Classic Hardcore Best Class for You

Hardcore mode makes some obvious adjustments to class selection for both seasoned veteran players, as well as for beginners. If you want to excel and get to level 60, you need to choose your class and specialization wisely. In this guide we will tell you everything about each class and their characteristics, so that you can choose the class that suits you best.

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Best Class for Beginners

Like the original In World of Warcraft, in Hardcore some classes are more beginner player friendly and some are not. For example, despite the incredible power of Mages, they are quite difficult for a newbie to play as, as they require a lot of concentration and thorough knowledge of skills and abilities, as well as skill performance and perfect calculation of time.

Warlock: The main advantage of a Warlock is that their pets can serve as tanks, diverting damage away from you. They can sacrifice the pets to save the main character by targeting enemies or using the Voidwalker ability Sacrifice. Affliction Warlocks excel at damage over time spells, allowing them to deal damage while kiting enemies. Warlocks have great survivability, tankiness and might be the easiest class for hardcore due to their ability to come out from risky situations alive. One of the best-suited classes for beginners.

Hunter: Hunters also have the ability to tame pets that can tank and hold aggro, providing you an additional layer of survivability. Their ranged attacks allow them to keep their distance from enemies, so direct melee damage is no longer a concern. However, we should not forget that despite the undoubted power and clear dominance in the game, statistics say that almost 20% of character deaths in Hardcore are Hunters.

Paladin: Paladins, while at first glance very slow and boring, have strong healing and defense abilities, making them resilient in combat, which is crucial for beginners. And they also have a good toolkit to increase their speed, so their slowness isn’t such a problem either. In addition, Retribution Paladins have high self-repair due to their attacks and abilities.

Druid: Druids have the ability to shapeshift into forms of bear or cat for different situations, enhancing their survivability. Also with special builds, like Restoration Druid, they can heal themselves and others, increasing longevity in battles. But it will be pretty tough to manage a druid in the first 10 levels.

Best Leveling Class

Here are the best classes for leveling in WoW Classic Hardcore. If you want to know more about the leveling process in Hardcore dive into our Classic Hardcore WoW Leveling guide.

S-Tier Classes

The classes of Hunter and Mage are considered to be the most powerful in Classic Hardcore leveling, as they have the ability to efficiently kill mobs while also maintaining a high level of safety with minimal risk involved.

Hunter: Hunters are considered one of the strongest leveling classes in Classic Hardcore. They excel because of their pets and ability to deal decent damage while moving, which allows them to kite effectively. Also, Hunter pets scale based on level, not gear, which is advantageous while leveling. And since Hunters don’t rely on spells or melee attacks, they have great mobility, thus by kiting you can defeat stronger foes.

Mage: Mage is a definitely strong leveling class. But due to the difficulty of applying skills and the need to clearly calculate gameplay, they require much more experience than Hunters. Which also makes them not a very suitable class for beginners. On the other hand, Mage has the highest multi-target mob kill speed and can do so safely, as they use roots and slows to keep a safe distance from enemies.

A-Tier Classes

Warlock, Paladin and Rogue are great for leveling as they have unique strengths and can level consistently without much stress.

Warlock: They have summoned pets and can create powerful consumables like the Healthstone. The Warlock Voidwalker pet acts as a tank and provides strong shielding with Sacrifice. Also Warlocks can handle multiple enemies at once with damage-over-time abilities and have on-demand crowd control with Fear. However, they have resource limitations, needing to manage Soulshards, health, and mana. And they have higher mana costs due to Life Tap than other spell casters.

Paladin: Being the safest melee class due to their self-healing abilities and tanky nature with Mail and Plate armor, Paladins have slowest kill speeds compared to other classes. But they are great for duos due to their healing abilities and powerful buffs. The thing is that Paladins deal damage through auto-attacks with seals and their Judgement ability. Despite the slower kill speed, Paladins offer a consistent experience and have various tools to handle different situations.

Rogue: On the contrary Rogue has a fast killing speed. However, they lack self healing abilities and are more vulnerable due to their leather armor. Despite this, they have useful tools like Evasion, stun abilities, and a spell casting interrupt for controlling enemies, as well as a variety of tools for escaping difficult situations. Their Stealth ability allows for easier maneuvering in dangerous areas. But it is important for rogues to prioritize obtaining the best gear possible, as their abilities are based on weapon damage and off-hand attacks are more likely miss.

Best PvP Class

WoW Classic Hardcore is completely different when it comes to PvP. In other words Hardcore realms are strictly PvE oriented. You can no longer attack players or be attacked by them even in Contested Zones. Additionally quests like The Missing Diplomat or The Attack! will no longer flag you for PvP.

Playing the Hardcore mode, you won’t be able to participate in Battlegrounds, but, you can still queue for pre-made Wargames against other players, but you won’t earn any Reputation. As you can see, it’s not worth risking your life for no rewards.

