Midnight brings massive class overhauls, brand-new specs, apex talents, and a completely refreshed endgame to World of Warcraft. Picking the right class is one of the biggest decisions you'll make heading into any expansion, and this one shakes things up more than most.
This guide breaks down all 13 classes and their specializations in depth, covering role options, gameplay changes, apex talents, difficulty levels, and practical advice to help you lock in the right main for Midnight.
Understanding Roles
Before you even look at specific classes, nail down which role you want to fill. Your role shapes how your character interacts with every piece of content in the game, from solo Delves and world quests to group dungeons, raids, and PvP. Every class can DPS, but only some can tank or heal, and that distinction matters way more than most players realize.
Tanks: Leading the Charge
Tanks are arguably the most important role in group content. Your job is to hold the attention (aggro) of all enemies, soak incoming damage, and keep everyone else alive so they can do their jobs. If anyone other than the tank gets hit first in a dungeon pull, they're probably going to die.
Beyond surviving hits, tanks also set the pace of group content. You choose the route through a dungeon, decide which packs to pull, and control how fast the group moves between encounters. That leadership role comes with extra responsibility, though. Tanks are generally expected to know dungeon layouts and boss strategies ahead of time, which means more homework than other roles.
On the flip side, tanks get the fastest queue times for any matchmade content and can usually find premade groups for Mythic Plus and raids very quickly. Gearing up is way faster when you can get into content on demand. The gameplay itself is also genuinely satisfying when you're executing well, whether that's fine-tuning pulls, holding aggro on big packs without anyone dying, or moving through a dungeon at a clean pace.
If you don't want to take the lead or you're not confident in your dungeon knowledge, tanking can feel stressful, and that stress kills the fun fast. But if you like being in control and setting the tempo, tanking is one of the most rewarding roles in WoW.
Tank Classes: Warrior, Paladin, Druid, Death Knight, Monk, Demon Hunter
Healers: Keeping Everyone Standing
Healers are the other critical support pillar. While the tank soaks damage, you keep them (and everyone else) alive. It sounds simple on paper. Keep health bars above zero. In practice, healing is arguably the hardest role in the game.
Everyone depends on you. If the tank goes down, the group wipes. If DPS players die, there's not enough damage to kill anything. In larger content like raids, the other healers on your team are counting on you to pull your weight too. That pressure can get stressful, and healers tend to catch blame when things go wrong, even when the fault lies elsewhere. A DPS player who stands in fire for thirty seconds and dies will sometimes still blame the healer.
All of that said, healing is incredibly satisfying when things click. Saving a tank with a perfectly timed external cooldown or landing a clutch raid cooldown to stabilize your group during a rough phase feels amazing. Good healers can carry content in ways that are hard to replicate from any other role.
Healers also share the fast queue time advantage with tanks, so you'll get into content quickly and gear up faster. If you have limited playtime and want to jump into content without waiting around, healer is one of the strongest options for that.
Healer Classes: Priest, Paladin, Druid, Shaman, Monk, Evoker
DPS: Dealing the Damage
DPS is the most populated role and every single class has access to it. The job is straightforward and boils down to killing enemies as fast as possible. Higher DPS means faster kills, easier content, and smoother runs for the whole group. You still have responsibilities beyond raw numbers, though. Using defensive abilities, drinking healing potions when needed, and dodging avoidable mechanics are all part of playing DPS well. Ignoring mechanics and making the tank's or healer's job harder is never worth it.
DPS splits into two broad categories:
Melee DPS get up close and personal with their targets. Gameplay tends to be fast-paced with lots of button presses to execute rotations. Being in melee range means more mechanics to dodge, but melee specs generally have excellent freedom of movement. You can move around constantly on most melee specs without losing damage, which makes handling those extra mechanics much easier.
Ranged DPS attack from a distance, which is generally safer and gives you a better view of the battlefield for reacting to mechanics. The downside is that most ranged specs rely on cast times, requiring you to stand still. Spending too much time moving tanks your damage. Getting the most out of ranged DPS usually comes down to learning encounter mechanics so you can plan around heavy movement phases and know when you're free to stand still and unload cooldowns.
The big exception to the ranged casting tradeoff is the Hunter, whose Beast Mastery spec (and to some degree the others) can deal full damage while moving freely.
Pure DPS Classes (no tank/heal option): Hunter, Rogue, Mage, Warlock
Hybrid Classes with DPS Specs: All other classes
Trying a New Role: Follower Dungeons
If tanking or healing sounds interesting but you've never tried it, Follower Dungeons are the perfect testing ground. You run the dungeon entirely with NPC teammates at your own pace. There are no other players to worry about and nobody judging your performance. You don't even have to finish the dungeon if you don't want to. There's really no reason to let anxiety stop you from trying something new.
Why Theme Matters More Than Numbers
One of the most important and most overlooked factors in choosing a class is whether you actually enjoy the fantasy behind it. If dark magic and undeath don't do it for you, Death Knights and Warlocks probably won't hold your interest long. If holy light aesthetics bore you, Paladins and Priests might not be a great fit either.
