Wrath, Barkskin, Innervate, Judgement, Mana Ruby, Cold Snap) in the middle of their own cast; for an interrupt (Counterspell, Silence) or an emergency (Ice Block, Divine Shield, Lay on Hands, a potion when dying) they stop the cast first, and a cast that doesn't finish (stopped, interrupted, broken by crowd control, out of sight or range, or the target vanishes) costs no mana or rage, starts no cooldown, and gives back what it used up at the start (Inner Focus, Clearcasting, Arcane Blast stacks, Divine Favor; Eureka! is a timed buff with nothing to give back); a Slam that ends out of reach or disarmed also gives its rage back. A school lockout or silence stops instant spells and self-buffs of that school too (Renew, Rejuvenation, Power Word: Shield, Barkskin, Cleanse, Dispel Magic, Purge, Seals, shocks...); a silence also stops Druid shapeshifts (forms are physical-school spells, so a Nature lockout doesn't, and dropping to caster form always works, though only entering a form frees you from roots and snares; a Druid doesn't leave a form to heal while its heals are silenced or Nature-locked, and a Feral keeps Cat Form's mana when it heals), while weapon strikes that cost mana (Holy Strike, Hammer of the Righteous, Stormstrike, Raptor Strike, Wing Clip, Mongoose Bite, Lacerate, Strider Kick) stay usable, as do Hunter shots and stings, while Hunter spells (Rapid Fire, Bestial Wrath, Intimidation, Feign Death, Flare, Freezing Trap, Summon Hawk) don't (Speculative; Summon Hawk assumed a spell); interrupts don't work through Divine Shield or Ice Block (or, for Kick, Pummel, and Shield Bash, through Blessing of Protection), and crowd control ends a bandage. Warriors can't Charge or Intercept while rooted. An Elemental Shaman whose Nature school is locked steps in to 20 yards to use Flame and Frost Shock. A pet's swings set off the defender's Retaliation, Lightning Shield, and Nature's Grasp against the pet, not its owner, and use Water Shield's globes like any other hit that deals damage. Healers other than Paladins keep their last 600 mana for heals after the first 20 sec (wand only below that); in testing (re-measured 22 October after cycle 6, 100 duels each against the 13 caster and healer builds) this turns Restoration Druids' losses into draws rather than wins: with the reserve they win 3.5% of those duels, draw 38%, and lose 59%; without it they win 7.3%, draw 0.1%, and lose 93% (a draw is a duel still going at the time limit, which this page doesn't count as a win), kept as an assumed behaviour. Also: Mages Blink when Frost Nova is on cooldown or can't root the target (Free Action Potion, Blessing of Freedom) and don't Ice Block while their own Polymorph holds the enemy; Rogues stop auto attacks after their own Gouge; melee players spend the PvP trinket on a strong snare only with more than 3 sec of it left.
Engineering (setting, off by default): players with it throw a Thorium Grenade (1 sec throw that interrupts like Kick can't stop, only stuns, fears, and incapacitates; up to 45 yards; 300 to 500 Fire damage and a 3 sec stun that any damage breaks; 1 min cooldown) to stop a heal or a cast of 2 sec or more when they have no interrupt ready, or, as a caster or Hunter below 75% health, to get a melee player off them (only with none of their own damage-over-time on that player, which would break it). They fire the Gnomish Net-o-Matic Projector (instant, 30 yards, 10 sec root that damage doesn't break, 10 min cooldown, so once a duel) at a melee player closing in, or as a melee player at a ranged player running away; 5% of the time it nets its user instead (assumed: Blizzard only says it happens "sometimes"). Free Action Potion, Blessing of Freedom, and Escape Artist stop the net. Item values: Wowhead Forever beta (Beta). The Goblin Rocket Helmet is left out: its range, the stun on its user, and how often it fails on level 60 players aren't published.
PvP talent picks (setting, on by default): duelers swap a few damage talents for control, each at the Forever value for full ranks: Improved Hamstring 3/3 (Arms, Fury: Hamstring has a 15% chance to root for 5 sec; Forever lists 5% a rank), Frostbite 3/3 (Frost: Frostbolt and Cone of Cold have a 15% chance to freeze for 5 sec), Improved Counterspell 2/2 (Arcane: 4-sec silence), Curse of Exhaustion (Affliction: 30% slow for 12 sec, cast on melee players; mana cost assumed), Repentance (Retribution, Shockadin: 6-sec incapacitate, 1 min, 20 yards, humanoids only), Scatter Shot (Marksmanship: 50% weapon damage and a 4-sec disorient, 30 sec, 8–15 yards), Blackout 5/5 and Improved Psychic Scream 2/2 (Shadow: 10% chance to stun 3 sec on Shadow spells; Scream every 26 sec), Meditation 3/3 (Holy Priest through a Discipline dip: 50% of mana regeneration continues while casting).
How each class plays:Warriors (Arms Slams with a 1 sec cast that stands still, never against a runner, and takes no pushback since 15 October) Charge in (Charge needs the Warrior out of combat, counted per player: a caster's self-buffs don't count, any hit or crowd control on it does, and Battle Stance, which Protection swaps into first), Hamstring, stance-dance to Pummel heals and to Intercept runners, use Berserker Rage against incoming fears and against a Hunter's Freezing Trap or Scatter Shot (Fury), Death Wish (Fury; Enrage: a 30% chance after each damaging attack the Warrior takes to deal 10% more physical damage for 12 sec, as its tooltip says (direct hits; damage-over-time ticks don't count, assumed); Gore Drinker heals 1% of maximum health on each of the next 3 landed melee hits after Death Wish, Enrage, Bloodrage, Berserker Rage, or Bloodthirst; each new trigger resets the count to 3, even an Enrage that was already up, assumed: re-arming only on a fresh Enrage moves Fury vs Feral from about 51% to 44% with the default duel settings, 4,800 duels over six seeds, 4 to 10 points by seed; re-measured 22 October after cycle 6), Retaliation (Arms, Battle Stance), a Defensive Stance dance for Disarm against weapon users while Mortal Strike cools down (Arms keeps 25 rage), a Berserker Stance dance for Recklessness when that setting is on (Arms, when Tactical Mastery's 25 rage keeps all but 5 of its rage, then back to Battle Stance, with no Disarm dance while Recklessness lasts; in testing, Arms averages 62% wins against the 28 builds this way, 54% dancing at once and staying in Berserker, which adds 10% damage taken to Recklessness's 20%, and 61% never dancing, using Recklessness only when it happens to be in Berserker Stance, so the dance costs nothing while using it in nearly every duel: 200 duels each, 21 October), Shield Bash, Disarm, Concussion Blow, Shield Wall, and Last Stand (Protection; Shield Slam is Forever's 640–670 plus block value, nearly double Classic's 342–358, with a 50% chance to strip one magic buff such as Power Word: Shield or Ice Barrier; Shield Block isn't modeled), and Intimidating Shout to stop a heal or buy a bandage. Protection wins a lot of duels here. Against melee it's about armor and health: roughly 6,200 armor (half of physical damage gone) and 4,600 health against a Fury Warrior's 2,800 and 3,400; with Classic's Shield Slam or without Disarm it still beats Fury, Arms, and Enhancement about 86–100% of the time in testing (re-measured 22 October after cycle 6, 400 duels each). Forever's bigger Shield Slam matters most against Rogues and Retribution (re-measured 22 October after cycle 6, 200 duels each against nine common opponents, Arms, Fury, Combat, Assassination, Retribution, Frost, Fire, Shadow, and Beast Mastery: Protection averages 48% with it and 32% with Classic's; Combat 78% vs 45%, Retribution 50% vs 10%; against the casters it loses either way). Beta values; Speculative model.
Rogues open from stealth (by default Cheap Shot against everyone but Mages, and Ambush for dagger specs against Mages, picked from testing both against every build; Combat always Cheap Shot), Kidney Shot at 4–5 points, Kick casts, Gouge heals, Evasion against physical attackers, Vanish out of a long root or for a second opener when nothing is ticking on them (not while Faerie Fire is on them), Sprint after runners, Blind to bandage, Blade Flurry (it also hits a pet), carry Crippling Poison against anyone who can kite and Wound Poison against healers, and stop swinging into Retaliation.
Paladins Hammer of Justice to open, stop a cast, or heal; Repentance to stop a heal or heal up (PvP picks); Judgement off the global cooldown; Blessing of Freedom and Cleanse; Divine Shield or Blessing of Protection to heal back up; Lay on Hands; Flash of Light and Holy Light when safe; Holy Shock; Consecration (also burns pets); Holy Shield and Templar's Bulwark (Protection).
Hunters Feign Death a big or controlling cast (Polymorph, Fear, Hibernate, Mana Burn, Pyroblast, any cast of 2 sec or more: the cast fails and the enemy needs a moment to find them; Forever: 30 sec, 80 mana), Flare against Rogues and Feral Druids, kite melee with Concussive Shot, Wing Clip, Freezing Trap (then back off to 30 yards), and Scatter Shot (Marksmanship), Scare Beast a Druid in Cat or Bear Form and an enemy Hunter's pet, switch to Aspect of the Monkey when stuck in melee, keep Serpent Sting up, drain casters with Viper Sting, stun with Intimidation (Beast Mastery), proc Deadly Aspects (+30% attack speed) from landed auto attacks, Beast Mastery summons a hawk instead of Arcane Shot while fewer than two are out and the target is above 30% health (the damage ranking's "more than 12 sec remain" read for duels, which have no known end, assumed; hawks can't be targeted or hit, assumed, and hold off a hidden target and the Hunter's own Freezing Trap), and Aimed Shot only when there's time; Survival fights in melee with Raptor Strike, Mongoose Bite, Strider Kick, and Lacerate, and uses Deterrence (+25% dodge and parry for 10 sec, 5 min cooldown as in Classic) when a melee player has it below half health.
