Alliance or Horde in WoW Forever: races, starting zones, capitals, racials and faction rules

Alliance or Horde: which faction should you pick in WoW Forever?

Pick the faction your friends or guild play, then the race you like: WoW Forever gives both factions all nine classes. Blizzard's starter guide of October 28, 2026 says your faction "determines which communities, cities, and stories your character begins with", and you can group only within one ruleset and faction. We don't rank factions or racials, and nobody has population figures for the live game.

Your class matters more to how you play: Blizzard's article of October 29, 2026 lists the new combinations, and our which class guide and class quiz help with that choice. Blizzard asks you to pick the ruleset first, then the character: see our realms guide and our launch day guide.

What races and starting zones does each faction have in WoW Forever?

WoW Forever has five races per faction, counting the Skyborne, who choose a side at character creation. Humans start in Elwynn Forest, dwarves and gnomes in Dun Morogh, night elves on Teldrassil; orcs and trolls start in Durotar, undead in Tirisfal Glades, tauren in Mulgore. Both Skyborne start on Zephras Isle, levels 1 to 12, according to Blizzard and the game's race table.

Blizzard says your race "determines your appearance, starting location, and racial abilities". Each zone has its quest route in our leveling guide, and our zones guide covers what changes in the world.

What are the capitals of each faction in WoW Forever?

The WoW Forever Alliance has Stormwind in Elwynn Forest, Ironforge in Dun Morogh and Darnassus on Teldrassil. The Horde has Orgrimmar in Durotar, the Undercity in Tirisfal Glades and Thunder Bluff in Mulgore, as the game's flight paths name them. Blizzard says you change talents at a class trainer in one of these major cities, and the game files give mages portals to their own faction's capitals.

You can queue for Darkspear Islands at a battlemaster in any capital city (Blizzard, October 7, 2026). Beta barber shops were added in Darnassus and Thunder Bluff in October (Mamytwink, October 2, 2026, in French). Blizzard has not listed which cities have a transmogrifier: see our transmog guide.

What do each faction's racials do in WoW Forever?

Every WoW Forever race has four racials, and Blizzard changed several on October 26 and 27, 2026, in a pass that "prioritized racial identity". Blizzard says "some races will naturally be slightly more effective than others at certain combat roles"; we describe what each racial does and don't rank them. The game files of build 1.60.1.70753, of November 2, now carry them, so the table gives one value.

The old weapon specializations don't come back: Blizzard says "it is not healthy in the long run for future raid and dungeon loot tables to be evaluated through the lens of 'required' weapon types". Blizzard's notes of November 2, 2026 repeat these values, let undead use Cannibalize again while immune to Physical damage, and give every race its correct base stats: tauren warriors now start with +5 Strength over human warriors (was +2). Each race page gives the racials with both Blizzard's value and the game files' value, and priests also get two racial spells per race.

Which classes can each faction play in WoW Forever?

Both factions can play all nine classes in WoW Forever. Blizzard's article of October 29, 2026 lists six new combinations: human hunter, dwarf shaman and gnome priest for the Alliance, orc mage, troll warlock and undead paladin for the Horde. In the game's race and class table, dwarves are the only Alliance shamans and undead the only Horde paladins.

Undead paladins have their own story at Bandarion Keep, in the Whispering Wood of Tirisfal Glades, and a level 60 epic mount quest (Blizzard, September 13, 2026). Since both sides now have paladin and shaman buffs, Blizzard lowered Battle Shout's attack power to compensate (September 30, 2026). A count of races is not a ranking: it only tells you how many looks and racial sets a class can have.

Should a Skyborne join the Alliance or the Horde in WoW Forever?

A WoW Forever Skyborne picks a faction at character creation. Blizzard's article of October 29, 2026 says Skyborne can be druids, hunters, rogues and warriors; "Alliance-aligned Skyborne can also be Mages, while Horde-aligned Skyborne can also be Shaman". Both begin on Zephras Isle, and the race needs the Heroic Pack or higher. Apart from that class, one racial differs: Read Leyline or Skysight.

• High Order (Alliance): mage, and Read Leyline, +50% health and mana regeneration for 15 seconds, 100% while Attuned, gained by using it at a leyline.
• Windshapers (Horde): shaman, and Skysight, +15% movement speed for 15 seconds, 30% while Charged, gained by using it at an elemental convergence.
• Leaving the island: Alliance Skyborne sail to Dalaran and take a Skyborne-only portal to Stormwind; Horde Skyborne land at Skywatcher Plateau, between Mulgore and Desolace, with no portal to Orgrimmar (Method.gg, October 14, 2026).

Priest, paladin and warlock are closed to the race on both sides. Our Skyborne guide has all the values and the packs, and our Zephras Isle guide the quests of levels 1 to 12.

Can you play with friends of the other faction in WoW Forever?

No. "Characters can group, join guilds, run dungeons, and raid only with players on the same Ruleset and faction", Blizzard's starter guide of October 28, 2026 says, so friends should agree on both before creating characters. On the PvP ruleset, an account can't even hold both factions, while Normal, Roleplay and Hardcore allow it, according to Blizzard's ruleset article.

The client holds the matching message, which is what the game files of build 1.60.1.70707 contain, not an announcement: "You cannot have both a Horde and an Alliance character on the same PvP ruleset". It doesn't say whether Roleplay-PvP counts. Battlegrounds mix players from every ruleset except Hardcore, but your side stays your side: see our PvP guide.

Which faction has more players in WoW Forever?

Nobody has population figures for WoW Forever's factions. Blizzard publishes none, so we give no number and name no "most played" side. The one official clue is a rule: for the PvP rulesets, Blizzard plans balance systems close to Season of Discovery's, where "new character creation could be temporarily limited for a faction". Which side your friends play will matter more, since you can only group with your own faction.

The game isn't out until November 4, 2026, so no live count can exist yet. The client also holds the message "This faction is currently unavailable on this ruleset due to population imbalance" (game files, build 1.60.1.70707), which is what the client contains and not a statement that it has been used. Blizzard has not published how players are spread inside a ruleset. A community count of beta characters went around in October (Icy Veins, October 14, 2026): it describes a closed test capped at level 30, not the live game, so we don't use it here.

What else differs between the factions later in WoW Forever?

Later on, WoW Forever gives both factions the same systems with different starts, places and names: the Onyxia and City of Dalaran attunements begin with different quests (Blizzard's raid overview and dungeon overview, October 20, 2026), each side has its own trade faction and Darkspear Islands reputation, and the top PvP titles differ.

On the beta, Blizzard also made the open-world city of Dalaran hostile: "Members of the Horde are no longer welcome in Dalaran under any circumstances and will be attacked on sight" (beta notes of October 15, 2026), which doesn't affect access to the dungeon. Developers also said some dungeons are reserved to one faction (JudgeHype's summary of the official podcast, October 8, 2026). More in our dungeons guide, raids guide and Merchant's Favor guide.