Every tank holds aggro. Every healer keeps people alive. Every DPS deals damage. What sets them apart is how they do it: the animations, the visual effects, the lore, the general vibe. Warriors charge in with brute strength, Paladins consecrate the ground in holy light and throw their shield like Captain America, and Druids shapeshift into a massive bear. Every class has its own distinct feel.
That variety runs just as deep across healers, melee DPS, and ranged DPS. Every spec within a role plays differently enough that theme alone can be the deciding factor.
Playing something that matches your personal vibe gives you the best shot at sticking with a class long-term. Theme is what keeps people maining the same class for a decade or more, long after the balance pendulum has swung back and forth a hundred times.
Chasing the "Best" Class
If your goal is to always play whatever's numerically best, you'll probably end up swapping classes a lot. For that playstyle, the smartest move is to spend the early weeks leveling multiple characters so you always have a backup ready when the balance shifts. If constantly chasing the flavor of the month doesn't sound fun, just focus on picking a class that genuinely clicks with you. That way, you enjoy the game regardless of where your spec sits on any given tier list.
The massive class overhauls coming with Midnight also made almost every class and spec easier to play, so the gap between the "easiest" and "hardest" options is smaller than in past expansions. Just pick what you enjoy. Chances are it's not much harder than the beginner options these days.
The Warband System
If you can't decide on one class, the Warband system (introduced in The War Within and carrying forward into Midnight) makes playing multiple characters way less punishing than it used to be. Most of your progress is account-wide now: achievements, transmogs, titles, mounts, reputation progress, feature unlocks, story quest completions, and more all carry across your characters. You also get gearing discounts and faster leveling speeds on alts.
Playing multiple characters is a completely viable strategy. If you want two or three mains and rotate between them based on mood or content type, you won't lose meaningful progress. Feel free to pick a few classes and level them all.
Easiest Classes for New Players
If you're new to the game or coming back after a long break and just want something you can pick up quickly:
Complete Class Breakdown
Here's an in-depth look at every class heading into Midnight, covering available roles, key strengths, major spec changes, apex talents, and overall assessment.
Available Roles: Tank, Healer, DPS
Difficulty: Easy
Class Strengths
Paladins bring some of the highest utility in the game. Powerful blessings keep allies alive, passive aura buffs boost your group in combat, and strong off-healing lets you support your team even as a DPS or tank. You've got access to cooldowns that can save a raid in critical moments, and Paladin is one of the very few classes that can resurrect an ally during combat. All three role types are available, making Paladin one of the most versatile classes in WoW and a great pick if you want flexibility.
If you only care about DPS, though, you have exactly one spec (Retribution). There's no second DPS option to fall back on if Ret's gameplay doesn't click with you.
Retribution (DPS)
Ret's gameplay heading into Midnight feels very similar to The War Within. A couple of notable changes here. Hammer of Wrath is no longer a separate ability and now upgrades Judgment whenever you pop Avenging Wrath, so you deal more damage without an extra button. Executioner's Sentence and Final Reckoning have been merged into a single ability too, cleaning up the cooldown setup.
Apex Talent: Entirely passive. Adds extra damage to Blade of Justice and your Holy Power spenders, with a chance to unleash a wave of holy light that deals AoE damage. Not flashy, but it's free damage and keeps Ret's rotation simple.
Protection (Tank)
Eye of Tyr and Moment of Glory are gone, but in their place, Prot Paladin's passive damage mitigation is significantly higher thanks to a complete talent tree rework. Self-healing and sustain through Word of Glory are much better, and your damage output is still very high for a tank.
Apex Talent: Glory of the Vanguard is entirely passive. Judgment gains a chance to cause your Avenger's Shield to echo holy damage across enemies, and Shield of the Righteous deals increased damage. Doesn't change your playstyle, but makes Protection hit harder across the board.
Holy (Healer)
Holy Paladin got a complete talent tree overhaul. Light of Dawn was reworked to heal anyone within a 40-yard circle around you. Aura Mastery and your defensive cooldowns feel more impactful, and Holy Shock along with Judgment have tons of talent support making them feel weighted and powerful again.
Apex Talent: Beacon of the Savior works like having an extra Beacon of Light that automatically targets the lowest-health ally within 30 yards. Any healing you do to others replicates 30% to this target. The affected target also gains an absorb shield and some damage mitigation. The main concern right now is UI clarity, since it can be hard to tell who has the beacon and shield. Despite that, it's a strong direction for Holy.
Overall Assessment
All three Paladin specs look solid heading into Midnight. The class got cleaned up well without drastic overhauls, and the build variety across DPS, tank, and healer is great. Apex talents are decent but almost entirely passive across the board, which means they don't complicate rotations but also don't deliver the most exciting moments. If you value simplicity that just works, Paladin is a safe bet.
Available Roles: Tank, Healer, Melee DPS, Ranged DPS
Difficulty: Hard
Class Strengths
Druids are the most versatile class in the game and the only class with four specializations covering all three role types (including both melee and ranged DPS). Shapeshifting into different forms lets you adapt to any situation on the fly: Travel Form for mobility, Bear Form for emergency defense, Cat Form for stealth. You bring strong utility to any group with Mark of the Wild, a battle res, solid crowd control, and Innervate to help healers cast more spells. If you want the most options possible on a single character, nothing matches Druid.
