WoW Forever races: racials, classes and new combinations

WoW Forever has nine playable races: the eight races of Classic and the new Skyborne, who come in two versions, High Order for the Alliance and Windshapers for the Horde. Every race now has two active and two passive racials, and 16 race and class combinations are new, such as the undead paladin and the dwarf shaman.

Which races can you play in WoW Forever?

WoW Forever has nine playable races. The Alliance has humans, dwarves, night elves and gnomes, the Horde has orcs, undead, tauren and trolls, and the new Skyborne can join either side: High Order Skyborne for the Alliance, Windshaper Skyborne for the Horde. The Skyborne need the Skyborne Heroic Pack or a higher edition; the eight other races come with Forever itself.

Alliance

Horde

Which race and class combinations are possible?

The grid lists every race and class combination of WoW Forever, read from the character creation table of the beta (CharBaseInfo, build 1.60.1.70532). There are 56 combinations against 40 in Classic Era, and the highlighted cells are the new ones. Shamans and paladins are no longer tied to one faction: dwarves can be shamans for the Alliance and undead can be paladins for the Horde.

Race and class combinations of WoW Forever (beta game tables). New: not possible in Classic Era.
Race	Warrior	Paladin	Hunter	Rogue	Priest	Shaman	Mage	Warlock	Druid
Alliance
Human	Yes	Yes	New	Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes
Dwarf	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	New
Night Elf	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes				Yes
Gnome	Yes			Yes	New		Yes	Yes
High Order Skyborne	New		New	New			New		New
Horde
Orc	Yes		Yes	Yes		Yes	New	Yes
Undead	Yes	New		Yes	Yes		Yes	Yes
Tauren	Yes		Yes			Yes			Yes
Troll	Yes		Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	New
Windshaper Skyborne	New		New	New		New			New

What are the new race and class combinations?

WoW Forever adds six combinations to the Classic races, all announced by Blizzard: human hunter, dwarf shaman, gnome priest, orc mage, troll warlock and undead paladin. The Skyborne add ten more: druid, hunter, rogue and warrior for both versions, plus mage for the High Order and shaman for the Windshapers. Blizzard says more combinations are planned, without a date.

New for a Classic race

Skyborne

How do racials change compared with Classic?

Every race of WoW Forever has two active and two passive racials, tuned by Blizzard to give a similar amount of offensive power while keeping each race's signature utility. Resistance and weapon skill racials are gone, the old human and orc weapon racials now add critical strike chance whatever the weapon, and 9 racials of the Classic races are new. The table sums it up race by race.

Race	New	Changed	Unchanged	Removed since Classic
Human	New: Will to Survive	Changed: Ruthless	Unchanged: Perception, The Human Spirit	Removed since Classic: Diplomacy, Mace Specialization
Dwarf	New: Earth Fury, Big Game Hunter	Changed: Stoneform	Unchanged: Find Treasure	Removed since Classic: Frost Resistance, Gun Specialization
Night Elf	New: Elune's Light	Changed: Shadowmeld, Quickness, Wisp Spirit	Unchanged: None	Removed since Classic: Nature Resistance
Gnome	New: Eureka!	Changed: Escape Artist, Expansive Mind, Engineering Specialization	Unchanged: None	Removed since Classic: Arcane Resistance
High Order Skyborne	New: Walk on Air, Read Leyline, Wind Blessed, Elemental Insight	Changed: None	Unchanged: None	Removed since Classic: None
Orc	New: Shatter Curse	Changed: Blood Fury, Savage, Hardiness	Unchanged: None	Removed since Classic: Command
Undead	New: Touch of the Grave	Changed: Will of the Forsaken, Cannibalize	Unchanged: Underwater Breathing	Removed since Classic: Shadow Resistance
Tauren	New: Plainsrunning	Changed: War Stomp, Cultivation, Endurance	Unchanged: None	Removed since Classic: Nature Resistance
Troll	New: Rapid Regeneration	Changed: Berserking, Regeneration	Unchanged: Beast Slaying	Removed since Classic: Throwing Specialization, Bow Specialization
Windshaper Skyborne	New: Walk on Air, Skysight, Wind Blessed, Elemental Insight	Changed: None	Unchanged: None	Removed since Classic: None

Which racials matter for your role?

