Tier list

Duo PvP Leveling

Two players leveling 1 to 60 on a PvP server: all 45 class pairs rated on kill pressure, surviving together, control, fighting outnumbered and pace.

As of 23 October 2026 · builds 1.60.1.70450 and 1.60.1.70532 · Forecast

What each tier means

How we ranked them

Two players questing together from 1 to 60 on a PvP server, where other players can attack them at any level: ganked as a pair, ganking a lone player, meeting another pair, and still leveling at a fair pace between fights.

The subjects are the 45 class pairs: every two of the nine classes, a class with itself included. A pair's key is its two classes in name order (`hunter+warrior`). Each write-up names the best spec for each class for world PvP while leveling, which can differ from the Duo PvE Leveling list's pairing.

For the same pairs leveling against mobs only, see Duo PvE Leveling. Battlegrounds are not rated here.

Levels 1–30 are rated from beta play; 31–60 are projected from the client's kit. The beta's cap is 30.

Half of this is a forecast. The beta stops at level 30, so levels 1 to 30 are rated from beta play and the client's spells, and levels 31 to 60 from the client's kit and what Blizzard has announced.

Every score is a whole number from 1 to 5 against written anchors, and the tier comes from the weighted score alone: no pair is placed by hand. Two scorers rated every pair without seeing each other's work; a review then scored every pair as a whole against the anchors, with both scorers' reasons as evidence: a gap went neither to the lower score nor to an average. A last pass compared the spec pairings each pair could play, kept the one that rates highest and scored the pair in it alone.

No pair reaches S: the tiers come from the scores alone, and the highest, Rogue + Rogue at 3.95, is short of the 4.25 that S needs.

Each reason is counted once: a healer counts in Surviving together and Reset, a stun in Control. Kill pressure scores damage against players, and Leveling pace scores mob kills only.

Diminishing returns on control are not documented for Forever; the scores assume Classic's.

Choose a class above the chart to see only its pairs: the chart then names each partner. Choose roles to keep only the pairs that have them.

The rubric: each criterion scored 1 to 5
Criterion	Weight	What it measures
Kill pressure as a pair	20	Together they kill a same-level player of any class, healer included, before it can react or escape: 5. Kill most lone players, but a healer or a good escape gets away: 3. Rarely kill a player who fights back, even two on one: 1.
Surviving together	20	Ganked as a pair, both usually live: one heals or peels the other, dispels the control, and both have a way out: 5. One survives and the other often dies: 3. A gank kills both: 1.
Control, chained between the two	15	Stuns, fears, roots, silences and slows from both, chained so the enemy barely acts: 5. Control from one half, or two kits that break each other: 3. Little control beyond a slow: 1.
Against a pair or a small group	15	Beat a same-level pair, and hold or escape a group of three or four: 5. Trade evenly with a pair; a group is a loss but one or both get away: 3. Lose to a pair, and a group kills both: 1.
Leveling pace on mobs	15	Kill quest mobs fast and rest little: 5. A fair pace with some resting: 3. Slow kills and long rests: 1.
Choosing the fight as a pair	10	Both pick when fights start and end (both stealthed, both fast, or a long-range opener with a disengage the other can follow): 5. One half chooses and the other is caught or left behind: 3. They take the fights that find them: 1.
Reset after a fight	5	Back to full in seconds, with heals for both, drains or regen, and a resurrection if one died: 5. A short rest; a death is a corpse run: 3. Long rests after every fight: 1.

What each tier means

An entry’s tier comes from its weighted score. A tier set by hand instead says why in its write-up. Within a tier, the best score comes first.

S 4.25 or more: The best choice for this purpose. Strong on the criteria that count most, with no real weakness.
A 3.75 or more: Very strong. A little behind S, or one clear weakness.
B 3.25 or more: Good. Does the job well without special effort.
C 2.75 or more: Workable. About average on the rubric; nothing stands out either way.
D 2.25 or more: Weak. It works, but you will feel the gap; pick it for other reasons.
F below 2.25: Poor for this purpose. Avoid it unless something else decides for you.

What the ratings assume

Each player plays one spec from 1 to 60: the pairing that rates highest for the pair, explained in each write-up, in its own tree's leveling talent order. No score counts a dual-spec swap.
Gear: quest rewards and greens as they come, shared by need. No dungeon runs for gear and no help from a higher-level character.
Legacy perks: none. Both are first characters.
Opponents: players of similar level and gear, of any class: one, a pair, or a small group of three or four.
PvP servers have no low-level protection, and there are no world-PvP objectives at launch.
The game rules of the stated build. A patch that changes them makes a new version.

Confidence: Forecast

Rated from the client data and our research, before anyone has played it at this level on this build. Where the data stops, the write-up says what it assumed.

Why each pair is where it is

Choose a pair on the chart to see why it sits where it does.