Feral (Melee DPS)
Bleed snapshotting, one of Feral's historically complex mechanics, got a lot easier in Midnight. You're not juggling as many variables at once anymore. The spec picked up some new tools including Frantic Frenzy (an AoE ability) and Chomp (a single-target bite for low-energy situations). Thrash was pruned from the Feral toolkit.
Apex Talent: Unseen Predator is entirely passive and has a chance to trigger extra damage whenever you Ferocious Bite. Widely considered one of the weakest apex talents in the game because of how boring and unimpactful it feels during actual gameplay.
Balance (Ranged DPS)
Eclipse got a significant rework and is now an active button rather than a passive cycling system. The core loop revolves around activating Eclipse and staying in that empowered state as long as possible, dealing way more damage while it's up. Mastery was also reworked to give a flat increase to Arcane and Nature damage.
Apex Talent: Ascendant Eclipses causes your Eclipse activation to immediately deal damage to nearby enemies. Starsurge and Starfall hit harder, and your critical strikes deal additional damage over time during Eclipse. Strong, engaging, and ties directly into the spec's core mechanic.
Guardian (Tank)
Guardian Druid got heavy changes in Midnight. Thorns of Iron as a passive is gone, and the Iron Fur spam playstyle has been eliminated. The spec now leans hard into active decision-making, making it noticeably harder to play than before.
Apex Talent: Wild Guardian gives you a new ability after activating Incarnation. Using it causes the next two casts of Ironfur, Maul, or Frenzied Regeneration to be echoed, giving you strong burst mitigation or healing on demand with some interesting choices built in.
Restoration (Healer)
Resto Druid saw a big reduction in ramp-up time. Heal-over-time effects like Lifebloom deliver their healing faster and heavier, and the spec has become much more reactive rather than requiring lots of setup before incoming damage.
Apex Talent: Ever Bloom drastically increases the power of Lifebloom with healing that stacks over time, plus powerful on-demand healing whenever you consume Soul of the Forest. Widely considered one of the best healer apex talents in the game.
Overall Assessment
Druid's skill ceiling is limitless if you invest the time, but the learning curve is steep. Weaving between forms, knowing when to use battle res and Innervate, and potentially mastering four different specs makes Druid one of the hardest classes in WoW. Build variety is unmatched, though. No other class comes close in terms of options. Apex talents look good across Guardian, Restoration, and Balance, but Feral's Unseen Predator really drags down the average.
Available Roles: Healer (two specs), Ranged DPS
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Class Strengths
Priest is the only class in WoW with two healer specializations, which means at least one of them is almost always performing well in some form of content, whether that's raiding, PvP, or Mythic Plus. The class packs high-impact support abilities including Power Infusion, Power Word: Fortitude, and Leap of Faith. Shadow Priest fills the ranged DPS slot with good utility and off-healing. If you love healing above all else, Priest gives you the most variety in that role.
Shadow (Ranged DPS)
Shadow Priest's entire visual theme shifted from Void to an Old God aesthetic in Midnight. The spec looks dramatically different, but the core gameplay remains very similar. Offensive cooldowns got simplified, and the talent tree focuses more heavily on Shadow Apparitions.
Apex Talent: Void Apparitions. Activating idle effects from your talent tree summons Shadow Apparitions that travel toward your target. You also summon them automatically when you use Tentacle Slam. These apparitions can spawn as Void Apparitions that shoot dark magic at enemies. Visually distinct and a great thematic fit for the reworked spec.
Holy (Healer)
Holy Priest received some of the biggest healer changes heading into Midnight. A lot of spells were cut, and it's now one of the easiest and most beginner-friendly healers in the game. Renew became a passive ability that no longer needs manual upkeep. The biggest talent addition is Ultimate Serenity near the bottom of the tree, which replaces Sanctify as a strong single-target healing option that also splashes for AoE.
Apex Talent: Benediction. Prayer of Mending has a chance to upgrade Flash Heal to Benediction, which heals for more and triggers a Cosmic Ripple (a mini splash heal with a cool visual). This can also activate during each pulse of Divine Hymn. During Apotheosis, Flash Heal is automatically replaced by Benediction for the full duration, making your big cooldown feel much more powerful.
Discipline (Healer)
Discipline's core gameplay didn't change much. Penance now has two charges and leans more into damage, which converts into more Atonement healing. Atonement healing overall is significantly stronger than before.
Apex Talent: Master the Darkness. Penance has a chance to upgrade Power Word: Shield into Void Shield, an AoE shield for your entire party. Void Shield reflects 15% of damage taken back to enemies and triggers Atonement healing, creating a satisfying offensive-defensive loop.
Overall Assessment
Priest isn't as hard as some people think. Holy is one of the easiest entry points for healing in WoW, while Discipline offers a unique damage-to-healing playstyle that stays relatively simple. Apex talents are strong across the board. If you're looking for a caster that covers healing with the most spec variety and has DPS as a secondary role, Priest is an excellent choice for Midnight.