Mages keep a Fire or Frost Ward up against Fire and Frost casters (Forever: absorbs 913, 30 sec), chill melee attackers with Ice Armor (30% slower movement and 25% slower attacks for 5 sec), Counterspell casts, Frost Nova (melee players and pets) and walk away, Blink out of stuns and melee, Cone of Cold, Ice Barrier, Ice Block and Cold Snap (Frost), Mana Shield (Arcane, Fire), Frost Blast to slow a melee player on its way in and Cone of Cold with Winter's Chill stacks (Frost), and Polymorph to bandage, drink a potion, or Evocate (below 30% mana behind their own sheep, otherwise below 20%); behind their own sheep they walk to 28 yards from a melee player before timing a cast to land as it ends (only to 18 yards, inside Fire Blast range, while a Grounding Totem needs popping first; 28 yards for Fire, whose Improved Fire Blast reaches the full 30-yard spell range).
Warlocks bring a Felhunter against casters and healers (Spell Lock, Devour Magic) and a Succubus against melee (melee about 70 and Lash of Pain 99 every 12 sec, assumed; Seduction, a 1.5 sec pet cast that charms for up to 15 sec, used only with none of the Warlock's damage-over-time ticking, after which the Warlock walks out to 28 yards; against melee the Succubus does better than a Felhunter in testing: Affliction wins 52% vs 47% (draws 4.5% vs 2.2%), Destruction 23% vs 12%, Demonology even at 49%, averaged over the 13 melee builds at 100 duels each, re-measured 22 October after cycle 6); Destruction gives up its sacrificed Imp's +15% Shadow for a pet, Fear or Howl of Terror melee (Howl also scatters a pet), walk away while melee is feared or slowed, Curse of Exhaustion on melee (Affliction, PvP picks), Death Coil to peel or stop a heal, Drain Life and Healthstone when low, Shadow Ward against Shadow casters, and Life Tap for mana. Affliction's Curse of Exhaustion uses Amplify Curse when it's ready (50% slow); a Demonology Warlock's Soul Link sends 30% of the damage it takes to its living pet.
Priests keep Power Word: Shield up and Fear Ward against fear classes (Forever: Human, Night Elf, Troll, and Undead Priests; 3 min, 30 sec cooldown as in Classic), Psychic Scream melee players and pets, walk away while melee is feared or slowed, Silence casts (Shadow, walking in to its 20 yards against a caster when Silence is ready, so it Silences from the 40-yard start too), Dispel roots and damage-over-time, Mana Burn mana users in healer duels, heal with Renew, Flash Heal, Greater Heal, and Penance (Discipline; Holy has no Penance), and Shadow heals through Devouring Plague and Vampiric Embrace (up all duel: its 30 sec cooldown matches its 30 sec duration, and it can't be resisted). Desperate Prayer is a Dwarf Priest spell in Forever.
Druids (Balance, Restoration): Neither Druid takes Travel Form to get away from melee (owner's decision, 21 October: in testing, shifting into it when roots won't do and back to heal at 25 yards or below 45% health cost Balance about 8 points of wins against melee, 17.3% → 9.4% averaged over the 13 melee builds at 100 duels each, and Restoration about 5 points, 6.8% → 1.3%, by turning its wins into losses (and some draws), mostly against Feral (73 → 17 wins of 100, 26 → 72 losses) and Arms (16 → 0); re-measured 22 October after cycle 6); they cast Faerie Fire on Rogues and Feral Druids, Hibernate on Druids in Cat or Bear Form (then heal behind it) and on Hunter pets, Entangling Roots and Nature's Grasp on melee, Barkskin, Innervate, shift out of Moonkin Form to heal and out of roots and snares, and use Rejuvenation, Regrowth, Swiftmend, and Nature's Swiftness; Feral opens with Ravage or Pounce, uses Shifting Power (keeping enough mana to shift out and heal), Berserk, Dash, Barkskin, and Faerie Fire (Feral) on Rogues, shifts out to heal or to break roots (a Feral drained in caster form (Viper Sting, Mana Burn) heals with what mana is left, otherwise fights on with its weapon (Druids can't use wands), and shifts back once it can pay for Cat Form; the weapon is normalized to a 3.0 sec swing with 2 attack power per Strength and none of the feral attack power or the forms' crit, assumed), and when a melee player is winning goes Dire Bear Form (Forever: +360% armor from items, +600 health, +120 attack power; Furor keeps the Cat Form energy for the shift back; a Feral that goes into Bear Form with less than twice the form cost may stay in it, by design: it never strands itself in caster form, and holding 1,368 mana back before entering Bear Form measured no better, 12.1% instead of 12.0% wins against the 12 melee builds at 200 duels each, within noise, re-measured 22 October after cycle 6) for Enrage, Frenzied Regeneration, Demoralizing Roar (-193 attack power), and Bash (4-sec stun) to stop a heal or to shift out and heal.
Shamans (Enhancement) start in Ghost Wolf against ranged players or from far away and recast it to catch a runner when not being hit (+40% speed; a 1 sec cast with Improved Ghost Wolf, assumed), dropping it in melee range; Shamans drop Tremor Totem against Warlocks and Priests, Earthbind against melee, Stoneskin otherwise, and Grounding Totem against casters; Earth Shock casts, Frost Shock runners, Purge shields and blessings, and heal with Riptide, Nature's Swiftness, Lesser Healing Wave, and Healing Wave. Against a non-melee player, an Elemental Shaman whose rotation wants Flame Shock or Earth Shock (20 yards) walks in to cast it, as Shadow Priests do for Mind Flay (20 yards since 15 October); a Restoration Shaman doesn't, not even with its Nature school locked (it holds its distance and its mana to outheal), and a spellcaster otherwise stays at 30 yards. Enemies destroy Earthbind and Tremor Totems when they matter.
Not modeled: real map geometry (line of sight is the pillar model above), and positions beyond one distance line and the chance to be behind; the Warlock Voidwalker; Shadowmeld; Feign Death beyond breaking a cast (no dropping combat or resetting the fight); on-use items other than the PvP trinket, potions, Healthstone, Mana Ruby, bandages, and Engineering's grenade and net; weapon swaps and poison swaps mid-duel; bluffs other than fake casts (healers fake a heal to bait a ready interrupt, and other casters fake Polymorph, Fear, Hibernate, Entangling Roots, and Mana Burn); players adapting to each other over many duels. Skill is a timing and attention model, not a model of decisions. Win rates compare builds under the same rules; real duels depend on the players.
Sources: Forever beta client data via Wowhead Forever, ForeverChanges, and WoW Forever Talents (spell, heal, cooldown, crowd-control, and talent-rank values from build 1.60.1.70124, updated with Blizzard's development notes of 1, 8, and 15 October, build 1.60.1.70425, its 2 October "Warrior Updates" thread, and client data through build 1.60.1.70450 of 16 October from WoW Forever Talents, ForeverChanges, and SeeMeta client-data diffs, checked 19 October 2026), Blizzard's fix for half-bonus PvP crits (8 October, build 1.60.1.70291), Blizzard's 0.5 sec stand-still rule for wands and Auto Shot (15 October), Icy Veins (PvP trinket at honor Rank 2), Wowhead Forever (Free Action and Limited Invulnerability Potions), ForeverChanges spellbooks (Fear Ward races and duration, Fire and Frost Ward), and Classic 1.12 rules from Warcraft Wiki and Wowhead Classic where Forever has published nothing.
Retribution 20/0/31 and Shockadin 21/0/30: Divine Strength, Improved Seals, Divine Intellect 2, Reverence; Benediction, Improved Judgement, Holy Conduit, Conviction, Vindication, Sanctified Judgement, Seal of Command, Sacred Arbiter, Two-Handed Weapon Specialization, Vengeance, Champion of the Light. Retribution adds Instrument of Law 1 and Twist of Light. Shockadin adds Divine Favor, Holy Shock, and Instrument of Law 2.
Arms 37/14/0: Improved Heroic Strike, Improved Rend, Improved Tactical Mastery (5/5: a stance change keeps up to 25 rage, the baseline Tactical Mastery's 10 plus 15; wowforevertalents, build 70450), Improved Overpower, Anger Management, Deep Wounds, Two-Handed Weapon Specialization, Impale, Bloodthrill, Sweeping Strikes, Weaponmaster, Improved Slam, Improved Charge, Mortal Strike; Cruelty, Unbridled Wrath, Booming Voice 3 (assumed: it takes Boundless Rage's points, removed on 1 October, taken as 3; shouts cost 15% less rage, which only Intimidating Shout uses in duels), Piercing Howl.