However, there is an option for PvP players. You can activate this feature by typing /pvp in the chat or challenge someone to a Duel to the Death by typing /makgora command. The rules are the same: if you lose, you lose your character permanently. If you win, you gain a stack of the String of Ears buff, which indicates the number of duels you have won.

Best DPS Class

Rogue: Rogues excel in the game by dealing damage on move to avoid dangerous situations especially with the right set of weapons. And show huge DPS with their talents like Opportunity and Improved Ambush. These allow you to do a ton of damage with your Ambush.

Warlock: Warlocks have insane DoT damage and damage from the other abilities. If you want to deal max damage, choose Succubus due to the higher damage potential compared to all of your other demons or Voidwalker with Unholy Power to buff his damage by 20%.

Druid: Feral is the most reliable and consistent damage dealer of the Druid specializations. But you should note, that for Druids picking up Cat Form increases your damage but at the same time lowers your survivability.

Shaman: Enhancement is the most reliable and consistent damage dealer of the Shaman specializations. With your Flurry Talent and Stormstrike even at first levels you will deal a pretty good amount of damage.

Best Healing Class

Priest: insane class for self-sustain and group healing. Their Power Word: Shield and Holy abilities like Prayer of Healing are the best demand for any party.

Paladin: surprising, but Paladins have a decent pull of abilities, which allows them to basically give a second life – Lay on Hands and Bubble. They also have a really valuable Divine Shield.

Druid: Druids due to their ability kit have tons of healing. Restoration Druid can heal both single-target and AoE with Tranquility, if you manage to get to the mid-game. On top of that upon reaching level 20 you will get Rebirth to revive any of your teammates.

Warlock: When it comes to Hardcore, your main goal is survival and Warlocks better know how to do that. The stat that helps them with survival is Stamina, which increases the Health. Additionally, talents like Demonic Embrace and Soul Link benefit from Stamina. So at first or while leveling choose Affliction and Demonology.

Shaman: Shaman comes with a considerable amount of self healing and the ability to dispel Poison. Also Shaman offers some of the strongest healing in the game in the form of Chain Heal and has countless Totems that offer buffs to better handle almost every situation. So they will shine in duo with Warriors and Hunters.

Best WoW Tanking Class

Warriors: Warriors are considered the most reliable tanking class for late-game content due to their strengths, making you a valuable asset in any dungeon or raid, especially for hardcore guilds attempting Molten Core, Ahn’Qiraj, and BWL. But don’t forget that their pretty weak choice for Hardcore in general and for now is considering the worst class in the game. If you want to participate in a raid and definitely stay alive you can buy our raid boost service, like Classic Hardcore Molten Core Boost.

Warlocks: Warlocks in the game have access to a personal tank minion at level 10, large shields, self-healing abilities, high damage output, and fear spells that can make difficult quests easier. Warlocks are also enjoyable to play and very beginners friendly.

Shaman: Shamans are tanky because they can wear mail armor. Shamans perform great as they have self-sustaining abilities and crowd control, and can deal a decent amount of damage. The Ghost Wolf ability gives them a movement speed buff, making them faster than other classes before they can use mounts. The Earthbind Totem can be used for kiting if used correctly.

Druid: Their kit allows them to adopt DPS, Healing, and Tanking roles, resulting in being loved by all (being the easiest class to find dungeon groups with.) And they scale surprisingly well with armor while in Bear Form! And if you want to get a chance to obtain pre-raid gear by completing a dungeon, you can buy our Classic Hardcore Blackrock Depths Boost.

Hunter: Speccing heavily into Beast Mastery in Hunter class can make your pet a strong tank. But keep in mind that Hunters themselves become tanky at level 40 by learning to wear Mail armor.

Best WoW Solo Class

Hunter: BeastMastery Hunters with their pets, ability to deal damage on the move, high kiting abilities, and low dependency on gear, are essentially the perfect class for solo leveling, as well as for any other purpose in Hardcore.

Druid: Feral Druid is the most versatile class, despite being not as fast at killing as other classes like Paladin. However, Druid has unique abilities like Entangling Roots and the shapeshift ability, which allows them to defeat solo enemies that other classes might struggle with. Mastering Druid takes time due to the endless possibilities it offers. But unlike other melee classes, Druid is not heavily dependent on gear.

Paladin: When choosing a spec for a Paladin, it is important to consider Retribution as it offers a balance between kill speed and durability. Retribution specializes in using two-handed weapons and can deal significant burst of damage, while also providing strong buffs in the form of Blessings. Additionally, Retribution Paladins are capable of off-healing and have strong cooldowns.

Mage: Mages perform great in AoE farming, so their leveling speed even in solo play is quite impressive. As well as do elite quests indefinitely. Frost Mages are probably the top choice for Hardcore.

Rogue: Rogues with their sneaky abilities that allow them to get out of the really sticky situations, and amazingly strong cooldowns, are a decent option for solo play.

