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Hunter or Mage: Which Should You Play in WoW Forever?
Pick the Hunter if you want the easiest solo leveling: your pet tanks and you rarely die. Pick the Mage if you care most about dungeon and raid damage, crowd control and portals.
Hunter vs Mage verdict
3 Hunter 2 Mage 1 even
For most players the Hunter is the better choice. It levels faster on its own, solos elites with a pet and farms gold without stopping to drink. It is also more forgiving if you make mistakes.
The Mage wins in dungeons and raids, where area damage, Polymorph and Fire's burst are always wanted. In PvP the two are even: Frost control against the Hunter's range and pet.
Hunter vs Mage: head-to-head comparison
| Category | Hunter | Mage |
|---|---|---|
| Leveling speed | Winner The easiest solo leveler. Pet tanks, you shoot, almost no downtime. | Fast with area pulls, but fragile and mana-hungry; one bad pull costs the run. |
| Solo play | Winner Best solo class. Bear, boar or turtle tanks while you loot. | Strong solo; controls most fights, but dies faster when control slips. |
| Dungeons | Pet damage plus Trueshot Aura for ranged allies, but much weaker without the pet. | Winner Fire is built for exactly this: the party covers the fragility, burst does the talking. |
| Raiding | Marksmanship brings Trueshot Aura for ranged allies, but pure damage trails Fire. | Winner Fire posts top raid numbers. One job, best in class at it. |
| PvP | Even Survival is built for PvP: traps, kiting, a melee kick. | Even Strong in PvP. Slows, freezes and burst. |
| Gold farming | Winner Pet tanks elites while you shoot: low downtime, steady gold per hour. | Area pulls and portals, but drinking and repair bills eat the margin. |
Playing Hunter in this matchup
The Hunter levels with a pet doing the tanking. A bear, boar or turtle holds aggro while you shoot, so you can take on elites and groups of mobs that would kill most classes. Feign Death drops you out of combat when a pull goes wrong.
Beast Mastery is the leveling spec. Marksmanship is the raid spec with Aimed Shot and Sniper Shot, and Survival adds traps and melee tools like Strider Kick.
Where the Hunter falls short
In raids you compete with other ranged damage dealers, and you bring less utility than a Mage. Without your pet your survival drops sharply unless you build for Lone Wolf.
Playing Mage in this matchup
Frost is the Mage leveling spec. Frostbolt slows, Frost Nova roots, and from the mid levels you can pull groups of mobs and kill them with Blizzard or Cone of Cold. Conjured food and water and portals save you time and gold.
At 60 Fire is the raid spec, driven by Heating Up shortening Pyroblast after crits. Mages also bring Polymorph, Counterspell and Arcane Intellect to every group.
Where the Mage falls short
Cloth armor and a mana bar mean one bad pull can kill you. Area farming takes practice before it is safe.
How WoW Forever's talent changes shift this matchup
Hunters went into launch with higher damage. Aimed Shot, Sniper Shot, Arcane Shot and Serpent Sting all hit harder, Trueshot Aura gives 20 to 100 Ranged Attack Power by rank, and all traps now share one 30 second cooldown.
Mages lost Frost Blast, but Ice Lance now deals 300% more damage to Frozen targets, Ice Barrier adds 15% Frost damage and Precision gives 6% hit with all spells.
Which should you pick: Hunter or Mage?
- You want the easiest solo leveler and the recommended first character.
- The pet-tanks-you-shoot loop with almost no downtime sounds like home.
- You want to tame a bear, boar or turtle and treat it like family.
- Traps, kiting and a melee kick sound like your PvP.
- You accept being much weaker whenever the pet is gone.
- Marksmanship's Trueshot Aura, a ranged attack power buff for your group, is the ticket you want.
- You want bigger burst and strong PvP tools.
- Portals and free food beat pet management for you.
- You would rather control fights than delegate to a pet.
- You plan to raid as pure DPS, where Fire tops meters.
- You accept cloth fragility and drinking as the cost of damage.
- Orc, new in WoW Forever, or Gnome mana and root escape appeals.
Hunter and Mage race options
Hunter has 8 race choices and Mage has 6. Races marked new could not play the class in Classic Era. See the racials guide for what each race brings.
| Faction | Hunter | Mage |
|---|---|---|
| Alliance | HumanNew, Dwarf, Night Elf, Skyborne High OrderNew | Human, Gnome, Skyborne High OrderNew |
| Horde | Orc, Tauren, Troll, Skyborne WindshaperNew | OrcNew, Undead, Troll |
Plan your Hunter or Mage build
Plan your points before paying for a respec. Open the Hunter talent calculator or the Mage talent calculator, or try a starter build for your preferred role. The class picking guide compares all nine classes if you are still undecided.
Hunter vs Mage: common questions
Hunter or Mage for a brand-new player at WoW Forever's launch?
The Hunter. The pet protects you while you learn the game, and Feign Death saves you from most mistakes. A Mage is less forgiving.
Which one farms gold better?
Both farm well. A Mage kills groups of mobs faster once you master area pulls. A Hunter farms more safely and can solo elites for their drops.
Do I need my pet out all the time as a Hunter?
For most content, yes. The pet tanks for you while leveling. At 60 you can take Lone Wolf for 20% more damage without a pet, which some PvP and raid builds use.
Which is better in PvP, Hunter or Mage?
They are even. A Mage controls the fight with Frost Nova, Polymorph and Blink. A Hunter has range, traps and a pet that keeps pressure on the Mage.
Which races can play Hunter and Mage in WoW Forever?
Hunter: Human, Dwarf, Night Elf and Skyborne High Order on the Alliance; Orc, Tauren, Troll and Skyborne Windshaper on the Horde. Mage: Human, Gnome and Skyborne High Order on the Alliance; Orc, Undead and Troll on the Horde.
What is the best leveling spec for Hunter and Mage in WoW Forever?
For leveling from 1 to 60, play Beast Mastery Hunter or Frost Mage. Both are S tier on our leveling tier list. Each class leveling guide has a talent path from level 10 to 60.