Fury 16/35/0: Improved Heroic Strike, Improved Rend, Improved Tactical Mastery (5/5, 25 rage, as Arms), Anger Management, Deep Wounds, Impale 1; Cruelty, Unbridled Wrath, Dual Wield Specialization (+25% off-hand damage and +50% off-hand rage: client data, build 70450, 10–50% over 5 ranks; Blizzard's 1–2 October note removed the old 20–100% value and all off-hand hit), Furious Precision 3 (+10% off-hand hit), Enrage, Death Wish, Flurry (+25% attack speed for the next 3 swings, at most 15 sec; both engines), Gore Drinker 2 (duels: Enrage, Bloodrage, Berserker Rage, Death Wish, and Bloodthirst make the next 3 melee hits heal 1% of maximum health each), Bloodthirst, Improved Execute, Raging Blows. Boundless Rage and Precision were removed on 1 October; their points going to Furious Precision and Gore Drinker (and any spare point to Lingering Rage, which does nothing in a fight) is assumed.
Beast Mastery Hunter 31/20/0: Deadly Aspects, Focused Fire, Unleashed Fury, Ferocity, Frenzy, Summon Hawk, Intimidation, Bestial Discipline, Bestial Wrath; Lethal Attacks, Careful Aim, Improved Stings, Efficiency, Improved Arcane Shot. Pet: a happy pet of the family picked in Settings (cat by default, +10% damage).
Marksmanship Hunter 5/41/5: Deadly Aspects; Lethal Attacks, Careful Aim, Improved Stings, Efficiency, Rapid Killing, Improved Arcane Shot, Lone Wolf (no pet, +20% damage), Trueshot Aura, Mortal Shots, Rapid Recuperation (both engines: +1 mana a second while its Serpent Sting is up, an assumed stand-in: Forever gives 25/50% (rank 1) and 50/100% (rank 2) for 15 sec without saying of what; a third-party text reads it as 50% of mana regeneration going on while casting, about 8 mana a second at pre-raid Spirit; see Still assumed), Barrage, Ranged Weapon Specialization, Sniper Shot; Improved Tracking.
Survival Hunter 5/15/31: Deadly Aspects; Lethal Attacks, Careful Aim, Efficiency; Improved Tracking, Savage Strikes, Surefooted, Clever Traps, Predator's Edge, Resourcefulness, Expose Prey, Survivalist's Discipline, Strider Kick, Lightning Reflexes, Lacerating Strikes. Dual-wields in melee with Aspect of the Beast, plus a pet (family picked in Settings).
Mage: Arcane (35 Arcane points after the Oct 15 respec, assumed: Missile Barrage 2, Arcane Focus 5, Improved Channeling 5, Arcane Concentration 5, Arcane Impact 3, Arcane Blast, Arcane Meditation 3, Arcane Wrath, Presence of Mind, Arcane Mind 5, Arcane Instability 3, Arcane Power; the other 16 points don't change the model). Arcane Wrath is the tree's 16-point talent and sits on the path to Presence of Mind and Arcane Power, so the build takes it. It casts Arcane Wrath on cooldown (with Presence of Mind) once a Blast stack is up, two in PvP, Missile Barrage Missiles at once, then Arcane Blast to 2 stacks (4 in PvP, 1 below 35% mana) and Arcane Missiles: with 15-second stacks that no longer boost other spells, this beat the old stack-to-3 rotation in testing, and Arcane Wrath adds about 12% on bosses and 17% to a 10 sec PvP burst (pre-raid, raid buffs: 369 → 412 DPS, 6,680 → 7,780; re-measured 21 October). Fire (Scorch vulnerability, Fireball, Fire Blast, Heating Up Pyroblasts, Ignite, Combustion; Oct 15 respec: Critical Mass 5, Fire Power 3, Improved Fire Blast 2), Frost (Frostbolt, Fingers of Frost and Shatter Ice Lances; Frost Nova in PvP; in duels Frost Blast and Cone of Cold with Winter's Chill). Mana: Mage Armor, a Mana Ruby, and Evocation.
Warlock: Affliction (Shadow Mastery 10%; Malediction's 5 points went to Fel Concentration 3 and Grim Reach 2, assumed; Bane of Agony, Corruption, Siphon Life, Nightfall Shadow Bolts; Wrack is talented but not cast, since even with its 86% coefficient over 6 sec it does less per second than Shadow Bolt), Demonology (sacrificed Imp +15% Shadow, Shadow Bolt with Bane and Corruption), Destruction (Immolate, Conflagrate, Improved Shadow Bolt, Ruin, sacrificed Imp; Shadowburn in PvP). In the PvP burst ranking (not the duels, where Death Coil is kept to peel a melee player or stop a heal), every Warlock opens with Death Coil; all use Life Tap for mana. Demons' own damage isn't modeled.
Priest: Shadow (Shadowform, Shadow Word: Pain, Devouring Plague, Mind Blast with Inner Focus, Shadow Word: Death, Mind Flay, Shadow Weaving; talents that change damage: Darkness 5/5, Shadow Weaving, Improved Mind Blast 5/5, Improved Mind Flay 2/2, Devouring Contagion 2/2, Inner Focus, Shadowform; Improved Fade and Shadow Affinity were removed on 15 October; they changed no damage, so the model never counted them, and their points are assumed to go to the new Dark Inspiration, which only gives Spirit and isn't counted either), Discipline (Holy Fire, Penance, Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain, Smite, Power Infusion on self; talents Mental Strength 5/5, Twin Disciplines 5/5, Power in Light 5/5, Penance, Power Infusion), Holy (Holy Fire, Mind Blast, Shadow Word: Pain, Smite). Discipline and Holy add Chastise in PvP and skip Holy Fire when fewer than 8 sec remain.
Druid: Balance (Moonkin, Moonfire, Insect Swarm, Starfire, Nature's Grace, Innervate; on bosses, cheap Wrath replaces Starfire whenever mana falls below a budget line that runs from half the pool down to zero at the end), Feral cat (Ravage or Pounce opener, Shred, Rake, Rip, Ferocious Bite, Shifting Power, Berserk; Tiger's Fury and King of the Jungle were removed on 1 October and their points go to Shifting Power and Improved Shifting Power 2/2 (assumed); Natural Instinct 2/2 (renamed from Predatory Instincts, 8 October, beta data, unconfirmed: +20% crit damage, and in duels +25% of Intellect as healing power, about 25 at pre-raid); Forever gives cat attacks the weapon's damage, modeled as its damage per second at a 1 sec swing, Speculative), Restoration (Moonfire, Wrath).
Shaman: Elemental (Flame Shock, kept up on bosses only above half mana, Lava Burst above 30% mana on bosses, Lightning Bolt, Lightning Overload, Elemental Mastery, Mana Spring Totem; build 70425 removed Call of Thunder, so its 3 points are assumed to go to Elemental Mastery, the returning 31-point talent, and Eye of the Storm 2/3, with Call of Flame 3/3 lengthening Flame Shock; Earthbound (16-point gold talent since 15 October: Earthbind Totem roots for 5 sec when cast) isn't taken: the one Elemental build serves both engines and Earthbound adds no damage, so its points stay in damage talents (assumed); in duels it would lift Elemental's wins against the 12 melee builds from 10.1% to 12.7% at 200 duels each, most of it against Feral, 68% → 80%; re-measured 22 October after cycle 6, with Lightning Shield recast), Enhancement (two-hander with Windfury Weapon, Stormstrike, shocks, instant Maelstrom Lightning Bolts, Rage of the Farseer), Restoration (Flame Shock, Lightning Bolt; Healing Focus 3/3 in duels, assumed).
Paladin healer and tank: Holy (one-hander, Holy Shock, Holy Strike, Judgement, Consecration while above half mana), Protection (one-hander and shield, Seal of Fury, Hammer of the Righteous, Holy Shield blocks, Reckoning, Redoubt, block mana, Consecration while above half mana; all of it in duels too (Reckoning, Redoubt and block mana since 21 October)).
Protection 5/5/36: Improved Heroic Strike; Cruelty; Shield Specialization, Master of Defense, Improved Revenge, Concussion Blow, Bastion, Focused Rage, Shield Slam, plus defensive talents (Toughness, removed on 2 October, and the moved Protection rows only touch those). Simulated while tanking the boss.
Gear used
Every build wears a real item set for its tier: Fresh 60 is level 55–60 quest rewards and early dungeon drops; Pre-raid is the standard pre-raid best-in-slot kit from dungeons, quests, reputation, and crafting (no raid, PvP, or world-boss items). Forever's first raid tier (Barrow Deeps, Hyjal Summit, Onyxia's Lair) opens 9 December 2026 and its loot isn't published, so Early raid is projected: pre-raid gear stats +20% and weapon damage +15% (Speculative).
Stats come from Forever's own data wherever it exists: F Forever client data (ForeverChanges client data, build 1.60.1.70124; gear wasn't rechecked against the October builds), W Wowhead Forever, C Classic values for items Forever hasn't revealed yet (most level 58+ dungeon drops are still hidden in the beta, and Forever reviewed all dungeon loot, so expect changes). Forever shows hit and crit as ratings (10 hit rating and 14 crit rating = 1% at 60) and one hit and one crit stat now counts for attacks and spells alike; healing gear also adds spell damage equal to a third of its healing (an asterisk marks the estimate on hidden items). Character stats add each class's level-60 base stats (Human reference) and Classic's conversions: melee attack power 160 + 2 Str for Warriors and Paladins, 100 + Str + Agi for Rogues and Hunters, 100 + 2 Str for Shamans; ranged attack power 110 + 2 Agi for Hunters; 1% crit per 29 Agility for Rogues, 53 for Hunters, 20 for others; spell crit per 54–60.6 Intellect by class; mana = base + 15 per Intellect past the first 20. Forever hasn't published its own formulas, so these are Classic values. Enchants, trinket procs, and on-use effects aren't included.
