World of Warcraft has had two decades of history to welcome new players. Unfortunately, many players find the modern game a bit difficult to get into. Oftentimes this is due to the large number of classes and specs available, which often give a bit of choice paralysis to newer players who aren’t sure what to go with.
What are the best classes for beginners inWorld of Warcraft? If you’re picking the right class, you’ll find the game much easier to approach. Here are our choices for the best classes for beginners to pick in Retail World of Warcraft.
Class balance and play is frequently changing due to patches in WoW. Because of that, the best beginner class may change over time. We’re also focusing on the modern Retail WoW and not any of the versions of World of Warcraft Classic.
8Warrior
Warrior is one of the most basic and stripped-down classes in World of Warcraft, any Warrior main will tell you that. Arms Warrior features an exceptionally low APM as well as abilities that chain together easily. Your APM - Actions Per Minute - directly relates to how fast your class plays. If Arms plays too slowly, Fury plays quicker but without much more difficulty.
Protection Warrior is also one of the easier tanking specs to pick up. The trade-off of this ease is that warriors generally don’t have the best utility. Some talents pick up an AoE stun, and Rallying Cry can be useful, but Battle Shout is only useful to a select few classes.
Fury Warrior is the only specialization in the game that can dual-wield two-handed weapons! Use this to make the most of unique outfits that no other class can show off.
7Priest
Priest is an interesting class to rank. Shadow Priest has been reworked time and time again, which makes it a strange one for beginners due to constant changes to its playstyle.
We’re placing it here for Holy Priest. Many people consider Holy Priest to be a tutorial spec when it comes to healing. It’s a powerful spec with an easy enough rotation, as well as the tools to handle virtually any situation with ease.
All three Priest specializations play extremely differently. Once you’re comfortable on Holy, consider trying the other specs out to see what you like most.
6Evoker
Added in the Dragonflight expansion, Evoker is a unique class. It has class-specific mechanics, such as empowering spells through holding down keys. It also has access to the Augmentation spec, which is the first Support spec in WoW.
None of the specs are particularly difficult to pick up. Devastation Evoker, in particular, has one of the lowest APMs in the game, especially for ranged DPS specs. That makes it easy for newer players to pick up without having to rush to keep up with a quick rotation. Augmentation and Preservation are a bit tougher, but neither is going to present much of a challenge while learning.
Evoker is packed to the brim with group utility abilities, especially if you choose Augmentation. You can make a huge impact on your team by understanding these abilities and when to use them.
5Paladin
Paladin has long been a class that WoW players treat as a ‘noob spec.’ They’re also one of the most classic choices in the game, originally reserved for Alliance but brought to the Horde in the Burning Crusade expansion. Paladins are great forconquering open world contentbecause they have access to Tank, Heals, and Melee DPS.
Retribution Paladin, in particular, is one of the easiest specs you’ll encounter. There aren’t too many buttons to keep track of, but even still, you’ll find yourself topping most DPS charts without much effort. All paladin specializations also have access to utility to handle nearly any situation, making it a popular pick for Mythic+ dungeons.
Paladin can be a Melee DPS, a Tank, or a Healer. Many utility abilities are available to all three specs. Consider giving all three a attempt to see which spec best meshes with your play style.
4Druid
Druid is on this list less for being easy and more for giving beginners the ability to try all combat roles. Still, it isn’t particularly tough, and Guardian Druid is one of the easiest tanking specs - spam Ironfur, never die, continue on.
What makes this class great for beginners is that it has access to everything a beginner would want to see. No other class has the ability to fulfill all roles. Druid has access to Tank, Healer, Melee DPS, and Ranged DPS, which means new players can use this one class to see what role they most prefer.
Druids are the only class in the game that has four specializations. They’re also the farming class of choice for people who like to farm transmogs andrare itemsdue to their high movement speed.
3Mage
Mage is a class that looks exceptionally complicated from the outside. In fact, if there’s one class on this list that would make someone roll their eyes, mage might be the one that gets you. Maybe this isn’t the bestfirstclass for beginners, but it’s not as complicated as people think once you learn it.
Frost is often the spec that new players are told to go. That’s because it’s focused rather heavily on a few buttons and hitting abilities that proc rather than a difficult-to-remember rotation like the others. Once you have a handle on one spec, though, the others are much easier to pick up.
Mages are squishy on the surface, but actually have some of the strongest defensive abilities in the game to make up for this. Take the time to understand your defensive kit and how to use it instead of only learning how to do damage.
2Warlock
Warlock is a great beginner class for a couple of reasons. One of the first is that warlocks are among the tankiest non-tanks in the game. High total health gives them a bit more room to take punishment, while a plethora of defensive options makes them hard to take down. For beginners, that means you can make a couple more mistakes before needing to run back to your corpse.
Destruction Warlock is often recommended for beginners. Destruction has an exceptionally low APM and a rotation that some consider the easiest in the game. Affliction can pose a challenge due to needing to manage debuffs, while minion management adds a challenge to Demonology.
Some Warlock abilities will damage you, such as Health Funnel. Make sure you aren’t accidentally getting yourself dangerously low on health when you use these abilities.
1Hunter
We all knew Hunter would be here. Hunter has long been considered the easiest class in the game, often derided as beingthe’noob spec.' Part of this is due to the ease of the rotation, while the rest is how easy it is totackle solo contentwith it when your pet is out.
Marksmanship Hunter is what many consider to be a tutorial spec for ranged DPS. Beast Mastery isn’t any more difficult, though it’s certainly faster-paced. Survival is a good choice for people who want to experience melee. Hunter also has the benefit of currently being the only class in the game that can use Bows, Guns, or Crossbows, which makes it great for when you’vefinished the storyand begin farming.
Every Hunter specialization plays extremely differently. Marksmanship is best for staying at range, but Beast Mastery is best for solo content due to how powerful your companions and pets are.
