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New here? Let’s start small.2 min read · You don’t need to know all the jargon. Here’s how to choose a first goal and get going.
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Forever DPS tier list

Every build the WoW: Forever sim publishes, ranked by its own simulated damage on one fixed fight. Retribution Paladin leads at 1,097 DPS.

From the WoW: Forever simSim 684f9d6 · 2 Oct 20265,000 iterations
Top build
Retribution Paladin
Top DPS
1,097
Damage builds
28
Tank builds
3
Fight
One target, 5 min

Projected gear on a beta game

The simulator ranks its builds in hypothetical level-65 gear, projected from Forever’s crafted and PvP item patterns. None of it is confirmed loot. Forever and the simulator are both in beta, and some talents and racials use unverified values, so this order will move. Treat it as a snapshot of the model, not a reason to choose a main.

Damage builds

DPS and share of the top build: every item's stats and weapon damage 10% higher, one target for five minutes. Open a build for its races, talents and where its damage comes from.

marks a variant: another way the simulator plays a spec. Variants rank with the rest but never move the bands.

  1. S15% or more above the median
    1. RetributionPaladin · 13/7/31 · 3 races1,097100%
    2. Physical RetPaladin · 13/7/31 · 3 races1,00692%
    3. Beast MasteryHunter · 31/20/0 · 8 races96988%
    4. Pet/MeleeHunter · 16/10/25 · 8 races95887%
    5. FuryWarrior · 17/34/0 · 10 races94586%
    6. SurvivalHunter · 7/11/33 · 8 races93685%
  2. AAt or above the median
    1. Demonic PactWarlock · 2/31/18 · 5 races91784%
    2. Fury (Sunder)Warrior · 17/34/0 · 10 races91283%
    3. ArmsWarrior · 34/17/0 · 10 races86078%
    4. ShadowPriest · 18/0/33 · 6 races85878%
    5. 2H BloodthirstWarrior · 20/31/0 · 10 races85278%
    6. AfflictionWarlock · 31/0/20 · 5 races83576%
    7. DestructionWarlock · 13/5/33 · 5 races82875%
    8. MarksmanshipHunter · 5/35/11 · 8 races81674%
    9. DS/RuinWarlock · 21/11/19 · 5 races80473%
    10. EnhancementShaman · 20/31/0 · 5 races80473%
  3. BUp to 15% below the median
    1. Arcane–FrostMage · 28/0/23 · 6 races77671%
    2. FeralDruid · 9/34/8 · 4 races76169%
    3. ArcaneMage · 33/3/15 · 6 races75669%
    4. FireMage · 17/31/3 · 6 races75369%
    5. BalanceDruid · 38/0/13 · 4 races74668%
    6. FrostMage · 11/3/37 · 6 races73167%
    7. CombatRogue · 18/33/0 · 9 races73067%
    8. MutilateRogue · 31/20/0 · 9 races71165%
  4. CMore than 15% below the median
    1. SubtletyRogue · 20/0/31 · 9 races68262%
    2. ElementalShaman · 31/7/13 · 5 races51247%
    3. SmitePriest · 31/17/3 · 6 races49645%
    4. StormcallerShaman · 29/22/0 · 5 races47543%

Tanks

DPS a tank deals while a raid boss hits it from the front, with its healing modelled. Threat and survival are not ranked.

Tanks fight a different encounter from the damage builds, so compare them only with each other.

  1. AAt or above the median
    1. BearDruid · 1/40/10 · 4 races644100%
    2. ProtectionPaladin · 0/43/8 · 3 races56888%
  2. CMore than 15% below the median
    1. ProtectionWarrior · 4/6/41 · 10 races38460%

How it is ranked

What is ranked

Every build in the simulator’s benchmark: 28 damage builds and 3 tanks, each on every race its class can be. Talents, rotation, consumables and raid buffs stay fixed per build; each race wears the gear the simulator’s own search chose for it. Hit comes only from that gear, enchants, talents and racials.

The same fight for all

Level 60 against one level 63 dragonkin with 3,731 armor · 5 minutes · single target, with full raid buffs and Tier 1 set bonuses on. Each result is the mean of 5,000 simulated fights; its 95% interval is about one DPS either way.

Bands

Each build is compared with the median core build on its own board, with your filters applied. S is 15% or more above the median, A at or above it, B up to 15% below and C further down. The percentage on each card is its share of the top build. Variants never move the median. Bands describe these reference characters; they are not a verdict on a class.

Simulator version

The WoW: Forever sim at 684f9d6, published 2 Oct 2026, under its Forever ruleset. The character planner exports to the same commit, so a build you plan here runs on the engine that ranked it.

Questions

What is the best DPS build in WoW Forever?

On the simulator’s current benchmark, Retribution Paladin leads, ahead of Physical Ret Paladin and Beast Mastery Hunter. That is one fixed character per build in projected gear, on a beta game. Your own talents, gear and fight can put a build somewhere else.

Is this based on logs or simulations?

Simulations only. Every number is from the open-source WoW: Forever sim’s published benchmark. No combat logs are used, and this site does not change the results; it orders and bands them.

Why is the gear “projected”?

Forever’s level-65 items are not out yet. The simulator models them from the patterns of Forever’s crafted and PvP items, with their stats written into their names, so every build is compared on equal footing. None of it is confirmed loot.

Is the race shown the best one for my build?

It is the race with the most simulated damage on the faction you chose. The race tier list shows every race’s gap from the best and marks races the simulation cannot separate. Some racials are only partly modelled, and they can matter more than those gaps.

What do No Tier 1, Gear +10% and Gear +50% mean?

They are the simulator’s own replays of the same characters: without their Tier 1 set bonuses, and with every item’s stats and weapon damage raised by 10% or 50%. They show which builds lean on their set bonuses and which pull ahead as gear improves. They are not predictions of future items.

How often does the ranking change?

When this site moves to a newer simulator commit. The commit and its date are on this page, and the character export uses the same one.

Where are healers?

The simulator does not publish healer results yet, so there is nothing to rank. Holy and Discipline talents appear only where a damage build uses them, such as Smite. For your own healer, the character planner's Healing tab works out what each stat is worth to you, which items heal for more and the best set the catalogue allows.