From the Forever beta: Blizzard's development notes of 1, 8, and 15 October (build 1.60.1.70425) and its 2 October "Warrior Updates" thread, plus client data and the 15–16 October server hotfixes through build 1.60.1.70450 (16 October), via foreverchanges.pro, wowforevertalents.com, seemeta.com, theforeverera.com, Wowhead Forever, and talentsforever.com, checked 19 October 2026 (the September values were build 1.60.1.70124). Values marked "beta data, unconfirmed" come from one datamine only; "assumed" marks a guess where nothing is published. Racials from Blizzard's 15 October notes (the racial rework) and wowforevertalents.com's racial data (build 1.60.1.70450). Rank values are the highest published ranks (a few are learned before level 60) unless noted.
Rogue
Cooldown
Value used
Sinister Strike
none
weapon +68, 40 energy with talent
Backstab
none
150% weapon +150 (was +225 in Classic)
Mutilate
none
75% weapon +50 per hand, +20% on poisoned targets
Hemorrhage
none
145% weapon with a dagger
Ambush
none (stealth)
250% weapon +290
Eviscerate
none
rank 9, 5 pts 904–1012 + 3% of attack power per point (assumed)
Slice and Dice
none
+30% attack speed, 9–21 sec (30% longer for Combat)
Rupture
none
5 pts 469 over 16 sec (was 800) + 24% of attack power (assumed)
Kidney Shot
20 sec
2–6 sec stun; repeats within 15 sec are halved, then quartered, then immune
Cheap Shot
none (stealth)
4 sec stun, 2 pts
Cold Blood
3 min
next ability guaranteed crit; on Mutilate only the main-hand hit, which always crits (Cold Blood is used up by the hit that crits since 15 October; the hit order is assumed); a missed, dodged, parried or blocked ability keeps it (a blocked hit can't crit), and so does a landed one whose crit the target's defense takes away (in duels a Protection Warrior's defense takes 2.3 points of it, a Protection Paladin's 4.9); the damage ranking's boss never blocks and has no defense bonus, so there a landed Cold Blood ability always crits and uses it: one rule in both engines
Premeditation
2 min
+2 pts
Vanish
5 min
re-enter stealth for another Ambush
Preparation
10 min
resets Vanish, Premeditation, Cold Blood
Adrenaline Rush
5 min
energy regeneration x2 for 15 sec
Blade Flurry
2 min
25 energy, +20% attack speed 15 sec
Instant Poison VI
proc
76–100 (was 112–148), 20% chance
Deadly Poison V
proc
92 over 12 sec per stack, 30% chance
Paladin
Cooldown
Value used
Holy Strike
10 sec
50% weapon +81–105 Holy (+20% Sacred Arbiter)
Judgement
8 sec (10 base)
Command 169.5–186.5 + 43% of spell power, doubled if stunned; Righteousness 162–178 + 42.9% (was 50%); Fury 146–160 (140–151 in duels, Wowhead) + 42.9% (was 45%)
Judgement of the Crusader
—
up to +161 Holy taken, 40 sec, melee hits refresh it
Seal of Command
30 sec duration
7 per minute, 70% weapon damage
Seal of Righteousness
30 sec duration
about 71 Holy per 3.8-speed swing + 10% of spell power (assumed: 15 October removed a doubled spell power benefit, and the model only counted one)
Holy Shock
10 sec
top rank (level 56): 334–362, 325 mana
Divine Favor
2 min
next Holy Shock crits
Hammer of Justice
1 min
6 sec stun
Consecration
8 sec
312 over 8 sec on one target (was 384) + 4.2% of spell power per tick (was 9.5%; the model used Classic's 33% over 8 sec)
Champion of the Light
passive
60% of Intellect as spell power (was 100%; 30% in the 15 October notes, back to 60% by the 16 October server hotfix: beta data, unconfirmed and liable to change)
Holy Shield
10 sec
+30% block (was 20%), 221 Holy + 8% of spell power per block, 4 charges
Seal of Fury
30 sec duration
+35 Holy per hit (top rank) + 9% of spell power, both engines
Redoubt
proc
+20% block (was 30%) for 10 sec or 5 blocks, 10% chance on each boss hit that lands (duels: each landed melee hit, blocks included; both engines): up about 30% of the time on top of the character sheet's block (9.3% pre-raid against the boss), about 15% block on average (it was assumed always up before). The 5-block limit can't bite against a boss swinging every 2 sec: a proc starts after the hit's block roll, so at most 4 hits fall inside its 10 sec
Shield Specialization
3 sec
blocks restore 4% of maximum mana (was 6%), both engines
Reckoning
proc
40% on block (at most once per 1.5 sec, a limit the boss's 2 sec swing never reaches) and, in duels, every melee crit taken (5/5: 100%, no limit; the 15 October text limits only blocks; melee crits only, assumed; the boss never crits in the damage ranking), stores up to 4 charges; the next landed swing fires them all as extra attacks, both engines
Exorcism
10 sec (15 base)
475–529, Undead and Demons only
Hammer of Wrath
6 sec
474–522, below 20% health
Blessing of Might
—
+133 attack power (was 185)
Priest
Cooldown
Value used
Devouring Plague
24 sec (was 1 min)
848 + 80% of spell power over 24 sec; its ticks can crit; heals the Priest in duels
Shadow Word: Death
18 sec (was 15)
434–462; Shadowform's double crit bonus applies; backlash 10% of maximum health in duels
Mind Blast
5.5 sec (8 base)
472–498; Improved Mind Blast 5/5 (moved to row 2, same values)
Mind Flay
none
390 over 3 sec; Improved Mind Flay 2/2: each tick deals 20% more than the one before (was a flat +20%; beta data, unconfirmed)
Inner Focus
3 min
next Mind Blast free, +25% crit (direct spells only, one spell)
Penance
12 sec
rank 4: 3 × 92 damage (was 131) or 3 × 425 healing (was 673), 385 mana (was 300 in the model, 355 for the heal) + 19% of spell power per bolt (assumed: rank 1 went from 28.5% to 19%); Twin Disciplines adds 5% to both
Twin Disciplines
passive
+5% to instant spells and, since 15 October, to Penance
Power in Light
passive
+10% Smite and Penance while the target has your Holy Fire or (since 15 October) Shadow Word: Pain
Mental Strength
passive
+10% Intellect (was 15%)
Vampiric Embrace
30 sec (was 1 min)
heals for 20% of Shadow damage dealt; can't be resisted
Hunter
Cooldown
Value used
Aimed Shot
6 sec, shared with Multi-Shot
weapon +166, 2 sec cast; Auto Shot keeps firing during it
Arcane Shot
4.5 sec (6 base)
217 Arcane + 10% of ranged attack power (beta testers)
Summon Hawk
6 sec, shared with Arcane Shot
110 + 5% ranged AP dive (mana cost of the top rank assumed), then attacks every 2 sec for 18 sec at a quarter of that; 2 hawks max; both engines
Deadly Aspects
proc
10% on a landed auto attack (Auto Shot, white swing, Raptor Strike): +30% attack speed for 12 sec, in any aspect but Viper (assumed; one third-party text ties it to Aspect of the Hawk for ranged attacks and Aspect of the Beast for melee); all three builds, both engines
Bestial Discipline
passive
Beast Mastery: +1 mana a second (an assumed stand-in; a third-party text gives 50% mana regeneration while casting at full rank, about 8 mana a second at pre-raid Spirit: see Still assumed) and the pet's Claw 20% more often, both engines
Sniper Shot
15 sec
weapon +295, 4 sec cast with Auto Shot still firing (15 October); boss fights only, on cooldown above 45% mana
Serpent Sting
none
555 + 15% of ranged attack power (beta testers) over 15 sec, +20% with talent
Multi-Shot
6 sec, shared with Aimed Shot
Auto Shot damage on 3 targets, so never used on one target
Rapid Fire
5 min (3 min for Marksmanship)
+40% ranged and melee attack speed, 15 sec (Survival casts it for its melee swings)
Bestial Wrath
2 min
pet +50% damage, 18 sec
Intimidation
1 min
pet's next attack stuns 3 sec and crits (PvP only; bosses are immune)
Raptor Strike
6 sec
next melee swing +70
Mongoose Bite
5 sec
weapon +57, after an Expose Prey proc (10% of melee and ranged attacks on a marked target, 10 sec); in duels also for 5 sec after the Hunter dodges an attack (Classic: "can only be performed after you dodge"; nobody attacks the Hunter in the damage ranking)
Strider Kick
8 sec
100% weapon damage
Lacerate
none
406 over 21 sec
Immolation Trap
18 sec (30 base)
690 + 10% of attack power (assumed ratio; Fire traps scale with attack power since 15 October) over 15 sec, +30% with Clever Traps
Aspects
—
Hawk +120 ranged AP, Beast +110 melee AP, Viper when out of mana
Hunter's Mark
—
+71 ranged AP for all attackers
Shaman and Druid
Cooldown
Value used
Lava Burst
10 sec
rank 4 192–248, 265 mana, 2 sec cast; +20% with your Flame Shock on the target
Elemental Mastery
3 min
Lightning Bolt and Lava Burst 0.5 sec faster for 15 sec (Chain Lightning, not cast, loses its cooldown)
Flame Shock (Elemental)
5 sec, shared with Earth Shock
166 + 176 over 12 sec, 21 sec with Call of Flame 3/3 (+9 sec at the same rate)
Lightning Bolt
none
191–213, 71.4% of spell power (no Call of Thunder crit since 15 October)
Stormstrike
8 sec
weapon damage, 122 mana (8% of base mana, was 125); next Lightning Bolt or Earth Shock +20%, used up only if it lands
