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Druid or Hunter: Which Should You Play in WoW Forever?
Pick the Hunter if you mostly play alone: it is the easiest class to level and your pet takes the hits. Pick the Druid if you want to tank, heal or deal damage on one character and you don't mind a slower start.
Druid vs Hunter verdict
2 Druid 4 Hunter
For most players the Hunter is the better choice. It levels faster, handles elites on its own, farms gold with little downtime and is the stronger pick in PvP. You learn the class in an evening.
The Druid wins once you start grouping. Bear can tank dungeons, Restoration heals raids and Cat or Balance can fill a damage slot, so you are rarely stuck waiting for a group. If that flexibility matters more than an easy road to 60, play the Druid.
Druid vs Hunter: head-to-head comparison
| Category | Druid | Hunter |
|---|---|---|
| Leveling speed | Cat kills quickly once learned, but early levels are fiddly and form-dancing empties your mana bar. | Winner Pet in, shoot, loot, repeat: the least friction of any class. |
| Solo play | Bear survives bad pulls and you can heal, but every answer costs a shapeshift and mana. | Winner The pet holds aggro while you deal damage from safety; Lone Wolf trades it for damage later. |
| Dungeons | Winner Tank, healer or damage from one character, so groups always have your slot. | Reliable ranged damage with pet utility, but queuing behind every other damage dealer. |
| Raiding | Winner Restoration blankets the raid in heal-over-time spells; Bear and Moonkin fill demand too. | Marksmanship's Trueshot Aura adds ranged attack power, but ranged slots fill fast. |
| PvP | Every form has an answer, yet you lose fights while still learning the buttons. | Winner Survival is built for player combat, and kiting behind a pet is miserable to face. |
| Gold farming | Cat grinds fine, but constant shifting burns mana you cannot spare. | Winner The pet pins elites while you loot with almost no downtime. |
Playing Druid in this matchup
Feral is the leveling spec. Cat Form kills, Bear Form saves a bad pull, and you heal yourself between fights instead of eating. You don't need to respec to switch between damage and tanking while you level, which is the Druid's biggest advantage over every pure damage class.
At 60 you can stay Feral to tank or deal melee damage, go Restoration to heal, or play Balance with Moonkin Form and Eclipse. Groups always need a tank or a healer, so a Druid who is willing to switch roles gets invited quickly.
What holds the Druid back
You have more buttons than any other class: forms, energy, rage, mana and heals all at once. Feral also needs points deep in the tree before it feels strong. Night Elf, Tauren and Skyborne are your only race choices.
Playing Hunter in this matchup
The Hunter plays the same way from level 1 to 60: send the pet in, shoot, loot and move on. A tank pet like a bear, boar or turtle holds aggro while you deal damage from range, so you can pull elites that other classes avoid. Feign Death gets you out of most mistakes.
Beast Mastery is the leveling spec. Marksmanship takes over for raids with Aimed Shot, Sniper Shot and Trueshot Aura, and Survival adds traps and a real melee kit with Strider Kick and Mongoose Bite.
What holds the Hunter back
Without your pet you are much weaker, unless you build for Lone Wolf. In raids you are one of several ranged damage dealers, so you compete for spots instead of filling a role nobody else can.
How WoW Forever's talent changes shift this matchup
For the Druid, the 30 October changes reshaped Feral. Berserk is gone, Lacerate is now a Feral talent, and Primal Bite and Shifting Power close out the tree. On 2 November Shred, Claw, Ravage, Rip and Rake all hit harder and Bear Form threat rose to 115%, so Feral feels much better at launch than it did in testing.
Hunters got bigger numbers too: Aimed Shot, Sniper Shot, Arcane Shot and Serpent Sting all hit harder, Trueshot Aura was raised, and all traps now share one 30 second cooldown. Human Hunters are also new.
Which should you pick: Druid or Hunter?
- You want one character that tanks, heals, melees and casts, and you are excited to learn four toolkits instead of one.
- You want the flexible group slot: a Feral who can heal is never waiting for an invite.
- The new Eclipse weaving and Feral's Shifting Power bursts sound like fun, not homework.
- You plan to play at level 60, where Moonkin Form and the deep-tree payoffs are online.
- You can be bad at the class for a while; the learning curve is the steepest of the nine.
- Tauren health or Night Elf stealth appeals; with three races, the choice takes ten seconds.
- Your first character, because mistakes rarely kill you and the game teaches itself while your pet tanks.
- You want the fastest, least frustrating road to 60, with almost no downtime.
- Solo play is your whole plan: the pet is a tank, a damage partner and a safety net in one.
- PvP sounds fun but you do not want a punishing learning curve; Survival kiting is intuitive.
- You like new WoW Forever toys without new complexity: Focused Fire, Summon Hawk and Rapid Killing reward what you already do.
- You want the new Human option in WoW Forever, or a Troll with Berserking for 10% faster attacks on demand.
Druid and Hunter race options
Druid has 4 race choices and Hunter has 8. Races marked new could not play the class in Classic Era. See the racials guide for what each race brings.
| Faction | Druid | Hunter |
|---|---|---|
| Alliance | Night Elf, Skyborne High OrderNew | HumanNew, Dwarf, Night Elf, Skyborne High OrderNew |
| Horde | Tauren, Skyborne WindshaperNew | Orc, Tauren, Troll, Skyborne WindshaperNew |
Plan your Druid or Hunter build
Plan your points before paying for a respec. Open the Druid talent calculator or the Hunter talent calculator, or try a starter build for your preferred role. The class picking guide compares all nine classes if you are still undecided.
Druid vs Hunter: common questions
I have never played WoW before. Which one should I roll?
Play the Hunter. You only manage a pet and a few shots, and the pet protects you while you learn the game. The Druid asks you to swap forms and resources from the start.
Which one is faster to level from 1 to 60?
The Hunter. Your pet tanks while you shoot, so you rarely stop to eat or drink. Feral Druids level well too, but they spend more time managing forms.
Which one do dungeon groups actually want?
The Druid, because it can tank or heal. A Hunter is one of many ranged damage dealers, while a Druid in Bear Form or Restoration fills the roles groups wait for.
Is the Druid really that hard to learn?
It has a steeper start than most classes, because you juggle three forms and three resources. Once Feral picks up its key talents around level 30, it plays smoothly.
Which races can play Druid and Hunter in WoW Forever?
Druid: Night Elf and Skyborne High Order on the Alliance; Tauren and Skyborne Windshaper on the Horde. Hunter: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf and Skyborne High Order on the Alliance; Orc, Tauren, Troll and Skyborne Windshaper on the Horde.
What is the best leveling spec for Druid and Hunter in WoW Forever?
For leveling from 1 to 60, play Feral Druid or Beast Mastery Hunter. Both are S tier on our leveling tier list. Each class leveling guide has a talent path from level 10 to 60.