Hunter is the most played class in the WoW Forever beta on both sides. Of the 1,072,409 characters in the census, 166,521 are Hunters, 15.5% of everyone.
Alliance and Horde pick differently below the top
On the Alliance, Hunters are 16.8% of characters (89,755 of 534,312), well ahead of Warrior at 12.3%. On the Horde the race is much closer: Hunters are 14.3% (76,766 of 538,097) and Shamans 14.0% (75,149), only 1,617 characters behind.
Shaman and Mage split the most by faction, in opposite directions, and Warlock leans the way Mage does not:
- Shaman is 14.0% of the Horde and 8.5% of the Alliance.
- Mage is 11.3% of the Alliance but 8.1% of the Horde.
- Warlock is 10.1% of the Horde and 8.2% of the Alliance.
Warrior, Paladin and Druid are about as popular on one side as on the other: each class's Alliance share is within a tenth of a point of its Horde share (Warrior 12.3% and 12.2%, Paladin 11.8% and 11.8%, Druid 11.4% and 11.4%).
Hunter's lead has been shrinking
Hunter was 17.4% of all characters on September 23 and is 15.5% now, down 1.9 points. Paladin fell by the same 1.9 points (13.7% to 11.8%) and Mage by 1.6. Shaman gained the most, 1.4 points, followed by Warrior (1.2), Druid and Rogue (1.1 each).
What these numbers measure
These are characters counted by the public beta censuses, not players: one player can have several characters. The totals are from the census snapshot of October 20, 2026, and the daily class shares run through October 19.