Best Duo Partners

Playing Hardcore Classic WoW as a duo adds a new level of gameplay, making it more thrilling and challenging. You can level up together, take on tough for solo completing quests and elites, and trade crafted items, as well as unlock professions that compliment each other. To avoid unnecessary risk by grinding resources you can buy our Hardcore Professions Kits.

Here we’ll review the best class combinations for duo WoW Hardcore to maximize your chances of success.

As you can see from the Table, the best S-tier partners for duo play will be:

• Druid+Hunter
• Druid+Warlock
• Hunter+Hunter
• Hunter+Shaman
• Mage+Mage
• Paladin+Rogue
• Paladin+Warlock
• Priest+Warlock
• Priest+Warrior
• Shaman+Warrior

Now let’s take a closer look at the pros and cons of each class:

Hunter

The Hunter class stands out as one of the most potent, if not the most powerful, options for leveling in World of Warcraft Classic Hardcore. This distinction is owed to their pets, which provide valuable support, and their unique ability to deal damage on the move. This mobility allows them to kite enemies with exceptional efficiency. A noteworthy advantage of Hunter pets is their level-based scaling, making them less gear-dependent compared to other classes lower on this list. The Hunter’s remarkable mobility, stemming from their ranged attacks and lack of casted spells or reliance on melee combat, empowers them to overcome foes significantly superior in strength. While Hunter is a welcoming choice for newcomers, as you become more adept, you’ll find opportunities for optimization, like fine-tuning your ranged swing timer and mastering your pet’s threat management.

Mage

Masters of arcane magic, mages offer potent burst damage and strong crowd control abilities. They can deal tons of damage from a safe distance, making them a valuable member of any group with their insane AoE damage. However, mages have low health and are prone to being targeted by enemies, especially at low level, until you get your Ice Block.

Warlock

Among the A-tier classes, the Warlock emerges as a formidable contender, potentially even the strongest class. It might be the best choice for ones who love caster classes. Their summonable pets and the creation of potent consumables like Healthstones grant them a unique advantage. The Warlock’s Voidwalker pet, beyond offering a reliable tank, delivers a robust shielding effect through Sacrifice, which is one of the most formidable in the game. Alongside their pets, Warlocks adeptly handle multiple enemies simultaneously through damage-over-time abilities. When danger looms, they possess Fear for instant crowd control. However, Warlocks grapple with resource constraints as a primary weakness. Vigilant management of Soulshards, health, and mana is essential, especially since their Life Tap ability causes higher mana costs than other spellcasters. Warlocks gain substantial benefits from gear, given their resource-intensive abilities. Stamina and Intellect significantly enhance their leveling process, while their talents emphasize the value of Hit rating even more than other spellcasters.

Paladin

Versatile holy warriors, paladins can fulfill multiple roles, ranging from tanking to healing and damage dealing. They possess strong defensive abilities, allowing them to withstand heavy punishment. However, paladins might struggle with mana management and can sometimes lack burst damage compared to other classes.

Rogue

Stealthy and deadly, rogues excel in dealing burst damage and control. They are able to ambush enemies while in the shadows, making them formidable in PvP situations. However, rogues tend to be squishy and rely heavily on positional advantage for maximum efficiency.

Druid

The Druid class embodies versatility, excelling in many areas but not specializing in one. When it comes to kill speed, Druids might lag behind most classes, except perhaps Paladins. However, adaptability is what Druids are most valued for, and it’s what makes them the most flexible class in WoW Classic. Through abilities like Entangling Roots and their various shapeshifting forms, Druids can defeat formidable foes that other classes might struggle against. Mastering the Druid’s potential requires a substantial time investment, as its capabilities are nearly boundless.

Priest

Holy wielders of divine magic, priests excel in healing and support. They can keep themselves and their allies alive through powerful healing spells. Additionally, priests have access to a variety of helpful buffs, making them valuable in group play. However, Priests lack heavy armor and offensive abilities, making them vulnerable in solo encounters.

Shaman

Shamans shine in group settings due to the potent buffs their Totems provide, but leveling solo can pose some challenges. Despite this, Shamans boast strong damage output, effective self-healing, and noteworthy durability. However, a noticeable drawback is their lack of a genuine emergency cooldown. This makes caution essential when pulling multiple mobs compared to other classes. While Shamans don’t heavily depend on gear, a swift weapon enhances the benefits of Flametongue Weapon significantly, speeding up your kill rate.

Warrior

As melee powerhouses, warriors are known for their impressive damage output and high survivability. Heavy armor makes Warriors formidable tanks that can withstand significant amount of damage. However, warriors lack ranged abilities and rely heavily on equipment to excel in combat.

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We hope that with our guide it will be easier for you to decide on the class to delve into the brutal and deadly realities of Hardcore perhaps think about changing a long-loved character in favor of survivability. Stay alive, whatever it takes!