Available Roles: DPS only (three specs)
Difficulty: Easy
Class Strengths
Hunters have three very different DPS specs that fill different niches, and because there are three options, at least one is typically performing well at any given time. This makes Hunter a very safe choice if you only care about dealing damage. The class is easy to learn, pets make solo content way easier, and the mobility you get from Beast Mastery (and to a degree the other specs) makes dodging raid and dungeon mechanics simple. Hunter is one of the best starting classes for new players and one of the strongest solo classes in the game.
The tradeoff is limited utility and no option to tank or heal. If you ever want to try those roles, you'll need a different character.
Survival (Melee DPS)
Survival got a near-complete thematic rework in Midnight. The spec now revolves around explosives, shotguns, and Molotov cocktails. Core new abilities include Boomstick, a frontal cone channel. It feels like a fundamentally different class compared to what Survival used to be.
Apex Talent: Raptor Swipe. Raptor Strike upgrades to Raptor Swipe after use, dealing damage to enemies in an area around you. Consistent AoE improvement that fits naturally into the rotation.
Marksmanship (Ranged DPS)
Blizzard pushed Marksmanship toward a harder-hitting, slower-paced style. Aimed Shot deals way more damage, but its cast time went up and Streamline was removed. Kill Shot is now exclusive to Marksmanship. The feel is more of a backline sniper turret. Fewer shots, but each one hits hard.
Apex Talent: Take Aim. Aimed Shot always critically strikes and its damage is increased. Rapid Fire reduces the cooldown of Aimed Shot. Leans right into the core fantasy of landing massive single shots.
Beast Mastery (Ranged DPS)
Beast Mastery's core gameplay stays very similar. Multi-Shot is replaced by a new pet AoE called Wild Thrash. Bestial Wrath sits on a flat 30-second cooldown now, and the minigame of juggling Barbed Shot as a buff is gone, simplifying the rotation nicely.
Apex Talent: Nature's Ally. Activating Bestial Wrath summons an animal companion to fight alongside you. Bestial Wrath also strikes four targets in an AoE, and you get extra Kill Command procs during your rotation. More pets, more cleave, more fun.
Overall Assessment
All three Hunter specs are simple, effective, and easy to play. Build variety across three DPS specs with multiple builds within each gives you plenty of options. All three apex talents feel good too: easy to understand, meaningful power increases, and they make abilities that already feel satisfying even better. One of the safest and most beginner-friendly picks in Midnight.
Available Roles: DPS only (three specs)
Difficulty: Hard
Class Strengths
Rogue has three different DPS specs that fill very different niches, and at least one is typically strong or meta-relevant in some form of content. You've got flexible damage for any situation with options favoring AoE or single-target. Raid survivability is solid through Feint and Cheat Death, you have stealth (including Shroud of Concealment to briefly stealth your whole group), and Rogue is widely recognized as one of the best PvP classes and strongest duelists in the game.
The major downside: Rogue brings very little group utility. It's a selfish class. When your damage isn't competitive with other classes, finding groups for Mythic Plus or raids gets tough because you're not contributing much beyond personal DPS.
Subtlety (Melee DPS)
Subtlety got the most changes of any Rogue spec heading into Midnight. Flagellation, Symbols of Death, and Rupture were all removed. The spec is now considered one of the easiest in the entire game. The talent tree was completely reworked around shadow clones. If you've ever played a shadow-clone style character in other games, Sub now captures that fantasy really well.
Apex Talent: Ancient Arts. Damage attacks that spend Shadow Techniques have a chance to summon a Shadow Clone to deal additional damage. Visually impressive and a perfect thematic fit for the reworked spec.
Outlaw (Melee DPS)
Roll the Bones was simplified and reworked to be less RNG-reliant, though some randomness remains. Between the Eyes now gives a flat percentage damage increase to all abilities. The spec moved away from super-speed spammy melee and toward big setup windows with massive burst phases.
Apex Talent: Gravedigger. Dispatch has a chance to load a bullet, and periodically this gives you a free Between the Eyes charge and resets its cooldown. Great for lining up burst windows with heavy-hitting abilities like Killing Spree.
Assassination (Melee DPS)
Crimson Tempest was reworked into an ability that spreads your bleeds to nearby targets, getting rid of the old stealth requirement for AoE bleed spreading. The spec fully embraces the fantasy of spreading bleeds and then chaining big Envenom windows for massive payoff.
Apex Talent: Implacable. Each Envenom you chain back-to-back ramps up your energy generation when the effect expires. Kingsbane also deals significantly more damage and generates full combo points, rewarding aggressive Envenom chaining.
Overall Assessment
Rogue isn't easy. Mastering any of the three specs for PvE or PvP takes real investment. Build variety is excellent for a pure DPS class, though, with multiple meaningful builds per spec. Apex talents are surprisingly strong across the board and feel thematic for each individual spec. The persistent concern is Rogue's selfish nature. Without meaningful group utility, your damage needs to be competitive to consistently land raid and dungeon spots.
Available Roles: DPS only (three specs)
Difficulty: Hard
Class Strengths
Mage has three very different DPS specs filling different niches, and historically at least one or two are dominating the damage meters at any given time, making it a very safe pure DPS choice. Mages are mobile casters with excellent utility and crowd control in Mythic Plus and raids. Fire has Cauterize (a cheat death mechanic) to survive lethal damage. You bring Time Warp to massively boost raid damage, portals to major cities, and conjured food and water.