Shifting Power
8 sec (16 base)
+40 energy (+45 with Wolfshead Helm) for Cat Form's mana: 55% of base mana, 684 of the Druid's 1,244 (Classic's level-60 base mana; the build has no Natural Shapeshifter), not at full energy; replaces Tiger's Fury. Between casts Feral regains a flat 2 mana per sec (assumed), so with raid buffs off it can afford only a few casts a fight. On the 1 sec global cooldown (assumed; Forever hasn't said): off it, Feral's pre-raid PvP burst would be about 6,940 instead of 6,040 (it was 6,820 with Tiger's Fury; re-measured 21 October); duels cast it only with at least 1,893 mana: its own 684 plus a 1,209 reserve (Cat Form 684 + Regrowth 525) to shift out and heal (assumed)
Water Shield (Restoration)
—
3 globes, 2% of maximum mana each (86 at pre-raid): used by a spell, melee, or ranged hit on the Shaman that deals damage (absorbed counts; a pet's hits too; not periodic ticks) and by any spell crit of its own (was heals only; 15 October), one globe at most every 3 sec (Forever's tooltip says "every few seconds": 3 sec assumed), in both engines; put up before the fight and recast on the global cooldown once the globes are gone (both engines; duels recast it after any heal they need, the boss ranking while more than 10 sec of the fight remain, the PvP burst ranking never, since mana doesn't run short there). No mana cost, assumed: it is free in TBC from patch 2.3 and in later expansions, but Forever's cost isn't published, and the duel results below depend on it. Bosses never hit the Shaman, so there only direct spell crits use the globes: about 1–2% more sustained damage (pre-raid, raid buffs: 101.2 → 102.6 DPS, 0.2 of it from the recasts), none in a PvP burst. In duels the recasts matter far more (200 duels each): against the 13 melee builds Restoration wins 4.1% and draws 24% with them, against 2.8% and 3.6% with only the pre-duel globes (the wins mostly against Feral, 105 of 200 instead of 73; the draws against the two Protection builds and Holy Paladin); against the three Warlocks, whose Felhunter's swings use the globes, it wins 13% instead of 0.7% (Destruction 76 of 200 instead of 4). With an assumed cost of 400 mana (Water Shield isn't a Classic spell; 400 is Lightning Shield's Classic rank 7 cost, a guess) the recast would return less than it costs (3 globes give 259 at pre-raid): 2.2% wins and 4.7% draws against melee and none against the Warlocks, the same as not recasting. Without the 3 sec globe cooldown it would be 7.8% wins and 33% draws (Feral 176 of 200)
Lightning Shield (Elemental, Enhancement)
—
3 charges, 178 + 33% of spell power (assumed coefficient) Nature damage to a melee attacker each (about 253 for a pre-raid Elemental, about 190 for Enhancement; a pet's hits too); in duels put up before the fight and recast on the global cooldown once the charges are gone, for 400 mana (Classic rank 7's cost; Forever's isn't published, assumed), after any heal it needs and not while silenced. Not in the damage ranking: nothing hits the player there
Warrior
Cooldown
Value used
Mortal Strike
6 sec
weapon +160, 30 rage
Bloodthirst
6 sec
45% AP +48 (was 35%), 30 rage
Whirlwind
10 sec
both weapons (always, since 2 October), 22 rage with Raging Blows; Eureka! raises both hits
Slam
15 sec (18 base)
weapon +87; Improved Slam: 1.0 sec cast and global cooldown, doesn't delay the swing (both engines); no spell pushback (15 October)
Overpower
5 sec
weapon +35 after a dodge or Bloodthrill proc (20% on each landed main-hand attack on a Rend target: white swings, extra attacks, and abilities such as Mortal Strike and Slam, since the 70450 tooltip says "Main Hand melee attacks"; counting abilities as well as white swings adds about 5% to Arms' boss damage, pre-raid with raid buffs 320 → 336 DPS); either opens a 5 sec window in both engines (70450 removed Bloodthrill's "Lasts 6 sec" text; assumed)
Heroic Strike
next swing
+157, 12 rage with talent (Eureka! applies, both engines)
Execute
none
600 +15 per extra rage, below 20% health
Rend
none
147 over 21 sec, +35% with talent; a bleed: can crit (200%, Forever's periodic-crit rule) and takes the Warrior's damage multipliers (both engines)
Shield Slam
6 sec
640–670 + block value (was 342–358)
Revenge
5 sec
138–168 (was 81–99), +60% with talent
Shield Block
5 sec
+75% block, 2 blocks over 7 sec (boss fights only; not in the PvP ranking or duels)
Concussion Blow
45 sec
5 sec stun
Charge
out of combat
15 rage (+6 Improved Charge), 1 sec stun
Bloodrage
1 min
10 rage + 10 over 10 sec
Death Wish
3 min
+20% physical damage, 30 sec
Recklessness
30 min
+100% crit chance (white swings, abilities, and bleeds; in duels Berserker Stance's +3% reaches white swings too, as in the damage ranking), 15 sec, once per fight. Arms dances to Berserker Stance for it only when Tactical Mastery's 25 rage keeps all but 5, then back to Battle (both engines): in the boss ranking that adds 4.9% to Arms' damage with Recklessness on, against 2.2% switching at once and staying in Berserker (pre-raid, raid buffs, N=4,000; a 10 sec cloth burst +38% against +19%; better in all 7 settings tried, 21 October)
Deep Wounds
proc
60% of average weapon damage over 12 sec, no attack power; a new crit adds the unticked damage to the refresh (8 October); can crit (200%, Forever's periodic-crit rule) and takes the Warrior's damage multipliers (Two-Handed Weapon Specialization, Death Wish, Enrage, stance), the same in both engines
Rage
—
Classic formula on damage dealt and taken; a crit's doubled damage gives double rage (assumed equivalent to Forever's +100%); off-hand rage +50% (Dual Wield Specialization 5/5, client data); Unbridled Wrath 1 rage from white swings and weapon abilities (Heroic Strike, Overpower, Mortal Strike, Slam, Whirlwind's main hand; not Bloodthirst, Execute, Shield Slam, or Revenge), both engines (no two-hander double); maximum 100 (Boundless Rage removed); rage from damage taken counts absorbed damage too (Oct 8; duels), rage from damage dealt counts only what gets past absorbs (assumed; a fully absorbed swing gives none, though its other on-hit effects still happen)
Battle Shout
—
+139 attack power (was 232)
Mage
Cooldown
Value used
Arcane Blast
none
rank 5: 218–254 + 42.9% of spell power, 1.5 sec cast (Oct 15 redesign; beta data, unconfirmed). Each cast adds a stack: +15% of Intellect as spell damage to your spells and +175% Arcane Blast mana cost; 4 stacks, 15 sec from the first. No longer +10% damage to other spells. A Blast gets the stacks before it (assumed)
Arcane Wrath
6 sec
rank 4: 406–496, 3.5 sec cast, 395 mana, as if you had 5% of maximum mana more spell power (Oct 15 talent; beta data). Its coefficient isn't published: 100% assumed, as a 3.5 sec cast. Sensitivity: at 71.4% (2.5/3.5) Arcane's pre-raid PvP burst drops from about 7,780 to 7,430 and its boss damage per second from about 412 to 386; Arcane Wrath is about a quarter of Arcane's burst, so most of Arcane's October burst gain (about +19% over 6,530) rests on this assumption and on the build taking Improved Channeling 5/5 (assumed)
Missile Barrage
proc
2/2: Arcane Blast 40%, Arcane Wrath 20% (and Fireball, Frostbolt, Frostfire Bolt, Frost Blast 20%); not from Arcane Missiles hits (Oct 15–16 hotfixes). Next Arcane Missiles 50% faster and free
Presence of Mind
3 min
next cast instant, used up by that cast (Oct 15 fix); used on Arcane Wrath
Arcane Power
3 min
+30% damage and mana cost, 15 sec
Improved Channeling
passive
duels only: chance a hit costs the cast no time: Arcane Blast and Arcane Wrath 70%, Arcane Missiles 100% (Oct 15–16 hotfix; beta data)
Fire Blast
6 sec (8 base)
402–474 + 42.9%; Improved Fire Blast 2/2 (Oct 15, was Wake of Fire): −2 sec cooldown, +15 yd range (35 yd; duels cap every spell at 30 yd, so there it reaches 30)
Heating Up
proc
was Hot Streak (Oct 1): Fire crits (Fireball, Scorch; a Fire Blast crit gives 2 charges, Oct 15) take 25% off the next Pyroblast's cast per charge, 3 charges, 20 sec
Combustion
3 min
+10% Fire crit per Fire hit, ends after 3 crits (Oct 1, was 4)
Critical Mass
passive
5/5: +10% Fire crit (Oct 15: 5 ranks, Combustion needs all 5)
Fire Power
passive
3/3: +3% Fire damage per Fire effect of yours on the target, up to 12% (Oct 15): Ignite, the Fireball and Pyroblast DoTs, and Improved Scorch (on bosses); Impact's stun isn't modeled. Was a flat 10%
Ice Lance
none
133–157 + 14.3%; +200% (×3) against Frozen targets or with Fingers of Frost (Oct 15, was ×4)
Frost Blast
none
rank 3 (Oct 15, beta data): 90 mana, 1.0 sec cast with Improved Frostbolt, 27.1% of spell power, 40% slow for 9 sec. Damage of ranks 2–3 isn't published: 63–70 assumed (rank 1's 28–31 scaled by mana). Duels: a slow on a melee player on its way in
