Earthen are the newest Allied Race inWoW: The War Within, and after unlocking them by completing a series ofquests and the max-level campaign, you will be faced with a choice: which Earthen class should I choose?
Thoughevery class is perfectly playableas an Earthen, their Racial bonuses benefit Tank classes more than other roles, and some classes just make more sense for the Earthen than others in terms of lore. Two classes in particular stand out as they don’t really fit in with what the Earthen are established to be, but that isn’t to say they are necessarily bad choices.
Updated Jun 19, 2025 by Erik Petrovich: When choosing one of these best classes for Earthen,World of Warcraft players have two things to consider: the power of the class with the Earthen racial abilities, and how much the class fits with established Earthen lore. The latter of these is not quite as important, all things considered, but it does feel a bit odd to summon Demons from the Twisting Nether as an Earthen Warlock, or stealth around as a stony Earthen Rogue. This guide has been updated to include more details for each class Earthen WoW characters can choose, particularly the Warrior, Paladin, Rogue, and Warlock. This guide has also been updated to provide a bit more information regarding all Earthen classes and the four that are not available to this new The War Within race.
All Available Earthen Classes In The War Within
Though there are thirteen playable classes inWorld of Warcraft, only nine are available to the Earthen. These include the Hunter class, the Monk class, the Mage class, the Priest class, the Paladin class, the Rogue class, the Shaman class, the Warlock class, and the Warrior class.
The Warrior, Priest, Monk, and Mage classes can be selected by any race inWorld of Warcraft, Earthen included.
The missing classes (Death Knights, Demon Hunters, Druids, and Evokers) aren’t available for lore reasons, while each of the above classes has some in-game reason why the Earthen could pick them up. Paladins and Priests, for example, could have come from the Earthen who becomes interested in the Light from an Arathi in the Isle of Dorn, while a Mage Earthen makes senseconsidering their origins.
S-Tier Earthen Classes
Paladin, Warrior
The Earthen racial abilities are, for the most part, not impactfulfor most endgame activities. The recently-boosted Well Fed bonus from Ingest Materials and the Titan-Wrought Frame racial are the most relevant, and Tanks benefit the most from the latter. It boosts your base Armor value by 10%, which is about as much as a single cast of Ironfur for Guardian Druids.
10% isn’t going tomake or break your dungeon run, and while leveling inWoWyou will notice this bonus even less. But though the Ingest Materials buff can be beneficial for all Classes, Earthen Tanks will be popular because of the Titan-Wrought Frame racial.
Best Non-Tank Earthen Classes
Mage, Shaman, Hunter, Priest, Monk
When it comes to the rest of the classes available to Earthen, it’s harder to sort them from best to worst as the differences are relatively negligible. Instead, the A-Tier Earthen classes are the classes that make the most sense for Earthen to be.
Earthen Classes That Don’t Quite Fit
Rogue, Warlock
Generally, you’re able to make up any reason for an Earthen to be a particular class. They were once bound to tradition and their Edicts, and now forge their own paths, so there’s no reason you couldn’t be an Earthen Rogue or Warlock.
Of these two, Warlocks arguably make the least sense as they are tied to the Burning Legion, which as far as we know has had no impact on the Earthen.
You could argue that they became tempted by the Void, which seems ever-present in Khaz Algar inTWW, but this is still technically different than the Twisting Nether-fueled powers of the Warlock class. If anything, the presence of Void powers inThe War Withinis a lore reason for Earthen Shadow Priests to exist, not Warlocks.
Earthen Rogues are, like Tauren Rogues, just an odd combination of Race and Class. You can’t exactly sneak around if you’re completely made of stone, stomping around in the shadows is a surefire way to get caught. But there are some Smugglers you can come across inThe War Within, and other Rogueish types of characters, so they aren’t without precedent. It’s just a bit odd to think about, and a bit of an odd match with the Earthen racial bonuses.
Rogues also happen to beone of the least-played classesin the game right now for a few reasons, though, so there’s reason beyond flavor to avoid rolling a Rogue Earthen. But if you really want to break the mold and choose a class/race combination that makes little to no sense, then Rogue Earthen might just be what you’re looking for.