The downside: defensive capabilities are pretty thin after the Midnight pruning. There's no meaningful self-healing, so you're very reliant on your healer. Rotations, even after simplification, can still be tricky to get right.
Fire (Ranged DPS)
Fire Mage saw the most drastic changes of any Mage spec heading into Midnight. Phoenix Flames was removed, and several key talents that defined the spec were pruned. During Combustion windows, damage is still extremely high and nuclear on the meters, but outside of Combustion, the pace has slowed down a lot, maybe too much for some players.
Apex Talent: Fire Up. Consuming Hot Streak has a chance to increase your Fire damage, extends Combustion duration, and reduces Fire Blast's cooldown, helping you squeeze more out of burst windows. The concern is that this doubles down on Combustion reliance rather than improving the spec's weaker moments outside of its main cooldown.
Frost (Ranged DPS)
Frost Mage got a brand-new freezing and shattering debuff system. Some spells now apply a debuff to targets, which you shatter using Ice Lance or Comet Storm. Icy Veins was removed and replaced with Ray of Frost. The talent tree got a major rework for the better.
Apex Talent: Hand of Frost. Shattering an enemy has a chance to summon a Hand of Frost that chases the target and deals AoE damage. Ray of Frost also summons Hand of Frost over its duration and gains an extra charge. Visually distinct and a strong thematic fit.
Arcane (Ranged DPS)
Arcane became a lot simpler. A brand-new ability called Arcane Pulse works like Arcane Blast but deals AoE damage, giving consistent cleave. The talent tree was completely reworked with unique build options and solid variety.
Apex Talent: Touch of the Arcane Mage. Touch of the Magi increases the damage your target receives and boosts your overall damage. When Touch of the Magi expires, it deals additional AoE damage on the ground. Meaningfully amplifies one of Arcane's key abilities.
Overall Assessment
Mage is a strong choice if you commit to learning the class, but it's not beginner-friendly. Thin defenses and healer dependency mean you need solid mechanic awareness. Build variety across three specs is excellent, and Mage has some of the best apex talent designs in the game from a thematic standpoint. Fire's apex is the weakest of the three since it just feeds more into Combustion dependency. Frost and Arcane both have exciting, well-designed apex talents.
Available Roles: DPS only (three specs)
Difficulty: Hard
Class Strengths
Warlock has three very different DPS specs covering different niches, and at least one typically sits near the top of the meters. They're one of the few classes with permanent pets, which helps with solo content. Group utility is strong with Healthstones for the whole group, Soulstones (functioning as a battle res), and Demonic Gateway for mobility in raids. Warlocks also have access to some of the most powerful offensive cooldowns in the game and can summon teammates from across realms. The class fantasy of summoning demons and channeling shadow and chaos magic is one of the most compelling in WoW.
Destruction (Ranged DPS)
Destruction didn't see major changes heading into Midnight. It's basically a one-to-one carry-forward from The War Within with minor talent adjustments. You're still blowing things up with Rain of Fire and Chaos Bolt.
Apex Talent: Embers of Nihilam. Incinerate occasionally invokes the power of the Dark Titans to deal AoE damage. Chaos Bolt and Rain of Fire also trigger this effect automatically, providing consistent bonus damage on top of your rotation.
Affliction (Ranged DPS)
Affliction got a top-to-bottom rework. Malefic Rapture was removed entirely. The spec returns to being a pure damage-over-time rot spec with Soul Shard spenders like Unstable Affliction and Seed of Corruption back in the kit, along with several new abilities. If you enjoyed the classic Affliction fantasy of slowly killing enemies through stacking debuffs, this rework brings that identity back in full.
Apex Talent: Shadow of Nathreza. Haunt's damage has a chance to summon a demonic soul from the Twisting Nether to deal damage to your target and nearby enemies. Thematic, flavorful, and fits the Affliction fantasy well.
Demonology (Ranged DPS)
Demonology got much easier to play. Dreadstalkers are now free and instant-cast, and they also automatically summon your Charhound. One button and you've got a wave of pets instantly attacking enemies. The talent tree was completely reworked with many new abilities, including a Doomguard as a 2-minute cooldown summon.
Apex Talent: Dominion of Argus. Summoning your Demonic Tyrant also calls in additional minions from the Legion's homeworld, flooding the battlefield with demons. The ultimate pet-army fantasy.
Overall Assessment
Warlock rewards mastery. Affliction and Demonology in particular aren't easy to learn, but players who put in the time separate themselves from the pack quickly. All three specs offer great variety for both AoE and single-target, with strong hero talents and excellent apex talent design across the board. Thematically rich, mechanically deep, and far from boring. One of the best options if you enjoy complex caster gameplay.
Available Roles: Tank, DPS (two specs)
Difficulty: Easy
Class Strengths
Warriors have two DPS specs (Arms and Fury) that give you flexible toolkits for different damage situations. Plate armor makes you naturally durable. You bring Battle Shout (attack power raid buff) and the improved Rallying Cry for group durability. If you've played any MMO before, you can pick up all three Warrior specs and their rotations very quickly.