Each pair's professions are worked out from its two specs' own profession lists: each player takes two primary professions, the pair never takes one twice, and every crafter that needs a gatherer has one in the pair. Of the splits that keep those rules, the one whose four professions rate highest on their own player's list is named. Cooking, First Aid and Fishing are open to both.

Two Rogues A tier

Two stealthers with Sap, Kick, Vanish and Evasion; high burst and many escapes, but no heal.

Best specs: Subtlety Rogue with Combat Rogue

Scores for Two Rogues
Criterion	Weight	Score
Kill pressure as a pair	20	5
Surviving together	20	3
Control, chained between the two	15	5
Against a pair or a small group	15	3
Leveling pace on mobs	15	4
Choosing the fight as a pair	10	5
Reset after a fight	5	1

Weighted score 3.95, which is A tier.

Subtlety plus Combat stays the pick. Two Combat Rogues, or Assassination plus Combat, score the same, since the burst is already at the top of the scale and Blade Flurry (30) comes from the Combat half either way. Subtlety wins the tie because it is easier to play together: Premeditation (25) and Preparation (30) give the pair a second opener and a second Vanish, so the two do not have to share cooldown timing. Nothing heals at any level.

A Subtlety and a Combat Rogue open together or in turn from Stealth (1) with two Saps (10), two Kicks (12), Cheap Shot (26) and Kidney Shot (30) chained between them, and Premeditation (25), Preparation (30), Improved Kick (25) and Riposte (20) from the talents. Evasion (8), Sprint (10) and Vanish (22) give both an exit, and Crippling Poison (20) stops runners. Nothing heals, dispels or revives, and Rogues cannot cleanse Magic, so a lost fight is final and every fight costs bandages. Stealth is self-only, so each opens alone.

Alliance: Human, Night Elf, Gnome or Skyborne Rogues; Night Elf Shadowmeld and Quickness, Human Will to Survive, Gnome Escape Artist. Horde: Orc, Undead, Troll or Windshaper Rogues; Undead Will of the Forsaken and Touch of the Grave, Orc Hardiness, Troll Berserking.

Strengths

Chained stuns and Kicks
Two Vanishes and two Sprints
Very high burst

Weaknesses

No heal or dispel
Fragile in a drawn-out fight
Lost fights are final

Professions

Subtlety Rogue: Alchemy (B) and Herbalism (F) (tiers from the Subtlety Rogue's list)
Combat Rogue: Engineering (A) and Mining (F) (tiers from the Combat Rogue's list)

Herbalism supplies Alchemy. Mining supplies Engineering. The Subtlety Rogue's own best pair is Engineering and Mining; the Combat Rogue holds Engineering and Mining, and this split rates higher for the pair.

What would move it: A source of healing would lift it; diminishing returns on stun chains would sink it.

Rated on assumptions:

Levels 31 to 60 are projected from the client's kit; the beta stops at 30.
Blind 34 and Vanish rank 2 are projected or past the cap.

Read the Rogue guide · Back to the chart

Hunter + Paladin A tier

A Beast Mastery Hunter beside a Retribution Paladin who stuns, heals and shields the pair.

Best specs: Beast Mastery Hunter with Retribution Paladin

Scores for Hunter + Paladin
Criterion	Weight	Score
Kill pressure as a pair	20	4
Surviving together	20	4
Control, chained between the two	15	4
Against a pair or a small group	15	3
Leveling pace on mobs	15	5
Choosing the fight as a pair	10	3
Reset after a fight	5	4

Weighted score 3.90, which is A tier.

Beast Mastery plus Retribution beats the old Marksmanship plus Retribution on pace: the pet gives the fastest mob kills, and Intimidation (30) chains with Hammer of Justice (8) as well as Scatter Shot did. Beast Mastery plus Holy heals and recovers better but kills more slowly, since Holy has no damage until Holy Shock (30). The choice is weakest before 20, when the Hunter has no traps and the Paladin no Seal of Command.

The pet (10) and shots supply most of the damage while the Paladin stuns with Hammer of Justice (8), hits with Seal of Command (20) and holds a second target with Repentance (30, talent). Freezing Trap (20) and Intimidation (30) chain with the Hammer. The Paladin heals a Hunter who cannot heal himself and saves either half with Divine Protection (6), Blessing of Protection (10) and Lay on Hands (10). The pair has no interrupt, no slow from the Paladin and no Magic dispel until Cleanse (42, projected), and the Paladin is on foot until the mount at 40 while the Hunter has Cheetah (20).

Alliance: A Human or Dwarf Paladin with a Human, Dwarf, Night Elf or Skyborne Hunter; Human Will to Survive breaks stuns, Dwarf Stoneform cuts physical damage. Horde: An Undead Paladin with a Tauren, Orc, Troll or Windshaper Hunter; Will of the Forsaken answers fear, Tauren War Stomp covers the dead zone.