No race is required for any role in WoW Forever, and we do not rank them. What differs is what each racial does: some add damage, others break a crowd control or protect you, help you move, recover or gather. The table groups every racial of the Forever beta by what it does, so you can match them with your class and the way you play.

What it does	Alliance	Horde
Damage	Alliance Ruthless (Human) Earth Fury (Dwarf) Big Game Hunter (Dwarf) Elune's Light (Night Elf) Eureka! (Gnome) Wind Blessed (High Order Skyborne) Elemental Insight (High Order Skyborne)	Horde Blood Fury (Orc) Savage (Orc) Berserking (Troll) Beast Slaying (Troll) Wind Blessed (Windshaper Skyborne) Elemental Insight (Windshaper Skyborne)
Survival and escapes	Alliance Will to Survive (Human) Stoneform (Dwarf) Quickness (Night Elf) Escape Artist (Gnome)	Horde Shatter Curse (Orc) Hardiness (Orc) Will of the Forsaken (Undead) Endurance (Tauren)
Control and stealth	Alliance Perception (Human) Shadowmeld (Night Elf)	Horde War Stomp (Tauren)
Movement	Alliance Wisp Spirit (Night Elf) Walk on Air (High Order Skyborne)	Horde Plainsrunning (Tauren) Walk on Air (Windshaper Skyborne) Skysight (Windshaper Skyborne)
Recovery and resources	Alliance The Human Spirit (Human) Expansive Mind (Gnome) Read Leyline (High Order Skyborne)	Horde Cannibalize (Undead) Touch of the Grave (Undead) Rapid Regeneration (Troll) Regeneration (Troll)
Professions and exploration	Alliance Find Treasure (Dwarf) Engineering Specialization (Gnome)	Horde Underwater Breathing (Undead) Cultivation (Tauren)

Questions about the races of WoW Forever

How many races are there in WoW Forever?

Nine: the eight races of Classic (human, dwarf, night elf, gnome, orc, undead, tauren and troll) and the new Skyborne, who come in two versions, High Order Skyborne for the Alliance and Windshaper Skyborne for the Horde.

What are the new race and class combinations in WoW Forever?

Human hunter, dwarf shaman, gnome priest, orc mage, troll warlock and undead paladin, plus ten Skyborne combinations: druid, hunter, rogue and warrior for both versions, mage for the High Order and shaman for the Windshapers.

Which races can be shamans or paladins in WoW Forever?

Shamans: dwarf, orc, tauren, troll and Windshaper Skyborne. Paladins: human, dwarf and undead. Dwarves are the only Alliance shamans and undead the only Horde paladins.

Which race should a priest pick in WoW Forever?

We do not rank races. Six races can be priests (human, dwarf, night elf, gnome, undead and troll), and each gets two racial priest spells on Forever, such as Divine Grace for humans, Chastise for dwarves or Contingency Plan for gnomes. Each race page lists these spells with their beta values, next to the racials.

What are the Skyborne racials in WoW Forever?

Both versions get Walk on Air, a 10-second glide, Wind Blessed, +3% Haste, and Elemental Insight, +5% damage against elementals. The High Order adds Read Leyline, which doubles health and mana regeneration, and the Windshapers add Skysight, +10% movement speed (beta build 1.60.1).

Which race is the most played in WoW Forever?

On the beta, the Skyborne were the most played race with 18.7% of more than one million characters, and the undead paladin the most played combination at about 6%, according to community data from classicplus.io reported by Icy Veins on October 14, 2026. These are beta figures, not Blizzard's.

Do you have to pay for the Skyborne race?

Yes. Forever itself comes with any World of Warcraft subscription or game time, but Blizzard says the Skyborne race and the Zephras Isle questline need the Skyborne Heroic Pack or a higher edition. The eight Classic races need nothing more.