Build variety is limited, though. Arms and Fury are straightforward specs with one or two builds max. A warrior always feels like a warrior. You charge in, swing your weapon, and hit stuff. That consistency is either a selling point or a drawback depending on what you're looking for.
Arms (Melee DPS)
Arms got a talent tree rework for the better. Colossus Smash is now AoE baseline, hitting all enemies around you. Sweeping Strikes was reworked to a fixed number of attacks. Mastery now increases your damage by a flat amount. Arms feels slower overall, but each attack feels heavier and more impactful.
Apex Talent: Master of Warfare. Attacking an enemy gives Slam a chance to upgrade to Heroic Strike, which deals more damage, reduces the enemy's armor, and reduces the cooldown of Colossus Smash. Fits smoothly into your rotation and rewards consistent play.
Fury (Melee DPS)
Fury's core rotation is still built around Bloodthirst, Ravager, and Rampage. The spec got quality-of-life talent tree updates that made meaningful improvements without disrupting the core feel.
Apex Talent: Rampaging Berserker. Activating Recklessness further increases your damage, drastically reduces Rampage's cost, and each Rampage you cast increases your Strength by a flat percentage. Widely considered one of the best apex talents in the entire game. It creates a satisfying cycle of escalating power during your main cooldown window.
Protection (Tank)
Prot Warrior saw minimal gameplay changes and stays a straightforward, simple tank. The spec is still about strong physical damage reduction, though it remains relatively weak to magical attacks.
Apex Talent: Thunder Clap increases the damage of your next Shield Slam and causes AoE damage in front of you. While Shield Block is active, Shield Slam deals even more damage. This creates a good back-and-forth between Thunder Clap and Shield Slam while rewarding you for keeping your defensives rolling.
Overall Assessment
Warrior is the most pick-up-and-play class in the game for anyone with MMO experience. All three specs are easy to learn, and the apex talents are surprisingly strong across the board. Fury's Rampaging Berserker is a standout, and Protection's design rewards active tank play. The trade is limited variety: what you see is what you get, and Arms/Fury don't offer wildly different build paths.
Available Roles: Healer, Ranged DPS, Melee DPS
Difficulty: Moderate to Hard
Class Strengths
Shaman offers one of the widest gameplay ranges in the game between its three specs: a ranged spellcaster (Elemental), a melee fighter (Enhancement), and a healer (Restoration). All three have a wide variety of builds. Shamans also bring some of the best utility in WoW through their totem toolkit, the Skyfury buff, and Bloodlust/Heroism to massively increase raid damage. If you want to be the player with game-changing utility who still pulls their weight in damage or healing, Shaman is a great option.
Enhancement (Melee DPS)
Enhancement was heavily pruned and polished heading into Midnight. This was one of the worst offenders for button bloat in The War Within, and the cleanup made a massive difference. Talent tree updates added some nice quality-of-life improvements, and the spec feels much better to play.
Apex Talent: Storm Unleash. Maelstrom you spend has a chance to cause your next Crash Lightning to ignore its cooldown and deal extra AoE damage. Gets the job done, but buffing Crash Lightning isn't the most inspiring apex design.
Elemental (Ranged DPS)
The biggest addition is Voltaic Blaze, which causes Flame Shock to hit enemies in an AoE and makes your next Lava Burst hit all affected targets consistently. The talent tree got a significant rework and the spec was improved without feeling gutted in the process.
Apex Talent: Feedback Loop. Elemental Overload damage is increased, and Elemental Overloads have a 25% chance to trigger yet another Elemental Overload, letting you fire off spells at a ridiculous rate during lucky procs. Strong numbers, straightforward design.
Restoration (Healer)
Resto Shaman got heavy pruning. Healing Surge is gone. You can no longer have both Healing Tide Totem and Ascendance. Cloudburst Totem, Earthen Wall Totem, and other niche totems were also cut.
Apex Talent: Stormstream Totem. Casting Riptide has a chance to upgrade your next Healing Stream Totem into Stormstream, which heals for a huge amount to all party members. From a raw throughput perspective, one of the strongest apex talents in the game.
Overall Assessment
Shaman needs more game knowledge than most classes to play well because of how much utility you have access to. Knowing when and how to drop totems and support abilities is what separates decent Shaman players from great ones. Build variety is excellent across all three specs, letting you fill virtually any role needed. Apex designs are numerically strong but a bit uninspired for Enhancement and Elemental, while Restoration's Stormstream Totem stands out as both powerful and satisfying to use.
Available Roles: Tank, DPS (two specs)
Difficulty: Easy to Moderate
Class Strengths
Death Knights are universally known as the tankiest class in the game. Incredibly durable and hard to kill regardless of spec. Both DPS specializations play very differently: Unholy is about summoning armies of minions while dealing disease and shadow damage, while Frost focuses on explosive burst and hard-hitting attacks. You're also one of the few classes with a battle res and have one of the most iconic class fantasies in WoW.
Unholy (Melee DPS)
Unholy was completely reworked from top to bottom for Midnight. The spec is now all about summoning minions to flood the battlefield while dealing necrotic, shadow, and disease damage. It's being called one of the most fun specs in WoW right now, and the rework is a dramatic improvement in both gameplay and fantasy.
