A reported Battle.net survey asks World of Warcraft Forever players about 11 possible classes, including Bard, Witch, Tinker, Necromancer, and old retail favorites.
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A survey is testing how much class identity Forever can bend
A reported Battle.net launcher survey for World of Warcraft: Forever is asking some players about 11 possible class concepts, including Bard, Witch, Tinker, Necromancer, Illusionist, San'layn, Warden, and refreshed versions of Death Knight, Demon Hunter, and Monk. That is the concrete development at the center of the latest WoW new classes discussion, but the tension is equally important: Blizzard has not announced any of these classes for World of Warcraft: Forever, and several outlets covering the survey are treating the details as leaked or player-reported rather than officially published material.
Kotaku reports that multiple World of Warcraft: Forever players said they received the survey prompt through the Battle.net launcher in the past week. GameSpot likewise describes an alleged survey pushed to select players through Blizzard's launcher, while Eurogamer says a select few Battle.net users spotted an opt-in survey and that information from it has since spread online. Blizzard reportedly asked participants not to share the survey's contents, according to GameSpot and Eurogamer.
That leaves this story in an unusual place. The class list is consistent across several reports, and GameSpot says the survey material includes lore, weapons, armor, resources, roles, and signature abilities for the concepts. At the same time, Kotaku says it did not receive the survey itself and did not have actual visual proof because screenshots were forbidden. Eurogamer says screenshots and information leaked online, but also states it cannot verify the accuracy of the survey information in the wild. The responsible read is that this World of Warcraft Forever survey is a meaningful signal of what Blizzard may be researching, not a promise that Bard, Witch, or any other class is coming.
The reported class list mixes retail history with long-running Warcraft fantasies
The full reported list is striking because it does two different things at once. According to Kotaku, GameSpot, and Eurogamer, the survey names Bard, Death Knight, Demon Hunter, Illusionist, Monk, Necromancer, Metalborn or Runemaster or Runeknight, San'layn, Tinker, Warden, and Witch. Three of those, Death Knight, Demon Hunter, and Monk, already exist in modern World of Warcraft. GameSpot notes that Blizzard has added four classes to modern WoW over the last two decades: Death Knight, Monk, Demon Hunter, and Evoker.
For World of Warcraft: Forever, that distinction matters. GameSpot describes Forever as a recently revealed third version of Blizzard's MMO that introduces new quests, zones, and content to the vanilla version of WoW. If Death Knight, Monk, or Demon Hunter were adapted for that old-school framework, they would almost certainly need a different progression curve, combat cadence, and power budget than their retail counterparts. Eurogamer makes that point directly for the alleged Demon Hunter concept, saying the reported version would be slower and less mobile than the World of Warcraft: Legion class and would be tied to a separate pre-existing faction rather than Illidan's demon hunters.
The rest of the list reaches into fantasies that have orbited Warcraft for years without becoming full player classes in the live MMO. GameSpot highlights Tinker as a longtime community expectation with roots in older Warcraft material, while Eurogamer points to its RTS heritage. GameSpot also says Necromancer was planned during vanilla WoW development before being scrapped. Warden, San'layn, Tinker, and Necromancer all sound like they would pull from existing Warcraft motifs, but the reported survey appears to be testing whether those motifs can carry an entire class identity rather than remain NPC, race, profession, or specialization flavor.
Bard and Witch would challenge WoW's usual role language
The most revealing details are not limited to the class names. Kotaku reports that several concepts in the survey are labeled as support, a role that is not really present as a formal pillar in WoW Classic or World of Warcraft: Forever. That is a large design signal if accurate, because classic-style WoW is built around familiar tank, healer, and damage expectations, with buffs and debuffs distributed across classes rather than concentrated into a dedicated support identity.
The reported World of Warcraft Bard class would lean directly into that pressure point. Kotaku describes Bard as a leather-wearing support and healer that uses songs to buff party members and debuff enemies. If implemented, that would raise immediate systems questions: Does a Bard replace a healer, supplement one, or take a damage slot? How do songs scale in raids without becoming mandatory? Would leveling feel viable alone, or would the class be balanced primarily around group utility? The survey, as reported, does not answer those questions, but the existence of the pitch suggests Blizzard is at least measuring appetite for a broader party role vocabulary.
The reported World of Warcraft Witch class is another support-adjacent concept, though with a darker resource identity. Kotaku describes Witch as a cloth-wearing ranged DPS and support class with abilities such as conjuring a cauldron that can buff allies and summoning a blood golem at the cost of the player's own health. That health-cost detail is small but important. It points toward a build fantasy based on tradeoffs rather than simple throughput: party benefit in exchange for personal risk, blood magic instead of clean spellcasting, and possible tension with healer expectations.
For a systems-focused player, Bard and Witch are the classes to watch because they would ask the game to value contribution differently. A pure damage class can be judged on meters. A healer can be judged on survival and efficiency. A support class has to make other players stronger in a way that feels visible, fair, and balanceable. Retail WoW has experimented with this through an Evoker specialization, as Kotaku notes, but World of Warcraft: Forever would have to solve that problem inside a slower, older-feeling combat model.