Winter's Chill
proc
5/5 (Oct 15 hotfix): Frostbolt, Frost Blast, and Fingers of Frost Ice Lances add a stack (100%), up to 5; each gives your next Cone of Cold +5% damage plus 7% of spell damage. No crit bonus any more. Cone of Cold is only cast in duels, so these 5 points do nothing in the boss and burst rankings (kept for duels, assumed)
Cone of Cold
10 sec
333–362 + 12.9%; 50% slow for 9 sec on the first 4 targets (Oct 15: +10%, +3 sec)
Frostbite, Fingers of Frost
proc
15% each from Frostbolt, Frost Blast, and (Oct 15 fix) Ice Armor's chill on a melee attacker; Cone of Cold procs Frostbite only (duels). Frostbite is a PvP pick
Warlock
Cooldown
Value used
Shadow Mastery
passive
5/5: +10% Shadow damage (Oct 15, was 5%)
Malediction
—
removed (Oct 15), and its +5% periodic damage with it; replaced by Grim Reach (range only)
Fel Concentration
passive
3/3, duels only: 70% chance a hit costs Drain Life, Drain Mana, Drain Soul, or Wrack no time (Oct 15–16 hotfix). Assumed: the one datamine shows only 23%, read here as rank 1 of a 23/47/70% ladder like Eye of the Storm's and Healing Focus's in the same hotfix; if 23% is the top rank, drains keep their time far less often
Curse of Exhaustion
none
30% slow, 12 sec; with Amplify Curse (3 min) 50%: "an additional 20%" read as 20 points (Classic's wording; the 70450 hotfix's 20%), which matches the 50% FC and kami-labs report. Sources disagree, and the result is a cliff in the kiting rule, not a slope: at 50% a Sprinting Rogue runs 7 × 1.7 × 0.5 = 5.95 yards per sec, just under what the Warlock needs to outrun it (its kiting speed, 6.64, less a 0.5 margin), so Affliction kites Rogues and wins about 69% against Assassination, 79% against Subtlety, and 56% against Combat. With any slow of 48% or less (×1.2's 36% included) the Sprinting Rogue keeps up and those fall to about 23%, 26%, and 19%; the results flip between 48% and 49% (N=300 a pair, re-measured 22 October after cycle 6)
Soul Link
passive
duels (Demonology): 30% of damage taken goes to the living pet; castable on the pet again (Oct 15). Demonology duels with a living Felhunter and keeps the sacrificed Imp's +15% Shadow (Demonic Pact, assumed: the build has both; Destruction gives the +15% up). Without the +15% it would win less (vs Affliction about 72% instead of 87%); Soul Link itself is the bigger part (vs Affliction about 32% without it). Both measured over 800 duels (four seeds of 200), re-measured 22 October after cycle 6
Racial (damage effects)
Cooldown
Value used
Human: Ruthless (was Sword Specialization)
passive
+2% crit with all attacks and spells, any weapon (15 Oct)
Dwarf: Earth Fury (was Mace Specialization)
passive
+2% critical damage and healing (15 Oct): every crit hits 2% harder (a 200% crit hits for 204%, a 150% spell crit for 153%; Forever hasn't said whether it adds to the bonus instead, assumed)
Orc: Savage (was Axe Specialization)
passive
+1% crit with all attacks and spells, any weapon (15 Oct)
Orc: Blood Fury
3 min (was 2, 15 Oct)
+10% attack power and spell power, 15 sec
Troll: Berserking
3 min
+10% attack and casting speed, 10 sec
Night Elf: Elune's Light
3 min
+10% crit with all spells and attacks, 15 sec
Night Elf: Shadowmeld
2 min in combat
stealth in combat, so Rogues get another Ambush or Cheap Shot (Druids need Prowl for their openers)
Gnome: Eureka!
2 min
8 sec buff, no charges (15 Oct; was the next 3 abilities within 15 sec): non-periodic damaging abilities +10% damage, −10% cost (DoTs, bleeds, and other periodic damage don't benefit; channels do); now also Power Word: Shield; not usable in stealth
Gnome: Expansive Mind
passive
+5% maximum mana, rage, or energy
Skyborne (both): Wind Blessed
passive
+3% melee, ranged, and casting speed (was 1%, 15 Oct)
Tauren: Endurance
passive
+2% critical damage and healing, counted like Earth Fury (was +1% hit, 15 Oct), and +5% health
Undead: Touch of the Grave
proc, 25 sec internal cooldown
20% of hits (Warrior, Paladin, Rogue) or 30% (Priest, Mage, Warlock) drain 5% of your maximum health as Shadow damage, at most once every 25 sec (15 Oct: was 5% and 10%, once a second); no longer raised by Shadow damage bonuses on you or the target (Curse of the Elements included); in duels the drain also heals you
Dwarf, Troll: Big Game Hunter, Beast Slaying
passive
+5% damage to Beasts
Skyborne: Elemental Insight
passive
+5% damage to Elementals
How the damage ranking works
Each build runs the fight hundreds of times with random hits, crits, misses, and procs. The bar shows the average; the ± number shows how much single runs vary.
Boss fight: level-63 target, Classic hit tables (9% special miss, 28% dual-wield miss, 6.5% dodge, 40% glancing blows at 30% less damage, 3% crit suppression, 16% spell miss (Forever, beta report; Classic was 17%)), attacking from behind. Tanks attack from the front, where the boss can also parry (14%, the Classic value). Forever unifies hit chance, so hit from gear and talents lowers melee, ranged, spell, and poison misses alike. The last 20% of the fight counts as execute range.
Player targets (the default view): a same-level Humanoid player wearing cloth, leather, or plate at the same gear tier as the attacker, so Murder and Improved Tracking apply and there are no glancing blows or crit suppression. Everyone attacks from behind a target that doesn't turn, so parry and block never apply; dodge does, unless the target is stunned. A player who turned to face you would add parry (and block with a shield). Target health and defenses by gear tier (health, armor with its damage reduction, dodge, and extra miss from defense):
Each target is the average of the character sheets of the builds in its row (listed under Gear used, same real item sets the attackers wear), unbuffed and with no race or talents: health from base health plus 10 per Stamina, armor from gear plus 2 per Agility, dodge from base dodge, Agility (14.5 per 1% for Rogues, 20 for most other classes), gear dodge, and defense. Defense past 300 also makes the target 0.04% harder to hit and 0.04% harder to crit per point. Each fight records when the damage dealt first reaches the target's health, for the time-to-kill line (the median over all fights; when fewer than half the fights kill, it shows how often the build kills instead); the target never heals, uses a defensive, or fights back. Pre-raid DPS Warriors and Paladins wear a lot of leather and mail (Devilsaur, Savage Gladiator Chain), so the plate row has far less armor than a tank would. Spells and poisons miss 3% of the time against any player (Forever, beta report). Crits deal their full bonus unless you turn on the beta's half-bonus PvP crits. Rogues open from stealth (Ambush for dagger specs or Cheap Shot, per the opener setting), use Kidney Shot once the first stun ends (holding 5 combo points for it rather than spending them during the stun), and Vanish for a second opener once Kidney Shot wears off (dagger specs pool energy for it when it can be spent before the window ends). Subtlety adds Premeditation, Cold Blood, and Preparation for a third. Combat has no dagger, so its opener is always Cheap Shot. Paladins open with Hammer of Justice, which doubles Seal of Command's Judgement, and use Consecration because the target never moves. Repeat stuns of the same kind within 15 sec last half as long, then a quarter, then not at all. Warriors open with Charge; Protection adds Concussion Blow. Stunned targets can't dodge. In longer windows, cooldowns come back on their real timers (Kidney Shot 20 sec, Hammer of Justice 1 min, Concussion Blow 45 sec, Bloodrage 1 min), Combat and Assassination keep Slice and Dice (and Assassination Venom) up once more than 20 sec remain, and Arms keeps Rend up. Cheap Shot, Kidney Shot, Pounce, and Hammer of Justice can miss, and Fury spends a global cooldown switching to Berserker Stance after Charge.
Paladin details: Judgement doesn't consume the seal, Retribution twists Seal of Command and Seal of Righteousness every swing (unless the twisting setting is off), Judgement of the Crusader lasts 40 sec and every melee hit refreshes it, so one setup at the pull covers the fight; seals are recast when their 30 sec runs out, and a seal that can't be recast for lack of mana drops (no seal procs or Judgements until it's back); and Vengeance, Improved Seals, Champion of the Light, Sanctified Judgement mana returns, and running out of mana are all tracked. Sanctity Aura and Improved Blessing of Might were removed in Forever, so they aren't included.