Apex Talent: Forbidden Knowledge. Casting Army of the Dead transforms your Death Coil and Epidemic into stronger versions and increases your minion summoning rate, flooding the field with even more undead. Full commitment to the pet army fantasy.
Frost (Melee DPS)
Frost Death Knight stayed essentially the same heading into Midnight. No major gameplay changes.
Apex Talent: Chosen of Frostbrood. Frostwyrm's Fury deals 100% increased damage to the first enemy it hits and grants you 15% Haste for 12 seconds. All Frost damage is increased by 10%, and after the Frostwyrm flies away, you can cast Frostwyrm's Fury again to recall it at 50% effectiveness. The talent also extends Pillar of Frost and grants additional Strength through Enduring Strength. Decent buffs, but not the most exciting apex in the game.
Blood (Tank)
Blood Death Knight got significant ability pruning. Core abilities are heavier and more impactful than before. The biggest mechanical change is that Dancing Rune Weapon now sits on a set cooldown rather than being reducible by spending Bone Shield charges.
Apex Talent: Dance of Midnight. Consuming a Rune has a chance to call a Dancing Rune Weapon to your aid. While it's active, Heart Strike deals more damage and your combat abilities are broadly strengthened. Leans heavily into Dancing Rune Weapon, which won't click with every player.
Overall Assessment
Death Knight is easy to pick up across all three specs, though the Unholy rework adds enough new systems that it needs more learning time than Frost or Blood. Build variety is decent, but the three specs are so different from each other that your enjoyment depends heavily on which style appeals to you. Unholy's Forbidden Knowledge is excellent and fits the spec perfectly. Frost and Blood's apex talents are less inspired.
Available Roles: Tank, Healer, Melee DPS
Difficulty: Hard
Class Strengths
Monk is one of only a few classes with all three role types available, and each spec brings a unique aura for the raid. You also bring Mystic Touch, a debuff that increases all physical damage to the target by 3%. Monk is one of the most mobile classes in the game across all specs, and every specialization has a genuinely unique gameplay style that doesn't feel like anything else in WoW.
Windwalker (Melee DPS)
Windwalker got major updates for Midnight. Storm, Earth, and Fire is gone, and many micro burst cooldowns were removed. The talent tree was completely reworked along with hero talent trees. A new major cooldown called Zenith was added, and much of your damage now centers around Fists of Fury.
Apex Talent: Tiger's Eye Brew. Activating Zenith increases your critical strike chance, and Fists of Fury deals additional damage based on your crit. Ties your main cooldown and primary damage ability together well, though Windwalker still needs some numerical buffs at the moment.
Mistweaver (Healer)
Mistweaver saw talent tree improvements. Vivify was replaced with a new splash-heavy healing ability. You can now play a revamped caster Soothing Mist build, and healing amplification effects were trimmed for better balance.
Apex Talent: Spiritfont. Rising Sun Kick and Vivify have a chance to activate Spiritfont, causing your next Enveloping Mist to channel Soothing Mist onto five nearby allies. Activating Thunder Focus Tea triggers this automatically and applies Chi Cocoons at 30% effectiveness to all allies around your target. Considered one of the best healer apex talents in the game.
Brewmaster (Tank)
Brewmaster got heavy pruning and rotation simplification. Stagger interactions were cleaned up, talent trees improved, and the spec leans fully into the brewmaster theme.
Apex Talent: Bring Me Another. Casting a brew leaves you with an empty barrel. These barrels stack and get consumed by your next Keg Smash to deal additional damage. Gets the job done but doesn't make your rotation feel much different.
Overall Assessment
Monk is an advanced class that rewards investment. All three specs have completely unique gameplay that doesn't map to anything else. Build variety depends on whether you enjoy playing multiple roles, since having one spec per role type can either expand or limit your options. Mistweaver's Spiritfont is a standout apex talent. Windwalker and Brewmaster's apex talents feel flatter in terms of rotational engagement.
Available Roles: Tank, DPS (two specs, plus brand-new Devourer)
Difficulty: Easy
Class Strengths
Demon Hunter is one of the most mobile classes in the game with incredibly strong offensive cooldowns like Metamorphosis. It's straightforward to pick up but offers depth for players who want to push further. The AoE damage toolkit is one of the best in the game, making Demon Hunters excellent for Mythic Plus. You bring the Chaos Brand debuff (3% increased magic damage to the target) for raids and have great self-sustain through natural leech.
Midnight adds a third specialization: Devourer, a mid-range DPS option alongside Havoc (melee DPS) and Vengeance (tank).
Devourer (Mid-Range DPS) - NEW
Devourer is the brand-new spec arriving with Midnight. Gameplay revolves around ripping souls from your enemies and consuming them to enter a Metamorphosis state for massively increased damage. Easy to pick up, but mastering soul fragment management and Metamorphosis timing adds real depth. The spec is flashy, well-animated, and performs well in solo content, battlegrounds, and world PvP. There are some concerns about dungeon performance, but it's starting strong overall.
