Best melee damage dealer for leveling

Ranked by our leveling tier for each class's best melee damage spec, then by our overall score. PvE desirability (0–5): spec performance, role scarcity, raid utility, and supply — fewer players of a class means more groups want you. PvP (0–5): community PvP tiers plus CC, escapes and self-healing. Equal weight. These are our own scores from those inputs, not a published ranking.

No melee damage spec: Priest, Mage, Warlock.

1. 1

   Shaman Enhancement

   Our tier A

   Our picks: PvE Restoration · PvP Enhancement · Leveling Enhancement

   Alliance race: DwarfHorde race: Orc

   Windfury burst, Stormstrike, Flurry (requires Mental Dexterity 3/3), Maelstrom Weapon instant heals, Rage of the Farseer (requires Mental Quickness 2/2) as a personal Bloodlust — attack speed only since 24 Sep.

   Recommendation
   • Sim: 713 DPS Sourced: Sim · 11 Oct run
   • 11% of beta characters play a Shaman Sourced: Beta census · 11 Oct
2. 2

   Druid Feral Combat

   Our tier A

   Our picks: PvE Feral Combat · PvP Restoration · Leveling Feral Combat

   Alliance race: Night ElfHorde race: Tauren

   One tree, two roles: the 44/0/7 hybrid below tanks (Natural Reaction, Thick Hide, Heart of the Wild) and cats (Primal Bite, Rend and Tear, Shifting Power, Berserk). Bear fell to last of the tanks on the 3 Oct sim after the Warrior and Paladin buffs; on the 11 Oct run it is second of the three (496, on an older engine snapshot), ahead of Prot Warrior (479). Bear Rage-on-crit got its own buff.

   Recommendation
   • Sim: 715 DPS, 496 DPS as a tank (older snapshot: engine fa25ac5, 11 Oct) Sourced: Sim · 11 Oct run
   • 11.3% of beta characters play a Druid Sourced: Beta census · 11 Oct
3. 3

   Paladin Retribution

   Our tier A

   Our picks: PvE Protection · PvP Retribution · Leveling Retribution

   Alliance race: DwarfHorde race: Undead

   Open-world PvP tools: Seal of Command burst, Repentance CC, Hammer of Justice, bubble. 790 DPS on the 11 Oct sim (fourth of 20 damage results); read it as a direction while the beta is still being tuned.

   Recommendation
   • Sim: 790 DPS Sourced: Sim · 11 Oct run
   • 11.7% of beta characters play a Paladin Sourced: Beta census · 11 Oct

4. Hunter Survival Our tier AOur leveling pick is Beast Mastery. Forever's new identity: Lacerating Strikes capstone (requires Expose Prey), Strider Kick, Predator's Edge.
5. Rogue Combat Our tier BRaid spec: Hack and Slash, Blade Flurry, Adrenaline Rush, Weapon Expertise (requires Blade Flurry).
6. Warrior Arms Our tier BMortal Strike (−50% healing) is still the battleground debuff; Bloodthrill got doubled on 24 Sep; Weaponmaster removes the weapon-respec problem.