Warrior details: rage comes from damage dealt (Classic formula; a crit deals double damage and so gives double rage, assumed equivalent to Forever's +100% crit rage of 2 October: Forever's rage normalization to weapon speed isn't modeled, and glancing blows give less rage here), Dual Wield Specialization's +50% off-hand rage, Unbridled Wrath (1 rage a proc for every weapon), Anger Management, Bloodrage, Charge, and, for Protection, damage taken, blocks, dodges, and parries. Rage from damage taken uses the Classic conversion on the damage after armor: Forever (8 October) computes it as if armor stopped 20–40% by level, from a table it hasn't published, so the Classic conversion is kept (assumed). If the boss's 1,200 a hit is after Protection's armor, Forever's basis would be 1.25–1.67 times larger: Protection's boss damage would be about 4–8% higher (6% at the 30% midpoint, N=800); duels barely move. Forever's 8 October rage fix also counts crits and crushing blows in rage from damage taken; in the damage ranking the boss hits a flat 1,200 (1,200 less the block value when blocked) with no crits or crushing blows (assumed), so that rule only shows in duels, where a crit's damage is in the rage it gives (players don't crush). Heroic Strike is queued when rage runs high (earlier in PvP; Protection queues it whenever 15 rage is left for Shield Slam and Revenge, and Sunders with what's left). Unbridled Wrath also procs from weapon abilities, and Protection's Improved Bloodrage is included.
Racials (off by default): each class uses the race picked for it, from the races Forever allows that class (Blizzard's and Icy Veins' September 2026 lists, including both Skyborne factions). Blood Fury, Berserking, Elune's Light, and Eureka! are used at the pull and again on cooldown, off the global cooldown; in PvP Warriors use them after Charge, and Rogues use Eureka! after their opener (it can't be used in stealth). Since 15 October the old weapon racials are gone: Human Ruthless (+2%) and Orc Savage (+1%) raise crit with every attack and spell whatever the weapon, Hunters' ranged attacks included, so the Arms and Combat weapon settings no longer matter for race. Dwarf Earth Fury and Tauren Endurance (+2% critical damage and healing) multiply every crit by 1.02 (a 200% crit hits for 204%), the way Classic's "+X% critical damage" effects work; Forever hasn't said whether it adds 2 points to the crit bonus instead (202%), so this is assumed. Eureka! is an 8 sec buff with no charges: every non-periodic damaging ability in it is 10% cheaper and deals 10% more (a DoT, bleed, or other periodic part gets neither; channels count as non-periodic). In duels that includes every ability a brain casts outside the spell rotation (Cone of Cold, Frost Nova, Death Coil, Drain Life, Mana Burn, Kick, Gouge, Pummel, Shield Bash, Intercept, Hamstring), decided when a cast or channel starts (Drain Life, Mana Burn) as for rotation spells, and the same ability's hit on a pet (Whirlwind, Frost Nova); auto attacks, wands, poisons, seal procs, a pet's own attacks, and items such as Thorium Grenade don't count. Touch of the Grave procs on direct hits and each Arcane Missiles or Penance bolt, once per Mind Flay, and not on DoT ticks, bleeds, poisons, pets, or seal procs (beta tests), 20% of eligible hits for Warriors, Paladins, and Rogues and 30% for casters, at most once every 25 sec, and Shadow damage bonuses (Curse of the Elements) no longer raise it; its drain uses assumed maximum health (see below). Pets and hawks take the Hunter's crit chance (Ruthless, Savage, and Elune's Light included; the racial crit damage isn't), and Blood Fury raises the attack power they scale from (Speculative). Wowhead lists each racial's effect 1 higher than its tooltip (Blood Fury 11%), a display offset seen on every racial; the model uses the tooltip values, which the other sources match; Wind Blessed's 3% is Blizzard's 15 October value. Night Elf Rogues use Shadowmeld as an extra Vanish: after Vanish and Preparation are spent, for an Ambush (dagger specs, damage-first opener) or a Cheap Shot (held while Kidney Shot is nearly ready); it isn't worth pooling energy for. Not modeled: Stoneform, Shatter Curse, Will to Survive, Will of the Forsaken, Escape Artist, The Human Spirit, and Tauren health (no damage against a passive target), and War Stomp (its 2 sec stun would only stop dodges, which doesn't repay its half-second cast and global cooldown).
Still assumed (Forever hasn't published these): boss hit tables, glancing blows, and dodge (Classic values); the stats of the many pre-raid items Forever hasn't revealed yet (Classic values, marked C under Gear used); the early raid tier (projected); level-60 base stats and stat conversions (Classic values, Human reference); Seal of Righteousness per-swing damage (read from its 20.5–71.4 range by weapon speed); Hunter pet base attack power and hawk follow-up attacks; Eviscerate's and Rupture's attack power scaling (TBC values); 700 extra health from raid buffs for Touch of the Grave's drain; that Earth Fury and Endurance multiply the whole crit; that pets and hawks inherit Ruthless and Savage (both engines; pet crit is the higher of the Hunter's melee and ranged crit, racial included); that Orc Savage ("spells and abilities") also raises auto attacks, as Human Ruthless ("spells and attacks") does; Ice Lance's mana cost; Seal of Righteousness's spell power share (10%) and Penance's (19% per bolt); a boss's avoidance and block reductions against a tank (Classic 0.6% each); Maelstrom Weapon's proc chance; Rapid Recuperation and Bestial Discipline as a flat +1 mana a second (Forever: Rapid Recuperation 25/50% and 50/100% for 15 sec, of what unsaid; a third-party reading, 50% of mana regeneration going on while casting, is about 8 a second at pre-raid Spirit, which would add Marksmanship +0.4 to +1.5% and Beast Mastery +0.6 to +5.5% boss damage, claims_c3 rapidrecup); Feral's flat 2 mana per sec in combat (with raid buffs off, regaining 0, 2, or 5 a sec gives about 254, 257, or 257 PvE DPS: past 2 a sec more mana adds nothing) and Dire Bear Form costing Cat Form's 55% of base mana; which cooldowns are off the global cooldown (see below); perfect play with no reaction delay; and PvP targets that never fight back, move, or interrupt. Everything in the cooldown tables below (Cooldowns and ranks used) is from the beta client unless marked.
Global cooldown: every ability waits for it (1.0 sec for Rogues and Cat Druids, 1.5 sec for everyone else, shortened by caster haste but never below 1.0). Cast times and channels block the next action. Off the GCD, as in Classic: Judgement, Heroic Strike, Raptor Strike, and major cooldowns such as Cold Blood, Adrenaline Rush, Arcane Power, Combustion, and Rapid Fire. Assumed off the GCD (Forever hasn't said): Blade Flurry, Premeditation, Death Wish, Recklessness, Elemental Mastery, Berserk, Rage of the Farseer, and the racials Blood Fury, Berserking, Elune's Light, Eureka!, and Shadowmeld. Assumed on the GCD: Shifting Power (1 sec, Cat Form; see its row for the sensitivity). Charge and Slam (with Improved Slam) have a 1 sec GCD. Stance changes have a 1 sec cooldown and a 1 sec GCD in both engines (assumed: no Forever or Classic source checked; it shapes every stance dance). The model plays with perfect timing (no reaction delay).
Casters: spell hit table (16% miss against a boss before hit gear, 3% against players: Forever values from a beta report; Classic was 17% and 4%), crits at 150% (more with talents like Ice Shards, Ruin, Vengeance, Elemental Fury, or Shadowform), and running out of mana is tracked (real pre-raid kits trade Intellect for spell damage, so the pre-raid Shadow Priest runs dry in long fights; Forever gives Spirit some in-combat regeneration but hasn't said how much, so it isn't modeled). Out of mana, Mages, Warlocks, and Priests shoot their wand; Shamans and Druids can't use wands, so they wait for mana. Each Arcane Missiles missile and Penance bolt rolls to hit on its own; Mind Flay and Wrack roll once when cast. Bane of Agony's ticks build from half to 150% of average, as its tooltip says. Forever cut most base spell damage. Spell power coefficients come from the Forever client: direct spells keep Classic's cast time / 3.5 (Lightning Bolt drops to 71.4%), while DoTs and a few spells were raised (Corruption and Shadow Word: Pain 120%, Bane of Agony 159.6%, Devouring Plague 80%, Arcane Missiles 143%, Pyroblast 160%). Published top ranks used: Arcane Blast rank 5 (218-254 since Oct 15) and Lava Burst rank 4 (192-248, 265 mana, 10 sec cooldown; added with build 70425). Also published: Shadowburn rank 6 (251-281), Siphon Life rank 4, Wrack (one rank, 36 per sec), Ferocious Bite rank 5, Ravage rank 4, Pounce rank 3. Also published and used: Ice Lance rank 6 (133-157; its 14.3% coefficient matches beta combat logs) and Rip rank 6 (855 over 12 sec at 5 points). Coefficients read from Wowhead Forever's spell data: Arcane Blast 42.9% (71.4% before Oct 15), Holy Shock 42.9%, Penance 19% per bolt (rank 1's value after the 8 October cut, assumed for rank 4; was 28.5%), Wrack 14.3% per tick, Holy Shield 8% per block, and Pyroblast's DoT 60% (so its hit keeps 100% of the 160% total). Wowhead lists a few top ranks about 5% higher than foreverchanges.pro (Pyroblast 547–674); the model uses foreverchanges' build 1.60.1.70009 table (as of 30 September; the spells the October notes changed use their October values, but the 8 October rank rebase isn't recomputed from build 70291's per-level data, because the trackers disagree on every rebased spell). Windfury Weapon rank 4 is 333 attack power, as in Classic. As of 30 September the beta gave mp5 every second instead of every 5 seconds (a reported bug, not rechecked since); the model uses the intended value.