Apex Talent: Midnight. Drastically increases the damage of Collapsing Star, making it automatically critically strike. You also collect more Soul Fragments whenever you enter Metamorphosis. Directly amplifies the spec's core loop.
Vengeance (Tank)
Vengeance got minor changes. Fiery Brand and Spirit Bomb were reworked and updated, and the damage profile remains incredibly high for a tank.
Apex Talent: Untethered Rage. Your abilities have a chance to let you cast Metamorphosis without triggering its cooldown. Widely considered one of the best tank apex talents in the game. Drastically increases your damage, survivability, and just how much fun you're having whenever it procs.
Havoc (Melee DPS)
Havoc stayed very similar heading into Midnight with minor talent tree updates and some ability adjustments. Blur gives better defensive capabilities, and the rotation remains simple and tight.
Apex Talent: Eternal Hunt. Fully channeling Eye Beam makes your next Blade Dance refresh its own cooldown after use. Also increases the damage of The Hunt, Eye Beam, and Blade Dance. Considered one of the best DPS apex talents in the game, creating satisfying burst windows around your key abilities.
Overall Assessment
Demon Hunter is in a great spot heading into Midnight. All three specs are beginner-friendly, perform well, and have standout apex talents. Vengeance has arguably the best tank apex talent, Havoc has one of the best DPS apex talents, and Devourer's Midnight talent plugs directly into its core gameplay. The third spec also means build variety is now very strong across ranged DPS (Devourer), melee DPS (Havoc), and tanking (Vengeance). A great class for anyone.
Available Roles: Healer, Ranged DPS, Support Buffer DPS
Difficulty: Moderate
Class Strengths
Evoker has three specializations including a DPS, a healer, and Augmentation, the only support buffer DPS spec in the entire game. You're also one of the few classes that bring a Bloodlust effect. The hero talent and apex talent tree designs are widely considered the best in the game, giving you nearly limitless creativity in how you build. Evoker fights from moderate range and draws on the power of the Red, Blue, and Green Dragonflights.
Augmentation (Support Buffer DPS)
Augmentation stayed very similar heading into Midnight. You're still the dedicated support class buffing allies to increase their damage. Ebon Might is now raid-wide and its baseline buff was increased.
Apex Talent: Duplicate. Breath of Eons summons a time-displaced version of you to fight alongside you. This duplicate copies your abilities, and extending Ebon Might also extends your duplicate, boosting your stats. Creative and powerful.
Devastation (Ranged DPS)
Devastation didn't get drastic changes but was tightened up. Shattering Star is now a passive tied to Eternity Surge. Hero talent trees got major reworks that made them more effective.
Apex Talent: Rising Fury. Activating Dragonrage increases your Haste. When Dragonrage ends, you get damage and Haste bonuses plus Essence Burst generation. A strong ramp-and-payoff cycle around your major cooldown.
Preservation (Healer)
Preservation saw meaningful changes. Spiritbloom was removed. Dream Breath was substantially buffed and became more central to the rotation. Echo and Verdant Embrace were also buffed significantly.
Apex Talent: Merithra's Blessing. Your essence abilities have a chance to infuse your next Reversion, upgrading it to Merithra's Blessing, which sends healing to five allies in an area. Dream Breath's instant healing is also increased, and Dream Breath automatically procs this effect, giving you reliable access to strong burst healing when you need it.
Overall Assessment
Evoker's empowered spell system is unlike anything else in WoW, so there's a learning curve even for experienced players picking it up for the first time. Once you adjust, though, the specs aren't overly difficult. Build variety is excellent across all three thanks to strong hero talent and apex talent designs. If you want a class that feels genuinely different from everything else and offers creative build options, Evoker is one of the best choices in Midnight.
Classes by Role Availability
| Role Access | Classes |
|---|---|
| All Three Roles (Tank/Healer/DPS) | Paladin, Druid, Monk |
| Tank + DPS | Warrior, Death Knight, Demon Hunter |
| Healer + DPS | Priest, Shaman, Evoker |
| DPS Only (3 specs) | Hunter, Rogue, Mage, Warlock |
Difficulty Ratings
| Difficulty | Classes |
|---|---|
| Easy | Hunter, Paladin, Demon Hunter, Warrior |
| Moderate | Priest, Death Knight, Evoker |
| Hard | Druid, Rogue, Mage, Warlock, Shaman, Monk |
Making Your Decision
If you're still stuck after reading through every class, here's a simple framework:
Decide your role first. Tank, healer, or DPS? Do you want the option to swap roles on the same character? This one question cuts roughly half the roster for most players.
Pick the theme that excites you. Numbers change every patch. Class fantasy sticks with you for years. If a class's visual style, lore, and abilities make you want to log in, that's the strongest sign you'll stick with it.
Be honest about difficulty. If you're new or returning, starting with an easier class lets you learn the expansion's content without fighting your rotation at the same time. You can always level alts later.
Don't stress about perfection. The Warband system means playing multiple characters is more viable than ever. Achievements, reputation, transmogs, titles, and more carry across your account. If you're torn between two or three classes, level them all. You won't lose meaningful progress.
Use Follower Dungeons. If any role or class interests you but feels intimidating, test it in Follower Dungeons with zero pressure before committing.