Tinker, Necromancer, Illusionist, and San'layn suggest bigger build experiments
The reported survey concepts also show Blizzard exploring class kits that would change how players occupy space, manage pets, and express power fantasy. Tinker may be the clearest example. Kotaku reports the class as a mail wearer that can tank, deal ranged damage, and support, with a mech, rockets, and supplies that heal allies. Eurogamer adds that the leaked details describe a mech suit adapted to playstyle and a two-life structure involving both the mech and the pilot inside, comparing the concept to D.Va from Overwatch.
That would be a major mechanical departure for old-school WoW if it survived from survey to implementation. A Tinker with a mech body could blur the line between form, pet, vehicle, and defensive cooldown. The support angle also overlaps with engineering fantasy in a way professions historically could not sustain on their own. The open question is whether such a class would make Engineering feel less special, or whether it would finally give the gadget fantasy a full progression track.
Necromancer raises a different problem: overlap. Kotaku summarizes the reported concept as a cloth class with shadow- and death-themed abilities, and notes that it sounds somewhat similar to Warlocks. GameSpot says the survey's Necromancer appears to draw from Diablo 2's class of the same name, citing abilities such as Bone Spear and Corpse Explosion. That would give it a clearer skeletal and corpse-magic lane, but World of Warcraft already contains Warlocks, Shadow Priests, Death Knights, and undead minion fantasies. If Blizzard ever moves forward with Necromancer, the class would need a sharper identity than “dark caster with pets.”
Illusionist, by contrast, sounds less crowded. Kotaku describes it as a leather-wearing ranged DPS with spells that can create illusory murlocs or other monsters to fight for the player, as well as mirror images. San'layn is reported as a plate-armored vampire fantasy, with Kotaku calling it basically vampiric and GameSpot describing blood-based abilities that could resemble the retail Blood Death Knight specialization. Metalborn, Runemaster, Runeknight, or Runesmith is harder to pin down because outlets report different names; Kotaku says players saw the concept under different labels and describes a mail class using runic power and metal-transmutation attacks. The shifting name is a reminder that survey language can be exploratory, unfinished, or segmented for testing.
The Warden listing shows the limits of the leaked data
The Warden concept is the best caution sign in the entire World of Warcraft Forever survey discussion. Kotaku lists Warden as a tank and melee DPS in plate armor, but says the abilities are unclear because the poster it reviewed appears to list San'layn abilities instead. That is exactly the kind of data problem that can creep into secondhand survey reporting, especially when participants are discouraged from sharing screenshots and details are being reconstructed through posts, videos, and summaries.
Eurogamer also frames the class information as something it cannot independently verify. GameSpot says the contents of Blizzard surveys often find their way online, but still calls this an alleged leaked survey. Those caveats should shape expectations. Surveys can include concepts that are never built, concepts that are heavily renamed, and concepts designed to test reactions rather than reveal production plans. A class appearing in a questionnaire does not mean it is in development, much less that it is close to beta testing.
That said, the consistency of the 11-class list across Kotaku, GameSpot, and Eurogamer makes it difficult to dismiss the discussion as a random wishlist. It looks like a structured research exercise around class identity, role distribution, and player fantasy. The Warden confusion does not invalidate the broader signal, but it does tell players not to over-read individual ability names, armor types, or role tags as final design.
How players should read this before choosing a main
For now, there is no announced release timing for any of these classes, no confirmation that Blizzard will add even one of them to World of Warcraft: Forever, and no official statement in the provided reports confirming the survey contents. Players interested in Forever should treat Bard, Witch, Tinker, and the rest as possible research directions rather than launch features.
The practical guidance is simple: do not plan a guild roster, leveling route, or long-term main around this list yet. If you are excited by a World of Warcraft Bard class, watch for whether Blizzard ever commits publicly to a support role in Forever. If the Witch concept is the draw, pay attention to whether future messaging discusses health-cost mechanics, party buffs, or blood magic beyond survey language. If Tinker or Necromancer is your longtime hope, the key question is whether Blizzard can define those classes without flattening existing professions and classes around them.
The larger story is that World of Warcraft: Forever appears positioned, according to GameSpot's description, as new content for a vanilla-rooted version of WoW rather than a simple march through old expansions. A survey about 11 classes fits that ambition. New races, zones, and quests can broaden Azeroth's map; new classes would alter how players read every quest reward, dungeon slot, loot table, and group composition. That is why this survey has caught attention beyond normal rumor-cycle curiosity. It hints that Forever's identity could be decided as much by buildcraft and party roles as by nostalgia.
Until Blizzard speaks, the healthiest stance is patient interest. The reported survey is a strong early signal that Blizzard is asking players how far World of Warcraft: Forever can move class design while still feeling like old Azeroth. It is not yet evidence that Bard will sing in Stormwind, that Witches will brew cauldrons in raid groups, or that Tinkers will stomp through dungeons in mech suits. It is evidence that those questions are now on the table.