Hunters: Hunter's Mark goes on before the fight. Ranged Hunters fire Auto Shot through a quiver (13–14% speed), keep Serpent Sting up, and use Aimed Shot on cooldown, then Arcane Shot (Beast Mastery summons hawks instead while fewer than two are out and more than 12 sec remain). Auto Shot keeps firing while Aimed Shot or Sniper Shot is cast (Blizzard, 15 October), in both engines. Against bosses Marksmanship opens with Sniper Shot and then casts it on cooldown while above 45% mana (in testing never worse than using it only as the opener and up to 2.6% better over three gear levels, buffs on and off, and three fight lengths, N=800 each; casting it regardless of mana was up to 0.6% worse without raid buffs, where mana runs short); in PvP it opens with Aimed Shot, because over burst windows of 6 to 40 sec a Sniper Shot opener averaged about 1% less (−0.8%) and came out ahead in only 15 of the 35 window lengths. Which one wins depends on where Aimed Shot's cooldown falls against the window's end, so the sign flips back and forth; a Sniper Shot opener against an Aimed Shot opener, by window (cloth, pre-raid, raid buffs, 10,000 bursts each, standard error 0.3 points or less): 6 sec +2.4%, 7 sec +13.5%, 8 sec +12.7%, 9 sec −12.6%, 10 sec (the default) −12.5%, 11 sec −5.3%, 12 sec −8.4%, 13 sec +3.9%, 14 sec +3.8%, 15 sec −7.7%, 16 sec −5.6%, 17 sec −1.5%, 18 sec −3.5%, 19 sec +2.7%, 20 sec +2.8%. Survival keeps Lacerate and Immolation Trap up and uses Raptor Strike, Strider Kick, and Mongoose Bite procs. Below 10% mana they switch to Aspect of the Viper until 70%. Haste (Rapid Fire, the quiver, Deadly Aspects, racials) speeds attacks but not Aimed Shot's 2 sec cast (Speculative; Forever hasn't said). Blizzard gives no pet or shot scaling, so the model uses beta testers' measurements (Speculative): pets get 10% of the Hunter's attack power, and (Blizzard, 15 October) the higher of the Hunter's melee and ranged crit chance (hawks get the same crit chance; for Beast Mastery and Marksmanship the two are equal, so this only matters for Survival, whose melee crit carries an extra 1% that predates this refresh and has no named talent behind it, assumed), Arcane Shot adds 10% of ranged attack power, and Serpent Sting adds 15% over its duration. Guessed: the pet's base attack power and hawk follow-up attacks after the dive (25% of the dive every 2 sec). Quiver haste comes from the quiver in each gear set (Quickdraw Quiver 13%, Ribbly's Quiver 14%), and arrows use Classic damage per second because Forever's are set by hand and not yet shown.
Boss fights: boss armor is a level-63 boss's 3,731, less 2,250 for 5 Sunder Armors; Full raid debuffs also takes off Faerie Fire's 505 and Forever's Curse of Recklessness at 175 (beta data, unconfirmed: one datamine, which also says it no longer raises attack power; Classic's took off 640), leaving 801. Curse of the Elements (if on) raises all magic damage by 10%: every caster spell, wands, poisons, Holy damage (seals, Judgement, Holy Shock, Consecration, the Holy half of Holy Strike), shocks, Arcane Shot, Serpent Sting, and Immolation Trap. Dagger Rogues Vanish into Ambush on cooldown (Subtlety adds Preparation, Premeditation, and Cold Blood); Assassination uses Cold Blood on cooldown and skips Venom (on a boss its poison bonus is worth less than the Eviscerate it replaces); Retribution and Shockadin add Exorcism against Undead and Demon bosses while above half mana (Holy Wrath's 2 sec cast and mana cost lose 5–10% with pre-raid mana, so it isn't cast); Holy and Protection add Exorcism.
Auto attacks (pets' included) use a single roll for miss, dodge, glancing blow, and crit (Evasion, Deterrence, Aspect of the Monkey, and Ghostly Strike work against pets too); special attacks roll to hit first, then to crit. A finishing move that misses keeps its combo points. In Forever all periodic damage can crit, bleeds included (Blizzard fixed Lacerating Strikes so it can, 24 September, and Devouring Plague, 1 October), so in both engines every DoT and bleed (Rend, Deep Wounds, Rupture, Rip, Rake, Pounce, Lacerate, Lacerating Strikes, Serpent Sting, Deadly Poison, Entangling Roots, and the casters' DoTs) can crit on each tick, with the crit chance of that moment (a bleed applied during Recklessness or Elune's Light doesn't keep the bonus after it ends): bleeds for 200% with no crit-damage talent, spell DoTs and poisons at their spell's crit bonus. The one exception is Ignite, which never crits because it is the crit's own echo (assumed). DoTs are refreshed after their last tick (cast-time DoTs are started so they land just after it), since an early refresh throws away the remaining ticks. Near the end of a PvP window, a DoT that can't tick enough is skipped for a direct spell, and a cast that can't finish in time gives way to a shorter spell that can (Wrath for Starfire, Ice Lance for Frostbolt, Moonfire or Flame Shock for a healer's filler), or waits for one that comes off cooldown in time; a DoT recast at the end waits for its last tick rather than clipping it; new Ignites carry over the unticked damage of the old one. Crit-damage talents (Lethality, Impale, Mortal Shots, Predator's Edge) add to the 100% crit bonus, so a +20% talent makes crits hit for 2.2x; Predator's Edge counts for Survival's melee ability crits only, not its auto attacks (15 October tooltip), in both engines.
Not modeled: trinkets, stance dancing other than Arms' Recklessness dance, Enrage and Blood Craze in the damage ranking (Fury and Arms aren't being hit by the boss there; Protection's boss hits give rage, not Enrage, since it has no Enrage talent; in duels Fury's Enrage triggers from the hits it takes), Riposte, Retribution Aura (it only damages attackers; the boss and the PvP targets never swing back, and duels don't model it either), Devouring Contagion's spread to 2 more targets (single target), Dark Inspiration and Spirit Tap (Spirit: the damage ranking doesn't turn it into regeneration; in duels it is regeneration, but even +15% Spirit for the whole duel, more than Dark Inspiration's 10 sec after Mind Blast or a full Mind Flay can give, left Shadow's win rate unchanged at 92.9% over 18 opponents at 100 duels each (re-measured 22 October after cycle 6), and Spirit Tap needs a kill), Righteous Fury, Silent Resolve and Salvation (threat), Vindication's rework (sources disagree), Resourcefulness's 50/100% chance on melee and ranged ability crits (Forever hasn't said what it gives; only its 60% mana reduction is modeled), movement, and player mistakes.
Character sheets: tap a build, or pick one under Gear used, to see every stat, and use Rank by to sort the builds by any of them. Each sheet adds the build's gear (every stat, set bonuses included) to its class's level-60 base stats and Classic conversions (Forever hasn't published its own): health = base + 10 per Stamina past the first 20; mana = base + 15 per Intellect past the first 20; armor = gear + 2 per Agility; physical damage reduction = armor ÷ (armor + 400 + 85 × attacker level), shown against a level-60 player and a level-63 boss; effective health = health ÷ (1 − reduction against players); dodge = class base + Agility ÷ the class rate + gear dodge + defense; parry 5% for Warriors, Paladins, Rogues, and Hunters (Shamans and Druids can't parry); block 5% with a shield and block value = shield + gear + Strength ÷ 20; each defense point past 300 adds 0.04% to miss, dodge, parry, and block against you and takes 0.04% off crits against you; melee crit = class base + Agility ÷ the class rate + gear crit; spell crit = class base + Intellect ÷ the class rate + gear crit; Spirit regen = the class's per-tick formula × 2.5 per 5 sec, outside the five-second rule (Forever gives some classes in-combat Spirit regen through talents, not included). Race (when Racials is on): Classic stat offsets from the Human reference (Skyborne's aren't published, so none), plus Human Spirit +5%, Night Elf dodge +1%, Tauren health +5%, Gnome mana, rage, and energy +5%, and Human and Orc racial crit (melee, ranged, and spell). The same race offsets now also change each build's attack power, crit, and Intellect in the fights. Sheets leave out talents, stances, forms, auras, and buffs; racial resistances aren't counted (ForeverChanges' Forever racial list doesn't include them), nor are active racials like Stoneform.
Gear: every build wears a real item set for its tier (listed under Gear used), and its attack power, crit, hit, spell damage, Intellect, mana, and weapons come from those items plus the class's level-60 base stats and stat conversions. Defensive stats (armor, Stamina, defense, dodge, parry, block, block value, health regen, resistances) were checked item by item on 30 September 2026: Wowhead Forever first, then ForeverChanges, then Wowhead Classic for items Forever hasn't revealed. Every Combat Rogue weapon type uses the same weapon damage. Enchants, trinket procs and on-use effects, and set-bonus procs aren't included.
Use it to compare builds under the same settings, not as a prediction. Early public sims show different numbers, and real raid logs after launch will be the real test.